Chapter 48 Luckily it was a woman

Jiang Jiarong was being stared at by everyone in the room, his body trembling like a leaf. He stammered, "I...I didn't know anyone was trying to harm us. I just wanted to earn some money."

The Duke of Chu narrowed his eyes upon hearing his words, and Jiang Yu once again knew from his subtle movements that there was definitely something wrong with him.

"How many people know you bought the ship? Did you sign a contract?" Duke of Chu asked Jiang Chengye.

“A contract has been signed,” Jiang Chengye said. “Three copies have been signed: one with me, one with the eldest son of the Chen family, and one with the madam, who is a witness.”

The Duke of Chu took another deep breath and asked, "How many people know about this?"

Jiang Chengye: "Jiarong, the madam, the eldest son of the Chen family, a few people around me, and the boat captain on the ship."

After hearing this, the Duke of Chu remained silent for a long time, then stood up and said to Jiang Yu, "Help me back."

Jiang Yu stood up and took his arm, and the two walked out. Jiang Chengye watched their backs, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately didn't dare to speak.

After their figures disappeared, Jiang Chengye turned to look at Jiang Jiarong and asked, "Were you involved in this?"

Jiang Jiarong paused for a moment and shook his head. "Dad, I was also fooled. I really don't know anything."

Jiang Chengye looked at him intently, and seeing his fearful yet respectful expression, he slumped to the ground and said, "If this matter cannot be resolved, we will both die."

Jiang Jiarong's eyes widened. He seemed not to have expected things to be so serious, and stammered, "Father, we are the Duke's closest relatives, how could this be?"

Jiang Chengye smiled bitterly, "If it meant the death of the two of us for the safety of the entire clan, do you think he would do that?"

He knew very well that the Duke of Chu had turned a blind eye to his outrageous behavior all these years because he was his only son. But if he threatened the very survival of the Duke of Chu's family, his own son would also die.

It seemed that Jiang Jiarong was truly frightened at this moment. He crawled over and grabbed Jiang Chengye's arm, saying, "Dad, what should we do? Please think of something. I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

Jiang Chengye collapsed to the ground. "I don't want to die either. This time, it all depends on your grandfather's abilities. If this matter can be resolved, we'll live on; if not, we'll die."

Upon hearing his words, Jiang Jiarong collapsed to the ground. At this moment, two men entered and, looking at the two men lying on the ground, said, "Young Master, Eldest Young Master, the Duke has ordered you to stay in the dungeon. We apologize for any offense."

As they spoke, the two men each helped one of them up and led them to the prison cell, locking Jiang Chengye and Jiang Jiarong inside. Then, as they left, they continued talking, "What wrong did these two masters commit that made the Duke so ruthless?"

"I heard that the young master stole the young mistress's dowry and kept an actor as a mistress. The Duke is furious."

"This... surely it doesn't warrant such a brutal attack."

"How could it not be serious? The young master stole a painting from the young master's wife's dowry. I heard it was a treasured possession of Marquis Anyuan. If Marquis Anyuan finds out, wouldn't he be furious? The Duke has taken drastic measures to punish the young master in advance. Even if Marquis Anyuan is angry, he won't be able to say anything then."

"You're right."

......

Jiang Yu and the Duke of Chu went to the study, closed the door, and continued their discussion. Outside, three stewards stood guard, preventing anyone from approaching.

After the Duke of Chu sat down, he asked Jiang Yu, "Yu'er, do you really think that only a few people, as Jiang Chengye said, know about this matter?"

Jiang Yu shook her head. "It's definitely not. This was a trap set by someone else. At the very least, the person who set the trap knew about it. Have the people around Father and my eldest brother spread the word?"

The Duke of Chu sighed deeply, "I don't know how he turned out this way."

Jiang Yu could only remain silent in response.

"What do you think we should do now?" the Duke of Chu asked.

Jiang Yu: "The dead can't testify."

The Duke of Chu frowned. "Yes, this is the best way."

Jiang Yu: "There's no need for too many people to die, the eldest son of the Chen family, the madam, and the boat captain."

At this point, Jiang Yu paused for a moment before saying, "I don't know the character of the people in the manor, so you decide. Now that the key people are gone, we'll throw the ship out. If anyone brings it up later, we can deny it outright, or even say that they framed us."

The Duke of Chu nodded, "The issues that needed to be resolved have been resolved. We simply refuse to acknowledge any connection between the ship and us, and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

After a moment of silence, Jiang Yu said, "Let's talk about it after we've interrogated the eldest son of the Chen family and the madam."

The Duke of Chu looked at her intently. The more he interacted with her, the more he felt that this granddaughter was very capable and decisive in her actions. Her saying she would talk after interrogating Young Master Chen meant she probably didn't want to swallow this insult.

Yes, if someone bullies you to your face, it would be too humiliating not to retaliate. Ultimately, he's getting old and timid; he just wants things to stay peaceful as long as nothing serious happens.

He looked at Jiang Yu with satisfaction and said, "I've been thinking about this a lot lately: why aren't you a man?"

Jiang Yu smiled helplessly, "Grandfather, I am a woman and I can do many things too."

The Duke of Chu laughed as well, “Yes, so what if she’s a woman?”

He seemed to have made a decision.

Just then, the voice of the steward, Li Zhong, came from outside, "Lord Duke."

"Come in," said the Duke of Chu.

Li Zhong strode in, bowed to the two men, and then approached them, lowering his voice to say, "Luckily, we acted quickly. The eldest son of the Chen family, the madam, and the boatman didn't expect us to make a sudden move, and we caught them all."

Even now, Li Zhong is still a little scared. If it weren't for the young lady's vigilance, and if it had gone on for a little longer, it might have been a disaster that wiped out the whole family.

The Duke of Chu was naturally somewhat frightened. She told Jiang Yu, "Take them all to the dungeon and interrogate them tonight."

Then he said to Jiang Yu, "My body can't take it anymore, Yu'er, you can do the interrogation."

"yes."

Jiang Yu stood up and walked out, and Li Zhong immediately followed. Just as they left the Duke of Chu's courtyard, Lu Yifang and Zhang Xiangling stopped them again.

Before they could speak, Jiang Yu said, "Mother, sister-in-law, it's nothing serious. It's just that Grandfather wants to take advantage of his good health these next few days to give Father and my elder brother a good talking-to."

Lu Yifang burst into tears, "I heard it's because he stole my dowry?"

Jiang Yu nodded, and Lu Yifang wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, then gritted her teeth and said, "Then let the Duke teach him a lesson."

"Then, why is your older brother doing this?" Zhang Xiangling asked.

Jiang Yu: "It was my eldest brother who instigated my father to steal the dowry."

“This…” Zhang Xiangling didn’t know what to say, and looked at Jiang Yu while holding her handkerchief. “The Duke tells his younger sister everything.”

Jiang Yu didn't want to play along with her pointless sarcasm, so she said to Lu Yifang, "Mother, go back quickly, it's nothing serious. Besides, Father really went too far this time."

Lu Yifang nodded, "Yes, the Duke should have dealt with those two long ago."

Jiang Yu hummed in agreement, then left with Li Zhong. Watching their retreating figures, Zhang Xiangling whispered to Lu Yifang, "Mother, I have a feeling things aren't that simple."

Lu Yifang asked her, "Then why do you think it is?"

"How would I know?" Zhang Xiangling sighed. "Jiarong is useless and can't support the Duke's mansion. I think my younger sister is quite capable, but she's not a man."

Lu Yifang's expression darkened further when she heard her sarcastic tone. She said, "Zhu'er's ability to gain the Duke's favor is her own doing."

Seeing that she was angry, Zhang Xiangling quickly smiled apologetically, but in her heart she thought to herself that it was fortunate that she was a woman, otherwise the Duke's mansion would have been hers.