Chapter 9 Adoption

The second master was very upset. The original plan for this marriage exchange was that Zhao Jue would return to the bridal chamber before Zhao Yi to make a scene, and remove the veil in front of everyone, exposing the fact that the bride had been exchanged.

The incident was reported to the Marquis of Cheng'en's Mansion, where Madam Shen came forward to apologize and put all the blame on Shen Qingtan.

The reason is that Shen Qingtan is both talented and beautiful, and she admires the brilliant and talented Zhao Yi even more. She deliberately gets into the wrong bridal sedan just to marry the person she loves.

For this purpose, they specially hid Zhao Yi's handkerchiefs, calligraphy, letters, paintings and calligraphy in Shen Qingtan's boudoir, and Mrs. Shen brought them back to testify against Shen Qingtan.

Who knew that Zhao Yi would be the first to expose the truth, and the doubts he raised made it impossible for them to refute, which completely disrupted their plans and made the old Duke and the old lady disappointed in the second house.

"Foolish woman, you provoked the eldest wife in public during the tea ceremony. This will only anger Mother further. She is biased towards the eldest wife." The Second Master knew the eldest wife's temperament very well. She had the pride of a military family and a straightforward and strong temper. When pushed to the limit, she would rather die than live in disgrace. "Don't try to offend the eldest sister-in-law for the time being."

The Second Lady secretly resented, "The old lady's heart is so biased that she has long been on the side of the eldest wife." Then, she gritted her teeth and said, "How dare I offend her? If she didn't look down on me, I wouldn't even think of undermining her prestige."

The second master sneered: "You are seducing your own brother-in-law. Any decent person will look down on you."

The Second Lady had just been pricked in the sore spot by the First Lady, and now her own man had exposed her shortcomings. She was so angry that her chest ached: "You are a decent person, how could you meet me secretly behind your sister's back?"

The Second Master spread his hands and said, "Have you ever seen a decent person think with his pants crotch? If I use my brain to think, you will have to call me brother-in-law today." He pointed to a water tank in the corner and said, "We are two turtles in the tank, like two tortoises. Few people look down on us. Don't live with shamelessness. The serious thing is to plan a title for Jue'er."

The Second Madam's face turned from red to white, and she asked anxiously, "Master, will you and Jue'er go and apologize to our father and help him calm down?"

"We can't go." The Second Master's head ached. He was now in a dilemma. "Although Father has this suspicion in his mind, if we go and admit our fault, it will be confirmed." He shook his head again. "We can't admit this crime."

"What should I do then?"

"We can only let Jue'er atone for his crime."

——

The old lady took several sips of tea before she extinguished the anger in her chest.

"Mother, you've just recovered from a serious illness. Don't let this unpleasant incident make you sick." The eldest lady took the teacup and placed it on the tea table. She said sincerely, "Everyone in the capital knows Tan'er's talent, learning, and virtue. Everything is outstanding. Our Yi'er is a lucky man, marrying a good wife. When I take Tan'er out to banquets in the future, I wonder how many people will envy me."

"Qingtan has grown up under our watch. She is indeed a good child, always careful in what she says and does." The old lady laughed and sighed, "So I wanted to marry Qingtan to Yier. His condition was at its most serious at that time, and I didn't want to delay the little girl's marriage."

"It's fate for the two of us."

"Marriage is destined." The old lady thought of the second wife's behavior and frowned. "Your second brother has been a playboy since he was young. No matter how he was beaten, scolded, or locked up, he couldn't be changed. He left Beijing to study at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and when he returned, he brought back a concubine and a child."

"The old man broke two of his sticks and made him kneel in the yard for a day, then told him to go to the Luo family and apologize to the unmarried eldest daughter. The Luo family's eldest daughter was kind-hearted and sympathized with the mother and son, and was willing to give them a legitimate status."

The second master took the concubine as his own, and the child became the eldest grandson of the Duke's Mansion.

"It's a pity that the scoundrel betrayed Miss Luo Da and secretly got involved with Miss Luo Er. Miss Luo Er asked the second son to sneak into her yard, and then tricked Miss Luo Da into seeing him. Miss Luo Da broke off the engagement, and the second son married Miss Luo Er."

Miss Luo Er is now the Second Madam.

Every time the old lady thought of this scandal, she felt utterly ashamed. "Zhao Jue has made some achievements in the army, and I have a certain appreciation for him. But his parents are both unruly and competitive. How can I trust them with such a huge Duke's Mansion?"

She said with a chilling heart, "As expected, now there's this bride swap incident again. For the sake of the title, they're not hesitant to scheme against their own siblings. They're too utilitarian."

The master was sipping his tea elegantly. When he heard these words, he gulped down the tea and almost swallowed the tea leaves.

He glanced at the eldest lady: It's not good.

Madam: ...

"Please persuade Yi'er to leave a bloodline for Qingtan to rely on."

The faces of the eldest lady and the eldest master changed at the same time.

Zhao Yi was able to have sex, but she did not want to suffer the pain of giving birth to a child, so she simply announced to the public that she could not have any children.

"Mother, Yi'er said that he would not let his offspring suffer as he did. Accepting this marriage is already the biggest concession he has made." The eldest lady felt unhappy when she mentioned this marriage.

In order to facilitate this marriage, the Cheng'en Marquisate had used favors to coerce Zhao Yi, and their words and deeds showed that they did not believe that Zhao Yi would not live long and have children.

The old Duke valued his promises the most. Seeing that Marquis Cheng'en was determined to marry his daughter, he agreed. It was unknown how he persuaded Zhao Yi to marry his wife.

The final result was that this big drama was staged in order to marry Shen Mingzhu to Zhao Jue.

"If we want to give Tan'er a child to rely on, it would be better to adopt one from the clan." The eldest lady understood the old lady's thoughts: "There are many children and grandchildren in the mansion. There must be a few who are capable and can shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the Duke's Mansion."

The old lady couldn't bear to force Zhao Yi, so she held her forehead and said, "You guys go back, I'll think about it."