"The Duke dared not refuse to accept the women given by the Emperor, nor did he dare not give them official titles, so he gave them all the status of concubines."
"From that time on, my wife's health began to deteriorate and she was unable to serve me in bed."
"The two concubines became pregnant one after another. After the lady found out, her health became even worse."
"Later, both concubines gave birth to sons, and Madam's condition became worse and worse."
After hearing this, the faces of the people present, especially Yan Cheng and Yan Yu, turned pale.
In their hearts, father and mother love each other.
But after hearing what the old woman said, they were no longer sure.
Yan Funing comforted them, "Dad, Aunt, Grandfather, and Grandmother, only they know the details. What this old lady said now is what she saw and heard at the time, not what Grandpa and Grandma thought."
Yan Cheng nodded.
Yan Yu said, "We should really listen to Father." He turned to look at his brother, "Brother, where is Father?"
"Di Feng has already gone to look for him. Let's wait." Yan Cheng said.
Seeing that the young masters of the past were now people of noble status, the old woman became afraid and trembled with fear, not knowing whether she should continue.
"Just keep talking," Old Madam Hong said. "Regarding what happened between Old Man Yan and your young lady back then, no matter what the circumstances, tell us everything you know. Your young lady has been blinded by her younger sister and can't see through her thoughts. Old Man Yan was busy with official duties back then, so how could he have the time to meddle in the inner workings of the harem? Tell us everything you know, and those present will make their own judgments."
The old woman replied, "Those two concubines are always respectful to Madam, visiting her morning and evening every day."
"But Madam was holding back, feeling uncomfortable and down. Furthermore, for some unknown reason, Madam's health was deteriorating. A few years later, she passed away."
"Before the Madam left, the Third Miss came to see her. They talked for a long time in the room. We were not allowed to hear what they were talking about, and this old servant does not know either."
"Later, the Madam summoned the Duke to her bedside, saying that she owed her third sister. She was to blame for her third sister's advanced age and her two children needing care. She thought it would be better to let her own sister take care of them, as she was their aunt after all."
"The Duke disagreed. He said that if his wife died, he would not remarry."
"Madam was worried that the emperor would grant only one child, so she expressed her concerns and said that the birth of her twins was largely due to the contribution of her third sister."
"At that time, the Madam begged the Duke with tears in her eyes, and only then did the Duke agree."
The old woman sighed deeply: "That's what happened in the past."
Yan Funing pondered for a moment and asked, "Then why did you leave the Duke's Mansion?"
The old woman said, "After the Third Young Lady entered the mansion and became the second wife, she dismissed all of us ladies with various excuses. I even begged her to let me stay with the young master and the young lady to take care of them, but she refused."
The hall fell silent.
After a long while, Yan Yu asked, "What do you think?"
Yan Bojian raised his hand: "What I can think of is that the old woman fell in love with our grandfather when she was young."
"Yes, living in the Duke's Mansion is the best proof that she loves our grandfather." Yan Xinghe analyzed, "How could an unmarried woman live in her sister and brother-in-law's house for such a long time?"
Yan Funing thought for a moment and then asked the old woman, "Old lady, when she came to take care of your wife, who was in charge of her meals?"
The old woman replied, "The Third Miss takes care of everything, no matter how big or small. She oversees everything from food and clothing to daily necessities for the Madam, and sometimes even feeds her herself."
Yan Bojian speculated, "Could it be that she poisoned our grandmother's food?"
"When Madam's health started to deteriorate, we maids became more vigilant and secretly checked the food, but nothing was found."
"What about clothes?"
"Clothes, can clothes be poisoned?" The old woman frowned.
"If food can be poisoned, then so can clothing. Even if the food isn't poisoned, it's possible the tableware has been smeared with poison." Yan Funing narrowed her eyes. "Or perhaps even the jewelry you wear can be poisoned."
The old woman suddenly stood up and knelt down towards Yan Cheng and Yan Yu.
"What?" Yan Cheng frowned.
"This old servant has remembered something. After you two were born, every time Madam held you, you would break out in a rash. It was only when Miss Three took you away that everything was fine. Madam had wanted to feed you herself, but because of the rash, she had to hire a wet nurse." The old woman cried, "Perhaps, perhaps Madam's clothes were poisoned."
Yan Yu slapped the armrest of the chair and said, "That must be the case." He turned around and ordered the nanny beside him, "Go to the East Garden and bring the old bitch here!"
"Yes, Princess."
Mammy responded and left.
When the nanny went out, the old duke came over with his hands behind his back, accompanied by Di Feng.
As soon as he stepped over the threshold, everyone who had been discussing animatedly fell silent.
Even the little guy Yuen Long snorted at him.
Seeing this, the old Duke was confused: "What's going on? Everyone has such stern faces. Who are they showing this to?"
No one paid any attention to him.
The old Duke looked at Yan Funing and said, "Girl, you speak."
Yan Funing stood up and introduced, "Grandfather, this old lady was my grandmother's personal maid. Do you still remember her?"
The old Duke narrowed his eyes and called out, "Ami?"
Ami immediately bowed deeply to the old Duke and said, "Duke, this is my old servant. This old servant is Ami."
"We are all old." The old Duke went to sit next to his son and daughter, and motioned for Ami to sit down as well. "Tell me how you have been these years?"
Ami sat down politely, a smile finally appearing on her face. "I was already thirty years old when I left the Duke's Mansion. All these years have passed, and I've lived a relatively good life. Back then, I was introduced to a hunter and married. When others couldn't afford to eat, we had meat to eat."
At this time, Yuan Lang said, "Great-grandfather, we were just talking about great-grandmother, why are you talking about something else?"
"So how did your conversation go?" the old Duke asked directly.
Ami said, "I will tell you everything I know. We just talked about how Madam entrusted the Third Miss to you, and then we talked about the suspicion of poisoning..."
Everyone started talking at once.
There were so many people and the noise was chaotic. Yan Yu raised her hand to signal for silence. She then asked, "Father, when my brother and I were born, our mother held us and we broke out in a rash. Did you know that?"
"Is this really true?" The old Duke frowned, "Your mother never told me about this."
Ami added, "It's not that the rash breaks out every time, so we neglected the clothes."
"The matter is roughly clear now. It just depends on whether the man from Dongyuan admits it." Yan Funing said lightly.
Yan Bojian clenched his fists. "How disgusting! She coveted my brother-in-law from her teens to her twenties. During those years, was she always plotting how to kill her own sister?"
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