This matter was after all related to a duke of the dynasty, which was the face of the court. Once it got out of hand, there would be no easy solution. Xiao Jinghan had long been prepared.
"I think Xue Bozheng didn't intend to let Xie Xiuxian off. He must have left something else," Yi Qing said with certainty.
If "Jishui Xing" was really written by Xue Bozheng, it meant that Xue Bozheng had decided to go all out against Xie Xiuxian. It was just that the Duke of Xie had covered up everything in this matter, and Xue Bozheng had died unjustly in prison, so it had never been discovered.
If it hadn't been for the Xie family's tenacious pursuit and the Mu family's attempt to take advantage of this matter, Yi Qing wouldn't have investigated so thoroughly.
"En," Xiao Jinghan nodded. "With this, we can tell the emperor that we're going to investigate the Duke of Xie."
Just as they were talking, Hetai came in and bowed.
"General, Lord Xu is here," Hetai reported.
Xu Maozhi had rushed here after sending the things he had taken from the Duke of Xie's study to the Supreme Court. He had originally been using the assassination of the Duke of Xie as an excuse to investigate him. Now that he had found so many things related to Xue Bozheng, he definitely had to come and discuss it with Xiao Jinghan.
"General Xiao," Xu Maozhi bowed hurriedly when he saw Xiao Jinghan.
"What's going on?" Yi Qing saw Xu Maozhi's nervous look.
"I investigated the Duke of Xie's study in the name of his assassination. I found a secret cabinet in the study, and it was full of Xue Bozheng's calligraphy and paintings," Xu Maozhi said as he handed a scroll to Xiao Jinghan.
"Is this 'Zhi He Fang'?" Although Yi Qing didn't understand calligraphy, Xue Bozheng's writing looked very beautiful.
Xu Maozhi pointed to the date at the bottom. "The Duke of Xie wrote 'Zhi He Fang' on the spur of the moment at a gathering of literati, and that gathering was after this date."
Xiao Jinghan wasn't very familiar with these things. "The Xie family can deny this," he said as he put away the scroll. "You should take a closer look at those things and see if there's any other evidence."
Xu Maozhi nodded. "If 'Zhi He Fang' wasn't written by the Duke of Xie, then the Duke of Xie is the biggest fraud in our dynasty." He hated this the most.
They didn't tell Xu Maozhi what they had discovered. Since Xu Maozhi already had his suspicions, he would surely continue to investigate in his own way.
As soon as Lady Mu entered the door, Mu Lixue trotted over happily.
"Mother, what did Lady Xiao say?" Mu Lixue said as she took her mother's arm.
Lady Mu got angry when she heard this. Her beautiful and lovely daughter was so much better than that Yi woman. "The Yi woman grew up in the countryside. She doesn't know what's good for her. Don't worry, Xuer."
"I knew Mother would succeed," Mu Lixue said happily.
Lady Mu thought of Xiao Jinghan's attitude. He really didn't know how powerful their Mu family was. "Where's your father?"
"Father is in the study."
"You go and play first. I need to talk to your father about something," Lady Mu said as she went to the study of the Duke of Mu.
The Duke of Mu was looking at the account books. The account books of the Mu family were all made of special sheepskin with hidden patterns. There were patterns for anti-counterfeiting and writing rules. It was almost impossible to forge them.
The furniture in the study was all made of rosewood, emitting the fragrance of rosewood.
"My lord," Lady Mu pushed the door open and walked in.
"You're back. What did the Xiao family say?" The Duke of Mu put down the account books.
"That Yi woman doesn't know what's good for her, and Xiao Jinghan doesn't know his place. He thinks that just because he's in favor with the emperor now, he can ignore our Mu family," Lady Mu said angrily.
The Duke of Mu smiled. "My lady, why are you getting angry over this?"
Lady Mu rarely got angry, but Yi Qing's words today were really infuriating. "I'm just worried about Xuer. If she knew the attitude of the Xiao family, she would be worried."
The Duke of Mu nodded seriously when he heard what his wife said. "Alright, I'll go and talk to the emperor."
"What if Xiao Jinghan defies the imperial edict and refuses to be a general for the sake of the Yi woman?"
The Duke of Mu sneered. "If Xiao Jinghan doesn't want to be a first-rank general, it'll be even easier to deal with him."
Lady Mu thought this made sense. "What about the Xie family?"
The Duke of Mu sighed. He had sent someone to drug the Duke of Xie in order to force the emperor to punish Yi Qing. Who would have thought that the Xie family had been prepared, and the person he sent had died beside the Duke of Xie.
Now both the Supreme Court and the Embroidered Uniform Guards were keeping an eye on this matter, and he didn't dare to act rashly.
"Let's leave the Xie family alone for now," the Duke of Mu said. He could add fuel to the fire, but he couldn't get directly involved. Some things were better left unsaid, but it wouldn't be good to get directly involved.
In the afternoon, the emperor issued an imperial edict to send the Duke of Xie to the Xiao Mansion again. Yi Qing thought that the Duke of Xie couldn't die yet, so she accepted it.
"So many?" Jushuang looked at the prescription written by the lady. "Who in the mansion is sick and needs so much medicine?"
"This is for the Duke of Xie's medicinal bath. Hurry up and give the order," Yi Qing said. Just thinking about the smell on the Duke of Xie made her uncomfortable.
"Okay," Jushuang said as she took the prescription and left.
Ruohong came in from outside and bowed. "Lady Yuan requests an audience."
After Yi Qing returned, Lady Yuan had sent gifts to congratulate her. Moreover, their relationship with the Yuan family was quite good. Yuan He was still running errands for her in Henan. So she went to the front hall to see Lady Yuan.
Lady Yuan was actually followed by Chen Feiyan. Chen Feiyan was very obedient in front of Lady Yuan, and Lady Yuan looked a bit helpless.
"Lady Yuan," Yi Qing greeted.
Lady Yuan bowed hurriedly. Fortunately, she hadn't gotten involved in Lady Di's matter. Yi Qing hadn't even given Lady Lu any face, and those people had finally calmed down.
"I wonder what urgent matter brought Lady Yuan here?" Yi Qing asked someone to serve tea.
"I heard... it was Lady Xiao who sent my son to Henan," Lady Yuan said embarrassedly.
"Who did Lady Yuan hear this from?" Yi Qing pretended not to know.
Lady Yuan looked at Chen Feiyan.
Chen Feiyan looked a bit arrogant. "That Xue Miao'er is a servant in the Xiao Mansion. Who else could have sent Lord Yuan to pick her up if it wasn't Lady Xiao? I've already inquired. Lord Yuan met someone from the Xiao Mansion before he went to Henan."
Yi Qing thought that Chen Feiyan was like a dog-skin plaster. She had had designs on her husband before, and now she had designs on the husband of her servant. "So what?"
"It means you sent Lord Yuan to Henan. Now that Lord Yuan has disappeared without a trace, you're responsible," Chen Feiyan said directly.
Yi Qing thought for a moment and looked at Lady Yuan. "Does Lady Yuan want me to be responsible for your son?"
"No, no," Lady Yuan felt that this sounded strange. "I just want to know what my son was doing in Henan so that I can send someone to look for him."
Yi Qing had already sent someone, but there was still no news. "How could a servant in my mansion send Lord Yuan to pick someone up? Moreover, my servant has already returned. I really don't know what's going on with Lord Yuan now."
She wasn't lying. At first, she had sent Yuan He to deal with Xue Tianlang's matter, but Xue Miao'er had returned, and Yuan He had disappeared. She really didn't know now.
"Then we won't disturb you anymore," Lady Yuan said as she stood up.
"It's okay," Yi Qing stood up to see Lady Yuan off. "I remember that Lord Yuan is very considerate of others and would never do anything to harm a woman's reputation. Lady Yuan bringing a young lady from another family like this will lead to misunderstandings."