When the old Duke returned home, he was hurriedly called away by Madam Qi.
When Madam Qi saw the old Duke, she stood up suddenly, handed the letter in her hand forward, and said with tears in her eyes: "Master, please take a look at this letter... This is from the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess... The Crown Princess is really a filial person. She still cares about her mother and us."
"A letter from the Crown Princess?" The old Duke frowned and took the letter.
"It's from the Crown Princess. She has investigated the previous incident and found out that it has nothing to do with her mother. It's from that person from Northern Frontier who wanted to harm Princess Ying. I don't know how he got to her mother's side and asked me how I was doing!"
Mrs. Qi said.
This was a bit far-fetched, and the old Duke didn't understand it for a moment. He didn't ask any more questions, but picked up the envelope in his hand, opened it, and began to read it at a glance.
After finishing reading, he sat down on a chair beside him and slapped the letter in his hand on the table, "Do you believe it?"
"Why don't you believe me? The Crown Princess has always been a good child. I only said one thing to her about what happened back then, and I didn't say it explicitly. But she has always kept it in mind, fearing that something bad might happen to me again. She has been secretly investigating the people around her mother, but I didn't expect that I was still a step too late. The person from Northern Frontier actually died."
Madam Qi was so touched. "She is now the Crown Princess, but she still cares about this little thing. This child is really a good and filial child. I found it strange at the time. Although Xie Jiao... she would not kill me. There must be some misunderstanding."
What she said was that when she was sick, there was something wrong with the things that Qi Xiejiao sent to the mansion. It was because of this incident that the Qi and Xie mansions basically stopped communicating with each other.
Not only did the old Duke break off his relationship with Madam Liu, but the Madam Dowager did the same.
But now, after reading the letter written by Liu Jingyu, he realized that it was all a misunderstanding, caused by the people around Qi Xiejiao. He was angry and anxious for a moment, and sad for Liu Jingyu, so he sat there restlessly and went to talk to the old Duke.
If this incident had happened a few months ago, Madam Liu would have already been taken to the Duke of Qi's Mansion.
Nowadays, all the servants in the mansion are managed by the wife of the Duke of Qi. That is why so many people are advising the Madam Dowager not to act rashly.
"What are you going to do?" The old Duke looked at Madam Qi with a serious look.
"Since it's not Xie Jiao, this is just a misunderstanding. Xie Jiao couldn't really want to harm me. I'm her mother. I... I raised her since she was a child, obeyed her in every way, and treated her so wholeheartedly. How could she possibly harm me!" Madam Qi said anxiously, her eyes reddened again, and her voice choked with sobs. "She's not having an easy life right now. On the one hand, it's because of Liu Borui's matter, and on the other hand, it's because of self-blame. She goes to the Buddhist temple every day to pray for our well-being, and she also wants to atone for her sins to... that child."
"Atonement?" the old Duke murmured.
"Yes, atonement. The Crown Princess also said that Xie Jiao was young and hot-tempered at the time, and she just wanted to prove herself, not because of... because of that child. Now... now..."
Mrs. Qi was so excited that she was unable to speak for a moment.
"Bang!" The old Duke slammed his hand on the table, staring fiercely at Madam Qi, pointing his finger, and suddenly found that his voice was a little hoarse, "You... you still believe what they said... still believe that they are innocent? If they really stick a sword into your heart, will you still think they are right?"
Madam Qi was startled by him and said hurriedly, "Master... You didn't understand what I said. I said it was a misunderstanding at the beginning. Besides, this misunderstanding was only related to Xie Jiao. The Crown Princess really didn't know anything. She is still a child."
"A child?" The old Duke curled his lips in mockery. "If I agree, will you take Qi Xiejiao over, find trouble with Liu Borui for support, and work hard for her wholeheartedly?"
"This... Of course, since she didn't do anything to offend me... It wasn't her fault back then. There might have been some quarrels, but she didn't mean it. And then the child... The child was also harmed by Yu, and it had nothing to do with her. It wasn't just her fault back then, it was also yours. Didn't you ask for the imperial decree?"
The lady stammered.
The old Duke's eyes turned red, and he glared at the Madam fiercely, with veins popping out on his forehead: "It's all other people's fault, she is right, if you think so... then go and accompany her!"
"Master...you...why do you say that?" The lady said tremblingly, almost unable to believe her ears.
The old Duke tried hard to calm down the anger in his chest, "I was wrong about what happened. I shouldn't have changed the child and asked for an imperial decree. But I also told you that this is the daughter of the Yue family, the daughter of my good friend, who is married in the capital. I asked you to pay more attention to her and take better care of her. If anything happens, you must pay attention to it immediately. It is not convenient for me to interfere in the affairs of the inner court."
“What did you promise me at that time… You said you would take care of everything and asked me not to worry. You also said that I was a man and didn’t need to worry about such things. But what happened later? What happened later…” The old Duke became very angry when he said this. He was wrong, but he really believed in his wife at that time and felt that she would definitely take care of the child.
Who would have thought that after just a few times, the old wife became impatient and no longer cared about the child. If I hadn't paid attention to it, the child would not have been killed by a concubine, and would not have ended up like that because of no one's support. Not only would she have died, but now even the child she gave birth to is missing.
Family members are separated and forever separated!
Mrs. Qi felt guilty about this incident: "At that time, she was out of tune with everyone... It wasn't that I deliberately ignored her... If I had known..."
"Another one if you knew." The old Duke interrupted Madam Qi rudely and said sarcastically, "Unfavorable to everyone? This child has such a pure and kind heart, who could he be unfavorable to? Isn't it just unfavorable to Qi Xiejiao? Now think about it, didn't she say a lot of bad things about that child to you at the beginning?"
What happened back then was the thing the old Duke least wanted to think about, and he felt heartbroken every time he thought about it.
Now, hearing Madam Qi say it so lightly, it just opened up old wounds.
“Master…” Madam Qi wanted to explain herself and stood up to speak.
The old Duke shook his head and said, "From now on, the affairs of the Crown Prince's Mansion and the Liu Mansion have nothing to do with us. The Crown Princess can do whatever she wants. As for Qi Xiejiao..."
The old Duke sneered as he spoke, "No matter what she wants to do, it has nothing to do with our Duke of Qi's Mansion. If you are really worried..."
Madam Qi looked at the old Duke with excitement and great expectations.
"If you really care about them more than you care about your own children, then just live with them!" said the old Duke with difficulty.
"You...what did you say?" Madam Qi could hardly believe her ears. Her feet softened and she fell heavily onto the chair. Her voice was no longer as sharp as before. "You...you want to divorce me?"
"If you insist on doing what you want and still can't tell right from wrong... then it's up to you." The old Duke said dejectedly.
"But the Princess of England is not her child...it has nothing to do with us." Mrs. Qi shouted in a shrill voice.
"So what? You didn't seem to take it seriously at the beginning." The old Duke had a look of disappointment on his face. He was really disappointed with his wife.
I used to think that my wife was sensible, but now I realize that she wholeheartedly stands on the side that she thinks is right. As for other people's opinions, she seems to be always listening, but in fact she never cares. Just like what I told her in the beginning, if she had paid more attention, she wouldn't have let her daughter fall into this situation.
He was wrong, and so was she!
Now, he regretted his decision and wanted to make amends, but she was obsessed with the dream she had woven, hoping that this matter had nothing to do with the Crown Princess and her daughter.
"Didn't I care about it at the beginning? I sent her gifts more than once and visited her repeatedly, but she ignored me. I used to think that even if she ignored me now, as long as she was my daughter's child, the blood relationship would always be there, and in the future... the relationship between the Prince of England's Palace and ours would always get better, but she is not... not ours now, and we still have to rely on the Crown Princess in the future."
The lady shouted, and she didn't care about anything else at this moment.
I just hate that the old Duke is so stupid.
"So... you want to choose a side?" The old Duke suddenly calmed down and looked at Madam Qi calmly, which made Madam Qi panic and involuntarily weakened a little. "Stand on the side of the prince and help him. If he becomes the prince one day... our Duke Qi's Mansion will continue to prosper?"
"Isn't this good?" Mrs. Qi said tremblingly, "The Crown Prince is the legitimate heir of the country. Who are the others? Who is the King of England? If I didn't think that the Princess of England was our flesh and blood, why would I be so humiliated? Now, she is no longer our flesh and blood, so there is no need to consider her anymore... We can only support the Crown Prince from beginning to end. We are the Crown Princess's family."
"No!" The old Duke said coldly, his eyes turned cold, "It has never been like that. I will go to the palace now and confess to the emperor what happened back then. I was wrong at the time. I changed the child. My child is not Qi Xiejiao, and the Crown Princess has nothing to do with our family."
After saying this, the old Duke turned and left.
Madam Qi jumped forward in fear, wanting to hug the old Duke to stop him from being so impulsive. If this matter really got out, the entire Duke Qi's Mansion would be severely punished, and her granddaughter's position as Crown Princess would definitely no longer be secure.
It's not just unstable, it's a crime of deceiving the emperor, and you won't even be able to save your life.
She rushed in too hastily, and before she could reach the old Duke, her limp body tripped over something, and she suddenly tilted and bumped into a pillar on the side, and then fell limply to the ground...