PFC Chapter 282 Duke Wen's Scheme
Chapter 282 Duke Wen's Scheme
Gu Qingwan was startled. She naturally knew who Wen Zhankun was—the gentle father of Duke Wen. Therefore, she could be certain that Lady Song was backed by Duke Wen.
“Princess Changning is the daughter of Consort Yu, and Consort Yu is the daughter of Song Yue’e. Logically speaking, Consort Yu is the legitimate daughter of the Yu family and entered the palace with a million taels of gold. However, Song Yue’e is having an affair with Duke Wen. According to them, Consort Yu should be her and Duke Wen’s daughter. So what’s going on with the Yu family?”
Gu Qingwan was completely confused. What role did this Lady Song play in all of this? Did the Yu family even know the true identity of Consort Yu? And why didn't Duke Wen acknowledge his own daughter?
"There's probably more to this than meets the eye." Xiao Jingchen also realized that there seemed to be some conspiracy involved, a conspiracy orchestrated by the Duke of Wen himself.
Gu Qingwan thought for a moment and said, "Then we have to start with the Yu family. Otherwise, whether it's Madam Song or Duke Wen, if we touch either of them, we'll alert them and it might ruin things. Before we figure things out, we should handle this calmly."
“Wanwan is right, I’ll have Yinping investigate.”
"No, Your Highness, I think there is someone who can help us. She might be more willing to find out what exactly happened to Consort Yu?"
Xiao Jingchen didn't immediately understand who Gu Qingwan was referring to, but after thinking about it carefully, he roughly figured it out. He said, "Yu Linglong?"
"Your Highness is indeed wise."
"Is she willing to get involved in this mess?"
“It’s not a matter of willingness or unwillingness, but the Yu family was already embroiled in the mess when we discovered this secret. Moreover, in our previous interactions with Yu Linglong, it seems that the Yu family’s attitude towards Consort Yu and the Third Prince is quite different. Perhaps I should give it a try.”
Xiao Jingchen smiled and said, "Princess, please try. I will be there for you. Even if Duke Wen has a thousand schemes, he is nothing but trash in the face of imperial power. My brother and I are only doing this because of the Empress Dowager. Don't feel any pressure."
Gu Qingwan felt relieved and nodded, saying, "Okay, I know what's important."
Gu Qingwan instructed Shishu to invite Yu Linglong to Jubaozhai in the name of the owner of Duobaoge.
Jubaozhai is a property of the Yu family, and arranging the meeting here would make Yu Linglong feel safer and allow their conversation to go deeper.
When Yu Linglong arrived, she was taken aback to see that the Princess Consort of Chu was sitting in the private room. She then smiled, opened her folding fan, strode in, and sat down opposite Gu Qingwan.
"So it turns out that the Princess Consort of Chu is the owner of Duobao Pavilion. I've long heard that Duobao Pavilion makes a fortune every day. It turns out that the Princess Consort of Chu is in charge of planning and strategizing. No wonder."
"It's just a small business. It can't compare to the Yu family's business, which is so good it makes people envious. If my Duobao Pavilion is making a fortune every day, then the Yu family's business should be making tens of thousands of gold coins a day. My little Duobao Pavilion is a laughing stock for the Yu family."
"Oh, Princess Chu, you are too modest. This is not the first time I have done business with you. I know you quite well. May I ask what brings you here today?"
Yu Linglong is a businesswoman, and she felt that Gu Qingwan was easy to get along with. They weren't strangers since they had dealt with each other before, so she thought it best to be straightforward.
Gu Qingwan smiled, a relaxed smile. She said, "I definitely won't ask Master Yu out unless it's something important. After all, Master Yu makes money every single hour."
“Qingwan…” Yu Linglong pretended to be angry and stared at her. She knew that every time she argued with Gu Qingwan, she would not get anything good out of her. She could handle business negotiations with others with great skill, so why was she so bad at dealing with her?
"Hahaha, alright, alright, Linglong, I'm not kidding you anymore. I really do have something to discuss with you."
It's said that Gu Qingwan and Yu Linglong's friendship predates Gu Qingwan's arrival in the capital.
At that time, Gu Qingwan was traveling around the north, trying to figure out how to open a medicinal herb shop. She was constantly on the move, asking around everywhere.
Yu Linglong, unaware that she had been ambushed and poisoned, happened to be searching for the divine physician of Spring Valley, and it was at this time that the two met.
Gu Qingwan naturally knew Yu Linglong. She did not accept a high consultation fee from Yu Linglong, but instead asked Yu Linglong to help her open up the path of the medicinal herb business. In return, Gu Qingwan would cure the poison in her body.
Therefore, Yu Linglong had a very good impression of Gu Qingwan and felt she should repay the life-saving grace with all her heart.
Yu Linglong not only helped her pave the way for business, but also lent her some skilled business people. That's how Gu Qingwan's herbal medicine shop was able to expand all the way to Yunhun Pass, and even her business in the Northern Border was all thanks to Yu Linglong's connections.
Privately, Gu Qingwan also introduced Yu Linglong to her second cousin Ning Chengze, but the two had not actually met in person and had been exchanging letters.
After all, his second cousin had always been helping with the business in the north, and the business in the northern border was too dangerous for Ning Chengze. If he were captured without someone to help him, the Ning family army would be in a very passive position.
However, after arriving in the capital, the two met. Gu Qingwan immediately acted as if they didn't know each other at all. Yu Linglong was very clever and of course she would cooperate with Gu Qingwan. This led to Gu Hanjiao writing an IOU to borrow grain.
Especially after Gu Qingwan became the Princess Consort of Chu, Yu Linglong secretly sent people to deliver a substantial dowry to Gu Qingwan.
Yu Linglong was a businesswoman, and she knew that it was good to have a powerful backer. The Chu Prince's Mansion was a truly powerful and reliable backer. With the protection of the Chu Prince's Mansion, the Yu family's business would have a smooth ride on the official road.
Gu Qingwan told her in simple terms what Siqi had discovered yesterday, though not everything, just a brief summary.
“Just yesterday, our people investigated and found someone who seems to be Consort Yu’s mother.”
"You mean, you met Consort Yu's mother? You mean my grandmother?" Yu Linglong was somewhat surprised, because her grandmother would never leave the mansion.
"It's not your grandmother, but Consort Yu's biological mother. Our investigation found that her surname is Song and her name is Song Yue'e. She was caught by our people having a secret rendezvous with a man in a tunnel in a courtyard. According to her, her child is named Tingting."
Yu Linglong thought for a moment and said, "Yu Guifei's given name is indeed Yu Tingting. Indeed, she was not my grandmother's biological daughter, but was born to one of my father's concubines. However, because my grandmother had a good relationship with that concubine, after the concubine left, my grandmother took Yu Tingting under her lap and she became the legitimate daughter of the Yu family."
"So, didn't your grandfather ever suspect that Yu Tingting wasn't his biological daughter?"
“She is indeed beautiful. My grandfather once said that my aunt looks somewhat like her biological mother, unlike us Yu family members. But I have never seen what her biological mother looks like.”
Yu Linglong stared at Gu Qingwan for a while, then took a deep breath and said, "At first, I didn't suspect anything. But later, I accidentally found some clues and discovered that Yu Tingting was acting strangely. However, I haven't found enough evidence yet, so I haven't told my grandfather."
"You also have doubts?" Gu Qingwan was a little curious. Why would someone in the Yu family doubt their own?
"You know I only had the chance to meet you because I was poisoned back then. After I came back, I was determined to find out the truth about my poisoning. It turned out that someone close to me was bribed to poison me when I wasn't paying attention. Later, that person confessed that it was my second uncle's doing. Actually, I knew it was him without even guessing."
"What does that have to do with Consort Yu?" Gu Qingwan asked, puzzled.
"Of course there is a connection. This poison came from the palace. It was my good aunt who personally had it delivered to my second uncle."
Gu Qingwan was somewhat surprised.
"It's unbelievable, isn't it? At the time, I was thinking that she and my father had the same mother, so why would she want to kill me? Later, my people investigated and said that it was probably because I cut off half of her money after I took over the family business, so she was angry. My second uncle promised her that if he became the head of the Yu family, he would increase the supply to Consort Yu in the palace by 20% on top of the previous amount."
"Later, unintentionally, I unearthed some old stories. My grandmother had a child, and Yu Tingting's mother took meticulous care of her. In the end, the child was not born, and my grandmother could no longer have children because of the miscarriage. I suspected that her mother had done something back then."
Moreover, the woman died very suddenly, disappearing without a trace. My grandfather told outsiders that she had contracted a serious illness and died, while others said that she had taken a fatal blow for him before passing away.
“If Song Yue’e is the concubine your grandfather brought back to the Yu family, then according to what she said yesterday, Yu Tingting is very likely not a child of your Yu family, but rather her child with that man. So I came to see you today for this matter, and I ask you to go back and investigate what happened back then.” Gu Qingwan reiterated her purpose.
"I think it would be better if I asked my grandfather about this. He may or may not know, but even I was able to find the clues. Given my grandfather's shrewdness, he shouldn't have missed it."
“Linglong, you are the head of the Yu family. This matter can be big or small. If Consort Yu is really not a child of your Yu family, then this matter will be very serious,” Gu Qingwan said seriously.
Yu Linglong naturally knew what this was about. If Consort Yu was really not a child of the Yu family, then the Yu family would have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. Of course, the Yu family could also directly insist that Consort Yu was the legitimate daughter of the Yu family, and even if someone had doubts, no one could say anything without evidence.
However, if someone plots against the Yu family and tries to drag them into the abyss, then that's a different story.
Yu Linglong asked softly, "Qingwan, can you tell me the truth? Who is that man?"
Gu Qingwan looked up and stared directly into Yu Linglong's eyes. After a long while, she slowly said, "It is the Duke of Wen."
Like a bolt of lightning striking Yu Linglong's head, the Wen family was the Empress Dowager's maternal family. Although the Yu family were merchants, they were still imperial merchants and paid close attention to the court's movements. The Emperor and the Prince of Chu were not very friendly to the Wen family.
"Don't worry, I'll take this to heart and investigate it immediately when I get back. I'll give you an update in the next couple of days."
Yu Linglong offered Gu Qingwan a cup of tea, put down the cup and was about to leave when Gu Qingwan grabbed her wrist.
"No rush, I haven't seen you in a long time either. Let me take your pulse." With that, Gu Qingwan pressed Yu Linglong down into a seat without any room for argument, and gently hovered her fingers over Yu Linglong's wrist.
Sometimes three fingers, sometimes four, sometimes two, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, and finally Gu Qingwan withdrew her fingers.
"You're in pretty good shape, but you're a bit too hot inside and have excessive stomach heat. Drink more chrysanthemum tea and eat a lighter diet these next few days. Also, use less fragrance in the room."
Yu Linglong's eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly asked, "Is there something wrong with the spices? Do I have any in my body?"
"This spice is not poisonous, but if you smell it for a long time, you will have nightmares and night sweats, and your energy and spirit will gradually deteriorate, making you more susceptible to illness. It is best to use spices sparingly, because even if problems arise, it is difficult to find the cause after they have been burned."
Yu Linglong thought for a moment, "That bastard! He hasn't bothered them these past few days, so he thinks I'm a pushover. Qingwan, thank you for this time. When I get back, I'll have my people stop the incense. I'll take care of the matter you asked me to do now and give you an answer soon. Put this meal on my tab. If there's anything you like to eat, bring some back for the Prince as well. I'll be going now, goodbye."