kingnovel Chapter 376 Knowing the truth
Chapter 376 Knowing the truth
Broke up unhappily.
But the younger sister was full of confidence; she was determined to do what she wanted.
Now we can only wait for the right opportunity, which is right at the end of the year. After the New Year's Eve banquet, it will be the Spring Festival, and we will have to go to the palace to pay our respects to the emperor.
She had the opportunity to make contact, so she tried to get close to the emperor.
The only thing she needed to think about was how to seize this opportunity to get the emperor to bring her into the palace.
Si Muyan stood there dumbfounded, not recovering for a long time.
The younger sister is right; the one who has truly changed is her. Looking at her younger sister through the lens of modern thinking, this isn't the real change. The real change is that in the years since she traveled through time, she has slowly been assimilated by this place.
But she had long forgotten her original aspirations in this comfortable life.
The 27th day of the twelfth lunar month marks the start of the "sealing off" holiday, which lasts until the 10th day of the first lunar month when the seals are reopened and all departments resume their duties.
My second sister has been extremely busy these past few days, compiling all the tasks she has undertaken since joining the company into a booklet and handing it over to the officials she has worked with.
Then he left.
She held no official position and left after finishing her own business. The other officials, however, had to wait for the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the two Vice Ministers to finish their conversation before they could leave.
The adults all praised the second sister.
"I originally thought that it was improper for Si Mutong, a woman, to be mixed up with us. I didn't expect her to be so serious and responsible in her work, far more capable than the minor officials under my command."
“I think so too. There was a case where a woman killed her husband, and there were many suspicious points. I discussed it for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. She quickly found the old case files for me and analyzed the current laws and regulations with me one by one. Only then was the case quickly reopened and closed.”
"Speaking of which, we also have such difficult moments when we are handling cases. If a woman helps us, many inconveniences can be easily resolved."
Hearing everyone's comments, Feng Ziheng looked at Prince Ning and asked, "Your Highness, what do you think about our Dali Temple pioneering the recruitment of women from the common people to join our ranks?"
Prince Ning nodded slowly: "It seems feasible."
The group then had a more detailed discussion about the matter.
Those old scholars who used to look down on women no longer rejected her because they got along well with the second sister.
After the conversation ended, Prince Ning returned to his study. Although it was the end of the year and the official holiday was approaching, he could not rest yet, as he still had two cases to investigate.
At this moment, Ah Song came in and said, "Your Highness, Ah Run has returned."
Prince Ning put down the case file and said, "Let him in."
Arun was the attendant that Prince Ning sent to Lingnan to investigate two months ago when he felt there was something amiss between the second young lady of the Jiang family and the second young lady of the Si family.
When the attendant returned, he reported the situation of the Si family in detail.
"Ten years ago, the Si family was demoted to Lingnan and has been living in Songji Village, Fenghuang County ever since. At that time, the eldest son of the Si family was still alive. He was clever and quick-witted and took good care of the entire Si family. But after the eldest son passed away, the Si family went downhill."
"Later, first the second young lady of the Si family disregarded her father's orders and eloped with someone, and then the second young master of the Si family also died..."
Prince Ning was taken aback and interrupted him: "What did you say? The second young lady of the Si family didn't have a proper marriage, but... eloped with someone?"
He was very surprised, and Ah Song was also very surprised when he heard it.
That second young lady of the Si family doesn't seem like that kind of person.
Only Arun looked up at Prince Ning, his face blank with disbelief.
Prince Ning asked, "Who did she elope with? Where did she go afterward, and what is the situation with her husband's family? Why did she return to her parents' home with the child after giving birth?"
Arun remained silent for a long time.
Ah Song kicked him: "Say something!"
“Yes…” Arun took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and said, “The man Miss Si married is named Jiang Jianqiu.”
"Jiang Jianqiu?" It took Ah Song a while to react. "Who are you talking about? What's that person's name?"
“Jiang Jianqiu,” Arun said, “is… our Prince’s Jiang Jianqiu… Three years ago, because the Jiang family was too poor, and only Jiang Sanlang was hardworking and reliable, the Si family was worried that their second daughter would suffer if she married him, so they refused to let her marry him and kept her locked up at home. But the second young lady fell deeply in love with him and… after she had a child, her brother couldn’t bear it and secretly let her go.”
The room fell silent. After a long while, Prince Ning asked, "And then? Continue."
Ah Song carefully observed his expression. He seemed perfectly normal, as if he were listening to someone else's business. But Ah Song had known him for so long, how could he not know that the more he acted like this, the more he was pretending to be calm?
"Later, the Jiang family moved away. When Jiang Sanlang was still alive, he was very strong and hardworking, and could handle both the household and the outside world. The second young lady did not suffer much. However, the matriarch of the Jiang family was always finding fault with everything she did, and even said that she would only agree to divide the family property if Sanlang paid her fifty taels of silver."
"When Jiang Sanlang learned that his wife was pregnant, he did not want her to suffer, so he sold himself for sixty taels of silver to take the blame for the son of a wealthy family. Unexpectedly, he met a benefactor who took him to the border."
"The Jiang family received fifty taels of silver, but they still wouldn't let the second young lady leave. The second young lady was pregnant, and not only did she have to take care of her entire family, but she was also... almost assaulted by Jiang Erlang..."
Upon hearing this, Prince Ning clenched his fists, veins bulging, making Arun unable to continue speaking.
"Go on, tell me everything, down to the last detail!"
Arun said, "Not long after Jiang Sanlang left, news came that he had died. The Jiang family cursed the second young lady as a jinx and treated her worse than a human being. The second young lady endured humiliation and hardship for the sake of her unborn child, becoming thin and emaciated, and almost lost her life. Until the night of delivery, the Jiang family parents thought the child would not survive, so they found a hunter in the mountains and sent the child to be abandoned in the mountains..."
Even Ah Song, who had followed Prince Ning and witnessed so many horrific cases, couldn't help but exclaim in shock: "A newborn child, abandoned in the mountains? That child..."
"After losing her child, the second young lady was relentless and was beaten beyond recognition by the Jiang family and driven out of the house. It is believed that in order to find her daughter, she risked her last breath to return to the county town, where she happened to meet her own younger sister and was thus rescued."
Ah Song hurriedly asked, "Where's the child? The child..."
Arun said, "Fortunately, the Si family is all kind-hearted. After learning about the child, they all went up the mountain to search for him. With the help of the simple and honest villagers of Songji Village, the child was rescued alive."
"Amitabha Buddha, it's truly a blessing from Heaven!"
"So, that Jiang family is the family of my adoptive parents, and Jiang Sanlang Jiang Jianqiu is me?" Prince Ning's voice was hoarse, and his words trembled.
Arun replied, "Yes."
"No wonder...no wonder!" Prince Ning chuckled. "How could I be so foolish? Si Mutong is acting strangely in every way, and I couldn't even tell. I'm truly stupid!"
He never liked to procrastinate, and now that he knew the truth, he immediately got up to go find Si Mutong.
(I wanted to write something in the author's notes section, but there might be a system problem, so I can't type it there. I'll just write it here: Now that I have some free time, I'll be posting two chapters a day as usual, at 6:00 AM and 6:05 AM. Thank you to all my lovely readers for your support, love you all~)