It's time to rest again.
Zhu Hao returned home normally, no different from before. If there was any inconsistency, it was that he was mostly pretending to be sick and acted very weak in the palace. Now, in order not to arouse his family's suspicion, he jumped around and looked full of energy. In fact, this was his true condition.
The first thing I did when I got home was to ask about Su Xigui's salt drying.
Zhu Niang seemed to have a premonition. She looked at her son and asked, "Xiaohao, are you okay in the palace?"
Zhu Hao scratched his head: "Why do you ask me that? Did someone say something to me?"
"No."
Zhu Niang frowned slightly, "It's just that I've been feeling a little uneasy recently. Nothing happened at home, and I thought you had encountered some difficulties in the palace. I'm relieved that you're safe and sound."
Then Zhu Niang told what had happened in the past few days.
Zhu Hao said, "Only ten days have passed. Logically, the first batch of salt should not be dried. I will go to see him tomorrow. In addition to asking about the situation of drying salt, I also need to quickly complete the purchase of land. After all, he has five thousand taels of silver from us."
Aunt Li reminded him, "Master Hao, I have discussed this matter with your mother. Even if Master Su does not give us the five thousand taels, we should just pretend that nothing happened. There is no need to quarrel over five thousand taels."
Zhu Hao was relentless: "We have already agreed on a deal in black and white, how can we allow him to cheat? Besides, five thousand taels is really not a small amount, we can't afford to lose it. Losing this kind of thing... once you lose it once, others will think you are easy to bully, and they will specifically target you to take advantage of you in the future. Don't think that we, an orphan and a widow, dare not fight back."
Zhu Hao's words gave Zhu Niang confidence.
Zhu Niang nodded: "Xiaohao is right. If we hadn't argued for our rights before, we wouldn't have been able to keep our land and house. We can't let people think that we are easy to bully."
…
…
Early the next morning.
Old lady Zhu Jia sent a carriage to pick up Zhu Hao out of the city.
This time he did not come to the city in person to question Zhu Hao, but took him to Zhu Mansion. Zhu Hao roughly guessed that it should be related to his previous impersonation of the Prince of Xing.
The person who came to pick him up was just an ordinary coachman.
Zhu Hao took a carriage to the Zhu family manor and came to the back hall, where he saw Zhu Jia and Captain Lin standing together.
Everything was as Zhu Hao expected.
Captain Lin specifically instructed Lu Song to warn him not to tell the Zhu family about his impersonation of the Prince of Xing, and to make sure everything was under his control, and of course he had to come to the Zhu family in person.
"Zhu Hao, this is Captain Lin of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, whom you have met before." Zhu Jia introduced.
Zhu Hao bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Captain Lin."
The look he gave was filled with doubt... Didn't he say that he had returned to the capital? Did he lie to Lu Song about returning to the capital to let him down?
Zhu Jia said, "Captain Lin will escort Eunuch Zhang from Anlu to Xuanfu on official business. Before he leaves, he came to ask you about the situation in the palace. If you have anything to say, just tell me."
The old lady intentionally emphasized the word "speak directly" in her words, actually to warn Zhu Hao that he must clearly distinguish what he can say and what he cannot say.
Zhu Hao said: "Everything is normal for me in the palace. I just go to class and leave school normally. At night, I stay with Jing Hong, the son of Jing County Magistrate. There is nothing unusual these days."
This was considered to be in line with Captain Lin's wishes, and he did not mention his experience of impersonating the Prince of Xing.
Captain Lin looked over and a smile appeared on his face.
Perhaps he was satisfied with Lu Song's efficiency and ability... He didn't think Lu Song would reveal his identity, and he didn't expect that the two of them had already contacted each other.
And Zhu Hao...
Just as he imagined, he was very sensible.
Zhu Jia was a little dissatisfied with Zhu Hao's words, but this dissatisfaction was mostly pretended. She said with a stern face, "I let you enter the palace, but you haven't obtained any useful information so far. How are you going to let Captain Lin report to the court after he returns? Tell me about your relationship with Prince Xing."
Zhu Hao said, "The prince is currently studying Mencius. Mr. Gongsun is teaching very well and his academic progress is very fast. However, there may be some celebration in the palace recently, so the prince does not go to class every day. Besides... maybe Captain Lin knows something."
Zhu Jia naturally turned her eyes to Captain Lin.
Captain Lin frowned: "What do you mean by that?"
Zhu Hao said, "I remember my family told me before that I should meet with Captain Lin's spy in the palace, but for some reason, nothing happened afterwards... Did something go wrong with the spy?"
Captain Lin sneered and said, "What does it have to do with you?"
Zhu Jiashi seemed to have caught something, and followed Zhu Hao's intention and asked: "Captain Lin, since you are going back to the capital, shouldn't you also inform the Zhu family of your layout in Anlu, so that they can have someone to help them if something goes wrong, so as to avoid chaos?"
Captain Lin did not expect to be tricked by Zhu Hao. He naturally would not tell Lu Song's true identity, but he did not know how to deal with Zhu Jia's questioning.
"The man has been transferred away, and the palace has found out his identity... Didn't the old lady know about it before? This time when I return to the capital, I may meet Deputy Captain Zhu. If the old lady has anything to say, please tell her as soon as possible, and I will inform Deputy Captain Zhu..."
Captain Lin could only try to change the subject.
Thinking of her eldest son who was suffering in the capital, Zhu Jia waved her hand to signal Zhu Hao to leave, and then said to Captain Lin: "Then let's discuss it carefully."
…
…
When Zhu Hao was called to the back hall again, Captain Lin was no longer there, leaving only Zhu Jia standing there.
"Grandson, has nothing really happened in the palace these days?" Zhu Jia asked in a cold tone.
Zhu Hao said, "Grandmother, that's not the case. As far as I know, the eunuch Zhang from the Imperial Horse Supervisor has seen the prince of Xing Wang, and it seems that he poisoned the prince at the banquet... The prince hasn't been to class for a few days, and I don't know how serious the poisoning is."
Zhu Jia said sternly: "Such a big thing, why didn't you tell me before?"
Zhu Hao said cautiously: "Captain Lin was here before, and it seems that the poisoning was related to Captain Lin. I can't say anything careless in front of him."
Zhu Jia's face was full of anger.
He seemed to be angry at Captain Lin for deceiving the Zhu family.
Zhu Hao had to say something about this matter.
God knows whether Captain Lin would have someone inform Zhu Hao not to tell anyone that he was pretending to be the Prince of Xing Wang, while secretly telling the Zhu family about it... Once Zhu Hao comes back and doesn't report anything, the Zhu family will definitely think that he is disloyal to the family and may stab him in the back again.
The Jinyiwei people are insidious and vicious, so we have to guard against this kind of thing.
But after observing Zhu Jia's reaction, he roughly judged that Captain Lin did not mention the matter of Zhang Zhong meeting the Prince of Xing to Zhu Jia.
Then there is no need for Zhu Hao to say that he pretended to be Zhu Houcong to meet Zhang Zhong and was poisoned. Anyway, it's true or false, and the various forces don't trust each other. I only promise to tell everything I can. Even if the Zhu family gets some news and question them later, he can say that he told everything he knew.
Someone said that I pretended to be the prince of Xing Wang, and the Zhu family believed it?
Where is the evidence?
What Zhu Hao wants to do now is to destroy the mutual trust between Captain Lin and the Zhu family. The truth is not important.
He was not afraid of being held accountable by the palace.
When Zhang Zhong poisoned the family, Captain Lin was present. How could Captain Lin have entered the Zhu family to talk with Zhu Jiashi and kept it a secret from Prince Xing's Mansion? Why do we think that Captain Lin was not the one who informed the Zhu family about this?
The Prince Xing's Mansion did not allow Zhu Hao to leak the news, more to regulate Zhu Hao's behavior and stance, rather than really expecting Zhu Hao to keep the matter secret.
"Grandson, you were right not to tell Captain Lin about this before. I recently discovered that he has been hiding a lot from my Zhu family. You should now try your best to find his spies in the palace. After Captain Lin leaves, you can use them for my Zhu family."
Because of Zhu Hao's "informing", Zhu Jia had higher expectations for Zhu Hao.
Zhu Hao said in embarrassment: "But grandma, I am not trusted at all in the palace. The palace will avoid me if there is anything going on. I have no way to find out more in-depth information."
Zhu Jia had a good look on her face before, but her expression turned cold immediately after hearing this: "If it's not difficult, why should I let you go? If there's nothing else to do, go back first!"
As expected, after being used, they were discarded like a worn-out shoe, and yet you still expect to gain benefits by doing meritorious service to the Zhu family?
Zhu Hao was glad that he had chosen to submit to Prince Xing's Mansion from the very beginning. If he had sincerely worked for the Zhu family, not only would his efforts be thankless, but he might even be betrayed by the Zhu family in the end. The Zhu family did not regard him as a blood relative at all, but simply treated him as an enemy. It was really puzzling.
…
…
After Zhu Hao left, Butler Liu entered the back hall.
"Madam, Captain Lin just left. I heard that he is going back to the capital. Should we send the boxes his residence?" asked Butler Liu.
Zhu Jia said with a dark face: "No need."
Steward Liu looked surprised and said, "Everything is ready... Why is that? Doesn't the eldest master also need Captain Lin to take care of him?"
Zhu Jia said with disdain: "He is just a hundred households, what can he take care of? I don't know how much of the silver sent to the capital to manage relationships was withheld by him. Now he is just accompanying the eunuch Zhang Zhong of the Imperial Horse Administration to take up his post in Xuanfu. He is doing a hard job... Do you really think he is a capable person in the court? He is not worth mentioning in front of my Zhu family."
Is there a rift between the Zhu family and Captain Lin?
As the palace's insider in the Zhu family, Steward Liu was somewhat unable to keep up with Zhu Jia's pace.
Before, Captain Lin came to visit and the two sides had a secret conversation for a long time. How come a conflict suddenly arose and caused such deep hatred?
"Madam, did Captain Lin do anything...to offend the Zhu family?" Butler Liu asked hurriedly.
Just like Zhu Hao who gathered intelligence in the palace, Butler Liu also relied on intelligence to exchange for benefits. If he could find out the secrets of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Prince Xing's Palace would naturally not treat him unfairly.
Zhu Jia glanced at him and said, "It's none of your business, so don't ask about it."
"Yes Yes."
Butler Liu found that the old lady was wary of him, so he turned to ask, "I wonder if the young master of the third lady's family..."
Zhu Jia waved her hand and said, "Just have someone send him back to the city. If you want, you can do it yourself. This child is very alert. I believe he can play an important role in the palace. Don't underestimate him!"
Regarding the relationship between the Zhu family and Captain Lin, Zhu Jia concealed it from Steward Liu, but deliberately revealed her admiration for Zhu Hao.
Naturally, Butler Liu took these words to heart.
Originally, Housekeeper Liu had been keeping a wary eye on Zhu Hao being used by the Zhu family. Now he took the opportunity to go to the palace and file a complaint, saying that this kid was a traitor and must have revealed the palace's secrets to the Zhu family when he returned home...