After court, Mr. Wen was very busy with some official business.
When he went out for lunch, he was startled to see Li Laosi waiting outside the yamen. He had heard that something had happened at the academy, so he quickly came over.
Grandma Li didn't stand on ceremony with him. She sat down and explained the whole story, including her guesses.
Mr. Wen frowned and couldn't help but shake his head. "My good friend is second to none in terms of talent and learning, but he is so engrossed in poetry and books that he doesn't pay much attention to his affairs. Now, he has probably been deceived by his concubine, which is why such a disgraceful thing has happened."
After saying that, he stood up and said, "Auntie, please wait a moment. I'll go and see. It would be best to bring Jia Huan back. This matter involves the reputation of the Peng family's daughter, so please don't spread it around."
"Mr. Wen, rest assured, only our family knows about this. But we don't know how many people around that concubine in the Peng family were involved."
The old lady also got up to see him off, and instructed him, "In addition, the whole thing today was Jia Huan's misbehavior. When Jia Huan comes back, we will find out the truth and the Li family will not shirk the responsibility he should bear."
Mr. Wen understood and quickly went to the front of the academy, gave his name, and was soon let in.
After having lunch and waking up from a nap, Mr. Peng asked his servant for his usual herbal tea, but the servant said that it hadn't been delivered from the backyard, which puzzled him.
After all, his beloved concubine would personally cook it every day and chill it in the well, waiting for him to wake up from his afternoon nap so he could drink a cup to refresh himself before studying.
Just as he was about to instruct his page to ask, Mr. Wen arrived.
"Shaoyuan, what brings you here today? Don't you have any duties at the yamen?"
Mr. Wen waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down, and said bluntly, "Qizheng, dismiss the servants, I have something to tell you."
Mr. Peng was surprised, but still instructed his page to stand guard at the door.
Mr. Wen then explained the matter, and finally sighed and said, "It's not that I'm biased, but you know I met the Li family when I was in trouble. From the old lady to the three-year-old child, everyone in the Li family is of good character and has a very upright family style. They would never lie for no reason or wrong anyone. After all, the Li family still has two children in the academy."
"So you need to ask about this matter carefully. See if your legitimate daughter has been wronged, and see if your concubine is two-faced and has done something behind your back. Otherwise, if she becomes more and more reckless and causes trouble, ruining your reputation, how will you be able to stand in the academy?"
Mr. Peng remained silent for a long time, clearly indicating that this matter had a great impact on him.
After all, the concubine usually takes good care of the legitimate daughter, shows him concern and care, and even gave birth to his son. How could she possibly act like this behind his back?
But it's unlikely that friends and the Li family would conspire to lie just to slander one of Peng's concubines!
He took a deep breath and told his page to fetch the steward, who had been recuperating from an illness.
The housekeeper is only in his forties and has been with Mr. Peng since childhood. However, he has been frequently ill in the last two years, so the household affairs, both big and small, have been handed over to the second wife in the back courtyard.
Upon hearing that the master wanted him to inquire about some matters, the steward immediately perked up and left on the spot.
Soon, the old woman locked up in the Li family shop was brought back to the academy in a sack, and the young lady and Jia Huan from the Peng family cellar were also sent to the study...
Zhao Yuru and Li Laosan were busy preparing the ingredients for dinner, but their eyes were fixed on the academy gate, wishing they could turn into the autumn wind and sneak inside.
Grandma Li led her granddaughter to the end of the street to buy sticky rice cakes. When she saw them looking like this, she told them, "Don't worry too much, be careful not to cut your hands."
Jiayin also took a sticky rice cake and held it up to her third uncle and aunt's mouths, saying, "Third uncle, eat this! Aunt, eat this! This is Jiaxi's favorite sticky rice cake!"
Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru, not wanting to disappoint their little niece, each ate a piece.
Old Li had chopped a large pile of firewood in the backyard. Wiping away his sweat, he stepped forward and joked, "Has Fu Niu'er forgotten about her father?"
Jiayin quickly ran over, found the biggest piece in the box, and fed it to her father.
"Daddy is a strongman, so he has to eat big sticky rice cake!"
Everyone laughed, and at that moment, the academy gates finally opened.
Mr. Wen led the way, followed by a dejected Jia Huan, and they finally emerged.
Zhao Yuru could no longer hold back, rushed up and grabbed Jia Huan, then went back to the backyard of the shop.
As everyone greeted Mr. Wen and followed him inside, Zhao Yuru's hands began raining down on her son. "I'll beat you to death, you useless thing! Are you trying to drive me crazy?! You always come to the academy, and I thought you were just being diligent, but it turns out you're after that girl!"
"Tell me, what bad things have you done? If you're even one word short, I'll break your legs!"
Zhao Yuru was genuinely angry; as the saying goes, the deeper the love, the harsher the criticism.
Back then, she and Wu Cuihua married into the Li family one after the other. Wu Cuihua became pregnant first and started to act arrogantly and shirk work.
Although her mother-in-law was fair and reasonable, she still had to take on a lot more work.
Fortunately, she became pregnant a few months later, and then she felt she had a foothold in her husband's family.
It can be said that Jia Huan is her support and source of confidence.
Over the years, although Jia Huan was not as smart as Jia Ren, nor did she have Jia Yi's innate superhuman strength, she was honest, hardworking, and loved by everyone in the family, which made her happy.
Who would have thought that her honest son, whom she had always trusted, would actually be secretly having an affair with someone else's daughter behind the family's back?!
Today's incident was caused by the greed of the Peng family's concubine, who planned to extort money from the Li family. Mr. Wen also did his best to help, otherwise, I don't know how things would have ended!
Jia Huan knelt on the ground, enduring her mother's beatings and scoldings without uttering a sound.
Seeing that the bluestone in front of her brother was wet with tears, Jiayin quickly stepped forward, hugged her brother's head, and pleaded for him, "Third Aunt, please don't hit him, let my brother speak, he definitely didn't mean it!"
The pain of hitting a child is felt in a mother's heart. Zhao Yuru couldn't bear to do it, so she stopped and sat down to wipe away her tears.
Grandma Li stepped forward to help her grandson up, sat him on a small stool, and asked, "Huan-ge'er, Grandma believes you're not a bad child. Tell Grandma, what exactly happened between you and the Peng family girl? Did you do anything wrong?"
Jia Huan looked up, her eyes red and choked with sobs, "Grandma, I didn't, I didn't have an affair with Miss Peng, I just... I just felt sorry for her. She was mistreated by the concubine and never had enough to eat. I bought her silk thread, and she would secretly make the threads at night, which I would then sell to buy food."
"I've never been close to her, not even held her hand! She's a good girl, well-educated and reasonable, while all I can do is cook. I'm not good enough for her!"
After listening carefully, the old lady finally felt relieved.
At first, the grandson felt sorry for Miss Peng and did his best to help her. Later, as they spent more time together, he developed feelings for her but also felt inferior, so he couldn't help but have more contact with her.
Finally, the covetous concubine discovered this and seized the opportunity to extort money from the Li family.
Zhao Yuru understood, raised her hand and slapped her son twice more, then told him the price offered by the Peng family's concubine, and scolded, "You idiot, you think you're being discreet, but you've already been discovered!"
Jia Huan's face turned bright red, filled with shame and resentment.
She felt ashamed that her carelessness had led to her family being coerced, and she was furious that the concubine had mistreated her beloved girl and was now scheming against her!
Grandma Li ignored her grandson's muddleheadedness and turned to ask Mr. Wen, "Mr. Wen, what did the Peng family say? What should be done with that concubine?"
Served at midnight~~
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