Fang, who had been listening in the courtyard for a while, was so angry by these words that her head ached. She stormed over and yanked open the half-closed courtyard gate.
With servants watching over her, she hesitated to step out of the courtyard.
Her sharp eyes were fixed on Zhu Yu: "Lu Xiaoyun, you were divorced by His Highness Prince An, and instead of reflecting on your actions in your room, you still have the nerve to come out!"
"I heard that you moved back to Prince An's mansion recently. You've completely disgraced the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. I've never seen anyone so eager to offer themselves up as a concubine."
Zhu Yu's eyes immediately reddened, and tears hung on her eyelashes. She tugged at Lu Yucheng's sleeve, hid behind him, and peeked out half of her head, looking terrified: "Brother, look, the stepmother is scolding me again. I'm so scared. She used to scold me like this all the time."
The others present: "..."
Isn't the transition of facial expressions a little too smooth?
The Duke of Zhenguo, standing with his hands behind his back in the distance: "..."
"Brother, I clearly remember that the imperial edict stated that His Highness Prince An and I were to divorce and that we would each marry someone else. How dare my stepmother disobey the imperial edict?"
With tear-filled eyes, he asked Lu Yucheng, "Did I hear wrong? Or did the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree misread it?"
Qi Yu's lips twitched, and she silently took half a step back. Miss was using this to tease her again.
Upon hearing this, Fang's face turned pale and she trembled all over. This bitch could drive her crazy with just a few words. How come she never knew that this wretched girl had such abilities?
"Lu Xiaoyun, what nonsense are you spouting? Are you trying to kill hundreds of people in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"
Zhu Yu kept shrinking behind Lu Yucheng: "Brother, the stepmother cursed the entire Zhenguo Duke's mansion and said that the emperor is a tyrant who indiscriminately kills loyal officials and their nine generations of relatives."
Fang: "..." Her mind was buzzing, and she really wanted to go up and scratch this bitch to death.
That damned woman, why didn't she take this slut with her when she died!
She was filled with remorse.
Seeing that his mother was about to go crazy, Lu Yuyi quickly interjected, "Didn't my eldest brother and elder sister come to ask my mother a few questions? What is it? Go ahead and ask. Mother is still under house arrest."
It means that you are disobeying your father's orders.
Zhu Yu gave Lu Yuyi a deep look, but decided not to argue with them anymore, and pulled out a list from his sleeve.
“My brother and I have checked my mother’s dowry these past few days. Some of the items listed above are missing. I wonder if the stepmother could tell me where they are kept so that Li Feng can take inventory and put them into storage.”
Zhu Yu peeked out halfway and "carefully" shoved the form into Fang Shi's hand in the courtyard. He then hurriedly retreated behind Lu Yucheng and tightly tugged at Lu Yucheng's sleeve.
He seemed terrified that Fang would beat him.
Lu Yucheng coldly protected his sister. His sister was so afraid of the stepmother that she must have been tormented by her when he and his father were not in Shengjing.
I bet he was either verbally abused or physically assaulted; look how deeply this trauma has been etched into his memory.
Qi Yu tugged at Zhu Yu's sleeve: "Miss, don't be afraid. If anyone bullies you in the future, I'll beat them up!"
Fang: "..."
He glanced at the list, his face darkening, and threw it to the ground: "I've never seen these things before."
These items on the list are meant for my son; how could I possibly give them back?
"You didn't even look closely, how do you know you've never seen it before?"
Fang sneered dismissively, "I don't need to see clearly, I've never seen anything before anyway."
"In my opinion, the late Madam might have just written IOUs. The dowry list looked so impressive, such a thick book, everyone who saw it would say it was a grand gesture. But who knew that the actual contents were all rotten?"
Zhu Yu naturally didn't believe it. The items he found in his second wife's Begonia Courtyard were all high-quality, so how could they possibly be worthless?
Even without these things, Lu Xiaoyun's mother had a grand wedding procession when she married into the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. Was it really necessary to fake it?
But they searched the entire Duke Zhenguo's mansion and still couldn't find it.
The Zhenguo Duke's Mansion has a rich history. Ever since the old lady went to the temple to pray for blessings, Fang Shi has been the only one in charge of the entire mansion. She has money in her hands, so there is no need for her to sell these treasures.
The only explanation is that Fang hid the items somewhere, intending to leave them for her two daughters as dowry so they could hold their heads high in their husbands' families.
Or perhaps it was left to his son, paving the way for his future.
Luo Wanglai reported that Wei's mother went out early this morning.
"Greetings, Your Excellency." Luo Wang had just turned the corner when he saw the Duke of Zhenguo standing to one side with a cold face, quietly listening to the conversation.
"Hmm," the Duke of Zhenguo responded in a deep voice.
Hearing the sound, the group turned around and saw the Duke of Zhenguo walking towards them with his hands behind his back.
"Fang, why aren't you reflecting on your actions in the courtyard? What are you doing out here?" the Duke of Zhenguo coldly demanded.
These past few days, many things have happened in the court, keeping him extremely busy and preventing him from attending to matters in the inner quarters.
Upon seeing him, Madam Fang's face paled, and she hurriedly curtsied, saying, "Your Excellency, Duke..."
Lu Yuyi stepped forward and blocked Fang Shi behind him: "Father, please understand, Mother did not step out of the courtyard gate."
Lu Yucheng bowed to the Duke of Zhenguo and said, "Father, have you brought Grandmother back?"
The Duke of Zhenguo nodded and glanced at his three children: "Yes, your grandmother is tired and has gone to rest."
Lu Yucheng: "Then my son and his younger siblings will go to pay their respects to Grandmother again tomorrow."
The Duke of Zhenguo nodded and looked at Zhu Yu: "I heard from Uncle Qing that you've been taking stock of your mother's dowry these past few days?"
"Yes. Five shops are missing, as well as some unique items and calligraphy and paintings. But the stepmother said that Mother only gave out IOUs and that these things were never there."
The Duke of Zhenguo frowned and said, "Nonsense. Your maternal family is a family of high-ranking officials. How could there be any reason for a dowry to be given as an IOU?"
Fang kept her head down and didn't say anything.
The Duke of Zhenguo then asked, "What happened to the five missing shops?"
Lu Yucheng pulled a stack of papers from his sleeve and handed them to the Duke of Zhenguo: "Father, look, these are the transfer documents, all signed and sealed by the stepmother."
"You sold these five shops? Fang, who gave you that authority? These belong to Xiaoyun's mother. If anyone should dispose of them, it should be Acheng and Xiaoyun. How dare you do this!"
Madam Fang's face paled, and she said in a low voice, "My lord, the young master is not in Shengjing. Xiaoyun, she, she is still young and doesn't understand these things, so I have been doing these things. These shops are in bad locations, and keeping them will only result in losses. It's better to sell them off as soon as possible and turn them into cash."
"My lord, I'm only doing this for the sake of this family."
Zhu Yu pursed his lips and muttered seemingly unintentionally, "So it turns out the stepmother isn't good at managing things."
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