She panicked and hurriedly fled back to her residence with her entourage to hide. Fearing trouble, she sent a letter to the Prince Duan's residence seeking help, but it was returned unopened twice.
Fortunately, Lou Yongwei did not return home during those days and stayed with his mistress.
Yesterday, the third letter seeking help finally reached the Prince Duan's residence, and Lou Yongwei happened to be home that day.
As soon as he entered the room, he dragged Zou into the room, closed the door, and brutally beat her.
At the height of the conflict, Zou Shi even thought she was about to die. After listening to Zou Shi's account, Gu Qinlan fell into deep thought for a long time.
She deeply abhorred the practice of men keeping mistresses. After all, in her previous life, she had also been Ji Yinli's mistress and had given birth to an illegitimate child for him. That child was even brought back to the mansion and given her name.
Therefore, she was able to understand Zou's anger.
However, she felt utterly contemptuous of Zou's handling of the matter.
In this world, if a man keeps a mistress, yet you only raise your fist against a woman, how can such an action be considered fair? Isn't it because you fear that if you lay a hand on the man, you will be divorced?
Looking at her calm and expressionless face, Zou felt a little uneasy, unsure of what she was thinking. So she cautiously asked, "Sister-in-law, have you heard everything?"
Gu Qinlan glanced at her and replied indifferently, "I heard you."
Ms. Zou looked at her expectantly. "What's next?"
However, Gu Qinlan acted as if nothing had happened, leisurely picking up her teacup and sipping her tea.
Seeing this, Madam Zou realized that Gu Qinlan had no intention of interfering in her affairs, and she couldn't help but feel anxious. But how could she dare to make a request to Gu Qinlan directly? After all, the other party was of noble status, the wife of a prince, while she was just a merchant's wife, and she had no right to order the other party around.
Then she turned to Princess Duan and cried, “Aunt, why is my fate so miserable? I simply cannot survive.”
"If you can't go on living, why choose to end your life and come to our Zheng family to cry?"
An angry voice came from outside the door.
Everyone turned around and saw Zheng Huaiyu standing at the door with a livid face.
Ms. Zou felt guilty and didn't even dare to look her in the eye.
Princess Duan immediately rebuked, "Huaiyu, how can you speak to your mother like that? Even though she has remarried, she is still your birth mother."
Zheng Huaiyu sneered: "Mother? Does she even remember that she has two children, Feng Hui and me? Does she still deserve the title of 'mother'?"
Zou burst into tears: "Huaiyu, how could you say such a thing to me?"
Zheng Huaiyu's face was solemn, and her tone was firm: "If you can do those things, why can't I point them out? My father has only been dead for a hundred days, his body is not even cold, and you can't wait to remarry. Have you ever thought about what kind of situation your behavior will put my brother and me in? How will outsiders view us?"
Ms. Zou was extremely embarrassed, yet she still stubbornly argued with me... I was also out of desperation, I..."
Zheng Huaiyu laughed angrily: "Helpless? Is it the Zheng family forcing you to remarry at knifepoint, or is it that you can't survive without remarrying? It's obvious that you're promiscuous and want to rekindle your old flame..."
Princess Duan hurriedly slammed her hand on the table, interrupting him: "Zheng Huaiyu, shut up! Don't say such shameless things again!"
Zheng Huaiyu stiffened his neck and said firmly, "If she can do such shameless things, why can't I expose her! Grandmother, although she is your niece, my father is also your own flesh and blood! You can forgive her betrayal and are willing to stand up for her, but who will sympathize with and feel sorry for my poor father!"
Princess Duan was speechless for a moment, unable to refute.
Zheng Huaiyu's eyes widened in anger, burning with fury as he stared directly at Zou Shi: "You are already a married woman and have nothing to do with the Zheng family anymore. Don't be delusional and think you can use the Zheng family's power to resolve disputes and oppress men!"
Zou hesitated, not daring to meet her gaze. Her head was bowed low, and she lightly covered her mouth with a handkerchief. Tears streamed down her cheeks like broken pearls, making her look extremely aggrieved.
Zheng Huaiyu turned his head and looked at Princess Duan with a firm gaze: "Grandmother, I will speak frankly today. If you insist on forcing Mother to stand up for Madam Lou, then I would rather starve myself to death to show my resolve."
"And me too."
Zheng Fenghui's voice sounded behind her, deep and firm.
“Grandmother, I also want to make my stance clear today. I will never stand with those who betrayed Father and the Zheng family. If you insist on helping me, then please find a way yourself and do not use even the slightest bit of the Zheng family’s power.”
Zou's face was pale and she was panicked. Her voice trembled as she said, "Fenghui, how could you do this? I am your mother! I carried you for ten months, raised you with great difficulty, and handed you every drop of water in your mouth. And you..."
Zheng Fenghui didn't even spare her a glance, walking straight into the house, grabbing Gu Qinlan's wrist, and dragging her out the door, berating her as he did so:
"You're incredibly foolish, willing to taint yourself with anything so filthy? You are the Crown Prince's wife, you should display your dignity. Anyone who dares to be shameless should be expelled on the spot."
He turned around only when he reached the door, and said in a cold tone, "It's true that a pregnancy lasts ten months, but the so-called 'raising a child from head to toe' is a gross exaggeration. Although the Zheng family is not a prestigious clan, it has been a military family for generations. Why would you need to raise a child by yourself?"
“If what my wet nurse said is true, you didn’t even breastfeed me or raise me yourself. From birth until now, the wet nurses and maids in the manor have been taking care of me, and their expenses have been drawn from the public account. Moreover…” His words were full of sarcasm, revealing the truth of the past.
He pointed a finger at Gu Qinlan, his tone full of dissatisfaction and contempt: "This so-called mother has only been in our family for less than three months, yet the care and effort she has poured into me has already exceeded the scope of what you, her 'biological' mother, should have done. You really have no shame in trying to glorify yourself."
Ms. Zou's face was as pale as paper. She was eager to defend herself, but when she opened her mouth, she found that no words could clear her name.
Unconsciously, her gaze swept over Gu Qinlan's ambiguous smile, as if she had suddenly found an outlet for her emotions.
She stood up abruptly, pointing her index finger at Gu Qinlan, her voice sharp and angry: "It's all your doing! You secretly sowed discord, causing my children to become estranged from me!"
"You merchant's daughter, how could you be so cruel? Because you are unable to bear children, you try to deceive my child. Your actions are shameless and outrageous!"
Yes, that must be true!
Otherwise, how can we explain why her son and daughter, who never argued with her three years after she remarried, suddenly turned against her recently?
It was undoubtedly the wicked woman Gu Qinlan who sowed discord among them, causing them to misunderstand her!
Gu Qinlan was so angry she almost laughed out loud.
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