For a moment, the main hall of Nanyuan fell silent.
At least thirty years have passed since the incident, and if we count from the first time the old Duke met his wife, it has been more than forty years.
They couldn't tell the exact date when Madam Yan started to plot and when she started to poison her eldest sister's clothes.
It is indeed impossible to produce any witnesses or physical evidence.
Old Madam Yan had obviously anticipated this, which was why she laughed so arrogantly.
Speaking of physical evidence——
Yan Funing asked the old Duke, "Grandfather, do you still have any of Grandmother's clothes?"
The old Duke shook his head: "When a person dies, his clothes must be disposed of. Not a single piece should be left."
As he spoke, he sighed.
Even if there were any left, given that the dose of poison was small, what can be found after so many years?
The hall fell silent again.
Speaking of witnesses——
Yan Funing looked at Old Madam Hong and said, "Grandma, you and Grandma were close friends, but do you know who else was around Grandma back then?"
"Only A-mi is left," Old Madam Hong said softly. "The people who served your grandmother back then were mostly older than her. Not to mention the nannies and the old maids, even the younger maids were a few years older than your grandmother. Of those who served your grandmother back then, only A-mi is left now."
The old concubine in front of her probably knew all about these situations, so she was not afraid of her and told her directly.
Ami looked at Old Madam Yan excitedly: "Miss Third, Madam has treated you well. You are sisters. How could you have the heart to kill her back then?"
Madam Yan sneered: "I didn't do it because she was not in good health."
"Bah." Old Madam Hong spat. "You're in good health, so why can't you give birth to a child? Yan Min is definitely harmed by you!"
"Even if I was the one who murdered her, what can you do to me if you can't produce any evidence?" Old Madam Yan stood up and said, "I'm tired. I'm going back to the East Garden."
Having said that, he walked away.
He hadn't taken two steps when the old Duke called out to him coldly, "Stop."
Madam Yan stopped and turned to look at her husband: "What's the matter?"
"Without evidence, I can't do anything to you." The old Duke's voice was cold and heavy. "But I will divorce you."
"Divorce me?" Old Madam Yan couldn't believe it. "You and I are both old. In this world, how can you divorce someone at such an old age?"
"Divorcing you has nothing to do with age." The old Duke said in a deep voice, "You have no children, so I should have divorced you long ago."
"My sister said that she wanted you to take care of me for the rest of my life."
Only then did Old Madam Yan panic.
"Haven't I taken good care of you? I've asked you to take care of everything in the mansion, and I've given you the power to manage the household expenses. What about you?" The old Duke's voice rose. "You schemed so hard to be by my side, and that caused Yan Min to leave me so early."
"I already said it wasn't me who killed her." Old Madam Yan growled, then changed her tone to a mournful one. "You and I have been husband and wife for thirty years, and you and my sister have only been together for a few years, a little over ten at most. Isn't our love comparable?"
"cannot."
"No?" Madam Yan laughed bitterly, "So if my sister hadn't asked you to, you wouldn't marry me?"
"right."
"After all these years, do you really have no affection for me at all?" Old Madam Yan was unwilling to accept it.
The old Duke's tone was cold and stern: "You were entrusted by Yan Min. Since you are the aunt of the two children, I have no choice but to accept you. Over the years, I have not had the slightest affection for you. I, Yan De, have only been married to Yan Min from the beginning to the end."
"Hahaha..." Madam Yan laughed bitterly. "No wonder after we got married, you said you didn't want me to have children too soon for the sake of the children. You said you wanted to wait until Cheng'er and Yu'er were older before considering it."
"That's why I drank the contraceptive soup." Old Madam Yan's eyes suddenly gleamed with a fierce light. "You had already planned to prevent me from having your child. If you didn't intend for me to have your child, why did you agree to consummate the marriage with me?"
"What's the point of you saying this in front of the younger generation?" The old Duke was already impatient.
"What's the point? Are you afraid of being criticized by the younger generation if you say it out loud?" Old Madam Yan pointed at the old Duke and scolded him, "Or are you saying one thing and doing another, unworthy of being the highly respected old Duke?"
The old Duke snorted, "If you want to say it, then say it. I originally wanted to save some dignity for you. Since you don't want it anymore, let's talk about what happened back then."
He cleared his throat and pointed at Old Madam Yan: "I haven't touched this woman for three years since she entered the Yan family. The reason I gave was that Yan Min and I have a child who is still young and needs her care."
"The children were becoming increasingly distant from her. I thought it was because they were growing up and realising that their biological mother and aunt were different."
"Father," Yan Yu began, "my brother and I already had memories back then. We were children, not fools, and we could tell when someone was truly treating us well. After my aunt came into the family and became our stepmother, she was fine for the first few days, but later on, she treated us differently. Perhaps we couldn't clearly see why at the time. Now that I think about it, she acted like a loving mother in front of you, but behind your back, she was very harsh and often indifferent to us. Naturally, my brother and I disliked such a person."
At this time, Yuan Lang spoke up: "Yes, I am a child, I know best who is good to me. Even if someone is just smiling to comfort me, I can feel that they are pretending."
"Well said!" Yan Cheng touched his grandson's head and then looked around, "That's what my sister and I did back then."
The old Duke sneered upon hearing this: "Now it's finally clear."
Soon he smiled with relief: "Fortunately, you all have great prospects and have not grown crooked at all."
She raised those two illegitimate sons astray.
After a slight pause, he continued, "I haven't touched her for three years. I didn't agree to consummating our marriage. She drugged my wine."
"She is not worthy of bearing my Yan De's child, so I ordered someone to make her a contraceptive soup."
Madam Yan was very unwilling: "You don't want me to get pregnant with your child, and you keep saying that you have my sister in your heart, but the fact is that you have two concubines. What a hypocritical man."
"Yes, which man doesn't have three wives and four concubines? I do have two concubines, and they were given to me by the emperor. I had no choice..."
He didn't need to explain men's affairs to the younger generations.
After a slight pause, he added, "They are not like you, with ulterior motives."
But he was clear in his mind. One of them was his wife's sister, and he was already coercing himself by being entrusted by his wife to take care of her.
As for other matters, he could not treat her as his wife, even as a woman like a concubine.
Madam Yan asked again, "What happened next? Did I not give you drugs again?"
"I don't know whether you drugged me or not. I only realized afterwards that it wasn't your sister who came back, but you pretending to be your sister." The old Duke clenched his fists. "Also, it's a fact that you can't have children. Don't blame it on those bowls of contraceptive soup."
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