allendalepharm Chapter 664: Looting Money
Chapter 664: Looting Money
"Your Highness, the most urgent thing is to meet Huang Mintao's wife and the servants who serve the child."
Jiang Youzhen thought it would be better to find the clue as soon as possible. After the Fourth Prince agreed, he walked in quickly.
"Let Du Junguang come to see me." After saying this, Qu Cheng felt relieved, and then immediately ordered someone to invite Du Junguang.
Mrs. Huang Mintao, Zheng was kneeling below her at the moment. She was so frightened that her face turned pale and her whole body was trembling.
She didn't understand why her husband, an official of the Hanlin Academy, became a prisoner overnight, and the entire mansion was surrounded, saying that they were rebels from the previous dynasty.
"You are Huang Mintao's first wife? Do you know about Huang Mintao's affairs? Where did the child go?" Jiang Youzhen began to ask without waiting for the Fourth Prince to speak.
Zheng just kept shaking her head, "I... I don't know. My husband never mentioned his background, let alone telling me this."
"Zheng, you'd better tell the truth." The Fourth Prince didn't have that much patience at the moment, and his tone was extremely cold.
Zheng shrank her neck in fear, "I...I really don't know."
"Zheng, this is the Fourth Prince. If you want to clear your husband of suspicion, you'd better tell him everything."
Jiang Youzhen tried his best to keep his tone calm. This Zheng family probably didn't know that Huang Mintao was in collusion with the rebels.
When Zheng heard Jiang Youzhen say that this was the Fourth Prince, she burst into tears immediately, "Your Highness! My husband is innocent! He really didn't collude with the rebels. This is all a frame-up! How is this possible?"
"Zheng, your husband has already admitted it. It's useless for you to argue here. You should think about how to make amends. Otherwise, your husband will lose his life, and your whole family will be buried with him."
Jiang Youzhen shouted loudly, frightening Zheng.
In fact, if Huang Mintao was proven to be a traitor, the punishment would be beheading. His family members would not be spared, the women would be exiled or sent to the Jiaofangsi, and the men would also be beheaded.
But Jiang Youzhen naturally couldn't tell Zheng all this at the moment. She would only speak if she had hope.
"Sir, please tell me. I will never dare to hide anything!" Zheng didn't dare to act rashly at this moment.
"Tell me how the child disappeared." The Fourth Prince snorted coldly.
"Yes! This morning, many guards rushed into the mansion, saying they wanted to search the house. They searched the mansion in a mess, saying they found evidence that my husband was colluding with the rebels. I was terrified, but there was no one to turn to for help."
"Get to the point!" The fourth prince frowned and talked about this and that, but didn't mention the child.
Zheng's eyes flickered. "I was in a panic and had no time to take care of the child. The mansion was in a gloomy mood. The master and servants were imprisoned together and supervised each other. No one dared to act rashly. But the child couldn't hold back the urge to pee, so I asked for leniency."
She recalled carefully, "The guards only allowed servants to take my son there, so I asked the maid Xiao Cui to take him there, after all, she was used to serving. But my son didn't come for a long time, and I couldn't find him in the mansion, so I panicked."
At this point, Jiang Youzhen saw guilt and relief in her eyes.
Jiang Youzhen slapped the back of his chair and said in a cold voice: "There must be a secret passage leading to the outside of your house. Don't think I don't know that you let Xiao Cui take the child away and want to leave a legacy.
But what you don't know is that the child is not your own, but was swapped by those rebels, who took another child and raised him in your arms."
Jiang Youzhen's words were like thunder from a clear sky, and Zheng shook her head repeatedly upon hearing it.
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!"
They are worthy of being husband and wife, even their words are the same, Jiang Youzhen couldn't help but complain in his heart.
"Your own son was captured by them and used to force your husband to work for them. Now your son is living in dire straits, and that child is the remnant of the traitors.
You raised your enemy's child for more than five years, and you knew nothing about it, yet you devoted all your energy to it. It's pathetic."
Every word Jiang Youzhen said was like a heavy hammer hitting Zheng's heart. She shook her head repeatedly, a little crazy.
Zheng couldn't believe it. "No! You lied to me, didn't you? I have been raising a child for my enemy for more than five years, but if my husband knew, why didn't he tell me?"
Her voice was so sharp that everyone present couldn't help but frown.
"Of course I chose to hide it because I was afraid that you couldn't help it. Your child is still alive. If you still want to save him, you have to catch this one now, otherwise you can't save him."
Zheng had already collapsed on the ground, her eyes full of hatred when she heard this. When she thought of her own flesh and blood not knowing whether to live or die, she was immediately filled with hatred.
"There is a tunnel behind the bookshelf in the outer study, which leads to the outside. Outside is a grain and oil shop."
As she spoke, she became anxious again.
"Go and chase them. Even if they are no longer in the grain and oil shop, they can't leave the city. Only by catching Ning'er can I get my child back."
"Where do they usually go? Or where does Xiao Cui go often? Who in the mansion does she keep in close contact with?"
Jiang Youzhen straightened up and asked repeatedly.
Zheng thought for a while before saying, "Xiao Cui was bought and has no relatives in the mansion. She is usually taciturn and never makes close friends with others, but I let her serve Ning'er because she is serious and diligent in her work."
"Oh! That's right." Shen suddenly remembered something, "Xiao Cui really likes the cakes from a cake shop, it seems to be called Zhenmitang.
I don't like food from outside because I'm afraid it's not clean and Ning'er might eat it secretly, so I don't allow her to buy it, but she still buys it secretly every now and then."
She said, taking a deep breath, "Does this count? This is the place she goes most often."
The Fourth Prince immediately ordered, "Come here, send someone to seal off the Zhenmitang pastry shop and search for any children or a young girl."
"Your Highness! Why don't we draw a portrait and issue a city-wide wanted notice!" Jiang Youzhen suddenly said.
"Wouldn't this alert the rebels?" The Fourth Prince didn't understand.
"Your Highness, by now, they must have gotten the news. Xiao Cui and the others may not necessarily go to the pastry shop, so we can't just sit there and wait for them. It's better to let them become frightened birds and make them lose their minds. That way, we will have a chance."
The fourth prince suddenly understood what he said, "Okay! I'll do as you say."
"Report!" A reporting voice came from outside the door.
"Your Highness, we have searched the Wei Mansion thoroughly and found some evidence of guilt."
The fourth prince was immediately delighted, "Present it quickly."
Jiang Youzhen looked at the letters, seals and some banknotes on the tray, and immediately felt that Wei Xiyuan was not innocent.
"Your Highness! I ordered someone to take inventory of the money in the Wei Mansion. The total amount of banknotes, gold, silver, manors, houses, etc. is more than 380,000 taels."
Jiang Youzhen was shocked when he heard this number.
She remembered that by the time of Wei Xiyuan's generation, the family had fallen into poverty. How could he have so much money? Wasn't it all just greed?