Madam Jiang sobbed several times with her handkerchief covering her eyes after hearing this, and said, "This is not what my father meant. It was all those people's idea. To be honest, I don't advocate the succession now. We have to find the murderer who killed Langdi before we can talk about this, right? Otherwise, wouldn't it be a joke? Fortunately, my father listened to my advice...so those people came to me aggressively to argue." As she spoke, she glanced at Eleventh Lady, "Speaking of which, I am a married daughter. I can control things for a while, but not for a lifetime. Daddy listens to me now because he is heartbroken about Langdi's death. But Daddy is not only a father, but also a descendant of the Wang family. In the face of justice, he dare not be partial. This succession matter will be done sooner or later. Fortunately, our family is different from other families. We still have a title. What's the difference between inheriting without a title and having no heir? Inheriting a title is the emperor's grace, but who inherits it is the Wang family's own business. Fortunately, I am in charge of family affairs. Otherwise, these side relatives would have made a big fuss long ago."

Eleventh Lady found Mrs. Jiang's words very harsh.

She was clearly telling herself that what she cared about most was who killed Wang Lang, and asked Xu Lingyi to help bring Ren Kun to justice. Otherwise, if Duke Mao followed the wishes of those side branches of the Wang family and adopted a son under his name, she would not care. In this way, Shi Niang would become a widow, and not only would the Wang family's property have nothing to do with her, but she would also have to live by the mood of her future brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

In his words, he showed no sympathy or pity for his brother's wife who had just become a widow. Instead, he used this as a threat to force his brother-in-law to help him.

Not only is he heartless, but he is also selfish.

When she came, Xu Lingyi asked her to meet Madam Jiang to see if the Wang family had any difficulties and could help. He also wanted her to exaggerate her own strength. If things were really as she said, she could control the right to inherit the Wang family, how dare those side branches shout at her recklessly... If Shiyi Niang was really a little girl with no social experience, she would most likely be frightened by the meaning revealed in her words.

Eleventh Lady couldn't help but smile coldly in her heart.

This person is not worth making friends with at all, let alone entrusting Shi Niang's future to her.

It seems that I need to discuss this matter with Xu Lingyi.

Eleventh Lady lowered her head and took a sip of tea, avoiding Madam Jiang's gaze.

Since she could hear it, the Fourth Mistress could hear it too. She raised her eyelids and saw the corners of the First Mistress' mouth slightly twitched, as if she had something to say. Then she thought of what Eleventh Mistress had told her in the carriage just now about Xu Lingyi being dismissed. She became anxious in her heart.

Judging from Madam Jiang's behavior, she is clearly a very powerful person. If the eldest lady rashly promises something before she knows that the Marquis has been dismissed, she will probably be caught by Madam Jiang.

If it was normal, she would have kept silent. But compared to Shi Niang, who never interacted with her family, she felt that the clever and alert Shiyi Niang was more approachable.

If Xu Lingyi doesn't have the ability to help the Wang family, is he going to force them to do something?

She immediately pretended not to understand what Mrs. Jiang said and spoke before the Grandmother and Eleventh Lady.

"I'm really sorry for putting my eldest aunt in a difficult position." Fourth grandmother's tone was full of gratitude, "We are relieved that our tenth aunt has you protecting her."

The eldest grandmother heard about Xu Lingyi's dismissal yesterday. From what Madam Jiang said, if Xu Lingyi didn't help the Wang family, she wouldn't help Shi Niang. She was worried that Shiyi Niang would not care about the seriousness of Shi Niang's response, and just when she was about to say something, she didn't expect that the fourth grandmother spoke before her. Fortunately, the words were decent, so she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

Madam Jiang didn't take the two aunts of the Luo family seriously. She cared about the attitude of Eleventh Lady. Or rather, she cared about the attitude of Xu Lingyi behind Eleventh Lady. Therefore, she ignored the Fourth Lady and kept looking at Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady's heart moved as she watched. She simply followed Fourth Lady's words and continued: "My Tenth Sister is in trouble for the first time, so she is inevitably confused. It is a blessing in disguise to have someone as smart as the eldest aunt to help her take care of things. On the first day of the new year, when I went to pay New Year's greetings to your sister-in-law, I met the young master and young lady. You were so busy with Tenth Sister's affairs that you probably didn't have time to spend with them properly. Thinking of this, we are all very uneasy."

When Mrs. Jiang heard Eleventh Lady mention the Jiang family, she froze.

The Jiang family has been dissatisfied with Wang Lang's actions for a long time, not to mention asking for help. This is no secret in Yanjing. Otherwise, why would those side branches be so impatient? But what does Shiyi Niang mean by saying this at this time? Is she politely rejecting her request?

While she was guessing, she said, "Thank you for your concern, Auntie. They have my sister-in-law to help take care of them, and she is more considerate than me personally. I am sorry for the trouble."

"That's good, that's good." Eleventh Lady responded and winked at Fourth Lady.

Fourth Grandma immediately chimed in, "I wonder when Tenth Uncle's funeral can be held? We can also make preparations - Second Uncle is in Shandong, and Third Uncle is far away in Sichuan." As she spoke, she sighed, "Now we don't know how to tell the two elders." Then she muttered in a low voice, "After all, there is a lawsuit."

She was actually dissatisfied with Mrs. Jiang's negotiation on the adoption issue.

If the Luo family didn't have the son-in-law Yongping Hou, if the Luo family couldn't help at all, wouldn't Shi Niang be eaten alive by the Wang family?

People in ancient times believed that people who got into lawsuits were not good people.

What Fourth Grandma said was actually saying that Wang Lang's death was not honorable.

Although this was the truth, Mrs. Jiang was still so angry that her sides ached and veins popped out when someone said it to her face.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, the eldest aunt came over to smooth things over: "These matters will be discussed and handled by the men. We women just need to listen to the men's arrangements." She also called Jinlian and Yinping over: "Why don't I see other people? Your grandmother is very sad right now, you must serve her well, and don't think that you can act lawless and without rules when no one is watching. You all came from my side, and if you embarrass me, my teaching over the years will be in vain..." She scolded the two of them at a long speech.

Madam Jiang felt a dull pain in her chest. She always felt that the grandmother's words were full of thorns. She was getting more and more fed up with the relatives of the Luo family. She thought that if she had not insisted on finding a similar family and not marrying into the Luo family, but instead found a sister-in-law from a poor family and let Wang Lang keep a husband at home, then Wang Lang might not have gone out and messed around, and would not have met Ren Kun, and would not have died young. She also thought that if she had married Wu Niang, at her age, she would have given birth to children long ago, and would not have faced the predicament today. She would not have been so shameless to beg people everywhere.

The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it, and the more she regretted it, the more she felt that this marriage was not a good one... She glanced at Shi Niang who was sitting there like a clay Buddha, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth, feeling anxious and suffocated.

What a useless thing!

The eldest grandmother thought that Shi Niang would still live in the Wang family in the future, so she couldn't offend this powerful eldest aunt. Seeing that the fourth grandmother's words offended Madam Jiang, she naturally had to come out to smooth things over. The fourth grandmother saw it clearly and was happy to sing the same tune with the eldest grandmother. The two of them talked about this and that for almost an hour, and seeing that it was getting late, they left on the pretext that the eldest wife was unwell and needed someone to take care of her.

Mrs. Jiang invited them to have dinner.

Just then, a servant came to the front yard and said, "My two uncles and my aunt said they still need to go to the government office to check on the young master's affairs, so I'll let my two aunts and my aunt do as they please."

This way they will be even less likely to stay for dinner.

Seeing that they were determined to leave, Mrs. Jiang personally escorted them to the Chuihua Gate.

The Fourth Grandma was still sitting in the same car with the Eleventh Lady. On the way, she whispered to the Eleventh Lady: "This lady from the Wang family is too powerful. I'm afraid that the Tenth Grandma will suffer in the future."

Eleventh Lady smiled indifferently: "Those side-branch relatives of the Wang family are right. After all, she is a married daughter and her status is untenable."

When Fourth Grandma saw that Eleventh Lady understood what she meant, she smiled and said nothing more.

After returning to Gongxian Hutong, several people went to Luo Zhenxing's study first.

Grandma told Luo Zhenxing and others what she saw and heard in the afternoon.

Luo Zhenxing and the others frowned as they listened. Qian Ming was the first to jump out and said, "Did you know that the Marquis was dismissed from his post yesterday?"

Except for Luo Zhensheng, everyone else looked calm.

"Yes." Luo Zhenxing said, "I heard about it in the museum yesterday."

"Then you can't drag the Marquis into this matter because of the Tenth Aunt." Qian Ming looked solemn, "At this moment, the Emperor must be angry with the Marquis. The Marquis can't avoid him, how can he stand out for this matter." He glanced at the Eleventh Lady, "Now we can only sacrifice the pawns to save the king."

Luo Zhenxing pondered for a moment and told his grandmother: "Zichun and I will go with Shiyi Niang to see the Marquis. If Dad asks, just say we stayed at Wang's house for dinner."

The grandmother nodded and saw them out the door.

Luo Zhenxing and Qian Ming whispered all the way to Xu's house.

Xu Lingyi was a little surprised to see three people coming together. He asked Shiyi Niang to prepare some wine and food, and invited Luo Zhenxing and Qian Ming to sit in the study in the inner courtyard.

Luo Zhenxing told Xu Lingyi in detail about the Luo family's plan and the Wang family's intentions.

Xu Lingyi listened quietly without saying a word.

Luo Zhenxing exchanged glances with Qian Ming and said what they had discussed on the road: "...The Wang family is being a bit unreasonable. Our idea is that if it really doesn't work out, we can let Shi Niang live with her maids and mother in the small farm that came with her as a dowry. It's just a matter of giving her a few hundred taels of silver a year to support her. Shi Niang can still be happy and carefree."

This is the only solution.

It’s easy when you’re alive, but what about when you’re dead?

If the Wang family does not allow Shi Niang to be buried in the ancestral tomb, will they place her tablet in the Luo family ancestral hall?

To put it bluntly, all the requests made by Mrs. Jiang were directed at Xu Lingyi, and Luo Zhenxing made such arrangements to ease Xu Lingyi's mind.

Xu Lingyi understood it.

It was just that he had an idea in his mind, but he was not sure about it for the time being. In addition, he had not discussed it in detail with Shiyi Niang, so there were some things he did not understand, so it was not easy to tell Luo Zhenxing. He just smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Food and sex are human nature. Eating is the most important thing. Let's eat first."

Luo Zhenxing made his meaning clear, and the stone in his heart fell. He had dinner at Xu's house, and then went out of the lotus garden with Qian Ming.

Xu Lingyi returned to the house.