Chapter 52 Obtaining Evidence that Shen Rongzhi Had Married and Had Children Outside the Home
Lu Zhaoruo was certain that this young master was definitely not from a merchant family. His surname was Xiao?
Could it be... Xiao Yeming's younger brother?
"Mother!"
Abao suddenly jumped onto Lu Zhaoruo's lap, tears welling up in his emerald eyes, "You must save him!"
Lu Zhaoruo sighed softly: "Even if we didn't know his identity or how he died, we would still know..."
"Without breaking free of the Shen family's cage, Mother can hardly even protect herself."
Ah Bao quickly lowered his head: "It's Ah Bao's fault for being ignorant."
It was just too impatient.
Lu Zhaoruo stroked its moist nose: "After we leave the Shen family next spring, your mother can go to the capital with your uncle to take the military examination. After all, Chang Heng will only announce the death a year later, so there is still plenty of time."
For the past seven days, Xiao Wuyun has come every single day.
On the first day, they brought catnip cookies, served on a delicate white porcelain plate, with little fish drawn on the cookies with honey.
Lu Zhaoruo was somewhat surprised: "Young master, you know what cats like? Ordinary people say they should be fed raw fish entrails."
Xiao Wuyun felt slightly guilty, then said, "It was a guess."
Later, she directly told Xiao Wuyun that Abao's favorite food was candied peas.
...
Before you know it, it's New Year's Eve.
The quiet of the house was eerily so.
Three light knocks and two heavy knocks came from the side gate, a signal that Xiao Wuyun usually used.
Chang Heng entered first, carrying a food box, followed by Chang Shu, each arm carrying five or six bundles, their backs bent under the weight.
Xiao Wuyun came to deliver New Year's gifts.
Abao has a variety of exquisite snacks, as well as a golden bell ball for it to play with.
Xiao Wuyun opened the black lacquered wooden box, inside which were two neatly stacked rows of silver ingots, a total of twenty ingots, each weighing about five taels.
Is this a direct gift of silver?
Lu Zhaoruo hurriedly declined, saying, "Young master, you absolutely cannot accept this."
Xiao Wuyun: "These past few days, I've seen that Madam Zhaoruo is struggling financially, but thankfully she's busy making a living for her family. I thought I'd send her something practical; please don't refuse."
He insisted repeatedly.
Lu Zhaoruo accepted it.
Dongrou was very happy for her wife.
As a result, Xiao Wuyun also brought Dong Rou a gift: a hand warmer and a rabbit fur cover.
She was flattered and overwhelmed.
Thinking that she was just a maid, and although the mistress of the house had never treated her like one, she was truly surprised that this noble young master would remember to send her a gift.
Linhai Wharf.
On the gazebo.
Xiao Yeming held a crooked wooden box in his hands. Several plum blossoms were crookedly carved on the surface of the box, with knife marks of varying depths, which clearly showed that the carver was not skilled enough.
He opened the box.
Inside lay a Snow Soul Plum Blossom Hairpin.
The five-petaled plum blossom is inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and three beads adorn the stamen.
"Commander!"
Ban Ling's voice suddenly rang out behind him.
He waved a stack of documents in his hand, "Take this and throw the irrefutable evidence of this scoundrel keeping a mistress in front of Madam Lu's desk?"
"Bang!"
He kicked the round stool three steps away.
He roared in fury, "You damned bastard! His own wife is feeding her in-laws with bran and chaff, while he's out there eating and drinking the high life with a prostitute!"
Suddenly, a lump formed in his throat, and this eight-foot-tall man wiped his face with his sash: "How could someone as kind-hearted and compassionate as Lady Lu marry such a heartless man? What will become of her in the future..."
His gaze swept over the wooden box in Xiao Yeming's hand, but before he could examine it closely...
"Click!"
The lid suddenly slammed shut.
Ban Ling didn't think much of it and praised again, "Commander, you are truly a brilliant strategist! That fellow is indeed a heartless scoundrel!"
Xiao Yeming gazed at the horizon where the sea met the sky, his knuckles gradually turning white on the wooden box.
"If I had known this person was no good..."
His voice was low, as if he were talking to himself, "I never imagined it would be so despicable."
He said, "Today is New Year's Eve... If she knew, she would be heartbroken. Let's go in a few days, and while we're at it, let her..."
He handed over the wooden box, thought about it, and then decided against it.
After Ban Ling left.
Xiao Yeming's personal attendant, Wang Wu, came over.
"Did the message get delivered?"
Xiao Yeming ran his fingertips along the edge of the wooden box, where there was a bloodstain.
When he heard about Shen Rong's matter this morning, he crushed the teacup in his hand.
Wang Wu bowed, his voice extremely low: "That young master of the Shen family heard with his own ears that the salt smugglers had been wiped out the night he left three years ago."
Xiao Yeming: "Does he have any intention of returning?"
Wang Wu: "No."
The sea breeze suddenly became fierce.
Xiao Yeming wondered, since he knew that returning meant he was no longer in danger, why didn't he come back? Was he really just after that mistress? Was he really going to abandon his wife and parents?
"call……"
A sudden gust of salty sea breeze blew by, making the hem of his robe flutter.
He stared at the blurry silhouette of the ship in the distance, a terrifying darkness churning in his eyes.
Great...very good.
Now that they know their enemies have been eliminated, and that their lives are no longer in danger...
Why did you choose to stay outside?
They don't even care about their own parents?
Even...she doesn't want him anymore?
"Oh……"
He chuckled softly, his voice laced with venom, "For a mistress... you'd really do something like that."
...
In the Great Court.
Married women are required to return to their parents' home between the second and fifteenth days of the first lunar month.
However, when a woman returns to her parents' home, she must be accompanied by her husband.
Where did Lu Zhaoruo get her husband? She was faking illness, so she promptly lay down in bed…
She was waiting for news from Banling.
When Ban Ling told her, it was already the fifth day of the first lunar month.
Lu Zhaoruo clutched the copy of the marriage certificate, her body trembling uncontrollably. Even though she had expected it, the three words "Chen Linshi" still felt like a thorn, piercing her heart.
"Thank you, Master Ban."
She suppressed the lump in her throat, "Please don't make this public."
After Ban Ling left, she stared at the marriage certificate in her hand, her eyes growing cold.
It's just one step away.
That means finding a way to lure him back and take him to court! Only then can I successfully escape this cage of the Shen family.
However, in his previous life, Shen Rongzhi's parents and elder sister died without him returning, and he did not even return when his biological daughter with Lin Yingyu got married.
It's impossible to lure such a cold-blooded person back with family affection.
The reason he returned in his previous life was because he was seriously ill and didn't have much time left. In addition, the Shen family had become the richest family in Jizhou City, and even the capital city had several shops owned by the Shen family.
At that time, the silver ingots in the Shen family's warehouse were piled up to the beams.
She was just one step away from becoming a royal merchant, but Lu Zhaoruo herself gave up.
Therefore, only profit is acceptable!
He needs to know that his family is extremely wealthy.
He also had to believe that he was about to die...
Inside Zhenjingzhai.
The charcoal brazier was barely extinguished, casting a dim red glow throughout the room.
Dongrou clutched the marriage certificate, tears falling onto the three characters "Shen Lin Shi," and choked out, "How could my lord be so heartless... He's already married and had children outside, yet he still makes the eldest daughter-in-law stay at home to serve his parents, aunt..."
"But they treated the eldest daughter-in-law very badly."
"The lady has endured so much injustice..."
Abao nestled in Lu Zhaoruo's lap, tears welling in its emerald green eyes, and gently patted her hand with its paw: "Mother, Abao will always... always stay with you, just like in our past life... Mother isn't sad..."
Lu Zhaoruo remained silent.
Dongrou gently called out, "Madam... don't upset yourself."
"gas?"
Lu Zhaoruo pressed her fingertips heavily on the three characters "Chen Rongzhi," leaving several fine marks on the ink.
"I'm thinking..."
She suddenly chuckled, "How can I make that pair of illicit lovers willingly fly back into their cage? Once he steps into my home, I'll nail him to the wooden cangue in court on charges of 'marrying another woman while already married'!"
She looked out the window: "Then sever all ties, leave the Shen family, leave this prison."
"I've been preparing for this for half a year..."
The firelight illuminated the cold glint in her eyes.
Dong Rou, having stayed by Lu Zhaoruo's side, already knew everything.
Feeling sorry for the eldest daughter-in-law, she suddenly knelt down heavily, saying, "I am willing to grind ink and deliver the petition for Madam Lu!"
She was still thinking that if she were to marry in the future, she would never marry a heartless man like her lord.
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