Chapter 946 Duke Yong’s Mansion’s Punitive Expedition Against Qin’s Mansion
The messenger from Qin’s Mansion arrived soon. They were the servants of Old Madam Qin. When they saw Shao Wanru, they said in a panic, “Something bad happened to Madam Di, Your Highness! Old Madam wanted to invite you to our mansion!”
“I can go now!” Shao Wanru nodded and went out with Yujie.
She had a good relations.h.i.+p with Old Madam Qin. Shao Wanru had promised Old Madam Qin that she would be always available if Old Madam Qin needed her help.
When Shao Wanru arrived at General’s Mansion, Shui Ruolan came out to welcome her with a pale face. “Who would expect such an accident!” In fact, Shui Ruolan was such a kind person that she had never complained about Madam Di’s losing her temper and smas.h.i.+ng things. As long as Madam Di didn’t make trouble in General’s Mansion, Shui Ruolan was relieved.
“Anyway, Madam Di is Qin Yuru’s mother. It won’t be any problem as long as Madam Di doesn’t cause trouble!” Shui Ruolan had thought.
“Is the flame extinguished, Aunt Shui?” Shao Wanru looked in the direction of Yulan Pavilion and asked.
“Yes, it is! But I am afraid that Madam Di... is gone!” Shui Ruolan frowned tightly and answered. Without a powerful background, Shui Ruolan was always scared of Duke Yong’s Mansion. She was afraid that they would make a big deal out of Madam Di.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Shui. Everything will be fine!” Shao Wanru comforted her, and then they went to Old Madam Qin’s courtyard together.
Old Madam Qin was already waiting for them in the main room. When she saw Shao Wanru, she hurriedly stood up and bowed to her.
Shao Wanru hurriedly took a step forward and held her up. “Don’t stand on ceremony with me, Grandma!”
Shao Wanru helped Old Madam Qin sit down.
Old Madam Qin reached out to hold Shao Wanru’s hand and sighed. Although she didn’t like Madam Di, she never expected to see that Madam Di was burned to death.
After a long while, Old Madam Qin said, “Yuru has been here!”
“You can rest a.s.sured, Grandma! Duke Yong’s Mansion won’t be too aggressive against you!” said Shao Wanru softly. She knew what Old Madam Qin was worried about and why she was invited to General’s Mansion. “Grandma wants me to back them up!”
It might be really hard to end in peace if Duke Yong’s Mansion made a big deal out of Madam Di’s death.
“Duke Yong’s Mansion always showed hostile att.i.tudes when there was a trivial dispute between us in the past. How can they be kind when Madam Di has been dead now?” Old Madam Qin sighed again, “When Duke Yong’s Mansion’s people come, you don’t have to say anything but watch. As long as you are here, they won’t be too far! As for their conditions, they don’t matter! We can pay!”
Old Madam Qin just wanted to settle peacefully without messing with people from Duke Yong’s Mansion!
After all, the accident was nothing glorious. The more people knew about it, the more embarra.s.sed she would feel!
It deeply touched Shao Wanru that Old Madam Qin even considered her feelings in such a situation. So she made up her mind to give Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion a hand to deal with the accident, for the sake of Old Madam Qin’s love and care she received in her childhood. Moreover, Shao Wanru was worried that Shui Ruolan and Old Madam Qin couldn’t handle it.
“Grandma, don’t worry! Everything will be fine! Everyone said that Madam Di burned herself because she couldn’t let it go after hearing Qin Yuru’s complaint about her miserable suffering in Duke Yong’s Mansion!” said Shao Wanru.
“Chu Liuchen knows how the people interpret the story, but Old Madam Qin might not!” Shao Wanru thought.
Sure enough, not only Old Madam Qin but also Shui Ruolan was stunned by the rumor, according to which, Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion was innocent while Duke Yong’s Mansion took all the responsibilities. “Yes! it is all Duke Yong’s Mansion’s fault, isn’t it?”
“Who... who spread it?” Shui Ruolan immediately asked with her eyes wide open. She was not stupid. “If someone hadn’t made it up, how could there have been such an explanation?”
“I don’t know either. Anyway, lots of people hold such an opinion and it is spread rapidly!” said Shao Wanru casually. Then she went straight to the point. “Grandma, does it have anything to do with Qin Yuru?”
“The... the fire broke out after Yuru left! Maybe... it was just an accident!” Old Madam Qin replied with difficulty. It was hard for her to believe that her granddaughter was a murderer! “How vicious a person would be if she killed her mother!”
“Grandma, Qin Yuru did it, didn’t she?” Compared with Old Madam Qin, Shao Wanru was very firm with it. She said bluntly, “Grandma, Aunt Shui, I am sure that you know about Madam Di well. She is not the kind of person who will commit suicide. As for Qin Yuru, she has been wanting to kill her mother since three years ago! What else did she not dare to do?”
“But... that’s her biological mother!” Shui Ruolan gasped. She also didn’t want to believe that Qin Yuru was the murderer.
“If Aunt Shui and Grandma don’t believe it, General will accept the truth!” said Shao Wanru calmly.
Qin Huaiyong must be in a rage if he knew that Qin Yuru was not his biological daughter. He raised Qin Yuru for so many years, but it turned out to be worthless. He essentially raised for his wife’s lover a kid who even shamed the whole General’s Mansion. No man could bear it!
Moreover, Qin Huaiyong was a general.
“Old Madam, people from Duke Yong’s Mansion have arrived!” An old maid rushed in with a panicked face. They didn’t come with kindness!
A large group of people came with aggressive faces.
“Mother, I’ll go and take a look. Don’t go out!” Shui Ruolan stood up and said, though she was a little fl.u.s.tered.
“Aunt Shui, I’ll go with you!” Shao Wanru looked very calm.
“No, I have to go!” Old Madam Qin didn’t rest a.s.sured. She took Shao Wanru’s hand and was about to stand up. “Since it has been a big deal now, I have to go to settle it!”
“General Qin will handle it!” said Shao Wanru.
“It is not appropriate for a man to deal with this kind of thing!” Old Madam Qin shook her head, believing that her son couldn’t handle it while women in charge of the inner court were more suitable to deal with Madam Di’s problem. He shouldn’t intervene unless the women failed. After all, Madam Di was his legal wife.
Since Shui Ruolan had no background, Old Madam Qin was afraid that people from Duke Yong’s Mansion would target Shui Ruolan.
“Shui Ruolan is too gentle to deal with Countess Yong,” Old Madam Qin thought.
Since Old Madam Qin insisted, Shao Wanru quit persuading her. Then, three of them went out to see the people from Duke Yong’s Mansion. On the other hand, Qin Huaiyong wouldn’t stand it anymore after hearing that people from Duke Yong’s Mansion had come.
He happened to have nowhere to vent his anger. How could he bear to stay calm when Duke Yong’s Mansion’s people came?
The people from the two families met at the second gate in General’s Mansion.
Countess Yong was the head of the group of Duke Yong’s Mansion, accompanied by Qin Yuru and Duke Yong. They looked very hostile!
Duke Yong did not go to find Qin Huaiyong but followed his wife to the inner court to get even with Old Madam Qin and Shui Ruolan.
On catching sight of Old Madam Qin and Shui Ruolan, Countess Yong pointed at Shui Ruolan and ordered the old maids behind her. “Go and beat that woman to death! As a secondary legal wife, she even dared to frame my sister-in-law and forced her to kill herself. What a vicious woman! Today, we are here to revenge ourselves on my sister-in-law’s murderer. Beat her hard! I will be responsible for the result!”
Several old maids immediately raised their sticks and rushed to Shui Ruolan on hearing Countess Yong’s order and promise.
Qin Yuru took a step back calmly and looked at Shui Ruolan with a sneer. Though she had known that she was not Qin Huaiyong’s daughter, she still hated Shui Ruolan. “It will be best if Countess Yong can beat her to death. If Shao Ruolan dies, no one can oppress me from now on!
“If Countess Yong finally causes big trouble, will she get retribution and be beaten to death too? I don’t care! Anyway, I don’t like either side!”
Of course, Qin Yuru hated Shao Wanru most. Shao Wanru looked so delicate and beautiful, with her skin as white as snow, and her complexion and appearance were much better than Qin Yuru’s. All of these indicated that Shao Wanru lived a happy life, made Qin Yuru lose her confidence in front of Shao Wanru, and reminded Qin Yuru every minute that there was a huge difference between them two.
“I was the most beautiful woman at that time! And Shao Wanru was just a toy I could play with as I wanted!
“Fortunately, I have been confirmed to be also one of the royal family members now. What’s more, I am much closer to the Imperial Clan than Shao Wanru, who is just the granddaughter of Great Elder Princess! In the future, I will have more opportunities to hook up with one of the princes, go higher and then trample on Shao Wanru...” Thinking of this, Qin Yuru felt her heart burning with excitement.
“It will be best if Shao Wanru also gets involved later. At least, make her disfigured if they don’t make her dead or disabled!”
Qin Yuru looked around and saw a branch on the ground, and then an idea entered her mind. “I am going to destroy Shao Wanru’s face with that branch when the chaos breaks out later. Anyway, no one will notice who destroys her face when so many people are fighting!” Only when Shao Wanru was disfigured could Qin Yuru feel happy.
Qin Yuru always felt that everything Shao Wanru had should have belonged to her. “I should have owned everything she has!”
Qin Yuru was taking notice of Shao Wanru, and so was the latter. Shao Wanru gave a glance at Qin Yuru and saw the evilness in Qin Yuru’s eyes. She sneered in her heart, “Does Qin Yuru really think that she has got a good father and become a swan from an ugly duckling?”
“Protect Princess Chen!” Yujie shouted as soon as she realized that things were about to be out of control. The two guards of Shao Wanru unsheathed their swords and pointed them at the old maids rus.h.i.+ng over.
There seemed to be blood dripping off the blades reflecting cold light. No matter how fierce those inferior old maids were, they did not dare to rush to the swords. All of them stopped and stood still on the spot.
Some of them with sharp ears heard the word “princess” and then their eyes couldn’t help falling on Shao Wanru!
“Is that... Princess Chen?”
“Princess Chen, this is the family business between our mansion and General’s Mansion, so it has nothing to do with you. Please ask the guards of Prince Chen’s Mansion to get out of the way. Moreover, it doesn’t benefit Prince Chen if you get involved in the trouble. After all, it is just a family matter. As a prince, Prince Chen should not intervene in any family business of an official, should he?” said Countess Yong coldly.
After all, Countess Yong came here to make trouble and get benefits. “If I can force Qin Huaiyong to put a good word for Duke Yong’s Mansion, Di Yan might get the position of Heir of Duke Yong back!”
At first, Countess Yong planned to do so with an excuse. But now, she got one directly. On hearing the news about Madam Di’s death, she was ecstatic and immediately came to ask for benefits with Qin Yuru, who had just returned to Duke Yong’s Mansion at that time.
Countess Yong didn’t live a good life either...