Chapter 106: He launched an expedition to investigate the crime and now he is clinging to the Second Prince and doing this again...

Lu Bingzhi was also surprised for a moment by his grandmother's behavior, which was so different from her usual behavior. Then a complicated look appeared in his eyes. He suppressed these thoughts and said with a gentle look, "Grandmother has always loved me very much, so we should be filial to her."

Cui Lingyan guessed that Lu Bingzhi now remembered that he was the son of the late queen, not the grandson of Old Lady Dou, so he couldn't help feeling a little guilty towards Old Lady Dou.

She nodded and said seriously, "Of course. There's no elder better than Grandma."

Cui Lingyan did not say this to please Lu Bingzhi. It was because ever since she married into the Duke of Weiguo's mansion, Old Lady Dou treated her very well. Not only did she not criticize her like others, she also truly loved her as her granddaughter-in-law.

This kind of love was different from what she felt from her grandmother. It made her feel at ease, so she was even more grateful for Madam Dou's generosity and kindness.

Lu Bingzhi was amused by her words. He took her into his arms and said in a low voice, "Grandma will definitely be happy if you can have a great-grandson soon."

Cui Lingyan's cheeks flushed, and she hit him lightly, but did not say anything in rebuttal.

Ningshou Marquis Mansion

Madam Zhai had just returned home with Cui Linghui when she began to hear the rumors. She had already been subjected to disdain and speculation from the other women for bringing Cui Linghui to the birthday banquet. She had only eaten a few bites of the entire meal, and she was furious. Finally, after Madam Lu of the Cheng'en Mansion had vomited blood and fainted, causing chaos within the mansion, the guests, unwilling to remain and add to the chaos, hurriedly returned with Cui Linghui. Little did she know, she had even greater troubles waiting for her.

At this time, I heard the news that the first wife Qi and the second wife Bian had arrived, but the third wife Gao had gone back to her parents' home for something today and had not returned home yet, so she did not come yet.

Qi's face turned pale. She had pretended to be sick before so that the old lady could bring Cui Linghui to the birthday party. Now, after hearing what happened at the banquet, she felt so angry that she almost fainted.

"Girl Hui, is this true? You and the Second Prince really had an affair, and you even deliberately humiliated Prince Lu at Madam Lu's birthday banquet, embarrassing him?"

Qi really felt that she had underestimated the stepdaughter she raised by her side. When she asked this, she was already 80% certain in her heart. Otherwise, how could Mrs. Lu be so angry that she vomited blood and fainted on such a festive day, turning a lively birthday banquet into a joke, and the news spread throughout the capital so quickly.

As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. If there is really no trace of something, how could it be spread with such details?

Cui Linghui was stunned when she heard the rumors. Her face was pale and almost bloodless. She tried to defend herself, "How could it be? Those people outside are making up rumors. There is no such thing."

But her defense was really weak, and revealed a sense of guilt and forcing. How could Qi not understand that this was true.

Qi took a step forward and raised her hand to slap Cui Linghui in front of the old lady. Cui Linghui staggered and fell to the ground.

Qi was still not satisfied, pointing at Cui Linghui and cursing, "Cui Linghui, do you still have any shame? Don't let your marriage with Lu Bingzhi ruin your reputation. Wait until this rumor dies down, and then look for another marriage in a year or two. Can the mansion still let you down? How could you be so self-deprecating as to cling to the Second Prince and let him manipulate you to do whatever he tells you to do? You even deliberately got close to the Second Prince at Madam Lu's birthday banquet to humiliate and embarrass Master Lu! How can there be such a shameless woman like you in the world! I was so blind to raise you, not realizing that you are a vixen and a lowly creature!"

This was the first time that Qi acted like this since she married into the Ningshou Marquis's Mansion. She slapped him in the face, followed by these mocking and humiliating words. The maids and servants standing in the room just stood there in a daze, and no one tried to stop her.

It was not until Cui Linghui covered her face and cried out in embarrassment that everyone came to their senses.

Although Old Lady Zhai was angry with her granddaughter Cui Linghui and wanted to slap her in the face, seeing Qi like this, she felt that Qi, as the eldest daughter-in-law of the eldest son, was really lacking in stability. Moreover, she was a stepmother, and she scolded her stepdaughter like this, and the scolding was so harsh. If it got out, who knew what outsiders would say about their Ningshou Marquis Mansion.

Therefore, Madam Zhai's face became serious, and she said in a deep voice: "Alright, eldest daughter-in-law, what are you doing? After all, Hui girl is the eldest daughter of the eldest son and calls you mother. You have something to say, how can you hit her so casually?"

Qi had been feeling aggrieved in the mansion for half her life, and had been pretending to be a virtuous and loving mother for half her life. Now that she was angry and had such a good handle, how could she endure this?

She said, "Then I'll trouble my mother to ask for my daughter-in-law whether this is true. If it is true, what will happen if Prince Lu holds a grudge in his heart and takes his anger out on his wife, Yan Yatou? Yan Yatou's marriage was originally to clean up the mess for Cui Linghui. Now that the prince has finally recovered and can live a good life, she, as his stepsister, has done such a despicable and shameless thing. If the prince feels this is a great shame and humiliation, and thinks that Yan Yatou is also a girl from the Ningshou Marquis Mansion and is a stepsister to Cui Linghui, there is no guarantee that he will not vent his anger on Yan Yatou!"

"I am also a mother. Even though there is some grudge between me and Yan girl, I cannot bear to see Yan girl's life being tormented by her stepsister and the prince getting annoyed!"

What Qi said was well-reasoned, and even Madam Zhai could not find any fault with her. Cui Linghui was in the wrong in this matter, and if it implicated Yan Yatou, causing Yan Yatou to lose the favor of the prince, it would be a huge loss.

But now that things have come to this, it is too late to say anything. Old Madam Zhai has lived to such an old age and has seen a lot of things. She feels that she should first find a way to preserve Cui Linghui's reputation. Even if she cannot preserve Cui Linghui's reputation, at least she cannot let the Ningshou Marquis' Mansion be implicated because of Cui Linghui.

In Mrs. Zhai's private heart, she wanted to send Cui Linghui to live in the family temple, so that he could spend the rest of his life in seclusion.

But Cui Linghui had given her body to the Second Prince, and now she couldn't just casually dispose of it with a single word. Besides, if this matter passed, Cui Linghui could marry into the Second Prince's household, recover her health, and give birth to a child, which might give her a bright future.

Outsiders only said that Second Prince Xiao Ze's reputation would be damaged by this incident, and it would most likely be impossible for him to ascend to that throne again. But who could say for sure about the affairs of the royal family? Perhaps the Second Prince was just blessed with this?

After all, the Emperor had three sons. The eldest, born to Concubine Shun, was of mediocre talent. The third, born to Concubine Zhao, was only seven years old. Even though the second, born to Concubine Shu, had a tarnished reputation, he wasn't bad compared to the other princes. None of the three princes was particularly outstanding, and unless the third prince proved exceptionally intelligent and particularly favored by the Emperor in the years ahead, any of them would have a chance.

Old Lady Zhai felt that since Cui Linghui had become Xiao Ze's woman, and since she could not decide how to deal with Cui Linghui, it would be a good choice to let her smoothly enter the Second Prince's Mansion to serve.

In the final analysis, this matter could be big or small. To put it in a small way, the Second Prince acted recklessly, and it was not a big deal because he had some youthful impetuosity due to his discord with Prince Lu. Moreover, the Second Prince had a different status after all, and no matter how big the mistake was, he was of noble status and could tolerate it.

The matter of Lu Bing's poisoning was just brought up and then easily put aside. The Queen Mother loved her grandson Lu Bing so much, but she didn't say anything and just ordered people to send tonics and medicinal herbs to the Duke of Weiguo's mansion.

The Empress Dowager must be well aware that in the Emperor's heart, her nephew can never compare to his own son, Xiao Ze.

Thinking of this, Old Madam Zhai sighed and said to Madam Qi, "You don't have to worry too much about the Crown Prince taking out his anger on Yan. He's a very kind and righteous man. When he heard the rumors about your nephew and Yan, he didn't get angry at all. Instead, he sent someone to bring something to reassure Yan. Now they're in harmony and get along very well. How could he be upset with Yan because of this incident?"

"Besides, Yan is also very intelligent. She will be able to appease the prince and prevent him from taking his anger out on her."

When Qi heard what Old Madam Zhai said, her heart suddenly turned cold and her face twisted.

Second Madam Bian also felt a little sympathy for her sister-in-law Qi at this time. Hearing how well the old lady spoke, those who didn't know would think that Lu Bingzhi, the prince of Weiguo, was so easy to bully. She almost said that the prince was a piece of clay and could endure any embarrassment or humiliation by himself.

Bian glanced at Qi, whose face turned ashen, and understood what the old lady meant. She wanted Qi to stop making trouble and just swallow her anger.

She also knew that the old lady was doing this out of concern for the Second Prince, Xiao Ze. No matter how bad Cui Linghui's reputation was, she was now the Second Prince's woman. Instead of treating her as a useless chess piece, it would be better to let her enter the Second Prince's Mansion. Maybe she could help the Marquis' Mansion in the future.

She glanced at the old lady, who winked at her. Bian nodded slightly and was about to speak to persuade her when she heard a mocking voice coming from outside.

"I don't understand what the old lady is saying. In her eyes, Bingzhi, your grandson-in-law, deserves to be humiliated and abused by your eldest daughter. The previous breaking off of the engagement already caused Bingzhi to be criticized and his reputation was damaged. Now, he's trying to get close to the Second Prince and doing this again. Is this the family education of your Ningshou Marquisate?"

As the words fell, Nanny Sun helped Old Madam Dou into the house. For a moment, the room was as silent as death.

No one expected that Madam Dou would appear here and say such words. It was obvious that she came to the mansion to call for an explanation!