Yun Chuchu had no choice but to shut her mouth and shed tears sadly while holding her handkerchief.

Tsk! Madam Yun narrowed her eyes and sneered in her heart. She had never known before that Yun Chuchu liked to flatter others so much.

It's just asking for trouble.

"Send it back to the merchant? Chuchu, there's one more thing I forgot to tell you. The merchant is gone."

"Now, all the owners of the business, including the goodwill, are in jail awaiting a trial, the business's house has been sealed, and all its properties have been confiscated."

"If your eldest brother hadn't written a divorce letter for you and severed your relationship with the merchant, you would have been unable to escape this disaster."

"The merchant can't send this wild girl back. In my opinion, it's better to send her to the prison so that she can be reunited with her parents."

"Hasn't she been asking for her parents? How can we be so cruel as to separate her from her family?"

What? The business is gone???

Yun Chuchu turned her head instantly and looked at Madam Yun in a daze and shock. Her ears were buzzing as if they were struck by thunder.

"Sister-in-law, what did you say?"

"Didn't Chuchu hear clearly? I said, the business is gone!"

Madam Yun looked at her with clear eyes and repeated every word.

If it were in the past, she would definitely feel sorry for Yun Chuchu's health, afraid that she would be traumatized and unable to bear it, and would never tell her about this.

Even if Yun Chuchu knew about this matter one day, she would definitely not hear it from her.

But now, she suddenly realized that some people deserve what they get.

She should bear some consequences.

What was the point of them taking so much trouble to protect her and care about her?

Yun Chuchu might not appreciate it. She might even blame them for being cruel and meddling in other people's affairs.

It is impossible for a person who has become confused to suddenly wake up.

Sure enough, before Mrs. Yun could continue thinking, she heard Yun Chuchu's accusing voice.

Her eyes instantly turned red and she looked shaky.

"How could this happen? Sister-in-law, did big brother do this? There are more than 200 people in the business, so many of them are innocent. Is big brother really so cruel?"

Oh……

She should be angry, but Mrs. Yun inexplicably wanted to laugh.

She actually laughed out loud, her voice still the same as before, so gentle as if it had no lethality at all, yet seemed to be filled with inexplicable coldness.

"Yun Chuchu, what do you mean? Are you saying that your elder brother framed that merchant?"

Yun Chuchu was stunned and said blankly, "No, that's not what I meant. Sister-in-law misunderstood."

As she spoke, she clenched her fists and looked away, not daring to look Madam Yun in the eye.

Obviously, she felt guilty.

She didn't admit it verbally just because she didn't want to make things too awkward for the time being, it didn't mean she didn't think so in her heart.

Madam Yun couldn't help feeling a chill all over her body, and her heart seemed to have fallen into a cold pond.

A few days ago, my husband went out early and came back late every day for his sister, and he was really worried about her, but in the end, all he got in return was a cruel word.

In her mind, is her husband such a person who abuses his power to harm others?

But if it wasn't for her to vent her anger, why would her husband reach out to Nanzhou Prefecture, which is 2,000 miles away? And why would he, as a Duke, go to pick a fight with a mere merchant?

She had the nerve to say that she was innocent, but what about Zhenzhen? Wasn't Zhenzhen innocent? "Whether it was my misunderstanding or your true thoughts, you know it yourself, but Yun Chuchu, what I want to say is that even if the merchant family was executed, it was what they deserved."

"Over the years, they have used my husband's name to bribe the chancellor of Nanzhou Prefecture, and have been colluding with him to commit all kinds of evil in Nanzhou Prefecture."

"In order to steal the business, he hired assassins to kill the entire Xu family; in order to steal the secret recipe, he framed the Sun family and put all the more than 80 members of the Sun family into jail;"

"In addition, they also forced many merchants who were dissatisfied with them to leave Nanzhou Prefecture with their families. On a daily basis, they bully men and women and treat human lives as worthless."

"That merchant is responsible for countless deaths. You've been married to him for eight years. Do you really know nothing about these things?"

Madam Yun was very angry, and she almost shouted out these words, her bright and dignified face flushed red.

The incidents she mentioned were all discovered when Yun Zheng sent people to Nanzhou Prefecture to thoroughly investigate the businesses some time ago.

Haojing is too far away from Nanzhou Prefecture. Yun Zheng has been busy with wars in recent years, and he was also angry with Yun Chuchu, so he didn't pay much attention to them.

I only helped Shangyu solve some business problems when he wrote to me for help.

Those things did not involve favoritism or abuse of power to harm others, and were not excessive. That was why Yun Zheng helped.

It wasn't a big deal, but I didn't expect the merchants to take advantage of it.

Therefore, Yun Zheng's letter became their capital for bragging everywhere.

They took those letters and widely publicized the love that Duke Ningguo had for his sister and the importance he attached to their family, in order to win over officials who wanted to curry favor with Duke Ningguo.

After some tricks, they actually won over quite a few people, and the prime minister was one of them.

The prefect is an official under the governor and has great power in the Nanzhou Prefecture. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a local tyrant.

He took a fancy to the Ningguo Duke who was behind the merchant, and took the initiative to show his goodwill to the merchant and accept his solicitation. After that, he secretly helped the merchant do many shameful things.

He was responsible for almost everything, including wiping out entire families, stealing secret recipes, throwing people who were against merchants into jail on random charges, shielding merchants from bullying men and women, etc.

If any business got into trouble, he would be responsible for settling it.

Of course, just to cling to the Duke of Ningguo, how could he go to such lengths? In fact, he had received too many benefits from merchants over the years.

Every once in a while, the merchants would secretly send him large amounts of silver and treasures. The two sides were in a real collusion of money and power.

The original intention of trying to curry favor with Duke Ningguo had already been corrupted in every transaction.

The two sides joined forces to become bigger and stronger. The chancellor used money to bribe and win over many officials, completely sidelining the governor.

The entire Nanzhou Prefecture became his one-man show.

But even if the prime minister has absolute power, he cannot stop the people from talking nonsense.

The people privately despised and cursed them, and the bad things they did were spread around.

Yun Chuchu had been married for eight years and lived in Nanzhou Prefecture every day. Madam Yun didn't believe that she had not heard any rumors.

But now, she still said such words.

"Isn't the Xu family innocent? Isn't the Sun family innocent? Are all the people who were persecuted by the merchants innocent?"

"What were you doing when they were persecuted by merchants? Did you speak up for them and complain about the injustice?"

"Yun Chuchu, when did you become like this?"

Hearing Mrs. Yun's angry questioning, Yun Chuchu clenched her hands unconsciously, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on her thin face.

She knew those things.

But isn’t the struggle between merchants always like this? It’s all about who has the stronger backing and who is truly clean and innocent?

A man is innocent unless he is in possession of a treasure. In this world, innocence and weakness are the original sins.

A family that is clean and innocent and has no means will be swallowed up sooner or later. How can it have a foothold?

For example, the Xu family and the Sun family.

Everything a business does is just to strengthen itself. Maybe the means are dirty and unfair, maybe what they do is wrong, but this is also the way to survive.

Yun Chuchu murmured, "Sister-in-law, my brother is also one of the accomplices in the current situation of the business. Does that mean he is innocent?"

"Putting this matter aside, has the blood on the hands of Big Brother and A-Zhan been reduced? How many aristocratic families have been destroyed in their hands for the Yun family to be in its current position?"

After being awarded a title for his military exploits, Yun Zheng betrayed his family and became a knife in the hands of the late emperor.

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

In order to purge the court and maintain imperial power, he destroyed countless families. After the death of the previous emperor, the prince's power declined, and in order to help the new emperor ascend the throne, he fought a bloody path in the court.

How many innocent people are there among them?

So, where is the real justice in this world? Only power is justice.

For those in high positions, even making a mistake is right; but for those in low positions, one wrong step will lead to hell.

Madam Yun: “…”

The Yun family is indeed not clean, but they have not done so many things that would anger God and people just for their own selfish reasons.

She didn't dare to say what an upright and good man Yun Zheng was, but he defended his country, upheld the royal orthodoxy, and protected the country. He did many things that benefited the country and the people, and his achievements were countless.

And what about merchants?

All the evil things they did were for the benefit of their family.

What's funny is that Yun Chuchu actually compared the merchant with Yun Zheng, and said this about her loving brother just for a merchant who almost killed her.

In an instant, Mrs. Yun was extremely disappointed.

She sneered, and her words became sharp, without leaving any face.

"Yes, you are right. The biggest mistake your elder brother made in his life was that he should not have helped you and Shang Yu, nor should he have written a letter to help Shang Yu just to make your life better."

"As for you saying he is guilty, then I have to argue with you--"

"He was awarded a title for his military exploits and made great contributions. He is the most outstanding, brave and skilled general in the Great Wu Kingdom. He is destined to be remembered in history. His merits and demerits will be judged by future generations~"

"Even if he is guilty, it is up to the current emperor to decide. When is it your turn as a merchant's wife to make a comment?"

"What qualifications do you have to say that?"

"For the person who almost killed you, you are talking about your elder brother who loves you and raised you like this. Ha, Yun Chuchu, I think you are really out of your mind."

Yun Chuchu opened her lips, as if trying hard to explain something, but no sound came out.

Looking at the pale-faced woman with trembling lips in front of her, Madam Yun felt angry and sad. Scenes from the past emerged in her mind and her eyes turned red.

"That merchant is really toxic. How could he turn my Chuchu into this in just eight years?"

When she first married into the Yun family, Yun Chuchu was less than five years old. She had two pigtails, was soft and pretty like a porcelain doll, and she pulled her and called her sister-in-law in a muffled voice.

Yun Chuchu likes her very much and depends on her very much. She always wants to sleep with her and stick to her no matter what she does.

Her father was exiled, and she became the daughter of a criminal. Her fiancée's family, the Lin family, chased her to the city gate to break off the engagement.

When she first returned to Haojing, people always laughed at her for this.

Whenever this happened, Yun Chuchu would step forward, stand in front of her with her small body, and glare at the ladies who spoke ill of her.

She said, "My sister-in-law is the daughter of a criminal, so what? She is not the one who made the mistake. She is the most beautiful woman in the world—"

"Even if she is the daughter of a criminal, she is still a hundred or ten thousand times better than you. You ugly people must be saying bad things about my sister-in-law because you are jealous of her because she is beautiful."

"The Lin family was blind to cancel the engagement, but we should thank them for canceling the engagement, which gave my eldest brother the opportunity to marry such a good sister-in-law."

She also said, "I will remember you. When my elder brother returns victorious, I will tell him that you bad women took advantage of his absence to bully my elder sister-in-law. I will let my elder brother punish you severely."

Whenever someone had a conflict or dispute with her, Yun Chuchu would stand firmly by her side.

Once, she was framed by a noble lady who loved Yun Zheng. In order to save her, Yun Chuchu accidentally fell into the lake and almost drowned.

She blamed herself a lot, but when Yun Chuchu woke up, the first thing she did was not to complain about being uncomfortable, but to comfort her.

She said, "Don't cry, sister-in-law, Chuchu doesn't feel bad at all, really."

She also said, "It's great that my sister-in-law is fine. As long as my sister-in-law is fine, Chuchu is willing to do anything."

At that time, she swore that she would love Yun Chuchu even more in the future, and even if she gave birth to a daughter, she would never surpass Yun Chuchu.

After that, they supported and accompanied each other for more than ten years.

Yun Chuchu helped her with household chores and looked after her three siblings. To her, Yun Chuchu was her aunt, sister, and daughter, a close family member to whom she had no relatives.

Until I met Goodwill, all this changed.

The once obedient, cute, and considerate little girl, now turned into a rebellious person overnight.

She refused to listen to a word they said, and was determined to abandon everything for love and go far away to Nanzhou Prefecture.

But I didn't expect that when we met again, she had become so confused about right and wrong.

"Sister-in-law, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those words that made you sad, and I shouldn't have said that about my brother. I just heard the news suddenly, and I was anxious and said something without thinking..."

Those words made Yun Chuchu feel guilty. She lowered her head and apologized while sobbing.

Her brother and sister-in-law really love her, but she said that kind of thing. She is really not a human being.

"That's all."

What's the point of apologizing?

Once words are spoken, they can be taken away. Madam Yun didn't want to listen to meaningless things. She suppressed all her emotions and looked indifferent and distant.

"Since I have mentioned this to you today, I will tell you all about the situation in Nanzhou Prefecture. Now, except for the merchants, the prefect and his people have all been imprisoned."

"The governor has regained power and is doing his best to collect evidence. Once there is enough evidence, he will be tried and sentenced in public."

"She can't escape execution. Shang Jia has no chance of turning things around. I also plan to send someone to send this bad girl to the Nanzhou prison to reunite with her family."

"As for Chuchu, just rest and recuperate in your house, and don't interfere in the business affairs." (End of this chapter)