CHAPTER 895: CHAPTER 893: GOVERNMENT OFFICERS AT THE DOOR

At this moment, Wong Qiao lifted the gauze curtain and walked in. He heard that Zhou Biyao was called to the room by her mother and knew it must be about the workshop issue, so he hurried over.

Upon entering, he saw the expressions of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, combined with the snippets he overheard earlier, Wong Qiao knew that his mother had probably already uncovered the truth.

Wong Qiao stepped forward, sat on the edge of the kang, and comforted Lady Zhao, saying, "Mother, don’t worry. Although I am an official craftsman, I am merely employed by others and obey orders in the workshop; I am not involved in anything else. Now, the Ministry of Justice is not allowing me to leave at will, but it’s just for convenience in summoning me for questioning during the investigation, not because I’ve truly been convicted."

"Wha-what?" Lady Zhao’s heart was once again in turmoil, "They, they really won’t let you move freely? Is there anyone watching outside? Are they really treating our family like criminals being monitored?"

Wong Qiao was taken aback and looked at Zhou Biyao. So Biyao hadn’t mentioned these things to her mother?

Zhou Biyao looked helpless, she hadn’t said these things, the frightened expression on Lady Zhao’s face had nothing to do with her, it was just a lack of mutual understanding between her third brother and Lady Zhao.

"How could it be?" Wong Qiao quickly comforted, "It’s not about monitoring criminals, it’s just that the Yamen is prepared so they can easily find someone to ask questions if needed. It’s really no big deal."

Wong Qiao naturally knew he was fine, but he couldn’t tell his mother his actual status. Moreover, to prevent His Highness Prince Yu from others knowing about the plot against his brothers, this identity of his would probably be difficult to reveal in the future.

Wong Qiao spoke with a tone of certainty and honesty, which slightly eased Lady Zhao’s mood.

......

The very next morning after Wong Qiao comforted Lady Zhao, two officers from the Ministry of Justice came to take Wong Qiao away, saying it was for questioning at the Yamen.

After Wong Qiao left with the officers, those who had been tentatively inquiring by Lady Zhao’s side these days all came to probe for news, asking how Master Wong had been taken away by the authorities.

These people did know something, but how deep Wong Qiao was involved, nobody knew. Moreover, this was a place where the household staff of Prince Fu’s Mansion resided, so even if Wong Qiao was truly found guilty by the authorities, as long as Prince Fu’s Mansion still cared for the Wong Residence, these servants wouldn’t dare show disdain towards Wong Qiao and Lady Zhao.

They only wanted to probe Lady Zhao to see if Wong Qiao had been abandoned by the prince’s mansion. One could say that the number of people who once envied Wong Qiao’s family for having the chief manager of the prince’s mansion’s favor were now eager to watch a joke unfold.

The well-known news was that the prince, due to his inability to restrain his subordinates, caused several capable managers to commit major crimes under the name of Prince Fu’s Mansion, directly implicating His Highness Prince Fu, who now had to stay in the mansion under the guise of convalescing.

Of course, this convalescing wasn’t truly for health recovery but probably to calm down.

Who knows if Wong Qiao was simply working for His Highness, got implicated, or was helping the workshop’s manager with illegal activities?

Lady Zhao hadn’t been living here long, and she had moved from the alley behind the Duke’s Mansion. Duke An’s Mansion was also a prestigious family, and the servants of the Duke’s Mansion held the coming and going members of the Qi family in high regard, naturally including Lady Zhao and her son.

So, after Lady Zhao came here, she didn’t act with the consciousness of a servant. Though she was friendly with neighbors, her words and manner always carried a slight sense of superiority.

When Wong Qiao was being noticed by the prince’s mansion, of course, no one found Lady Zhao’s attitude problematic. But in such delicate times, although no one blatantly showed high or low, a few people started treating Lady Zhao differently.

Even familiar faces who came probing for news spoke less cautiously, and their scrutiny of Wong’s family became more blatant.

People used to say there was a Golden Phoenix living in this courtyard, the daughter of a high-ranking court official; many were curious about this courtyard, and now they finally had the chance to openly examine it. Some even started rifling through the arrangements in Lady Zhao’s room.

In just a few days, Lady Zhao felt she had once again experienced life’s ups and downs, more intensely than in her youth.

Back then, though her family had better days too, it was merely the good life brought by a workshop head in the construction industry, incomparable to the official craftsman principal of Prince Fu’s great workshop, and even less so to a frequent guest of Duke An.

This was just her son Ah Qiao being called in for questioning. If he were truly detained and imprisoned, who knows what the people’s attitude around here would be.

That night Wong Qiao returned very late. Liang Ming, who accompanied Zhou Biyao, had gone with Wong Qiao to the Ministry of Justice, sending news back twice, saying that the person was still at the Ministry of Justice and that they had asked someone to find out more, confirming that he hadn’t been tortured.

As for the rest, they didn’t know.

In the afternoon, Zhou Biyao sent food to Wong Qiao via Liang Ming’s household, but Lady Zhao scolded them, saying this act was unlucky, like sending prison food.

Wong Qiao returned looking tired and didn’t give much detail to Lady Zhao’s questions. He just said he was tired, wanted to rest, and had to go to the Yamen for questioning again tomorrow, then went to his room to rest.

Lady Zhao, who had relaxed a bit when Wong Qiao returned, felt her heart jump to her throat upon hearing that he still had to attend questioning the next day.

She called Liang Ming and relentlessly asked what exactly was happening, how the investigation was going, and why he had to go back the next day.

Listening to all these questions, Liang Ming was helpless, saying, "Madam, the Ministry of Justice has strict access control; when Master was called in for questioning, we couldn’t go in with him. According to the information we gathered, Master should be fine."

"If he’s fine, why do they keep calling Ah Qiao for questioning? What did they do to Ah Qiao for him to look so exhausted?"

"This, we don’t know. Master didn’t say when he came out," Liang Ming didn’t elaborate.

There were no injuries on Wong Qiao, but Liang Ming, having been with Zhou Bingyi for many years, knew the court had its methods: there are ways to interrogate with torture and ways without. The way Wong Qiao was questioned today likely involved the latter. This method involves questions in a tiring, repetitive cycle from several people, designed to wear the person out mentally, so they inadvertently reveal the truth or say what the interrogators want to hear.

However, Liang Ming wasn’t worried as he saw that his Second Miss showed no concern, so he didn’t explain more. In-law Madam was too anxious, forgetting what kind of person her old master was. As long as Master himself was fine, there wouldn’t be any issues.

Seeing no result from her questioning, Lady Zhao, in her urgency, dismissed Liang Ming and stood up, intending to head outside.

Zhou Biyao quickly stepped forward to block her, asking, "Mother, what are you intending to do?"

"I’m going to ask Ah Qiao what’s going on? I know what kind of person Ah Qiao is, he would never do anything wrong, let alone anything illegal," said Lady Zhao while she tried to push past Zhou Biyao, still determined to go out and find Wong Qiao for answers.

Zhou Biyao, unmoved, continued to persuade, "Mother, the court won’t listen to what we say in an investigation. Third Brother is tired and must face questioning at the Yamen tomorrow; he needs to rest."