Chapter 205 With such a powerful second master standing here, are they all blind?

Ma suddenly looked at Zhan Xingzhuo, gave a strange smirk, and fell silent.

After all she's said, doesn't Zhan Xingzhuo understand yet?

She's actually helping him!

If Zhan Xingzhuo wants to reconcile with Yao Qingling for the sake of their child, he needs to prove himself and win Yao Qingling's favor.

Hasn't he always done this before?

She's not the only hypocrite.

Furthermore, Yao Qingling is, after all, a member of the Marquis's household. If the Duke's mansion wants to take Yao Qingling back, it should give the Marquis's household some face.

While Madam Ma may lack other shrewdness, having served as the wife of a marquis for so many years, she deeply understands how much the powerful and wealthy value their reputation.

The Grand Princess no longer looks down on Zhou Zhining, isn't it just because Zhou Zhining is the daughter of a disgraced official?

If Lady Hou becomes a criminal, how can the Grand Princess accept Yao Qingling again?

At this moment, Zhan Xingzhuo was like a large spoonful of cold water poured into boiling water, calming him down.

He looked at Yao Qingling.

The child, is it his?

Even the Grand Princess has admitted it, so it must be true.

At that moment, he didn't care why no one had told him; all he knew was that he had become a father.

He has a child!

Zhan Xingzhuo's mind was in turmoil, and his gaze towards Yao Qingling was filled with complex emotions.

How could Yao Qingling not know what he was thinking at that moment?

But this is not the time to think about what he is thinking.

Qingling said, "Prefect Gao, regardless of whose child it is, it is true that Madam Hou and Yao Qingqi plotted to murder me. I beg you, Your Excellency, to give me justice."

Prefect Gao glanced at her, then turned to the mother and daughter who were slumped on the ground. Just as he was about to pronounce the sentence according to the laws of Li Kingdom, his clerk leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words.

Prefect Gao paused for a moment, glanced at Yao Qingling again, and suddenly said he needed to rest for a while.

Later, when Magistrate Gao was having tea, he called Yao Qingling over and discussed the matter with her privately.

“Qingling, this is ultimately a family matter. Making it too ugly won't be good for you. Madam Ma raised you; if you turn around and send her to jail, people will say you're ungrateful and have no regard for family ties. Li Kingdom values ​​filial piety and righteousness; if you insist on sentencing them, your business will also be affected. My suggestion is that you minimize the matter and keep it within the household, so it doesn't spread to the outside world…”

Prefect Gao spoke at length about "persuading for peace."

Qing Ling smiled faintly.

If she wasn't mistaken, it must have been the Marquis of Zhongyong and the old lady who secretly gave the Prefect a bribe.

She glanced at Zhan Xingzhuo not far away; he must have been putting pressure on her as well.

Oh……

Although disappointed, it was within Qingling's expectations.

Madam Ma has been in the Marquis's residence for twenty years and knows everything about the Marquis of Zhongyong. No matter how infatuated he is with Concubine Zhao, he is still very clear about the core interests.

This is when you can see the importance of the unity between husband and wife.

Qingling was just a "commoner" and could not forcefully control the development of events. She could only do her best to restrict Ma and Yao Qingqi.

She reluctantly accepted Magistrate Gao's "persuasion to make peace" and offered the maximum concession she could accept.

After some deliberation, Prefect Gao, who still needed Yao Qingling to boost his political achievements, agreed.

Finally, considering that Madam Ma had acted excessively to save face for the Marquis's mansion, and that no one had been killed, both Madam Ma and Yao Qingqi were sent to a suburban estate for confinement, forbidden from leaving the house.

The public was told that the two had developed severe hysteria and had been sent to recuperate.

The dust rose high and then settled gently.

Yao Qingling asked Taoye to escort the prefect and the censor Cao and his wife back home. She told them that she would personally visit them once she recovered.

The Mulan Courtyard, after its dramatic transformation, returned to tranquility.

Concubine Zhao helped Marquis Zhongyong back to her courtyard, her sighs tinged with schadenfreude.

She didn't do anything, and Madam Ma went to the estate. No one in the Marquis's mansion could control her anymore. With no mistress in the mansion, she could take charge of the household affairs.

Ma Peizhen helped the old lady walk back, outwardly wiping away tears and saying that she was useless and could not persuade her aunt to do wrong, but inwardly she was calm.

As long as Madam Ma remains the Lady of the Marquis's household, she will still be the Marquis's cousin and will still be able to live in the Marquis's household.

These days, she has been trying to please the old lady, and the old lady is becoming more and more dependent on her.

Without Yao Qingqi, the Marquis's mansion urgently needed Ma Peizhen to find a good marriage partner to maintain its prestige.

She didn't lose anything.

Marquis Zhongyong cursed and scolded Ma Shi for causing trouble and having malicious intentions, but said that he spared her life out of consideration for their marital relationship.

His cursing faded into the distance.

Yao Qingling watched them pass through the vase-shaped door with a cold eye. As the last ray of light from the lantern disappeared, Qingling withdrew her gaze.

Blood from the fight still lingered in the courtyard.

The body of the guard who was stabbed to death by Yao Qingqi had already been dragged away, and Qingling didn't care what happened next.

Qingling's body had reached its limit, and Louyue and Xiachan helped her back to her room.

"That's outrageous! They just let that vicious mother and daughter get away with it like that." Lou Yue was still indignant.

Xia Chan glanced at her and said, "Miss, don't worry about anything now. The worst is over."

"Yes, the worst is over. Miss, are you hungry? I've made some turtle and chicken soup. Would you like to drink some soup before you rest?"

Qingling said, "Then let's have a bowl of soup. You've all worked hard, so please have some soup too..."

The master and servant went into the house while talking, and neither of them looked at Zhan Xingzhuo, leaving him standing there.

Minglu stared wide-eyed as they walked in. His second master was standing there, were they all blind?

He stepped forward, intending to pull Yao Qingling out, but suddenly his vision blurred and a woman holding a sword blocked his way.

"Who are you, daring to block my way?" Minglu glared, "Do you know who this is!"

Nie Yun glanced at Zhan Xingzhuo indifferently.

Is this the rumored, blind, and incapable ex-husband of Yao Qingling?

Nie Yun looked Zhan Xingzhuo up and down, finding him to be quite different from the general.

She turned her eyes away expressionlessly, utterly disdainful.

"You—" Minglu had never been so scorned before. He pointed at her, but Nie Yun easily grabbed his finger and almost broke it.

"Ouch, ouch..." Minglu cried out in pain, his body turning in the direction the finger was pointing. "Don't think I won't hit you... Ouch! Ouch! Second Master, Second Master!"

Minglu sought help from his master, but only saw Zhan Xingzhuo with a sullen face heading towards Yao Qingling's room.

Inside, the charcoal brazier burned warmly.

Xia Chan helped Qing Ling take off the thick fox fur cloak she was wearing, folded it up, and put it in the wardrobe.

"That Physician Lin is really something. He's a general from the south, and I don't know where he got such a fine fox fur cloak. Luckily he was prepared, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to withstand the wind in the middle of the night..."

When Zhan Xingzhuo entered, he overheard everything, and his face darkened even more.

He had never given Yao Qingling any clothes in the three years since they were married, let alone a fox fur cloak.

That Lin Shiyuan, a military general, actually knows how to please a woman.

Yao Qingling must have been overjoyed by his flattery. Even if he hadn't appeared in this critical moment, Yao Qingling would still remember his kindness.

But Zhan Xingzhuo also understood something from Xia Chan and Yao Qingling's calmness.

"You planned this all along; this is a scheme targeting Madam Hou," the man said, parting the beaded curtain to Yao Qingling.