jdhmnovel Chapter 167 Disaster
Chapter 167 Disaster
It was normal for Princess Jinde not to want to see the Second Wife, but she left Shen Tang behind, and the people who went out looked at each other in confusion. The old lady was even more nervous, and only felt relieved when she saw that Shen Tang was not panicked or afraid.
After everyone left, the old lady looked at Princess Jinde and said, "Princess, calm down. If our Pingyuan Marquis Mansion knew that Ran'er was your biological daughter, we would have sent her back long ago..."
The old lady responded with a cold laugh from Princess Jinde. That laugh made her scalp tingle. Princess Jinde asked, "Madam Shen, do you know what the second wife of the mansion did yesterday after she found out that Ran'er is my daughter?"
Seeing a layer of frost covering Princess Jinde's face, the old lady's heart began to beat wildly. "No, I don't know...Please tell me clearly, Princess."
Princess Jinde tried her best to suppress the anger that was welling up in her head. "Yesterday, the Second Madam of the mansion took Ran'er to the Wang family, gave her an aphrodisiac, and locked her in a room with Madam Wang's nephew!"
Old lady, “……!!!”
This evil!
The old lady turned pale.
She knelt down directly, "Princess Jinde, calm down."
Princess Jinde quickly helped the old lady up and said, "Thankfully, Second Miss Shen was on guard and sent someone from Prince Jingyang to take Ran'er out of the Wang residence in time and send him to the pharmacy to see a doctor. Coincidentally, the eldest son-in-law returned home, and the secret guards told him what had happened. The doctor couldn't help Ran'er with the effects of the drug, so the eldest son-in-law temporarily picked a husband for Ran'er on the street, and thus avoided an irreparable mistake..."
But after something like this happened, even if the daughter was found, she would not be able to stay with her for more than a few days and would have to get married.
How could Princess Jinde not be angry? She wanted to keep her daughter by her side for a year or two to make up for what she owed her. The only consolation was that the eldest young master of the Huaihua General's Mansion was not bad in character, talent or family background, otherwise she would never let it go.
She only recognized the kindness of Marquis Pingyuan's Mansion to Old Lady Shen and Shen Tang.
Princess Jinde said, "If my son-in-law hadn't been chosen by the eldest son-in-law, I would never have let it go. The second wife in the mansion raised Ran'er for many years, and I am grateful to her. But what she did chilled my heart, and even more so to Ran'er!"
"The mother-daughter relationship between her and Ran'er was exhausted at the Wang family yesterday. I don't want her to have anything to do with Ran'er in the future!"
The old lady felt a chill down her spine as she hurriedly said, "Since the princess hasn't spoken about these things, I've been kept in the dark. I will definitely give her an explanation for what she did."
Princess Jinde didn't say anything. She glanced at her personal nanny. The nanny went out, and soon a servant came in carrying two large boxes.
To put things one way or another, Princess Jinde wanted to skin the Second Madam alive for what she had done, but she was equally grateful to the Old Madam for saving her life, and these two boxes were a thank-you gift to the Old Madam.
There was also another box, which was a thank you to Shen Tang. If it weren't for Shen Tang, Shen Ran's life would have been ruined again.
After expressing her gratitude, Princess Jinde left. It was the Fourth Madam who welcomed her into the mansion and it was also the Fourth Madam who saw her off.
As soon as Princess Jinde left, the old lady sent everyone out of the room except Mother Wang. Then she looked at Shen Tang and asked, "Did you know that Ran'er is Princess Jinde's daughter?"
Shen Tang looked at the old lady, "If I say that my eldest sister is the daughter of my second uncle and second aunt, will you believe it, Grandmother?"
The old lady's face froze.
At this point, even without Shen Tang saying anything, the old lady had already had this suspicion.
The second wife said that her pregnancy was fake, but she had pretended it for eight months without being exposed. She didn't believe it.
The old lady didn't say anything, or she didn't know what to say. The second wife deserved it, but if she dragged the radish into the mud, Shen Sui and the second master would already have a rift. She had to deal with both sides, so how could she, as a mother, face the fratricide between the brothers?
The old lady's eyes were dim. Shen Tang didn't have any solid evidence, so she didn't say anything more. She said, "Second Aunt loves the eldest sister the most, far more than the third sister. I have always doubted the third sister's origins and felt that she was not the daughter of our Pingyuan Marquis Mansion.
That day, after the Queen's birthday banquet, everyone left the palace, but Princess Jinde hurried back. Her maid bumped into Ginkgo, causing her to sprain her ankle and hit her forehead. I thought it was strange that Princess Jinde was looking for Second Aunt again, so I asked Prince Jingyang to keep an eye on her for me..."
"I had dinner with my grandmother that day because I wanted to know what Princess Jinde wanted to do with Second Aunt. Second Aunt lied, so I was even more curious. Prince Jingyang found out that the jade pendant was a burial item given by the eldest son-in-law to his daughter. I remembered what my grandmother said about how the midwife and doctor said that when my third sister was born, she wouldn't survive. I boldly speculated that she might be Princess Jinde's daughter who was thought to have died at birth..."
"Yesterday, Second Aunt brought Third Sister to the Wang family. I thought it was strange. Second Aunt should have stayed at the mansion to prepare the dowry for the eldest sister. So I asked the secret guards sent by Prince Jingyang to protect me to go to the Wang family to check. Fortunately, the secret guards went in time, otherwise our Pingyuan Marquis Mansion would really have no way to explain to Princess Jinde."
The old lady was still in shock. She didn't even dare to think about how Princess Jinde would retaliate against the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion if Shen Ran was really ruined by the second wife.
The death of the Second Wife was not a pity, but the other people in the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion didn’t even know what happened, how innocent they were.
The old lady felt very uncomfortable in her heart. She didn't know how much Shen Tang had done behind the scenes to protect the Marquis' Mansion. It was really shameful that such a big Marquis' Mansion had to be guarded by a girl like her.
The old lady said to Shen Tang, "The emperor hasn't issued an edict yet to assign your elder sister any position. If the rumor spreads that she might be the daughter of the second wife, she won't be able to become the principal wife. There is no evidence to prove that your elder sister is the daughter of your second uncle and aunt. Grandmother hopes that you..."
Shen Tang thought about the overall situation that Xie Guimo mentioned. The eldest prince's party was actively trying to get Shen Ying to the position of the second prince's consort. She couldn't hold the eldest prince and Xie Guimo back.
Sending Shen Xi back to the second house won’t hurt in these few days.
Shen Tang said, "I know everything Grandma said. I just hope that when the evidence is presented to Grandma in the future, Grandma and Father can give Mother a satisfactory explanation."
The old lady said, "As long as it can be proved that she did it, I will not tolerate it."
Shen Tang did not take the old lady's assurance seriously. If there was solid evidence before her that the old lady was protecting the second wife, she would definitely send the evidence to the Ministry of Justice and let the court punish the second wife and the second master according to the law.
The old lady, out of selfishness, or perhaps she thought it was for the good of the Marquisate, and Shen Tang, for the sake of the overall situation, temporarily suppressed the matter.
But what was suppressed was only Shen Xi's life experience. The second wife harmed Shen Ran and angered Princess Jinde. The old lady also had to give an explanation to Princess Jinde.
The second wife's cruelty made the old lady shudder. She ordered the second wife to be beaten with thirty sticks and thrown into the Buddhist temple for reflection.
After dealing with the second wife and the second master, the mansion was surrounded by Princess Jinde, so Shen Sui and the second master returned home.
The old lady asked the second master if he knew about what the second wife had done. The second master flatly denied it. The old lady was extremely disappointed. "The heart of the pillow is as vicious as a snake and scorpion. You know nothing about it, and you still have the nerve to deny it?"
"Somebody come!"
"Drag him away and give him thirty lashes of the cane, and send him to the ancestral hall to reflect on his actions!"