Chapter 280 Insidious Scheme
There was no one else in the room, so Song Zhihang had no reservations and simply pulled out a few pages of paper from his pocket and handed them to Xu Jinnian: "Read them yourself."
Xu Jinnian took it and examined it carefully. Gradually, his expression grew increasingly gloomy, and a strong killing intent rose in his eyes.
Song Zhihang was a little scared, swallowed hard, and quickly said:
"Calm down, calm down, Mingyu, calm down! The person who used this vicious scheme has been dealt with by my father and me overnight, and we guarantee there won't be a next time!"
Before he uncovered the mastermind, he never imagined that the other party would be so vicious, so ruthless as to plot against his pregnant sister-in-law in order to ensure that he could never recover.
If his younger brother and sister-in-law hadn't left early that day and hadn't drunk the tea laced with a potent drug, he might have committed a grave mistake while they were completely unsuspecting, allowing those beasts' scheme to succeed.
Thank goodness! Thank goodness!
The mere thought of how that cup of tea had been accidentally drunk by Tan's sister, forcing her into physical intimacy with him and hastily establishing their marital status filled him with a burning rage.
Xu Jinnian slowly put away the confession and asked in a deep voice, "How did your Marquis's mansion punish those ringleaders?"
Song Zhihang glanced at his expression and said with a lack of confidence:
“My father drove both families out of the Marquis’s mansion and secretly removed their jobs. Without a tremendous stroke of luck, they can forget about ever stepping into the imperial court again.”
In recent years, the eldest brother's health has been weak and he has not had any children. The fourth branch of the family could no longer contain themselves and secretly joined forces with the third branch to plot against the eldest branch's position as heir.
The fourth wife was born to his second wife, who had always coveted the entire Yongyi Marquis's mansion. In her early years, the old woman even instigated her grandfather to change the heir apparent, and petitioned to appoint her own son as the heir apparent.
Fortunately, my grandfather was still quite sensible and didn't let the pillow talk cloud his judgment.
However, the old woman and her accomplices had not given up their evil intentions over the years, which is why they took a desperate gamble at the banquet that day and set up such a vicious murder plot.
If his scheme succeeds, he will be disgraced, and when his elder brother dies, the position of heir of the Marquis's mansion will naturally be taken by the legitimate son of the fourth branch.
The old woman is still alive, and the father must still follow filial piety, so he cannot completely eliminate the third and fourth wives.
Expelling them from the Marquis's residence and removing them from their posts was already the maximum punishment they could inflict.
Upon hearing this, the murderous intent in Xu Jinnian's eyes did not diminish in the slightest.
Fearing that he would take his anger out on him, Song Zhihang hurriedly assured him, "A gentleman takes his revenge even after ten years. I will make them regret ever being born!"
He knew all too well how much Mingyu cared about his younger siblings.
Even if her younger siblings didn't fall for it, and those people's schemes failed, Mingyu wouldn't let it go. She would definitely take action to help her younger siblings get back double.
Xu Jinnian glanced at Song Zhihang, then picked up the confession again and read it from beginning to end without missing a single word.
Song Zhihang asked, "Is there something wrong with it?"
Xu Jinnian was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head: "No."
The testimony seemed fine, but his intuition told him that things weren't that simple.
Song Zhihang felt embarrassed to stay for a free meal, so he left as soon as he finished talking about his business, afraid that Xu Jinnian would take his anger out on him and beat him up.
Xu Jinnian returned to the main room and saw the woman sitting by the open window, doing needlework. His originally cold and stern expression visibly dissipated. He stepped into the room and sat down next to her.
Sheng An asked, "Song Er is gone?"
Xu Jinnian nodded, took the half-finished little garment from her hands, looked it over, and couldn't help but smile and praise, "An'an's skills have improved again."
He didn't mention a word about Song Zhihang's purpose in coming, for fear that Sheng An, who was prone to overthinking after becoming pregnant, would be scared.
Since Xu Jinnian didn't mention it, Sheng An naturally didn't know what he was thinking.
These past few months, she's become obsessed with making clothes and shoes for the baby in her womb. Hearing the man's praise, a smug smile appeared on her face: "I'll try making you a summer outfit later."
They've been married for several years, but he's never done any needlework for Jin Nian, not even sewing a pair of socks.
Sheng An plans to find a suitable fabric to make matching outfits for each of the three family members, but she doesn't know if she has the skills to do it.
"Okay, let's do it after the baby is born. Don't tire yourself out."
Xu Jinnian was filled with anticipation for the matching outfits Sheng An had made by hand. She imagined the three of them wearing clothes of the same style and color, walking hand in hand down the street, and a smile involuntarily appeared on her jade-like face.
While the couple were enjoying a harmonious and happy time together, Princess Shanmin raised her hand and lashed down with a whip, striking Xu Huaining squarely in the chest: "Useless!"
Xu Huaining dared not dodge at all; his clothes were ripped open, and a sharp pain, as if his bones and flesh were being torn apart, came from his chest.
He gritted his teeth and slowly knelt down, begging for forgiveness from the furious Princess Shanmin: "Princess, please forgive me."
Seeing Xu Huaining's humble and humble appearance, Princess Shanmin recalled the day in the Yongyi Marquis's garden, Xu Jinnian's face, full of frost and murderous intent.
Looking at the imposter Xu Huaining again, Princess Shanmin grew even angrier and lashed him hard with her whip once more:
"Useless trash, idiot! I, the princess, would rather promote a dog than you!"
Not only did it fail to kill two birds with one stone, causing that bitch to die with her unborn child and ruining the reputation of the Marquis of Yongyi, it also made that damned Ning Sihan stand up for that bitch, causing her to lose face in public.
A sinister glint flashed in Xu Huaining's lowered eyes, but he lowered his posture even further: "It was my fault for handling things poorly. I beg you, Princess, to calm down and not hurt yourself."
It was clearly this fool who went to the Marquis of Yongyi's mansion and acted arrogantly in front of that woman, Madam Sheng, which caused Madam Sheng to leave early and escape his carefully planned scheme, yet this fool blamed it all on him.
Xu Huaining clenched his fists tightly under his sleeves, desperately trying to suppress any murderous intent he might have shown in front of Princess Shanmin.
After two lashes, Princess Shanmin barely managed to vent her anger and coldly said to Xu Huaining, who was kneeling on the ground, "Get up."
With a face that bore a striking resemblance to that person, his servile demeanor in front of her only fueled her anger.
Xu Huaining stood up, enduring the sharp pain in her chest, and put on the gentle smile that Princess Shanmin liked on her pale face: "Thank you, Princess."
This time, Princess Shanmin was not buying it and said coldly, "That bitch must die. I'm giving you one last chance!"
Xu Huaining's heart sank, and he bowed, saying, "Yes."
After seeing Princess Shanmin off, the servants carefully removed Xu Huaining's clothes and applied medicine to the two hideous whip wounds on his chest.
Xu Huaining endured the pain without moving, pondering a way to get rid of Sheng An without implicating him.
If Madam Sheng hadn't come to the capital, it would have been easy to send a few assassins to Qingzhou to kill her.
Now that he's in the capital, murdering the wife of a third-ranked scholar right under the emperor's nose will inevitably attract everyone's attention, and if he's not careful, the investigation will turn to him.
We must plan carefully and avoid any mistakes.
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