Marquis Zhongyong's words were quite disrespectful to Li Heng.

This also left those around them completely bewildered.

Wasn't it Li Xiangguo's daughter-in-law who was struck by lightning? If she really was the daughter of the Marquis of Zhongyong, then it should be the dead Li Chenghai calling the Marquis of Zhongyong "father."

Why is it Li Xiangguo's turn to call the Marquis of Zhongyong "father"?

Everyone was confused, but Li Heng knew exactly what was going on: his affair with Xie Jinyao had been exposed.

"Xie Bang, you've gone too far!"

He gritted his teeth.

He will never admit to anything involving Xie Jinyao.

Marquis Zhongyong snorted coldly, "You are the one who went too far. You and I were colleagues. Although we were not close in the past, we had no grudges against each other."

But you abducted Xie Jinyao and kept it a secret from me. I have always been clear about my debts and grudges. You have wronged me first, so don't blame me for not showing you any respect.

I've heard it all: the child in Xie Jinyao's belly isn't Li Chenghai's, it's yours.

"Even if Xie Jinyao is an illegitimate child, she was raised by me. Everything concerning her should be decided by me. But your actions are a slap in my face."

Marquis Zhongyong narrowed his eyes. "Or is it that you, this old lecher, have long had your eye on Xie Jinyao, wanting her to be my son-in-law, but are afraid of ruining your reputation, so you secretly hid her in the Prime Minister's residence?"

Li Heng vomited blood.

I was so angry!

He was extremely concerned about his reputation from a young age, and after experiencing the fall of the dynasty and fleeing everywhere, he became even more obsessed with his face and reputation.

He looked down on Shen, that pig-slaughtering woman, but for the sake of his reputation, he endured it and even pretended to be loving with Xiao for many years to explain his decision to marry two wives back then.

He wanted many, many children to continue the dynasty's bloodline, but in order not to be accused of being ambitious and to appear to be a good official, he dared not openly take concubines for many years and could only rely on Xie Jinyao's pregnancy.

The two women were fighting like cats and dogs in the mansion, which annoyed him. For the sake of his reputation, he tolerated their fighting and had to prevent them from making a scene.

He had worked diligently for most of his life and became the head of all officials. The emperor never suspected him, and he was often praised by the people.

But all of that is ruined.

First, he became an ungrateful traitor because of the divorce, and now he is an even more shameless adulterer.

He dared not even imagine how the world would laugh at him behind his back, just like in the old dynasty, when no one treated him and his brother as princes because his mother was just a courtesan, and they mocked him to his face and behind his back.

After escaping, he went through many twists and turns to become Li Heng of the Li family. Although the family had fallen into decline, he was still a scholar in the countryside.

Ignorant people tend to have more respect for scholars, and his adopted daughter-in-law, Shen, also treated him with respect and protection, giving him the dignity he deserved.

After that, he took things one step at a time and got to where he is today. On this journey, apart from the few words of gossip about him betraying his wife when he married Xiao Shi with the help of the Xiao family, he has been quite successful and respectable.

"Xie Bang, I am the current Prime Minister, how dare you insult me ​​like this?"

He coughed up blood and questioned the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor, his eyes filled with barely suppressed murderous intent.

Before the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor could answer, someone whispered rumors about the capital in his ear.

Li Heng clutched his chest and cursed, "Shen, I have treated you well, why do you slander me like this?"

He no longer looked at Xie Tingzhou and the others, and instructed the servants of the Prime Minister's residence, "I have no shame before Heaven and Earth, nor before His Majesty. Today's humiliation is truly unbearable."

The second wife was pregnant with Chenghai's child and was praying for the child's well-being, but unexpectedly, she encountered such a misfortune.

If I can't even protect her body, how will I face Cheng Hai in the future, and how will I stand in the court? If anyone dares to touch her body, may I be crushed first! Let's go!

He adopted the airs of a prime minister, and put on an act of being oppressed by power but unwilling to submit. With the help of his servants, he carried Xie Jinyao's body back home.

Marquis Zhongyong asked Xie Tingzhou, "Does he want the world to condemn the Crown Prince for being aggressive? Will he then say that Madam Shen and the others were also instigated by you?"

Or perhaps the royal family couldn't tolerate him, so they deliberately created these incidents to slander him?

Marquis Zhongyong thought about it and felt it was highly likely.

After all, although they sensed that Li Heng was ambitious, they didn't have much concrete evidence to prove him wrong.

Xie Tingzhou smiled and said, "Xie Jinyao was not kicked out of the Xie family. Even if he dies, he will still be a ghost of the Xie family. If he is unreasonable, then you should seek justice from the common people."

Others might not recognize Xie Jinyao, but Luo Lanqiao and He Ming—one her best friend, the other her enemy—would definitely not mistake her.

Although Roland is simple-minded, she is quite obsessive about some things. She sent someone to the Ming family in the southwest to investigate. Now that the news has been sent back to the capital, it's a good time to ask Li Heng.

Li Heng had also thought of this matter, and on the way back he whispered, "Send a message to the Ming family in the southwest to confirm Mingyue's identity."

Originally, he thought that the southwest was thousands of miles away from the capital, and Xie Jinyao was an insignificant person. With a little arrangement, he could give her an identity.

But who would have thought that things would develop to this point, if the Marquis of Zhongyong shamelessly insists that Mingyue is Xie Jinyao, then as her father, he does have the right to decide the fate of his daughter's body.

Li Heng closed his eyes; he had been careless.

I never imagined that a woman from the inner quarters could cause such a big problem.

"After we get back, we'll find an opportunity to set the funeral hall on fire."

Xie Jinyao's body cannot be kept.

The butler had just replied, "Yes."

Then the guard drew his sword, "Who goes there?"

The butler turned his head and his pupils contracted slightly; it was Su Shi.

"Mrs. Su, what's going on?"

After Su was sent to the nunnery, Xiao instructed the nunnery to administer a slow-acting poison to Su.

Based on the timeline, after ingesting such a slow-acting poison for so long, Su should have been bedridden by now, eventually dying from exhaustion.

How did I end up here?

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