"Ji Pengyu, you just wait. If I don't send you to jail, I'm not Cao!"
Cao Xinqian called Xiao Liu to get him a towel to wipe himself, while making harsh remarks.
Ji Pengyu ignored him, snorted coldly, and led the servants to Granny Wang's room.
Seeing that things had developed to this point, Xiang Wan stepped forward and reassured everyone, saying, "Elders and uncles, please calm down. My mother would never have acted this way without solid evidence. As a junior, I shouldn't have gotten involved, but she is my mother. If I don't support her, her life will be over. I implore you all to give my mother justice and not let things escalate beyond repair. Thank you in advance."
The crowd nodded slowly, having a very good impression of Xiang Wan.
Not long after, Ji Pengyu came in carrying a bag and threw it on the ground. The items scattered around were all women's cosmetics, hairpins, jade pendants, and silk fabrics—clearly not something a servant could afford.
"This is all thanks to Madam's kindness and the gifts she bestowed upon me; it's all mine!"
As soon as Granny Wang saw these things, she rushed over and hugged them tightly in her arms.
"Old Wang, you still want to argue? Rouge? My mother only had one box, and she rarely used it. How could she have given it to you? Hairpins, they're even more valuable than my mother's. Jade earrings, bracelets, silk handkerchiefs—aren't they all precious? Just looking at the value of these items, they're comparable to those of ordinary noble ladies. If they weren't gifts, then they must have been stolen. But there's no record of them in my Cao family. Oh, but my father often buys some. Could it be that before he could even give them away, they all ended up in your pocket? Your appetite is truly enormous!"
Xiang Wan's words, seemingly meant to exonerate Cao Xinqian, were actually digging a deep pit for him. If he admitted that Wang Pozi had stolen the items from him, he would have to explain where he bought them and when the money was spent. Only in this way could he completely absolve himself of any responsibility. But if he denied it, then Wang Pozi would become utterly useless. If, on his deathbed, she revealed everything between them, his reputation would be completely ruined.
Enraged, Cao Xinqian kicked Granny Wang, his fierce gaze chilling to the bone.
"You audacious servant, how dare you slander an official of the imperial court!"
At this moment, Cao Xinqian had only one thought in his mind: to knock Wang Po unconscious, or at least silence her. Once today was over, there were plenty of ways to kill her later. Which aristocratic family hadn't suffered some deaths? He could just find some excuse to get rid of her, and no one would dare say a word.
He had a good plan, but how could Xiang Wan let him succeed? Just as she was about to use the beads as hidden weapons to prevent Cao Xinqian from exerting his strength, Ji Pengyu made the first move.
He shoved Cao Xinqian aside, causing him to bump into the edge of the table. The tea on the table was swept to the floor, shattering and splashing everywhere.
"Cao Xinqian, you actually tried to kill someone to cover it up in front of everyone? With me here, you won't succeed."
"Hahahaha, hahahaha..."
Granny Wang laughed, her laughter growing louder and louder until tears streamed down her face. "Cao Xinqian, you've finally met your match! Fifteen years ago, when Madam was pregnant, you drugged me and forced me to submit. When I refused, you threatened to kill Miss."
"You heartless bastard, do you think you can make me loyal to you by giving me some money? You're dreaming! I'm already a married woman, and you won't even spare me. How can I let Miss bear your children? So when you asked me to give Miss the Mother-Child Grass, I didn't object, I just halved the dosage."
“Miss, it’s right that you didn’t have a son. If you had a son, it would have been the time for you to die. With a son, he could have completely taken over your dowry and made the Ji family work like slaves for the Cao family. Over the years, I’ve managed the Cao family and secretly selected many servants for him. Those who seem to be loyal to you are actually mostly Cao Xinqian’s people.”
"It was no accident that the young lady fell into the water. It wasn't my doing that Yuan Xiqing almost lost her baby. You don't know, Cao Xinqian has been seeing all sorts of women outside. I kept them all out, just so the young lady could have some peace and quiet. Despite all my precautions, I couldn't prevent Yuan Xiqing from getting pregnant again. Well, this is Cao Xinqian's retribution."
"Hey Cao, didn't you say I was slandering you? The mark on your back, I put it there. I remember the birthmark on your buttocks clearly. You can't fake these things, can you?"
After Granny Wang finished speaking, everyone was shocked. Yuan Xiqing, in particular, could hardly sit still; her face turned deathly pale.
"Elders of the Cao family, this is the person your Cao family carefully selected and promoted. If he treats his own flesh and blood and his wife like this, what are you people compared to him? Right now he still needs your protection, but if he gains power one day, you will be abandoned completely, just like me."
"Cao Xinqian, I've kept records of everything you've done. If you kill me, those records will become your death warrant. Let me leave the capital, and I'll only admit to conspiring with you to murder the mistress. Otherwise, it'll be a fight to the death, and neither of us will escape unscathed!"
The crowd was in an uproar. They never expected that Granny Wang would be so ruthless, daring to threaten Cao Xinqian in front of everyone.
The elders of the Cao family couldn't sit still any longer and asked one after another, "Xinqian, is what she said true?"
"Don't let such a bright future be ruined!"
"How foolish! How incredibly foolish!"
"Elders, I did not do those things. Don't listen to the lies of a mere servant."
Cao Xinqian tried to argue, but Ji Meiniang interrupted him, "Gentlemen, I, Ji Meiniang, cannot and do not want to interfere with what he has done. Today, I ask the magistrate to write a letter of severance, from now on Ji Meiniang and Cao Xinqian are estranged, and my daughter will come with me."
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