Chapter 237: Dispute (Part 2)

Madam Jiang sobbed several times with her handkerchief covering her eyes, 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 of Langdi before we can talk about this, right? Otherwise, it would be a joke. Fortunately, my father listened to my advice... so those people came to me to argue with me."

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 over 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 has to be done long ago. Fortunately, our family is different from others, and 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."

Shiyi Niang 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, Shiyi Niang became a widow. Not only would the Wang family's industry have nothing to do with her, but she would also have to live by the faces of her younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law in the future. In her words, she did not show any sympathy or mercy for her sister-in-law who had just become a widow. Instead, she asked her brother-in-law to help her. Not only was she heartless, but she was also selfish.

When she came, Xu Lingyi asked her to meet Madam Jiang to see if she could help the Wang family with any difficulties. She also thought that she was exaggerating 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 be frightened by the meaning revealed in her words.

Shiyi Niang couldn't help but smile coldly in her heart. This person was not worth making friends with, let alone entrusting Shi Niang's future to her.

It seems that this matter needs to be discussed carefully 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 First Mistress's mouth slightly twitched, as if she had something to say. Then she thought of what Eleventh Mistress had just told her in the carriage about Xu Lingyi being dismissed. She secretly became anxious.

Judging from Madam Jiang's behavior, she is obviously a very powerful person. If the eldest lady rashly promises something without knowing 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 smart and clever Shiyi Niang was more approachable.

If Xu Lingyi didn't have the ability to help the Wang family, would he force others to do it? She immediately pretended not to understand what Madam Jiang meant, and spoke in front of the grandmother and Shiyi Niang.

"It's really hard for the eldest aunt." The fourth grandmother's tone was full of gratitude. "We are relieved that you are taking care of our tenth aunt."

The eldest grandmother heard yesterday that Xu Lingyi was dismissed from his post. From what Madam Jiang said, it turned out that 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 the matter and agreed. She was about to pass on the message, but she didn't expect the fourth grandmother to speak in front of her. Fortunately, the words were quite decent, so she swallowed the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

Madam Jiang, however, did not 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 was moved when she saw this. She simply continued with what Fourth Lady said: "My Tenth Sister is in a great trouble and she is inevitably confused. It is a blessing in disguise to have someone as smart as the eldest aunt to help her. 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 noble young master and young lady. You are so busy with Tenth Sister's affairs that you probably don't have time to accompany 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 offering to help Wang Lang. 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 it's better than me taking care of them myself. I'm sorry to bother you."

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

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

She was actually dissatisfied with Madam Jiang for negotiating the inheritance issue. If the Luo family didn't have the aunt of Yongping Hou, if the Luo family couldn't help at all, wouldn't Shi Niang be eaten alive by the Wang family? In ancient times, people thought that people who got into lawsuits were not good people. The fourth grandmother actually said that Wang Lang died in disgrace. Although this was the fact, Madam Jiang was still so angry that her ribs hurt 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 handled by the masters. We women just need to listen to your arrangements." She called Jinlian and Yinping over and said, "Why don't I see other people? Your eldest grandmother is very sad right now. You must serve her well. If you embarrass me, all my teachings over the years will be in vain..." She scolded the two of them in a long speech.

Mrs. Jiang felt a dull pain in her chest when she heard it. She always felt that the grandmother's words were full of thorns. She felt more and more disgusted with these relatives of the Luo family. She also thought that if she had not insisted on finding a similar family and did not marry into the Luo family, but instead found a sister-in-law from a poor family, so that Wang Lang could raise her 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. The more she regretted, the more she felt that this marriage was not a good one... She glanced at Shi Niang who was sitting there like a clay bodhisattva, 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 the powerful eldest aunt. Seeing that the fourth grandmother's words offended Madam Jiang, she naturally stepped in 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 got up and left, saying that the eldest wife was unwell and needed someone to take care of her. Madam Jiang invited them to have dinner.

Just then, a servant came to the front yard and said, "The two uncles and the aunt said they would go to the government office to see about the young master's affairs, so the two uncles and aunts can do as they please."

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

Eleventh Lady smiled nonchalantly: "Those relatives of the Wang family are right. After all, she is a married daughter and her status cannot stand."

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.

The grandmother told Luo Zhenxing and others what she had seen and heard in the afternoon.

Luo Zhenxing and the others frowned as they listened. Qian Ming was the first to speak up: "Did you know that the Marquis was dismissed from his post yesterday?"

Except for Luo Zhensheng, everyone else looked calm.

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

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

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

The grandmother nodded and saw them out.

Luo Zhenxing and Qian Ming murmured 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 room 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 anything.

Luo Zhenxing exchanged glances with Qian Ming and said what they had just discussed on the road: "...The Wang family is a bit unreasonable. Our idea is that if it really doesn't work, let Shi Niang take her maids and mother to live 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 a helpless solution. It's easy to deal with while you're alive, but what about after you die?

If the Wang family does not allow Shi Niang to be buried in the ancestral tomb, can 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.

But he had an idea in his mind, but he was not sure 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 he could not 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 ate at Xu's house and went out of the lotus garden with Qian Ming. Xu Lingyi went back to the house.

End of this chapter.