manynovel Chapter 824: Finding the person behind the scenes from the family letter
Chapter 824: Finding the person behind the scenes from the family letter
Jiang Youzhen took a stack of letters on the table, flipped through them one by one, and then stopped at the last one.
The envelope was signed "You Ziqing". This person wrote a total of three letters to Lu Shengyuan, two of which were family letters.
Judging from the date, the first letter said that it had been many years since we last met and I missed you so much. Then the letter recalled some things that happened in the past, such as drinking wine under the moon and drinking together.
Seeing this, dear readers, you must think that these two people have feelings for each other and were a couple back then.
Unfortunately, this was very common in ancient times. Even same-sex friends had such leisurely sentiments, especially among literati.
The letter also mentioned that they were both full of ambitions in the past, hoping to achieve great things in the future. However, more than a decade later, everything turned into nothingness.
They haven't seen each other for so many years, and their former ambitions have long been worn away.
Anyway, the letter repeatedly mentioned what happened that year, and the tone was full of regret.
"Look at this letter." Jiang Youzhen handed the letter to Li Dongsheng.
After reading the letter, Li Dongsheng was very confused. "Isn't this just an ordinary family letter? This person might be Lu Shengyuan's best friend. They drank and talked happily together in the past, but maybe they separated for some reason. They haven't seen each other for more than ten years, right?"
Li Dongsheng continued to analyze, "After many years, Lu Shengyuan has already climbed to the third rank. Judging from the regretful tone of his voice, it is estimated that he is either of a low rank or is no longer in the officialdom."
"What about this one?" Jiang Youzhen held up the second letter from home.
Li Dongsheng read through it quickly again, "This one is also a family letter! After they got in touch, didn't the other party encourage Lu Shengyuan and urge him to keep his original aspiration and try harder?"
"That's right!" Jiang Youzhen nodded, "But Lu Shengyuan is already a third-rank official and holds an important position, no worse than a provincial governor. Why would the other party still persuade him to work harder? How can he make further progress?
The first and second rank officials in the court, such as ministers, generals, and nobles, are already there. It is extremely difficult to make further progress, unless..."
"You mean..." Li Dongsheng was a little surprised.
"You can't say it's the merit of following the emperor after the rebellion?" Li Dongsheng said and shook his head, "No, no, no! This is impossible."
"Why not? After reading the first letter, I thought this person was frustrated. But after reading the second letter, it is obvious that he dislikes Lu Shengyuan's current official position." Jiang Youzhen put down the letter and picked up the third one.
"But Lu Shengyuan is already a third-rank official, and the Capital Transport Commissioner also holds real power. The other party can dislike him, it must be because the other party's status is higher."
An idea suddenly flashed through Li Dongsheng's mind. "That means we should look for someone from the third rank to the first rank, right? And this person should be about the same age as Lu Shengyuan."
"That's right! Doesn't this narrow the scope a lot?" Jiang Youzhen nodded, then glanced at him with a teachable look.
"But what if we find him? What does he have to do with this case?" Li Dongsheng still shook his head.
"Then why don't you take a look at the third one?" Jiang Youzhen handed the letter over.
Li Dongsheng took it suspiciously. The words in the letter were cheerful and he could feel that the other party was in a good mood.
The content of the letter seemed to be because Lu Shengyuan had promised him something, and he also agreed with Lu Shengyuan that they would meet within five years.
After that, Lu Shengyuan was asked to stay in the post of Transport Commissioner for the next few years and do his job well. The capital has not been peaceful in the past few years.
“Eh? There seems to be some contradiction here, right? He clearly asked Lu Shengyuan to work hard and make further progress before, but now he wants Lu Shengyuan to keep this official position and not return to Beijing.”
Li Dongsheng finally realized something was wrong. Once the content of the letter involved officialdom, it would indeed be worthy of suspicion.
"That means he needs Lu Shengyuan's position to gain benefits. Look at his first letter home, he said they haven't seen each other for more than ten years. It's been too long, and he said he had no choice but to not meet."
Jiang Youzhen pondered, "This means that the other party is not in Beijing. In more than ten years, Lu Shengyuan must have returned to Beijing to report on his work. If the other party is in Beijing, why can't we meet?"
"That means this person is not in the capital. Could he be in a local position? That narrows the scope again. Officials of the third rank or above who are not in the capital and are about the same age as Lu Shengyuan can be checked one by one."
Li Dongsheng was a little excited. After Jiang Youzhen's analysis, he might be able to find out the mastermind behind it right away.
"Lu Shengyuan must have promised the other party something during this period, but this part of the letters is missing, maybe they were cleared. Since he said that he would meet within five years, it means that he has not met until now."
Jiang Youzhen pointed at the name on the envelope again, "This should not be the real name, but a courtesy name. You can ask carefully about the courtesy names of officials above the third rank. This should not be difficult."
Li Dongsheng suddenly realized, "This is simple. I will write to my grandfather and he should know."
"But this could just be the way they call each other. They don't call each other that on a daily basis."
Jiang Youzhen suddenly thought of a sentence, "There is a sentence in the Book of Songs, 'You are so clear and bright, and you are so handsome!' This sentence describes a person who is full of energy and whose words and deeds are all beautiful. It also means that he is full of energy and has an outstanding appearance."
“Back then, he was full of vigor and vitality, had an outstanding appearance, and was about the same age as Lu Shengyuan?” Li Dongsheng suddenly realized.
This further narrows the target range. I have to say that scholars really have sharp brains. They can come up with so many names just for the courtesy name.
"Hehe! Are you sure? We don't want you to analyze it for a long time and find out that we are just ordinary close friends." Li Dongsheng always felt that something was mysterious.
"Perhaps he was originally after money and beauty, but was coerced by them afterwards and had no choice. I think he is quite afraid of death, right? How could he participate in selling contraband salt for the so-called friendship?" Li Dongsheng still felt that it was unlikely.
"Why is it for friendship? Can't it be for power? What if this person promised him that once the matter is accomplished, he would become one of the top families in the capital?" Jiang Youzhen shook his head.
"But there's no need to take such a big risk! He's already a third-rank official, it's really unnecessary." Li Dongsheng shook his head like a rattle.
Jiang Youzhen ignored it, but suddenly an idea flashed in her mind and she thought of someone.
"When you go back, check who are the high-ranking officials above the third rank who left Beijing more than ten years ago." Jiang Youzhen felt that he had discovered the shocking truth.
Seeing Jiang Youzhen looking thoughtful, Li Dongsheng quickly asked, "Do you have a candidate in mind?"
"It's not certain yet. I have to check some files after returning to Beijing."
"Who is it? Tell me so I can think about it. Is it possible?" Li Dongsheng was very anxious. He was really curious.
"I suspect one person, it's Prince Chun who is imprisoned in Yun Province."