good season

Chapter 125 The Missing Cousin (Two Chapters in One)

In the next few days, Sun Lingzhi often saw the eagle, sometimes in her yard, and sometimes the eagle appeared on the eaves in the distance.

As for pleading with Zhu Yu on behalf of Sun Hongbin, Sun Lingzhi did not forget it, but she had no chance because Zhu Yu had not returned home for several days.

Sun Lingzhi was brought into the mansion by Zhu Yu, and later followed Zhu's father, Lord Zhu. Therefore, no one in this mansion, from top to bottom, looked up to her.

Especially the old lady of Marquis Baoqing and his wife, Ma.

Ma hated Sun Lingzhi to death, she was just an actor who was not worthy of being on stage. She first seduced her son and then climbed into her husband's bed. Damn it.

But Ma didn't dare to do it. In her life, she was afraid of her father and brothers when she was at her parents' home, and she was afraid of her husband after she got married. Later, she gave birth to a son. From the time Zhu Yu was four or five years old, Ma began to be afraid of this son again.

Moreover, she has a mother-in-law who has a strong personality and a powerful backer. Therefore, over the years, whether it is her husband's woman or her son's woman, she only dared to talk about setting rules. She didn't dare to really kill Sun Lingzhi.

A few months ago, Sun Lingzhi was pregnant, and it was the old lady who took action. Therefore, when the father and son learned that Sun Lingzhi had a miscarriage, they just complained a few words and let the matter go.

After all, the biggest reliance of this father and son who can act so unscrupulously is not the ancestors of Baoqing Marquis Mansion, but the old lady.

In recent months, Zhu Yu has been playing bigger and bigger.

Censor Jin, who caused him to have his leg broken, has become a disabled man. Even the Prince of Liang's Mansion gave him 12,000 taels of silver to calm him down. Who in the capital city dares to go against him and the Marquis of Baoqing's Mansion?
Early this morning, Ma's right eye kept twitching and she was restless. Zhu Yu hadn't returned home for several days. Could she have gotten into trouble outside again?
She decided to go to Chunhui Hall to warn the old lady. In case Zhu Yu got into big trouble again, she would ask the old lady to go to the palace.

The old lady was not in a hurry even though Zhu Yu did not return home. Her eldest grandson had sent someone back to report the news early in the morning.

These days, Zhu Yuxin has found a little beauty and is living happily in his farm outside the city.

The old lady felt sorry for her eldest grandson and specially had someone send him some supplements. The eldest grandson hasn't gotten married yet, so he can't let those little devils drain his body. The grandson of the Baoqing Marquisate must be born from the belly of the principal wife, and must be a top noble lady from a famous family in the Dayong Dynasty.

In fact, Concubine Li once thought of letting Zhu Yu become the princess, but the old lady did not agree.

The daughters of the emperor all have hooked noses. Although a hooked nose does not necessarily make a man ugly, the old lady finds it offensive.

This would remind her of that mean man with the hooked nose.

How could such a lowly bloodline be worthy of her eldest grandson?

As for Emperor Xiaokang's two daughters, they were indeed of noble blood, but so what? They were just orphans with the title of princess.

The old lady understood better than anyone that the prosperity of the Baoqing Marquisate today was all due to her.

Back then, when she was still a young daughter-in-law, she used her extraordinary wisdom and courage to win an invisible golden medal of immunity from death for herself and the Baoqing Marquis Mansion.

She and the Baoqing Marquis's family had lived a good life for decades.

But in recent years, she clearly felt that the emperor's tolerance for the Baoqing Marquisate was gradually decreasing. The censor surnamed Jin was the emperor's dog, but it was because of this dog that her eldest grandson had his leg broken.

If this was the case when she was alive, what about after she died?
Will her children and grandchildren be able to continue this wealth?

Especially Yu'er, whom she loved the most.

The Great Yong Empire belongs to the Emperor and the children and grandchildren of Concubine Li, so she must reassure the Emperor while she is still alive. At the same time, she must win a golden medal of immunity from death for Yu'er from the Emperor!
At this time, a woman's scream was heard outside. The old lady frowned. A maid hurried out and came back soon.

"Reporting to the old lady, the Marquis' wife came to pay her respects to you just now. As soon as she walked to the door of Chunhui Hall, she was hit by a big bird. She was frightened and fell down. Now she has gone back to change her clothes."

"Big bird? Where did the big bird come from?" The old lady's brows were furrowed into a "川" shape.

The maid quickly explained: "I heard that it was the eagle that the prince had recently raised. The prince was not in the mansion these days, and the eagle couldn't find the prince. It was anxious and flew around in all directions."

The old lady sighed and said with a smile, "This kid, when did he start playing eagle again? He has so many ideas every day."

The maids all laughed and said, "The prince is brave and capable, even more powerful than the eagle in the sky."

The old lady was overjoyed and told the maids, "This eagle is probably newly acquired by Yu'er. He left the city before he had time to make arrangements. Go and tell the people in his yard not to think that they can be lazy just because Yu'er is not at home. Prepare more delicious food and drinks to prevent the eagle from looking for food when it is hungry and bumping into people again."

The maids followed the order, and from that day on, they put food for the eagle not only in Zhu Yu's courtyard, but also in other places in Baoqing Marquis' Mansion, even whole rabbits.

Zhao Shiqing was sleeping in the middle of the night when she suddenly heard a noise outside the window. She opened her eyes and found Ling Bo had already opened the window.

Xiaoguai flew in with a gust of wind. Zhao Shiqing stood up and hugged its head, sniffed it, and reached out to touch its belly. Well, this guy came back with a full meal again.

"You've been gone for a few days, but you haven't received any useful information. You've gained a lot of weight. If you continue like this, you won't be able to fly. When we return to White Crane Mountain, I'll keep you in Aunt Chun's chicken coop."

Xiaoguai barked twice in dissatisfaction and rubbed its head on Zhao Shiqing's chin. It didn't want to eat, but there were so many delicious foods that it would be a waste if it didn't eat them.

"Zhu Yu hasn't gone back yet?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

Xiaoguai nodded vigorously. This was what his master taught him. Xiaoyao didn't know how to do it, and the little kid Xiaoye could only wag his tail.

The next morning, Niu Qiu went out to buy breakfast and came back. There was a cook in the mansion, but Zhen Wuduo and Zhao Shiqing both loved to eat the tofu pudding from Dashu Street.

As soon as he came back, he reported to everyone: "Something big happened in the capital. Did you know that the cousin of the Duke of Weiguo's mansion is missing?"

The Duke of Wei's Mansion and the Prince of Liang's Mansion are distant relatives, and this matter immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Loach said: "This cousin is the granddaughter of the old aunt who married far away from the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion. She originally came to the capital with the old aunt, but something happened when they passed by Ding'an Mansion. The cousin disappeared, and the old aunt was shocked and died without a breath.

Ding'an Prefecture sent people to the capital, and early this morning, Master Yan brought a lot of people out of the city to Ding'an Prefecture!"

Ding'an Prefecture is the closest prefecture to the capital. It only takes one day to travel from the capital to Ding'an Prefecture and back.

Who could have thought that the cousin of the Duke of Weiguo would get into trouble right at her doorstep.

Everyone was sighing, and at this time, Meng Hu came back from Wanquan County. Li Lao Hu refused to go into the city and stayed in the inn outside the city.

Seeing the excitement in Meng Hu's eyes, Zhao Shiqing knew that the case of Li Lao Hu's wife had come to a conclusion.

As expected, Meng Hu told Zhao Shiqing: "The prefect received Li Lao Hu's complaint and sent my senior brother to Wanquan County to investigate the case. The evidence is irrefutable. In addition to Li Lao Hu, his eldest daughter is also a witness. In addition, my senior brother also found the maid who was in Yang's family at that time. The maid saw my cousin's wife pushing Yang. The doctor can also prove that Li Lao Hu was beaten and bruised.

My cousin and his entire family were thrown into jail. The case was heard in the county government office instead of Wanquan County, and my cousin confessed on the spot that they had given two hundred taels of silver to the Wanquan County lawyer. So now, that lawyer has also been arrested.

The evidence is irrefutable. This is an ironclad case that cannot be overturned. Although my cousin's family has put all the blame on my cousin's wife, it was my cousin's two sons who stopped Li Lao Hu from seeking medical advice, and it was my cousin who bribed the lawyer. My cousin's wife was sentenced to death by beheading, my two sons were caned 100 times and exiled 3,000 miles, and my cousin was caned 40 times and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in Blackstone Fort.

Black Stone Fort is about a thousand miles away from the capital. The climate is completely different from that of the capital, and the journey is difficult. Many prisoners died on the road before they even got there. The winters there are long and bitterly cold, and the conditions are difficult. Prisoners who are sent to Black Stone Fort to serve hard labor have almost no chance of survival. Even if they survive by chance, they will be exiled there after the term is over.

Zhao Shiqing was very satisfied with the result and asked, "What about Li Lao Hu's three daughters? Will they stay at home or be raised by the tribe members?"

Meng Hu said: "The elder of the Yang family also came to the court and stated on the spot that Li Lao Hu can still stay in the Yang family and choose one of the three daughters to marry. After all three daughters are married, the daughter who stayed at home to marry will decide whether he stays or goes.

As long as Li Lao Hu stays in the Yang family, he cannot remarry.

But I don't think Li Lao Hu has any intention of remarrying."

That afternoon, Zhao Shiqing and Zhen Wuduo went to the inn again and met Li Lao Hu.

Li Lao Hu knelt down and kowtowed without saying a word. He kowtowed three times and continued to kowtow, saying that the first ones were for himself and the next ones were for his three daughters.

Zhao Shiqing did not refuse and accepted his gift with peace of mind. Although they had agreed before that this was an equal exchange, if Li Lao Hu wanted to thank her, then she should go ahead and thank her.

"Now can you tell us what happened back then?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

Li Lao Hu: "Of course I have to tell you. If I don't tell you, my wife will blame me down there."

Zhao Shiqing smiled and listened attentively.

Li Lao Hu's maternal family surname is Dai, and the Dai family has been passed down midwives for five generations. This profession is usually passed down to daughters-in-law rather than daughters, but Li Lao Hu's mother Dai Chunniang is an exception.

Dai Chunniang's husband died at a young age. After a quarrel with her mother-in-law, she returned to her parents' home, while her son Lao Hu was left in the Li family.

After Dai Chunniang returned to her parents' home, she followed her mother and became a maid.

She was smart, eloquent, and all the babies she delivered were boys. As time went by, she became a little famous in the industry.

After she was able to make money, she would often secretly call Li Lao Hu out of the Li family, take him out to eat delicious food, and buy him toys and beautiful clothes.

Although the Li family disliked Dai Chunniang being a midwife, they turned a blind eye and pretended not to know because they saw that she was thinking about their son.

Therefore, the mother and son often met and did not become estranged because of Dai Chunniang's return.

It was Li Lao Hu's tenth birthday. The Li family had no custom of celebrating children's birthdays, but Dai Chunniang had already promised Li Lao Hu that on his birthday, she would take him to the newly opened Hong Man Lou in the capital for a good meal.

Li Lao Hu kept counting the days and finally waited until his birthday. He waited from morning to afternoon, but Dai Chunniang did not come to pick him up.

As it was getting dark, Dai's cousin suddenly hurried to the Li family and said to Li Lao Hu's grandmother, "Grandma Li, my aunt is dying. Please allow me to go with you to see her for the last time."

Grandma Li was shocked. Although she didn't like her daughter-in-law, she still felt bad that someone she had seen a few days ago died so suddenly.

She gave a few instructions and let Li Lao Hu go with his cousin from the Dai family.

Soon, Li Lao Hu met Dai Chunniang, but the situation was not what he imagined. He thought Dai Chunniang was sick, but in fact, she was injured.

Dai Chunniang was covered in wounds and was dying. When she saw Li Lao Hu, she used all her strength and shouted, "Go, let him go!"

The uncle sighed, pressed the crying Li Laohu to the ground, kowtowed three times to Dai Chunniang, then covered his mouth and took him and his cousin to the Dai family's old house in the capital while it was dark.

The old house had never been sold because it was flooded, and it had been vacant for many years and no one had been there for a long time.

The uncle placed the two children here and told them, "Child, be obedient. Your mother is in big trouble and she doesn't want her to live. You are her only flesh and blood. She must be worried about you staying in the capital. You stay here first. When your uncle arranges the family affairs, he will take you with him and we will leave the capital together."

At that moment, the young Li Lao Hu suddenly realized that he might never see his mother again.

He stopped crying and waited obediently for his uncle in the old house with his cousin.

And my uncle went to see Grandma Li.

The next day, my uncle and aunt came and left the capital with their family valuables and two children.

The uncle sent his aunt and cousin to his aunt's parents' home, and then, following the instructions of Li's grandmother, sent Li Lao Hu to Fuling County, which was the Li family's ancestral home.

With the help of a letter written by Li's grandmother at her uncle's request, Li Lao Hu was placed in his uncle's house by the clan elders.

In fact, the uncle wanted to raise Li Lao Hu himself, but the Li family did not agree. Even if Li Lao Hu could not stay in the Li family, he had to be sent to the Li family.

Although Li Lao Hu was still a child, his uncle told him what happened to Dai Chunniang before leaving.

"Your mother has always wanted to earn more money to save for you to marry a wife and buy a house, so she would not miss any business opportunity.

About seven or eight days before the accident, a maid came to the house and said that the lady in the family was about to give birth and asked her to go over and take a look.

Your mother never came back after she left. The maid came again and said that the eldest lady was about to give birth and your mother had to stay there to watch her, so she asked her to come back and get some clean clothes.

We are in this line of work, and this kind of thing happens all the time, so we have no doubts.