Tianliangyuan

Chapter 389 My wife was so scared she fell ill

Xu Zhaozhao pressed her advantage and, without much effort, completely neutralized Jiang Ning's hidden network.

When Xu Zhaozhao saw the messages that Xu Zhuzi had sent over, she was quite incredulous!

"This Jiang Ning is quite something! She even has spies in Minister Gu's household. That's incredible! Tsk tsk, it would be interesting if this got back to Minister Gu. Oh, and the Marquis of Xinning's residence too. Hehe, such a big favor, we should give it to Father."

Xu Zhaozhao picked up her pen and wrote a letter, then asked Xu Zhuzi to go to the Marquis of Anxin's residence. After that, she just needed to wait quietly.

It hasn't been long, yet Jiang Ning has managed to plant spies in the homes of high-ranking officials like Marquis Xinning and the Gu family. Does she really have a death wish?

Are you saying that other people don't have this kind of method?

How can it be?

Everyone has this method, and some even use it.

But they can't let the other party trace it back to them!

Jiang Ning is really fierce.

How could you not do something clean enough and let someone find out?

Wow, what a talent!

Judging from Jiang Ning's contact with Madam Zhou of the Prince An's Mansion, one can tell how brainless she is.

In other words, Xu Zhaozhao planted some spies through Xu Zhuzi, but that doesn't mean Xu Zhuzi would directly contact those people.

Even if they made direct contact, Xu Zhuzi would always find a perfectly reasonable and plausible reason.

For example, if a servant in a certain Duke's mansion is related to or from the same hometown as Xu Zhuzi's mother's uncle, wouldn't that make a connection?

Even if the master of the Duke's mansion discovers that they are in private contact, so what?

They are relatives or fellow villagers, but because of their respective jobs, the two families no longer have any contact.

This is unreasonable!

More importantly, when Xu Zhaozhao sent Xu Zhuzi to set up these spies, she only placed them in some inconspicuous positions.

For example, those who tend to flowers and plants, or those who light the fire in the kitchen.

Xu Zhaozhao herself came from a noble family, so she knew all too well about these things.

Those who could truly serve their masters were either born into the household or carefully selected by the master. How could the master easily trust outside servants?

Besides, when you're gathering information, it doesn't mean you have to plant someone right next to the master or the young master.

That's not being smart, that's practically courting death!

Don't assume that those locked up in grand mansions are all fools who don't do any productive work and are ignorant of the ways of the world. If these people really get their minds working, even ten servants wouldn't be a match for them!

After the morning court session, Xu Han gave a wink and pulled Gu Dongyang aside.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Gu Dongyang and Xu Han were quite familiar with each other, having interacted several times.

However, Xu Han is too lazy and doesn't attend the morning court every day.

They even frequently find various excuses to skip the morning court session.

If he attends a third of the morning assemblies in a month, he is considered diligent.

It's not that no censor has impeached Xu Han, but with His Majesty protecting him, and the fact that he did indeed follow the proper procedures to request leave, what could you do?

"That's not right. Why did you go to court today? You've attended quite a few morning court sessions this month. This isn't like you."

Xu Han rolled his eyes at him: "Can't you talk? You old codger, I shouldn't have stopped you. I might as well have let you get robbed!"

Stealing someone's house?

Gu Dongyang was no longer calm. What did this mean?

His wife is having an affair?

No way!

After all, the lady is not young anymore, and she has always been upright. How could she be that kind of person?

Could it be a concubine or a daughter-in-law?

"Explain yourself clearly. How did you manage to raid my base? What exactly happened?"

Xu Han raised his hand to block him, then casually shoved him back a step.

Gu Dongyang was just thinking of arguing with him a bit more and trying to find a way to defend himself when he saw him raise his hand and wave ahead, deliberately lowering his voice to shout, "Old Cui, over here!"

Marquis Xinning, Cui Xuanzheng, now the Vice Minister of War, came over with his hands tucked into his sleeves, swaying as he went.

"what happened?"

"Let's walk that way."

Xu Han led the two of them out for about ten more steps, and finally felt at ease.

"Hey Xu Mutou, what's up with you? You're making it sound like we're doing something shady, it's kind of scary!"

Xu Han stiffened his neck and his face darkened: "Who are you calling 'Xu the Wooden Head'? Is that something you can call me?"

Cui Xuanzheng didn't argue with him and said nonchalantly, "Fine, fine, I can't call you that. Only His Majesty can call you that, okay? Tell me quickly, what is it? You can go home and sleep soundly, but I can't. I still have a lot of things to do at the yamen."

Xu Han cleared his throat: "Ahem, well, you can see for yourselves. Let me make this clear first: I heard that the Jiang family was making moves against Jiang Ning's businesses, so I thought I'd take advantage of the situation and discuss with my wife whether we could consolidate some of the businesses. Who would have thought we'd run into something like this?"

Xu Han took the blame on himself and Wang Ruolan, mainly to lay it all out beforehand and prevent them from thinking he had other schemes.

"Let me see."

The two slips of paper were different. Gu Dongyang's had three names on it, along with the date the other person started their job and their specific duties; Cui Xuanzheng's slip of paper had four names on it, along with the date the other person joined the Marquis's residence and their specific duties.

Among the names on their hands, both men had names that they recognized, such as "Iebi-ko".

"This is?"

"As I just said, this is what my wife found out when she was investigating those businesses. She was terrified. She told me about it last night, and she's afraid of being retaliated against by the Jiang family again. She's determined not to get involved again."

Gu Dongyang and Cui Xuanzheng were not fools, so they immediately understood.

"You mean the Jiang family has taken advantage of Jiang Ning's dowry?"

"Ah! That's right! My family has a grudge against the Jiang family. I won't hide it from you. That Jiang Ning has tried to harm my Zhaozhao time and time again. Before my second son got married, something almost happened to him. It was Jiang Ning who instigated the Deng family to do it. Since then, I have specially arranged for people to keep an eye on the Jiang family's every move."

I heard the day before yesterday that Jiang Yanhui has started to interfere with Jiang Ning's dowry businesses, but he's not after money; it seems he just wants to consolidate some of her power. So my wife and I discussed how we should definitely take advantage of him.

Who would have thought we'd uncover such shocking news? I'm telling you two old bastards, this isn't over! That bastard dared to plant spies in our Marquis's mansion; I won't let her get away with it! Anyway, I've given you the news. My wife's been scared sick, so you two have to show some appreciation. Bird's nest, ginseng—I don't mind, the more the merrier!"

Gu Dongyang was at a loss for words. Was this the right time to say such a thing?

Cui Xuanzheng, on the other hand, was much more direct.

"Get out! Do you think your sister-in-law is so easily scared? Don't try to fool me!"