latelenovela Chapter 232 Night Visit to the Duke of Ningguo's Mansion
Chapter 232 Night Visit to the Duke of Ningguo's Mansion
Dongfang Jin noticed that the space was indeed much larger, and didn't say anything more. In any case, she wouldn't suffer any loss.
Arriving at the bedside of the old Duke Ning, they saw the emaciated old man lying on the bed, covered only by a cotton quilt, with one leg sticking out.
Dongfang Jin wanted to reach out and cover him with the blanket, but he found that the old Duke's legs were ice cold and the mattress beneath him was wet.
She then realized that the room was a bit cold and the fire in the charcoal brazier wasn't very strong; it was just enough to keep the brazier burning.
It snowed yesterday, and the snowfall here in the capital is even greater than in Lingwu Village. Is this how they treat an old man? A wave of sorrow suddenly welled up in my heart.
When I got to the door, I saw that the servant was already asleep on the small bed in the outer room, covered with a thick quilt.
At this moment, she lowered her opinion of the servants in the Ningguo Mansion by another level. She could not accept any of them, no matter how eloquently they spoke.
This also meant that anything the Hua family sent to Gu Chenglin's home would be returned untouched.
Sometimes, after receiving the gifts, the person who gave them would return with even more gifts than they had given.
This caused the people of the Ningguo Duke's Mansion a great deal of trouble, as they couldn't find the reason.
Dongfang Jin returned to the bedside, wrapped the old man in the blanket, and moved him to the other side of the bed.
They pulled the mattress from under him, threw it on the ground, and took out a new mattress from their spatial storage to lay it out.
Then I took out another diaper and laid it on the mattress.
After much hesitation, Dongfang Jin closed her eyes and, under Ruyi's command, reached out and pulled down the old Duke's wet trousers, throwing them on the ground as well.
She kept tormenting the old Duke, but he didn't wake up; he must really be very ill.
After moving him back, I also changed his blanket, since there was a wet patch on it.
These beddings were all stolen by her, and they were all of the best quality. With diapers in place, they wouldn't get wet for a while.
After everything was tidied up, Dongfang Jin took out a bright green pill and placed it in the old Duke's mouth.
At this moment, the old Duke slowly opened his eyes, his vision was a little blurry, and he could vaguely see a figure.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, Dongfang Jin took a bottle of water and poured it into his mouth.
Thankfully, no one choked, otherwise it would have definitely attracted attention.
Watching the old Duke finish taking the medicine and close his eyes again, listening to his even breathing, no longer so weak, Dongfang Jin marveled at the wonder of the elixir.
Ask Ruyi, "Little Ruyi, is one okay?"
Even if it's not feasible, we can only give him one. His body is severely depleted, and he can't handle any more.
However, just give him two pills every year from now on. If he persists for two or three years, he'll definitely live to be ninety-nine.
"Oh, so you still have a lot?" Dongfang Jin asked tentatively.
Hehe, I guess so.
Could it say that these low-grade pills were ones it had thrown away before? No, it absolutely could not say that.
During its heyday, it consumed only pills of grade seven or higher; it simply threw away pills of grade five or lower.
Dongfang Jin reached out and touched the old Duke's hand, which had warmed up a bit. He glanced at the things on the ground, but didn't move. He then slipped away from the Ningguo Duke's mansion.
After leaving the Ningguo Duke's Mansion, Dongfang Jin began to wander around the capital city, following the directions indicated by the Ruyi.
"Jin-jie, come into this house."
Dongfang Jin looked at the plaque on the gate of that house, which read "Anguo Marquis's Residence".
Is there a sick person in this family?
No, this family is plotting how to scheme against Lu Yunqing.
Dongfang Jin stopped in her tracks. [A scheme against Lu Yunqing?]
Yes, it seems they're suggesting Lu Yunqing marry his daughter; only then will they avoid exile.
Upon hearing this, Dongfang Jin became interested and followed Ruyi's instructions to the courtyard. He went to a secluded spot, entered the space, and listened to Ruyi's tale.
So this is the Wei family, the family of the woman who broke off her engagement with Lu Yunqing.
Now that her husband is dead and the Zheng family is gone, is she going to scheme against someone else?
Listening to Ruyi recount how the Wei family used such despicable means to scheme against Lu Yunqing, Dongfang Jin was utterly speechless.
So this family is always scheming against people, one scheme after another, one trap after another. When one plan doesn't work, they come up with another. They're so resourceful that it's impossible to guard against them.
Finally, Dongfang Jin couldn't listen to it anymore, so he took out the sleeping pills he had stolen from the human traffickers, drugged the whole family, and ransacked the house.
Wherever they went, they were like plucked feathers from a passing goose. This family shouldn't have had a single penny. Exile? Well, then they can just wait to be exiled.
Finally, she also found a small booklet for buying and selling official positions in the study of the Marquis of Anguo.
I also saw a piece of information in this notebook: the late Crown Prince Cang Lingfeng had a posthumous child.
He was raised by the Zheng family in Sanyi Village, ten miles outside Beijing, which could be described as a mass grave.
The Zheng family still had quite a few things stored up. Seeing this, Dongfang Jin had to admire Zheng Sihan's cunning and resourcefulness. He had multiple escape routes, but alas, he was gone.
Those things...
Ruyi interrupted her thoughts, "Let's go to the palace and give these to the emperor. We already have enough."
Besides, aren't there other people there? Some people have a more legitimate reason to deal with it than you do, and we don't want to incur karmic debt.
Dongfang Jin was somewhat dissatisfied. These few short sentences contained a great deal of knowledge; there must be a lot there. [I'm just curious about what's there.]
[Don't be curious; seeing it will only make you more curious. It's better not to go.]
Dongfang Jin understood this logic, so she stopped worrying about it and quickly put it out of her mind. [Continue with practicing medicine, then go to the palace. There are many spies in the palace; I need to make sure everyone knows about it so I won't attract attention there.]
【what ever. 】
Dongfang Jin continued to wander around the capital, and she actually came across a few houses. Since she had to climb over the walls to get in, she didn't pay much attention to the houses.
Ruyi said that if a family was good enough to be saved, she would go in; if a family was not, she would just plunder them and leave.
As she passed the entrance to an alley, Dongfang Jin stopped.
"Who is that gossipy woman with a rotten tongue? You lowly thing who deserves to die a horrible death."
How could my son have chosen such a daughter-in-law? We've been married for five years, and you're not even as good as an old hen in the village at laying eggs.
"Even if you give birth to a money-losing child for our Zhao family, that would be fine," came a sudden burst of insults from a fairly well-off two-courtyard house.
In the quiet night, it seemed somewhat out of place.
Shall we go take a look?
Hearing Ruyi's words, Dongfang Jin wondered if she was eager to hear some gossip. When did she develop this peculiar habit?
Dongfang Jin glanced around, saw no one, used her lightness skill to jump over the wall, landed in the courtyard, flashed into her spatial dimension, lay down on the sofa, and closed her eyes.
Ruyi pursed her lips when she saw this, closed her eyes, and began to speak.
It turns out that this family sells pastries on Xuanwu Back Street. The family of Wang Li, the daughter-in-law of this family, used to be the suppliers of rice flour products to pastry shops on Xuanwu Street.
Wang Li was an only child, and her family had some property. When she got married, she also brought two shops on Xuanwu Back Street as part of her dowry.
The capital city has four main streets: Qinglong Street, Zhuque Street, Baihu Street, and Xuanwu Street.
Each main street has several side streets that separate it from the residents in that area, and the status of the residents decreases with each additional street.
The four streets extend outwards from the imperial palace in the central area, resembling a Bagua diagram. The Xuanwu Street side is where military officers reside.
The Zhao family lived on the second street at the end of Xuanwu Street. This area was inhabited by well-off families and people who worked in various government offices but did not hold official ranks.