allendalepharm Chapter 868: General Chen Xudao
Chapter 868: General Chen Xudao
"I don't know! They said my father accepted bribes and assisted the evildoers, bullying the people, so they arrested him. Just after General Dingyuan disappeared, they used this excuse to exile my father here to do hard labor!
I am now the daughter of a criminal. Originally, my mother and I were to be sent to be military prostitutes. My mother could not bear the humiliation, so she teamed up with the loyal slave Xiaodie to rescue me, but she stayed behind and hanged herself. "
Chen Yumian covered her face and cried, thinking that she was a housekeeper's daughter who was about to reach the age of marriage and would be married soon, but her family had encountered a big change.
Now her father's life or death is unknown, her mother died unjustly, and even her two brothers died under cruel punishment. She couldn't help but feel sad.
"Miss Chen, I am sorry for your loss! But it's not safe here, so let's make this short." Jiang Youzhen said, fearing that his voice would be too loud and attract the guards.
"Let's start from now, I'll ask questions and you'll answer them!" Jiang Youzhen had limited time, so he asked.
Seeing Chen Yumian nod, she immediately asked the first question, "Is your father Chen Xudao?"
"Yes!" Chen Yumian nodded again.
It was indeed him! Jiang Youzhen frowned, things seemed to be getting more complicated.
Chen Xudao was promoted to General of the Central Army and was the right-hand man of General Dingyuan. Both of them came from humble backgrounds and were from the same hometown.
The two of them took part in the military examination together that year. General Dingyuan won the top prize. Although this guy did not rank first, he was also ranked second.
Later, the two served the court together. When General Dingyuan went to the border, he asked Chen Xudao to accompany him. After going to the border, they made many achievements and were inseparable.
Now that General Dingyuan is missing and Chen Xudao has also been captured, the situation is really not good.
"The second question is, how much do you know about General Dingyuan's disappearance?"
Chen Yumian recalled carefully, "Just a month ago, near the end of the year, the general's mansion held a banquet, and my mother and I attended. It happened that the general's daughter was getting married, and she and I were close friends, so we stayed at their house until the afternoon and had dinner before returning."
Jiang Youzhen did not interrupt her recollections. Although these words seemed unimportant, she captured important information.
"Everything was peaceful and smooth, but the next morning, a servant from the general's mansion came to the mansion to look for my father, saying that there was something important.
It so happened that Miss Wang and I had made an appointment to go to the temple to burn incense. When the carriage had already reached the corner gate, someone from the General's Mansion came to say that Miss Wang had something urgent to do, so the trip was cancelled.
It was then that I heard that the General's Mansion had sent someone else to look for my father. I was curious at the time, so I lifted the curtain to see, and found that it was Zuo Peng, the counselor beside the general. I recognized him. "
Chen Yumian frowned and recalled carefully.
"He looked wrong at the time because he was too anxious. He didn't even have a post, so the doorman wouldn't let him in, saying he would report to my father. I saw that he was too anxious, so I took the initiative to let him in."
"Then how did you know about the general's disappearance? Did your father tell you?"
Jiang Youzhen narrowed his eyes. The girl was not surprised by the general's disappearance. Could it be that her father would tell such a girl like her? After all, it involved the court, so this matter was of great importance.
Chen Yumian shook her head. "I overheard it! I just felt it was strange at the time. After all, I have a close relationship with Zhilan... Oh! Miss Wang. If it wasn't something very important, she wouldn't have broken the appointment.
The servant didn't tell me why, so I was very anxious, afraid that something had happened in the general's mansion, so I followed Master Zuo to the outer study."
"So what did they say?" Jiang Youzhen asked immediately.
"I only vaguely heard that the general was missing. He hadn't returned all night, and he wasn't in the barracks either. It had been a day and a night. Then I was discovered by the chief steward, who kicked me out."
Jiang Youzhen figured out that General Dingyuan disappeared when the banquet was being held.
"Did your father tell you anything?"
Chen Yumian shook her head in despair, "No! My father left the house in a hurry and did not return for two days, until someone went to the government office to sue my father for accepting bribes and extorting money from the people.
Everything happened very suddenly. My father was not arrested at home. My mother, brothers and I were caught off guard when we were arrested. We didn’t have time to prepare for anything.”
Overnight, she went from being a daughter of an official family to a prisoner, and she almost became a military prostitute, which was a deep blow to her.
If her mother had not told her before she left that she must find her father and redress the Wang family's wrongdoings, she would not have been able to hold on.
"Then how did you find this place?"
"On that day, except for my brothers, the three of us were present in the court. Later, my father pleaded guilty and was sentenced to exile nearby, saying that he was taken to the government mine to work as a miner.
After I ran away, I ran to many places before I found the prison van, and followed it all the way here."
"You mean your father pleaded guilty?" Jiang Youzhen was surprised. Did he really commit a crime?
"Yes! But I don't believe it. My father is not that kind of person. I called my father several times in the court that day, but he looked dazed and embarrassed. His eyes looked blank when he looked at us, as if he didn't know what happened.
We were all at a loss. My father said nothing in court, but he didn't refute it either. He was asked to put his fingerprints on the case, and he did. The charges had been sent to the capital, but my father didn't resist at all. This was unbelievable to me and my mother.
Chen Yumian still couldn't believe it. How could her father, who was so upright and hated evil, commit such a crime?
However, the accusations one by one, the evidence and witnesses, and even the discovery of a lot of gold and silver treasures in her home, left them with no way to defend themselves.
Unfortunately, they were also confused, and their two brothers died in vain. They were tortured to force them to confess to the unfounded charges, but the brothers naturally could not admit it, so they died under the severe punishment.
The screams and her mother's shrill cries kept lingering in her mind. She had nightmares every night and dared not sleep at all. When she fell asleep, she could only hear the screams of pain from her brothers being tortured, and she would always wake up in a sweat.
Jiang Youzhen had never met Chen Xudao, so he naturally didn't know his character. What kind of person he was and whether he would commit such a serious crime would only be known after investigation.
"Since you knew that your father was exiled here, why did you come here like this? You are a fugitive, how dare you show up?" Jiang Youzhen was very confused.
"It's because of that villain Zheng Ji!" Chen Yumian's face was suddenly filled with anger.
“Zheng Ji knows some martial arts. If my father hadn’t met him and introduced him to Prince Yuanming, he wouldn’t have achieved what he has today.
Now he is a captain under the command of Prince Yuanming. Before my father's accident, he often came to the mansion. I was deeply impressed by him. He also said before that he wanted to marry into my family. His eldest son happened to be the same age as me. Fortunately, my mother did not agree, so the matter was left unresolved. "
"He is the official guarding this mine? And you said this is a government mine?" Jiang Youzhen was very surprised.