Not saying something didn’t mean he didn’t know it.

Although the second grandson was not a person who would punish others for trivial matters, one could know what kind of person the second grandson was by paying attention to the bowl for three meals a day.

Although the cook at home can cook well, it obviously does not suit his taste. He always had a mediocre response to the dishes cooked by the cook at home, let alone the dishes prepared by the official chef of Dali Temple.

Of course, the ones at home were better than those served by the official chef of Dali Temple. He took homemade food to the Dali Temple every day.

Until a few days ago, his grandson suddenly stopped taking food. Not only that, he would often come back after finishing his evening meal.

He was not the only one to have this kind of change, there were many like him in the entire Dali Temple. If you asked a little bit, you would know what was going on.

There was a new cook in the public kitchen of Dali Temple. The cook was very good at her skills.

Duke Jing Guo was a little surprised when he heard the news, and then he instinctively thought of inviting someone into the house or paying her to teach the family cook. Then after asking about it, he learned about the cook’s life experience.

Her surname was Wen, and she was Wen Xuance’s daughter.

His wife and daughter were not as guilty as him, and Wen Xuance himself was punished. Moreover, the girl was just a child and didn’t understand anything when the incident happened.

It was one thing to know, but it was another thing to think about the situation of an old friend.

Duke Jingguo thought that all he could do was pretend he didn’t see it.

No matter who she was to Wen Xuance since the matter of that year had been settled, it was over. He wouldn’t care about it, and he didn’t want to care about it.

But Wen Xuance’s daughter must not run into him! Seeing Wen Xuance’s daughter reminded people of what Wen Xuance had done. He really didn’t know what he would do in anger.

The eldest son knew about this matter, the eldest grandson knew about it, but the second grandson, who had always been sensible, suddenly mentioned it at this time…

Duke Jingguo’s face was extremely ugly. He took a deep breath at the calm face of his youngest grandson and thought of his past performance. In a tone of voice, he warned: “Ah Fei, don’t mention her again!”

After hearing this, Lin Fei lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment, then raised his head to meet Duke Jingguo’s stormy face, and said: “Grandpa, you know I had not yet entered Dali Temple when the incident happened. This case was such a big deal, I want to ask about this case.”

The younger grandson has such a temperament. Otherwise, why would he choose to go to Dali Temple instead of other government offices? People at Dali Temple deal with notorious criminals every day, which worried them greatly at first. However, the younger grandson adapted well there and was promoted to the position of Assistant Minister of Dali Temple ahead of others. Ignoring family influence, in terms of official rank, he had surpassed the eldest grandson.

After telling himself several times that his grandson had such a temper, Duke Jingguo managed to calm down and said in as calm a tone as possible: “Ah Fei, there’s nothing to say about this matter. The evidence was conclusive. If you don’t believe it, you can go to the Dali Temple warehouse to check the files!”

Lin Fei heard this and said, “I have already asked Mr. Zhao. The files on that case have been sealed and no one can access them, including Mr. Zhao himself.”

He specifically sought out his grandfather, the knowledgeable person in this case, precisely because he couldn’t access the files.

“Grandpa was friends with General Shao, so he will be very concerned about this case.” Lin Fei said, “Grandpa should know the story of this case.”

“What? Do you think this case might still have wrongly accused Wen Xuance?” Seeing his grandson’s calm demeanor, Jianguo Duke couldn’t help but interject. Even though this matter had nothing to do with his grandson, just mentioning this case made his chest tighten. Thinking of that straightforward and upright man, anger surged within him. He raised his hand and slammed it on the stone table. “This matter is akin to taking the lives of Wen Xuance’s family to settle it. I think that’s too lenient!”

Lin Fei looked at the angry Duke Jing and did not continue. As he continued speaking, he waited until Duke Jing’s mood calmed down a little before he spoke again: “My grandson is just curious.”

Curious… At least he had reached this age, and he still had time to cultivate his moral character, and he would no longer be as impulsive as he was when he was young.

Looking at Lin Fei, Duke Jingguo took a deep breath and said calmly: “The history of this case is not complicated. It was Wen Xuance who secretly changed the edict…”

“Grandfather!” Lin Fei interrupted Duke Jingguo and said, “The late emperor was mediocre and indulged in drinking and sex. He was relatively good at first. But in the years after the accident, he was often drunk and forgot everything when he woke up. How can you be sure that this edict was not written by the late emperor himself?”

“When the edict was drafted, there were two eunuchs present who witnessed it firsthand. When the edict was sent out, it was inspected by the Chief Supervisor of the Imperial Seals, Shi Qing, who saw it with his own eyes. You are also aware of Shi Qing’s character. Whoever is in power, remains loyal only to them. He doesn’t rely on anyone, and he even received favors from Shao Yuanqing before. Would he inexplicably collude with a few eunuchs to falsify evidence?” Duke Jingguo asked.

“There was no problem when the edict was passed to Wen Xuance. After it was passed to the soldiers through Wen Xuance’s hands, it was sealed with a special machine craftsman’s lock and special sealing wax. Do you think the soldiers can easily crack it if they have this ability?”

“Also, when the edict was passed and the content was read out, even the soldiers themselves were shocked. No one believed it. There were even local masters who tried to study the authenticity of the edict’s handwriting. Even these masters could not tell the authenticity of the handwriting. Do you think other than Wen Xuance, was there anyone else who can imitate him?” When Duke Jingguo said this, he couldn’t help but sneer, “What a great scholar who is famous all over the world! God gave him such amazing talents and brilliant abilities, but if he didn’t use them to assassinate Zhongliang, do you think people like him would be reviled by the world?”

Upon hearing this, Lin Fei fell silent once again. Even though he had learned from people like Zhao Mengzhuo and Wei Fu, who had handled this case, that the evidence was conclusive, it was indeed difficult to find any loopholes when the evidence was so solid.

After thinking for a moment, he asked Duke Jing again: “Why did he do this?”

The evidence conclusively proved that he harmed people, but what was the reason? Why would a civil servant who was famous all over the world harm a general?

Duke Jingguo said: “Who doesn’t think it’s unreasonable? But after a closer inspection, we found that Wen Xuance and Yuan Qing had been at odds for a long time.”

“After his first wife passed away, Yuanqing didn’t remarry. Instead, he promoted one of his former wife’s maidservants to the position of concubine. He often campaigned in different regions and was rarely in the capital. One day, this concubine went out for a stroll and was harassed by thugs. Wen Xuance happened to pass by and intervened, even arranging for her safe return home,” Jianguo Duke said, with a cold laugh. “Wen Xuance, who had a beautiful wife at home, never even spared a glance for other women outside, yet suddenly showed such concern for one woman. Don’t you think that’s unusual?”

“Yes, it is unusual.” Lin Fei nodded and said frankly, “But this is far from enough to be a reason for him to kill people.”

“Of course, it’s not conclusive evidence. But what if many people have witnessed Wen Xuance meeting privately with that concubine? And not just once!” Jianguo Duke said, his anger rising again. “These two individuals, one of them supposedly studied the classics but committed such acts! And the other, while his husband was away, couldn’t remain faithful and resorted to thievery and debauchery. Do you think their actions are not despicable?”

If it’s true, then naturally it’s despicable. But if there’s no decisive evidence, it’s not enough to prove that these two individuals actually committed such acts,” Lin Fei said, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Even if, hypothetically speaking, they did engage in such behavior, at most it would earn them public criticism, or perhaps a demotion. Furthermore, even married couples can divorce due to incompatible feelings, let alone concubines. A simple letter could resolve such matters. Why would he resort to tampering with edicts just to snatch a woman?”

Wen Xuance wasn’t a fool; he knew that once this matter was brought to light, his whole family would have been implicated.

(End of chapter)

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