Aunt Jiang was indeed very satisfied and proud. Her own methods had eliminated two major enemies in one fell swoop, bringing her a happy life in the future, and no one had noticed. How could she not be proud?
Seeing her master's happy look, Rong'er couldn't help but want to make a joke. However, before she could say anything, her eyes suddenly widened. Looking at the man who appeared silently at the door, the usually calm girl turned pale in an instant.
Aunt Jiang realized something was wrong, and quickly got up. When she looked towards the door, she felt a buzzing in her head. For a moment, she didn't even know where she was, and she even forgot to greet and speak.
"If I hadn't heard what you said, I wouldn't have spared you."
Duan Tingxuan slowly walked to the couch, lifted up his robe and sat down. Only then did Aunt Jiang come to her senses. She quickly climbed off the couch and knelt in front of him with Rong'er. Her body was shaking like a leaf in the wind. She hung her head and dared not say a word.
"What a great trick. You killed Ran Yun and pushed the blame on Zhilan, and used Zhilan's intention to harm Nuannuan to make her fall into your trap. Originally, this trick needed an insider to be implemented, but it just so happened that Caisang's brother and sister-in-law were abused by the useless Xue Mingli, and Caisang herself was facing the fate of falling into the fire pit, so you easily persuaded her. In this way, you and Rong'er can naturally stay out of it. Even Caisang, because she did not participate in this matter and made meritorious contributions in exposing it, will not be punished. What a perfect trick, isn't it?"
“Master…”
Aunt Jiang trembled and shouted only one word, and then she couldn't say the second word. She didn't understand how such a perfect plan of hers could be seen through by Duan Tingxuan? Obviously, her master was not good at fighting in the backyard, so it was the eldest grandmother who led the progress of things today, and the master didn't say much, right? However, at this juncture, even though she was full of doubts, how could she dare to ask?
"But this alone may not be enough, right? What other conditions did you agree to with Caisang?" Duan Tingxuan continued to ask in a mocking tone, playing with the fine jade pendant on his lapel.
"I...I promised her that I would...I would pay to redeem her...brother and sister-in-law, and then...then let them enter the Marquis's mansion as slaves."
Aunt Jiang stammered in response. She didn't hear Duan Tingxuan speak for a long time. She was so scared that she almost fainted. Then she saw the young marquis stand up. He said calmly: "The old lady has long wanted to build a Buddhist temple in the mansion. Construction will start in a few days. When the time comes, you can practice Buddhism there. Brother Chuan can come to see you every day, but he can't live with you."
"Yes, thank you very much, sir. Thank you very much for forgiving me." Aunt Jiang kowtowed. She knew that this was the greatest tolerance Duan Tingxuan had shown her.
Duan Tingxuan obviously didn't want to stay here any longer, so he stood up and prepared to leave. However, when he reached the door, he suddenly stopped, but didn't turn around, and just said indifferently: "Why did you come up with such a vicious plan to get rid of Ran Yun and Zhi Lan? Is it because they harmed Chuan Ge'er?"
"I dare not hide it from you, Master. This is the most important reason."
Aunt Jiang's reasoning finally came back slowly. She was still kneeling with her head on the ground, with a hint of tears in her voice. She said slowly: "I am of low status. As long as Madam Yun and Madam Lan are determined to harm Grandma, I don't know when Chuan Ge'er will face a life-and-death crisis again, so I decided to strike first. Moreover, Madam Yun and Grandma Lan have been very close these days. I know this is not normal. There must be a common interest that makes them temporarily join forces, and this interest is obvious, it must be Grandma. I admire Grandma, but I don't want to do such a thing for her. It's just that Grandma is my umbrella of protection. Only if she lives well, I can live well with her. So I took action hastily when Grandma was not at home, just to clear Grandma's suspicion. Because of this, Master noticed the flaw."
Duan Tingxuan raised his eyebrows slightly, he knew that Aunt Jiang said the last sentence deliberately. This woman who had been a slave since childhood had little knowledge, but she was able to use her intelligence to come up with such a vicious plan that killed two birds with one stone without leaving any loopholes. She was naturally proud of herself, so she cared more about how she could know the truth so quickly, and she wanted to know the answer.
"You said something in Xia Yuxuan. You asked Zhilan, and she said that you were the one who harmed Ran Yun. But you have never been there since you left Xia Yuxuan. How did you do it? When and where? What method did you use? Put lotus root powder into Ran Yun's food? Do you still remember this sentence?"
It had only been half a day, but Aunt Jiang still remembered it, so she nodded and said, "Yes, I did." She was suspicious and thought to herself, what was wrong with my question?
Duan Tingxuan laughed and said calmly, "When Ran Yun died suddenly, all her food and drink were immediately put under centralized custody. I asked the imperial physician to investigate secretly. Everyone in the mansion knew that lotus root was put in the chicken soup bowl, but no one except me and Imperial Physician Wang knew that it was lotus root powder. Even Nuan Nuan didn't know. But you can accurately say that it was lotus root powder, not lotus root powder and slices. Tell me, if I still don't know who the real murderer is, how can I be the prince of Anping Marquis's Mansion? How can I stand in the court and help the emperor and the prince solve their problems?"
Is it because of this?
Aunt Jiang's body softened and she collapsed on the ground. The loophole that she herself was not aware of became the key for her husband to learn the truth. Was the young marquis too smart? Or was this simply destined by heaven? If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself?
Aunt Jiang sat on the ground in a daze, not even knowing when Duan Tingxuan left. The pride in her heart disappeared without a trace before she could savor it carefully.
"Madam, the wife has given birth to a big fat boy. Congratulations, madam."
The midwife came out holding a swaddling cloth and handed the child to Mrs. Yang. She looked back towards the delivery room, and the shocking scene from more than an hour ago emerged in her mind.
Su Nuannuan's delivery was not smooth. Her water broke early in the morning, but she didn't give birth until dusk. After her cervix was finally fully dilated, she found that the baby was in an abnormal position. She never dreamed that this lucky time-traveling woman would encounter the nightmare of ancient women - difficult labor.
When the news came out, the young marquis, who was already extremely anxious and walked around the courtyard like a trapped animal, was immediately furious. He rushed into the room without thinking and wanted to go to the delivery room to cheer his wife up, but was stopped by Madam Yang, Liu Min and others: in ancient times, men would never be allowed to enter the delivery room, it was too unlucky.
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