Chapter 48 Chapter 48 No one can take away what belongs to her.
Elegant Garden.
"Mother, how did this happen? Will this be traced back to us?"
Of course, there is a reason why the eldest young lady came to serve the old lady.
Not only did their plan fail, it might also cost them half their lives!
The old lady hadn't looked better since she came back. The court doctor came to see her and simply told her to relax and made her a bowl of calming soup.
The tranquilizing soup from that night was now in front of the eldest young lady's wife. She said she would feed the old lady, but she couldn't drink it.
The eldest young lady did not insist any longer.
The old lady hadn't expected the eldest young lady's wife to have the nerve to question her, so she asked back, "You weren't the one who found him? You were the one who guaranteed that Chang'an would be safe. You said it was done. So what's going on now?"
"It's true that I found the person, and Chang'an also showed up to cooperate, but I didn't expect those two fake assassins to actually come. Oh, and it was Chang'an who said he had arranged for the fake assassins, so I didn't worry."
The old lady: "Could it be that Chang'an deceived you?"
Nanny Qian interrupted, "Madam, I don't think so. Chang'an was seriously injured today. I'm afraid he didn't expect it. Maybe the fake assassin he hired was replaced by the real assassin."
The old lady nodded repeatedly: "What you said makes sense."
The eldest young lady's wife said uncertainly, "I will go and ask Chang'an tomorrow."
"Young Madam, you absolutely cannot do that," Madam Qian said anxiously. "If Young Madam goes to Chang'an now, and those two assassins betray Chang'an, it will definitely implicate us."
"That makes sense." The old lady stared at the eldest young lady, "You are not allowed to go."
The eldest young lady's wife was anxious: "Then we should do nothing?"
The old lady slowly calmed down and thought, "Today, the Grand Princess tortured the assassin. Her methods should not be underestimated. The assassin only confessed that they were ordered by the Wenyuan Marquis' Mansion, and said nothing else. So, the assassin probably didn't know we were using Chang'an. As long as we don't say anything, and Chang'an doesn't say anything, who will know?"
The eldest young lady's wife: "Don't you need to remind Chang'an?"
The old lady said, "No need. Chang'an accepted your favor. If this matter is exposed, his fate will be the worst. He dares not."
The eldest young lady's wife anxiously spoke of something more pressing: "Mother, you saw today that the Lu family mother and daughter have no regard for us at all. We can't let the Duan family's daughter marry into the Duke's Mansion, or we're all doomed. Do you have any other ideas?"
That day, the old lady came up with the idea of killing the Duan family girl, so she called the eldest young lady to discuss it. As expected, the eldest young lady said that she had someone.
The old lady's idea is to use the beauty trap to seduce the girl from the Duan family. If the girl from the Duan family falls for it, that would be great. If she doesn't, they can create the illusion that she has been fooled and still make the marriage fall through.
The Duke's Mansion would never want a Duke's wife with such a tainted reputation. And His Majesty would never allow the Duke to marry such a woman.
The eldest young lady was wealthy, and she immediately persuaded Chang'an, the head of Ruyi Tower, who was hiding from his debts due to gambling. Chang'an heard that the eldest young lady could pay off his debts, not to mention seducing noble ladies, even to frying him in a frying pan.
Chang'an was very easy to talk to and said that he would take care of the assassin.
Everything was planned well, and we just had to wait until we arrived at the Grand Princess's Mansion for the show to begin.
But no one expected that the fake assassin would become a real assassin!
Not only did the girl from the Duan family not fall in love with Chang'an, but she also saw the grace of the Duke.
This is really a headache.
The old lady had long guessed that the daughter of the Duan family would not be on the same page with them after entering the Duke's Mansion. On the contrary, she would instigate the Duke to draw a clear line between himself and his stepmother and brothers.
At the Grand Princess's residence, the attitudes of the Lu mother and daughter already showed that the old lady's guess was correct.
Once the bride enters the house, it will probably be time to separate the families.
At present, the reason why their families can still be invited to attend the banquets of high-ranking families is because they are part of the Duke's Mansion.
But if the house is divided, like the Third Master, who would still remember the Third Master and his family who lived in a remote corner?
By then, let alone the first and fourth wives, even the old lady who continues to live in the Duke's Mansion will definitely not have a comfortable life as before today.
Not only her own face, the old lady was most worried about the Fourth Master. The Fourth Master was just a Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel who was not favored by his superiors.
She couldn't just watch the Fourth Master become useless. She hadn't been able to help the Fourth Master obtain the title, but at least she could rely on the protection of the Duke's Mansion and stand at the forefront of the Daming Palace!
The eldest young lady's wife thought of the miserable situation after the separation of the mansion and was extremely anxious: "Mother, please think of a way."
The old lady said firmly, "Don't worry, the Duan family girl can't get in. If all else fails, find two more people to kidnap her. As long as she's missing for one night, the marriage will be off."
"Good idea, mother!"
The old lady spoke of Jasmine again: "That concubine, I'm afraid we've all misjudged her."
Aunt Qian was surprised and asked, "Why does the old lady say that? I think Aunt Moli is very well-behaved and sensible."
The old lady glanced at Madam Qian and continued, "Today she ran away for no other reason than to take care of herself. If she were truly well-behaved and sensible, she would have come to greet an old woman like me, but she ran away quietly."
The eldest young lady hesitated: "But didn't the Duke say that my aunt went out to call someone?"
The old lady glanced at the eldest young lady's wife again. "Why would she go to that remote slope corridor to call for help? I'm afraid she just happened to run into the Duke and came back. Besides, we have always thought this concubine was stupid and useless, but today I finally understand that she is good at hiding her shortcomings. She is very clever."
The eldest young lady's pale face was filled with confusion: "Really?"
Aunt Qian asked in shock, "Does the Duke know about this? Should I remind him?"
The old lady said: "That also requires the Duke to trust us. It would be easy to say if we have evidence, but we don't have any. And the concubine slept with him. Without absolute certainty, we can't do this lightly."
The old lady reminded Madam Qian again, "You old thing are not allowed to go to the Duke on your own. I know the Duke has taken good care of your son, but if anyone messes up, even if it's you, I will never forgive you!"
Madam Qian knelt down with difficulty and replied, "Oh, my lady, I have been with you for decades. I am yours. How dare I?"
The old lady ignored her and said, "Perhaps the concubine will be of great use in the future. Let's leave it this way for now."
If it was true, as she suspected, that the concubine was not a good person, then she must be pretending to be happy, but in her heart she might be very unhappy about the Duan family's daughter marrying into the family.
After the old lady lay down that night, she considered whether to use her concubine to drive away the girl from the Duan family first, or to go all out and pay someone to kidnap the girl from the Duan family.
But after much thought, she found neither option difficult. The former was difficult to exploit, and the latter was too dangerous. As dawn approached, the old lady finally hit on a good idea.
No one knew how it happened, but rumors started to spread in Kyoto that Chang'an, the leader of Ruyi Tower, was in love with Duan Zhi, the eldest granddaughter of Minister Duan. In order to win the favor of Miss Duan, Chang'an fought with the assassin and was seriously injured.
It’s a pity that this pair of mandarin ducks were ruthlessly exposed by Minister Duan.
The story is told vividly, even including the exact number of times the two met and how many times they met.
When the news reached the Duan family, both Shangshu Duan and his eldest son believed it to be true. It was only after Duan Zhi swore to heaven that she did not know Chang'an and had no feelings for Chang'an, and even said that she was only willing to marry Duke Yan, that Shangshu Duan believed that this was really a rumor.
It's just that the news spread so quickly that the source of the rumor could no longer be found.
Minister Duan slammed the table and ordered his eldest son and his wife to go to the Duke's Mansion to explain.
On the second day, Mr. Duan and Mrs. Lu went straight to the gate of the Duke's Mansion.
The couple knew that the Duke was busy, so they chose to come in the evening.
The guest hall in the front yard of the Duke's Mansion.
Master Duan and Madam Lu bowed to the Duke and Madam. After they sat down, Master Duan spoke, "My father suggested I come here today. I'm sure the Duke and Madam have heard the rumors about my daughter and Chang'an."
"I've heard a little bit about it," the Duke said. "I trust Minister Duan. I also trust Madam Duan. I hope you can take word back that this matter is not of concern to me and the old lady."
Mr. Duan hadn't expected the Duke to be so easy to talk to. He and Mrs. Lu stood up and bowed repeatedly to express their gratitude: "The Duke's heart is as clear as a mirror. It is my daughter's blessing to be able to enter the Duke's Mansion."
"No need to be so polite, sir."
The old lady was secretly resentful. She had worked so hard to plan this and spread the news, but in the end the Duke just said "I don't care"?
The old lady wanted to slap her head.
How could she forget that if the news got out, it would have a bad impact on the girl from the Duan family. But if the Duke did not believe it, after half a year, the rumor would be debunked and the girl from the Duan family would still be able to marry into the Duke's Mansion.
It seemed she had to make another decision. If all else failed, she could only resort to a risky strategy.
"There's one more thing." It was Lu who spoke.
Mrs. Lu looked at the old lady with a sincere expression, "I want to apologize to you. Earlier at the Grand Princess's residence, I was negligent and didn't greet you in time. Please don't blame me."
What?! Did she hear that right?
The old lady looked at Lu, unsure whether Lu was real or fake.
Then Madam Lu continued, "I sincerely apologize to you, Madam. I beg for your forgiveness."
Mrs. Lu was not stupid. That day at the Grand Princess's Mansion, the old lady cried on Duke Yan's shoulder, and the Duke's filial piety did not seem fake.
In other words, the relationship between the mother and son is not as bad as rumored outside, and it can even be said to be much more harmonious.
In this way, before Duke Yan expresses his opinion, their Duan family must not interfere with the mother and son.
If she offended the old lady and the Duke of Guo did not side with the Duan family, her daughter would suffer in the Duke's mansion. If things got worse, the marriage might even fall through.
For the Duan family, and even more for her daughter, Lu knew she had to go and apologize today. And it had to be sincere.
Mrs. Lu smiled and continued, "When Zhi'er comes into the family, I will teach her well and make her serve the old lady well. She will pay her respects to the old lady every morning and evening and show her filial piety. This child is also very honest. If she is negligent in any way, I hope the old lady will understand in the future."
The old lady could tell that Mrs. Lu's smile was genuine. Having just figured out how much money she'd spend to kidnap the Duan family's daughter, she decided to wait and see if the Lu mother and daughter were truly as sincere as they claimed.
The old lady nodded calmly at Lu, "Madam, you're right. There were so many people around at the time that both you and I were caught up in the situation. It's understandable. If Zhi comes into the mansion, I will treat her like my own daughter."
"With the old lady's words, I feel relieved."
Before leaving, Mrs. Lu seemed to have just remembered to hand over a letter to the Duke.
"My daughter is ignorant and insisted on writing this letter. If there are any inappropriate parts, I hope Your Majesty will bear with me." Uncle Duan said, and bowed with his butt sticking out.
The Duke took the letter and smiled warmly: "It's okay."
After the steward sent the couple away, the Duke asked the old lady, "Zi Fu just found out that the Lu family and their daughter didn't pay their respects to you at the Grand Princess's residence that day. Can you blame me?"
The old lady said honestly, "It was a little unpleasant at the time, but now that it's been talked about, it feels better."
The old lady looked at the Duke with a smile and said, "Duke, just focus on state affairs. There's no need to worry about such trivial matters."
"Yes." The Duke said this with an extremely solemn expression, bowing to the old lady. "It is my fault that I am unfilial and have caused my mother so much trouble."
The old lady waved her hand: "No need to say more as a family, go quickly."
"Zi Fu, please take your leave."
...
The Duke and his concubine shared the letter written by the lady of the Duan family.
Jasmine didn't want to see it, but she couldn't help being curious. Most importantly, her grandfather didn't think there was anything wrong.
Jasmine came close to her grandfather and watched together.
The letter from Mrs. Duan was obviously written by herself. The words seemed to come alive, as lively, bright and straightforward as she was.
In the letter, Madam Duan explained the rumors outside, saying that she had nothing to do with Chang'an and that she did not like a man like Chang'an.
"... Duke, Chang'an is handsome, but compared to you, I prefer a man like you who is so skilled, so calm, and so tough! You are so rare, and you are so easy to get along with. I misunderstood you before, thinking you were such an inhuman and vicious person. Even when you said it, I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes at the Grand Princess's Mansion that day. You were like a god descending to earth to save me, and then you took away the big insect that fell on my concubine without blinking an eye. It was a poisonous insect! I admire your bravery and fearlessness. I wonder if your hand is better now?"
Jasmine noticed the awkwardness on her grandfather's face again. The Duke hurriedly folded the letter and tucked it under the other documents.
Jasmine asked, "Shouldn't you reply?"
The Duke then remembered that someone had written him a letter, and the last sentence was about concern for him, so he had to reply out of courtesy.
Upon hearing what his aunt said, the Duke nodded solemnly: "It's due."
So the Duke began to grind ink and write a letter, and asked his aunt, "How should I reply?"
Jasmine asked in return, "Master, what do you want to say to Madam Duan? I'm afraid that if I teach you, Madam Duan will see through it."
"Jian'er is right." The Duke pondered for a while before finally putting pen to paper. "I am fine. Thank you Madam Duan for your concern."
Jasmine landed on her grandfather's right hand as he was writing. She didn't notice it at the time, but only felt it when she came back and held her grandfather's hand.
But the Duan family lady actually knew it at that time. If this man wasn't dull, any other man would be moved by the Duan lady's attentiveness.
Facing the Duan family lady, Jasmine felt more than a little ashamed.
It is quite.
She seemed to be inferior in every way. In appearance, family background, temperament, she couldn't compare at all.
She was lucky enough to have met the Duke earlier than anyone else, while the Duke was unlucky enough to have met a malicious and jinxed woman like her.
But despite this, Jasmine didn't want to let go.
Good luck is her destiny. Since God has given her this opportunity, she must do everything she can to seize it.
No one can take away what belongs to her.
"Is this the end? Do you want me to write a few more sentences?"
"Does Jian'er think that I'm being perfunctory?"
Jasmine nodded unceremoniously.
The Duke couldn't think of anything else to write. He pondered for a long time, holding the pen, and finally turned to his aunt for help: "Thank you for your help."
...
The next day, Mrs. Duan was so excited when she received the letter.
But when she saw the content of the letter, she couldn't laugh anymore.
Mrs. Lu happened to be nearby and asked, "What's wrong?"
Madam Duan: "The letter was not written by the Duke."
Mrs. Lu took the letter and glanced at it, her expression grim. "Indeed. The handwriting is the Duke's, but how could he be so meticulous? I'm afraid someone must have taught him."
"Yes, Aunt." Mrs. Duan said without hesitation.
In the letter, the Duke replied to her, thanking her for her concern and saying that his hand was indeed bitten by a big insect that day.
"...At first, I didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a minor wound and no need to make a big fuss. But the wound was discovered by my aunt, who insisted on calling in the court physician. When the court physician arrived, he cleaned out the pus and blood, applied healing ointment, and wrapped it in white cloth..."
Not to mention that the Duke is a warrior, no one else can write such trivial words.
Mrs. Duan was upset: "Mother, the Duke actually showed the letter I wrote to Auntie."
She didn't mind the Duke having a concubine. After all, in this capital city, which man didn't have one or two concubines? And compared to others, the Duke was quite good.
"That day at the Grand Princess's residence, I noticed that the Duke treated that concubine with some special affection. I never imagined it would reach this point. The Duke knew you were his future wife, yet he didn't shy away from the concubine at all."
Mrs. Lu said worriedly, "We never heard of the Duke having a favorite concubine before, so we thought she was just an ordinary one. But now it seems that may not be the case."
"Mother, do you know that Madam Sun was divorced and returned home, and was later imprisoned in Jingzhao Prison? Grandpa and Dad both said it was Madam Sun's fault, and the Duke couldn't be blamed. But the reason was that the Duke took the initiative for Madam Sun's sake. We should have thought of it earlier."
Mrs. Lu hugged her daughter and said sadly, "Zhi'er, don't be confused. This is a marriage granted by His Majesty, and your grandfather personally approved it. If you..."
"Don't worry, mother. I won't." Madam Duan put aside her unhappiness and only wanted to be happy. "The Duke was very kind to me that day. Maybe he is the easygoing man that grandfather said he was. He was kind to me, but I just moved into his backyard. Didn't mother say that the Duke was very filial to his stepmother who had no relatives or friends?"
Looking at her daughter's bright smile, Mrs. Lu felt a pang of pain in her heart. When had her daughter ever suffered such injustice?
But there was nothing they could do; they had no say in this marriage. No matter how much suffering they had to endure, they could only swallow it.
Mrs. Lu could only nod in agreement. "Zhi'er is right. Perhaps we've all misunderstood the Duke. He's just easygoing with everyone. Mother saw how filial he was to the old lady, so she wanted to curry her favor. We need to try a different approach in the future. I'm afraid the one we considered before won't work."
Lu had previously considered that the Duke would sooner or later separate from the other people in the Duke's Mansion, and the old lady was her stepmother with no relatives or friends. She thought that the Duke would definitely not agree with her, so as the Duke's wife, Duan Zhi would of course help the Duke to get rid of the old lady's control.
But now it seemed that the Duke had feelings for his stepmother. They could no longer consider their previous plan. Pleasing the old lady was the first step, and then they had to gain her trust.
Mrs. Lu added, "Right now, we must please the old lady, and then we can act according to the circumstances."
The Duan family's wife nodded: "Don't worry, mother, I know what I'm doing."
Mrs. Lu: "As for that concubine, let's just pretend she doesn't exist. As long as the Duke doesn't embarrass you because of her, we'll turn a blind eye."
The Duan family's wife continued to nod: "Don't worry, mother. I won't bring shame to you, my father, or the Shangshu Mansion."
...
"The more I think about the letter I wrote to Madam Duan, the more I think Madam Duan will see through it."
Jasmine continued, "How could Master write such detailed words? Even if Madam Duan can't see it, Mother Duan will definitely find it. Master, what should we do?"
The Duke was wiping the iron spear he had just practiced with. When he heard what his aunt said, he turned around and looked.
My aunt looked panic-stricken, her posture was awkward, and she seemed to be very self-blaming.
The Duke stepped forward, spear in hand, and said, "It's alright. We've discovered it. It's no big deal."
Jasmine was waiting for these words.
At this time, she couldn't show too much happiness. In order to divert her grandfather's attention, she stepped forward and snatched the red tassel spear from her grandfather's hand.
"Master, let me help you put it away."
"It's heavy, you can't lift it."
Before the Duke finished speaking, the red tassel spear had been accidentally snatched away by the concubine with her quick eyes and hands.
The Duke did not expect his concubine to have this trick.
Sure enough, seeing that Tieqiang and the concubine were about to fall in front of him, the Duke quickly reached out, grabbed Tieqiang with one hand and put his arm around the concubine's waist with the other.
Jasmine refused to believe it, so she stood firm and said to the Duke, "Give me one more chance."
As he was speaking, the Duke saw the concubine's two claws reaching for his iron spear again. This time, the Duke held on tightly and did not let go.
But the concubine's eyes were full of pleading, and the Duke didn't know why the concubine would get into trouble with this gun.
Seeing that his aunt insisted, the Duke had no choice but to compromise. He warned: "Be careful."
This time, Jasmine not only used both hands but also used her shoulder to hold the spear. When the Duke let go, she simply took a step back and managed to steady herself.
She pulled the iron spear from the ground like pulling a carrot, and in that position, holding the iron spear in her arms, she walked into the corridor with one foot high and one foot low.
The Duke didn't want to laugh at his concubine, but he couldn't help it at the moment.
He followed his aunt into the house.
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