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  Chapter 12: The Cost

  The eunuch sent by Zhu Yingtai to investigate returned quickly, and the two of them found out that when Qinyi gave birth to Fifth Master, it was a difficult labor. What's suspicious is that she had a difficult labor for a whole day! There's another suspicious point: at that time, the midwife who delivered Fifth Master, the maidservant who attended to her, and Fifth Master's wet nurse all died cleanly. And Fifth Master's wet nurse originally had a son, but he also died early.

  In other words, dead men tell no tales!

  But the servants on this side were a bit slower, after all, this was not their own mansion. Investigating something that happened over a decade ago would easily arouse suspicion, and the servants didn't dare to be too blatant either.

  However, it was found that Liu Yiniang had indeed become pregnant with a child around the same time as Qin Yiniang, and it is said that the child died prematurely.

  Zhu Yingtuo was almost certain as soon as he heard it! There's something wrong with this matter!

  He ordered that servant to continue investigating the matter of Concubine Liu's premature birth in the mansion, while the family members who stayed behind in this mansion would be investigated by two guards.

  Chegui's family disappeared from the Chu household after the Xue E incident. Zhu Yingtai heard about it and inferred that Old Master Chu was afraid of Old Lady's revenge, so he might have harmed Chegui's family by returning their slave contract and releasing them from the mansion.

  Two guards immediately went to investigate the whereabouts of the Qi family.

  Zhu Yingtai came to the Chu family and bid farewell to Old Man Chu and Chunan. He couldn't stay in Beijing for too long either, he had to return to Chengde. Old Man Chu still felt a bit guilty towards him, so he comforted him as he saw him off.

  This time Zhu Yujie came, and Chu Ke didn't even see her face.

  Zhu Yichen's heart's desire was to marry Chu Keqi, so now he is preparing with extra speed and care. After a month, everything for the engagement has been prepared, and all that's left is to wait for the auspicious day.

  His birthday is at the end of November. He originally wanted to have his coming-of-age ceremony in February next year, but since he was getting married, he had it at the end of August instead.

  Because the wedding is at the end of October, and his birthday is also at the end of November, so his capping ceremony was very simple. Nowadays, Zhu Yichen and the concubine don't have the heart to deal with these things either, their minds are all focused on preparing for the wedding.

  But after all, it was the royal family's coronation ceremony, and many people came. Chu Lao Ye Zi and Chu Nan Cai also went, and they took the opportunity to see the Duchess of Junwang, so they met as relatives.

  Within a month's time, Zhu Yingtai also found out about Che Guiyi's family.

  They were originally the children of the Chu family, but where their old home was, they didn't know anymore. Having offended Old Lady Chu, it was natural that they couldn't settle down near Beijing. Mr. and Mrs. Chu gave them a sum of money and told them to go far away and find a place to settle down, start a business or buy a few acres of land.

  Because he offended the master's family, Chegui was also afraid that Old Lady would find his own home to settle accounts, so he went a bit further and came to this northwest side, found a small town to settle down, and opened a shop.

  This place is called Tongcheng, a very small county town. The Gui family brought with them the savings of these years, as well as the settlement fees given by the old master, totaling two or three hundred taels of silver. After arriving here, they became very wealthy people, buying a house in the best location in the city and also buying two shops, with each of the two sons managing one shop.

  Chegui An settled down at home, lived for a while without seeing anyone coming to look for him, and finally put his mind at ease. In this small Tongcheng, he lived a life of luxury, thinking about finding another young and beautiful wife for himself, as he had silver now.

  The matchmaker came over and said that there was a family in the suburbs with a 15-year-old daughter who was also very beautiful. The mother had always wanted to find someone rich, so she asked Chegui if he would be willing to go take a look. Chegui heard that she was young and beautiful, and was delighted, scratching his ears and cheeks, wishing he could see her immediately and hug her in his arms. Of course, he eagerly nodded, handed over 10 taels of silver, hired two sedan chairs, and followed the matchmaker to the suburbs.

  Who knew that as soon as they left the city, a horse-drawn carriage rushed over to their side and stopped abruptly. Before everyone could react, two big men jumped down from the carriage and lifted up the curtain of the sedan chair without saying a word. The sedan bearers were so scared that they threw the sedan aside and ran away, while the matchmaker and the nobleman inside the sedan were thrown out and cried out loudly.

  One man lifted the first sedan, took a look and saw it was the matchmaker. He nodded to another man who immediately pulled down the curtain of the sedan on this side, reached in and pulled out Chegui. The two men twisted his arm and stuffed him into the horse carriage. The two men jumped onto the carriage, the coachman cracked the whip loudly, and the carriage shot out like an arrow!

  Everything seemed to be done in the blink of an eye, and by the time the carriage had run far away, the sedan chair bearers and the matchmaker finally reacted, shouting loudly. It was a daylight kidnapping! And what's more, they kidnapped a middle-aged man!

  Several people were frantically shouting for help, but who would help? The onlookers around them were scared stiff and couldn't even hide in time! They stumbled and staggered as they ran back into the city to find a carriage to send word to their two sons.

  Che Gui's two sons also received the news and were shocked, suspecting that it was someone sent by Chu Jia's old lady. The matchmaker shouted to report to the officials quickly, scaring the two sons who hurriedly turned around to comfort them, saying it wasn't a kidnapping, but rather a recognition, with some dispute over silver money, which is why they came.

  They placated the matchmaker and the cart driver, sending them away. The two sons deliberated for several days but ultimately didn't dare report to the authorities. Both sons and daughter-in-law were originally slaves and had no experience; they feared their former masters greatly. After discussing it, they each packed up their belongings, sold the shop and house, and fled far away. As for their own father, he could only rely on his own luck.

  The nobleman who was kidnapped in the carriage was so scared that he wet his pants, and the carriage galloped for over an hour before he came to his senses. He hastily kowtowed to the two men, calling them "grandfather" and "ancestor", offering all his family's silver as long as they would let him go. The two men sat at the entrance of the carriage, blocking him, initially ignoring him, but later got annoyed by his crying and shouting, so they simply tied up his hands and feet, gagged his mouth and threw him into the carriage.

  The horse carriage continued moving forward, and walked for many days.

  The car was expensive and they had forgotten how many days they had walked. They didn't have the energy to shout anymore, so they just shrank into the car and waited for the final result.

  Finally, the horse carriage stopped. The two men covered Guifei's eyes with a cloth and then the horse carriage continued for about half a day before stopping again. The two men pulled Guifei down and dragged him into what seemed to be a room.

  After a while, footsteps came from the entrance, and someone walked in, saying: "Release."

  Chegui felt the ropes on his hands and feet were untied, then the cloth over his eyes was also removed. He couldn't adapt to the sudden bright light at once, so he quickly closed his eyes. His body still maintained the shape of being tied up because the blood wasn't circulating, and his limbs were numb, making it impossible for him to move.

  His body was kicked, and Chegui finally opened his eyes to see a tall man standing in front of him with a cold face, deep contours, and a pair of cold eyes sizing him up.

  "Mercy..."

  "If you want to live, answer whatever is asked of you honestly."

  "Little person... little person doesn't know anything..."

  A guard rushed up and kicked him, shouting: "Don't you dare be insolent?! Do you want to die?!"

  Chegui's body was numb all over, and he let out a faint cry that seemed to be there but wasn't.

  Zhu Yuxuan looked coldly for a while, although he was anxious and wanted to know immediately whether the child born by Qin Niang that year was Zhu Yuhuan or not. However, seeing Che Gui being tortured until he lost the courage to live on, he could only turn around and order the two guards: "Give him a bath, feed him something, and let him sleep for a while."

  The guard hastily replied.

  The servant brought some congee and had a bath for Chegui. He was half-starved on the way, and now he was hungry again after several days. He wolfed down his food and fell asleep immediately after being thrown onto the bed, sleeping until noon the next day. When he got up, he saw that there were chicken, duck, fish, and meat dishes on the table, a sumptuous feast, and even a pot of wine.

  The car is expensive. It's been more than a month since I've had meat, how can I bear it! Immediately pounced on the table, a whirlwind swept away the clouds, finished eating and wiped my mouth.

  With enough wine and food, not as desperate as the previous days, a glimmer of hope to survive emerged. At this time, it was easiest to waver. A guard turned around and left, and soon, Zhu Yizhao walked in.

  The car was expensive and he immediately knelt down: "Old man, old man, what do you want to know? I'll tell you everything!"

  Zhu Yuhui was still staring at him coldly, asking: "Zhu Yuhan, is it true that you were born to your daughter Qinyiniang?"

  The car was expensive and he couldn't think of how it happened, this person wanted to know what had happened, he was stunned for a moment, then his face changed drastically, and he immediately lowered his head to cover up his panic.

  Zhu Yingtuo finished speaking and stared at him tightly, his reaction was very clear, this person obviously knew something! He said coldly: "If you tell the truth, I'll give you 500 taels of silver, go wherever you want, if you don't tell the truth, your whole family will die!"

  Che Guigod's expression was flustered, his voice much lower: "It is... of course it is... what you're asking, sir..."

  "Speak clearly!"

  "Of course... of course it's my daughter who gave birth..."

  Zhu Yifei coldly looked at him, his tense hands were shaking slightly. He nodded to the two guards and turned around to leave. As soon as he reached the door, he heard a miserable cry from inside - Che Gui!

  He didn't stop, and walked all the way to the front yard, went upstairs, sat down and waited. From Chegui's reaction in an instant, he could be sure that Zhu Yuhuan's identity must have a problem! Chegui must know!

  He's in no hurry. A greedy person like Che Gui will definitely be afraid of death, and as long as he's subjected to some torture, he'll definitely tell the truth!

  The backyard kept echoing with the miserable cries of Chegui, this yard was in a desolate place in the northern part of the city, far from the city gate and also far from other people's homes, even if Chegui cried out loud until his throat was hoarse, no one would be able to hear him.

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