An elderly woman dressed in fine clothes stood at the door, glaring angrily at Marquis Zhongyong.

"Your fists are for defending yourself, not for your woman. No matter how wrong she is, you shouldn't lay a hand on her."

The visitor was none other than the old lady of the Marquis of Zhongyong.

"Mother misunderstood; her son didn't hit her."

Marquis Zhongyong offered an explanation, but seeing that the old lady was followed by many people, he was unwilling to admit that he suspected Liu of having an affair.

So he stepped forward to help the old lady up and changed the subject, asking, "Why are you back, Mother?"

The old lady snorted, "If I hadn't come back soon, I don't know what would have become of the house."

She asked the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor, "You said you weren't hitting her, then what were you doing?"

Marquis Zhongyong dismissed his servants before saying, "A suspicious person has just been discovered on the estate."

"You suspect her of infidelity?"

The old lady asked bluntly.

In front of his own mother, the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage no longer hid his words and nodded.

"Nonsense! She came to the Marquis's mansion before she even reached marriageable age. She and you grew up together as childhood sweethearts, and she even bore you three children. Whatever you doubt about her, you shouldn't doubt this about her."

"Can……"

Marquis Zhongyong was about to speak.

The old lady interrupted him and looked at Madam Liu, "Why don't you tell him that it was a barbarian servant who came on my orders to ask you about the situation?"

Mannu was a female bodyguard by the old lady's side. She was tall and big-legged, looking very much like a man, and she was also quite skilled.

Seeing that the old lady was covering for her, Liu secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said aggrievedly, "I dare not let the Marquis know, I beg you for help."

"My lord is filial; knowing that I troubled you to travel all the way from Qingzhou, he will surely be even more annoyed with me."

That reason is plausible.

But, "Then why are you wrapped in a blanket?"

Marquis Zhongyong asked her.

Lady Liu loosened the thin blanket slightly and knelt on the couch. "Your expression was too serious just now. I was afraid you would hit me."

Before Marquis Zhongyong could discern the truth from falsehood, the old lady admonished, "Bang'er, sometimes what you see is not necessarily true, and what you hear is also not necessarily true."

When I learned of the trouble at home, I was worried that you might be deceived, so I sent the barbarian servant to the manor to find out what was going on.

You know that Mannu is as stubborn as a wooden stake. I told her not to disturb the people in the village, but she even kept it from you.”

She glared at her son, pointing at the room with her finger, "This is a room that even the servants of the Marquis's mansion don't live in. And you've ruined her into this grotesque state. How can you still have such wild thoughts? I think you've gone mad from fighting."

After saying that, he glared at Liu Shi fiercely.

What a fool! At a time like this, she still has the mind to seduce men.

The words that came out were, "And you, what are you doing with your mouth? If I hadn't come back in time, wouldn't we have made a fool of ourselves again tonight?"

She spoke up for the Marquis of Zhongyong, saying, "Remove those people. Making such a commotion in the middle of the night, who knows what absurd things the people nearby will say later."

Marquis Zhongyong saw that Lady Liu was dressed, not disheveled as he had imagined.

He was a filial son who trusted his mother, so he told Chen Qing to stop the search.

The man hidden in the shadows quickly got his chance to escape.

The Marquis of Zhongyong was unaware of this and said to the old lady, "I will have someone prepare a courtyard. Mother, please stay at the manor for the night. I will accompany you back to the manor tomorrow."

The old lady nodded slightly and glanced at Madam Liu. "Mianmian has learned her lesson. She will come back with us tomorrow."

Mianmian was Liu's maiden name.

"No."

Marquis Zhongyong refused without even thinking.

The old lady's face darkened. "Bang'er, are you going to disobey your mother? Mianmian is the wife you welcomed into the family with great ceremony."

She is my savior, and also the mother of your three children.

If word gets out that she farms on the estate, what will outsiders think of your mother and children?

If she hadn't risked her life to shield her mother from a knife attack back then, her mother would have been dead long ago. People would say her mother was ungrateful, and her children would lose face.

Marquis Zhongyong knew that the old lady was always grateful to Lady Liu for saving her life, so he was quite lenient with her.

However, Liu's actions had crossed his bottom line, and he had no intention of backing down. He told the old lady everything Liu had done.

This was the first time her son had rejected her.

The old lady was displeased, but she knew the Marquis Zhongyong well; as filial as he was, once he made up his mind, not even eight oxen could pull him back.

She stood up and slapped Liu across the face.

"Although you are my daughter-in-law, I have always treated you like my own daughter. I entrusted the Marquis's mansion to you because of my trust in you, and this is how you manage the household and raise the children?"

She did not plead for Liu again and left the room with a disappointed look on her face.

Marquis Zhongyong followed closely behind.

Once outside the courtyard, she sighed, "Bang'er, come for a walk with your mother."

Marquis Zhongyong was surprised.

Since Liu came to live with the old lady, the old lady has always favored her and has never spoken harshly to her. This time, however, she actually hit her.

It is clear that the mother also felt that Liu was completely wrong; the mother was, after all, a reasonable person.

Thinking this to himself, Marquis Zhongyong helped the old lady up.

The old lady reached out and took his arm, looking very tired, and leaned slightly against him.

"Bang'er, it's my fault for misjudging people and letting her become your second wife. I'm very sad."

"It has nothing to do with my mother."

Marquis Zhongyong comforted her, not thinking it was the old lady's fault, and never intending to take his anger out on her.

Instead, she said with concern, "My mother's health is not very good to begin with, and she must have suffered a lot on the way here. She needs to take good care of herself when we get back."

Mentioning the Marquis's residence, the old lady asked, "I heard that Ye Zhen is now in charge of the household?"

But I remember she grew up in the countryside, and seemed a bit dull; she wasn't good at these things.

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