Chapter 79 The Hate of Stealing My Wife
"Mother, you've been to the palace today. You must be tired, right?" The Second Lady bowed as she entered and said in a fake tone, "What happened? Why did you call your daughter-in-law over without even changing out of your proper attire?"
"This matter could be serious or minor." The old lady glanced at the second lady, and seeing her expression of concern, she frowned and said, "Shen Mingzhu offended the Empress in the palace. If it weren't for the Empress's magnanimity, she would have been punished today."
The second wife was stunned. This was completely different from what she had imagined!
The old lady changed the subject and said sternly, "She doesn't know the rules. As her mother-in-law, you should understand them, right? She's going to the palace today. Didn't you ask someone to teach her the rules?"
The Second Madam's expression changed, and she said aggrievedly, "Mother, since she is the daughter of a marquis, I thought she understood these basic rules. Who knew..."
She stopped there and said with a look of shame: "My daughter-in-law failed in her duty this time. I will control her well in the future."
"You have indeed failed in your duty. You failed to discipline your son properly, allowing him to commit such a shameful act in the pure land of Buddhism, bringing shame to the Duke's Mansion. You also failed to discipline your daughter-in-law properly, allowing her to offend the noble."
The old lady scolded, "The Second Branch is causing chaos in the mansion, leaving no one in peace. If you don't put aside your scheming and opportunistic thoughts and focus on the right path, then I will have no choice but to separate your Second Branch from the Duke's Mansion, so that you won't cause trouble and implicate the Duke's Mansion in the future."
As soon as the words of dividing the family came out, the second wife was shocked. She knew that the old lady was really angry, so she deliberately warned them.
"Mother……"
"You can go back." The old lady ordered him to leave: "I am tired."
The Second Lady's face was pale and blue. She had originally happily thought that the Old Lady had invited her to discuss the matter of ennobling the Crown Prince, but who knew that she was invited to be scolded.
She cursed Shen Mingzhu in her heart. If this troublemaker caused Zhao Jue to lose his title, she would skin this little bitch alive!
The old lady looked at the second lady's back as she left, raised her hand to press her swollen and painful solar plexus, and ordered the maid to help her go to the inner room to change into casual clothes.
She changed into casual clothes and came out of the inner room, and saw Duke Zhao coming.
The old Duke asked, "What does the Queen say?"
"What else can we say? It's nothing more than a memorial service for the late queen, and then the question of an heir." The old lady sighed. Concubine Ling was playing the emotional card with her to pave the way for the title. "Zhao Jue has no sense of the overall situation. Shen Mingzhu is swaying with half a bucket of water, and she loves to compete. She can even say the wrong thing about the friendship between Guan Yu and Bao Bao, and yet she's always trying to compete with Shen Qingtan for attention."
Afterwards, she recounted Shen Mingzhu's performance in detail and mentioned the conversation between Xiaoyue and Xiaotao.
Duke Zhao remained silent.
"People in the world place greater emphasis on women's virtues than their talents and learning, believing they only need to obey men. Through what happened today, I've finally understood. Only when women are literate can they understand the big picture and consider the overall situation, thus developing better moral character and self-cultivation."
The old lady brought over a cup of tea and said quietly, "If you can't read a single word, have an empty mind, and are completely incapable of thinking and judgment, and you're also competitive, you'll easily be led by others and might end up doing something terrible."
The old Duke pondered and said, "Most wealthy families would hire a teacher to teach their daughters how to read and write."
"What if the family isn't wealthy?" The old lady glanced at the old Duke. "A family's prosperity doesn't just depend on the main branch; the branches are also a force that cannot be ignored. Otherwise, why would you allocate a portion of the clan land as school land, and use the income from it to run the clan school?"
Duke Zhao asked, "What do you want to say?"
"As the saying goes, marrying an unvirtuous wife ruins three generations, and marrying a bad husband ruins a lifetime." The old lady expressed her thoughts: "We must not only cultivate the men of our clan, but also the women. If the women of our clan are all wise and righteous, and their reputation spreads, it will further demonstrate the strength of our clan."
"More importantly, well-educated clan girls often have a significant advantage in marriage negotiations. If they find a good match, they will consolidate the family's power. If they are not educated well and marry off, not only will they not be able to find a husband, but they will also make enemies."
Duke Zhao's eyebrows were twisted into a knot, and he felt that there was some truth in it.
The old lady was very determined. After hearing Shen Mingzhu's words in Yanxiang Palace today, she wished she could cram all the books and rules of the library into Shen Mingzhu's head.
She snorted coldly, "I now suspect that Marquis Cheng'en insisted on marrying Shen Mingzhu into the Duke's Mansion just to make enemies with us."
Duke Zhao: “…”
The old lady said seriously: "The heir...it's time to decide."
——
Shen Qingtan returned to Lanxue Garden, removed her makeup, picked out a skirt to change into, added a short waist skirt around her waist, and then went to her husband's room to find Zhao Yi.
When she pushed the door open, Zhao Yi was leaning against the window reading a book.
"You're not feeling well, why don't you just lie down in bed?"
Shen Qingtan took light steps and came to sit beside him.
"I've been lying down and feeling uncomfortable, so I came to my husband's room to read a book." Zhao Yi coughed softly a few times, closed the book, and asked, "Did the queen give you any trouble?"
"The Queen is already trying to win you over, so how could she possibly make things difficult for me and then offend you?" Shen Qingtan came to his side and told him everything that happened in Yanxiang Palace, no matter how big or small. "I don't want Zhao Jue to inherit the title. If he did, not only would the future of the Duke's Mansion be affected, but we wouldn't be able to live happily and comfortably."
Zhao Yi pondered for a moment, then said softly, "He could have touched the title with just one hand, but he pushed it away with one hand."
Shen Qingtan subconsciously asked: "Why?"
What if Concubine Ling uses her favor to blackmail Duke Zhao into choosing Zhao Jue as the heir?
Zhao Yi closed the book and looked up at Shen Qingtan. Just as he was about to speak, he was surprised to find that she had changed into a skirt instead of a horse-faced skirt. This skirt better accentuated her slender figure.
The thin light blue skirt hung down from the long couch, and the breeze outside the window blew the pleats on the skirt, as if the moonlight was shining on the ripples on the water, which was beautiful beyond words.
He stared at the fluttering skirt and was lost in thought for a moment.
Seeing that he didn't answer for a long time, Shen Qingtan called out softly, "Second Master?"
Zhao Yi came back to his senses and stared at her overly beautiful and pretty face, and he felt that the title of "talented and beautiful" given to her in the capital was well-deserved.
When she was planning seriously, she emanated a dazzling light that made people involuntarily focus their attention on her.
Especially her sharp mind and efficient methods are really rare.
He suddenly remembered the look in Zhao Jue's eyes when he faced him in recent days, which was faintly jealous and even had a hint of hatred for having his wife stolen.
Zhao Yi couldn't help but murmur, "No wonder... he would regret it."
Shen Qingtan didn't hear clearly: "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Zhao Yi said with a smile on his face, "It's just that seeing someone unhappy makes me happy."
“Knock knock!”
There was a knock on the door, and Jiang Mu's voice came: "Second Master, Second Madam, someone is coming from Shi'an Hall. Please come over."
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