"I didn't, Jinxuan, I didn't..." Mrs. Zheng recovered from the shock, ran out of the room and rushed to her eldest son to try to explain.
As soon as she approached, Xie Nanjia screamed in horror, hugged Su Jinxuan tightly, and shouted: "Second brother, second brother, I'm afraid..."
"Don't be afraid, second brother is here!" Su Jinxuan hurriedly hugged her with one hand and protected her head with the other hand. His broad sleeves covered her face and said to Zheng in a trembling voice, " Mother, please stay away from your second sister!”
Ms. Zheng suddenly stopped walking, feeling her son's instant alienation. Her heart felt as if someone had stabbed her hard, and tears suddenly fell down her face.
"Jinxuan, what are you talking about? I am your mother!" She said covering her heart.
The implication is, how can you be so indifferent between close relatives and strangers, and even deny your own mother in order to protect your cousin
Su Jinxuan was also heartbroken. Not only did he hear clearly the conversation between his mother and Jinping, but the brothers present also heard it clearly. Even if he wanted to protect his mother, there was nothing he could do, not to mention that his second sister was pitifully Whimpering and trembling in his arms.
He couldn't unconditionally protect her just because she was his own mother.
"Mom, please stop talking. We have all heard it. If you have anything to do, you should go to grandma and tell her!" He said bitterly, and his mother's loving and generous image collapsed in his heart.
Xie Nanjia lay in his arms, feeling that his whole body was shaking slightly from the sudden blow.
It was pitch black before his eyes, and he was extremely sad, but he was still trying his best to protect her.
well! Xie Nanjia sighed silently. In fact, she didn't want to do this. She could pretend to be afraid and throw herself into the arms of any brother, but that would be far less effective than throwing herself into Su Jinxuan's arms.
If you want to defeat the Zheng family in one fell swoop, you will naturally have to give her the most painful blow.
It was indeed a heavy blow to Zheng that her biological son gave up his own mother for his cousin. She cried and pulled her son over: "Jinxuan, listen to me, things are not what you think..."
"Ahhh..." Xie Nanjia felt her approach, jumped and collapsed in Su Jinxuan's arms, shouting.
"Mother, you'd better get out of the way, don't let the second sister be frightened again!" Zheng's other two sons, Su Jinhong and Su Jinyang, stepped forward and pulled her away, blocking Xie Nanjia and Su Jinxuan.
The two brothers were as heartbroken as the eldest brother, and at the same time they were ashamed to have such a mother.
Seeing that none of her three sons wanted to defend herself, Mrs. Zheng became even more panicked and burst into tears: "My son, my son, I beg you, can you just listen to my mother's words?"
"If Second Aunt wants to say anything, just stay away and say it. Second sister can't be frightened anymore." The other brothers gathered around and completely separated her from Xie Nanjia.
The Lord of Jinping County stood sluggishly inside the door like a puppet. Seeing the brothers who had doted on her in the past, surrounding her with a human wall to protect her, she felt sour in her heart.
"Brother..." She staggered out, tears instantly covering her cheeks, trying to pretend to be pitiful to make the Su brothers feel soft.
"No, don't let her come, I'm afraid, second brother, I'm afraid..." Xie Nanjia knew what she wanted to do when she heard her calling her brother, and immediately cried in panic in Su Jinxuan's arms.
"Don't be afraid, second sister, we won't let her come!" Old Jiu Su Jinwen, who was standing at the front, shouted loudly, stretching out his arms to stop Jinping County Lord at arm's length, "Don't go any further. Otherwise I’m not polite to you!”
"..." Lord Jinping stopped and called him with tearful eyes, "Brother Ninth, listen to me..."
"Don't call me brother. I'm not your brother. I was nice to you before, but I was blind and didn't recognize that you were a liar. Anyway, if you take another step forward, I won't be polite." Su Jinwen said with an indifferent look.
The Lord of Jinping County burst into tears, gave up on him, and went to call his other brothers. In the end, everyone, like Su Jinwen, kept her at arm's length, completely ignoring the relationship between brother and sister.
The Lord of Jinping County finally couldn't cry anymore and quickly thought of a way to escape.
She glanced at Zheng, who looked gloomy, and realized that she had no choice but to bite Zheng, and said that she was forced by Zheng.
Just as he was thinking about it, Sheng Qingyun came over with people.
"What's going on? What are you doing here?" She glanced at Xie Nanjia and asked worriedly, "Where is Xiu'er? Where is Xiu'er?"
"Mother!" Xie Nanjia heard her voice and immediately broke out of Su Jinxuan's arms and rushed towards her crying, "Mother, the second aunt and the eldest sister want to kill me, they want to give me arsenic, I'm afraid, I'm fine Afraid!"
Sheng Qingyun was shocked. Before he could react, Xie Nanjia pinched his waist lightly. He understood everything immediately. He hugged Xie Nanjia tightly in his arms and coaxed him: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I have a mother." Now, no one can touch you."
"Sister-in-law..." Mrs. Zheng called her with a pale face.
"Don't call me sister-in-law, I'm not your sister-in-law." Sheng Qingyun interrupted her forcefully, without giving her a chance to speak, and directly ordered the people he brought, "Go, give these two black-hearted things to I’ll tie him up and give them to the old lady for punishment!”
The servants immediately stepped forward to capture the two men and took them to the old lady's courtyard.
Sheng Qingyun then ordered people to invite the third wife's wife, and took Xie Nanjia and the Su brothers to see the old lady.
The old lady and the old gentleman were restlessly waiting for their eldest son to come back. Unexpectedly, such a big thing had happened to their family before their eldest son came back.
When the old Duke heard that his second daughter-in-law and his eldest granddaughter were planning to poison their second granddaughter with arsenic, he became furious and handed them over to the government without asking.
Even though he knew they hadn't taken action yet, he still pulled Xie Nanjia to his side uneasily and checked it up and down carefully, as if arsenic could poison people just by talking.
Xie Nanjia threw herself into the arms of the old man and said with tears that she was scared.
The old man was so distressed that he coaxed her obediently, promising that he would not let anyone touch a hair on her head.
The master and his wife from the third room came both front and back. Since they didn’t know the specific reason, they asked all kinds of questions when they came in.
Xie Nanjia didn't say much. He just threw himself into the arms of anyone he saw, and kept saying that he was scared.
Several uncles were also extremely distressed and scrambled to comfort her.
"What on earth is going on? I'm confused." The fourth lady said, "I said before that Jinping was real, then I said Xiu'er was real, and then I said it was a mistake and Jinping is real. , now that Xiu'er is real, who is the real one?"
The old lady recovered from the initial shock, sighed, and told her son and daughter-in-law the ins and outs of the incident in detail.
After hearing this, the fourth lady suddenly realized: "It turns out that I adopted Xiu'er as my adopted daughter because I was afraid that the Queen would find out and let her take her place in the palace instead. All told, she didn't want to enter the palace, so she didn't expose Jinping even though she knew he was a liar. , isn’t Jinping her shield?”
The Lord of Jinping County knelt on the ground, his face turned green with anger. It turned out that she had never paid attention to the position of Crown Princess that she had longed for. The reason why she kept her even though she knew she was evil was to let her replace her. Marry into the palace.
In this case, why do you want to expose her suddenly today
At this point, she doesn't believe that the Su brothers went to the Buddhist temple on an impromptu basis. The sleever must have expected that the second lady would go and deliberately lured the Su brothers to listen to Qiang Gen.
With more than a dozen pairs of ears as evidence, she and the Second Madam couldn't tell the difference even though they were full of mouths.
But why did Xiuer do this
Sheng Qingyun also asked Xie Nanjia this question on the way.
Xie Nanjia said that once the Lord of Jinping County heard that she was the daughter of Feng Ming, he would kill her at all costs, so in order not to be killed, she had to act first.
There was another reason. She had a premonition that the queen would not let it go. There would definitely be trouble in the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion and the Dingyuan Marquis' Mansion in the future. She had to solve the small troubles before the big troubles came, so as not to worry about it later. Don't come.
Sheng Qingyun had nothing to say about her strategizing, and secretly lamented that his daughter's wisdom must have followed her sister's, not her own.
The second master was no less shocked than his sons. He would rather die than believe that his virtuous and virtuous wife would do such a thing. Even if his mother, son, and sister-in-law all told him the truth personally, he still didn't want to believe it.
"Ah, I don't believe anything they say. I want you to tell me yourself whether this is true. As long as you say it's not you, I will believe you." He knelt on the ground with Zheng and held her hand. He called her by her given name, as affectionately as a young couple.
Mrs. Zheng's tears were streaming down her face and she called her husband repeatedly. However, facing the three sons who stared at her with burning eyes, she still had no shame to excuse herself.
"Mother, please tell the truth!" Su Jinxuan knelt in front of her and said with tears, "My eldest aunt and my sister have been separated for twelve years. Mother and daughter have suffered enough. My son cannot ignore his conscience just because you are his mother. I will protect you, but my son will not deny you because you have made a mistake. As long as you truly repent, you will still be our mother and our dearest person."
"Yes, mother, tell the truth and we will plead with aunt for you." Su Jinhong and Su Jinyang also knelt down and looked at her with tearful eyes.
Mrs. Zheng finally couldn't hold it any longer and cried loudly while holding her three sons.
"It's my fault, it's all my fault." She cried and knelt down to Sheng Qingyun's feet, kowtowed and repented, "Sister-in-law, it's my fault. I shouldn't be jealous that Jinping gets more favors than Jinyang. I felt aggrieved. Jinping and Jinyang had an argument, and my father beat Jinyang without asking. I was really angry, so I wanted to hide Jinping and scare you. I never thought about it. After selling Jinping, the black-hearted thief threatened me. If I didn’t listen to him, he would expose me. I was afraid that my husband would dislike me if he found out, and I was afraid that you would resent me if you found out, and I would have to be punished. He leads me by the nose, and the further I go, the harder it is to look back. I was wrong, I was wrong..."
"..." Everyone in the room was dumbfounded by her confession. They couldn't even imagine that over the years they had guessed countless possible shocking conspiracies, but the truth was so simple and ridiculous.
Sheng Qingyun was so angry that he was trembling all over. He kicked her hand away with red eyes: "Get out of here, you crazy and vicious woman. I usually trust you so much in vain. I have given you my heart and soul, but you did it for the sake of a child." You, you, I really want to dig out your heart and see what color it is, I will never forgive you, I will never forgive you! "
Except for Zheng's cry, everyone in the room was silent. Yes, after twelve years of separation, suffering day and night, in the end, it was discovered that the real murderer turned out to be his sister-in-law, who had been with him day and night and was as close as a sister. Who should bear this blow? I can't stand it either.
Everyone couldn't help but get goosebumps at the thought of such a viper walking around them with a hypocritical smile on his face for twelve years.
This feeling is simply terrible.
"Send the official, send the official, both of them." The old Duke was so angry that he was shaking all over, "Come here, prepare paper and pen for the second master, write a letter of divorce now, divorce this vicious woman, our Su family does not want this. daughter in law!"
The second master and his three sons looked at each other hesitantly. Su Jinyang, who had just promised to plead for his mother, burst into tears. He never imagined that the cause of the entire tragedy was due to a quarrel with his sister when he was young. In this case, he still has What position should I take to plead with my eldest aunt, and how can I face my sister in the future
He may never be able to free himself from this shackles made for him by his mother's own hands.
Xie Nanjia understood the difficulties of the three brothers and did not want them to plead for Zheng, so he took the initiative to walk up to Su Jinyang and took his hand. She said pitifully that she would not blame him and asked him not to take the responsibility on herself. Don’t be mentally burdened either.
The more considerate she was, the less able the three brothers were to plead for mercy. Su Jinyang burst into tears and almost knelt down in front of Xie Nanjia.
Sheng Qingyun wiped away her tears and scolded Mrs. Zheng: "Look at Xiu'er, and then look at you. You have lived so long in vain and your heart is not as big as that of a child. Are you still worthy of being a human being?"
"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it..." Mrs. Zheng banged her head on the ground again and again, causing her forehead to be bloody.
The second master felt sorry for his wife and wanted to dissuade her. The servants came over with pens and papers and put them in front of him.
"If I don't write it, she will be a murderer and will always be my wife. I am willing to be punished and go to jail with her, and I will not divorce her!" The second master grabbed the pen and paper and threw it out, "Father insists on sending her to the official, so Send your son and Ah Hao together!”
The old lady felt sorry for her son and said: "The family scandal must not be made public. Since the second daughter-in-law has already confessed her crime, why bother sending her to the official position? In my opinion, just send her to the village so that she will never come back. They are all members of her family, even if she doesn't care about her. To save face, the second child and the three children have to go out to meet people. If people find out, it will have a bad impact on their future. "
Sheng Qingyun became angry when he heard this: "If you break the law, you will naturally have to bear the consequences. If everyone thinks so, what else will the yamen do? I have been blinded by crying over the years, and Xiuer almost died outside. I just want to When I think of that person burning her with charcoal in order to cover up her birthmark, my heart hurts like a knife. You are her grandmother, don’t you feel sorry for her? If it was your son who was stolen, you would too. Can you forgive so easily?"
These words were indeed harsh and showed no respect that a daughter-in-law should have for her mother-in-law, but everyone understood her anger and no one had the nerve to persuade her.
The old lady actually loves her granddaughter, but the face of the family and the face of her son and grandson are more important than her granddaughter. After all, although her granddaughter has suffered, she is back safely now, so in her opinion, it is better not to show off. It was well known to the whole world, but she didn't expect that the eldest daughter-in-law would be so resolute and not save any face for her in front of everyone.
"Alas!" The old lady sighed and said helplessly, "Qingyun, you really need to change your temper. I am Xiu'er's biological grandmother, and she also has my blood in her body. How could I not feel sorry for her? I said After all, it’s all about our family. Besides, if I have a few more years to live, I’ll leave this family to you. I also want you to have a good reputation outside, don’t I?”
"I don't want a good reputation, I want justice." Sheng Qingyun said, "I have always regarded the three Jinxuan brothers as the same as Jincheng. If this incident really affects their future, I am willing to support them for the rest of their lives. , If they want to hate me, then they can, I have a clear conscience!”
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were arguing. One was the elder of the family, and the other was the mistress. The others could not express their opinions and could only watch in silence.
"Otherwise, let Xiu'er express her own opinion!" Old Guo Gong suggested helplessly, "After all, she is the victim, and she has the most right to make the decision."
All eyes turned to Xie Nanjia.
"She is still a child. She can make any decisions. You just see her as soft-hearted..." Sheng Qingyun immediately objected.
"Mom, I won't be soft-hearted." Xie Nanjia stopped her in a hurry and said crisply, "Like my mother, I advocate sending someone to an official position, but it's not to kill anyone, but for my identity. If this matter doesn't go through the government, My true identity cannot be believed. I used to ask my eldest sister to marry me, but now she is going to be a prisoner. If I don’t get my identity back, I will never be able to tell. Are you all willing to let me get married? Will I carry my identity as a foster daughter for the rest of my life?"
As soon as the Lord of Jinping County heard that he was going to be a prisoner, he immediately became anxious. Desperately, he climbed to his knees and shouted in a hissing voice: "I was forced. It was the second lady who forced me to do this. She is the guardian of the house." She never gave up looking for the child. She was afraid that one day her crimes would be exposed, so she wanted to find a fake one to deceive you not to continue searching. She saw that I looked similar to the Lord Jinping, so she asked her mother-in-law's brother to threaten me and me. If I don’t agree with my family, they will kill me. Old lady, I am wronged, I am wronged!”
"You fart!" Mrs. Zheng rushed over, grabbed her hair and yelled, "You bitch, how long have I forced you? You took so much money from me and gave me advice, and now you're here to bite me. You , you will die if you lie!"
"I don't want to die well, and you won't be much better either. You are just a black-hearted and thief woman..." Not to be outdone, the head of Jinping County also reached out and grabbed her hair, yelling at her, and the two of them tore apart. Hit in one place, the dignity and virtuousness of the past are gone, and the image of a shrew in the market is unsightly.
The old lady couldn't stand it anymore and ordered people to separate the two of them.
The two were separated, each with disheveled hair, disheveled clothes, and a handful of the other's hair in their hands.
The mayor of Jinping County had already broken his face and said nothing. He insisted that he was forced to do so. He gasped and asked Zheng if he had any evidence that she was the cashier.
Zheng suddenly became speechless.
What they did was obviously a shameful thing. They just gave away the money. Why should they write a receipt? Where can she find evidence
No one benefited from such a quarrel between the two. On the contrary, each other's true colors were exposed more completely, and even the second master could no longer defend the Zheng family.
The old lady secretly sighed at Zheng's stupidity, and continued the previous topic by asking Xie Nanjia: "Aren't you unwilling to enter the palace? Once your identity is confirmed, you will not be able to hide. Have you thought clearly?"
Xie Nanjia said: "Now that the daughter of Phoenix Ming has come out, even if I am a beggar, I will still be asked to enter the palace. In this case, why should I take advantage of a liar and ask people to laugh at the Duke's palace because of her inappropriate behavior?" Tutor, only by clearing the relationship with her, people will say, no wonder she is uneducated, it turns out she is a fake, grandma considers the family reputation in everything, doesn't this also preserve our family's reputation? "
"..." The old lady was a little tempted by what she said. She fell silent for a while and lowered her eyes to think.
"I think Xiu'er is right. She has been an adopted daughter for so long, and it's time to return her status as a legitimate daughter. As for entering the palace, we can wait until Xian'er comes back to talk about the situation in the palace. "The old Duke said.
"Then it's up to you!" The old lady stopped insisting and discussed with Sheng Qingyun, "Lock them both up first, and wait until Xian'er comes back to ask about the situation. Can we send them to the official tomorrow?"
Sheng Qingyun was finally satisfied. He gave the old lady some face and stopped being aggressive.
The rest of the people were speechless and naturally had no objections. When Zheng and the head of Jinping County were taken away, they each took their children and left.
The old lady left behind her second son and three grandsons, and she was giving careful advice and persuasion in her room.
Xie Nanjia followed Sheng Qingyun back to Qionghuayuan.
The overall situation has been decided, just waiting for the return of the young Duke Su Xian.
However, Su Xian still hadn't come back until after the first watch.
Seeing that it was getting later and later, Sheng Qingyun couldn't sit still and sent someone to inquire about the situation outside the palace gate. At the same time, he tried to find a way to contact Su Jincheng.
Su Jincheng stayed with the emperor all day long. The emperor temporarily summoned several groups of officials to the Qiande Palace due to matters at the banquet. Firstly, he was afraid that something might happen, and secondly, the matter was related to his sister, so he stayed outside and did not leave. Kai, so he didn't know that his father hadn't come home, let alone that there was a falling out at home.
The emperor was the first to summon his father, but he didn't talk for too long before he sent his father back. It was still dark at that time, so how could it be possible that his father hadn't arrived home for several hours
Su Jincheng obviously felt that something was wrong, and immediately ordered a few of his confidants to go everywhere to inquire about information.
Searches were carried out inside and outside the palace, and until the second watch of the day passed, there was still no news about the young Duke Su Xian.
After the emperor rested, Su Jincheng arranged the people on duty and couldn't wait to leave the palace and go home to see his mother.
The lights in Qionghua Courtyard were brightly lit. As soon as he entered, he heard his sister talking to his mother. If his father, two boys, a coachman and a carriage could disappear at the same time without anyone noticing, there would be no one except the queen and the prince. Others can do it.
Su Jincheng's heart suddenly sank. If this was really done by the Queen and Crown Prince, it must have been to force their family to take the initiative to marry their sister into the East Palace. They could only choose to keep one of their father and sister.
He took a deep breath, opened the curtain and entered the house. When Sheng Qingyun saw his son coming back, his eyes suddenly turned red. He stepped forward and grabbed his hand and asked eagerly: "Is there any news about your father?"
Su Jincheng didn't answer, but held her shoulders and asked her to sit down.
Sheng Qingyun burst into tears: "Looking at you like this, it must be gone. Son, what should we do now?"
Su Jincheng comforted her: "Mom, don't worry. My father is the Duke of the country. Even the queen will not dare to do anything to him easily. You just wait at home. I will go to the queen to ask for someone. I will definitely bring my father back." ”
"Brother, don't act rashly!" Xie Nanjia stopped him and said, "Currently we have no evidence to prove that my father is in the hands of the queen. If you rashly ask for someone, you will be punished. The person the queen really wants is me. You all can wait at home safely. Come on, I'll go meet the Queen in person tomorrow morning. I can find a way to make her let her father go. I won't let her go if my father loses even one hair!"
"..." The mother and son looked at each other, and Sheng Qingyun sighed, "Good boy, mother knows that you are very smart, but this time we are facing the queen, not the Qin family or the Zheng family, so don't be brave."
"No, mother, I never try to be brave. I know what I am doing. You believe me." Xie Nanjia said with firm eyes.
(End of chapter)