After leaving the British Duke's mansion and sitting in the carriage, Jiao Jing thought about the conversation just now and felt something was wrong.
Xue Heng, who was following, saw this and couldn't help but ask: "Uncle, what's wrong?"
Jiao Jingshang's is the eldest princess of Qingdu, the sister of Emperor Xuanzong, and Xue Hengshang's is the eldest princess of Changde, the daughter of Emperor Xuanzong.
The former was the latter's aunt, so Xue Heng followed the eldest princess of Changde and called Jiao Jing uncle.
Frowning tightly, Jiao Jing shook his head and said.
"There is nothing wrong, but for some reason, I always feel a little uneasy in my heart. After all, Tingju is in front of all the civil and military officials. If something goes wrong, we want to make up for it, but I'm afraid it will be difficult."
"Speaking of which, what do you think of what Zhang Shi said just now?"
Xue Heng was silent for a moment and said.
"Uncle, apart from anything else, this is the third time that the British government has taken matters into its own hands."
"The first time was about Huichang Bo. They decided everything before writing to the Holy Mother to ask her to cooperate. The second time was about Luotong. They made their own decisions without even saying hello to the palace. This time it is still the same."
"To be disrespectful, I always feel that Zhang Shi and others only value the banner of the Holy Mother. In fact, from the bottom of their hearts, they do not take the Holy Mother in their eyes."
In fact, ever since this lockdown ended.
Xue Heng has never been very interested in participating in these matters involving the British government. Often when everyone is talking, he is silent.
The reason is actually because of the eldest princess of Changde.
Ever since the big quarrel with the palace, the eldest princess of Changde had always had a knot in her heart. After Xue Heng inquired several times, she found out the truth.
But after knowing it, he couldn't open his mouth to persuade.
After all, the quarrel between Princess Changde and the Queen Mother Sun was because of him.
Princess Changde did not want Xue Heng to continue to get involved in this matter, but she also knew in her heart that this was the Queen Mother Sun's intention, so she could not persuade him.
As a result, the couple, who were originally harmonious and loving, have grown apart a lot these days.
Because she knew that Xue Heng was helping the British government, the eldest princess of Changde simply stayed out of sight and hid in her princess mansion without leaving the house.
Xue Heng was busy here and had not visited the princess's house for several days, so he was naturally dissatisfied.
This time, Zhang Xi behaved like this again. It is not difficult to understand that Xue Heng expressed resentment in his words.
However, Jiao Jing naturally didn't know anything about the affairs of Xue Heng and Changde Princess.
After hearing this, he also fell into deep thought.
After a while, Jiao Jing suddenly asked.
"Xue Prince Consort, do you think that if all this is really the emperor's plan, then he has spent so much effort just to create the illusion of harmony between the heavenly family and earn a good reputation in front of others?"
Xue Heng frowned, hesitated for a moment, and said.
"It should be so. After all, the case has been tried for so long. If the charges could be proven, the emperor would have taken action already. Or, the emperor originally planned to kill the case, but could not find strong evidence for a long time, so Can we only settle for the next best thing?”
Jiao Jing said nothing because he was not sure.
After all, judging from the current situation, there is indeed nothing wrong with what Zhang Min said.
As long as Xiao Weizhen and Zhang Fu find out that Xu Bin is the mastermind, and Xu Bin cannot produce evidence, then most of the responsibility for this case will fall on Xu Bin.
But he always felt that the emperor was not that simple.
After pondering for a moment, Jiao Jing asked thoughtfully.
"Xue Prince Consort, do you think it is possible that the emperor already has evidence in his hands that can prove that Xu Bin is telling the truth, but because he was worried that publishing it would cause criticism, he set up this trap to seduce the British prince. Are you going to make trouble at the house?"
Xue Heng was stunned and said hesitantly: "Uncle, this is unlikely. A few days ago, when the second master went to the prison to meet the third master, the third master also said, Xu Bin has no evidence, why do you Such a guess?"
Jiao Jing also hesitated and sighed.
"I just think that the emperor agreed too smoothly this time. As for the other things, I can't tell."
"In the final analysis, what happened this time was too sudden. The mission is far away in Yibei. We can only know the whole story from Zhang Fu's mouth."
"Now that the Jin Yiwei has strengthened its defense, no news can be found out. We are really helpless and can only let the emperor manipulate us."
This is actually their limitation.
Speaking of being in the capital, maybe they can still have some information channels or come up with some ideas.
But as soon as they left the capital, their eyes darkened.
From beginning to end, they received extremely limited information about the envoy's arrest.
What was the negotiation process like? What was the specific situation when the mission was arrested in Xuan Mansion? In the imperial prison, was the mission tortured? What details did they confess to?
Not knowing anything about these things seriously affected their judgment.
So many things can only be guessed based on little clues.
But such a big thing is just speculation, so how can you dare to act without authorization? So even if they knew that the emperor was planning something, they could only be led around.
Shaking his head, Jiao Jing turned to ask: "By the way, what does the Holy Mother say about the marriage in Chengguo Palace?"
The marriage between the Chengguo Duke's Palace and the British Duke's Palace was a good thing for the Queen Mother Sun, so after returning that day, Jiao Jing immediately asked Xue Heng to enter the palace and bring the news to the Queen Mother Sun.
Xue Heng replied: "The Holy Mother is happy to see this matter come to fruition. However, she said that rashly granting marriage for no reason may cause criticism."
"So I want to pick a day to let the old ladies of the two families come to the palace. It's best to bring the two younger ones with me. Let's tell the outside world that the two families have intended to get married, but they are afraid of getting married during the filial piety period and causing criticism. So I went to the Holy Mother to ask for grace."
Jiao Jing nodded and said, "Our Lady is thoughtful, has she set a date yet?"
Xue Heng shook his head: "Not yet. The Holy Mother is not in a hurry. I was thinking that after today, I would choose a day to let the two old ladies enter the palace."
"But now it seems that the court will be held in a few days, and the old lady who wants to come to the British palace has no intention of taking care of this matter, so I think we will wait until the court is held."
After listening, Jiao Jing thought for a while, opened the curtain of the carriage and took a look, then ordered the driver, "Stop ahead."
Putting down the curtain, Jiao Jing said to Xue Heng.
"Don't wait any longer. Get off the carriage at the street in front, go back to the British Duke's Mansion, and tell Zhang Shi what the Holy Mother just said about the marriage. As for the date, just say that the Holy Mother plans to summon him in three days. The Chengguo Duke's Mansion is here. Bian, I'll go talk."
Xue Heng nodded first and then asked.
"Uncle, why are you so anxious?"
Jiao Jing frowned, let out a long sigh, and said after a moment.
"I always have a bad premonition. Like you said, the British government has too much momentum now. If Zhang Fu is released from prison and the Chengguo government is involved, it may be difficult to control it. Therefore, we have to take advantage of Tingju. Let’s arrange some things beforehand…”
