Chapter 383: Zhang Mu

Wei Tingyu's face was filled with guilt. He kept silent, but glanced at Wei Tingzhen out of the corner of his eye.

Gao, whose heart was just touched by Wei Tingzhen, was furious.

Others would rather destroy ten temples than ruin a marriage. But Wei Tingzhen was just a troublemaker, determined to make her parents' family restless and ruin Ming Jie'er's marriage.

She suppressed the anger in her heart and slowly said to Wei Tingyu: "How can you, the juniors, comment on the affairs of the elders? The Marquis lives with Sister Ming. You only want to explain how I feel sorry for you? Isn't that right? Be filial to your parents-in-law, but still disrespectful Auntie? Or is it because of jealousy that you didn't get pregnant with a child? How can you blame Sister Ming for everything that happened before she was born? It's so unfair to treat Sister Ming like this? You know, this marriage is yours to choose!"

Mrs. Wu was very anxious when she heard this.

The eldest wife of the Wang family is really upright but lacks quick wit.

By saying this, isn't it admitting that Dou Ming had a child out of wedlock?

She winked at Cai anxiously.

Cai just stared at Dou Ming in surprise.

She had only heard vaguely that Wang had abused her power to bully others, forcing her seventh uncle to make her his legal wife. She had never imagined that there was such a case before Wang was made his legal wife!

No wonder Dou Zhao is so rich!

Half of my seventh uncle’s family’s property!

How much is that?

She was wondering in her heart how could she notice the look her mother-in-law gave her.

Mrs. Wu sighed helplessly.

It’s no wonder that Cai looks like this.

If what happened back then were to be told, both the Dou family and the Wang family would be ashamed. They don't want to mention it, so who would take the initiative to talk about it with the younger generation?

The Ji family has been on Zhao Guqiu's side from the beginning to the end. Gao Mingzhu probably didn't even know that Wang Yingxue was the official wife. Now the only one who can come forward to challenge Wei Tingzhen is the Pang family.

She looked toward Pang Yulou.

Pang Yulou looked thirsty, sipping his tea in small sips without looking up for a long time.

The Fifth Madam was a frequent guest at social gatherings. How could her little tricks escape the Fifth Madam's eyes? But even if the Fifth Madam knew that Pang Yulou wanted to stay out of it, what could she do? She had to go into battle in person. Seeing that Gao played the good cop, she had to play the bad cop, so she said in a tough attitude: "When our family marries a girl, she gives a large sum of money as a dowry. The married lady eats her own food and wears her own clothes. Is that wrong? If you want the Dou family to manage Ming Jie'er's dowry just because of the matter of our seventh brother's wife, our Dou family will never agree! If you feel dissatisfied, there is Shuntian Mansion above and Dali Temple below. One is next to you and the other is on the main street of the Ministry of Justice. The yamen faces south and anyone can walk in. You can just go and sue our Dou family!

It just so happens that we in the Dou family also have a lot of grievances, and we need to find a place to talk it out.

"The Jining Marquis and our fourth aunt were engaged when they were young. Who in Zhending doesn't know about this? Even now, people in Zhending still think that our fourth aunt married the Jining Marquis. The Jining Marquis and our fourth aunt had a good marriage, but you went through all sorts of trouble and forcibly broke up this marriage!"

It would have been fine if the Fifth Madam didn't mention it, but when she did, Wei Tingzhen became furious.

If Wang hadn't set a trap for her brother to fall into, half of the Xidou property under Dou Zhao's name would have long been their Wei family's! How could her brother live with Dou Ming, a poor man?

Wei Tingzhen stood up with a gloomy face and was about to argue with the Fifth Madam.

The Fifth Madam sneered and suppressed what she was about to say: "Eldest aunt of the Wei family, please don't put the blame on our Dou family! Who invited our Seventh Madam to the Daxiangguo Temple to listen to Buddhist teachings in order to break off the engagement? Who was it that secretly made an appointment with his younger sister to visit the Zen temple when he was about to marry his elder sister? And who jumped out and blocked Ming Jie'er when our Dou family came to take her away? The eldest aunt of the Wei family... , don't think that you can turn black into white and white into black by just talking! Do you want me to invite the wife of Zheng Langzhong from the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War to be a witness? Do you want me to call the attendant who used to serve the Marquis closely but was taken to the manor by you before the Marquis got married to tell us what happened at that time? Do you want me to find the marriage certificate from the Shuntian Mansion and show it to the wife of the Duke of Jing's Mansion?"

Her rapid-fire conversation made veins pop out on Wei Tingzhen's forehead.

This old hag knew everything, but she kept silent in a sinister way.

No wonder people say that none of the educated people are good!

"Just say it! Am I afraid of you?" She sneered, "A man who returns to his rightful place is worth more than gold, but once a woman has any trace of promiscuity, she'll be damned!"

"Really?" The Fifth Madam looked at Wei Tingzhen as if she were an idiot and said disdainfully, "No wonder you are so arrogant, you are an ignorant woman! You have probably never seen a great lawyer in our dynasty, right? You actually speak such peasant woman's words! No wonder the Wei family has fallen into such a state in recent years, and you have always been unable to raise your head and straighten your back in front of your mother-in-law."

Her words hit Wei Tingzhen's sore spot. Wei Tingzhen jumped up and was about to argue with the Fifth Madam, but was stopped by Wei Tingyu.

"Sister," he said in a low voice, feeling ashamed and embarrassed, "please stop talking - if the case is brought to Shuntian Prefecture or Dali Temple, I will not be able to escape responsibility. If nothing else, I will be punished with a hundred strokes of the cane."

Wei Tingzhen was stunned, and immediately thought that insulting a girl from a decent family was punishable by 100 strokes of the cane.

"Sister, Lord Dou is in charge of the Ministry of Justice now. We can't win the lawsuit against them." Wei Tingyu reminded Wei Tingzhen again in a low voice, "How about we just let it go?" He has been afraid of women quarreling since he was a child. The Fifth Madam's cannibalistic look really scared him. "It's really unreasonable to let the Dou family help manage Ming Jie'er's dowry. We might as well discuss with the Dou family and not let Ming Jie'er go back to her parents' home to see her mother-in-law in the future!"

He begged in a soft voice, but Wei Tingzhen almost fell over.

At this point, he actually begged for mercy!

Then wouldn't all the previous efforts be in vain? And I've even offended the Dou and Wang families for nothing!

How did she give birth to such a younger brother?

Wei Tingzhen could no longer bear it, and slapped Wei Tingyu on the shoulder, whispering: "Are you a man? How can you act like this? You promised before, but now you change your mind? Who do you think your sister is? Do you still let your sister live as a human being?"

Wei Tingyu is really in a difficult position.

He covered his shoulder and whispered, "Well, what should we do? If it was someone else, they would just be punished with a hundred strokes of the cane and a fine of silver. But we are suing the Dou family, and they will definitely find a way to make me receive the hundred strokes of the cane. Moreover, this matter can also be said to be seduction or even collusion... Then the only ones who will be embarrassed will be us. We can't win the lawsuit against the Dou family..."

Wei Tingyu is going crazy.

Is this her brother?

Not only not helping her, but also holding her back?

Unfortunately, apart from the women of the Dou and Wang families, there were only Wei Tingzhen and his sister and Dou Mingliao in the banquet room at that time. Everyone's attention was focused on them, and although they spoke in low voices, others could still hear everything clearly.

Gao couldn't help but feel happy.

As long as the Wei family gives in, this matter will be easy to handle.

She hurriedly said to the Fifth Madam, "My dear madam, once you enter a family, you are a family. There is no need to distinguish some things so clearly. I think it is better to let this matter go. From now on, Ming Jie'er and Fifth Aunt can just close the door and live happily in harmony. After all, we are just bystanders. As long as they are well, what is there to worry about?" She then asked Ji, "Don't you think this is the truth?"

Ji smiled and nodded.

They originally came here to scare Wei Tingyu, and now that their goal has been achieved, they naturally want to keep things quiet.

She smiled and said to Wei Tingyu, "My Lord, why don't you apologize to Fifth Aunt? She just had a miscarriage and her body hasn't recovered yet. Now she has to suffer like this. I wonder how painful she must feel. You are a magnanimous person, so don't bother with Ming Jie'er so much!" As she said this, she pulled the sleeve of Cai, who was sitting below her, and signaled her to smooth things over.

Cai came back to her senses at this moment. She stood up with a smile and half-supported and half-pushed Ming Jie'er, who was still sobbing, to Wei Tingyu's side: "Why don't you apologize to the Marquis? The Marquis didn't hold it against you even though you made such a fuss. It shows that he cares about you. Don't make the Marquis angry like this in the future!"

Dou Ming looked at Wei Tingyu quietly with red and swollen eyes. That timid look immediately struck Wei Tingyu's defense.

Wei Tingyu blushed and said in a low voice shyly: "Yes, it's my fault..."

Wei Tingzhen was so angry that his teeth were grinding. He pulled his brother aside and shouted "Wait". He said coldly: "If you want to let this go, you have to agree to a few conditions!"

Seeing that the Wei family’s arrogance was about to be suppressed, how could the Fifth Madam let it go?

"There are no conditions to discuss this matter!" She said immediately, "For the past six months, we have been tolerant and lenient because of the good treatment that the Marquis has given Ming Jie'er. However, we never thought that others would think that we were timid and cowardly. What can a gentleman endure? Either we make an exception for the sake of the Marquis, or we will do as the Crown Prince's wife wishes and meet in the government office!"

Wei Tingzhen was still angry, but still refused to give in: "Let's meet in the government office!"

Wei Tingyu said hurriedly, "Fifth aunt, my sister has no other intentions. She just hopes that Ming Jie'er will not return to her parents' home in the future." He said, looking at Dou Ming tenderly, "Every time Ming Jie'er goes to her parents' home and comes back, she will be unhappy for a while... I just want to live a good life, and don't want to quarrel like this every day..."

The Dou family has been running the business for generations and is now at its peak of power and prosperity. But the Wei family actually asked Dou Ming not to return to her parents' home from now on?

Who should Dou Ming go to for redress when he was wronged in her husband's family? Who should she go to for justice?

This Marquis of Jining seemed to be a handsome and upright person before, but when he encountered trouble, it turned out that he was a man without any opinions or ideas at all.

Fortunately, Dou Zhao did not marry him, otherwise the Dou family would have lost such a strong ally as Song Yantang.

The Fifth Madam was about to show a mocking expression, but she heard Dou Ming say quietly: "If I don't see my mother, can we just ignore this matter?"