Chapter 60: Origins and the Mastermind

“After all, this is the capital, where most commoners are literate and reasonable. Although Yuan Yuexian was formidable in Fanjiazhuang, she relied solely on her shrewishness and unreasonable harassment. Now that she’s in the capital, her limited abilities are clearly insufficient.”

“Though I was far away in the capital, my heart remained connected to everything in Fanjiazhuang. Upon learning of this matter, I immediately began investigating,” Jiang Qingshi said with a pained expression, his voice choked with emotion. “Then I discovered these so-called Yu Country people weren’t truly from Yu Country. While uncovering this wasn’t easy, I deduced it from their travel routes and return patterns. Witnesses saw them hiding in the mountains – clearly a bandit hideout. This made me even more suspicious about why they would pose as Yu Country people. I spent money and used connections to get to the truth, but due to the distance, the matter remained unclear. Still, I persevered, unwilling to let the Jiang Family disappear without explanation.”

“Through persistent efforts, a breakthrough finally came. There are no impenetrable walls under heaven. I discovered Yuan Yuexian had secretly hidden her two children in neighboring Yangdai County shortly before the incident. I’ve contacted Yangdai’s magistrate, and believe the children will be brought to the capital soon.” Jiang Qingshi sighed deeply. “I just never expected Yuan Yuexian to arrive so quickly, launching her attack before the children could be retrieved. Moreover, I’ve obtained the case records from Magistrate Jiang Ping. After the Jiang Family massacre, everything was burned to ashes. Only ten bodies were ultimately found – including the old master and mistress, the three Jiang sons, the eldest son’s wife, the eldest son’s two children, the second son’s two children, and the eldest grandson’s wife. This number naturally should include Yuan Yuexian’s two children, but suspecting something amiss, I requested Magistrate Jiang Ping to have the coroner examine the bodies. Sure enough, two children’s corpses couldn’t withstand scrutiny – they were replaced with animal bones. Though I don’t know who the mastermind is, clearly someone conspired with Yuan Yuexian to slaughter the entire Jiang Family, attempting to pin this terrible crime on me.”

“Magistrate Jiang’s words are pearls of wisdom, worthy of His Majesty’s appointed Tanhua.”

“This is what we call reasoning with evidence, ensuring the Jiang Family didn’t die in vain.”

“This woman murdered her husband and in-laws… Such a venomous heart…”

“Jiang Qingshi, don’t you sweet-talk me!” Yuan Yuexian had completely panicked. “My two children… If you dare harm them…”

“Oh?” Jiang Qingshi looked down at her with casual arrogance. “So you admit to conspiring with others, sister-in-law?”

“I…” Yuan Yuexian broke out in a cold sweat, then shot a venomous glare at Jiang Qingshi. “This is all your fault! Ever since Jiang Jinyao failed to frame you last time and got crippled by Fan Xiang’e, he’s been lying around the Jiang Family every day, his flesh rotting from inactivity! That useless Jiang Wenjiang gives me dirty looks daily – I’ve long been unable to stand them! With such a golden opportunity before me, of course I hoped the Jiang Family would suffer miserably. It’s the Jiang Family who wronged me first! If you want to blame anyone, blame yourself, Jiang Qingshi, for making too many enemies and offending people left and right – how could they not retaliate? They found Jiang Jinyao last time, and me this time. You can’t escape forever…”

Jiang Qingshi turned to the guards with a stern, resolute expression. “Quickly gag her!”

The guards were confused but didn’t dare hesitate upon Jiang Da’s command. They twisted Yuan Yuexian’s arms and stuffed her mouth. Though fierce-tempered, she was no match for the well-trained, robust guards. She whimpered through the gag, her eyes poisoning Jiang Qingshi with their gaze.

“Your Majesty, this matter involves court secrets. It would be better to take this woman away for further interrogation.”

Emperor Jingrui looked at Jiang Qingshi and nodded approvingly. Had Jiang Qingshi let the shrew publicly speak that name, it would have vented his anger and ruined that person’s reputation. But Jiang Qingshi had stopped Yuan Yuexian, clearly considering the bigger picture and not wanting the common people to witness court scandals.

The watching crowd now knew Jiang Qingshi had been wronged. Seeing his magnanimity and dignity, they praised him repeatedly.

“Minister Jiang truly deserves to be called a good official of our Da Liang.”

“Discerning right from wrong, acting decisively – thankfully I didn’t believe that vicious woman’s nonsense earlier, or I’d be feeling guilty now…”

“That Jiang Family has caused Minister Jiang great harm. With Old Master Jiang meeting a violent death this time, I’m afraid Minister Jiang will have to observe mourning leave…”

“Ah, to mourn for such a father – that’s hardly worth it. But our Da Liang values filial piety…”

The corner of Jiang Qingshi’s mouth twitched slightly. He first bowed to Emperor Jingrui, then cupped his hands toward the watching crowd.

“Everyone, I am truly sorry for delaying your Lantern Festival celebrations today because of my personal affairs. You’ve likely all heard my story – since childhood, I loved reading and dreamed of serving Da Liang. But the Jiang Family never allowed me to study and treated both me and my sister harshly. Some years ago, I established my own household and removed myself from the Jiang family register. This caused much public discussion. Though I had reasons, many still felt I betrayed the Jiang Family and failed to repay their upbringing. Now, with Yuan Yuexian causing this scene, I’ll take this opportunity to explain myself. I did this for two reasons: first, Jiang Jinyao’s actions disappointed me; second, I accidentally discovered that my sister Jiang Yunxiu and I are not the Jiang Family’s biological children.”

These words shocked not only the crowd but even Jiang Zhimiao – Jiang Qingshi’s own son. Wasn’t this just rumor? When had his father investigated and confirmed it?

“My brother speaks the truth.”

Jiang Yunxiu also slowly emerged from the crowd. As a well-known figure in Jingshi, many recognized her. When she stepped forward like a fairy among clouds and moonlight, numerous gasps of admiration arose.

“We only learned three years ago that our parents weren’t our biological parents, but this matter was private and not suitable for public disclosure,” Jiang Yunxiu’s face showed a troubled expression. “Our adoptive mother was beautiful and educated. Her only condition for marrying father was that they would adopt us in the future. Her family had fallen into decline, and she had served as a maid in a wealthy household. Fortunately, the young mistress of that family was kind-hearted and later returned her contract of servitude. My brother and I are actually the children of that young mistress. After our biological mother married, her husband met an untimely death, but she held deep affection for father and insisted on giving birth to us. However, her family arranged another marriage for her… Our biological mother went through countless hardships to bring my brother and me into this world, but tragically, she suffered emotional trauma during childbirth and didn’t survive… Our adoptive mother had already reached an agreement with Old Master Jiang, and in her grief, she treated us as the Jiang Family’s own children. Unfortunately, two years later, she caught a cold and passed away because the Jiang Family was unwilling to call a doctor… Although she had brought a substantial dowry when she married into the family, Old Master Jiang always held reservations because we weren’t his biological children and constantly treated us harshly… We didn’t want to publicize this matter, so we only privately removed our names from the family register and established our own household.”

After Jiang Yunxiu finished speaking, the crowd exchanged uncertain glances.

“Official Jiang and Miss Jiang are so outstanding, while I heard other Jiang family members are rather plain-looking… Now it makes sense they don’t resemble each other…”

“No wonder Old Master Jiang treated Official Jiang like that – they really weren’t related by blood. But Madam Jiang was quite righteous to treat her mistress’s children so well.”

“Official Jiang’s biological mother was also a woman of principle, otherwise we wouldn’t have Official Jiang today.”

“Indeed, like attracts like – you could tell at a glance that Official Jiang didn’t belong to the Jiang family…”

“We prefer not to disclose this matter, as it’s an old family secret,” Jiang Yunxiu sighed softly. “Every word I’ve said is true. Three years ago, we already filed documents at the county government office, submitting the entire story and investigation results to the authorities to prevent future misunderstandings. We never expected Yuan Yuexian would cause such a scene today, making it impossible to keep this concealed any longer.”

A cold glint flashed in Jiang Qingshi’s eyes. He had always known the Jiang Family’s existence was a potential risk. Now, during this critical period of his official promotion assessment, someone might use the Jiang Family’s messy affairs against him.

Years ago, after discovering he wasn’t biologically related to the Jiang Family, he had been investigating this matter. What Jiang Yunxiu said was essentially true, except for one detail – their biological mother never actually married their father, but had pledged herself to him in secret, which was why her family disapproved and didn’t want to keep the two children.

To maintain his clean background, they naturally couldn’t reveal this publicly. Strangely, it seemed someone had deliberately helped cover up this matter, as even their biological mother’s name remained untraceable, let alone their father’s identity.

Therefore, he had always instructed the Fan Brothers to closely monitor the movements of the Jiang Family. As soon as trouble arose in the Jiang Family, he knew it was aimed at him. That was why he had been making intensive preparations these past few days, anticipating that Yuan Yuexian would come to Jingshi to smear his reputation. However, the scheme was hastily arranged, and the mastermind behind it had used an ignorant woman like Yuan Yuexian, making the plot relatively easy to dismantle.

The real difficulty lay in the fact that Old Master Jiang had passed away. According to the laws of Da Liang, he would have to return home to observe a three-year mourning period. Emperor Jingrui’s health was not in good condition at present. If he were to truly retire for three years, the political landscape at court after that time would be highly unpredictable. Thus, he had no choice but to reveal his true origins at this moment.

The mastermind behind this was certainly not just one person. This scheme was intricately layered—even if the attempt to tarnish his reputation failed, it could still force him to return home for mourning in the name of filial duty, which would remain a heavy blow to him.

“Now that the truth has come to light, Minister Jiang has also treated us to a remarkable spectacle during the Lantern Festival,” Emperor Jingrui spoke slowly. “We will rigorously investigate the mastermind behind this and ensure that no upstanding official of Da Liang is wronged.”

“Your Majesty must punish them severely!”

“Minister Jiang has truly endured so much hardship. May his future be smooth and prosperous!”

“This vindication of injustice is truly gratifying!”

It was only then that Jiang Zhimiao sensed something amiss. He looked up at Xie Qinghe, who had remained composed all along.

“Uncle Xie, did you already know that Father had a plan in place? Is that why you appeared so calm?”

Xie Qinghe curled the corners of his lips. “Brother Jiang trusted me, and I lent a hand in this matter. Miao Ge’er, you must trust your father. There is nothing in this world that can stump him. He had already taken everything into account long before we even knew about it.”

“But Father’s journey has been incredibly difficult. He was merely an insignificant figure and never threatened anyone’s interests, yet so many people schemed relentlessly to harm him.” Jiang Zhimiao seemed to have matured in an instant. “I finally understand now—even if you wish to remain untainted in this world, there will always be those who refuse to let you be.”

“Miao Ge’er.” Xie Qinghe’s tone grew solemn and steady. “Your father… will certainly not remain an insignificant figure in the future. ‘A fine sword is honed through grinding; the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold.’ One day, he will attain what he rightfully deserves.”

Just as Jiang Qingshi had anticipated, the person who framed him before the Metropolitan Examination and the one who plotted against him this time were one and the same—Chao Yehhan.

Chao Yehhan, a renowned talent from Dinggao, had grown jealous of Jiang Qingshi’s rising prominence back then and harbored malicious intentions. Although Chao Yehhan did not come from an official family, he had relatives in government positions and came from a wealthy background. This enabled him to provide a sum of silver to Jiang Jinyao to frame Jiang Qingshi back then. Moreover, he had orchestrated everything through his subordinates, making it impossible to trace the scheme back to him, even if an investigation were conducted.