Chapter 88 Chapter 88 This vicious woman used to be so fierce...
Jasmine: "I was just trying to trick the Fourth Young Master's wife. If the Old Madam asks about it later, remember to tell her the same thing. We absolutely mustn't create any further complications. Don't let anyone know that Datu and the others followed us here."
Shancha gasped, "Is it Tao'er that Datu and the others were investigating?"
"I was startled awake in the middle of the night, but when I woke up I heard nothing. I felt uneasy, so I went to look for Big Rabbit."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"You're already asleep. I might as well go by myself instead of wasting my energy."
Jasmine knew this trip to Xuzhou wouldn't go smoothly, so she brought Datu and the others along. After leaving the mansion, Jasmine quietly had Datu keep a close eye on everything going on there.
Datu and the others had done many errands for her and were all experienced. This time, without Jasmine saying much, they had already found out a lot of information.
Jasmine didn't know Tao'er was a spy at the time, but Datu and the others followed the clues and found out that Tao'er had a relationship with Mr. Xu. That's when Jasmine asked Datu to investigate Tao'er.
If you don't ask, you won't know that Tao'er's parents and brothers are actually controlled by Xu Erye's people.
Then what else is there for Jasmine to wonder about?
After the letter paper had been dried in the sun for three days and pressed in the book for three days, it looked almost the same as before, so the old lady took the letter box to find the elders and others.
This time, the old lady also called Mr. Xu to talk things over.
Facing the elders' surprise, the old lady explained that her maid had been bribed by Master Xu to destroy the letter. She then added that she had found an antidote to the potion and had finally managed to restore the contents of the letter.
"This is impossible!" Master Xu said firmly.
The old lady said: "Second brother, are you saying that it is impossible for me to restore the letter? How do you know it is impossible?"
Master Xu chuckled. "Don't try to fool me. I've heard of the potion you mentioned, that it can dissolve ink, but I've never heard of it reappearing after dissolving. You're clearly making this up out of thin air. I'm afraid this letter doesn't even exist. The one you have is definitely fake!"
The old lady clutched the letterbox tightly, the flesh on her face trembling slightly. Jasmine couldn't bear to see the old lady's cowardly look. The greatest advantage in defeating the enemy is confidence and strength.
Jasmine didn't move, but stood there and said, "Whether it's true or not isn't up to Second Master to decide. Let the elders see and they'll know."
Neither hurried nor slow, cool and arrogant, yet powerful.
Everyone looked at Jasmine.
Including the last time and this time, including the previous time at the Marquis' Mansion, no one had ever looked at Jasmine straight in the eye. Master Xu and Xu Fang knew Jasmine, and they also knew that she was now the sought-after wife of the Duke.
Anyone else would have bowed and scraped and fawned upon seeing the Duke's wife. Only the Marquis' Mansion knew that their relationship with the Duke's Mansion was completely severed and that it was impossible for them to gain anything from it, so they simply pretended not to see it.
On the two occasions at the manor, the elders didn't see Jasmine at all and just thought she was a little girl brought by the old lady.
At this moment, Jasmine suddenly spoke, and her voice was particularly arrogant. Everyone noticed her and wondered who she was.
After all, no maid is so ignorant of the rules. She holds her neck straighter than anyone else, looks down on everyone, and speaks in a loud voice.
The elder asked the old lady, "Who is she?"
Before the old lady could open her mouth, Jasmine introduced herself: "I am the legitimate wife of Duke Yan."
The elders all looked unhappy. The first elder asked the old lady, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
The old lady said: "I am here to talk about something, not to play. What is there to talk about?"
"But..." The Great Elder wanted to say, but she is the Duke's wife.
The Xu family's fortune has been declining year by year, and they have only relied on the title of Marquis to support them over the years. With the support of Duke Yan's Mansion, the Xu family has been able to remain stable until today.
The illegitimate son of Marquis Xu Wu offended the old lady and claimed that the Xu family could live forever without the old lady. Before the old lady proposed to take back the east warehouse, the elders still hoped that Master Xu could go to the Duke's Mansion to say a few good words and reconcile with the old lady.
But when the elders learned that the old lady wanted the east warehouse, how could they agree?
The East Treasury is the heart of the Xu family. Although it is managed by the direct descendant Xu Wuhou, this does not mean that he can allow the Xu family's lifeblood to be handed over to a woman who married out! To an outsider!
Right now, only the Great Elder was still worried about the fact that Jasmine was the Duke's wife. How could he neglect the Duke's wife? The Xu family and the Duke's Mansion were relatives.
The Great Elder was about to order someone to prepare a feast, but was stopped by the Triangle Eyes Elder: "What's the use?"
These three words made the Great Elder give up.
Jasmine held the letter box before the Great Elder and said, "Great Elder, please confirm this. Is it written by the old Marquis himself?"
The Great Elder took the letter silently. After reading it, he was shocked. He looked up and said to the other elders, "The letter is indeed written by the old marquis."
Master Xu muttered "Impossible" and stepped forward to inspect it himself. Jasmine stopped him and said, "Master, are you trying to destroy the evidence?"
Master Xu: "But this is impossible. How could the disappeared handwriting reappear? This piece of letter paper must be fake!"
The Great Elder said, "The letter paper is real. The Xu family's letter paper is self-sufficient, and the letter paper produced thirty years ago is very different from the current ones. Aren't the things from thirty years ago in Second Master's hands?"
Master Xu's face was grim as he asked, "Great Elder, do you really have to go against me?"
The Great Elder said, "I'm just being realistic. The letter paper is exactly the same as it was back then, and the creases are definitely the same as the one I saw a few days ago."
Hearing the word "crease", Mr. Xu squinted his eyes and looked at the letter paper carefully, and found that it was indeed the crease.
When the old lady came to the Marquis' Mansion that day, Mr. Xu grabbed a handful of it, and the crease on it was indeed his.
But this is impossible. Master Xu still couldn't believe it. "The handwriting on it must be fake!"
The Great Elder passed the letter to the other elders. Jasmine's heart tightened.
The Great Elder said, "Don't worry, Madam Duke. The elders are all highly respected members of the Xu family and would never do such a dirty thing."
Jasmine thought to herself, who knows?
The elder with the triangular eyes happened to catch her distrustful look and snorted angrily. Just then, the letter landed in his hands. As if afraid of being misunderstood, he carefully unfolded the letter and read through it three lines at a glance. His face suddenly became solemn, but he remained silent.
The other elders took turns taking it and looking at it, but they also said nothing.
The last elder, unwilling to believe anything, sniffed it again and again. It had an indescribable fragrance, but not the scent of ink. His expression grew even more solemn.
Seeing that elder heard this, the old lady was worried, but Jasmine remained calm.
It would be strange if she could smell it. Not to mention that it had been air-dried for several days, she had added pear lemon to the ink to remove the odor and color, so it was even more difficult to smell it.
The letter returned to Jasmine's hands. She carefully folded it and put it back in the box.
"Since the elders have confirmed that this letter was left by the old marquis, please bear witness for my old lady and..."
"You also mentioned your old lady, who is the old lady of the Duke's Mansion, and what does she have to do with the Xu family?" Elder B.
"That's right. The East Warehouse is the lifeblood of the Xu family. How can we let a married woman manage it? Even if Erlang didn't mention it, we would never agree to it." Elder C.
The old lady was furious. "You...how dare you disregard Father's wishes? When Father wrote this letter, you all promised everything. How could you change your mind now?"
None of the elders spoke.
Only one sentence floated out from the crowd: "This time is different from that time."
The old lady looked at the elder, and the elder sighed and lowered his head.
Jasmine was also infuriated by these people's shamelessness. She stood in front of the old lady, gazing intently at the elders, and spoke crisply, "As far as I know, the Xu family was originally founded by the old marquis's biological father, and only then did the Xu family come into being. The old marquis is an only son, so apart from the old marquis, all those who claim to be from the Xu family must be side branches. What qualifications do side branches have to dictate what's going on here?"
Jasmine's voice was high-pitched and shrill, causing all the elders present to frown, with two even covering their ears.
Jasmine walked over to the two elders who were covering their ears and continued, "The old marquis and his son have helped our cousins, and we should all be grateful. But now, not only are they ungrateful, they've even treated the old marquis's last letter like a fart. Even worse, they're even bullying the old marquis' only legitimate daughter! Aren't you afraid the old marquis will crawl out of the ground and strangle you old bastards to death?"
"You are full of filth. How can you be worthy of being the mistress of Duke Yan's mansion?"
"Whether you deserve it or not is not your place to say! You have to hand over the key to the East Warehouse today, whether you want to or not!"
As he finished speaking, a steady stomping of feet echoed outside the guest hall. It was the Duke's Mansion guards, their swords grasped at the hilt, facing the guest hall, ready for battle.
"We can talk it out..." The Great Elder tried to mediate.
Not only were the elders frightened by Jasmine, but the old lady and the fourth young master's wife also glared at Jasmine.
How could they forget that this vicious woman used to be so fierce!
They immediately thought of the incident on the day of the Eighth Princess' birthday when Jasmine beat up the servants in the Commander's Mansion.
How could they forget everything?
That's right, this girl is always pretending. After returning from her border patrol, she became even more humble. They thought she had changed. But it was all fake!
But at this moment, the old lady was not angry, she was just happy!
Second Master Xu said with a pleasant expression, "Madam, you may not know that the elders of the Xu family are not doing this for themselves, but to protect me. Now I am Marquis Xu Wu, and the Xu family follows my lead."
The elders echoed:
“Yes, yes.”
"Yes, that's the truth."
Second Master Xu laughed again and said, "Since the key to the east storeroom belongs to Xu, and I still have it, how can it fall into the hands of others? The Duke's wife has come with my eldest sister this time, and her attitude is so unyielding. Could it be that she intends to use force to force Xu to hand it over?"
This was clearly a trap, and the old lady called out worriedly, "Jasmine!"
Jasmine had already spoken, "The Duke's Mansion's military force is only used to deal with those who commit crimes. The Xu family is not worthy of it. However, if you do not cooperate, I have my own methods."
Jasmine snorted and laughed, "None of the Xu family will ever leave Xuzhou. The Xu family's nephews and nieces..." Jasmine paused, then continued, "You should know what I mean. The elders and the marquis are also my elders. How about this? I'll give you two days to think it over. If no one comes to our door by the evening of the following day, then we'll each show our abilities from now on."
Jasmine turned back to look at the old lady: "Mother, if you have nothing to say, why don't we go back."
The old lady nodded obediently, as she had never done before. Supported by Madam Qian, she followed behind Jasmine.
The group left Xu's manor in a swagger.
Leaving behind a group of old Xu family members frothing in anger.
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