Chapter 43: 43

The other party was saying strange things. Although no names were mentioned, it sounded very uncomfortable. But the man didn’t finish what he said and stopped abruptly halfway through, as if choking.

Jun Qing could be considered a man with a cool personality who was not easily angered, and even he was in a very unpleasant mood at the moment, not to mention Wei Chongrong. If Wei Zhao wasn’t holding his shoulders, he would have definitely jumped up. Who was the bastard that dared to accuse Wei Zhao behind his back?

Wei Zhao turned around leisurely and said carelessly: “If Young Master has something to say, please make it clear. Wouldn’t it make people confused if you cut off the end?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a young man in purple clothes came out of the shadows and said cupping his fist in greeting: “It turned out to be His Imperial Highness Wang Qin. This villain didn’t recognise Mount Tai. I apologise for the offence.” His voice was a bit similar to the voice of the man before, but it was not him.

Wei Zhao was dressed casually, and when he saw someone who directly revealed his identity, he couldn’t help frowning. Fortunately, the volume of that man’s voice was not high, and they were surrounded by guards from Hou Zhaoyang’s residence, so word wouldn’t spread out. He waved his hand and said, “There’s no need to be polite when you’re out and about. Who are you?”

Wei Zhao had been back in the capital for half a year and had studied the profiles of the young officials who had emerged in recent years, so he could basically match them all, but he had no recollection of this young man in purple.

“My name is Xue Jian, greetings to Young Master.” Xue Jian seemed to be a clever man, and when Wei Zhao showed a slight look of displeasure, he immediately changed his way of addressing.

“So you’re Official Xue’s son, nice to meet you.” Hearing the surname “Xue”, Wei Zhao immediately realised the identity of the young man in purple; the eldest son of Xue Rui, the Left Shilang of the Central Secretariat.

That was Xue Rui’s son? If Wei Zhao’s eyes only showed careless disdain, then Wei Chongrong’s surprise was unparalleled. In his previous life, he had never met Xue Jian, but he had heard a lot about his father Xue Rui.

The witchcraft scourge a few years later was caused by Xue Rui. It was him who recommended the wandering Taoist monk to Wei Su. It was him who led the people to dig out the wooden puppet(1) in the Eastern Palace, and he was also responsible for the death of Wei Ming and Princess Yuankang’s families…

Of course, when Wei Chongrong returned to the Great Yan, the Xue family had already been wiped out by the repentant emperor, but this did not stop him from despising and hating Xue Rui. Now that he saw Xue Rui’s son, he naturally hated him.

The things Wei Chongrong knew had not yet happened, and Wei Zhao obviously had no way of knowing them, but Xue Rui had climbed from a seventh-rank magistrate to a high position of the Left Shilang of the Central Secretariat, not by virtue of his own ability but by flattery and offerings to the magistrates. It would be strange for Wei Zhao to look kindly at his son.

Wei Zhao didn’t want to talk much to Xue Jian, so he asked directly: “If I heard you right, Young Master Xue’s companion seemed to be saying before that I robbed you of your private room and lantern. Can you make it clear?”

Xue Jian smiled calmly and said in a deep voice: “Young Master heard it wrong. What my younger brother and I were talking about was not originally about that, we were separated by some distance, you might have misheard…”

“Really?” Wei Zhao raised his eyebrows, noy believing Xue Jian’s words. “If that’s the case, this is the end of the matter. See you later.”

Xue Jian cupped his fist and said, “Young Master, take care, I won’t delay you.” His tone and expression seem to be really respectful.

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The carriage from Hou Zhaoyang’s residence was parked not far from the river. Wei Zhao and the others got into the carriage and drove slowly towards Hou Zhaoyang’s residence.

Jun Qing rubbed his forehead and said with a headache: “What exactly is the Xue family’s intention in acting like this?” First they accused Wei Zhao, and then denied it. There was no logic at all. Jun Qing didn’t believe Xue Jian’s younger brother didn’t see them before he spoke out.

Wei Zhao thought for a while and said, “I guess robbing them of the private room is true. Let’s go back and ask Meng Junda. It’s hard to say about robbing them of the lantern. I don’t even know who sent the lantern. It’s just that…”

“Just what?” Jun Qing looked up at him with a little curiosity in his eyes.

Wei Zhao sighed and said: “The Xue family was standing in the shadows, it was normal not to see us. I suspect that Xue Xiao didn’t see us when he spoke.” Xue Rui has two sons, the eldest named Xue Jian and the second named Xue Xiao.

“Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?” Jun Qing still didn’t believe it. Even if they had robbed the Xue family of their private room and lantern, it would be too much to say that it was a coincidence that the Xue family was complaining about it nowhere else but behind their backs, and that they overheard it by accident.

Wei Zhao curled his lips and said with a wry smile: “Whether it is or not, since Xue Jian denied it, we can only treat it as if we didn’t hear it, otherwise it would be quite humiliating to have this matter come out.”

Back at Hou Zhaoyang’s residence, Jun Qing was obviously tired and went straight back to his room to rest. Wei Zhao called Meng Junda and asked him if he had a conflict with the Xue family when he booked a private room in the Star-Picking House.

Meng Junda was taken aback and replied honestly that he had been late and all four private rooms on the fifth floor were booked out, and the only one left was on the fourth floor. He just thought that the prince of his family with his noble status couldn’t be inferior to others, so he asked Boss Du who booked the private rooms on the fifth floor.

Boss Du was a discerning person. Knowing that Meng Junda was the steward of Wang Qin, he immediately told him that there were the families of Ping County Wang, Wang Yong’an, Gong Song and Official Xue. Meng Junda figured it out. The first two were also imperial families. They came first, and he had nothing to say. Xie Song, Guogong Song, was Princess Yuankang’s husband’s eldest brother, and even Wei Zhao had to give him a bit of face, so Meng Junda didn’t dare to offend him. The only one left was Official Xue. He was not from a distinguished background, not of a high official position. If he didn’t let go of his private room, who should? So God help him.

“Meng Junda, you aren’t an undercover agent sent by someone, are you?” Wei Zhao, in his anger, grabbed the fruit plate on the table and threw it at Meng Junda who was still smiling smugly. Apples, oranges and pears rolled all over the floor.

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Wei Zhao originally thought that the so-called robbery of the private room was the room being booked by the two families almost at the same time, and Meng Junda winning over the Xue family by using the status of the imperial family. But he didn’t expect that the Xue family had already booked a private room on the fifth floor and it was Meng Junda who drove people away. Wasn’t it to generate hatred towards him?

Meng Junda was blinded by the fruit that came crashing down on his head, and his whole body was frozen. After a while, he recovered, dropped on his knees and begged for mercy: “Your Highness, this humble servant is loyal to you. If I have some bad intentions, let Heaven punish me by death, let me be struck by lightning…”

Wei Zhao didn’t want to hear his long-winded speech, so he waved his hand hurriedly: “Stop, stop talking, go to the Minister Steward to get caned, and then send a gift to Official Xue’s house as an apology. There is also the lantern. We must investigate who sent it.”

“This servant obeys.” Seeing that although Wei Zhao punished him, he still had tasks for him to do after the punishment, Meng Junda immediately understood that Wei Zhao was only punishing him in a small way and did not mean to banish him. So he gladly accepted the order, got up and went outside.

Wei Zhao shook his head speechlessly, and hurriedly called him: “Come back, come back, it’s a big holiday, and it’s nighttime, can someone in the Minister Steward’s place be waiting to swing the stick for you? Go at dawn.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Meng Junda stopped, turned around, saluted and then retreated.

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After Meng Junda left, Wei Chongrong rushed over and asked, “Daddy, do you doubt Steward Meng?” Meng Junda was a person from the Minister Steward. Although he was not personally selected by Wei Zhao, he was appointed by the empress. He couldn’t be a spy, could he?

Wei Zhao picked up Wei Chongrong and frowned: “Using him as an undercover agent would only get one in trouble. This guy has some intelligence, but he is of no great use. I will have to move him to a different position later.”

Wei Chongrong understood that it was not that Wei Zhao didn’t trust Meng Junda, but that he didn’t like his level. However, Wei Zhao had just returned to Yujing and he didn’t have a real job, so he couldn’t afford to form his own team for the time being and could only make do with the existing manpower first, then replacing it if there were suitable candidates in the future.

It was late, and Wei Zhao didn’t plan to take Wei Chongrong back to his residence, so they stayed at Hou Zhaoyang’s mansion. Anyway, when Jun Qing was renovating the house, he had a courtyard specially cleaned up for Wei Zhao and it was very convenient to stay there.

Wei Chongrong had a good nap earlier, but at this moment he was completely drowsy. He lay on his side beside Wei Zhao, playing with the jade huang around his neck, and asked, “Daddy, how many days are we going to live here?” He could see that Wei Zhao had no plans to leave tomorrow.

Wei Zhao turned sideways and faced him, saying with a chuckle: “How about living until the little brother is born?” Ji Xin and Lu Ming were both too busy to get out of the Western Camp. How could he rest assured if Jun Qing stayed in the mansion alone; naturally he would have to accompany him.

Wei Chongrong nodded, having no objection to Wei Zhao’s statement. After the father and son chatted in the bed for a long time, Wei Chongrong fell asleep. Wei Zhao hugged his son and fell asleep not long after.

At midnight, someone knocked on Wei Zhao’s door very rapidly. When Wei Zhao was awakened, he also woke up Wei Chongrong.

Wei Chongrong opened his eyes with a blank expression on his face. If it weren’t for an emergency, no one would have knocked on Wei Zhao’s door. This was the residence of Hou Zhaoyang, not the residence of Wang Qin.

Wei Zhao sat up, grabbing his clothes, and raised his voice: “Who is there? What’s the matter?” He didn’t like people keeping watch in the room when he slept, so he could only answer the door himself.

“Your Highness, this old servant is the steward of Master Hou’s mansion. I have something important to say.” An old voice came from outside the door.

Wei Zhao, who was already dressed, said, “Uncle Fu, come in.” The old steward of Hou Zhaoyang’s residence was the one who took care of Jun Lin when he was growing up. Wei Zhao had always been very polite to him.

Uncle Fu came in and closed the door first before pulling out a letter from his sleeve and presenting it to Wei Zhao: “Your Highness, this is an urgent letter from the Western Camp. Something has happened to Wang Changning. This old servant doesn’t dare to tell Master Hou, so I could only come to report it to you.”

Wei Zhao took the letter and read it hurriedly, his face turning livid. Uncle Fu looked at him and said worriedly: “The soldiers of Wang Changning say that he is seriously poisoned, but they can’t tell friend from foe and don’t dare to act rashly, escorting Wang Changning to break out of the siege. But they are afraid that if they delay too much, the poison…”

It was just an internal drill, and someone had actually coated an arrow with poison and tried to kill Ji Xin. Wei Zhao crumpled the letter into a ball and said in a deep voice: “Uncle Fu, you are right not to tell Qing’er. Keep it from him. I’ll go and bring Xin’er back.”

Hearing Wei Zhao and Uncle Fu’s conversation, Wei Chongrong’s messy mind instantly became clear. Ji Xin was poisoned and was in a very bad situation, but in his previous life, he had never heard of such a thing.

Compared with his famous ancestor, Ji Xin in Wei Chongrong’s memory was very inconspicuous. He joined the Crown Prince’s rebellion, was defeated and died, and was even stripped of his title after his death.

Wei Ming remained the Crown Prince until his death, and Wei Su never abolished him, but the title of Wang Changning, even though there was no one to inherit it, was never restored. Ji Xin’s death was therefore dishonourable, not only bearing the charge of conspiracy and rebellion, but also bringing an end to all the glory of the Ji family at his hands.

Wei Chongrong once thought that except for assisting the Crown Prince in the rebellion, Ji Xin had never had a record of fighting on the battlefield in his life because he was young and unskillful and did not inherit the Ji family’s fine tradition of being a good fighter. But the Ji Xin he saw after he was reborn was obviously not that kind of person, and Wei Chongrong wondered about it for a long time.

Now, Wei Chongrong vaguely guessed the reason. Perhaps it was the poison that did not leave a record back then that caused great damage to Ji Xin’s body. Otherwise, with his age and skill, even if he was not the main general, it would be impossible for him not to go to the battlefield.

Wei Chongrong was about to warn Wei Zhao, when Jun Qing’s voice came from outside the door: “What happened? You are not allowed to hide it from me!”

A wooden sculpture of someone buried to put the curse on that person

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