At this moment, only Qingyou and Huotong remained in the room.
Huo Tong took out a few sheets of paper from her sleeve and handed them over, "Sister-in-law, this is what my husband found out, take a look."
"Okay!" Qingyou took it, opened it, and took a look.
The above content was not unexpected, but a look of surprise, anger, and disappointment was evident on her face.
After reading it for a moment, she said with a grim expression, "This unfilial son has done so many outrageous things."
"He was so infatuated with that woman that he completely lost his sense of direction."
Huo Tong was also quite upset. "Yes, ever since he met that woman, he's been completely corrupted."
Qingyou said, "It takes two to tango. If he himself is not the problem, no one can lead him astray."
“I taught him propriety, righteousness, integrity and a sense of shame from a young age, and I was strict with his studies. He has been studying at the Imperial Academy for quite some time now. But he still did such a thing. All his knowledge has gone to waste.”
"Didn't his grandfather and his father face plenty of temptations? Yet they didn't go astray."
Huo Tong couldn't find a rebuttal, and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
Indeed, none of the successors of the Duke's mansion over the generations have been as blinded by lust as his nephew.
"The Qiao family means they want to annul the engagement."
She then asked, "Sister-in-law, what should I do now?"
Qingyou thought for a moment, "Let's make this public, spread out everything we found on the paper."
“The fault lies with Ji Wen and Shi Lingqiao. Since they were capable of such a thing, they should bear the consequences.”
Huo Tong hesitated for a moment, "But if we release all this information, won't it damage the reputation of the Duke's Mansion?"
Qingyou understood Huo Tong's concerns, and she sighed, "It's better than the meat rotting in the pot."
"Moreover, Ji Wen is so fearless because he takes advantage of our favor and thinks that even if we find out, we won't make these things public."
“If we want him to change for the better, I think we need to teach him a lesson.”
"Otherwise, given his current temperament, if he were to inherit the title of Duke and lead troops into battle, he might harm both himself and others."
“If we make a big scene, the Qiao family will take the initiative to break off the engagement. Ji Wen will lose face in the capital because of that woman. If he takes his anger out on that woman and they separate, or if he suddenly realizes his mistake, it will be a good thing for both him and the Duke’s mansion.”
From a mother's perspective, she naturally hopes her son will become a better person.
So Qingyou spoke with a pained expression, still the same mother who wholeheartedly cares for her son.
Huo Tong thought it made sense. If this incident could make his nephew realize his mistake and stay away from that woman, it would actually be a good thing.
"Okay, then I'll listen to my sister-in-law."
Remembering her husband's instructions, she added, "Sister-in-law, my husband also found out that Shi Lingqiao and the Fourth Prince often have private dealings, and their relationship is probably not simple."
"He suspected that Shi Lingqiao might have been deliberately sent by the Fourth Prince to seduce Ji Wen and then drag the Duke's mansion onto his path to seize the throne."
Qingyou showed a perfectly timed look of surprise, "She actually has dealings with Lao Si, that fickle woman."
Just then, a woman screamed at the door, followed by what sounded like her mouth being covered.
Qingyou got up to open the door and saw that the maid was being gagged and restrained by two old women.
The maid gave Qingyou a pitiful, pleading look.
Qingyou ignored her and instead looked at Granny Qi behind the three of them, "What's going on here?"
Granny Qi stepped forward and replied, "Madam, I just discovered that this girl was pretending to clean, but she ran outside to eavesdrop on your conversation."
The maid shook her head frantically, then bit the old woman who was covering her mouth.
The old woman felt a sharp pain in her hand and instinctively let go.
The maid immediately protested her innocence, "Madam, I was just cleaning nearby and didn't eavesdrop. It's Granny Qi who misunderstood."
Qingyou looked at her coldly and said, "How come I don't remember when you were demoted from a first-class maid to a third-class water-sprinkling maid?"
First-class maids serve you personally and don't have to do any rough work.
As soon as Qingyou pointed out this flaw, the maid's expression changed.
She still tried to argue and plead for mercy, but Qingyou was too lazy to waste time with her. She ordered Granny Qi, "Take her away and interrogate her. Find out who sent her as a spy."
Granny Qi replied respectfully, "Yes!"
Then the two old women covered the maid's mouth again and dragged her away.
Qingyou gave the order to the air, "Send a skilled interrogator to pry her mouth open."
Just then, a male voice rang out, "Yes!"
Huo Tong was not surprised by this, as she had always known that the Duke's mansion had a powerful secret guard.
Presumably, her brother entrusted the secret guards to his sister-in-law before going to war.
She didn't see anything wrong with it. Back then, her younger brother and nephew were still young, and the Duke's mansion controlled the military, making them a lucrative target. They needed to have ways to protect themselves.
Moreover, this was also a way for the brother to show his loyalty to the emperor, after all, his sister-in-law was a legitimate princess.
If something were to happen to them on the battlefield, they hoped the emperor would protect the Duke's mansion.
After dealing with the matter of the maid eavesdropping, Qingyou pulled Huo Tong back into the room.
“I understand what you reminded me of. I will go to the palace tomorrow to tell my brother about it.”
The fourth prince was too flamboyant before, which is why the other princes were watching him and brought down his maternal clan.
The current emperor is only in his forties, in the prime of his life. How could he possibly like to see his sons eyeing his throne?
Qingyou had already planned ahead: she would go to the palace and tell the emperor about Shi Lingqiao's affair with the fourth prince.
This would not only keep the emperor on guard against the fourth prince, but also reduce his fondness for char siu bao.
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