Chapter 304: Right for the Living, Saying for the Dead
Beside him, Zhou Shirui stood without saying a word, his expression cold and unpredictable.
"Lord Sun, what is the duty of the widow? It is to protect the rights of the living and to speak for the dead."
Luo Jiuli's voice was weak, and the only good feeling he had for Sun Zhou was gone.
"If you are unwilling to listen to what the deceased has to say, you have no right to call yourself a leader in the practice of mourning."
Sun Zhou was suddenly startled and looked up at Luo Jiuli, his cloudy eyes showing confusion that was hard to understand.
Luo Jiuli did not look at him, but turned his attention to Zhang Pingquan.
"Master Zhang, are you interested in exploring the truth with me?"
Zhang Pingquan looked solemn and stepped forward to bow.
"Zhang Pingquan, please do whatever the second lady says."
"good."
Luo Jiuli raised his eyes and looked at Xiao Mingxuan.
"Your Majesty, let's begin."
Xiao Mingxuan nodded.
"Go ahead, I will take care of everything."
"Um."
She knew that no matter how many 'unreasonable' requests she made, no matter how many people behind her objected.
Xiao Mingxuan will always be her strongest supporter.
"Wait!"
Just as Luo Jiuli and Zhang Pingquan were walking towards the mourning hall, a loud shout interrupted their steps.
Zhou Shirui, who had always been invisible, suddenly relaxed when he heard the shout.
Luo Jiuli turned around and saw a middle-aged woman in white walking in from the veranda. The woman's face was yellow, her eyebrows were upright, her eyes were wide open, she looked angry, and she was holding a hand.
A boy about seven or eight years old wearing mourning clothes.
Behind the two of them, there were six or seven other women, all dressed in white, with different shapes and looks, either beautiful, cold, or pure.
"This is?"
"Second Miss, the woman who brought the child is Jiang Fengnian's first wife, and those young ones are all Jiang Fengnian's concubines over the years."
It was Zhang Pingquan who answered.
Luo Jiuli was secretly speechless. Jiang Feng was not very old and his official position was not very high. Unexpectedly, there were quite a lot of young and beautiful concubines in the back house.
However, his knotted wife not only looked old, but also looked a little less intelligent.
After all, even a smart person would not be able to handle such a stall, leading a child and a group of concubines to such a stall.
"My wife, Mrs. Wu Jiang, goes to see the Ninth Prince."
The middle-aged woman walked up to Xiao Mingxuan, knelt down and kowtowed.
Xiao Mingxuan silently blocked Luo Jiuli behind him, looked at the women kneeling on the ground with a calm expression, and glanced at Zhou Shirui, who was standing silently in the distance.
Jiang Fengnian's family members came so quickly and on time. It seems that there are a lot of spies in this mansion.
"Wu Jiang, do you know why your master died?"
"Reply to the prince."
Wu Jiang's voice became more choked up.
"Wu Zuo has performed an autopsy and it is said that my husband died of charcoal poisoning."
"Last night, the master did ask for an extra basin of charcoal because of the cold weather, but no one thought of-"
Mrs. Wu Jiang began to sob and cry.
When she cried, all the female relatives behind her also cried.
The crying was high and low, continuous, and it sounded like your scalp was exploding.
Xiao Mingxuan looked indifferent and was not affected by the cries of a group of women.
"As far as I know, Jiang Fengnian did not die of carbon poisoning."
With one word, all the crying stopped abruptly.
Among the female concubines, a beautiful concubine lowered her head. When she heard Xiao Mingxuan's words, a hint of sinisterness flashed in her eyes.
Xiao Mingxuan glanced at Wu Jiang clan lightly.
"Although you are Jiang Fengnian's widow, what are your intentions in obstructing my investigation?"
Wu Jiang, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly raised his head:
"That's not right. The result given by Zuo Zuo was clearly that he died of charcoal poisoning. Now the prince has another explanation. Who should I listen to as a woman?"
"Besides, after all, my master is an official of the imperial court. Although he has passed away, how can he be touched by anyone?"
Behind Xiao Mingxuan, Luo Jiuli heard Wu Jiang's words and walked out with a cold sneer.
"You just came to the front yard, how did you know what I was going to do to your master's body?"
Wu Jiangshi choked.
"It was the servants from the mansion who went to the backyard to report that someone wanted to disembowel the master."
"My husband and I have been married for decades and have a deep relationship. How can I watch my husband being disembowelled and not be able to save his face even if he dies?"
"Ha! Save face?"
Luo Jiuli was so angry at this foolish woman's arrogant words that he forgot his anger.
"Wu Jiang, since you and your master have been married for decades and have a deep relationship, why did your master ignore your feelings and face and take in so many young and beautiful concubines while he was alive?"
"And you keep saving face for your master, but you turn a deaf ear to the Ninth Prince's words."
"What did the Ninth Prince say just now? He said he suspected that your master did not die of charcoal poisoning. Do you understand what that means?"
"It means that your master might have been killed, and you -"
Luo Jiuli pointed at the Wu Jiang clan with an expressionless face.
"Not only did I not immediately think of redressing the injustice for your master and letting him die in peace, but I thought about saving face."
"What do you mean by what you said?"
Wu Jiang was beaten repeatedly by her. He was stunned at first, then his face turned red, and then his face was filled with anger.
"I, as a woman, how could I think of so many things?"
"My body, skin, and hair are the legacy of my parents. I just want to avoid disemboweling my body. Doing so would not only be disrespectful to me, but also extremely unfilial to my parents."
Luo Jiuli: Today she was determined to death by the saying, 'The hair and skin of the body are the same as those of the parents'.
Sun Zhou used these words to stop her from doing an autopsy, and now the Wu Jiang family came.
Each and every one of them was righteous, out of respect for the deceased and filial piety to their parents, but they completely ignored the truth.
More importantly, the cause of Jiang Fengnian's death will be a turning point in the embezzlement case.
For those soldiers who fought hard for their country on the battlefield but did not end well.
Today, even if the King of Heaven comes, she will have Jiang Fengnian dissected.
When she thought of this, she turned to look at Xiao Mingxuan.
"Your Majesty, I am only responsible for finding the truth. As for this -"
She glanced at Wu Jiang.
"Since her master is an official of the imperial court, it seems that only the imperial power will make her nod in agreement."
Xiao Mingxuan watched her give a solution quickly and neatly, and he admired her for thinking so quickly.
Women, especially when faced with a foolish woman like Wu Jiang, no amount of truth can be as simple and clear as the royal decree.
"Mo Han."
Xiao Mingxuan took out a token and called Mo Han.
Mo Han heard the call, stepped out, took the token with both hands, and looked straight at the Wu Jiang clan with sharp eyes.
"Wu Jiang clan."
Mo Han holds the token.
"Look carefully, this is a gift from the emperor. I have specially ordered my prince to find out the truth about Mr. Jiang's death."
The author has something to say:
Many dear readers are urging Xiaoyao to add more chapters. I know this is your love and encouragement for Xiaoyao’s works. Xiaoyao is very touched and very happy.
Xiaoyao is also working hard on coding, but he has been banned for a week recently. In fact, he is accompanying the gold-swallowing beast to online classes almost every day. His entire schedule has returned to his student days, and the only coding time is in the evening.
Dear dears, please forgive me, but Xiaoyao will promise to update twice a day, and will also step up coding and update from time to time——
I hope you, my dear ones, will continue to support Xiaoyao, hug the work and chew it! Mmm.