The Case File Arrives
There was one more thing he didn't say. Lady Wei always acted in a way that harmed others for her own benefit. Knowing full well it was a bad deed, one that would easily get her hands dirty, she would definitely find an outsider to do it first, rather than harming her own son.
The Sixth Miss is not the Madam's biological daughter. I've heard that the Madam didn't treat the Sixth Miss very well before. If you're going to frame someone, you should definitely frame the Sixth Miss first.
Zhao Jing'an frowned. "You mean...?"
"My guess is that Madam probably approached Sixth Miss first, but Sixth Miss didn't want to do it. Why didn't Sixth Miss do it? Because it's not a good thing. Doing such a thing would definitely lead to exposure. At that time, the Marquis and the First Madam would be furious, and the Old Madam's condition would worsen. Do you know what kind of punishment you would receive? Sixth Miss isn't stupid."
His unspoken meaning was clear: Sixth Miss isn't stupid, so Young Master, you shouldn't do anything foolish either.
Zhao Jing'an nodded, agreeing with his point of view, after being led astray. "You're right. We can't do anything foolish."
"But what about my mother?" he asked.
"The old lady and the first lady have always been kind and generous. The second lady has you, young master, and the fifth young lady. The Wei Family is not an ordinary family either. I heard that the old lady's illness is not very serious. So I think that once the old lady recovers, the first lady will naturally have someone bring the second lady back. Letting her stay at the Wei Family now is just a form of punishment."
Therefore, he really couldn't understand why the second wife was going through all this trouble. He had never seen anyone scheme against and harm their own son. Was the second wife out of her mind?
Qingmo had thought it through clearly. Even if the second wife was divorced, it wouldn't have a significant impact on the second young master. At most, he would be relegated to a lower rank in marriage. The lower-ranking family also had good daughters, so what did it matter? He just needed to choose a gentle, virtuous, and well-mannered woman.
But if the second young master does something wrong that harms his sister, the wrath of the Marquis and the First Madam is something he can't bear. If they can't kill the second young master, then he, as a servant, will be the best person to take the blame. He might be beaten, crippled, or even killed, and his family might be sold off.
Therefore, he had to stop the second young master no matter what, and prevent him from doing such a foolish thing.
Zhao Jing'an knew that what Lady Wei was asking him to do was wrong, and he was extremely resistant to it. But on the other hand, his mother begged him to save her, saying that if he didn't do it, she would never come back and would be divorced. He had to choose between morality and family, which is why he was so confused and at a loss.
After Qingmo's analysis, he immediately felt refreshed.
He said, "You're right. My aunt is principled, but she also values human relationships; and my grandmother loves me too. Once my grandmother recovers, I'll go and plead with them again, and they'll definitely let my mother come back."
Although he was naive and inexperienced, he knew that the Wei Family was powerful. His grandmother, aunt, and third aunt usually didn't hold his mother's mistakes against her because of the Wei Family. This time, however, his mother had gone too far, which was why his aunt was angry and punished her severely. Once things calmed down, everything would be fine.
"I will go to my grandmother's bedside tomorrow to care for her and atone for my mother's sins," he said.
"Young Master, you did the right thing. Calming the Old Madam, the Marquis, and the First Madam is better than anything else. We absolutely cannot do anything wrong and add fuel to the fire."
"Yes, I understand. Don't worry, I won't listen to my mother." Zhao Jing'an said, then went to sleep with peace of mind.
Qingmo secretly made up her mind that she must stay by the young master's side every step of the way for the next few days and never let him do anything foolish. In addition, she must also block all the people who try to pass messages to him and prevent them from getting close to the young master.
The next day, as soon as the city gates of the capital opened, a fast horse carrying case files entered the city and headed straight for the Court of Judicial Review. A stack of case files was placed on the desk of the clerk in the office.
Case files that the provinces could not handle and needed to be handled by the Court of Judicial Review would first be sent to the Department of Justice. After the Department of Justice registered and classified them, they would be distributed to the desks of the superiors according to the size and urgency of the cases.
The two clerks were only Subordinate Ninth Rank and were not required to attend court. They arrived at the yamen according to their appointed time and began to organize the files.
Normally, cases like this involving child swapping are neither urgent, important, nor difficult. Although the master of the Suiping Marquis of Suiping's Residence is a marquis, no one in the family holds a high-ranking position in the court, so it's unknown when this case will be resolved.
However, Wei Qiu, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, had just been reprimanded by the Emperor yesterday because of his daughter Wei Liniang's disobedience. Therefore, the clerk registering the case file dared not neglect its contents upon seeing them and immediately sent the case file to the Right Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
"My lord, look at this case file..." He placed the file on the Right Vice Minister's desk and smiled, "It's a minor case involving a family dispute, and no one died. However, it involves the Suiping Marquis's residence and the Lord Wei the Court of Marquis of Suiping's Residence Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Do you think we should handle it promptly?"
"Hmm? Let me see." Upon hearing that the case involved these two families, the Right Attendant quickly put down the case he was working on and picked up the file to read it.
After reading it, he stroked his chin. "I remember, some time ago, the Prefect of the Capital handled a case where the Marquis of Suiping's Residence had switched babies with a rural family?"
"Yes, sir." Before delivering the file, the clerk recalled the events and consulted his colleagues about anything unclear. "The child who was switched at birth in the Marquis of Suiping's Residence is said to be born to Lady Wei."
The Right Vice Minister shook the dossier in his hand. "So, she first switched the child with the Lady of the Marquis, and then sent the Lady of the Marquis's biological daughter to the countryside?"
"That should be correct," the clerk said.
The file handed to them only mentioned that the midwife had switched the children of Lady Wei and Lady Zhu. After all, the midwife took the money and ran away after delivering the babies, and had no idea what happened in the Marquis of Suiping's Residence afterwards.
"That woman is ruthless," the Right Chancellor remarked.
After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Wasn't it this Lady Wei woman who disobeyed her mother-in-law and made the old lady of Suiping Marquis fall ill?"
"It should be. The Marquis of Suiping's Residence only has three wives: the first wife, Lady Zhu, is the Marquis's wife; the second wife comes from the Lady Wei; and the third wife comes from a merchant family."
Lady Wei's disobedience to her mother-in-law was originally a matter within the inner quarters, and even if there were rumors, they would only remain within the inner quarters. But who could blame Wei Qiu for being reprimanded by the Emperor in front of all the officials? If people paid a little attention when discussing this matter, they would know the specific situation of the Marquis of Suiping's Residence.
"That's it." Having received confirmation, the Right Attendant asked, "Where is the midwife?"
"It was sent up along with the case file."
The Right Vice Minister laughed and shook his head, "That Lord Zhang Shun, he really is..."
He didn't continue, but instructed the steward, "Go to the prefectural government office in the capital and get the case file from that original case, and bring the wet nurse with you as well. The magistrate will be leaving court soon; I'll deliver the file to him in a bit."
The case wasn't big or complicated. But since it involved high-ranking officials and marquises, it was a big deal. Not to mention these minor officials, even the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review of Judicial Review wouldn't dare to act on his own; they would probably have to follow the Emperor's orders to handle the case.