A lazy bum transmigrates and marries a eunuch – it's awesome!

Chapter 224 The incident happened

Even though the Ningguo Duke's mansion has declined, at least it still retains its dignity.

When the Duke passed away, not only were officials in the capital required to offer condolences, but the palace also had to provide funeral expenses.

This can be said to be the most elaborate funeral since the palace coup.

In ancient times, there were clear class distinctions, and there were strict rules for weddings, funerals, and other important occasions.

There are standards for what kind of coffin and what decorative patterns can be used for what kind of person.

Exceeding the limit is called overstepping the bounds. If no one causes trouble, it doesn't matter. But if someone takes notice, the charges can range from minor to serious.

However, it won't work if we keep lowering the standards.

For powerful and influential families, maintaining a facade of respectability is paramount.

Where mast wood is required, mast wood must be used; where golden nanmu is required, golden nanmu must be used.

If you use something inferior, it's like telling the world that your family is so poor you can't even care about saving face.

If you stop hanging out with people in high society, you'll be essentially excluded from that circle.

The Ningguo Duke's Mansion was truly poor.

But such a major event as the death of the Duke could not be dealt with lightly. They could only secretly sell a few shops and pawn some antiques and ornaments to make do.

The Duchess frowned as she looked at the account book, wishing she could cross out all the money-wasting items on it.

Unfortunately, it's just wishful thinking; we have to tighten our belts and grit our teeth to spend it this way.

The dignity of the Duke's mansion must not be compromised.

After the funeral, their son will inherit the title. If they make a fool of themselves now, their family will have no hope of recovery.

Zhao Chengye was well aware of this, and he specifically told his mother that this was not the time to save money.

In the past two days, he has also been chatting with officials who came to offer their condolences, hoping to establish a relationship with them and enter the court after inheriting the title.

The Duchess was increasingly overwhelmed with problems, and some of her close friends even asked her why her daughter-in-law wasn't entertaining guests outside.

The Duchess's face froze for a moment.

Her daughter-in-law's head was smashed and is frozen in the freezer. If she were to come out to entertain guests, it would scare people to death.

Thankfully, it's already autumn and not so hot anymore, otherwise using ice would be a big problem.

If a daughter-in-law were to die soon after the Duke's death, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Anyway, the Li family has already been taken care of, so we can only hide Li Mingyue for the time being.

They need to hide it for at least three or four months and come up with a plausible explanation.

The Zhao family mother and son had already rehearsed their statements, and when they heard someone asking the Duchess, she immediately sighed in distress.

"My daughter-in-law is newly pregnant and the pregnancy is not very stable."

That child is filial. He was so shocked by the Duke's accident that he bled, and I had to force him to stay in bed to protect the pregnancy.

The Duke's greatest wish before his death was to see Chengye have an heir, and now that she's finally pregnant, he dares not let her do anything rash.

This statement is reasonable.

After all, the Duke's family only had one son, so nothing was more important than having offspring.

The ladies quickly echoed, saying that filial piety wasn't about how many times one kowtowed, but about having children for one's husband's family—that was true filial piety.

Some people praised the Duchess as a good mother-in-law, saying that the Li family girl was very lucky to marry into their family.

The Duchess described how difficult Li Mingyue's pregnancy had been.

Firstly, it was to pave the way for Li Mingyue's death a few months later, and secondly, it was to prevent anyone from visiting her.

My daughter-in-law is having a very difficult pregnancy and there's no telling when she might miscarry. At that time, who among you would dare to go and see her?

Aren't you afraid that you might happen to be caught in a situation where you can't explain things clearly?

That was a brilliant move.

Several people who were related to the Li family wanted to curry favor with Li Mingyue because her husband was about to inherit the title.

They didn't dare suggest going to see it this time, for fear that they wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility if something happened to the Duke's golden egg.

The Duchess breathed a sigh of relief after covering up Li Mingyue's affair, but little did she expect that something would happen just the next day.

The Five Cities Military Command, the Ministry of Justice, and the Eastern Depot jointly investigated the murder of Li Mingyue, the wife of the Duke's heir.

The Duchess immediately collapsed to the ground, rolled her eyes, and fainted.

Zhao Chengye's head was also buzzing, but he still forced himself to remain calm and invited the person to the flower hall.

He had already prepared for this worst-case scenario; at worst, he would just lose face.

As long as he insists that Li Mingyue poisoned his father, then it would be understandable that he accidentally killed someone in a fit of rage.

The worst-case scenario is that his title will be revoked; as long as he is alive, there is still hope.

It is unclear whether the problem lies with the Li family patriarch or with Li Mingyue's parents.

But the fact that the three departments are jointly handling the case proves that this matter cannot be concealed.

After all, Li Mingyue is really dead, and no matter how much he tries to cover it up, it's useless if he can't produce a living person.

Thinking of this, Zhao Chengye shed two lines of tears, his face filled with grief.

"My lords, Li Mingyue is indeed dead, and it was indeed an accidental mistake on my part."

However, there are some inside stories here, and we hope that you will report them truthfully to the imperial court so that our Zhao family can receive justice.

The Five Cities Garrison only handled arrests and assisted in collecting evidence; the Eastern Depot was the one truly in charge of handling the case.

Everyone turned their attention to Ye Xiao, waiting for this young master to give the order.

This man is not only a commander of the Eastern Depot, but also the heir apparent to the Duke of Zhenguo. Even the officials of the Ministry of Justice dare not overstep him.

It is said that a new emperor brings a new court, but Chief Supervisor Xiao actually rose to a higher position after the new emperor ascended the throne.

Now that Xiao Yuan and the Regent jointly govern the country, some people have begun to refer to him as "Nine Thousand Years Old".

As Xiao Yuan's only adopted son, Ye Xiao's status is even higher than that of some minor princes.

No one expected that this young master would be handling the case, and they vaguely thought of the matter of Chief Supervisor Xiao and Zhao Chengye exchanging wives.

The Li Mingyue who died was one of the brides who were switched; she really had no luck.

The prevailing opinion regarding the marriage exchange between the two families is that Li Mingyue did not want to marry the old eunuch, so it was a deliberate scheme.

At the time, many people either sympathized with or laughed at Jiang Xinyu's misfortune.

Now, however, things have turned out the other way around.

As a result, Miss Jiang rose in status and became the most prominent noblewoman in the capital. Even princesses and royal consorts treated her with utmost respect and dared not show her any disrespect.

But let's take another look at Li Mingyue.

Despite having the title of the Crown Prince's wife, she lived a life of misery.

When attending banquets, she stood next to the Duchess like a head maid.

The Ningguo Duke's mansion was notoriously poor and was on a downward spiral, so it's unlikely they would be comfortable spending their money there.

Now look what's happened; he's even lost his life and has become the butt of people's jokes.

Believe it or not, Ye Xiao actually took on this job himself.

After all, he was the first person to know about it.

Another reason is curiosity about what kind of person this young master, who has been his stepmother's fiancé for over ten years, is.

Now it seems he's far inferior to his godfather, no wonder his godmother planned to elope.

Li Mingyue was really unlucky; without her adoptive mother's skills, she would never have dared to venture into this den of wolves.

They are short-sighted and unaware of their own mortality.

Ye Xiao felt no sympathy for Li Mingyue at all; if it weren't for his adoptive mother's insistence on a thorough investigation, he wouldn't have bothered with it.

If the adoptive mother didn't want to marry Zhao Chengye in the exchange, then Li Mingyue's willingness to exchange marriages meant she didn't like her adoptive father, right?

Pshaw, what a blind man.

He's not as good-looking as his godmother, nor does he have a good family background. He's poor, ugly, and incompetent. How dare he look down on my godfather?

You'd be so happy with this one, I'd beat you to death.

I wonder if that woman regrets her choice.