Zheng Yu sneered and abruptly interrupted Lin Shi.
"Even now you're still putting on an act! Father has already sentenced her to death. You're fine, aren't you? Aunt Lin is vicious and incorrigible. She even staged this suicide farce in an attempt to confuse the public. Her crimes are unforgivable! From this day forward, she is not allowed to leave the Minister's residence. She must leave with nothing, not even a needle or thread from the Minister's residence!"
"Leave with nothing?!"
Lin was struck dumb, and all the color drained from her face in an instant.
Lin screamed in disbelief, clutching her hair tightly, looking as if she had gone mad.
"No! Master, you can't treat me like this! I've borne children for the Zheng family, and even if I haven't done anything meritorious, I've certainly worked hard! The money I sent to the Red Beauty Gambling House earlier was all my savings accumulated over the years! It was my own money!"
Lin knew she was in trouble today, so she quickly put the gold ingots she had prepared earlier into a rather unassuming box.
Upon learning that she was to be divorced and would have to leave with nothing, Madam Lin was naturally anxious, and she instinctively tried to hide the box.
[Private funds? More likely, it's just kickbacks skimmed from the mansion!]
[He left with nothing! Well done! Minister Zheng is tough!]
[Look how anxious she is; she's definitely hiding some money.]
Zheng Yu's eyes sharpened; he had already seen through the deception.
A steward coughed and waved his hand, and a servant immediately stepped forward and unceremoniously took the heavy little wooden box out from under Lin's pillow.
Lin wanted to stop her, but before she could do anything, the servant opened the wooden box with a "snap".
Inside were several pieces of gold jewelry in good condition and some snowflake silver.
“This is your personal property, Aunt Lin?!” Zheng Yu picked up one of the heavy gold hairpins, which was engraved with the mark of the Imperial Household Department. “This was given to He Yi by the Empress Dowager. How did it end up in your hands, Aunt Lin?”
Lin was speechless, her face ashen.
"As for Zheng Yutang," Zheng Yu turned his gaze to Zheng Yutang, who was already trembling with fear, "Father, out of consideration for your father-daughter relationship, allows you to leave with your birth mother! From now on, the Minister's Mansion will have no further connection with you."
"Father! Father doesn't want me anymore?"
Upon hearing Zheng Yu's words, Zheng Yutang felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. Overwhelmed by fear, she let out a sharp scream. She tried to approach Zheng Yu, but he remained expressionless, like an iron-faced judge.
Zheng Yutang collapsed in terror, her eyes glazed over, and she cried out in a panic, "No! I don't believe it! Zheng Yu, what nonsense are you spouting? I am the second young lady of the Minister's mansion! Sister Heyi! Please, please, beg Father for me!"
"I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!" Zheng Yutang cried out and tried to get closer to Zheng Yu again, but was firmly blocked by several strong old women next to her.
He Yi watched her break down in tears, but felt little gratitude.
If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done it in the first place.
If it weren't for the repeated misconduct of her and her daughter, they wouldn't have ended up leaving with nothing.
Father was furious.
[You brought this on yourself! Go enjoy your life with your mother!]
[Awesome! Evil people finally get their comeuppance!]
Zheng Yu remained unmoved, his icy gaze piercing the two of them.
"Give them half an hour. Men, take Lin Shi and Zheng Yutang to the backyard right now, change them into coarse clothes, and don't let them take a single thing from the mansion! Send them out of the mansion immediately."
Upon receiving the order, the steward, Gong Shuhe, and several nannies immediately sprang into action. The group approached like wolves and tigers, and in a few swift movements, they stripped Lin Shi and Zheng Yutang of their silk and satin garments. As for Zheng Yutang's hairpins and other jewelry, they were also removed.
He Yi was too lazy to watch the scene and walked out on her own. Qing Ju was standing at the door. When she saw He Yi come out, she approached and said, "Princess, this servant will go and help."
A moment later, the green orange entered the room.
She looked Lin Shi and Zheng Yutang up and down, pointed to their embroidered shoes, and then several people quickly stepped forward and forcibly took off their shoes, replacing them with stiff straw sandals that they had found somewhere.
Lin tried to steal something, but before her hand could even touch the silver comb on the table, she was spotted by the sharp-eyed nanny. The nanny approached and shoved her hard, causing Lin to fall to the ground...
Lin gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath.
“Granny Sun, when I was a concubine here, you skimmed money off me without hesitation. Now that I’ve fallen on hard times and have to leave, you’re so eager to kill me.”
"Zheng Yu, I need to see the master! I need to see the master!"
Zheng Yutang knelt beside her, watching the farce unfold in a daze. She even cried so hard that she almost passed out.
Fifteen minutes later.
The once glorious Lin family and Miss Zheng were like stray dogs, almost carried out by two expressionless old women, and ruthlessly thrown out of the most inconspicuous and secluded back gate of the Minister's mansion.
"Get out of here." The old woman spat and quickly turned to leave.
"How could you... how could you do this? I'm a concubine, you..." Aunt Lin was still shouting, but little did she know that no one was paying attention to her, and they all left one by one.
The heavy door slammed shut behind them with a loud "bang," completely isolating them from the wealthy world inside, a world they had once desperately wanted to occupy a place in.
The afternoon sun was still quite intense, and Lin Shi was already covered in sweat after making a fuss for a while. When people approached on the road, they noticed that two women dressed in coarse cloth, with disheveled hair and looking miserable had suddenly appeared at the back gate of the Minister's residence, and they all felt curious and suspicious.
Lin and Zheng Yutang stood awkwardly in the busy back alley, furious. Lin roared and pointed at the crowd.
"What are you looking at? Never seen this before?"
Zheng Yutang was also furious, giving the passerby a fierce glare.
Zheng Yutang stared back at the tightly closed door, her heart breaking. She was on the verge of collapse and burst into tears: "Mother! Now, now...where are we going? We have nothing left! It's getting dark, are we going to have to sleep on the streets?"
A tremendous fear enveloped Zheng Yutang like a tidal wave, causing her to tremble uncontrollably.
Lin's face was ashen, but compared to Zheng Yutang's hysterical despair, there was a complex light hidden in Lin's eyes that Zheng Yutang failed to notice.
Madam Lin vigorously wiped her face and neatly tidied her disheveled hair. "What are you crying for! You spineless thing! There's always a way out! Do you think crying like this will make the heartless Minister and the little princess open the door for us? Come on, come with me!"
Madam Lin disliked Zheng Yutang intensely, but she was helpless at the moment, since Zheng Yutang was bound to her in a specific way. Madam Lin pulled the crying Zheng Yutang away from the bustling main street and deliberately chose to walk through a quiet alley.
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