Chapter 32 Old Case
The Dingbei Marquis's residence and the Xiangyang Marquis's residence were originally close family friends.
Old Lady Pei's original surname was Song, and her given name was Huiyi. She was the aunt of Song Yu, the current Marquis of Xiangyang.
The Xiangyang Marquis's family had few descendants. Song Yu had only one son, Song Jinghe. His younger brother, Song Feng, was a military general who had served under Pei Lin's grandfather. Unfortunately, he died young, leaving behind only two orphaned daughters.
The current wife of the Marquis of Xiangyang, Madam Fan, has no daughters. She has always cherished her two nieces as the apple of her eye. If it weren't for Song Feng's last wish, she would not have agreed to let the Song sisters marry into the Marquis of Dingbei's mansion one after the other.
Lady Da Song was the wife of the late Pei Bing, the heir apparent of the Marquis of Dingbei, and the mother of Pei Jing.
Xiao Songshi, whose given name was Song Miaoyu, was betrothed to Pei Zhun since childhood. She went to Lin'an in the sixth year of Xuanren and married Pei Zhun in Jiangnan.
Upon hearing the shocking news that Song Miaoyu had suffered a miscarriage and nearly went into premature labor due to Pei Zhun's keeping of a mistress, Madam Fan disregarded the approaching darkness and immediately had a carriage prepared, rushing to the Marquis of Dingbei's residence to seek justice for her niece.
"If your family doesn't want to marry her, you should have said so earlier! My Miss Yu doesn't need your Pei family. Why humiliate her like this?"
“My Yu’er has always been frail, and now she almost had a premature birth. What if something happens to her? Tong’er is already gone, and my second brother, who died young, only has this one daughter left!”
When Wen Lingzheng arrived at Rongshou Hall, she heard Fan Shi's tearful voice coming from the inner room.
As soon as she saw her, Granny Chang, who had been guarding the courtyard like an iron fortress with a group of maids, rushed to greet her, "Madam, you've finally arrived?"
"What's the situation now?" Wen Lingzheng asked Yaoguang to stand guard at the courtyard gate in place of Granny Chang. As she followed Granny Chang into the courtyard, she inquired about the progress of the matter.
Granny Chang sighed, "Madam Fan has only been here a short time... but actually our family only just received the letter from Lin'an... This prospective son! He's really... muddle-headed!"
"Has the Marquis returned from the Forbidden City yet?" Wen Lingzheng frowned and quickened her pace.
Granny Chang shook her head and replied, "Not yet."
"Quickly send someone to wait for the Marquis outside the palace gate. As soon as he comes out, tell him what's going on here and urge him to return as soon as possible!"
"Okay, I'll have someone take care of it right away."
Suddenly remembering something, Wen Lingzheng turned back and instructed, "Granny Chang, you have a high reputation in the mansion, and we need you to guard the courtyard right now. Try your best to prevent the news from getting out. Tell Yaoguang to go to the school and watch over Jingge'er. Make sure he doesn't get involved in these things."
Realizing her oversight, Granny Chang quickly agreed and escorted Wen Lingzheng to the door before going to take care of her business.
When Wen Lingzheng entered the room, Madam Fan was wiping away tears with a handkerchief, while the second matriarch, Madam Cheng, was sitting on a round chair to the side with Buddhist prayer beads in her hand. Her eyes looked very sorrowful, but her face was extremely stiff, which made Wen Lingzheng's heart tremble for some reason.
Her own son made a big mistake, and she wasn't worried at all?
Wen Lingzheng didn't understand Cheng's reaction for a moment, and couldn't help but recall her past life, but in the end, nothing came of it.
Old Madam Pei was rendered speechless by Madam Fan's questioning, clutching her chest, unable to utter a word.
Wen Lingzheng took out the calming medicine that Old Madam Pei often took from a box on the side, and then brought a cup of water before stepping forward.
"I only just learned that my aunt was visiting. I have failed to greet her properly. It is truly my oversight as a junior."
"But my grandmother is old, so please allow me to hear the cause and course of events. If it is indeed my third brother's fault, the Marquis and I will certainly give the Xiangyang Marquis's mansion an explanation."
Wen Lingzheng handed the medicine and water to Old Madam Pei and said, "Grandmother, don't worry, you must take care of yourself."
It seemed that only then did Madam Cheng come to her senses, and she hurriedly advised, "Grandma, it's all Zhun-ge's fault. You mustn't let that bastard hurt you!"
Upon hearing Wen Lingzheng's words, Madam Fan also stopped crying slightly. She subconsciously looked at the young girl in front of her and thought of her son Song Jinghe's evaluation of her.
—He looks like a teenager, but has the heart of a seventy or eighty-year-old.
Before she came, she didn't believe it, but now, seeing how calmly Madam Wen soothed Old Madam Pei's emotions, cleverly gave her a solution, and cleverly stalled for time to wait for Pei Lin to return, she had no choice but to believe it.
—This is a difficult young woman.
Fan made this conclusion almost instantly.
"Does Madam Wen not believe me?" Madam Fan slammed Song Miaoyu's letter onto the table. "Take a good look for yourself! See if my family has wronged your third young master!"
Fan's voice clearly carried barely suppressed anger.
After receiving the letter, Wen Lingzheng examined it carefully and finally understood the gist of the matter. She couldn't help but curse Pei Zhun in her heart for being more trouble than he was worth.
As soon as Pei Lin stepped out of the palace gate, he saw Xing Yun looking anxious. Upon asking, he learned that Pei Zhun had caused a great disaster. His face instantly darkened, turning as black as the bottom of a pot. He no longer cared about picking out rouge for his wife, but took the horse reins and hurriedly rushed back to the mansion.
"Has Madam Wen seen it clearly?"
Madam Fan stood up, looked at Wen Lingzheng, and said without backing down, "Although our Xiangyang Marquis's Mansion is not as prosperous as your Dingbei Marquis's Mansion, we are not to be insulted like this!"
Wen Lingzheng took a deep breath and handed the letter back to Madam Fan, her words earnest.
“This matter is indeed my third brother’s fault. If my aunt is willing to believe me, I will arrange a marriage to go to Jiangnan to handle this matter properly, and then bring my third brother back to Shengjing. I will make sure he has no further dealings with that mistress and will give the Marquis of Xiangyang’s mansion and my third brother’s wife an explanation.”
Upon hearing Wen Lingzheng's words, Madam Fan's expression softened.
Old Madam Pei added, "The people who serve by Zhun-ge'er's side cannot be kept. They have been indulging him in causing such trouble and have even helped keep us in the dark."
Old Madam Pei was clearly furious. The coldness in her words made Madam Cheng narrow her eyes, but in just a moment, she regained her sorrowful expression.
Wen Lingzheng, who was secretly watching her, felt her premonition growing stronger.
Perhaps out of love for her son, Madam Cheng couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Zhun'er hasn't even finished reviewing his books at the academy yet! Wouldn't bringing him back disrupt his studies? Besides, that servant boy is one thing, but the child in his mistress's womb is also Zhun'er's flesh and blood!"
Upon hearing Cheng's words, Fan's anger, which had just subsided, suddenly flared up again.
She stood up, sneered several times, and disregarded all etiquette, pointing at Madam Cheng and cursing, "Does my Yu'er not carry your Pei family bloodline? You've gone too far!"
“I’m making this clear right here today: if Pei Zhun insists on marrying that mistress, then let him divorce Yu’er! No matter how much my Xiangyang Marquis’s mansion falls into ruin, it will never be unable to support a girl.”
Cheng's words reignited the anger that had just subsided in Old Madam Pei. "Shuwen, what are you saying!"
Although she had always known about Cheng's doting on Pei Zhun, she chose to turn a blind eye because Cheng had remained a widow and had not remarried.
She never expected Cheng to say such a thing. Overwhelmed with anger, she smashed the cup beside her to pieces. "What a tragedy! What a tragedy!"
Old Madam Pei's face was gloomy as she shook her head repeatedly. When she looked at Madam Cheng, her eyes were full of disappointment and anger.
“I told you long ago that boys should grow up by falling and getting hurt! But you dote on him and won’t let him go to the northern military camp with his uncles and brothers to train. Instead, you keep him in Shengjing City to study some worthless books.”
"He didn't learn anything from his studies, but instead started keeping a mistress. And you, as his mother, are taking his side and speaking up for him? Do you really want to push your son into a fire pit and ruin his life?"
Madam Cheng dared not refute Old Madam Pei's words, so she could only keep making excuses, saying that Pei Zhun was just young and ignorant, which was why he made such a big mistake.
That string of protective words even made Wen Lingzheng laugh in exasperation.
Pei Zhun is only one year younger than Pei Lin, and he has now reached the age of coming of age. They have been married for four years.
—To say he's still young? That's utter nonsense.
"Second Aunt, if you were a man, you would be better off becoming an official in the Imperial Observatory. You could even turn black into white."
Pei Lin's voice suddenly burst into the room, and Cheng Shi, who had been making excuses just now, swallowed the rest of her words and couldn't utter a sound.
Wen Lingzheng turned her head to look at him.
He was still in his court robes, his long eyebrows slightly furrowed, but his expression remained calm and composed. However, the sharp aura emanating from his entire body made people afraid to meet his gaze.
Upon seeing Pei Lin's return, Old Madam Pei breathed a sigh of relief, and Madam Cheng also lowered her eyes silently, not daring to speak again. The whole family seemed to have found their pillar of support, and the scene instantly calmed down.
"It's alright, I already know what happened."
With a slight smile, Pei Lin pulled Wen Lingzheng behind him to protect her, and faced Madam Fan directly, "Please rest assured, Aunt, my husband and I will personally go to Jiangnan to handle this matter."
"That child..." Madam Fan seemed to hesitate, but in reality, she was coercing Pei Lin into giving her a guarantee on the spot.
Completely unconcerned, Pei Lin even chuckled lightly and said calmly, "How can the son of an illegitimate wife be guaranteed to be of my Marquis's bloodline?"
After receiving Pei Lin's affirmative reply, Madam Fan left with her entourage.
Inside the ancestral hall, Pei Lin's expression suddenly darkened as he looked at the people in the room with trepidation.
"Is there anything else you need to do upon entering the palace today?" Sensing that this matter was unusual, Wen Lingzheng's expression became even more serious.
"It's nothing else, it's just about my third brother!"
Pei Lin paused for a moment as he spoke, his gaze sweeping meaningfully over Madam Cheng's face, "Second Aunt, do you really not know about Third Brother's mistress?"
Old Madam Pei was stunned. "Is this related to your second aunt?"
Seeing that Madam Cheng still wanted to hide it, Pei Lin couldn't help but sneer, "I don't know if it has anything to do with Second Aunt, but it certainly has something to do with the Cheng family! I'm afraid we'll have to ask Uncle Cheng."
Mrs. Cheng: "This matter has nothing to do with my brother..."
Pei Lin chuckled: "The report from Lin'an has already reached the Emperor's ears. Third Brother's mistress is no ordinary woman! Second Aunt, do you think they would dare to report such a matter to the Emperor without thoroughly investigating it?"
"The orphan of the Lin family... Second Aunt, have you forgotten the lingering stench of blood that filled Shengjing in the twentieth year of Jianzhao? Or do you want our family to experience it too?"
Pei Lin's relentless questioning left Cheng Shi speechless.
Old Madam Pei was both shocked and pained. She never expected that her obedient daughter-in-law, who had been the housekeeper for so many years, would do such a thing. She was so angry that she couldn't speak. Wen Lingzheng quickly stepped forward and gently patted her back to help her catch her breath.
With a cold snort, Pei Lin turned to look at Old Madam Pei, "Grandmother, don't worry. The person who exposed this matter probably wants to make a good relationship with us. I will handle this matter properly."
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