Chapter 31: Coercion and Inducement
The Duke's wife was quite talented when she was young. She was busy fighting her mother-in-law and concubine to maintain the Duke's Mansion.
But ever since her mother-in-law passed away and the Duke was bedridden, she has taken control of the mansion. Her children are obedient and her eldest daughter-in-law is invisible. After living in comfort for such a long time, even her ability to quarrel has deteriorated.
Mrs. Li came prepared and her fighting ability was off the charts. She soon defeated her and left her speechless.
Seeing that it was almost time, Patriarch Li reprimanded Madam Li and told her to shut up. Then he bowed to the Duke's wife and said,
“No one wants something like this to happen, but now that it has happened it has to be resolved.
My Mingyue was originally married to Governor Xiao with the help of the emperor. Now her innocence has been ruined by Prince Zhao. This is no small matter.
Since the Duke is not in good health, I dare not disturb him. Madam Duke, please ask the Crown Prince to come over. If that doesn’t work, please ask the head of your Zhao family.”
Patriarch Li’s meaning was very clear.
This matter involves the marriage of four families and it is not something that you women can argue about.
We, the Li family, come to your door with good intentions. Please quickly ask those in charge to come out and discuss a suitable solution. Don't wait for Governor Xiao or the Jiang family to make trouble and catch you off guard.
The Duke's wife also came from a prominent family, and she calmed down a bit after being reminded by Patriarch Li.
Now is definitely not the time to act on impulse. There are plenty of opportunities to deal with Li Mingyue and the Li family, but if their Duke's Mansion were to go against Xiao Yuan, they would probably be skinned alive if not killed.
No matter how you look at it, Xiao Yuan is not a man, and Jiang Xinyu's innocence is probably still there.
But Li Mingyue was actually slept with by her son. It would be terrible if that damn eunuch got angry and took action against her family's business.
She only has this one son left, and if anything happens to him she will die.
In the new house.
When Li Mingyue heard that Madam Li and the clan leader were coming, she was immediately filled with joy. She didn't care about her body aches, she quickly tied up her hair and ran out.
Zhao Chengye quickly grabbed her and said, "Mingyue, do you still remember what you promised me?
We are already married, and you will live in the Duke's Mansion from now on. You must not tell lies and make your mother dislike you.
Don't worry, as long as you apologize sincerely, your mother will forgive you."
Li Mingyue hummed hesitantly, but her hands unconsciously tightened her sleeves.
Her mother had clearly repeatedly warned her not to confess to Zhao Chengye, so how could she have been possessed by the devil and told him out loud?
Fortunately, Brother Chengye didn't blame her, but the Duke's wife would definitely be furious.
Now her mother and the clan leader must come to support her. Could she admit in front of the clan leader that she and her mother were at fault?
That won't do.
If she offended the clan leader, she and her mother would probably be abandoned by the clan. Not only would she have a hard time, but her mother might even be divorced.
But she had already told Brother Chengye, if she changed her mind, Brother Chengye would hate her.
She has already married into the Duke's Mansion, and her mother-in-law hates her husband and ignores him. How will she live in the future?
Li Mingyue hurried to the front hall with a knot in her heart, but she forgot everything the moment she saw her mother.
After all, she was just a little girl. The pain in her body and the grievance of being slapped all burst out, and she lay in her mother's arms and cried her heart out.
Madam Li stroked her daughter's swollen face and looked at the Duke's wife angrily.
"I asked you why you didn't let my daughter out, but you abused lynching and tortured her into confessing.
If you don't give me an explanation for what happened today, we will take this to court.
Anyway, my daughter's innocence has been ruined, so the worst that can happen is that both sides will be destroyed."
Zhao Chengye saw Madam Li frowning, patted his mother's hand soothingly and bowed to Patriarch Li.
Then he turned to Madam Li and bowed, "Aunt Li, there's no need to act, Mingyue has already told me everything.
I appreciate your love for your daughter, but the right and wrong must be made clear.
Just apologize to my mother.
We are a family from now on. Since we are in the same boat, we should treat each other with sincerity, don’t you think?”
Yes, to your grandma.
Madam Li pinched Li Mingyue in frustration, "Prince Zhao is eloquent and good at argument, I can't compare to him.
I don't know what Mingyue said, but based on the wounds on her face, I know that she must have been talking nonsense because she was threatened by you.
Don't be afraid, Mingyue. We have eighteen members of the Li clan serving as officials in the court. As long as you are right, no one can throw dirty water on you."
Patriarch Li also interjected, "That's right, with the eldest master here, anyone who dares to damage the reputation of my Li family's daughter will be killed by my family."
Li Mingyue shuddered and buried her head in her mother's arms, sobbing softly. She did not dare to raise her head even when Zhao Chengye called her.
She understood what the tribe leader said. No matter what she said, she had to deny it. Otherwise, her reputation would be ruined and she would definitely not be tolerated by the tribe.
She must not lose the protection of her clan, otherwise no one would stand up for her even if she was tortured to death.
As for Brother Chengye and the Duke's wife, I can only wait for the opportunity to compensate them in the future.
When Zhao Chengye saw that Li Mingyue refused to raise her head, he knew that the girl was afraid. He did not insist on pursuing her any further and invited the head of the Li family to the side hall for a detailed discussion.
Zhao Chengye did not beat around the bush. He first briefly explained what Li Mingyue had instructed him to do, and then asked the Li family for a solution.
Now that the matter has come to this, it must be resolved. If the head of the Li family had not come, he would have thought of quietly sending someone to invite the Jingzhao Prefecture, and then coaxing Li Mingyue to admit on the spot that it was Madam Li who planned to throw the blame on others.
By then, his Ningguo Mansion would become the victim, and the Li family would only divorce Madam Li and strangle Li Mingyue to save face and would not come to trouble his family.
But now that the head of the Li family has come to solve the problem, he can no longer use this trick, otherwise he will make enemies with the Li family.
But since the losses were made public, he naturally had to speak out about the injustices his family had suffered.
Unexpectedly, Patriarch Li was also quite single. He nodded, which was a disguised acknowledgement that what Zhao Chengye said was true.
But so what?
He would severely punish Mrs. Li, but he would never admit this matter anywhere.
He also hoped that Zhao Chengye would keep his mouth shut and just regard this as an accident and treat his daughter of the Li family well. In the future, the two families would still be formal in-laws and help each other.
As for Governor Xiao, the Li family will find a middleman to sound out the situation. If there is any problem, the Li family will solve it. If necessary, Prince Zhao can go and apologize, and there is no need for the Duke's Mansion to spend money to do favors.
As for the Jiang family, they don't care. If Prince Zhao has free time, he can go and appease his former wife's family. If he doesn't have time, it doesn't matter.
This matter was originally instigated by the daughter of the Jiang family. Jiang Huai has a weak foundation and has no money to argue with them.
If the other party is sensible and treats this as an accident, they will give him some convenience in the future. If he insists on holding on to it, then let him go find his own daughter.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that if either of the two brides did not cooperate, nothing would happen.
Zhao Chengye secretly cursed the Li clan leader as an old fox in his heart, and forced himself to deal with the other party with his weak body.
He couldn't just let it go after suffering such a huge loss. If Li Mingyue, the daughter of a fifth-rank official, wanted to be his wife, the Li family would have to pay some price.
Seeing that it was almost time for the next morning court session, he had to wait for the teacher's reply before replying.
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