Published at 24th of November 2021 10:46 am

Chapter 385 Sir Jibei’s Choice

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“Except Qiu Jinglan and the Eighth Young Master, the most possible culprit naturally should be the remaining people of Gu!”

“However, if the one who was able to plan such a scheme and cause the death of the two young masters wasn’t a prominent figure of Gu, it would make no sense!”

“For example, Deng Yi. This man is the only one who was sent away to hide by the Young Prince of Duke of Guangyang when he sensed that the Gu Family’s regime had been in its death throes!”

“But Deng Yi’s whereabouts are hard to find. If it were he who did it this time, we should have found some traces. Without any traces, I’m afraid it would be difficult for us to explain!”

“What about the imperial household?”

His trusted subordinates gave suggestions in all sorts of gossip, but an abrupt voice silenced them all.

Sir Jibei stroked his beard and pondered, “The imperial household? Do you mean… His Majesty?” He shook his head almost immediately, “That is not proper!”

Seeing that all his trusted subordinates were stunned, Sir Jibei explained, “Although there are still a few bloodlines of the former emperors under His Majesty, if they were to be abolished, it would not be difficult to make a new emperor! However, the abolition of the emperor is not a trivial matter, for fear that it will affect people’s livelihood and allow the alien races to take advantage of it!”

Moreover, “Yayue’s official niece, Zhi, has been confirmed to be included in the Palace in the future! If something happened to His Majesty, what would happen to Zhi in the future? Since she is to marry His Majesty and is getting on in years, it is not possible that she will be satisfied if she marries again. Yayue has died in Shazhou and for the sake of the greater good, we are already aggrieved that we can’t investigate the cause of his death, but we also can’t ruin his official niece’s life for the sake of the aftermath, can we?”

One of his trusted subordinates suggested, “Promising Miss Zhi a position in the Palace may relieve the nerve of the first branch!”

“Of course!” Sir Jibei nodded, “When we return, I will ask my second brother to discuss with Empress Dowager and since Empress has already decided, we should give Zhi a position of Noble Consort so as to ease the grief of the first branch.”

Of course, this was very aggrieved of Xin Fubing, but before the relationships among the Jiang Family’s male heirs, granddaughters were all secondary. And the Noble Consort was never as high as Empress, was her?

Sir Jibei continued, “So it’s better not to change anything about His Majesty if we can! Other granddaughters of the first branch are still young and even if they can be married to the lords, they will not be old enough to get married! We might as well let Zhi make them look forward to the future. I’m afraid it will make them even more anxious!”

Jiang Huizhi was the only girl of marriageable age in the first branch and as soon as Xin Fubing married Emperor, she would be admitted to the Palace. If she did, she could expect to have a son, and if she had a son, the first branch could count on her daughter to continue their prosperity. But her sisters were still young. Even if Emperor were abolished and we chose someone from the first branch’s granddaughter generation to be Empress, it would be a few years before they were married, but who would know what might happen in between?

If Marquess Qin, the oldest generation, died by then, it would be difficult for the first branch to recover. It was also impossible for them to keep their granddaughter as Empress. They had better consider the question of survival first!

The first branch should also think about this. In fact, about Jiang Huizhi’s admission into the Palace, both Marquess Qin and Sir Jibei thought that was the first branch’s preparation because of their worry about the mourning. In case that after the mourning, they had no one to rely on afterwards. At least there would still be a granddaughter who was Empress in the Palace and could think of them and so that they wouldn’t be like the Lian Family. When the eldest of the Lian Family died, there would be no one in the court to care about them and they would have to stay in the countryside.

“If that is the case, then we can only go against the princes.” The trusted subordinates looked at each other and said, “The Prince of Qi is the son-in-law of the first branch and has a weak temperament. I don’t think anyone would believe if we make him the scapegoat. The Prince of Yan and his wife died long ago. The Prince of Zhou was executed. The Prince of Lu is also a peaceful person and the Princess of Lu is Empress’s niece… In this case, we only have the Prince of Cai, and fortunately, he is still alive. The Princess of Cai, Duan, also has reasons to be against the Jiang Family!”

Since the maiden family of the Princess of Cai, Duan Wenji, was the first family to suffer a tragedy when the Empress Dowager’s party fell. The Prince of Cai’s biological mother, Mu Meiren, had been commanded by Empress Dowager Gu to serve the former emperor. Thus, the couple could be said to be born into Empress Dowager Gu’s party. But because the Prince of Cai was timid, the Jiang Family killed the Prince of Yan and his wife immediately after coming to power, but kept them to confirm the magnanimous virtues of the Jiang Family… That is now coming in handy.

Sir Jibei pondered for a while and nodded his head, “Let’s do it!”

The trusted subordinates were relieved since they had a direction and a target and then the rest was easy. It was just a matter of silencing and falsifying evidence.

The extermination was more brutal as it was the extermination of Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing’s remaining subordinates. Those people were loyal to the first branch and the third branch. They knew that their masters died after being invited to a banquet by Jiang Yadan, which had nothing to do with the Prince of Cai and his wife or the remaining people of Gu. How could they not tell the truth when they returned?

Sir Jibei thought that since he had chosen to take care of the overall situation, it would be better to kill all these people so that he could feel more relieved.

At his word, the people who were expecting Sir Jibei to avenge their young masters were slain to death by his vicious men before they knew anything about it.

“Kuang Qingwu won’t make it to Jing City alive either!” Sir Jibei glanced faintly at the corpse and ordered again, “Give him the penalty! It must be obvious as he has been tortured many times! Freeze the body and bring it back to Jing City. Say that he died of torture!”

After a pause, he continued, “The real culprit is actually the Prince of Cai and that is what he should confess in the end. Only I and a few of you hear it with your own ears!”

“Also, two of you now return to Jing City in secret and seize a chance to infiltrate the Mansion of the Prince of Cai to make preparations! When it is time to search the mansion and look for evidence, it will be more real!”

These series of instructions from Sir Jibei would naturally not be concealed from Jiang Qizheng and the others.

“When the time comes, you should say so!” Sir Jibei deliberately found some time to personally check their statements, “Remember?”

“The Prince of Cai and his wife were mindful of Gu and used the power handed over to them by Empress Dowager Gu before she died to plan this attack!” Jiang Qizheng looked odd, “And the reason why my niece, Xing, and my stepbrother were safe and sound was that they planned to use the safety of my niece and her party to threaten my aunt and the others once they failed so that they could exchange for their lives…”

Sir Jibei was pleased with her memory, “Exactly! You must all remember well that this is the truth of the matter. There is no other truth, do you understand?”

“Your defending Brother Yadan in this way is also defending us, the fourth branch. What more can I say?” Holding back her excitement, Jiang Qizheng switched to her grateful mode and started to wipe her tears, “It’s all my fault! I shouldn’t have come to Shazhou at first…”

Sir Jibei was very busy nowadays and left after hastily comforting her. As soon as he left, Ling Zui walked dully into the tent, “So that’s it?”

“What else could it be?” Ou Qinglan looked at Jiang Qizheng in admiration, “Chunfu, you’re amazing!” She thought it was all within Jiang Qizheng’s calculations.

“Silence!” Jiang Qizheng gave her a stern look, “Did grand uncle say not to talk about the past?”

Ou Qinglan knew that she meant not mentioning anything related to the truth of Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing’s death and so she shrank back, “I know!”

“Now that grand uncle has an idea, let’s do as what we are told!” Jiang Qizheng took a breath, a little relieved and a little apprehensive. What made her relieved was that she had not expected that Sir Jibei would choose to defend the fourth branch this time, not telling the first branch and the third branch the truth at all, but finding a scapegoat, which was tantamount to handing over the Western Army to Qiu Jinglan by default! In this way, the fourth branch would not owe anything to the first branch and the third branch. She did not need to die in exchange for the fourth branch’s unjustifiable loss.

Jiang Qizheng was in her youth and her son was still young. It would be good if she did not die.

However, what was annoying was that such a big matter, even if Sir Jibei killed all of Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing’s subordinates… Could this be concealed? The Prince of Cai’s mediocrity and incompetence was well-known in Jing City, how could he be believed to have planned such a matter? The death of Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing was a rumor known in Shazhou. It was hard for it not to reach Jing City after a long time.

The first branch and the third branch were not dead. The death of any official son would not be believed, even with the testimony of Sir Jibei. They must have sent their trusted subordinates to ask around.

“In case that they know the truth…” Jiang Qizheng considered for a while and suddenly thought that since Sir Jibei had killed them, he would never admit that Jiang Yadan had committed fratricide anyhow, even if someone had found any evidence, which would probably also be considered by the old general as a deliberate attempt to cause the internal strife in the Jiang Family. That would be enough!

In the face of sufficient power, evidence was only a joke.

Besides, the first branch and the third branch were no fools as Sir Jibei had even prepared all the “evidence” and killed all the people, showing his determination to exonerate the fourth branch and Qiu Jinglan! They could have their suspicions in private, but if they still hold on to it openly, it would be like being against Sir Jibei, who was the second powerful man in the Jiang Family!

Jiang Tianao and Jiang Tianqi had other sons and it was impossible for them to bring their dead sons back to life. Rather than offend their youngest uncle, they should pretend to be confused while Sir Jibei, who knew very well, would compensate them elsewhere.

It was not possible that the first branch and the third branch were unable to figure it out.

“This is really a narrow escape!” Thinking clearly about this, Jiang Qizheng completely relaxed and looked up at Ou Qinglan and Ling Zui, “According to grand uncle’s request, we have to get our statements familiarized so that we won’t make mistakes when we are asked even more questions…”

“It’s sure enough that Sir Jibei has chosen the big picture!” In the city of Shazhou, Qiu Jinglan put down the letter, saying to Ren Ziyong, “All is within your prediction.”

Ren Ziyong did not look complacent, “Given the situation, Sir Jibei is bound to choose the most advantageous one! However, even though he is already taking care of our affairs, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t suspect you! I suggest that you do something to calm him down, otherwise he will definitely find an opportunity to deal with you later!”

“Then…” Qiu Jinglan was pondering what he could do to make Sir Jibei pleased when Ruan Yi suddenly walked in, “Young master and Mr. Ren, Qiu Feng has come to Shazhou!”

“Eh?” Both men were startled and asked in unison, “When? On himself?”

Ruan Yi said, “He has just entered Shazhou as our master has sent some people to follow him, which seems they are spying on him. They heard that Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing were dead, while Chunfu Princess and her party were rescued safe and sound. The people spying on Qiu Feng were so frightened that they didn’t dare to bring him to meet Sir Jibei and they came to our people! Now they have hidden Qiu Feng, I beg you to come up with an idea!”

Qiu Jinglan twitched his mouth corner, “Qiu Feng… What would he be doing out here!”

Ren Ziyong also felt a headache, “If he hadn’t left for years, Chunfu Princess wouldn’t have had to look for her husband and Jiang Yayue and Jiang Yaqing wouldn’t have had the chance to attack the fourth branch directly… According to the Jiang Family’s thinking, it was all Qiu Feng’s fault! No wonder the people Jiang Yashuang sent to follow him didn’t dare to take him to see Sir Jibei! If Sir Jibei had seen him, he might have immediately taken action! How can he still hide in Shazhou? Let him run away and go back to where he came from! If he misses Chunfu Princess, let her go to him quietly so that he doesn’t appear in front of people and trigger their hatred!”

“But Qiu Feng said that even if he didn’t hear the news of Chunfu Princess’s accident in Shazhou, he would still have to come for you!” Ruan Yi said embarrassedly, “He wants to ask you what your relationship with his master is. And who exactly is his master?”

Qiu Jinglan was stunned and quickly glanced at Ren Ziyong, while both of them looked embarrassed, “How can the Oldman from Lingnan… How can he be so nosy? Haven’t we said we won’t tell him anything?”

“Young Master, will you see him or not?” Ruan Yi only pretended not to hear this and only asked as Qiu Feng had requested.

“Help him avoid the spy of Sir Jibei and bring him here!” Pondering for a moment, Qiu Jinglan consulted Ren Ziyong, ordered with a sigh, and sighed again at the end, “What to say to him?”

Ren Ziyong rubbed his brow, “Let’s wait until he arrives… And then we discuss it!”

The two men had always been concealing their anger and delight, but at this moment, they were disturbed, which showed the difficulty of this matter…

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