Seeing the steward's intention to talk for a long time, Song Yi smiled and became more worried: "Although it is said that by relying on her cousin jumping into the lake, it is very likely that Jian Yu Bai will be fooled tonight. But since this person had previously taken advantage of my sleep to ask about my cousin, maybe he will also follow him to see what's going on? However, now the steward's calm and unhurried appearance clearly shows that he is certain that he won't come over and won't come!"

  This also shows that Da Guan Shi has a good grasp of the entire situation tonight!

  She thought for a long time, but didn't say anything. The steward also didn't feel embarrassed and after a pause, he continued on his own: "With your intelligence, Madam, you must have had doubts already: the old master has three sons and one daughter, not to mention the eldest sister who got married early. Among the three masters, although the first master is the eldest, he is born out of wedlock, so it's understandable that the title wouldn't be passed down through the main line. But why did the second and third masters, both being legitimate sons, not become the Yan Guo Gong in the end? It wasn't either of them, nor was it the second master's eldest son, San Gongzi, but instead it was the youngest grandson of the Jian family, Gongye?"

  Song Yixiao was naturally curious about this, but first of all, it wasn't the time to satisfy her curiosity, and secondly, Song Yixiao didn't want to be led by the nose, so she fiddled with the bangle on her wrist, only slightly coldly smiling: "I don't care how you got your title, as long as you are a duke, that's all that matters, otherwise where would I have gotten my first-class imperial edict?"

  "Grandma is a straightforward person!" The housekeeper said with a smile, "That little one doesn't beat around the bush either: Old Master is a man who values etiquette, and he has always attached the most importance to Second Master and Third Young Master! As for passing on the title to Master Gong, it was also out of necessity!"

  He knew that Song Yixiao would not ask him about Jian Pingyu's predicament, so he continued without pause, "This matter is indeed not suitable for outsiders to know: after all, the third master was still young and ignorant at the time, but in the cold winter month, he personally pushed his five-year-old younger brother into the pond and didn't allow anyone to rescue him, it's really too much!"

  Song Yi Xiao couldn't help but be shocked upon hearing this!

  She bit her lip hard to hold back the questions that were about to spill out, and just then the steward continued, "Fortunately, the young master's life was spared. As it happened, the crown prince had gone out in plain clothes and, on a whim, went to visit his aunt, the Princess of Jin State. At that time, the crown prince was not very old either, after paying his respects to the princess, he naturally went to play with his two cousins."

  After searching for it like this, they finally managed to save Jian Yu Bai who was on the verge of death!

  At that time, the twelve-year-old crown prince, although he had been brought up by Emperor Xianjia since he was four or five years old and taught him personally, had not experienced real tempering after all, and his city was still shallow. Moreover, under the influence of Emperor Xianjia, he had always regarded the children of Princess Zhang of Jin as his siblings, and when he saw this scene, he was naturally shocked and angry!

  Not only did he directly report the matter to the face of the Queen of Jin, but even after returning to the palace, he also indignantly told the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xianjia about it!

  "The third young master is also the eldest princess's biological child, and even if he committed a serious crime, fortunately, the old master was saved by the crown prince, so there's no big deal. At that time, the third young master was still young and couldn't bear any severe punishment, but things went wrong when the empress dowager and your majesty asked about this matter, and the second master spoke incorrectly on behalf of the third young master!"

  The eunuch sighed and continued, "At that time, the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty asked the Third Prince why he wanted to harm his brother. The Third Prince was young and ignorant, so he frankly said it was because after the birth of the Crown Prince, the favor shown to the Eldest Princess was divided, and he thought that if the Crown Prince died, there would be no one competing for favor, and the Eldest Princess would dote on him as before. The Empress Dowager and Your Majesty were naturally furious!"

  At that time, Jian Yu Bai had managed to save a life, but he was still dazed and hadn't come around. The Princess of Jin State personally accompanied him by his bedside, not in the main hall. The only one who could talk to Jian Yi You was his father, Jian Li Kuang.

  Jian Liang sought to mediate, but after a long time, he got nowhere. In a moment of urgency, he said: "In the future, the title of Prince Yan will definitely be passed down to the eldest son! If we damage the relationship between brothers for this matter, what will happen when we elders are gone? The younger son will have to ask the elder son for help, how can that be?"

  "Is this kind of person who harms his own brothers and sisters worthy of inheriting the title?! The Empress Dowager, in her rage, almost shouted out the same words as Emperor Xianjia!"

  "Because of the Second Master's protection of the Third Young Master, Her Majesty and Your Majesty thought that if the old master's title were to be passed down to the Second Master, even if the imperial family did not allow the Third Young Master to inherit the title, the Second Master would still have two sons to succeed him. In case something happened to the Old Master, it was impossible for the title of the Yan State Duke to not be passed down, right?" The steward said with a smile, "So His Majesty personally issued an order, instructing the old master to bypass the Second Master and the Third Young Master, and directly pass the title to the Young Master!"

  Moreover, "this matter made the old master lose face in front of Your Majesty, and even the Empress Dowager personally summoned the old master to Qingxi Hall, questioning him about how he taught his son and grandson——so after the old master passed on the title to Gongye, he immediately submitted a memorial requesting retirement!"

  Song Yi smiled and pursed her lips, seemingly expressionless as she listened, but her heart was already surging with emotions: "I told you so! With so many male heirs in the Jian family, it had to be Jian Yu Bai, who isn't even the eldest legitimate grandson, who inherits the title? There must be some inside story!"

  But this inside story is not as simple as what the big shot said!

  At least the Empress Dowager and Emperor Xianjie's intervention in the inheritance of the Jian family title was not just to sympathize with Jian Yu Bai!

  "As soon as His Majesty ascended the throne, he basically killed off all his half-brothers and sisters! Although it can be said that he did this because when he was a prince, he had been framed by these brothers and sisters many times and had long been unable to bear it. But in the end, he started the precedent of fratricide in our dynasty; how could one not worry about retribution falling on his own children?"

  Even if it's the emperor, there are often such unrealistic ideas - although he himself is a ruthless and cunning person who has climbed to power by stepping on his brothers' and nephews' blood, when he becomes the emperor, he hopes that his children will be the most friendly, harmonious and innocent moral models in the world!

  So Emperor Xian of Jin, who had no qualms about killing his own brothers and sisters, did not want his children to follow in his footsteps.

  It just so happened that Jian Yiyou was jealous and plotted against his brother, so the imperial family could not help but take advantage of the situation to set an example and warn all the princes and princesses.

  Song Yi smiled coldly in her heart: "Originally, Gong Gong and Jian Yi were the ones who inherited the title, while Jian Yu Bai could only rely on himself to gain a foothold. But with Your Majesty's attitude, it's as if you're telling your own children: look, this is what happens when you harm your siblings!"

  She also knew why Jian Xuwu succeeded to the title at the age of five and was then taken under the Empress Dowager's care, "The imperial family helped him succeed to the title beyond his father's generation. Apart from punishing Gonggong and Jian Yiyou, it was also for the education of the princes and princesses! In this case, Jian Xuwu must be well taken care of! Otherwise, among the sons-in-law with the surname Jian, there are only two so far, what if he dies? Wouldn't the title have to go back to Jian Yiyou?"

  In that case, this example is not about educating the princes and princesses to be well-behaved and loving, but rather encouraging them to take advantage of others!

  "I'm afraid that even the favor of not being demoted when Jian Yu Bai was attacked was also given for a typical purpose. Thinking of this, Song Yi couldn't help but feel a bit sympathetic towards her husband. 'The affairs of high-ranking families are truly complicated! Calculating his age, Jian Yi was only seven years old at that time, and he had already poisoned his younger brother - if the Crown Prince hadn't arrived in time back then, Jian Yu Bai would have died in vain!'"

  After all, even if it's just a simple-minded Princess of Jin State, she wouldn't possibly kill her own third son to avenge her youngest child, would she?

  "Little one has spoken to this point, with your grandmother's cleverness, you must have understood little one's meaning?" The steward sighed, "The people on the list I gave you last time, from the old master's retirement, had already decided to give them to the third young master. In other words, those people were never yours or the prince's! You say the national duke's residence has been holding onto them, what does it mean?"

  "You've said it all, Third Brother used to want my husband dead." Song Yi smiled and suppressed her emotions, glancing at him with a hint of mockery, "Even if Third Brother was young and foolish back then, the fact remains that my husband almost died! Now that he's giving him some trouble, isn't it only natural? If I didn't know about this, it would be fine, but since I do, what reason do I have to say such things?"

  The steward shook his head and said, "Grandma, it's not interesting to talk like this. Who doesn't know that the Duke listens to you and follows your plans? As long as you nod your head, the Duke won't stop you."

  Besides considering that Third Master is also a legitimate grandson, it's actually for the good of the Grand Lord!

  He explained, "Even if there was no conspiracy by the three princes to harm Grandfather that year, actually Your Majesty didn't want a veteran minister like Old Master to continue staying in court! At that time, Old Master was already over 50 years old, and Your Majesty still didn't trust him. What about Grandfather who had just turned 20 and had already inherited the title of Duke? If you also take down all the people Old Master has gathered over the years, do you think Grandfather will have a good ending?"

  Song Yixiao originally thought he would use all sorts of means to control her, thinking about the worst possible outcome, wondering if she would also experience what Wei Cuilan had gone through this time. Who would have thought that the big manager would say something like this instead? Although she was still very naive when it came to understanding the calculations of the imperial court...

  "Great achievements shock the ruler"

  "At first, Jian Yu's requirements for his wife were not too high in terms of family background. He must have considered this point!" She couldn't help but ponder, "No wonder when his mother-in-law asked him to marry her, he was unhappy but still agreed."

  But then the steward said, "Actually, the Second Master and Third Young Master's indifference to the Duke over the years was also due to the Old Master's instructions: Firstly, the Duke used to be too soft-hearted and was spoiled by the Empress Dowager, so the Old Master was worried that the Duke would have a hard time adapting after entering officialdom! However, since the Duke grew up under the Empress Dowager's care, the Old Master didn't dare interfere too much and could only resort to this inferior strategy; Secondly, it was to put Your Majesty at ease!"

  After all, no matter how noble Ji Yunbai's birth was, no matter how high the title he inherited was, and no matter how much favoritism he received from the Empress Dowager, if he only had one person on his side, and that was against his own father and brother, and not even favored by his grandfather, a seventeen-year-old youth could pose how much of a threat?

  This young man was also saved by the Crown Prince, who was most valued by Emperor Xianjia. Since childhood, he had been close to the Crown Prince and had received the Empress Dowager's nurturing grace - even if Emperor Xianjia was suspicious again, he should not have doubted Jian Yu Bai's loyalty to the father and son, nor would he think that this nephew would become a great threat to imperial power in the future!

  "It's just that Grandmother also knows, from the age of five, Master Gong was raised under the Empress Dowager's care, and even his name was given by the Empress Dowager, separate from the Jian family's naming conventions. As they say, 'the kindness of raising is greater than the kindness of giving birth.' How could these schemes of Old Master be told to Master Gong?" The steward observed Song Yi's changing expression, wringing his hands and saying, "So after all this time, Master Gong has indeed grown apart from Old Master, Second Master, and Third Young Master! Now that I've spoken these words, I fear they will be useless. After thinking it over, I can only ask for your help in advising Master Gong!"

  Song Yi Xiao was silent for a long time before saying: "If I were to agree to this matter, how do you plan on having me leave evidence?"

  This is what she cares about most at this moment!