How did such immense wealth fall into my family?

Chapter 129 What are you really afraid of?

Old Dong picked up the little dog Sheng and tied it to his body while asking, "How is it easy?"

"The emperor destroyed his country. Tell me, does he want the emperor to arrest and execute those who colluded with him, or does he want that person to continue hiding in the shadows and plotting against the emperor?"

Dong Laoqi understood. "Now that you put it that way, it's quite easy. Why did they choose Prince Xuan?"

"King Xuan is good at framing people, isn't he?"

That's true; King Xuan's mind was entirely on beautiful women.

Dong Laoqi was already skilled in martial arts, and he learned a lot of new things in the Dark Guard Camp. Xiao Gou Sheng also brought a lot of good stuff.

The two returned shortly after they left.

Qian Chunhua hadn't slept, and only felt relieved when they returned.

The next day, just as the Duke of Jin finished breakfast and was about to take Qian Chunhua to testify against Jiang Yuxin, the steward rushed in. "Your Highness, something has happened."

The Duke of Jin assumed that Jiang Yuxin's people already knew he had just brought Qian Chunhua back. "What are the guards in the manor doing? Are they beyond saving?"

The steward paused, taken aback. "My lord, do you think it was deliberate?"

"Of course it was man-made. Is there any hope for the person?"

"I don't know. There are two characters written on the gate of the Prince An's mansion."

"The Prince An's Mansion?"

"Yes. Everyone in the Prince An's mansion has fallen ill for some reason, and there are two words written on the gate of the mansion."

"What word?"

"Divine punishment."

Prince An has never used his status to intimidate others, so why would he incur divine punishment? "Are you sure it's Prince An's residence?"

"Confirmed. I went to check myself. I don't know how those two characters were written there. They can't be wiped off. People from the Prince An's residence are scraping them off with knives. All the people from the Prince An's residence have their heads wrapped in cloth. I guess they must have something on their faces. They're all swaying, like...like they've got the plague."

Duke Jin didn't bother looking for Qian Chunhua. "I'm going to the palace. Go tell the old lady not to let anyone in the mansion leave."

"Yes."

Meanwhile, the Emperor also received the news.

The Emperor closed his eyes briefly. "Summon Zhou Ziyan."

"Yes."

A moment later, Zhou Ziyan arrived.

Zhou Ziyan bowed to the Emperor. "Long live the Emperor!"

The Emperor paused for a long while before speaking: "Get up. You know about what happened at the Prince An's residence, right?"

"My subordinates know."

“Go. Although Prince An is a prince, he cannot spread the plague to the people.”

"Yes. I guarantee that not even a cat or dog can leave the Prince An's residence."

"Ah."

After Zhou Ziyan left, the Emperor summoned the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

The head of the Imperial Medical Academy had just left when the Duke of Jin and the Duke of Wei arrived.

The emperor waved his hand, and the palace servants all left.

"Do you think this is because someone has a grudge against Prince An? Or is it Heaven showing me the way?"

How to answer this?

The Emperor knew they couldn't answer. "You brought back Nineteen, Twenty, and Qian Chunhua?"

"They only brought Qian Chunhua back."

"Why? Why won't the Qian family release them?"

"No, not exactly." The Duke of Jin recounted what had happened. "The Qian family was probably frightened by the Tang family."

The Emperor hummed in acknowledgment and then looked at the Duke of Wei. "Where are your beloved concubine and your two beloved sons?"

"I heard that the Prince An's mansion was punished by Heaven, so they imprisoned them."

The Emperor summoned the commander of the secret guards. "Take men and investigate those two families." "Yes, sir."

After finishing breakfast, Jiang Yuxin first drew a picture. After finishing, she wanted to go to see her son at Old Madam Jiang's place. However, as soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Duke Jin, accompanied by Qian Chunhua, Xiao Gousheng, and a group of stern-faced men walking towards her.

Jiang Yuxin panicked for a moment. "Father-in-law, how could you bring so many men here?"

The Duke of Jin snorted. "Stop pretending now, or you'll suffer the consequences."

"What do you mean?"

The Duke of Jin pointed at Qian Chunhua. "Did you and those maids behind you think she had long since turned into a pool of corpse water?"

"I do not know what you're talking about?"

Seeing that she was still pretending to be ignorant, the Duke of Jin revealed the matter of the Prince of An's residence. "You prefer a refined and scholarly young man like the Prince of An's heir, don't you?"

Jiang Yuxin denied it. "You can't frame me just because this woman looks like me!"

Duke Jin glanced at the guards behind him. "It seems they won't admit it willingly."

After saying this, the Duke of Jin left.

Time flies, and two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

A lot has happened in Beijing in the past two months.

When Prince An and his son realized something was wrong, they wanted to remedy the situation, but their followers were unsure whether they could survive the plague, and they also didn't know if the Emperor had surrounded Prince An's residence to prevent the plague from spreading, or if he had discovered something else.
Jiang Yuxin was willing to die for her lover.

The Duke of Wei's beloved concubine and two illegitimate sons didn't want to suffer any longer. The Duke told them that the Emperor had promised to spare their lives. But if they didn't reveal who was behind it all, they would be tortured every day from now on.

If nothing had happened at the Prince An's residence, the mother and her two children might have continued to endure the situation.

Now, even Prince An and his son don't know if they can recover.
If they suffer here while Prince An and his son die of illness, then their suffering will have been in vain.

The Duke of Wei said that just for the fact that they exchanged twenty, he could beat them three times a day.

With the matter of Prince An basically investigated and clarified, Old Madam Jiang and the Duchess of Jin began to focus on the matter of the Nineteenth Prince.

The two men took turns persuading Qian Chunhua, assuring her that they would take good care of her and her child and would never let them suffer any injustice.

Qian Chunhua didn't believe it.

Despite the Duke of Wei's wife and the Crown Prince's wife's extreme caution, Twenty still ended up in her household.

When Madam Jiang and the Duchess of Jin saw that Qian Chunhua was stubborn and unyielding, they went to the palace to see the Empress.

Qian Chunhua was applying something to Gou Sheng's dark face when Bai Mama, who was standing next to Old Madam Jiang, suddenly told her to go and receive an imperial decree.

The puppy's eyes immediately dimmed. "What imperial decree?"

"The Empress's decree."

The little dog clenched its fist. "Big sister, wash the stuff off my face."

"Okay." Qian Chunhua asked softly while washing Gou Sheng's face, "Why did Her Majesty the Empress give me an imperial decree?"

"You'll know once you listen."

After getting ready, the two sisters went out to receive the imperial decree.

After the eunuch finished reading the imperial decree, Xiao Gousheng's eyes dimmed even more. "Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress. Eldest sister, receive the decree."

Qian Chunhua blankly accepted the imperial edict. The Empress even had a say in taking concubines? "Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live the Empress!"

The eunuch who delivered the imperial decree grunted in acknowledgment and prepared to leave.

The little dog, Sheng, stood up from the ground. "Please wait, sir. When the Duke of Jin asked my grandfather to let my eldest sister become his eldest son's concubine, my grandfather agreed. However, my grandfather asked the Duke of Jin for one million taels of silver for the concubine. Sir, please kowtow to Her Majesty the Empress for us. Without Her Majesty's decree, the Duke of Jin would not have given us one million taels."

The eunuch delivering the imperial decree: I've seen people ask for exorbitant amounts, but never one this high. "One million taels?"

"Yes, gold."

Gold?!

The Duke of Jin was busy when the steward suddenly arrived. "My lord, Her Majesty the Empress has issued an imperial decree for Miss Qian."

Duke Jin's eyelids twitched involuntarily. "What does the imperial edict say?" He hoped it wouldn't be that Miss Qian would become his eldest son's concubine.

"Her Majesty the Empress said that since Miss Qian has consummated her marriage with the Prince, she should become his concubine."

Duke of Jin: Just what I feared has come to pass!
(End of this chapter)