Imperial Husband Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Ying Yuan frowned slightly and said, "A-Jin, Lan Mingzhou is from the Lan family, and the Lan family is the maternal family of Ying Zijun's birth mother, Consort Jin. As a descendant of the Lan family, it's impossible for him to switch sides and join us."

For some reason, hearing Li Jin suddenly mention Lan Mingzhou made Ying Yuan feel stifled in his heart. A feeling that something important to him was being taken away spread uncontrollably.

"What if he goes from being a legitimate son of the Lan family to a negligible illegitimate son?"

Li Jin answered with a question instead.

"Legitimate son becomes illegitimate son?"

Ying Yuan widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Mm." Li Jin nodded, then continued, "Lan Mingzhou was not born to the Lan family's matriarch, but to a concubine in the Lan residence. Although that concubine was of lowly status, she was a resolute person. Knowing that under the matriarch's schemes, she couldn't possibly protect her own child, and it so happened that the Lan matriarch also gave birth on the same day as that concubine, the concubine went for broke and orchestrated a baby-swapping drama."

Li Jin didn't continue with what happened next, but Ying Yuan had already guessed.

The fact that Lan Mingzhou, who should have been an illegitimate son, became a legitimate one proves that the concubine succeeded.

Furthermore, the Lan family, apart from illegitimate daughters, has not yet reported the birth of any illegitimate sons, which further suggests that the child who should have been the legitimate heir might have already been killed by the Lan matriarch.

Legitimate heir... illegitimate son... Zhuzhou county magistrate...

These words kept surfacing in Ying Yuan's mind, slowly linking together. In a short moment, Ying Yuan suddenly understood. "A-Jin, Lan Mingzhou was transferred to Zhuzhou to be the county magistrate, and no one in the Lan family spoke up to plead for him. Have they already discovered that Lan Mingzhou is not the legitimate heir?"

 

"Yes."

Li Jin nodded in affirmation.

That was a storm that shocked the entire Lan residence. When the Lan matriarch found out that the child she had killed back then was actually her own son, she cried out in agony on the spot, even vowing to kill Lan Mingzhou to avenge her son.

But unfortunately...

Lan Mingzhou was already an official. No matter how much the Lan matriarch hated Lan Mingzhou, she couldn't kill him, or else she would bear the grave crime of murdering a court official.

Therefore, the equally furious Lan family head, upon learning that Ying Zijun also detested Lan Mingzhou, directly interfered with Lan Mingzhou's transfer, having him sent away from the capital to avoid seeing him, which resulted in Lan Mingzhou coming to Zhuzhou as the county magistrate.

Of course, Lan Mingzhou still carried the status of a legitimate son.

Otherwise, exposing Lan Mingzhou's true status as an illegitimate son would be tantamount to telling others that the Lan matriarch killed her own son. At that time, how would people in the capital view her? How would they view her son? And if this matter reached the Emperor's ears, how would he view the Lan family?

In other words, amidst the tangled web of interests, to protect her own wealth and status, as well as the future of her children, the Lan matriarch, despite her extreme unwillingness, agreed to the Lan family head's decision to conceal the truth about the child who should have been the legitimate heir.

"......"

Ying Yuan fell silent, unsure of what to say for a moment.

Li Jin chuckled softly and stretched out his hand towards Ying Yuan. "A-Yuan, it's about time. Let's set off. Ping'an and the others are probably already waiting for us outside."

"Alright."

Ying Yuan placed his hand in Li Jin's, and they went together to the entrance of Liujia Village.

"Third Young Master, Seventh Young Master, over here, we're over here!" Ping'an, upon seeing Li Jin and Ying Yuan walk out from Liujia Village, hurriedly waved and called out to them.

At the same time.

Standing nearby were also Rong Fulang's family, Dashu, and the Liujia Village chief.

Li Jin and Ying Yuan walked together to Ping'an and asked, "Ping'an, is everything ready?"

"Yes." Ping'an quickly nodded. "Once you both get on the carriage, we can set off for Zhuzhou City immediately."

Having received Ping'an's reply, Li Jin then turned to look at Dongzi and the others who had come to see them off, smiling as he cupped his hands. "All feasts must come to an end. Let us part ways here."

Dongzi said reluctantly, "Brother Jin, will you come back to Liujia Village to see us in the future?"

"We will." Li Jin nodded and gave Dongzi a letter he had prepared earlier. "We are only going to Zhuzhou City. If you want to meet us in the future, you can take this letter to the Zhuzhou government office and ask to see Li Jin."

Dongzi carefully accepted the letter from Li Jin. "Yes."

Rong Fulang handed Li Jin a cloth bundle containing sweet potatoes. "These are sweet potatoes I just cooked. Take them to eat on the road."

"Thank you."

Li Jin, knowing this was Rong Fulang's kind intention, accepted it without declining.

Dashu looked at Li Jin and patted his own chest. "Brother Jin, don't worry. When Dongzi and I have time, we'll definitely come find you. You have to treat us to a good meal then."

"Oh? What about the matter you mentioned to me before?" Li Jin looked at Dashu meaningfully.

"Uh... it's... it's not the right time yet."

Dashu scratched his head sheepishly, then subconsciously glanced at Dongzi.

"Is that so?"

Li Jin raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. He only gave Dashu a meaningful look before getting on the carriage. At the same time, Ying Yuan also followed closely and got on the carriage.

"Dashu, this kind of thing shouldn't be dragged on for too long. Don't miss your chance and regret it later." Ping'an suddenly stepped down from the carriage, patted Dashu's shoulder, urging him to act quickly and not let the opportunity slip away.

Dashu's face reddened at Ping'an's words. "I won't."

"Good. We'll wait for your good news."

Ping'an smiled at Dashu, then got back on the carriage.

The village chief solemnly cupped his hands. "Young Master Li, Liu Laicai is entrusted to you. Please be sure to inform the new county magistrate of the crimes Liu Laicai has committed."

"Village chief, rest assured. I will do as I promised."

Not long after.

The carriage carrying Li Jin and the others, driven by Zhou Yunting, gradually moved into the distance.

Inside the carriage.

Li Jin opened the cloth bundle. The first thing that caught his eye were five sweet potatoes of rather good appearance. Their size and smooth, unblemished surfaces showed how carefully Rong Fulang had chosen them.

"Come, everyone, eat them while they're hot."

Having said that, Li Jin casually picked up one sweet potato and placed the bundle in the middle.

"Thank you, A-Jin."

Ying Yuan picked up a sweet potato and took a bite right away.

Ping'an and the others were also not polite. After thanking Li Jin in unison, they each took a sweet potato and began to eat.

"Mmh... mmh..."

Liu Laicai, tied up with ropes, smelled the sweet fragrance of the sweet potatoes and his eyes went straight.

Unfortunately, he was not only tightly bound but also had his mouth stuffed with a cloth gag. He could only make muffled sounds.

Ping'an ignored Liu Laicai. "Your Highness, these sweet potatoes taste really good."

"I agree with you on that." Shi Weixu nodded in agreement. "It's a shame they can only be planted in the small villages of Liujia and Wangjia right now. If we could expand the sweet potato cultivation area to the entire Zhuzhou, Zhuzhou wouldn't have to worry about its people not having enough to eat."

In Shi Weixu's view, having only two villages growing sweet potatoes in a place as large as Zhuzhou was hardly effective.

Li Jin shook his head meaningfully. "Physician Shi, this isn't necessarily impossible. However, sweet potatoes are, after all, a new food. Even if they can be promoted in Zhuzhou, not many people will plant them at the beginning."

Shi Weixu said in disbelief, "Young Master Li, do you mean..."

Suddenly, sounds from not far away interrupted their conversation.

"Let me go! I am Chen Manzhou, the county magistrate of Zhuzhou! You are harming a court official, a capital crime! You and that so-called prince or whatever will die horribly!" Chen Manzhou glared furiously at the men Li Jin had sent to guard him.

Chen Manzhou, at this moment, only wanted to leave this place and had already lost track of how long he had been here.

"The Prince has ordered that you are not to leave this place."

The guards watching Chen Manzhou simply ignored his shouts.

After Li Jin captured Chen Manzhou and those who had committed crimes with him, he had Zhou Yunting bring them all here to be detained together, lest they come up with any more crooked ideas.

Ying Yuan pointed at Chen Manzhou and asked, puzzled, "Why isn't his mouth gagged?"

A guard cupped his hands. "Replying to the Seventh Prince, we did indeed gag him with a cloth before. But he actually managed to swallow the gag, almost causing an incident. That's why we had no choice but to stop gagging him."

Speaking of Chen Manzhou, the guards were full of frustration because he was simply too much trouble, even capable of swallowing the gag used to silence him.

And the things Li Jin and the others were hearing now were considered mild. A while back, Chen Manzhou had resorted to every possible trick to escape. Cursing at the guards was an everyday occurrence, and he would even sing loudly in the middle of the night, which greatly troubled the guards.

The guards also wanted to simply give Chen Manzhou a stab and be done with him. However, Li Jin had said to spare his life, so the guards had to endure Chen Manzhou's antics.

"Take him away first." Li Jin signaled the guards to take Liu Laicai away. Then, he had one of the guards bring him a cloth gag and personally stuffed it into Chen Manzhou's mouth.

Chen Manzhou recognized Li Jin at a glance. As the gag entered his mouth, he tried to swallow it again, just like last time.

A guard nearby, noticing Chen Manzhou's strange behavior, immediately said, "Your Highness, he..."

"No matter." Li Jin shook his head and said coldly, "Since he likes cloth gags so much, let him swallow it."

"Yes, Your Highness."

It was Li Jin who had ordered the guards to spare Chen Manzhou's life in the first place. So, now that Li Jin said this, the guards naturally had no objections.

"Mmh... mmh..." I don't want to die, help me.

Chen Manzhou had fully expected Li Jin, upon seeing him like this, to immediately order the guards to stop him. He could then seize the opportunity to propose conditions to Li Jin. He never expected Li Jin to be so unyielding, willing to watch him die.

"One is too few? Fine, I'll have someone put another gag in for you."

Li Jin deliberately misinterpreted his meaning and had a guard nearby put another cloth gag into his mouth.

Chen Manzhou's face instantly paled. "Ugh... mmh..."

Faster than words can tell.

Seeing the approaching gag, Chen Manzhou was so frightened he rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.

"Your Highness, this..."

Li Jin waved his hand, signaling the guard to stop. "Take the gag out of his mouth first, then put a new one in. If he tries the same trick again, deal with him exactly as I just did."

"Yes."