Tianliangyuan

Chapter 386 The family is in turmoil!

The female official who betrayed the Empress had already been beaten to death. Of course, she had suffered a lot of torture before that. She eventually confessed that she had a long-standing relationship with Madam Zhou from the Prince An's mansion, so they would meet privately on occasional occasions.

Therefore, she revealed some of the Empress's movements to Lady Zhou on three separate occasions.

As for Lady Zhou inquiring about these things, the female official only thought that Prince An wanted to please his mother, so he deliberately inquired indirectly. She never thought that Lady Zhou and Prince An were not on the same side at all.

Prince An and Princess An were summoned to the palace by Empress Qu in the afternoon for a talk.

That evening, Madam Zhou, who lived in Prince An's mansion, was confined to her quarters. The official explanation was that she had caught a cold and, to prevent her from infecting others, the courtyard was temporarily sealed off.

In reality, Lady Zhou had been stripped of her fine clothes and was now tied to a pillar. Prince An held a whip in one hand and was leisurely playing with a jade ornament in the other.

"This thing looks unfamiliar to me. Where did it come from?"

Madam Zhou was terrified by this turn of events.

She was originally just the daughter of a wealthy merchant. The reason she was brought into the Prince An's mansion was not only because her family was incredibly wealthy, but also because she had an uncle who was an official in the imperial court.

Although he was just a minor official, he was still an official nonetheless.

By bringing her in, Prince An was essentially gaining the support of a minor official and a powerful financial backer.

But who would have thought that Madam Zhou herself was so useless?

It turned out that Jiang Ning had secretly bribed him long ago and had been working for him all along.

Jiang Ning also relied on her memories from her previous life to know how important the Zhou family's wealth was to Prince An, which is why she took the initiative to approach Madam Zhou and then tried to make it work for her.

Unexpectedly, Xu Zhaozhao's few casual words had rendered all her previous efforts futile.

Xu Zhaozhao could not possibly have actually gone to that teahouse and seen these things herself, but she did know about it because she had an intelligence network that no one else could possibly guess.

After verifying all of this, Empress Qu became even more wary of the Prince Zhong's residence and the Jiang family.

Grand Tutor Jiang was a high-ranking official of the previous dynasty, and no matter how noble Empress Qu's status was, she could not get involved in politics.

However, that doesn't mean she had no other way to deal with the Jiang family.

For example, her elder brother is now the Minister of Personnel.

If they can't deal with Grand Tutor Jiang, can't they at least deal with the other members of the Jiang family?

Thus, Jiang Yanping's cousin, a member of the Jiang family in his early thirties who was originally expected to be transferred back to the capital, did not receive the order to be transferred to the capital. Instead, he received a transfer order to go to the southern border.

Moreover, it was a flat tune.

There were specific rules regarding where officials served and what rank they held in the imperial court.

It may seem like a lateral transfer, but the further away you are from the capital and the poorer the place you are assigned to, the more it means you have been demoted and lost the emperor's favor.

Jiang Taifu's influence was still limited to the Ministry of Personnel.

By the time Grand Tutor Jiang learned of this news, his nephew was already on his way to take up his post, and it was too late to change anything.

Grand Tutor Jiang was a clever man. After some investigation, he naturally realized that this was Minister Qu's intention. Grand Tutor Jiang was puzzled. He and Qu Shiji had always kept to themselves and had even been tacitly allies a few years ago.

So what exactly happened?

Jiang Taifu personally invited Qu Shiji to have tea, and Qu Shiji naturally had to give him face.

"Lord Jiang, it's not that I'm deliberately making things difficult for your Jiang family. It's just that your Jiang family started it all, and I had no choice."

Qu Shiji first poured out his grievances, saying that all of this was caused by the Empress's fury in the palace, who even rebuked Prince An and punished Princess An.

Jiang Taifu was completely bewildered by these words.

So what does all of this have to do with me?

The Empress is furious. Why is she targeting the Jiang family?

Qu Shiji sighed.

"Lord Jiang, you are an elder, and as a junior, I still have to advise you: if your descendants are unworthy, your family will be in turmoil!"

Grand Tutor Jiang's expression changed slightly: "Nephew, what do you mean by this? I am old and have indeed failed to take good care of you. If the younger generation of my Jiang family has offended the Empress or you, I will certainly give you justice."

Qu Shiji just shook his head and smiled bitterly. After a moment, he whispered, "Historically, the heir apparent should be the legitimate heir. The Empress has three sons, all of whom are of good character. It's best not to interfere in matters that are not in line with your status."

Crown Prince?

Jiang Taifu's mind flashed quickly to Jiang Ning's image, and he seemed to know who had caused the disaster.

Qu Shiji had already made his intentions quite clear.

After returning home, Grand Tutor Jiang immediately used his connections in the palace to investigate. He didn't dare tell his daughter, as he couldn't let her worry about everything.

Jiang Yanhui didn't look well.

Although he doesn't hold a real position now, he's in charge of managing some of the Jiang family's connections, especially some crucial ones.

"Father, the investigation is complete. Someone planted spies in Empress Qu's palace and leaked information about her to people outside the palace several times. Empress Qu was furious and eventually the investigation led to Prince An's residence, where the palace ladies-in-waiting were beaten to death."

"The Prince An's Mansion?"

“That’s right. My people found out that on the same day the female official was beaten to death, a Lady Zhou from the Prince An’s residence fell ill with a sudden illness. The entire courtyard was sealed off, and just two days ago, this Lady Zhou died suddenly.”

Jiang Yanping didn't understand.

"Since they are from the Prince An's mansion, why is the Qu family targeting our Jiang family?"

Grand Tutor Jiang was in no hurry, and slowly looked at his second son: "What else have you found out?"

Jiang Yanhui looked somewhat helpless, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes.

"Madam Zhou had a close relationship with Jiang Ning's maid, and Jiang Ning even gave Madam Zhou one of her dowry jade lotus ornaments. After Prince An discovered the item, it was sent directly to the palace. It is said that Empress Qu specially bestowed this jade lotus ornament upon Consort Liu, the birth mother of Prince Zhong. Consort Liu was unaware of the meaning behind it and regarded it as a treasure, cherishing it dearly."

Jiang Yanping immediately gasped.

What kind of bizarre operation is this?

"No, to be more specific, was His Majesty present when Prince An sent the jade lotus flower into the palace?"

Jiang Yanhui looked desperate, closed his eyes and nodded.

"His Majesty was also present at the time. According to Prince An, one of his concubines sent the jade lotus to him in an attempt to win his favor. However, he felt that the jade lotus was beautifully shaped and exquisitely crafted, and that it was a carved ornament more suitable for women. So he brought it into the palace to present to the Empress, which can be considered a way for him to show his filial piety."

Now that the origins of the jade lotus have been made public, even if the Jiang family wanted to use underhanded tactics, they would have no chance.

For a moment, Jiang Taifu was in a state of mental turmoil. It felt as if a large hand was tightly gripping his chest, making even breathing extremely painful, and he was unable to move his entire body.

The two brothers noticed their father's unusual behavior and quickly went to him, asking, "Father?"

Upon seeing that his lips had turned purple, Jiang Yanhui immediately shouted towards the outside, "Quickly, fetch the imperial physician!"