Chapter Twenty-One: A Good Show

  Before arriving in Fengxian, Guangping King and his entourage stayed in Suzhou for two days.

  This was not only to rest the troops and change ships for carriages, but also to wait for news. The King of Guangping's trip south this time, the original destination is Shanghai. As the place where the imperial family of this dynasty rose to power, Shanghai immediately built a government office after Emperor Taizu ascended to the throne, and Jiading and Fengxian were counties under its jurisdiction. Although the late Emperor Taizu and the current emperor have not returned, Shanghai has been highly valued for many years. The previous dynasty had experienced the chaos caused by the Japanese pirates, and Shanghai was one of the places that suffered greatly from it. Since the 12th year of Kangxi (1662), Jiangnan has been hit by floods one after another, and Shanghai is no exception. Emperor Taizu proposed to repair water conservancy and build seawalls on a large scale. However, at the beginning of the founding of the country, everything was waiting to be restored, the Zhu family of the previous dynasty was eager to make trouble and regain the throne, and the Qing people in the north were not calm either. The national treasury was not rich, so it had to be put off temporarily, until a few years ago, Shanghai suffered from floods again, and this matter of water conservancy was raised again in the court.

  Originally, according to the Taizu Emperor's intention, all the water conservancy projects along the coast of Jiangnan should have been rebuilt, and the national treasury had already become much more abundant than at the beginning of the dynasty. It was not necessary to spend money on such matters related to people's livelihoods, so where else would it be spent? However, this way, the project scale became too large, and the aspects involved were too complicated, so they could only make do with a temporary solution for now, starting from Shanghai, after all, it was the place of dragon prosperity. Thus, starting from the year before last, a sea defense dam was built along the coast of Shanghai Prefecture, and according to the Taizu Emperor's intention before his death, a large seaport was also built. The emperor read the memorial submitted by local officials, learned that the project had been completed, and was very pleased, so he sent Prince Guangping over for inspection. This was originally an extremely easy task, just going through the motions would be fine, the emperor thought it impossible for anyone to dare to tamper with the imperial family's sea defense project, therefore, he specially allowed his beloved son to bring his wife and children along to tour the mountains and play in the water.

  The formal team of Guangping King actually left Beijing only one day earlier than the Zhao family, which was August 16th, just after the imperial Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. This was a formal trip for the prince, and all the rituals were indispensable, so they walked slowly. Guangping King was impatient, so he took his wife, children, attendants, and guards, dressed in plain clothes and took a light carriage to leave first, agreeing to meet with the main team in Suzhou. He didn't expect to encounter this matter of the Zhao family. He wanted to intervene in this trivial matter, so he sent a message to the main team to speed up their journey, and at this time, they were staying in Suzhou, waiting for them.

  But Guangping Wang did not forget about the Zhao family, he had previously sent a few people to follow Wang Si Ping's boat to Fengxian Zhao's clan, and now there was news coming back, he planned to act according to these messages.

  After receiving the third intelligence sent by his subordinates, he went to find Zhang Shi with Wang Fei and informed her of the current situation of Zhao's family in Fengxian.

  Wang Siping arrived in Fengxian and made excuses, saying that he couldn't find the remains of Zhang's wife and two children, as well as those of Qiuye and Zhenzhu Shu. He had all the others coffined and was originally planning to stay in Linqing for a few more days to search, but fearing it would delay the burial of the Duke, he entrusted someone to handle matters locally and brought everyone over.

  Zhao Jiong, the Marquis of Jianan, did not suspect anything and ordered his men to find three empty coffins, large, medium, and small, and place some heavy objects inside to serve as the bodies of Zhang Shi and her two children. However, he scolded Wang Siping severely, saying that he should not have rushed back, and that although the two children were not a big deal, Zhang Shi's body had to be seen by people, and it was necessary to hand over her remains to the local authorities for burial. What if the secret got out? Even if it didn't, the fact that the old Duke's wife's body couldn't be found would still be embarrassing for the Zhao family. It wasn't a big deal even if they had to wait a few more days, but now they were in a hurry to bury the old Duke and Qian Lao on a auspicious day, not Zhang Shi. At worst, they could just dig another grave when it was time to bury her. He had trusted Wang Siping to handle this important matter, but Wang Siping had handled it carelessly and rushed back, leaving behind such a big problem, truly betraying his trust.

  Wang Siping very obediently bowed his head and acknowledged his mistake, also apologizing to Zhao Kuang. In fact, he had expected this, for having done such a shameful thing for the master's family, afterwards even if he wasn't silenced, it would be impossible to continue in the position of great manager with unlimited power, Zhao Kuang's reaction was fundamentally within his expectations, so when he was removed from the position of great manager and ordered to return home for reflection, there was not a single protest, he just retreated. In the courtyard, he coincidentally met the newly appointed great manager Gao Cheng, who was being arrogant and overbearing, facing the other's cold ridicule and sarcasm, he also didn't say a word.

  He certainly wouldn't say anything, Gao Cheng was no different from a dead man in his eyes. Even someone with decades of seniority like him had been idle because he knew the ugly things about the master's family, and Gao Cheng wasn't the confidant of the mistress Niu Shi, but just temporarily got the favor of Prince Zhao Jiong, couldn't be proud for long, besides, King Guangping and Old Lady are coming soon!

  Zhao Kuang was not interested in the coffins, but he ordered someone to pry open his younger brother Zhao Jiong's coffin. After confirming that it was indeed him, he let out a sigh of relief. Since this younger brother was born, there had been a sharp blade hanging over his head, and he didn't know when he would lose the position of the heir of the Duke of Jianan. Fortunately, what belonged to him ultimately still belonged to him, and now he was the rightful Duke of Jianan. His younger brother had died young, even though he had obtained the title of "Hui Ren" (a high-ranking official) and was praised by everyone for his outstanding talent. Their father also doted on his younger son excessively, but in the end, Zhao Kuang still became the ultimate winner.

  Zhao Kuang's mood suddenly improved, and he couldn't even be bothered to pretend anymore. He burst out laughing loudly in the courtyard, facing his brother's coffin. The servants in the old mansion were all shocked and amazed, but they didn't dare say anything. As for whether they would spread some rumors privately, it was hard to say.

  The Zhao family clan lived together, but the second house was in the capital city as a public official, and the large mansion built twenty years ago in their hometown was only occupied when the owner returned to worship his ancestors. At ordinary times, it was empty, and the old servants in the mansion were only responsible for managing some property matters. They had a high status in the countryside, and even the common people of the nine houses outside the Zhao family clan had to show them respect. Without their master's supervision for many years, they did things very loosely, and there was no rule in their minds not to gossip about their master's family.

  Zhao Kuang didn't know how the servants around him viewed themselves. He had lived in the capital's Hou Mansion since birth, and from what he could remember, both his first stepmother Qin Shi and his second stepmother Zhang Shi were very capable at managing the household, so the servants were all relatively well-behaved. As a result, he was completely unguarded. All he thought about was that in a few days, after his father's funeral rites were completed, it would be best to bury him together with Zhang Shi and her children and grandchildren, which would also save them from having to spend another sum of money on funeral expenses. Once the dead had been buried, there would be no need to mention dividing up the family property again, and the clan would probably not have any objections either.

  But before her death, his birth mother had always been thinking about being buried with the county lord. As a son, he really wanted to fulfill her last wish. However, all the relatives were watching, and he couldn't openly do something that would be considered as demoting the legitimate wife for the concubine. So, he decided to make some small arrangements. He could disguise his mother's coffin as Zhang Shi's, then bury her in the spot meant for his father's second wife. As for Zhang Shi, let her be forever buried in the place where a concubine should be. After everyone left, he would secretly change the surnames on the tombstones of the two women, and then have someone guard the grave, not allowing outsiders to intrude, thus eliminating any future troubles.

  It's not something Zhao Jiong can accomplish alone. He instructed Gao Cheng to take care of it, and Gao Cheng called in a few helpers. Wang Si Ping had been the chief steward at the Hou estate for decades and had extensive connections, so he quickly got wind of the news and passed on the message through the guards sent by Guangping King.

  Zhang's family was informed of this news, and she was furious again, her whole body trembling with rage. She sneered: "Zhao Jiong is really bold! I'd like to see what he has buried in the coffin in the tomb of the Duke of Guangping before I die!"

  The Princess of Guangping hurried forward to comfort her, but Zhang shook her hand: "Your Highness doesn't have to worry, I may only have this old bones left, but even if it's just to vent my anger, for the sake of my two grandsons, I won't let myself fall easily!"

  Guangping King heard this and knew that she had already made up her mind. He said, "Since the old lady has an idea, I will help you with all my might. The imperial envoy's procession has just arrived in Suzhou, we will accompany the old lady to set off for Fengxian immediately and expose the true face of Jian Nan Hou."

  Mrs. Zhang was grateful for his kindness, but politely declined: "The king originally had a decree on his body, and when he arrived in Shanghai, he should first ask about official business. The affairs of the Zhao family are my own responsibility, and I only need to borrow some manpower from the king. Although there are many people in the Zhao family, most of them are attached and may not dare to offend the Duke of Jianan. In order to suppress Zhao Jiong's arrogance, I had to use the tiger's might."

  King Guangping burst out laughing and agreed to her request, summoning his own personal guard commander and ordering him to bring eight skilled men who were all formal military officers with official ranks to accompany Zhang's trip to Fengxian.

  The Princess of Guangping, Zhong Shi, secretly let out a sigh of relief. She was worried that her husband would put aside official business and help Zhang Shi deal with the troubles of the Zhao family first. Although the Emperor respected the old Marquis of Zhao, he would not blame his son for helping the widow of the old Marquis, but there would always be some people who would be jealous of the favor shown to the Prince of Guangping and speak ill of him, accusing him of various crimes. Helping Zhang Shi could be seen as taking care of the family of a meritorious official, but it could also be seen as neglecting public duties for personal reasons. If the Prince of Guangping were to contend for the throne in the future, this would certainly become a liability. The Princess of Guangping was willing to help Zhang Shi, but she did not want her husband to get into trouble because of it.

  Mrs. Zhang understood the situation and was pleased, and she also suggested: "It's inconvenient for the old lady to take two children back to her hometown, isn't it? Wei Ge is a boy, so it's right for him to follow the old lady, but Xiu Jie is a girl, what's the use of taking her there? It's better to leave her with me to take care of, and when the old lady has settled things, I'll send the child over."

  "Thank you very much, Princess Wang."

  Zhao Xuan never thought that she would be deprived of the opportunity to watch a good show. But no matter how unwilling she was, this matter was not something that could be discussed with emotion. Zhang knew that her granddaughter had inherited the cleverness of her late grandfather and was far more intelligent than ordinary children, but no matter how clever she was, she was still less than two years old, and a child was just a child, and should not participate in things that were not suitable for them.

  So Zhao Xuan could only watch as her grandmother took her little brother, along with a large group of strong and capable helpers (or thugs), on the road back to their hometown.

  In the first year of Da Chu's reign, on October 5th, Zhao Zhu and his wife, along with their second son and daughter-in-law, were buried in their hometown of Fengxian. The funeral procession was grand and solemn, attracting many Shanghai officials and gentry who came to pay their respects. The newly appointed Duke of Jianan, Zhao Jiong, wore mourning attire and rode a horse as he escorted his parents' and brother's coffins to the family tomb outside the county town. Along the way, he put on a show of filial piety, but when they reached the city gate, the procession suddenly came to a halt. He was still sitting on his horse, wiping away tears with his sleeve, when he noticed something was amiss and lowered his sleeve, looking around in confusion and asking his attendant, Gao Cheng: "What's going on? Why aren't we moving?"

  Gao Cheng stared blankly ahead at the road, his teeth chattering.

  Zhao Jiong followed his gaze and was suddenly frightened out of his wits.

  He thought Zhang was already dead, but she was standing in front of him on the big road, staring at him with a pale face.