Red Mansion: After being expelled from the family, I was granted the title of Marquis of Mobei

Chapter 68: Sheng Hong's determination and Kang Haifeng's quick thinking

After hearing this, Jia Jue nodded and said.

"I will naturally do my best to protect the Sheng family's success or failure, but the future is entirely up to my father-in-law."

After the father-in-law and son-in-law looked at each other, everything was said without words.

After a brief farewell, Old Lady Sheng and Sheng Hong left the Marquis' Mansion.

Not long after, in the bedroom at the back hall of the Marquis' Mansion, Sheng Minglan and Zhang Guifen were waiting anxiously.

When she saw Jia Jue coming into the room, Sheng Minglan hurriedly came up to him and asked.

"Husband, what happened at the Sheng family?"

Jia Jue did not hide anything and told the whole story in front of the two ladies.

After hearing that Sheng Changfeng was involved in such a major case, Sheng Minglan was frightened.

"Husband, can the Sheng family escape this time?"

Jia Jue gently held Sheng Minglan's hand and said.

"Whether you can escape depends on your father-in-law's decision. Anyway, everything has been discussed."

"Okay, Minglan, you don't have to worry. My father-in-law has been in the political arena for so many years. I think he will make a wise choice."

"Don't be so frightened. It's getting late. Go to bed early."

Zhang Guifen said after hesitating for a moment.

"Husband, I feel a little unwell today and want to rest by myself. Please accompany Sister Minglan."

After hearing this, Sheng Minglan and Jia Jue both understood what Zhang Guifen meant. Needless to say, Zhang Guifen felt that the Sheng family had suddenly encountered a misfortune and was worried that Sheng Minglan would feel upset, so she asked Jia Jue to spend more time with Sheng Minglan to comfort her.

Jia Jue said after giving Zhang Guifen a light kiss.

"Madam is thoughtful."

Zhang Guifen smiled gently after hearing this, and then Jia Jue took Sheng Minglan to the side room in the courtyard to rest.

After arriving at the wing room, Sheng Minglan hesitated for a moment and then looked at Jia Jue and said.

"My dear husband, this is what you told me about waiting for the right time."

"My third brother was involved in the imperial examination cheating. Did you know about it before?"

Jia Jue nodded slightly and said.

"I know I can't hide it from you. That's right. Ever since you told me about your biological mother's blood feud, I've been thinking about where to start."

"So I left spies near the Sheng family to keep an eye on the movements of Linqi Pavilion."

"But you know the situation of Lin Qinshuang and Sheng Molan. They don't have much chance to leave the Sheng family alone, so it's hard for them to have a good opportunity to attack."

"Sheng Changfeng, on the other hand, is a playboy who likes to do evil things with a bunch of bad friends."

"So it's easier to write about him."

Sheng Minglan said with great anxiety after hearing this.

"My husband, cheating in the imperial examination is such a sinister thing. How could you manipulate such a major case just to avenge me?"

"If the news leaks out, what will happen to our family?"

Jia Jue hugged Sheng Minglan and said gently.

"I did want to manipulate the imperial examinations, but I'm a military officer with no connections in the court and no familiarity with the examiners. How would I get the essay topics?"

"This imperial examination cheating case was truly orchestrated by the Crown Prince and the Queen."

"The other five candidates involved are all blood relatives of ministers in the court."

"To be frank, if you hadn't married into the Marquis' Mansion, your third brother probably wouldn't even be in their sight this time."

"This time it can be considered a blessing in disguise. The Crown Prince and the Queen wanted to use your third brother's incident to force my father-in-law to ask me to intercede for him. They wanted to use this as leverage to make me secretly serve the Crown Prince."

"The reason why Master Lou and the others asked Kang Haifeng to approach my father-in-law was to use his emotions to lower his vigilance."

Sheng Minglan said after hesitating for a moment.

"My father really has the determination to sacrifice my third brother."

"Besides, it wasn't my intention to get my third brother into trouble. I just wanted to make that vicious woman, Lin Xiaoniang, pay the price she deserved."

"My third brother is probably doomed now, but that vicious woman, Lin Xiaoniang, still hasn't been punished."

After hearing this, Jia Jue held Sheng Minglan's face and looked at her and said.

"Minglan, it's difficult for things in this world to be perfect. Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary to achieve a goal."

"As for Lin Qinshuang, you don't have to worry. This time, your father-in-law will definitely not tolerate her."

"If she hadn't sold the Sheng family's property without telling her father-in-law and raised five thousand taels of silver for Sheng Changfeng to buy the imperial examination papers, nothing would have happened later."

Hearing this, Sheng Minglan nodded excitedly, and then snuggled in Jia Jue's arms.

"My husband, I, I,..."

Jia Jue held Sheng Minglan's hand and said.

"Okay, I'll do what I promised you."

"But I have to say, your father is actually a really cruel person."

Sheng Minglan asked doubtfully.

"Why do you say that, my husband?"

Jia Jue said calmly.

"Actually, I noticed that your father had already figured out how to solve the problem on the way here."

"He must have discussed this with your grandmother when he was at the Sheng family, but your grandmother didn't give an answer according to his thinking."

"He and the old lady came to the Marquis' Mansion to ask me to clean up the mess, which was secondary. His biggest purpose was actually to use my words to strengthen his determination to kill his son."

"This will help alleviate his remorse for killing his son, that's all."

"Even if I wasn't there, he would definitely kill your third brother in the end."

"In his heart, compared to the Sheng family's glory, disgrace, rise and fall, no one in the Sheng family is important, even himself."

"Because of this, nothing is unsacrificable, let alone a concubine and a son."

Hearing this, Sheng Minglan said with a chill in her heart.

"There were many suspicious circumstances surrounding my mother's death during childbirth. I initially thought it was because my father didn't care about her at all, so he buried her hastily."

"Now it seems that what my husband said is consistent."

"Husband, you won't become like my father in the future, will you?"

Jia Jue said with a hint of helplessness after hearing this.

"You really know how to ask."

"Well, let me ask you, do you know what freedom is?"

Sheng Minglan said after thinking for a while.

"Then you can do whatever you want."

Jia Jue waved his hand and said.

"Of course not. If you don't want to do something, you can do it."

"Minglan, when I was forced to leave the Divine Capital, I made up my mind."

"From now on, I will never put myself in such a passive situation again."

"Now that I have the capital, no one can force me to do anything I don't want to do, not even Your Majesty." Sheng Minglan was frightened when she heard this, and hurriedly covered Jia Jue's mouth. Then she looked around and made sure that there was no one around before speaking very cautiously.

"My dear husband, please be careful with your words. How dare you say such a thing?"

Jia Jue gently took Sheng Minglan's hand and said.

"Okay, just remember, I will never sacrifice my family and loved ones, because you are everything to me."

"I think the Sheng family will be very lively tomorrow, so you should be prepared."

Sheng Minglan nodded slightly, and then the couple fell asleep in each other's arms.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, bad news came from the Sheng family. Linqi Pavilion suddenly caught fire last night, and Sheng Changfeng, Lin Xiaoniang and Sheng Molan were all killed in the fire.

After receiving the news, Sheng Minglan couldn't help but be shocked. She didn't expect that her father would be so ruthless and wipe out Lin Qige in one fell swoop.

Looking at the entire Sheng family, the saddest person is not anyone else, but the eldest lady Wang Ruofu.

At this time, in Weiruixuan, Sheng Hualan was comforting Wang Ruofu.

"Mother, please don't cry. You always hated Lin Qige with all your heart. Why are you crying like this just because they died?"

Wang Ruofu waved her hand and said.

"You know what? I'm only angry at that bitch Lin Qinshuang. Even if I hate her, I've never thought of killing her. I'll just sell her out. Besides, Changfeng Molan is also of the Sheng family, your younger brother and sister."

"It would be fine if we fought each other on normal days, but now I have to watch them hiding in the sea of ​​fire. How can I feel comfortable?"

After hearing this, Sheng Hualan didn't know what to say. No wonder her mother couldn't defeat Lin Qinshuang for so many years. With such a kind heart and simple mind, it was fortunate that she married into the Sheng family. If she had found a family of equal status, she would probably have been eaten to pieces by now.

Just as Sheng Hualan was gently patting Wang Ruofu's back to comfort her, the maid came into the room, bowed and said.

"Madam, Miss, the Champion Marquis has arrived with the Sixth Miss, and the Master wants Madam to come over."

After hearing that Jia Jue had arrived, Sheng Hualan's heart couldn't help but ripple, and she remembered the time when Jia Jue accidentally entered the villa at the hot spring villa.

Recalling that ambiguous incident, Sheng Hualan couldn't help feeling a little shy. At the same time, she was extremely envious of her sixth sister, who married a husband with such strong capital.

Throughout the entire day, Jia Jue and Sheng Minglan helped the Sheng family deal with the funeral arrangements. As for the Zhongqin Marquis' Mansion, there was not even a trace of a single person there, which made Wang Ruofu even more dissatisfied with the Zhongqin Marquis' Mansion.

In the evening, in the study room of Grand Tutor Lou's residence, Grand Tutor Lou sat in the main seat, looking at Kang Haifeng who was standing beside him with an unhappy look on his face.

Kang Haifeng stood there trembling, feeling extremely uneasy, with his head down and silent.

The atmosphere in the study was extremely solemn. After a long time, Master Lou said calmly.

"Kang Haifeng, I remember you solemnly assured me that your brother-in-law Sheng Hong favored his concubine the most and also favored her children."

"As long as you mediate, you will definitely be able to convince Sheng Hong to drag Guanjun Hou into the water."

"That's why I arranged for you to contact Sheng Hong."

"Now, the Sheng Mansion has caught fire, and Sheng Changfeng and others have perished in the flames."

"Your promise is really stinky and silent."

Kang Haifeng said uneasily.

"Master, this time, this time I made a mistake in my prediction."

"Sheng Hong always favors his concubine over his wife. His concubines even take precedence over his wife."

"Besides, the Sheng family favors concubines and abandons wives, which is a tradition from generation to generation. Sheng Hong's father was like that."

"Old Madam Sheng was the only daughter of Marquis Yongyi and married into the Sheng family."

"But her eldest son was killed by a concubine, and Sheng Hong's father didn't care and even blindly protected the concubine."

"Finally, after the concubine was beaten to death by the people in the marquis' mansion, Sheng Hong's father died of depression soon after."

"That's why I think Sheng Hong must be the same."

"I didn't expect him to be so cruel and decisive."

"Please forgive me, Master."

Master Lou said with a sneer.

"Who gave the order? Do I need to explain it to you in detail?"

"I forgive you, but who forgives me?"

"You'd better use your brain and make yourself more valuable. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

Kang Haifeng was so frightened when he heard this that he fell to his knees.

"Master, please spare me, Master, please spare me."

"This time, I have overreached. I beg you, Grand Master, to forgive me and speak well of me in front of Her Majesty, so that I may have another chance to redeem myself and make meritorious contributions."

Master Lou said calmly.

"I don't want to say the same thing again."

Kang Haifeng knew that if he couldn't provide any value, he would be out of money in a matter of minutes.

After racking his brains, Kang Haifeng suddenly had an idea.

"Grandmaster, I know there is another person who also holds a deep hatred for the Marquis of Guanjun, and he will definitely be able to become the Crown Prince's right-hand man."

After hearing this, Master Lou spoke with great interest.

"tell me the story."

Kang Haifeng then told Master Lou about how his wife, Aunt Kang, had been eaten by a vicious tiger in a hot spring outside Beijing.

Master Lou said with some doubt.

"She died, it was an accident after all. The Marquis of Guanjun had no grudge against her, so it couldn't be that he killed her."

Kang Haifeng waved his hand and said.

"Taifu, you don't know this, but my wife is truly vicious and cruel, possessing all five evils."

"Among my concubines and illegitimate sons and daughters alone, eight or nine died at her hands."

"She hated to see others succeed. Most likely, she did something when she went to Tangquan Villa in the suburbs of Beijing with my cousin, angering the Champion Marquis and causing her death."

"There are many suspicious points about her being killed by a tiger. It seems like it was man-made, but there is no evidence."

"But I know that my mother-in-law dotes on me as her wife the most, and I have helped her clean up countless messes."

"My mother-in-law has been pursuing this matter ever since she died."

"My father-in-law was once the prime minister, and he had many students and friends in the court. Although he has been gone for many years, many people still believe in my mother-in-law."

"If the Grand Tutor finds the Wang family useful, I will definitely find ways to help the Crown Prince gain the Wang family's support, and even use the Wang family as a spearhead against the Champion Marquis."

"I wonder what the Grand Tutor thinks."

Master Lou looked at Kang Haifeng meaningfully and said.

"Okay, okay, I didn't expect that, Kang Haifeng, you gave me a surprise."

It has to be said that Old Master Wang is still very valuable. He holds the position of Prime Minister and is entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Although he has little deterrent power over Master Lou now, if he can be won over to the Wang family to be used as cannon fodder to deal with Marquis Guanjun, he will undoubtedly be very qualified.

Then the two of them began to discuss the follow-up matters intensively.

In the evening, at the Sheng family's home in Jiying Lane, after a busy day, the family finally calmed down.

Although Sheng Hong hated Sheng Changfeng and his mother who almost overthrew the Sheng family.

But in order to conceal his tracks, Sheng Hong had no choice but to arrange the funeral for the three people, and everything was done according to the rules.

(End of this chapter)