Shen Qing had no time to worry about who Zhui Feng was. She was overjoyed that Ji Junye had actually sent someone to investigate.
Regardless of whether he truly believed her words or not, as long as he sent someone to look into it, with his means, those innocent commoners would surely be spared.
Zhui Feng received the order and secretly started the investigation. To his surprise, he actually found some clues.
On the night before the dam was about to burst, Zhui Feng finally returned.
Ji Junye looked at the thin stack of papers, and the anger on his face couldn't be contained.
It was true that Jinming Lake wouldn't burst its banks for no reason. But Zhui Feng had discovered that a section of the dam had been tampered with. Not only was it infested with worms and corroded, but there were also explosives buried inside.
It was summer now, and the water level was high. Once the explosives were detonated, the surging lake water would pour out, erasing all traces and making it undetectable.
When Zhui Feng found those people, they were about to detonate the explosives.
Ji Junye suddenly remembered Shen Qing's words “The king is immoral” and angrily crumpled the paper in front of him into a ball and threw it on the ground.
“Interrogate them! Interrogate them severely!”
“I'd like to see who has the audacity to pull such dirty tricks right under my nose!”
Zhui Feng bowed and went down to interrogate the suspects.
In the years since His Majesty ascended the throne, he had executed many people at the beginning to stabilize the court. As the court situation gradually stabilized, the frequency of executions had decreased. But this time, it seemed that another bloodbath was about to occur.
Why couldn't these people just stay out of trouble?
But there were always some self - important people who thought they were destined to be great. They would only admit their incompetence after a complete failure.
Ji Junye finally finished dealing with the matters at hand and was about to go back to find Shen Qing, only to discover that she was no longer in the small courtyard.
Ji Junye's face darkened. “Where did she go?”
The guards at the gate looked at each other. They all said that Shen Qing had gone out, but when asked where she had gone, none of them knew.
In the past few days, they had seen how close His Majesty and Miss Shen were, and they knew that Shen Qing was someone they should curry favor with.
His Majesty had never said that people were not allowed to go out. So when Miss Shen wanted to go out early in the morning, they only asked once and then let her go.
Now that His Majesty was asking, they realized how big a mistake they had made. They all knelt on the ground with pale faces.
“Go back and receive your punishment on your own.”
Ji Junye left these words and walked away with his hands behind his back.
If Shen Qing wasn't there, what was the point of his staying?
On the other hand, after going out, Shen Qing didn't return to her small courtyard. Instead, she went to the Duke Protector's Mansion.
Early in the morning, Yingxiu had sent word that her mother, Lady Jiang, the wife of the Duke Protector, was ill. Shen Qing immediately ordered a carriage and rushed back.
When she arrived at the gate of the Duke's Mansion, the gatekeeper, seeing Shen Qing coming back, happily shouted, “Miss is back!”
These were all old servants who had been in the Duke's Mansion for many years and had watched Shen Qing grow up. Shen Qing greeted them with a smile and walked into the inner courtyard.
“How is mother?”
The little maid who was leading the way replied, “Madam is doing fine. She's in the room now. If she knows Miss is back, she'll be very happy!”
At this moment, Shen Qing didn't know what the maid meant by “doing fine”. Her mind was full of her mother's illness.
Her mother had suffered from a chronic illness since giving birth. She couldn't bear the heat of summer or the cold of winter. Otherwise, she would feel short of breath and often faint. In severe cases, she couldn't even get out of bed.
So when Yingxiu told her, she didn't suspect anything and rushed back immediately.
“Mother!”
Lady Jiang heard her voice and came out with a smile to greet her. She sized Shen Qing up carefully. “My Qing'er, why do you look so haggard? Did the Guangping Marquis Mansion make you feel aggrieved?”
It seemed that every mother had the habit of nagging when seeing her children. Lady Jiang was no exception.
“Qing'er, I heard from people in the Marquis Mansion that you were ill. Did your husband treat you badly? I heard... your husband took a concubine. What's going on?”
“Although I've always told you to be a good wife, you can't let yourself be wronged...”
“Mother,” Shen Qing interrupted Lady Jiang, “I'm fine. Weren't you ill? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Has the doctor come to see you?”
As for looking haggard, Ji Junye had tormented her most of the night. He had said he wouldn't touch her that day, but he didn't say he wouldn't in the future. So last night, after making sure her injuries had recovered, he had taken her again.
This morning, Ji Junye didn't get up late. He had gone out early, presumably to deal with the matter of the Jinming Lake dam.
Before leaving, he had kissed her for a long time. She had been so bothered that she couldn't fall back asleep. Then she heard Yingxiu's words. How could she sleep?
Tired and sleepy, how could she not look haggard?
But of course, she couldn't tell her mother these things.
Lady Jiang patted Shen Qing's hand. “It's just an old problem. It's nothing serious. I just missed you, so I made up an excuse to get you to come back and see me.”
Shen Qing said, “You're really being naughty. How can you joke about your own health? If you miss me, just send someone to the Marquis Mansion to pick me up. Would the Guangping Marquis Mansion dare to stop me from going back to my natal family?”
“That won't do. A married daughter can't always go back to her natal family. People will laugh at her.” Lady Jiang said with a smile and ordered someone to bring out all the things Shen Qing liked to eat.
The maid Cai Die happily agreed. “Madam has been looking forward to Miss coming back every day. The kitchen has prepared Miss's favorite milk cakes every day!”
Shen Qing said coquettishly, “Then I'll have to trouble Sister Cai Die.”
Lady Jiang took Shen Qing's hand and said earnestly, “Now that you're married, it's different from when you were at home. Don't be too willful. Discuss everything with your husband.”
“I know it was wrong of your husband to take a concubine. But which couple doesn't have disagreements? You must take good control of the household affairs in the inner courtyard. As long as you hold the power of household management, the servants below won't dare to make trouble.”
“Also, you've been married for three years. You should have a child earlier. A woman without a child will never have a stable position.”
Hearing Lady Jiang say almost the same things as in her previous life, Shen Qing sighed imperceptibly.
The Duke Protector's Mansion had a simple family structure. Her father only had Lady Jiang. Lady Jiang knew too little about the struggles for favor in the inner courtyard. Having the power of household management in her own hands would prevent her from being looked down upon. But what was there to manage in a family that asked her to subsidize with her dowry?
In her previous life, she had worked so hard, like a beast of burden, and they had really treated her like one.
Moreover, she didn't want to have Xu Yanchi's child at all.
In the past, she had just thought Lady Jiang didn't understand these things, so she just listened without taking it to heart. But now that she knew she wasn't Lady Jiang's biological daughter, she couldn't help but think more.
At this moment, if Lady Jiang was facing her own biological daughter, would she still say the same things?
Shen Qing was so lost in thought that she didn't even hear Lady Jiang calling her.
“What are you thinking about, child? You're so distracted.”
Shen Qing came back to her senses. Looking at Lady Jiang in front of her, she suddenly asked, “Mother, if... I mean if, if I weren't your child, would you still be good to me?”