Seeing Yan Qingqing's mournful eyes, Magistrate Ling said somewhat awkwardly, "I saw an old acquaintance and forgot the rules for a moment. I couldn't help but tease him. I didn't expect to implicate you."
Yan Qingqing snorted and said, "If you, Magistrate Ling, are not afraid of losing face, why should I be afraid?"
Besides, Lord Mei was pointing his finger at you and scolding you, not me.
Magistrate Ling chuckled awkwardly, then leaned closer to Yan Qingqing and asked, "Aren't you curious about what happened to Lord Mei when he was young?"
Yan Qingqing replied irritably, "What's there to be curious about? It's just that when I was young, I met a woman, but the timing and place were both wrong, and we couldn't be together in the end."
Later, it's unclear whether the man couldn't let go of the woman, or the woman couldn't let go of the man; even worse, one party might have intentionally used this matter to seek protection for their offspring.
Magistrate Ling looked at Yan Qingqing in silence for a while, then gave her a thumbs up and said, "As expected of a man of great talent and wisdom, although you did not see it with your own eyes, your deduction is almost accurate."
Regardless of whether Yan Qingqing wanted to hear it or not, Magistrate Ling still told Yan Qingqing about Lord Mei's matter.
It turns out that when Lord Mei was young, he had a childhood sweetheart, and the two families were old friends.
Master Mei is calm and composed, while his childhood sweetheart is lively and fiery. In other words, she's somewhat unreasonable.
Both families were interested in a marriage alliance, but back then, Master Mei and his entire family were imprisoned because of his involvement in the military horse case.
Fearing being implicated and entangled, the young girl quickly got married under her family's arrangement.
However, with the help of Master Ling, the case was eventually investigated and it was discovered that Lord Mei had been wronged. The emperor then issued an edict to pardon him and began to give him important positions.
Later, the childhood sweetheart regretted it, saying that she had no choice but to get married.
Especially after that little green plum gave birth to several daughters, her husband's family began to arrange for her husband to take concubines.
Furthermore, after the young girl's family fell into poverty, he felt even more resentful. He frequently went to Old Master Mei to complain.
To avoid being harassed, Lord Mei first got married, and later requested to be transferred out of the capital. Since then, he has rarely returned to the capital. Otherwise, with his qualifications, he should have been able to enter the cabinet.
Yan Qingqing was so engrossed in listening that she forgot everything else and asked with a gossipy look, "And then what happened?"
Magistrate Ling laughed upon hearing this, "Later I heard that the little green plum died young because she was depressed."
But before she died, she asked someone to leave a letter for Master Mei, instructing him to take good care of her daughters.
Yan Qingqing: ……
This is truly absurd. Yan Qingqing considers herself a shameless person, but she really couldn't have gone this far. This is simply shameless.
Old Master Mei isn't the father of her child, so why should she expect him to take care of her?
This is blatant destruction of someone else's family.
With such a shameless mother, the daughter she raises is bound to be no better.
Finally, Yan Qingqing sighed, "Old Master Mei is good in every way, except that he had a poor eye for people when he was young."
Magistrate Ling curled his lip and said, "Not only is his judgment poor, but he's also soft-hearted, letting others use him as a front to bully others."
Magistrate Ling had quite a loud voice, and the servants of the Mei family were all hiding in the gatehouse, listening intently.
As they listened to Magistrate Ling's narration, they felt sorry for their master one moment, and angry the next, but in the end, they all felt it was all for nothing.
Finally, they started whispering among themselves, trying to figure out who that heartless woman was.
Just as they were getting into their conversation, a cough came from behind them.
The servants didn't notice at first, but when someone turned around and glanced back, they were terrified.
Then he knelt down on the ground with a thud. The other servants turned around quickly and were all stunned.
Because Lord Mei was glaring at them with a fierce look.
When they came to their senses, they knelt down and begged for forgiveness: "Please forgive us, sir. We know we were wrong."
Lord Mei snorted coldly and said, "Didn't you say I was kind-hearted and soft-hearted? Those who gossip about the master behind his back, go down and each of you will receive ten strokes of the cane."
Magistrate Ling seemed to hear the commotion inside, then grabbed Yan Qingqing and ran.
When Lord Mei came out, there was no trace of Magistrate Ling and his men.
Finally, Old Master Mei was so angry that he stood at the door stomping his feet. He kept cursing the little brat, saying that he was always causing trouble for him. He wondered what would happen if his wife heard about this.
Thinking of this, Lord Mei hardened his heart and decided to investigate to the end, firstly to prove his innocence, and secondly to correct the unhealthy practices of these students.
Meanwhile, Magistrate Shen somehow learned of this news.
He hurriedly returned home. Usually, when Shen Tongzhi came home, he would go straight to Aunt Shuixian's courtyard.
This time, they actually went to Madam Shen's courtyard. The servants were all gossiping, wondering if their master had changed his mind and no longer liked the delicate and beautiful concubine like Narcissus, but instead remembered the goodness of his wife who had shared hardship with him.
But judging from Shen Tongzhi's expression, it didn't seem like he was thinking of his wife's goodness; rather, it looked like he was about to kill someone. One couldn't help but feel a little worried for Madam Shen.
In Madam Shen's room, Miss Shen the Third was pestering her for money.
Madam Shen had three daughters, two of whom were already married and had moved to other places.
Therefore, she always doted on this youngest daughter, but Miss Shen was spoiled rotten. It was one thing for her to be competitive and ambitious among the daughters of officials of the same age.
They spend money extravagantly and without restraint.
Madam Shen's dowry has been mostly squandered over the years.
This time, the man asked for another ten thousand taels of silver. Madam Shen really couldn't come up with that much money, so she said, "Mother really doesn't have that much money. You are a daughter of an official family, and you don't have to worry about food and clothing."
Besides, your mother has given you plenty of money before; where has it all gone?
Miss Shen said unhappily when she saw that Madam Shen refused to give her money: "The money that Mother gave me is not enough. Eating, drinking, having fun, and buying jewelry all require money."
"Mother, you are the lady of the house, surely you're not as generous as a concubine?"
Madam Shen, lacking the favor of Consort Shen, naturally valued her position as the principal wife highly, and was naturally resentful upon hearing this.
He retorted, "What are you saying? Those vixens in your father's backyard are nowhere near as good as me."
In terms of social status and family background, they are far inferior.
Miss Shen had heard these words many times before. Usually, she would flatter Madam Shen after getting some money from her. But today, she hadn't seen a single copper coin, so she was naturally unhappy.
So he muttered under his breath, "That sounds nice, but Aunt Chen gave me ten thousand taels of silver a while ago."
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen immediately became alert and asked warily, "Hongyan, what did you just say? Who gave you ten thousand taels of silver? Did you do something foolish for her again? Is that woman really that kind?"
Miss Shen didn't want to admit it, but seeing how serious Madam Shen was, she didn't dare to hide it anymore and told her the whole story.
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