Chapter 96: Having second thoughts, Zhao Yi comes to pick her up

After the eldest princess showed her power, the officials' wives could no longer stay, but out of respect for their appearance, they could not leave the mansion early and could only wait until the banquet started.

They only moved their chopsticks a few times, and then as if they had made an appointment, they all stood up and said goodbye.

Lady Yongyi looked at the empty side hall and angrily picked up a teacup and smashed it on the ground.

The teacup shattered with a "crack", scaring the servants in the hall into silence.

The wife of the Earl of Yongyi ordered Mrs. Hu, who was beside her, "Send someone to investigate and find out who is behind this attack on our Earl's Mansion."

She said with a sinister look in her eyes, "If I find out, I will make them pay the price!"

Mother Hu responded, "Yes."

The wife of the Earl of Yongyi exhaled heavily and asked, "Where is my aunt?"

"My aunt... has left." Mother Hu knew that Madam Bo was referring to Madam Shen, so she hesitated and said, "My aunt left a message for you. She said that the eldest princess was furious at the Marquis's residence, and she didn't know how to deal with it later. She asked the Marquis's residence to avoid suspicion for the time being and not to go to the Marquis's residence for the time being."

"She's afraid we'll bring trouble to the Marquis' Mansion." Lady Yongyi's face turned pale as she sneered, "Marquis Cheng'en treats us like dogs. When he needs us, he'll squeeze a little out of his fingers to give us alms, and when he doesn't, he'll kick us away."

Mother Hu didn't dare to answer.

Liu Ruojiao stepped into the side hall and overheard these words. She said with a face full of resentment, "Mother, you always want me to get close to my second cousin. I've been trying to please her for half a year, but all I got was a gold hairpin. She's so stingy. Today, for your birthday, she gave you a pair of fakes. We're all embarrassed together."

Seeing that her daughter couldn't keep her mouth shut, Lady Yongyi immediately sent the servants away.

"My eldest cousin is still the best. Every time I go to see her, she gives me a lot of good things. She's much more generous than my second cousin." Liu Ruojiao said, holding the hand of the lady of the uncle's family, "So what if my eldest cousin isn't my aunt's biological daughter? My second cousin, who is my biological daughter, treats us worse than my eldest cousin, who isn't my biological daughter."

The wife of the Earl of Yongyi felt a slight stir in her heart, as if she was enlightened by these words.

Since ancient times, blood ties have been less reliable than bonds of interest.

She said softly, "Jiaojiao, your cousin loves you, so you should spend more time with her."

After what happened today, Lady Yongyi became even more disappointed with Madam Shen.

She was deeply aware that she could not pin all her hopes on the Marquis' Mansion and had to find another way out.

——

Shen Qingtan, the eldest lady, and Zhao Wan arrived at the corner gate of the Earl's Mansion.

Suddenly, the eldest lady stopped.

Shen Qingtan looked up in confusion, only to see the eldest lady glancing across at the opposite side with a smile on her face.

She followed the eldest lady's gaze and saw a familiar carriage slowly stopping opposite the Earl's Mansion.

The eldest lady smiled kindly: "Tan'er, please go over quickly."

Shen Qingtan subconsciously glanced at Zhao Wan.

Zhao Wan reacted and stood behind the eldest lady: "Second sister-in-law, I will go back with my aunt in a carriage."

Shen Qingtan's cheeks were slightly hot, and her eyes seemed to be soaked with tears: "Mother, Sister Wan, I'll go first."

After saying this, she went down the stairs and walked to the opposite side.

At this moment, the eldest lady's voice came from behind: "Tan'er, I'm borrowing Tingxue and Liuyue for a while. I'll return them to you after returning home."

Shen Qingtan paused, knowing that the eldest lady was in a playful mood and was teasing her on purpose.

She whispered to Tingxue and Liuyue, "Go and serve Mother."

After saying this, she quickened her pace and just as she reached the carriage, she heard the eldest lady's laughter.

She suppressed her shyness, quickly opened the car curtain, and was caught off guard by the man's dark eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.

"You guys are leaving the party so soon?" Zhao Yi extended his hand towards her and said with a faint smile, "I almost missed it."

"Something happened at the Bo's Mansion, so the banquet ended early." Shen Qingtan placed her hand on his palm, followed his force and entered the carriage. Looking at his handsome profile, she asked, "Why are you here?"

Zhao Yi waited until she was firmly seated beside him before releasing her hand. "I heard the princess had arrested a group of people at the Bo's residence when I left the palace, so I stopped by to take a look."

Shen Qingtan believed that the couple had a common interest, so she would not hide anything. She told Zhao Yi in detail what happened at the banquet, and then told him about her plans.

"Before I married you, I had close contact with the wife of the Earl of Yongyi, and I have some understanding of their character."

"Family affection is of little importance to them. What matters more is how much benefit this relationship can bring them."

"They have done a lot of things for the Marquisate over the years, and the Marquisate just gave them a little soup to drink. On the surface, it seems that the relationship between the two families is very good."

"In fact, from Liu Ruojiao's complaints, I can still hear that the Lord and Lady have long been dissatisfied with the Marquis' Mansion because of the uneven distribution of benefits."

"It's just that the Yongyi Marquis' Mansion can't climb up to other high branches. Only the Marquis' Mansion is willing to help them. So the Marquis' Mansion suppresses their dissatisfaction and continues to work for the Marquis' Mansion."

"I warned the Marquis of Cheng'en's wife to be wary of the Marquis's Mansion, but unfortunately they didn't take it seriously. In their minds, the Marquis's Mansion and the Marquis's Mansion were already tied to the same boat, so they weren't afraid of the Marquis's Mansion having second thoughts."

Shen Qingtan rambled on until this point, revealing an unfathomable smile: "The Marquis's idea is not wrong, the Earl's will not betray them. The premise is that the Earl's can't find other backers and can only rely on them."

After listening to the competition between Shen Qingtan and Shen Mingzhu at the birthday banquet, and combining it with Shen Qingtan's words, Zhao Yi knew what she was going to do.

Did she want to magnify Lady Yongyi's dissatisfaction with the Marquis' Mansion, make her second-rate, and then provide the Marquis' Mansion with a backer to push them apart?

Sure enough, Shen Qingtan’s next words confirmed his guess.

"Mrs. Yongyi is very narrow-minded. When she's dissatisfied with someone, no matter what they do, she will constantly magnify their shortcomings and use great malice to speculate on their intentions."

Shen Qingtan said slowly, "The fakes Shen Mingzhu sent have already displeased Madam Bo. If she finds out that the opera troupe was also Shen Mingzhu's doing, she will harbor a grudge against Shen Mingzhu."

"I originally planned to build up Lady Bo's dissatisfaction with the Marquis' Mansion layer by layer to the apex, and then use Liu Ruojiao as a fuse to detonate it."

At this point, Shen Qingtan curved his lips and smiled. "It seems I'm lucky now. The play I wrote accidentally angered the Princess. Given the cautious nature of the Marquis' Mansion, they will definitely sever ties with the Earl's Mansion temporarily before the Princess makes her decision on the troupe, fearing that this incident will affect them."

Zhao Yi smiled slowly. She was very good at controlling people's hearts and analyzed every detail very carefully.

"That gives me an opportunity to take advantage of her." Shen Qingtan tapped his knee with his finger, and said thoughtfully, "Liu Ruojiao can't get any benefits from Shen Mingzhu, and she wants to turn around and curry favor with me. I deliberately ignored her today. With her impatient temper, she will come to me in a few days to seek peace."

Zhao Yi asked: "What are you going to do?"

Shen Qingtan stared at him with her watery eyes: "That depends on whether Second Master is willing to help me."

Her tone was very natural, as if asking him for help was a natural thing to do.

Because she didn't treat him as an outsider.

As soon as this thought passed, Zhao Yi looked at her with a gentle look in his eyes: "How can I help?"