Shipin Dalizheng

The space in the carriage was small, so Chuncao helped her up and got off the carriage to wait outside.

Mother Yao went straight to the point, "My Lord, although the eldest lady's health was deteriorating and she didn't have much time left, it wasn't impossible for her to wait for you to come back and see her one last time. Do you know why she died?"

Rong Tang opened his eyes wide, "It's Jin Shizhao..."

Mother Yao shook her head. "I, the old servant, personally prepared the medicine and sent the young lady away."

Rong Tang was shocked, "You..."

Mother Yao said calmly, "The eldest lady said she can't live. If she doesn't die, she will always be a daughter-in-law of the Jin family and will never be able to turn things around. And you will never be able to move freely. The eldest lady's greatest wish is to keep everything in the Bo Mansion and make sure Jin Shizhao gets nothing. Now in the Bo Mansion, the old woman of the Jin family is rushing to the big storehouse. Do you know what she wants to do? The Minister's Mansion has been emptied by the concubine, and Jin Shizhao is eager to use the money to save his two brothers-in-law and pay off the debt to the palace pharmacy. Do you still plan to leave the Bo Mansion and let Jin Shizhao plunder it?"

This line of questioning made Rong Tang silent for a few breaths. Just when Mother Yao thought she had moved Rong Tang and made him give up returning to Rongjia Village, Rong Tang spoke up, "Mother Yao, do you think that if I stay in the Bo Mansion and Jin Shizhao asks me for money, can I refuse to give it to him?"

Mother Yao opened her mouth, unable to answer, and seemingly unable to refuse either.

"So I left so that I could truly protect the Bo Mansion."

He pointed at Rong Xiu and said, "You are an elder in the Bo Mansion, so you should know her, right?"

Rong Xiu nodded and greeted, "Mother Yao, I am Rong Xiu."

Mother Yao had a strange expression on her face. "Are you Aunt Xiu? You're not..."

"She has returned to secular life and is now the Earl of Jian'an's closest relative in the world, the great aunt of the Earl's mansion. From today on, she is the true elder of the Earl's mansion. Mother Yao wants to protect the Earl's mansion from losses, so she should know how to cooperate with the great aunt to establish her authority. Aunt Ma, Aunt Lai Fu..."

Ma and Aunt Lai Fu hurried over and said, "Sir, what do you want to call us for?"

"You stay here and help your great aunt manage the house for a while. It will be considered as your work."

"okay!"

Rong Xiu stood up to get out of the car, but Mother Yao went down first and helped her down. The four of them stood together at the door of the uncle's house.

Steward Tao looked eagerly and asked, "Sir, aren't you staying in the mansion?"

Rong Tang muttered, "No, it's too close. If someone has bad intentions, I'll be dead. Well, seeing that you're quite loyal, I'll give you an important task."

Hearing that the prince wanted to use him, Butler Tao wiped the sweat from his face and said, "If the prince commands, this old servant will do it at his death."

Rong Tang rummaged around under the carriage seat for a while and pulled out a large, snarling tortoise. He solemnly handed it to Butler Tao, "This tortoise keeps biting me, and I can't kill it. Now you help me raise it. Give it some food occasionally, and it won't starve to death. Just keep a close eye on it, it's a beast that likes to run around. Make sure there are people guarding the Moon Gate between the Earl's Mansion and the Minister's Mansion, so it doesn't run around and forget where its own nest is. You have to be careful with it, don't let it die. Bring it to the village every month for this prince to see. As long as it's alive, you'll get a good monthly stipend. But if it gets fat, you'll have to spit out what it eats."

Butler Tao suddenly felt that the turtle in his hand could really bite people and tear them to pieces.

"Rong Tang!!!"

Minister Jin, who heard every word, was so angry that he saw stars.

Rong Tang ignored him and knocked on the wall of the carriage. Rong Qi urged his horse to set off, and more than 20 people walked towards the west city gate.

Not far away, someone came running. When he got closer, he could see clearly that it was Yang Ping, the son of Fu Xinzhuang's second uncle. "Uncle, this is bad! The soldiers have captured my father. You must find a way to save him!"

Jin Shizhao was confused. Normally, even if his second uncle, as the head of Fuxinzhuang, had looted the wounded soldiers, it was a family affair of the Jian'an Earl's Mansion. As long as the head of the family did not pursue it, even the court could not interfere. He never expected that it would reach the point of alarming the officers and soldiers.

It seems His Majesty is really annoyed by this.

"Where were you taken?"

"I heard it's the Beishan Camp, and the leader is a captain named Zheng."

That was Zheng Changning. Jin Shizhao frowned, he had always thought that he and Zheng Xiang were in the same camp, and that they all supported Prince Rui.

In his heart, he knew that he shouldn't get involved in this matter, so he just pushed his two brothers-in-law out to take the blame. But he also knew that his mother would not agree to this.

As expected, when Old Lady Yang heard about this, she ran out of the main gate of the mansion and shouted, "Shizhao, you can't just stand by and watch him die. You have to rescue him no matter what."

That means you need money!

Jin Shizhao turned around and was about to enter the mansion, but after Rong Xiu and others entered the mansion, they gave an order and closed the door, and no matter how they called, it would not be opened.

Rong Xiu even replied from inside: "Minister Jin, there are no men in charge of the mansion. I am the only woman in the family. It is inconvenient to greet you. Please go back to the Minister's mansion."

The servants in the Bo's Mansion had their own backbone and did not dare to disobey the new master. They refused to open the door no matter what. Jin Shizhao gritted his teeth in hatred and had to walk a little further and enter from the Minister's Mansion.

Just as he arrived at the gate, more than a dozen yamen runners from Jingzhao Prefecture came over, shouting that they wanted to arrest Yang Lianye. Yang Lianye was hiding in the Minister's Mansion at the time. It seemed that he had heard the news and hid himself without showing his face.

Jin Shizhao was about to say that Yang Lianye wasn't there, but a yamen runner said, "Yang Lianye assaulted and robbed people, and his son has confessed. He also said that Yang Lianye is hiding in the Minister's residence. Sir Jin, either you hand him over voluntarily, or we will go in and search him. However, if we find him, it will be embarrassing for Sir Jin."

Jin Shizhao angrily said, "I haven't been dismissed yet, and I'm still a third-rank official. The Jingzhao prefect is only a fifth-rank official, and you don't even give me the slightest bit of respect?"

The yamen runner said calmly, "I am only following orders to arrest the man. If you want to save face, Lord Jin, please go and ask our prefect for it yourself. However, I advise you to find out our Lord's temper before you go. He is a man who dares to defy even the imperial edict for the sake of justice."

Jin Shizhao knew this without even asking. A year earlier, the Fourth Princess's husband, Xie Jinzhi, had secretly taken a concubine. The Fourth Princess, driven mad, dragged the concubine to the street and beat her to death with clubs. She also paralyzed the husband. The Xie family, unwilling to accept the situation, reported it to the Jingzhao Prefecture, where Nangong Jing actually brought his men to the Princess's residence to arrest her.

First the Empress, then the Empress Dowager, and finally the Emperor issued decrees prohibiting the arrest of the princess, suggesting the matter be resolved within the palace. However, Nangong Jing, like his father, Prince Han, was a stubborn and unyielding man, refusing to comply. He ultimately arrested the princess and brought her to Jingzhao Prefecture for trial. The princess was held for ten days and paid the Xie family 50,000 taels of silver, nearly depleting her entire dowry, before the case was finally resolved.

Jin Shizhao did not think that his relationship was stronger than that of the Fourth Princess. He gritted his teeth and secretly hated her, and ordered someone to send Yang Lianye out.

After thinking about it, what Yang Lianye did was at most bullying the villagers. No one was killed. At most he would be beaten with a few sticks and fined some money, which was not a big deal.

However, my second brother-in-law had offended the Rong family army. This matter could be a big deal or a small one. If he didn't handle it carefully, it might really cost him his life.