Chapter 22: Exposed in Public

  Mrs. Zhang suffered the pain of losing her child, and then fell ill, looking haggard, with a pale complexion, and her hair had turned white, making her look like she had aged ten years overnight. She also thought of herself as a widow, so there was no need to wear makeup, today she wore a thick black dress, leaning on a walking stick, standing silently in the middle of the road, people who didn't know her would have thought they saw a ghost in broad daylight.

  Zhao Kuang almost fell off his horse!

  The onlookers exclaimed in surprise, and some bold ones took a closer look at Zhang Shi. They saw that she still had a shadow under her feet, and she was holding the hand of a five or six year old frail boy. A maid in plain clothes was supporting her, followed by a row of tall and strong young men wearing military uniforms. They guessed that Zhang Shi hadn't died after all. When they turned back to look at Zhao Jiong, the Duke of Jianan, behind him, the coffin bearers were carrying what was said to be the "Duchess's" coffin, their faces looked somewhat strange.

  Gao Cheng, who was following Zhao Kuang, reacted first and hastily said to Zhao Kuang: "Master Hou, the old lady is not dead, she's a human being, not a ghost!"

  Zhao Kuang heard this and the panic in his heart slightly reduced, but he still couldn't help but ask with a trembling voice: "You... aren't you dead?"

  "Of course you wish me dead!" Zhang shouted in a cold rage. "I am your stepmother, and my son is your own brother! You knew he was ill-suited for travel, yet you insisted on sailing through the stormy night, secretly ordering scoundrels to bore holes in the bottom of the boat, causing everyone on board to fall into the water! And if anyone managed to swim ashore, they would be stabbed to death by your henchmen! If not for the timely arrival of the King and Queen of Guangping, who rescued my grandson and me, you would have gotten away with this heinous crime of murdering your own mother and brother!"

  The onlookers were in an uproar, and no one had expected things to take such a turn. They had heard that Zhang's mother and son had died in an accident while returning home, and at most they thought that Jian Nan Hou hadn't found the body of his stepmother, mistaking someone who was still alive for dead, causing a misunderstanding. But who would have thought that the truth was actually like this? Everyone turned their heads to look at Zhao Jiong.

  Zhao Kuang was sweating profusely, but knowing that Zhang Shi was a human and not a ghost, he regained some of his composure. He naturally didn't want to be outdone in the argument: "Mother, could it be that you fell into the water and got sick, becoming delirious? My son had already arranged for someone from the Imperial Observatory to select an auspicious day for Father's burial, but because my younger brother was unwell, we were delayed on the road. To avoid missing the auspicious day, we wanted to hurry overnight, who would have thought there would be a shipwreck? The boat capsized due to strong winds and waves, how could it be that my son instructed someone to sabotage it?"

  "Then dare you to let people salvage that sunken ship and see if there are countless holes dug out at the bottom of the boat? Dare you to let people examine the bodies of our deceased servants and sailors, and see if they have any knife wounds?! The government will not cover this up for you!"

  Zhao Kuai's face turned gloomy, his eyes flashing with annoyance at the useless old thing Wang Si Ping. He ordered him to clean up afterwards, but he should have taken care of all these loose ends himself. How could he leave such a big handle behind? Although it wasn't him who had ordered the ship to be sabotaged, and only he had given the order to kill someone, now Zhang Shi had clearly put all the blame on his shoulders, how could he explain himself clearly?

  Then he changed his words: "That was a misunderstanding by mother, that section of the canal often has bandits lurking, and son originally thought it was just the wind and rain causing the boat to capsize. Now it seems, it must be the bandits' doing. Mother, rest assured, when son returns to Beijing, he will definitely report to the Emperor and dispatch troops to eliminate the bandits, to avenge the great injustice for Brother Tie's wife!"

  "Wanting to avenge my son, you must be tied up in front of his spirit, otherwise how can he and his wife rest their eyes? How can the Duke's spirit in heaven be at peace?! You still have the face to say that you want to petition the Emperor? Do you think that with such a great crime, the Emperor will easily forgive you?"

  Zhao Kuang's face suddenly changed, and he only then realized that Zhang Shi was not dead. What he had done would no longer be a secret. As long as the Emperor found out, his hard-won title of Duke of Jianan would be lost. Thinking of this, he felt indignant in his heart: "After all, the old lady just couldn't bear to see me become the Duke of Jianan and wanted to take away my title. Why did she have to frame me with such a false charge?"

  "Your words can only deceive fools! I've lost my son, what use would I have for your title? Since the Duke's passing, you've forced us to live in a remote courtyard, and even divided our property, leaving us with barely any land or wealth. We didn't bother to argue with you, but we never expected you to be so ruthless, using deceit to lure us back to our hometown, only to have your henchmen attack and kill my son and his wife on the way! The King and Queen of Guangping saved my grandson's life, and yet you tried to silence them by sending assassins after the King. With all the evidence against you, how dare you claim it's all just a fabrication?!"

  The onlookers were in an uproar again.

  Zhao Kuang was born to a concubine and registered under the name of his legitimate wife. This matter is from a distant past, and in the capital, only a few people may know about it, but in his hometown of Fengxian, there are actually quite a number of people who know about it. This is not surprising, as his birth mother, Old Lady Qian, was also from Fengxian, and her natal family had been related to the Zhao family by marriage for generations. In those days, the old master of the clan had abandoned his relatives and fled with his wife and children to escape disaster, and they were despised by people for a long time. Later, when he learned that the second son of the Zhao family, Zhao Zhu, had become a meritorious official in the new dynasty, he deceived him into thinking that all his parents, wives, and daughters had died, but actually arranged for his younger sister to marry Zhao Zhu as his second wife, which was also a piece of gossip that had been circulating in the countryside for many years.

  The first wife, Qin Shi, had a good reputation in her hometown of Fengxian. After reuniting with her husband, although she couldn't bear more children due to her poor health, she tolerated Zhao Jiong's existence but couldn't swallow the fact that he was her husband's concubine. Every time they returned to their hometown for ancestral worship, she would bring up this matter and repeatedly talk about it. Moreover, she often humiliated Qian Shi, the concubine, in front of relatives and friends, making the Qian family lose face.

  Qian Shi, originally from a humble background, had become the second wife of the marquis and given birth to his only son. She was proud of her status, although she couldn't show off in front of the first wife. However, when facing rural friends and relatives, she would often put on airs. Her son, Zhao Jiong, also looked down on others due to his noble status.

  As a result, no one had a good impression of Qian Shi and her son. While they might flatter them in person, they would speak ill of them behind their backs. Even the rural women working in the fields would secretly despise Qian Shi for being shameless, as she was originally from a respectable family but had willingly become someone's concubine by deceiving him into thinking his wife was dead and forcing her way into the household.

  Zhang's exposure of Zhao Jiong's unfilial behavior today made everyone believe it, and the way they looked at Zhao Jiong changed. However, what Zhao Jiong felt was not only anger but also fear. He finally realized that the ones who saved Zhang were the couple from Guangping Wang. He knew that Guangping Wang had come south to inspect the sea defense dam, but he had seen Guangping Wang's boat on the canal, at least two days' journey away from where the boat capsized. How could they have rescued Zhang?

  Zhang's heart was filled with resentment, and he didn't plan to give Zhao Jiong time to think it through. He continued to scold him: "I know you've been eyeing that title since you were a child. After my son was born, you saw him as a thorn in your side. It's just because my son is the legitimate heir and you are the son of a concubine, occupying the position of eldest son but not being a true one. You don't meet the requirements of national law or family rules, so inheriting the title would be unjustified. However, the Duke was fond of his sons and didn't show favoritism, thinking that you were the eldest and had mediocre talent since childhood, neither excelling in literature nor martial arts. If you couldn't inherit the title, you wouldn't be able to make a living in the future. My son, on the other hand, was intelligent from a young age and had already passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty. Therefore, the Duke wanted you to be the heir and inherit the title, enjoying wealth and glory for the rest of your life. My son could take the imperial examination and enter officialdom to serve the country. My mother and I understood the Duke's love for his sons and never said we wanted to compete with you. We never expected that we would indulge a heartless and ruthless person like you, who would even harm his own mother and brother to preserve wealth and glory!"

  Her every word was like a slap in Zhao Kuang's face, slapping loudly, making him both ashamed and angry, yet unable to refute a single word.

  Two people squeezed out of the crowd, with the first one wearing a gray-blue casual attire, his face filled with surprise and joy, rushing towards Zhang: "Sister, you're safe and sound, this is great! We suddenly heard the bad news and didn't dare to believe it was true!" After finishing speaking, he couldn't help but cry again: "It's just a pity about your nephew and his wife." The servant behind him also cried along.

  Zhang saw him and softened his expression. The sadness that was originally suppressed by anger could no longer be restrained, and he burst into tears.

  This man was none other than Zhang Chao-yi, the younger brother of Madame Zhang. He had just received news from Songjiang and rushed over to mourn. Zhao Jiong deeply resented Madame Zhang and felt that the Zhang family was at most a minor official of the seventh rank, with only a reputation as a scholarly family but nothing more. This Zhang Chao-yi was merely a small-time scholar-official, so he treated him with great disdain. If not for his arrival upon hearing the news, he wouldn't have even sent a letter to the Zhang family. Zhang Chao-yi had long been seething with anger in his heart, but what pained him more was his sister and nephew. Now that he saw his sister hadn't died, he immediately pushed his way over.

  He had only listened for half a day and was already furious with Zhao Jiong, this nominal nephew of his. He continued to scold him, "When the news of my sister's death arrived earlier, it was still a familiar person in Fengxian who delivered the letter. I don't know if Jian Nan Hou had forgotten about us or what, but he didn't even inform us! I rushed here overnight for the funeral, and Jian Nan Hou didn't even offer me a cup of tea. He just watched as people burned incense and then wanted to hurry my uncle out the door. I really don't know where he learned such etiquette! I was so angry that I almost left, but I felt that no matter what, I had to see my sister off. Who would have thought that she was still alive?! It's truly fortunate, if I had left, I don't know if there would be anyone here to support you today! My sister has suffered such injustice, and now I want to ask Jian Nan Hou, with my sister still here, what is the meaning of your words about waiting for the funeral rites? When someone is alive, they should be seen, when someone is dead, their body should be seen. If it's not even clear whether she's alive or dead, how can you say that she's dead?"

  He reminded Zhang that he looked at the coffin with his own name and smiled coldly: "I guess who is in the coffin. Zhao Jiong hated me to the bone, not just because of the title, but also because he couldn't tolerate me after taking over the title. Isn't it because his birth mother wanted to be buried next to the Duke before she died, but I didn't allow it? Next to the Duke is naturally the position of the first wife, Madame Qin, and then it's my burial site after a hundred years. Zhao Jiong's birth mother was a concubine, and being allowed to be buried with him was already a privilege. How could she have expected to receive the treatment of a legitimate wife? That's just a dream! But if I were dead and my body couldn't be found, Qian Shi would be able to openly take my place and be buried as the Duchess, what a great convenience!"

  The onlookers were in an uproar again. Zhao Jiong's face turned white.

  Zhang Chaoyi stared tightly at the coffin, his voice cold: "Come on! Open the coffin for me! I want to see what kind of thing makes Jian Nan Hou make all of us kneel down!"