Toppling the Great Stone

Based on Zhu Heyu's account, did the second wife then switch the Hou's baby girl with a scholar's daughter?

"Lord Zhu... does he have a grudge against the Marquis of Suiping's Residence, or that second wife?" he asked suspiciously.

His doubt stemmed from the fact that he felt the matter was not difficult to handle.

The midwife said that the second master of the Marquis's mansion was born out of wedlock; although the second mistress was the daughter of an official, her father held a low-ranking position and the family was poor, so she was not of any status or position.

If that's the case, we can simply transfer the case file to the Court of Judicial Review. The one being punished is the Second Madam; although the Marquis of Suiping's Residence will be the subject of gossip because of this, haven't they helped the Suiping Marquis get justice?

"Lord Zhu is the maternal brother of Marquis Zhao Yuanxun of Suiping, and the Marquis's wife is his younger sister." Zhang Shun gave a wry smile and downed the wine in his cup in one gulp. "But the second wife's father is no longer a minor official. Fourteen years from today, he has risen to the Principal Third Rank and is currently the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."

A peanut that Shi Maodian was holding on his chopsticks fell onto the table with a "thud," rolled around on the surface for a while, and then fell to the ground.

Shi Maodian put down his chopsticks, looked at Zhang Shun, and remained silent for a long time.

He knew that the reason why officials of the Principal Third Rank in the imperial court were called "high-ranking officials" was because there were very few officials of this rank, and each of them wielded immense power. Such people were either extremely favored by the emperor or had powerful backers. Otherwise, it would be almost impossible to climb from the Principal Fourth Rank to the Subordinate Third Rank Principal Third Rank.

The Earl of Lin'an and the Marquis of Suiping wanted to use their father's influence to secure a high-ranking official position in the imperial court, which was practically pushing Zhang Shun into a fire.

"We cannot do this," he said sternly.

Zhang Shun gave another bitter smile and shook his head, "He's using the grain transport funds to blackmail me, and I don't even know where he got the evidence from."

Shi Maodian's mouth was wide open. After a while, he finally closed his mouth and swallowed hard, his throat dry.

"So, we have no other choice?" His voice was slightly hoarse.

Zhang Shun nodded.

Gusu is a prosperous place. Serving as an official here is very tempting. Some corruption is common knowledge. When no one impeaches, everything is fine. But once someone impeaches, and someone deliberately makes things difficult, inciting the censors to attack, heads can roll.

"I'll send the case file up in a bit. Have someone keep a close eye on that midwife and make sure nothing goes wrong with her," Zhang Shun instructed.

Shi Maodian agreed.

Now that things have come to this, all he could do was offer words of comfort to his employer, "We're just following the normal procedures. After all, the case involves nobles and dignitaries in the capital, and it's not something we can handle here. Even if the Wei Family wants to touch you, they can't do it openly; at most, they can manipulate your official position. But the Earl of Lin'an is with the Ministry of Ministry of Personnel, so if the Wei Family wants to touch you, they'll have to go through them, which provides an extra layer of protection. In short, things won't get that bad."

It's better than offending the Earl of Lin'an, being impeached for corruption, and losing your life.

Before leaving, Zhu Heyu told Zhao Yuanxun to walk slowly for the sake of his health. However, Zhao Yuanxun completed the journey from Gusu to the capital, which usually takes three or four days, in just two days.

After entering the city, he did not go home, but instead went to a two-courtyard house in the capital.

He had someone rent this place before he left.

Zhu Heyu's younger brother Zhu Hehuai, had been waiting at the house for the past two days, estimating the time. Upon seeing Zhao Yuanxun return, he hurriedly greeted him, "Brother-in-law, you're back? How did it go?"

Zhao Yuanxun was helped off the carriage by his servants; he was pale and looked exhausted.

"Things went fairly smoothly," he said. "How about your sister?"

Zhu Hehuai stepped forward to help Zhao Yuanxun, his face showing excitement. "When my sister said she was going to interrogate Li Mu's family, I thought we wouldn't get anything out of them. I didn't expect to get so much."

A smile appeared on Zhao Yuanxun's pale face, and he immediately seemed much more energetic. "That's good, that's good."

The two went inside, exchanged information, and discussed the matter in detail.

If Lady Wei had simply switched the children of the two families and allowed Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu's child to live under her name and enjoy the luxuries of the Marquis's mansion, even if Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu were angry, they would not have gone so far as to completely destroy Lady Wei. At most, they would have allowed the old lady to punish her and then send her to a temple to spend the rest of her life.

But Lady Wei, coveting the title, switched the children and deliberately abandoned their daughter to a strange village woman. Even after finally discovering the mix-up, she still tried to use Xu Xue to deceive them. After Xu Xi returned home, she again sought to torment the child.

Recalling her ruthless treatment of Xu Xi, and looking at Zhao Jingli, whom they had carefully raised, and thinking of the pain of having to drive the child away, Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu's hatred for Lady Wei ran deep. Therefore, this matter could not be easily let go. They wanted Lady Wei to be imprisoned and pay the price for her crimes.

To punish the Lady Wei, it is necessary to bring down Lady Wei father, Wei Qiu. Otherwise, not only will the Lady Wei not be punished, but Wei Qiu, in order to protect the Wei Family's reputation, may also turn around and harm the old lady and Zhao Yuanxun's family, and truly strip them of their title.

Wei Qiu was able to climb to the Principal Third Rank, which naturally meant he had a powerful backer. His backer was the Third Prince, the son of Consort Jin. How easy would it be to bring him down? Therefore, Zhao Yuanxun discussed and deliberated with Zhu Heyu Zhu Hehuai before deciding on a series of actions.

"I'll freshen up and head straight to the Duke of Wei's Residence," Zhao Yuanxun said.

"It's still early, brother-in-law, why don't you rest for a while before you go?" Zhu Hehuai advised.

"No need." Zhao Yuanxun waved his hand, went into the washroom, quickly washed his hair and took a shower, changed his clothes, and then took the confession signed and sealed by Li Mu's family to the Duke of Wei's Residence.

The reason why noble families were feared by ordinary people like Wei Qiu and Zhang Shun, who were born into the imperial examination system, was because of their connections.

Although the Marquis of Suiping's Residence had declined, with no one ambitious and no real power, like a centipede that dies but does not fall down, there were still a few relatives by marriage who held real power.

This Duke of Wei was the son of the old lady Lady Tang's aunt. Zhao Yuanxun had to call him his maternal uncle. Although the two families were not close relatives, they were not distant either, and they still visited each other during festivals.

The reason Zhao Yuanxun went to the Duke of Wei's Residence was because the Duke of Wei's brother-in-law Wu Huaisi, was the Minister of Ministry of Personnel. Wu Huaisi was promoted by Lord Cen Tutor Lord Cen, who was the father of the Imperial Concubine and the maternal grandfather of the Second Prince and Fifth Prince.

Wei Qiu initially aspired to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and fought fiercely for it. His rival was suddenly impeached by the censor for no apparent reason, an incident orchestrated by Lady Wei at the behest of Li Mu. This rival was a protégé of Grand Tutor Cen. Later, it was also Grand Tutor Cen who intervened, preventing Wei Qiu from becoming Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and instead leading to his appointment as Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Wei Qiu had already offended Grand Tutor Cen when he seized power, not to mention the factional struggles among the princes.

Now Zhao Yuanxun wants to hand over Wei Qiu's weaknesses to Grand Tutor Cen, hoping to pry open this huge rock that he can't move.