Chapter 585: Another Plot (2)
He Changdi sent Chu Lian back to Songtao Court before heading to the outer court. He gathered everyone in the main study in the outer court to question them personally.
Actually, He Ying had left many traces behind, so it didn’t take He Changdi much work to find out the truth.
However, once he examined all the details again, he found that something was amiss.
If they went by normal logic, He Ying would have surely targeted Second Brother. Why was it Eldest Brother who had gotten attacked in the end?
It felt as if there was someone pulling the strings in the background, but he didn’t have a shred of evidence nor any leads.
There shouldn’t be anyone else except for He Ying and her daughter who would do such a thing in the entire Jing’an Estate.
Finally, He Changdi discovered that there was something wrong with the sobering soup from that night.
No wonder he had felt strange halfway into the night. He had only taken less than half of the soup, barely a few mouthfuls, yet his body had reacted.
However, He Erlang had woken up the next day like nothing had happened to him at all. He had even been brimming with vigour.
After a few questions to draw the truth out of his brother, He Sanlang didn’t know how to react.
It turned out that He Changjue had puked out everything he had drunk shortly after returning to the room… That was how he had been able to fall into a dead slumber. When he woke up in the middle of the night, he had gone to look for He Sanlang and ended up sleeping in his room instead.
He Erlang’s luck was crazily good.
Chu Lian had the same thoughts when He Sanlang explained the events to her.
When He Changjue woke up in the morning and found out what had happened over the night, he was extremely dissatisfied with He Ying and her daughter. He blamed the matriarch as well, for not reining in his aunt and cousin. He never liked staying in the estate in the first place. Coupled with the mess the estate was in right now, he returned to the barracks that very afternoon.
He Changdi changed into his official robes and attended court as usual in the morning. However, he didn’t go to the Ministry of War later on. He headed straight back to the estate.
He managed to catch Chu Lian just in time to have lunch with her. When they were done with lunch, the couple settled down for an afternoon nap.
After the uproar in the night, they hadn’t slept at all when they returned to Songtao Court. They had stayed awake until now. After filling their bellies, it was finally time to take a good rest.
It was now the end of February, and the weather was slowly warming up. These few days, the estate had doused the fires for the internal heating.
The couple leaned against the headboard of their bed together. Since they had just had their midday meal, they had to rest for a bit before sleeping. Chu Lian turned to He Changdi to ask, “Have you reported what you found to Grandmother?”
He Changdi had his eyes shut as he leaned against the headboard. He let out a grunt of affirmation.
Chu Lian drew closer. “What did Grandmother say?”
He Changdi opened his eyes and looked at his wife. His tone held a little bit of helplessness as he replied, “Grandmother wants Eldest Brother to marry Pan Nianzhen and take her as his second wife.”
What? Chu Lian’s eyes widened.
“How could Grandmother think of that?” Hadn’t the matriarch grown too muddleheaded?
Although Eldest Brother and Madam Zou had already divorced, he was still the eldest son of House Jing’an. He was meant to inherit the title one day. Even if he had to remarry, it shouldn’t be this hurried.
Even if he didn’t marry another noble lady, Eldest Brother could at least choose a generous, kind-hearted lady of good standing.
If not for Eldest Brother, they had to consider Miss An and Miss Lin as well. How could someone like Pan Nianzhen make a good stepmother for the two girls? If He Dalang really married her, the first ones to suffer would be the children.
He Changdi’s brows were also locked together in a frown. Grandmother was too stubborn and biased at times.
He Ying and Pan Nianzhen had made full use of Grandmother’s weakness.
“What does Eldest Brother think?”
He Dalang had always been caring towards Chu Lian as an older brother. Furthermore, he had a big heart and was very considerate. He was a good brother. He Dalang had suffered so much until he had finally gotten away from Madam Zou. She didn’t want He Dalang to get out of the frying pan only to fall back into the fire.