Chapter 186 The Useless Baoyu
Seeing that the old lady was about to faint, Jia Cong hurried forward to help her calm down, "Old lady, it's okay, grandson will go over to see what happened."
"Yuanyang, you guys take care of the old lady and come over later! Sisters, don't go over there, it's probably a bit chaotic over there, just wait here!"
After saying that, Jia Cong went to the front yard to bring his personal guards, and then headed towards the West Mansion.
The sudden arrival of the Embroidered Uniform Guard made Jia Cong a little confused. After all, Jia She had been very honest recently, playing with his concubine in the yard every day and had not done anything wrong.
When they arrived at the West Mansion, there were indeed Jinyiwei guarding the gate. Upon seeing Jia Cong coming, the Jinyiwei hurriedly saluted and said, "Greetings, Lord Marquis!"
"Is Tu Huai here?"
"My lord, Lord Tu just went in!" a soldier said respectfully.
Upon hearing this, Jia Cong led his men straight in, and the Jinyiwei did not stop them. When they entered the courtyard, they saw the servants running around in panic.
"How dare you! All maids and old women go back to your own master's courtyard and guard it. All other servants go to the front courtyard!" Jia Cong shouted angrily, "Lu Feng, take people to guard the gate of the inner courtyard. Anyone who trespasses will be killed!"
Not only the servants in the West Mansion were in chaos, but all the masters were in a mess as well. Jia Zheng had already gone to work, and there were only a few female masters as well as Baoyu, Jia Huan, and Jia Lan in the mansion. Normally, Jia Lian would handle such matters in the front yard , but now Jia Lian was blocked in the East Courtyard. Who among the others dared to go out easily?
In Rong Xi Tang, Li Wan and Tanchun had already invited Wang over. They were also going to the East Courtyard to invite Xing, but they were surrounded by the Jinyiwei.
"Second brother Bao, please go to the front yard and ask what happened! Also, please invite the old lady and third brother over as soon as possible!" Tanchun said anxiously.
Baoyu was also frightened and hid beside Mrs. Wang without responding!
"There's chaos and turmoil outside, how can we let Baoyu go? Who can take responsibility if he gets hurt?" Mrs. Wang shouted angrily, "Madam Zhou Rui, go ask!"
Zhou Ruijia ran out in a panic, but came back a moment later, "Madam, the Jinyiwei blocked the door and didn't allow anyone to leave. They didn't answer when I asked them what was going on."
Tanchun gritted her teeth, looked at Baoyu who was silent, and stood up suddenly, "I'll go!"
"no!"
Li Wan hurriedly pulled her back and said, "Third girl, you are a girl, how can you go there? Wouldn't it ruin your reputation if you go there? You stay here to look after the mistress, and the eldest sister-in-law goes!"
Li Wan was also frightened, but she was a woman after all, and it was much better than letting a girl like Tanchun go.
"Sister-in-law!" Tanchun's tears welled up in her eyes. It was not appropriate for a woman to go to such a place. If she was really caught, she would have no choice but to die. But looking at her second brother's appearance, she felt so depressed! It is said that if you set up a household in the house, it means that there will be someone to support you when something happens. But now that the old lady is not here, there is no one in the house?
"Sister-in-law!" Tanchun grabbed Li Wan's hand, "Let's go together. We have the eunuchs sent by our third brother to follow us, so nothing will happen."
So, the two of them held each other's arms and walked towards the Neiyi Gate accompanied by several eunuchs.
When she reached the door, she pushed aside several trembling maids and women, and summoned up the courage to shout outside, "I don't know which army lord you are from, but our old master is in the residence of the Marquis of Guanjun in the East Palace. We would like to send someone to take him over. Please be lenient."
Tanchun was also quick-witted and directly brought out the two biggest supporters of the Jia family.
After he finished speaking, there was a sudden commotion outside the door, and then someone shouted in reply, "I am Lu Feng, the personal guard of the Champion Marquis, and I am here to meet the Third Miss!"
"The Marquis has asked his subordinates to guard the gate of the inner house to avoid offending you! In addition, the Marquis has already arrived and is in the front yard. Please rest assured, Third Miss, the old lady will be here soon. The eldest lady of the East Courtyard has sent someone to pick her up and will be brought over later."
When Tanchun and Li Wan heard that it was Jia Cong's personal guards outside the door, they felt all their strength drain away and sat down on the ground. Then they couldn't help but hold their heads and cry.
Although it was just a few short steps and a few short words, who knows how much pressure this brought to the two of them? No matter how strong Tanchun is, she is still just a girl who has not experienced much.
"Sister-in-law, Third Brother is here, we are safe now!" Tanchun cried.
Li Wan also nodded vigorously. At this time, Jia Cong's name was enough to make them feel at ease.
After a while, the two were helped up and came back to their senses. Tanchun shouted outside again , "Please tell Third Brother that we are all in the yard and have not been disturbed!"
After Lu Feng agreed, the two returned to Rong Xi Hall.
"Don't worry, Madam!" Tanchun said to Wang indifferently, "Brother Three has come here and has asked his personal guards to guard the gate of the inner house. Those soldiers will not rush in."
Tanchun was extremely disappointed with her stepmother! Perhaps, except for Baoyu, the lives of others were not of concern to her.
Fortunately, there is the third brother who can protect the whole family, young and old. Otherwise, no matter whether it has anything to do with them or not, once soldiers break in, they will have no choice but to die to prove their innocence.
A quarter of an hour later, Xing, who looked panicked, was also sent over.
"Madam, what happened?" Tanchun came forward and supported Xing and asked.
Xing shook her head in panic, "I don't know either. Suddenly, the Royal Guards came in and said that the master and Lian'er had committed a crime and they wanted to arrest them."
"Did Brother Cong bring the lady here?" Li Wan asked.
"Well, Cong and an officer from the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrived at the East Courtyard, and then asked Wang Shanbao to bring him here to me!" Xing said in horror.
"In that case, let's wait for the old lady to come back!" said Tanchun.
In the front yard, after Jia Cong had Madam Xing sent away, he did not rush to see Jia She and Jia Lian, but accompanied Tu Huai to the outer study first.
After having tea served, Jia Cong asked, "Master Tu, I wonder what the eldest master and Second Brother Lian in our house have done wrong?"
"Of course, if it's inconvenient..."
Tu Huai bowed his hands respectfully, "My Lord, I am here on the orders of the Emperor. The Lord of your house is in collusion with the governor of Ping'an Prefecture and has been selling prohibited salt and iron to foreign tribes. Now the evidence is irrefutable! He should have been executed according to the law, but Your Majesty has considered the merits of the two Dukes Ning and Rong as well as the Lord of the Marquis, so he has shown mercy and exiled Jia She and his son for three thousand miles. His family will not be implicated."
Jia Cong's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He had long suspected that the matter in Ping'an Prefecture was not simple. He had been thinking of waiting for some manpower to be deployed to conduct a secret investigation, but he did not expect that the emperor had already been keeping an eye on it.
Ping'an Prefecture is located in Sichuan and Shu, bordering the Tubo barbarians. Daqian and Tubo fought almost every year. Although there was no major war, friction never ceased. Jia She actually sold ironware to other countries. He really deserved death! Fortunately, he saved the emperor at all costs this time. Otherwise, it would not be surprising if this serious crime was directly confiscated and exterminated.
