Minhu held the little body in his arms and burst into tears. He felt guilty towards his deceased wife and his little daughter.
Min Jia cried for a long time, and finally uttered two words, "Dad—Dad!"
The sound is still unpleasant and unclear.
Minhu was very excited and agreed, "Hey, my dear daughter, Daddy heard it."
Min Jia cried for a while and gradually became tired and sleepy. Mother Liu came in and carried her to the bedroom.
Minhu, Xu Lanyin and Butler Hao went to the west room for a secret talk.
Min Hu sat at the table, lips pursed tightly, veins bulging on his forehead and the backs of his hands, and he kept pounding the table with his fists. He hated Madam Min, felt guilty towards An and his daughter, and felt ashamed to face Xu Lanyin.
Butler Hao stood beside Min Hu, trying to minimize his presence. He knew that the master had been outstanding since childhood and had always been confident. This time, he had fallen flat on his face, and even his wife and daughter were involved... The eldest lady was so mean, the eldest grandmother was really innocent, and the young master was even more pitiful.
Xu Lanyin sat on a chair nearby, head bowed, and remained silent. She was very angry and didn't want to persuade Minhu.
After a silence of more than half a minute, Minhu took a few deep breaths, suppressed his rage, and said calmly, "The mastermind behind Bihe, Chunfen, and Chunzhi must be Xiao Wenshi." He then asked Butler Hao, "Do you know where those three girls went?"
She didn't even have the honorific title of "Madam", and was simply called Xiao Wen.
Butler Hao bowed and said, "I remember that after the accident with the Grandmother, Chunfen and Chunzhi's parents begged the Grandmother, saying that they were old and wanted to be taken home to marry. The Grandmother agreed. As for Bihe, because she was involved in that incident, the Grandmother had her beaten with twenty sticks and sold her."
Min Hu was furious again. It was obvious that everyone who knew the truth had been taken away. If he had paid a little attention, he would have noticed the clues, but he had overlooked them. This not-so-clever method of committing a crime had actually been carried out in the home of the Minister of Justice and the then fifth-rank prefect, and it had remained undetected. What a irony!
Minhu said, "The people who bought Bihe must have been arranged by Xiao Wenshi. Have them secretly found. As long as they are alive, find a way to lock them up in the other courtyard for secret interrogation. Watch out, I will personally interrogate them and keep their families under close surveillance... Remember, the people who did these things must be thoroughly investigated and cannot have any connection with the capital."
Butler Hao bowed and replied, "Yes."
Minhu then said to Xu Lanyin, "When I was young, I relied heavily on Xiao Wenshi. I really thought of her as my own mother. Even if she didn't have a son of her own, I would still respect her like my own son. Leaving Anshi in the capital was just a gesture. She should have known my feelings for her, so why did she act so cruelly? She made Anshi bear that shameful reputation, and she wanted to drive her to death. She even didn't let Jiaer go..." He was so angry that he slammed his fist on the desk and roared in a low voice, "She is so hateful and has lost all conscience."
Xu Lanyin said, "The reason why Madam Min can't have children is not you, and you shouldn't be blamed for everything. Besides, even if you are blamed, this kind of hatred wouldn't reach the point of driving someone to death. For her happiness in the second half of her life, the most advantageous thing for her to do is to get along better with you, make you feel guilty, and ensure that she lives a good life for the rest of her life... She is a smart person, otherwise she wouldn't have been so good to you before. She did this because she wanted to make you unhappy and miserable for the rest of your life. The one she really wants to take revenge on is you. I think she must have some other hatred towards you that you don't know..."
Min Hu shared the same suspicion and said, "I've never done anything to offend her, so why would she hate me?" After a moment's contemplation, he added, "We'll have to investigate what happened to her in the Wen family. My mother's brothers are all serving as officials in other places, and several of my relatives in the capital are illegitimate children. I'll send someone to find my eldest uncle, who is serving as the Right Councillor in Shaanxi. Shaanxi is close to Shuzhong, so I'll have someone find Zhu Jiang and inquire about the situation. I'll get to the bottom of this, clear An's name, and make young Wen pay the price. As for Jia'er, I'll have to ask Miss Xu to take care of her."
Xu Lanyin said, "I will do my best. Besides, Jia'er has learned the truth and knows that her mother is innocent. Her heart knot has been untied. What remains is how to guide and train her to speak and live a normal life."
Min Hu also instructed housekeeper Hao to turn away anyone who came to visit Min Jia during this period, saying that she was in poor health and not suitable to meet guests.
After the discussion, they stood up, and Minhu fled first. His incompetence had been witnessed by so many people, and he didn't want to see anyone now, especially Miss Xu. Moreover, he had already sensed that Miss Xu's tone of voice when speaking to him today was a bit cold.
Xu Lanyin lay in bed, unable to sleep. Accompanied by Zhao Xingchen's snoring, she thought about the Min family, then about the Chai family, and about Minhu, the man.
In the book, both the author and the characters hold the Minhu in high regard. In real life, Zhao Wu, the common people, and the servants of the Min government all hold the Minhu in high regard: wise and talented, noble and virtuous, gentle as jade, dedicated to serving the people, and compassionate.
But for such a good man, his wife was extremely unfortunate. She was not happy when she was alive. Not to mention the love between husband and wife, she didn't even have a little trust. In the end, she died without dignity.
Xu Lanyin was even more reluctant to get married. Thinking back to her past life, she had experienced the feminist movement, the women's liberation movement, the idea that women could hold up half the sky, the years of "women rise up and sing," while the men who held up the entire sky had been squeezed into just half the sky... She had never found a man she liked to marry.
Now, in this feudal society where men rule the world, I've personally experienced the scumbag Gu Wangchen and heard about the scumbag Chai Zhengguan. Even the most high-quality Fujian households are like this...
Man, it's so boring.
Xu Lanyin curled her lips.
Oh, by the way, there is also Xiao Zhao, who cooks honey on the stove. He is a good boy, and his wife will enjoy a good life in the future.
Xu Lanyin thought about it until the second half of the night before falling asleep.
The next day, the chirping of sparrows outside the window woke her up. When she opened her eyes, it was already bright outside, probably the end of the Chen hour.
She quickly sat up and saw Zhao Xingchen looking at her and smiling.
When Zhao Xingchen saw his aunt sitting up, he also sat up and said with a smile, "The sun is shining on my butt. Aunt is still sleeping like me."
The chess master in the hall heard the noise and walked in, saying with a smile, "Seeing that the young lady was sleeping soundly, I didn't have the heart to wake you. Young Master Ting has already gotten up and gone to the upper room."
"Could Jiaer be up too?" Xu Lanyin asked.
The chess master smiled and said, "She's up. Sister Miaoyu said that Jiajie got up on her own at the beginning of the morning."
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