Chapter 252 When the Plan Was implemented, Rumors Started to Wag Around
“Let’s go!” Qin Wanru said, when she saw the Qi Brothers leaving.
She curved her mouth slightly and was satisfied that she had succeeded in getting Qi Tianyu’s attention. In view of Qi Rongzhi’s character, Qi Tianyu might not bear her words in mind, but since he read father’s file, he became interested in it.
When Qi Tianyu was thinking, he stopped and flicked his sleeve. It was one of his habits, or maybe he just did it subconsciously, but Qin Wanru saw it clearly.
If he was not interested in it, he would not have stopped to think, as soon as he walked out of Qin Huaiyong’s court!
The reason why she deliberately put the file on her father’s desk, was that she wanted to let Qi Tianyu notice it, and help Qi Rongzhi to be the accepted daughter of Madam of Duke Xing.
It was extremely difficult for Qi Rongzhi to achieve the position because of her temper. However, if Qi Tianyu gave her a hand, things would be different. Qin Wanru only had some guesses about the things that happened. In her previous life, she used to stay in the backyard. Even though she was invited to the royal palace, she still stayed in her room and seldom went outside and thus, she did not know much about the many things that happened next.
Moreover, she was unable to recall some of the memories, after she had been reborn.
If her guess was right, then Qi Tianyu must have a backer, for Qi Tianyu alone, had no ability to get involved in this mess, and to help Qi Rongzhi.
As expected, the rumors increased rapidly during the following days, which were not only about Madam Di and Qin Yuru, but also about Qin Wanru.
Some rumors even stated that Qin Wanru was not Qin Huaiyong’s natural daughter, but a vice general’s posthumous child. Some people even said that they could prove this because after the vice general’s death, his wife came to look for a girl, and that was Qin Wanru.
At the very beginning, everyone treated this as a joke, because they a.s.sumed that it was Ningyuan Army General’s malicious official wife and his first daughter who were spreading this rumor. However, the fake story almost became a true one in a few days! It was much more popular than the rumor which Madam Di was spreading before.
Someone even overstated that he once saw this madam, who was the dead vice general’s widow, coming to the capital city, because this madam had gone to Jiangzhou and found out the Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, while Qin’s Mansion was empty. When she found out that Ningyuan Army General moved to the capital city, this madam also followed him here.
The story came from some traveling merchants, and it sounded almost true.
Many people still remembered the rebellion, which happened several years ago. Many people died in that event. Moreover, the rebel army even gained more popularity for some time, which involved many cities and caused many deaths, among them were many officials like vice generals. Some of them were sent to the battlefront, while some went to the battle field without any training at all. As a result, there were only their names left, when they died.
It was impossible to find out the truth!
During that time, Qin Huaiyong had been a vice general, but he was quite outstanding in the end. On the one hand, it was because of his outstanding ability. On the other hand, it was because only Qin Huaiyong, a relatively high-ranking vice general, survived while all the other generals and vice generals died in that rebellion war.
At first, Qin Wanru’s background was not clear, and many people did not believe the rumor. However, with this rebellion war, and some people’s fake testimonies, more and more people began to believe this, and there were more and more versions about Qin Wanru’s background.
Someone said that Qin Wanru was an orphan. Her dead “father” was an ordinary soldier and her dead “mother” was a washerwoman. Qin Huaiyong fostered her because he felt sorry for her.
Others said that Qin Wanru’s father was a famous general and her “father” let Qin Huaiyong take good care of her before he died. Then this “father” went to the battlefront and never came back, while her “mother” disappeared during the war.
Some even said that Qin Wanru was a lady from an aristocratic family in the capital city, and this family was looking for her, but they were not sure whether she was the one that they wanted. Therefore, they wanted recognize her and bring her home…
There were countless versions of the story, and people were not sure which the true one was. However, they were now sure that Qin Wanru was not the natural daughter of Ningyuan Army General. Otherwise, there would not have been so many rumors about her background.
An insider even revealed that Second Lady Ning’s natural mother was not from Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. There were only two madams from Ningyuan Army General. One was Madam Di, who had always wanted to plot against Second Lady Qin. Well, all parents, good or bad, rarely maltreated their own child. Thus, she definitely was not Qin Wanru’s natural mother.
About the other madam, well, why Qin Huaiyong married her was because he wanted to find a person to take care of Second Lady Qin. Therefore, she also was not Qin Wanru’s natural mother.
A servant who once worked at Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion in Jiangzhou, and was in the capital city, proved again and again that every madam of Qin Huaiyong was alive and therefore it was impossible that Lady Qin’s mother was one of madams of Qin Huaiyong. She also said directly that when Second Lady Qin came to Qin’s Mansion, she had been a girl, not a baby, which meant that she did not grow up in Qin’s Mansion…
This servant’s words sounded almost true. It was said that some people even investigated the servant and found out she really did once work at Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion in Jiangzhou. However, they did not know the reason why she came to the capital city and became relevant to this topic.
Although others believed her, Qin Wanru did not. How could a servant come to the capital city from a thousand miles away, and catch up during this period? Once she heard about this news, she instantly knew that it was Qi Tianyu who had asked this servant to come over.
Of course, some of rumors were spread by Qin Wanru herself, in order to achieve this desired result — the truth mingled with falsehood, which made people could not figure out!
Then people in Duke Xing’s Mansion heard about these rumors and Madam of Duke Xing also knew. At the very beginning, Madam of Duke Xing did not care about this. However, since more and more rumors came out, and they sounded more and more unreliable, when Madam of Duke Xing had finally figured out in her room, she became extremely angry and even kicked over her desk. Things changed so fast that she could not handle it!
“Madam, please calm down.” Nanny Sheng quickly asked other servants to leave and then spoke to her madam in a low voice. She had never seen Madam of Duke Xing so angry and out of control before. Her madam had always shown her best behavior, whenever she was with other madams or not. She had projected an image that Madam of Duke Xing was a decent woman, to the general public.
She never acted in a crude and impatient way
“Where do these rumors come from?” Madam of Duke Xing sneered and asked.
“I have no idea. However, it seems that everyone is talking about this Second Lady Qin overnight. It should be normal to talk about this Second Lady Qin, not only because they have started to focus on Qin’s Mansion, but also because Madam Di, the official Madam of Ningyuan Army General, has always wanted to plot against Second Lady Qin. By the way, there is the testimony from Princess of Duke Yangqu.”
Nanny Xing answered carefully.
Madam of Duke Xing lowered her head and kept silent. Later, she suddenly raised her head and said, “Is there any evidence which could prove that it is the people in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, who spread these rumors?”
“It, it is hard to prove that. Madam, all rumors are not good to Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. If Second Lady Qin were not Ningyuan Army General’s natural daughter, then her position would not be equal to that of his natural daughter’s. Since Ningyuan Army General has kept this secret for many years, he must have wanted to treat her as his natural daughter, and would not reveal this truth himself!”
Nanny Sheng gave a confusing answer.
“Does that b*tch Madam Di want to ruin my plan again?” Getting overwhelmingly mad, Madam of Duke Xing said coldly.
“It should not be her. She is being punished by the general, and she is not allowed to leave her court and thus, she is unable to mess up your plan!” answered Nanny Sheng.
“However, this thing only benefits her! She may want to kick Qin Wanru out of Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, and find a possible excuse for her behavior before! Stupid woman!” Madam of Duke Xing scolded angrily. Although she knew it was impossible for Madam Di to do this, she was quite angry right now, and tried to find a scapegoat to vent her anger on. So she chose Madam Di.
“Did you find those people?”
“I have asked someone to watch Ningyuan Army General, and they told me that the supervisor of Qin’s Mansion brought some people back furtively, and they are still in the mansion now!”
Nanny Sheng stammered.
Although they did not take Madam Di’s letter, according to Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion’s action, they found out about those people. However, now they were in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion. Thus, however powerful Madam of Duke Xing was, she could not get involved in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion’s affairs.
“Stupid! What did you do! I have told you that we need these people to blacken Madam Shui’s reputation, when the right moment comes! However, just look around! We just let them go! In view of Qin Huaiyong’s ability, these people would not tell the public about Madam Shui’s guilt! No wonder they were thrown into prison in Qin’s Mansion! Losers!”
Madam of Duke Xing sneered.
“Madam Di is stupid or she would not…” Nanny Sheng meant something.
She did not finish, but Madam of Duke Xing understood. A cold smile was on her face and she did not say anything. Thinking for a while, she asked again, “Fine, but where do the most of the rumors come from?”
“Which one?” Nanny Sheng told all rumors to Madam of Duke Xing, but she did not realize and asked subconsciously, because the topic changed too fast.
After she said it out, she found it inappropriate. She quickly lowered her head and hurried to answer, “I, I have no idea. However, I sent someone to investigate but just like other rumors, we don’t know where they come from. By the way I could prove that it has nothing to do with Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion and it is impossible for people in Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion to spread these rumors!”
Madam of Duke Xing became silent when she heard this. She looked much grimmer and when she tried to say something, a servant outside suddenly said loudly, “Nice to see you, Duke Xing!”
“Nice to see you, Duke Xing!” “Nice to see you, Duke Xing!” “Nice to see you, Duke Xing!”
Greetings from the servants could be heard. Madam of Duke Xing looked at Nanny Sheng. She quickly understood, walked to the semi-closed door and opened it. She also lifted the curtain.
When she lifted it, the stout Duke Xing came in, and looked serious.
“Nice to see you, Duke Xing!” When he came in, Nanny Sheng quickly bowed to him. However, Duke Xing ignored her, strode in the room and sat down beside Madam of Duke Xing. His serious look changed into a grim expression, which was totally different from the image which he usually showed to others.
Others only knew that Duke Xing was a patient and well-behaved, chubby man. He was always kind to others. Everyone thought that his good temper and Madam of Duke Xing’s courtesy were well matched among the aristocratic families, which made them a couple with a very good reputation.
However, both this couple with a good reputation, looked very grim, right now.
Duke Xing waved his hand to ask Nanny Sheng to leave. She then stepped backwards quietly, and closed the door carefully. Then she stood guard outside the door.
A silence hung in the room, making Madam of Duke Xing feel on the edge of her seat. She moved a little bit, and tried to say something, and then found that Duke Xing had turned to look at her coldly and said, “Stop that thing!”