Chapter 213: Moving Out of the Family Tree
The Duke and the old lady smelled the scent in the room and their faces darkened.
"Erlang's condition had been very stable, so why did he suddenly become ill?" The Second Madam's face was filled with suspicion. She pointed to Jiang, who was standing at the door. "You went to the Duke's Mansion to report the news. Do you know something about the situation?"
Jiang was trembling all over, not daring to speak.
The Second Madam frowned and said, "Come in and answer."
Jiang's palms sweated with nervousness as she thought about the person she was about to meet. She stumbled over the threshold and fell at the feet of the Second Madam.
She hurriedly got up, looked up and met Shen Qingtan's eyes. Her pupils shrank and she quickly lowered her head.
The Second Madam looked down upon Jiang's unpresentable appearance. Seeing her trembling like a sieve and cold sweat on her forehead, she frowned in dissatisfaction.
She asked, "You said you wanted to save your daughter, who wants to harm your daughter?"
Jiang's lips trembled: "I...I..."
"Your daughter is serving Second Madam, who would dare to harm her?" Second Madam scowled. "Second Madam kept Erlang's misfortune a secret. How come you are so well-informed that you got the news before us?"
Suddenly, she changed the subject: "Could it be that you killed Erlang?"
"No...it's not me..." Jiang denied it flatly, stammering, "It's...it's realgar..."
"No wonder I smelled a strange smell in the house. It turned out to be realgar..." The Second Madam's expression suddenly changed. She looked at Shen Qingtan and asked, "Why is there realgar in the temple?"
Tingxue replied, "The monk in charge of reception said there are a lot of mosquitoes and snakes in the temple, so he lit some realgar to repel them."
The Second Madam said coldly, "The temple never scatters realgar, let alone uses it, because that would be killing."
Tingxue hurriedly explained: "But...but Master said it will take four or five days..."
"We've come all the way here, and we haven't seen any realgar anywhere else. It's only in the dormitory where you live." The Second Madam looked at Shen Qingtan and said meaningfully, "Niece-in-law, won't you explain?"
"Realgar is used by the temple to repel insects." Shen Qingtan had been crying, her eyes misty, looking weak and helpless. "Realgar is slightly poisonous, it won't harm us. Second Master's illness has nothing to do with realgar. He is..."
The Second Madam interrupted Shen Qingtan and said, "Everyone in the mansion knows that Erlang is ill and cannot stand the smell of realgar, otherwise it will trigger his illness."
She sneered, "Niece-in-law, as Erlang's bedmate, you shouldn't be unaware of this, right?"
"The second master's disease didn't flare up because of the realgar. It was because of the medicine he took." Shen Qingtan tried his best to explain.
"You still want to quibble?" The Second Madam snorted coldly, "Didn't Erlang take medicine today? He takes medicine every day. Why is it that he is fine on weekdays but got into trouble today?"
"I……"
"Liu Yue, who's with you, just returned to her parents' home a while ago, right?" The Second Madam said aggressively, "I was wondering why Liu Yue's mother knew about Erlang's illness in advance. It turns out you made Liu Yue find an excuse to return to her parents' home to visit the patient, and secretly bribed someone to plant realgar in the dormitory to murder Erlang."
"Liu Yue's mother was afraid that the truth would be revealed and Liu Yue would die, so she came to the Duke's Mansion to ask us to save Er Lang. As long as Er Lang is fine, Liu Yue will be fine too."
"You have acknowledged your ancestry and been crowned a princess, yet you despise Erlang for being a sickly child and want to kill him. Why don't you choose another good son-in-law?"
At this point, the Second Madam said with a chilling heart, "We treated you well, but I didn't expect you to be so vicious!"
Seeing that the Second Madam didn't listen to her, Shen Qingtan seemed powerless to explain. She looked at Jiang, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Mother Liu Yue, please speak for me. Did I collude with Liu Yue to murder the Second Master?"
The Second Madam said slowly, "Think it over carefully before you speak. The Master and the Old Madam are very fair and kind. If you are threatened or bribed, they will show mercy and leave you, let alone your family, alone."
Jiang shuddered, her fingers tightly clutching the corner of her clothes. "Liu Yue's father's leg wasn't injured. Second Madam and Liu Yue used this as an excuse to have Liu Yue go home, take realgar from home, and bring it to the temple. Then, they bribed someone to set fire to the dormitory where Second Master and Second Madam lived, secretly murdering Second Master."
When the second wife heard this, her heart completely sank back into her stomach.
She lowered her head, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
This time, even if a god came down to earth, he could not save Shen Qingtan.
Her face was stained with anger, and she was about to attack Shen Qingtan when she heard Jiang continue, "The Second Madam bribed me to frame the Second Mistress like this."
The second wife's face changed drastically.
"Second Madam has been very kind to my family. Even knowing that the head of the household had a broken leg, she gave him decades of ginseng without blinking an eye. How could I be so cruel as to frame Second Madam?" Jiang pulled out a purse from her bosom: "All the money given by Second Madam is here."
The Second Madam angrily scolded, "You are lying. When did I bribe you? You and Shen Qingtan are in cahoots and you are deliberately framing me."
She said to the Duke and the old lady anxiously and frantically, "Father and Mother, I've been wronged. Her husband's leg wasn't injured, and Liu Yue has nothing to hide. Why would she say her father's leg was injured and ask for leave to visit him?"
Jiang's tears dried up, and she choked up and said, "The headmaster's leg is injured."
Last night, Shen Qingtan's men broke into her house and forced her to tell them who had ordered her to do this.
She was unwilling to say that not only did they take away her son, but they also broke the head of the family's legs.
She also threatened her that if she didn't do as the Second Lady said, she would collect her son's body the next day.
She only has this one child, and she accepted the money from the second wife for her son. What use would this money be to her if she lost her son?
After witnessing the Second Mistress's ruthless methods, she confessed everything.
At this point, Jiang was regretting it so much that she was blinded by money and took advantage of the hot silver.
When the second lady heard this, she had a bad feeling in her heart.
At this time, the court doctor in the corner came over and said, "Master, Liu Yue's father's leg is broken and has not healed. Second Madam has shown mercy and asked me to treat his leg."
The second wife was dumbfounded, and suddenly thought of the appearance of Jiang when she saw her at the Duke's Mansion.
Her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked haggard.
Could it be that the truth was revealed, that Shen Qingtan, the vicious woman, broke Liu Yue's father's leg and threatened Jiang to turn against them?
The second wife said unwillingly: "Father..."
"Shut up." The Duke looked at the Second Madam coldly, "Whether Liu Yue's father's leg is broken or not, we'll know once we check. There's no need for the court doctor to lie."
The second wife's face turned pale and she still wanted to explain.
"You're right. As his bedmate, I know exactly which medicines can trigger Yi'er's illness." The Duke's face was stern. "Yier's wife intended to harm him. The medicine they burned in the dormitory today was not realgar."
The second wife was confused and didn't understand the meaning of the words.
"Realgar won't cause Yi'er's illness," the old lady said with disappointment in her eyes. "The few things we've told others about that can cause Yi'er's illness are just a way to confuse people. If we reveal the real trigger, won't it be easy for others to harm him?"
The second wife's mind was blank. She wanted to plot against Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi, but ended up falling into her own trap.
It's really a confession.
"Second Aunt, I just said that the Second Master took some medicine and was feeling unwell. You refused to listen to my explanation and insisted that I was the one who murdered him with realgar." Shen Qingtan's eyes gradually turned cold. "So it was you who wanted to harm him and put the blame on me."
"I……"
Shen Qingtan interrupted the second wife and asked for justice from the Duke beside her.
"Grandfather, if it weren't for the realgar, Second Master's illness wouldn't have been triggered. Second Aunt's vicious methods, Second Master would have been afraid..."
Shen Qingtan's eyes were red: "Grandfather, please give an explanation to the grandson's wife and the second master."
The last bit of kindness the Duke had for the Second Branch vanished, and his old voice, filled with fatigue, said, "Remove the Second Branch from the family tree."
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