Shouchanghou Mansion.
Song Xiaolan sat on the bed with her hair disheveled and hugged the quilt, her eyes red from crying.
Today at the wedding banquet during the day, she wanted to urinate and left the banquet in the middle of the day. However, she was bumped into by the woman serving the food and fell into the arms of a middle-aged man in public.
She was drowned out by the roar of laughter around her. The man regarded her as a dancing girl who had thrown herself into his arms, and took the opportunity to touch her several times, which almost made her collapse in shame.
Fortunately, there was no one who knew her. She hurriedly broke away from the man's arms and returned to her seat as if she was running away.
How dare she say such a thing? If she said it, her reputation would be ruined!
In the future, we will no longer be called a good family!
Her aunt is proposing marriage to her, but the person proposing marriage to her is either poor or an unpopular bastard in the family. What future can she have?
She just wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to try her luck at the male guests' table in the front yard. Why did she encounter this kind of thing?
"Miss, it's getting late, you should go to bed quickly."
The maid next to her was frightened by her appearance and tried to comfort her, "No one knows what happened during the day, so don't take it to heart."
It was okay if she didn't mention it, but when she mentioned it, Song Xiaolan felt even more uncomfortable with the tightness in her chest, so she raised her hand and slapped the maid.
"Who said no one knew? Didn't you see?"
"You dare to say that there are no insiders?"
The maid's face was so hot that she knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"Miss, I won't tell this! How dare I harm you? If you tell me, your reputation will be ruined, and I won't be in trouble either. Miss, please calm down, I won't mention it anymore!"
Song Xiaolan was still upset, so she sat up from the bed, put on her shoes, and kicked the maid on the shoulder. She squatted down, pinched the tender flesh inside the maid's arm, and looked ferocious.
The maid was so painful that she almost shed tears.
"Miss, I know my mistake. I will never dare to do it again. Please spare me this time!"
"Why? I am also a young lady from the Hou Mansion and have a distinguished status. Why can't I marry the prince?"
"Why is it that only Song Jiyue can win the favor of the Eleventh Prince?"
"Why should I rack my brains for my own marriage? She, Song Jiyue, just needs to sit at home and pretend to be virtuous, and there will be a lot of matchmakers coming to propose marriage?"
She pressed hard, and the maid shivered in fear, but she had no intention of letting the maid go.
"Why do you say that?"
Just because the second young lady is the legitimate daughter, the maid said in her heart, but she did not dare to show the slightest contempt for her on her face.
"Miss, you have a distinguished status, and you will definitely find a good marriage in the future!"
Song Xiaolan finished venting and felt much better. Seeing the tears on the maid's cheek, she said coldly: "Use cold water to apply it. Don't let it get swollen. I have to pay my respects to my mother tomorrow."
The maid said yes cautiously, bowed and exited, and closed the door for her.
The moon was very bright late at night. The maid returned to the room and opened her clothes. Under the moonlight, her arms were covered with mottled bruises, one layer after another. The old bruises had not faded away, and the new ones were covered with bruises. With a bit of red.
That's what hurt tonight.
But she didn't dare to say anything. There were four people living in the maid's room. She didn't dare to light a lamp or go to bed in silence.
I can't stay with the third young lady, but as a slave, I have no right to choose. I can only wish my young lady good luck and let servants like them suffer less.
There is no peace in Prince Yun's palace either.
The subordinate officials gathered in the study room, and this time they did not dare to hide anything. They explained all the wrong things they had done and the reasons why they had been caught.
Everyone sat down and looked at each other, waiting for King Yun to speak.
King Yun sat on the main seat, looking a little heavy.
This time he saw the strength of the people behind the scenes. Half of the officials arrested during the day were his people.
The other party wanted to mislead him, making him think that it was the person who became the king, and let the two brothers test each other and kill each other.
If those people hadn't used his leverage to threaten him to go to the emperor's uncle's house last time, he might have really thought so.
"My lord, what should we do now?"
Someone asked, "There is a knife hanging above my head, and I don't know when it will fall. This feeling is worse than beheading."
I can't sleep at night and have no peace of mind during the day. I'm waiting for the verdict with trepidation. It's better to stay in jail and sleep peacefully.
There was a piece of snow-white paper spread out in front of King Yun. The people behind the scenes were just like this piece of paper, and he knew nothing about their strength.
"Since we didn't search your house, it means you are safe for the time being. Please go back and let me think carefully."
Officials cling to him because they want power and money. No matter how they play in private, there are several lives on their hands. As long as they can be wiped clean, he doesn't care.
However, I didn't expect that someone would threaten him.
There is someone he must meet!
Ge Chu was still a little confused when he was invited to Prince Yun's Mansion.
In the middle of the night, his heart was pounding, and he had an intuition that something big was going to happen. Unexpectedly, it came true. When the servant of Yun Wangfu announced his name, he knew that what was coming was inevitable.
"Your Majesty."
He bowed respectfully.
"I wonder what the prince has to say to his subordinates late at night."
King Yun didn't follow him around the bush and asked, "How long have you been working for Yishantang?"
Ge Chu was silent for a moment and answered truthfully.
"Two years."
He's quite sensible.
King Yun continued to ask: "Tell me, how much do you know about the mysterious organization Yishantang."
Ge Chu took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.
"Going back to the prince, I actually don't have much contact with Yishantang. Most of them accept their benefits and help them dispose of the corpses."
No one is more convenient than the city patrol department, who can secretly transport the corpses out of the capital and dispose of them without anyone noticing.
"Later I was amazed at the number of children who died in Yishan Hall. I once secretly investigated Yishan Hall. They came to the door at that time and used my wife and children to blackmail me into doing things for them. If I didn't listen to them, they would They will attack the official’s family.”
He also used the same method of blackmail. King Yun knocked on the table.
"How can they contact you?"
How can you find the person behind it?
Ge Ju replied: "They never show up on their own initiative. They will come to me when they need my help. The last time they broke into the Nine Princes' Mansion to search for assassins, it was also a temporary order given by them. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the subordinates to lead only that few troops and be arrested." The Ninth Princess held it back and got herself into a lot of trouble."
He mentioned that money when he was waiting for the people from Yishantang to contact him to see if they could pay it back for him. After all, he broke into the Nine Princes' Mansion to help them catch the assassin.
"There was one of their people beside me at the time, but he disappeared before leaving the palace."
"Until now, I'm still waiting for them to show up."
Even officials like Ge Jie keep records in the account books. What if they get the account books? Can we get more inside information?
"Do you know the account books of Yishantang?"
Ge Ju nodded.
"You know, they trained the orphans of Yishantang into craftsmen and sent them to various officials in the court to collect information. Not all the children of Yishantang died young, and some of them grew up and went to the lower officials without knowing it. They I don’t even know the reason for doing this.”
"Didn't you hide anything from me?"
"I don't dare!"
King Yun thought about the clues he provided.
