Chapter 70 You can't say I'm talking nonsense just because I killed people.
"After Madam Zhang found out that the woman in the painting was your sister, she began to try to find out about your sister's schedule. Originally, given her status, it would have been impossible for her to have access to the Duke's Mansion. But perhaps even God was on her side, or perhaps where there's a will, there's a way. During one of the Treasure Pavilion's new arrivals, she actually saw your sister at the entrance of the Treasure Pavilion and overheard her talking to her close female friends about going to Tianyin Temple outside the city to offer incense in two days."
"She knew this was her only chance, so she bribed a group of beggars, bought them some clothes to change into, and then had them ambush the carriages of the Duke of Yong's mansion on the road to Tianyin Temple. When the carriages passed by, these people launched their attack..."
"Although the young lady of the Duke's mansion is accompanied by guards and maids when she goes out, Madam Zhang has bribed twenty beggars. With their superior numbers, the six guards of the Duke's mansion are naturally no match for them."
"At this moment, Madam Zhang arrived 'just in time' with six other guards. When the beggars saw their patron arrive, they put up a token resistance for a couple of moments, then surrendered and fled in a swarm."
"Afterwards, these beggars took the clothes they had just received and the huge sum of five taels of silver each and fled to other cities. So no matter how thoroughly the Duke searched the entire capital, he could not find their whereabouts."
"Because of this incident, Madam Zhang and your sister became close friends, and later she was able to marry you as she wished, thus climbing the social ladder by marrying you."
In her past life, after she married into the Duke of Yong's mansion, Madam Meng always said that she had climbed the social ladder.
Now, she returns those words to her.
"At first, she was indeed grateful to her husband's older sister and had some genuine sisterly affection for her."
"But it wasn't long before she discovered the trickery in the painting."
"When she saw the deposit worth a million taels on the ticket stub, the gratitude and goodwill in her heart shattered, replaced by intense jealousy and resentment."
"She didn't understand why, even though she had become the heir apparent of the Duke's mansion and your wife, she didn't receive any extra benefits and could only receive a few dozen taels of silver a month, living a very frugal life."
"But this eldest sister-in-law is already married, yet she still receives your wholehearted treatment? A million taels of silver—even if she becomes the Duchess of the State in the future, her total income won't be that much."
"She's psychologically unbalanced."
At that time, the emperor had already ordered the painting to be dismantled.
There are indeed layers in the painting.
But the ticket stub, which should have been hidden in the interlayer, was nowhere to be found.
Moreover, judging from the marks, the interlayer had been removed years ago, which confirms Yu Zhiyi's words.
For a fleeting moment, Madam Zhang considered taking the money with her, but she knew very well that money deposited by important figures like herself would still arouse suspicion if not withdrawn by a specific person, even with the money. She feared that the bank's staff might inform the Duke the moment she left.
She knew that imprisonment wouldn't be the only thing waiting for her, so she had no choice but to suppress her greed and burn the ticket stub.
"But while ticket stubs can be burned and greed can be suppressed, jealousy grows wildly and unrestrainedly like weeds and vines in a dark and damp place, soon becoming a dense and impenetrable dark forest."
“Especially when your eldest sister-in-law returns to the Duke’s mansion, your mother-in-law and husband greet her with smiles, but when they face you, they are full of impatience… The contrast between the two makes your reason tear apart by jealousy.”
“You start to think, if this person were gone, that would be great. Then, your mother-in-law and husband would no longer see that eyesore, and would only see you.”
"The opportunity came soon. Your sister-in-law discovered that her husband was having an affair and returned to the Duke's mansion to complain. At that time, neither the old Duchess nor the Duke was there. Only you, her sister and brother's wife, were in the mansion. Your sister-in-law told you all the grievances in her heart."
“You promised her that you would tell the old lady and the Duke when they returned. And after your sister-in-law left, you did tell your mother-in-law and husband about it, but your words were different from what Miss Zhang said.”
“By using language skills, you made the people of the Duke’s mansion think that after Miss Zhang got married, she only had her husband in her heart and no longer had her own family. But when you were in front of Miss Zhang, you made her feel that she was a married daughter who had been poured out and was no longer valued.”
"Over time, the prejudices between the two sides deepened."
"Later, both sides realized something was wrong and wanted to confront each other in person. Coincidentally, just before the two sides were to meet, Ms. Zhang's father-in-law had an accident, and her family asked her to help get him out of trouble."
"Miss Zhang only knows that her father-in-law is in trouble, but she doesn't know what happened. The Duke's Mansion, on the other hand, knows that her father-in-law was corrupt and lawless, and was personally ordered to be beheaded by the late emperor. There's no way he could be released! But they don't know that their daughter and sister don't know either."
So the two sides talked past each other, naturally unable to reach an agreement, and the meeting ended on a sour note.
"The matter was not accomplished, and Miss Zhang's father-in-law was sentenced to prison and executed a few days later."
"This incident caused Miss Zhang's status in the household to plummet, and her husband's family guessed that she was not valued by her own family, so they began to abuse her without restraint."
"At first, she would try to return to the mansion to report the news, but Madam Zhang was always on guard. She had already sent people to monitor various intersections. Once she discovered Miss Zhang's people, she would immediately send her own people to drive them away."
"After a while, she gave up hope."
"Later, she discovered that her husband was having an affair and wanted to bring the mistress's son into the house and raise him under her name. When she refused, her husband attacked her... and then beat him to death."
After Yu Zhiyi finished speaking, the hall became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Countless eyes were fixed on Meng Shi, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Women, in particular, regardless of their outward attitude, felt a surge of admiration in their hearts.
That's the Duke's mansion!
This Meng family member, who came from a humble background, managed to manipulate events in both mansions on her own, making everyone look foolish!
The Duke of Yong's eyes were almost icy cold as he stared at Madam Meng: "Is what she said true?!"
Madam Meng trembled and gritted her teeth, saying, "Master, don't listen to her nonsense..."
Yu Zhiyi said slowly, "You can't say I'm talking nonsense just because you think you've eliminated everyone involved in this matter back then. I never make baseless accusations. Even with something as mysterious as divination, I like to rely on evidence."
She smiled slightly at Meng: "Unfortunately, while you were eliminating all traces of the enemy, you missed a witness."
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