Who would have known that not only was this matter disrupted by Lu Yuanpeng, but he was also beaten up. Lin Xin’an was so angry that he extorted money from Chancellor Lu’s residence. However, at noon on the second day of the fourth month, someone silently broke into their home and suffocated Lin Xin’an to death using the method of covering his face.
That person promised her a large sum of money and instructed her to pretend she was illiterate. First, she was to find students from the Imperial Academy to write a petition, then go to the authorities to accuse Chancellor Lu’s family. Afterwards, she would cry to the Imperial Academy students about officials protecting each other, inciting the students to accompany her in beating the Denunciatory Drum.
She would then take the opportunity to mention that it was because Lin Xin’an had criticized the County Princess of Zhenguo at Fanque Tower for the atrocity of burning and killing surrendered prisoners that Lu Yuanpeng beat Lin Xin’an to death. The cause of this crime was the County Princess of Zhenguo’s burning and killing of surrendered prisoners – such brutality was intolerable by heaven and earth, making her unworthy of being a County Princess.
If Lin Xin’an’s mother refused to comply, death would be her only path.
With her son already dead and not wanting to die herself, she agreed, only to secure a way to survive.
When Grand Princess and Bai Qingyan were carefully analyzing this matter, she told Grand Princess about how the wife of the chief examiner Wen Zhenkang had stayed at the Left Chancellor’s residence for a long time.
This matter was already widely known throughout the capital, so Grand Princess naturally knew about it: “Now rumors are flying throughout the capital about the romantic affair between Wen Zhenkang’s wife and Left Chancellor Li Mao. Wen Zhenkang’s wife is famous for her fiery temper, yet she has restrained herself and hasn’t cursed the rumor-mongers. Either her purpose for visiting Left Chancellor Li Mao cannot be made public, or this matter is true…”
She looked at Grand Princess, who sat under the glazed lamp fingering prayer beads, and asked: “What does Grandmother think?”
Grand Princess didn’t stop fingering her prayer beads, and the corners of her wrinkled eyes showed a smile: “Is A’Bao pretending to be confused with Grandmother?”
“Nanny Jiang, bring that thing over.”
Grand Princess spoke to Nanny Jiang, who stood outside the screen, then placed the sandalwood prayer beads on the small table and picked up her teacup for a small sip.
Soon, Nanny Jiang came in carrying a black lacquered box, smiling as she handed it to Bai Qingyan.
Only then did Grand Princess put down her teacup with one hand, pick up the prayer beads, and speak unhurriedly: “Wen Zhenkang’s wife is indeed someone who divorced and remarried, but few people know that her previous husband… was the brother-in-law of a strategist in the Second Prince’s residence.”
Bai Qingyan reached out to accept the black lacquered box. Before opening it, she asked: “So, this wife of Wen Zhenkang holds leverage over Li Mao that’s related to the Second Prince?”
Grand Princess never doubted this granddaughter’s intelligence. She nodded: “I imagine what Wen Zhenkang’s wife is clutching in her hands should be the missing letter from this box.”
Grand Princess’s gaze fell on the embroidered phoenix and the hundred birds on the screen. Under the warm light, the phoenix’s eyes embroidered with silver thread glittered brilliantly. She squinted slightly: “If this wife of Wen Zhenkang is a smart person, she will certainly give this letter to Li Mao, telling Li Mao… she only seeks to preserve her husband’s life, otherwise someone will deliver all the remaining letters to the Court of Judicial Review.”
Listening to her grandmother’s measured tone, she opened the box. Inside were correspondence letters between Li Mao and the Second Prince.
She sat quietly under the lamp, quickly scanning through them, her pupils contracting slightly. The Second Prince’s armed rebellion… had Li Mao’s involvement too.
Li Mao was a hero who protected the emperor…
Grand Princess spoke slowly: “When the Second Prince’s rebellion failed and he was trapped within Wude Gate, Li Mao sensed something was amiss. Fearing this matter would implicate him, he immediately went to the Commandant’s Office and, using his entire clan’s lives as guarantee, asked the Commandant to deploy the Imperial Guards to rescue the emperor! While the Imperial Guards were locked in fierce battle with the soldiers the Second Prince had brought, he quietly led a team of men to storm the Second Prince’s residence.”
“That night, the Second Prince’s consort, who was pregnant, hanged herself. By dawn, not a single person in the Second Prince’s residence remained alive. According to Li Mao’s account, everyone in the Second Prince’s residence swore to die rather than surrender, fighting to the end, so he had no choice but to end the rebellion with a volley of arrows. He also handed over secret correspondence found in the Second Prince’s residence, which implicated nearly half the court officials.” Grand Princess paused in fingering her prayer beads, drawing back her distant gaze. “Later, Li Mao rose rapidly, and no one in the capital dared mention the Second Prince again.”
Before finishing reading those letters, Bai Qingyan closed the black lacquered box, lowered her eyes, and lightly tapped her finger on the black lacquered box.
If this was the case, then in her previous life, this Li Mao was actually the biggest winner.
He incited the Second Prince to rebel, and when the Second Prince failed, not only was he not implicated, but he rose rapidly instead.
Later, joining forces with Prince Liang, he controlled the entire court, secretly inciting Prince Liang to rebel.
This Li Mao was truly interesting…
Having reached the exalted position of Left Chancellor, he still wasn’t satisfied. What exactly was he scheming?
Since Li Mao had such a big weakness in the hands of the Bai family, then… let Li Mao sit in the Left Chancellor’s position for a while longer. Having someone with leverage against them sitting in the Left Chancellor’s position was better than replacing him with someone unknown.
At the same time, Lu Jin was also kneeling under a lamp, organizing the imperial examination fraud case and Lin Xin’an’s death case on his desk.
As Lu Jin was organizing, he suddenly took out a blank sheet of paper and listed the time and reason for Lin Xin’an’s conflict with Lu Yuanpeng at Fanque Tower, the time of Lin Xin’an’s death, the time when Lin Xin’an’s mother beat the Denunciatory Drum, and everything she said.
He also specifically circled Lin Xin’an’s words at Fanque Tower and the words attacking the County Princess of Zhenguo’s brutality that the person behind the scenes had Lin Xin’an’s mother say when beating the Denunciatory Drum.
Remembering that Lin Xin’an’s mother beating the Denunciatory Drum was on the same day as when candidate Xue Renyi beat the Denunciatory Drum for the imperial examination fraud, he also listed the time when the imperial examination fraud case’s Denunciatory Drum was beaten.
In a flash of inspiration, Lu Jin formed a bold idea.
He picked up his brush and connected Lin Xin’an’s death with the imperial examination fraud case.
After the Lin Xin’an case was concluded, it appeared to target the County Princess of Zhenguo, but why didn’t the person behind Lin Xin’an make a big fuss and eliminate Lin Xin’an right after Lu Yuanpeng had just beaten Lin Xin’an?
Why not earlier or later… but wait until Xue Renyi beat the Denunciatory Drum, coinciding with the imperial examination fraud case? It was too much of a coincidence…
If the Chancellor Lu’s young grandson murder case had erupted before the imperial examination fraud case occurred, whether in court or among the people, attention would have focused on this case!
But occurring simultaneously with the imperial examination fraud case would inevitably reduce attention to this case, which didn’t make sense.
The only explanation was that the person behind this intended to kill two birds with one stone – reduce attention to the imperial examination fraud case while damaging the County Princess of Zhenguo’s reputation, ideally even stripping her of her County Princess title.
Looking across the entire capital, who… would hate the County Princess of Zhenguo so much while also wanting to cover up the imperial examination fraud case?
Lu Jin squinted, remembering that on the sixth day of the fourth month, when his wife and daughter returned from the polo match, they had gossiped about how the wife of Chief Examiner Wen Zhenkang had stayed at the Left Chancellor’s residence for a long time.