Tianliangyuan

Chapter 351 Did a donkey kick your brain?

Xu Zhaozhao chuckled: "I thought you would advise me not to be too ruthless in my actions."

"Why should I advise you? Besides, you've never been one to cause trouble. The fact that you had to take action this time means the other party must have gone too far, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered to do anything."

Xu Zhaozhao laughed again; Xie Zheng really understood her.

“Cui Hu is a heartless ingrate! Last time he was poisoned, I asked Immortal Sun to help him get the antidote, and he turned around and started secretly instigating people to sow discord between our Xie and Xu families. Not only that, he also secretly sided with King Zhong, something that I'm afraid even his father doesn't know.”

Xie Zheng immediately stopped in his tracks: "Is Cui Hu one of the Loyal King's men?"

Xie Zheng was unaware of this, which is why he reacted so strongly.

Xu Zhaozhao said with certainty, "There's no mistake. Although he has been trying to hide this relationship of interest, it can still be found out if someone wants to investigate. It's also because my people are meticulous that they found out that one of his attendants suddenly disappeared this spring, and that he had gone to work for Prince Zhong. Can you call that a coincidence?"

That's it!

Xie Zheng frowned: "Starting to take sides so early, is he really not afraid of death!"

Emperor Yong'an was in his prime, and Prince Zhong was the eldest son of a concubine. The Great Xing Dynasty had always valued legitimate sons, and if there was a legitimate son, it was absolutely impossible to make a son of a concubine the heir.

So, what exactly did King Zhong do to move Cui Hu and make him have such thoughts?

"Zhaozhao, should we spread the word about Cui Hu's support for the Loyal King?"

"Forget it. There's no need for that. But you can take this opportunity to report this matter to the Duke of Yue. I believe Lord Cui understands the situation."

"Alright."

Cui Hu suffered such a terrible accident that he could only lie in bed for the rest of his life, never to stand up again, let alone achieve anything in literature or martial arts.

The Duke of Yue and the Marquis of Xinning will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. After all, Cui Hu is one of the more promising young members of the Cui family. Now that he has been dismissed, they must demand an explanation. Otherwise, what will become of the Cui family's reputation?

Xie Zheng took this opportunity to approach Cui Shu.

Cui Shu and Princess Leyang are about to get married. Now that he is not busy with his duties, he occasionally goes to the Qi Prince's Mansion to talk to Princess Leyang when he has free time, or he brings some novel little items to send over.

"Xie Sanlang, are you serious?"

Xie Zheng said with a serious face, "Would I lie to you about something like this? Back then, I was ordered to investigate the refugees in Suizhou, and that's when I happened to see a familiar face. I didn't think much of it at the time, and my attendant even mentioned that he looked like one of Cui Hu's men. This time, when Cui Hu got into trouble, I was ordered by my father to bring him some tonics to visit him, and sure enough, I saw that attendant with Cui Hu again. That's when I confirmed that he was the one who appeared with the people from the Prince Zhong's mansion."

Cui Shu, this matter isn't a huge deal, but it's not insignificant either. When I reported this to His Majesty, I didn't mention Prince Zhong, much less the Cui family. But you saw clearly His Majesty's attitude towards Prince Zhong afterwards. His Majesty is discerning and not easily fooled!

It was fortunate that only one of Cui Hu's servants was there; if it had been Cui Hu himself, the matter would have blown up. I hadn't thought much of it at first, but after returning home yesterday, my wife reminded me, and I realized something was wrong, so I came to tell you immediately.”

Cui Shu also understood the importance of this matter.

The Cui family has always been loyal to His Majesty.

If His Majesty were to learn that some of the younger generation of the Cui family had already secretly defected to the Prince of Zhong, His Majesty would question the loyalty of the Cui family.

"Thank you very much, Third Brother. I will inform Father of this matter as soon as possible. I'll take my leave now!"

This matter was of great importance, and Cui Shu couldn't worry about anything else; he immediately prepared to return to his residence.

Xie Zheng grabbed the person and pulled them back.

"Wait a minute, there's something else I haven't told you yet."

Cui Shu looked puzzled: "Please speak, Third Brother Xie."

After looking him over, Xie Zheng stuffed a written statement into his hand: "You can read it when you get back to the manor. It would be more appropriate to ask your uncle to handle it."

Although Cui Shu was full of questions, he didn't linger and quickly returned home.

After listening to Cui Shu's words, Cui Xuanming's expression turned slightly grim: "This matter is indeed not to be ignored. I will immediately order someone to investigate it thoroughly. As for that attendant, he must not be allowed to live."

What may seem like an insignificant servant could become a real threat if exposed. With witnesses and testimonies, Cui Hu would be unable to defend himself, which would further damage His Majesty's favor towards the Cui family.

The brothers Cui Xuanming and Cui Xuanzheng are the most powerful people in the Cui family now, so naturally they cannot allow such a thing to happen.

The Cui family has already made a fool of itself with the Cui Qin incident, which is enough to bring shame to the family. How could they possibly allow their young men to make the same mistake?

When Cui Shu thought of what Xie Zheng had given him, he immediately took it out, looked at it himself, and was immediately shocked before handing it over to his father.

Cui Xuanming glanced at it quickly, his face contorted with rage: "Guards! Bring Marquis Xinning here immediately!"

Marquis Xinning, also known as his younger brother, Cui Xuanzheng, was the father of Cui Qin.

The father and son met eyes, and for a moment they felt that things were getting worse.

"Go to the princess's residence and call Chong'er over."

"Yes, father."

Cui Chong married Princess Ning Shuo, but Princess Ning Shuo, in order to show her closeness to the Cui family, always lived in the Marquis of Xinning’s residence and did not move to the princess’s residence. As a result, Cui Chong naturally stayed in the residence as well.

However, after Cui Qin's incident, the princess felt she had lost face, so she moved to the princess's residence, and Cui Chong moved there with her.

Cui Chong had just entered the study when Cui Xuanzheng followed him in.

After the four of them looked at the items, none of them spoke first.

Cui Xuan was so angry he wanted to hit someone, but he couldn't hit any of the people in the room. After spinning around in place, he kicked over an embroidered stool.

"Has Cui Hu lost his mind? Why did he deliberately lead Cui Qin to the Xie family's daughter? And why did he spread rumors that were bad for Xu Zhaozhao? Did Xu Zhaozhao offend him? She's supposed to be his savior! Not only that, he even got involved in the matter of Deng's eldest son framing Xu Junfeng. Does he think he's having too much of a good time?"

Cui Xuanzheng launched into another tirade of curses, leaving everyone feeling somewhat resentful.

Cui Qin is also Cui Hu's cousin!

What on earth was he thinking?

Cui Qin's reputation was ruined, and none of the Cui family girls benefited from it.

So what was Cui Hu trying to achieve by doing all this?

In particular, why did he deliberately spread rumors about Xu Zhaozhao?

Those who say that Xu Zhaozhao is afraid of the Cui family, or that Xu Zhaozhao is just a pushover and that no amount of money will help her, are deliberately belittling Xu Zhaozhao and elevating the Cui family.

This is utterly destroying the Cui family!