Chapter Forty-six: Plea of Guilty

  Everyone was shocked beyond measure and immediately showed a suspicious expression. After all, these words came from the mouth of a little girl, and it's hard to avoid being questioned about their credibility.

  Jiang immediately reacted after the initial shock: "Xiu Jie, what are you talking about? How could Ze do such a thing? His younger brother clearly died from illness due to Money Concubine's neglect and the wet nurse's dereliction of duty. What does this have to do with Ze? You don't have any evidence, so you can't just spout nonsense!"

  She looked up at Zhang Shi and didn't care about making an excuse, directly scolding: "Xiu Jie is still young and doesn't understand things, how can she say such words? Someone must have taught her to say this. Old Madame, even if you resent your husband for harming Er Shu and Er Sao, you shouldn't splash dirty water on the child's head! Ze Er is only six years old, what does he know? Please be magnanimous and spare him, if you have any dissatisfaction, just vent it at Sun Niang!" After speaking, she burst into tears on the spot.

  "Even if you have a big grudge in your heart, it's not right to splash dirty water on the child's head! What are you doing by saying these things?! Your son is young? A six-year-old has already learned to lie, but a two-year-old is still innocent! If Zhao Ze really didn't do anything, why did you admit it in front of my whole family and ask me to help cover it up because the child was still young?"

  Zhaoyuan nodded slightly and gave a signal to Qiuye, who was about to step forward to hug her away from the Jiang family. "That's right, that's right," she said. "This matter was acknowledged by Eldest Sister-in-law in public at the time, don't deny it now. Qiuye is still here, on the day Zhao Hong died, Qiuye followed Grandmother to your courtyard and personally saw Zhao Ze enter Qian Yiniang's room. After he came out, Zhao Hong died!"

  "Preposterous!" Jiang was frantic, "What I saw earlier was clearly spring grass, that girl is already dead..." Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly realized she had been deceived and her entire body went limp. Hong Ying hastily supported her, her face deathly pale.

  Jiang's words clearly acknowledged that Zhao Ze indeed killed his brother and was seen by Zhang's maid, allowing Zhang to know the secret. The difference lies in that the maid who witnessed everything was not the surviving Autumn Leaf, but the long-dead Spring Grass.

  Zhao Xun spat at her: "I knew it was you who did it! I and the wet nurse saw with our own eyes the person who sabotaged the boat, he acted secretly, no one else noticed, but only killed Chun Cao alone, and stabbed many knives on her body to confirm that she was dead and would not come back to life. If there wasn't a deep hatred, why did he have to do it this way? Obviously, it was just to make sure that she had been silenced and would never come back to prove your son's guilt!"

  She really didn't want to see the Jiang family jumping around again, so she simply revealed all the secrets and let the Jiang family taste the bitter fruit. But she knew that Chun Cao was dead, there were no eyewitnesses, and the two houses had deep hatred for each other, so the accusations of the second house against the young master of the first house might not be believed by others. It would be better to let the Jiang family admit it publicly. As for Zhao Ze, who was only six years old at that time, she didn't have much resentment towards him, but whether he understood or not, if he did something wrong, he should be punished. He killed someone, so he shouldn't think of himself as innocent anymore.

  Jiang's eyes shot out hateful glances, staring at her fiercely.

  Zhao Xuan wasn't afraid in the slightest: "You have the nerve to glare at me? You killed my parents, caused my grandmother to lose her only son, and made my brother and I orphans. What right do you have to glare at me? Do you think just because I'm young, I don't know what you've done? Everything you said and did in front of my family, I saw it all! Not just me, but also our ancestors saw it too. Thank the spirits of our ancestors for allowing me to speak out. Behind me stands the entire Zhao clan, watching you, waiting to see your downfall!"

  Jiang couldn't help but shiver, and she truly began to feel afraid. This was the old Zhao family residence, and next door in the ancestral temple were the ancestors of the Zhao family. She had ordered someone to kill one of the Zhao sons and framed another son for the crime. Her own son had also killed a member of the Zhao family... Had they really seen everything? Would they punish her? And what about her son? Her Ze'er, would he also have to suffer?

  At the thought of this, her heart was cut like a knife, and she shook her head repeatedly: "No...no! Whatever it is, come at me, don't make things difficult for my child!"

  "Do you also know how to protect your own child?" Zhang walked in front of her at some point, looking down on her coldly. "Then how can you do something that kills other people's children?! Is it only your son's life that matters, and the lives of other people's sons don't matter?!"

  The long-held speculation finally got confirmed, and Zhang's hatred in her heart also found an outlet. She looked at this nominal daughter-in-law, hating her so much that she was trembling all over, wishing to stretch out her hand to strangle her to death. Just as her right hand made a move, something warm and soft came into contact with it. She lowered her head to look, only to find that little Sun had grabbed hold of her hand, staring at her with a pair of big black shiny eyes.

  Her left hand was also held by another small hand, she turned her head to look at the other side, it was her grandson Zhao Wei.

  Zhang's anger gradually dissipated, and tears couldn't help but fall. These two children are now her lifeblood, and for their sake, no matter how much hatred she has in her heart, she won't abandon reason.

  She whispered to Akira, "Take Zhao Xuan back. The matter here is being handled by the imperial envoy, and we are no longer needed." Akira responded in a low voice and bent down to pick up Zhao Xuan.

  Zhang then pulled Zhao Wei's hand, turned back to the imperial envoy and said: "The truth has been revealed, please report it to the emperor as it is, and ask the emperor to make a fair judgment."

  The imperial envoy bowed and said: "Don't worry, madam, our family will handle it properly."

  Zhang's family took their children and turned to leave, but suddenly heard Zhao Jiong shouting loudly in the house: "Mother! Mother, slow down! Please listen to your son for a moment!"

  "Zhang's feet stopped for a moment, without turning back, her tone was also very cold: 'I am not your mother, you don't have to call me that anymore, between us there is a deep blood feud, you don't have to pretend anymore.'"

  "Old lady, calm down." Zhao Jiong changed his tone, and his voice was filled with a few sobs. "My son is innocent, my son is really innocent! My son knows that in the past, he was unfilial, whether it was dividing the family property or escorting the coffin back to our hometown, it was all because he listened to Niu Shi's slanderous words. Niu Shi was afraid of your high status, she became the wife of the Marquis, and still had to endure her mother-in-law above her head, so she couldn't do as she pleased in everything. That's why she strongly advised me to divide the family property. It was also she who told me that she was afraid you and my second brother would stay in the capital and accuse me in front of the Emperor, so I planned to send you back to our hometown, but I never thought of harming my second brother! Mother, all of this is because of the evil and unvirtuous woman Jiang Shi, my son is innocent!"

  "Isn't it ironic? You think you're innocent just because the boat wasn't sunk by your order and the spring grass wasn't killed by your hand? Brother and sister Tie Er were brutally murdered, not because the boat was sunk or because of the villain's cruelty, but because after they fell into the water, you, as their brother, refused to save them! And those servants who escaped with their lives after the boat capsized were also silenced by your order! Even if there were treacherous people spreading rumors, if you didn't have a heart that harms others, you wouldn't be able to commit such atrocities against your own younger brother. Your hands are stained with blood, and yet you still dare to claim innocence?!"

  Zhao Kuang was stunned and couldn't speak for a long time.

  Zhang didn't pay attention to him either and took the child and Akira back to the courtyard directly.

  What happened later was reported by Wang Siping a little later. The imperial envoy ordered people to lock up Jiang's family separately, and the maidservants around her did not escape either, especially Hong Ying, who was also locked up separately. All the signs indicated that she was Jiang's confidante and most likely knew all the crimes committed by Jiang.

  The imperial envoy's men also found the tall, masked man among all the attendants brought back by Madam Jiang from the capital. He had come with them as a guard, but normally did not live with the other servants, and his food, clothing, and housing were all separate from others. According to Qing Cai, another senior maid of Madam Jiang's, this man was a trusted personal attendant brought by Madam Jiang from her natal family, extremely skilled in martial arts, receiving a generous monthly allowance, almost never doing anything, having his own house outside the estate of Duke Jian Nan, and only helping Madam Jiang with some matters when needed, but Qing Cai did not know what those matters were.

  This man did not fall into the net, when the imperial envoy sent soldiers to search for him in his temporary residence in Fengxian, he had already gone. The imperial envoy could only report to the local government and order officials to assist in the pursuit. Unfortunately, the result of the pursuit was not ideal, this man seemed to have evaporated into thin air, no one knew where he went.

  The imperial envoy had no choice but to rewrite the latest developments in the case and send a new memorial back to the capital by fast horse, for the emperor's review. At the same time, he intensified his questioning of Jiang's servants. As for Jiang herself, she should have been interrogated as well, but she remained silent, unresponsive to anyone who spoke to her. Given the situation in the capital, the imperial envoy did not dare to use torture and could only continue to detain her, shifting his focus to Hong Niang instead.

  As for Zhao Kuang, he changed the people around him to take care of him. It is said that he often heard him cursing Jiang's family. Now, even if he hears Zhang's words, he still thinks that if it weren't for Jiang's sinister intentions, he would never have fallen into this situation today. He first lost his grandson, then lost his title, and became paralyzed, all because of this wicked woman. He yelled for someone to invite Zong Fangyuan over, saying he wanted to divorce his wife on behalf of his son!

  The old master of the Zong house remained silent. On that day, the second house was in an uproar, and the servants who witnessed Jiang's confession were not just one or two. The servants who were caught afterwards also proved the truth of the matter, so some of the things she did had leaked out, and people in the clan were discussing it endlessly. Such a poisonous woman should have been punished long ago. Logically speaking, Master Zong should have taken action, as the head of the family, he should have shown his attitude, but he didn't. Not only did he not show any attitude, but he also restrained his son and daughter-in-law from discussing this matter outside.

  His eldest son Zhao Yun did not understand: "What is father worried about? The second house's uncle has made up his mind to divorce this daughter-in-law, and even the imperial envoy has arrested Jiang Shi. If our family doesn't speak out, we will have a sinner in our family tree, which will tarnish the reputation of all our clansmen! In the future, father will be even more difficult to do!"

  "What do you know?!" Zhao Yu glared at him, "What's the use of Uncle Jiao speaking up? Jiang Shi isn't even his wife, and if he wants to divorce her, it has to be Zhao Yue who takes action! Jiang Shi has given birth to more than one child for Zhao Yue, and her family is also prominent, how can they just divorce at will?"

  Zhao Jiong was shocked: "No way? Things have come to this point, Jiang's family has done so many bad things, can't Brother Huan tolerate her anymore? Even if her family is prominent, it's still unjust. Our Zhao family will divorce her, what can her family do?"

  "How naive!" Zhao Yu coldly snorted, "Just wait and see how the second house reacts. It's not like she's a daughter-in-law of our main house, why bother meddling in such trivial matters? Look at the elderly lady of the second house, even the proper matriarch hasn't spoken up yet, what's your hurry?"