Year-ago turmoil 5
The development of the matter was beyond Chen Yuanyuan's expectations. She originally wanted to find out from Yan Wei who had brought him to Kyoto without anyone noticing, but she didn't expect the other party to drop a depth bomb on her.
Ling Wan glanced coldly at Yan Wei and ordered Lin Sui to take him away for interrogation. She then asked Mother Yu to bring a few trusted aides to bring Ding up.
"Madam, it's bad. Aunt Ding committed suicide." Before she had even finished half a cup of tea, Zhu Chi walked in quickly with a gloomy expression.
"Suicide?" Ling Wan was shocked for a moment, his mind was in a state of confusion as if it had been electrified, but he also felt that something was vaguely wrong.
When they arrived at the courtyard where Ding was imprisoned, Mrs. Ding was already there. She threw herself on Ding and cried out "My son".
Seeing Ling Wan coming, he changed his attitude from yesterday and pointed at Ling Wan while crying and scolding, "Second Madam, you are so young, but you have a heart of a vicious snake!"
"You're holding a forged letter and accusing my son of having an affair with a foreign man and her cousin, and you're trying to kill him! You killed my son, and I'm going to fight you!"
The sudden change caused the servants and maids around to become confused. Mother Yu and several servants protected her tightly behind them. In the chaos, someone pushed Madam Ding and she fell heavily to the ground.
The maidservant beside her tried to help her, but she refused to let her go. She lay on the ground and accused the Shen family of bullying others, saying that Ling Wan allowed servants to beat and scold the elders, and threatened to go to Kyoto Prefecture to report to the police.
Chen Yuanyuan had come back to her senses at this time. Although she didn't know the reason why Aunt Ding committed suicide or what Mrs. Ding was planning, she knew that she couldn't escape this day no matter what.
She overestimated her own abilities. In terms of scheming and planning, how could she compare with these women who had been immersed in the inner chambers for years?
After a while, Madam Shen and Mrs. Lu came over after hearing the news.
As the old lady walked into the room and saw this scene, her heart sank.
Madam Lu's eyes flashed, and she shouted at Madam Yu and the others, "Are you all dead? Hurry and help Madam Ding up!"
Ling Wan glanced at Lu with gratitude, but stepped forward and said calmly, "Mrs. Ding is determined to blackmail me. How can I help her?"
"You evil woman, you—" Madam Ding pointed at Xu Lingwan and, with the help of the old servant, she stood up tremblingly. She turned around and threw herself on Ding's body: "My son, I only now know what kind of life you have been leading in the Shen family!"
"Lian'er, why did you commit suicide to prove your innocence for a trumped-up crime? You played into this evil woman's hands! How will I live in the future?"
The wailing and wailing started again. Old Madam Shen and Mrs. Lu looked at each other, and Chen Yuanyuan understood something from her behavior.
The letter they believed to be about Ding's affair with a man outside the family was most likely not written by Yan Wei. Furthermore, there was no reply from Ding on the letter, which is why Mrs. Ding accused her of "murdering Ding on a trumped-up charge."
As expected, Mrs. Ding then began to say that the letter was not written by her nephew. It seemed that Ling Wan knew that Ding was pregnant, so she framed her.
She also told Mrs. Shen that although her daughter from the Ding family was a concubine, she was the daughter of an official and the daughter of a good family. If the Shen family did not give them an explanation, she would report it to the government and make the Shen and Xu families pay the price.
Xu Lingwan listened quietly beside him, and a chill ran down his spine when he thought of Ding who had just died inexplicably.
"Nonsense! My wife didn't even know that Ding was pregnant, so how could she harm her out of jealousy!" Mother Yu was so angry that her face turned pale as she shouted.
"The Shen family has very strict rules. Even when the master is speaking, servants are allowed to interrupt." Mrs. Ding smiled wryly.
Ling Wan laughed out of anger and curled her lips.
It was just because there was no paternity test in ancient times, so it was impossible to prove whether the child in Ding's belly was Shen Cong's bloodline.
They just figured that she was young and easy to control, and that it would be her first time encountering such a thing and she would be scared out of her wits, so they dared to put all the blame on her.
They said that she harmed Ding out of jealousy. This was a completely unfounded claim, and they just wanted to scare her, thinking that she would care about her own reputation and the reputation of the Shen and Xu families, and use this to negotiate terms with the Shen family.
"Madam, you should report to the authorities. The Kyoto government hasn't closed yet, so hurry!" Ling Wan stood up and sneered, "There's no need to threaten anyone with words or expressions. You want an explanation from the Shen family, and I also want the authorities to clear my name!"
"Shut up!" Old Madam Shen, who had been keeping her eyes closed and silent, suddenly opened her eyes and shouted.
In ancient times, when large families dealt with such matters, they did not consider the facts themselves, but took the reputation of the large family as a prerequisite.
It was obvious that this matter was calculated by someone, and now that Aunt Ding was dead, for the sake of the Shen family's reputation and the reputation of Mr. Shen, as long as the other party's conditions were not harsh, they would choose to reconcile with the other party, turning a big thing into a small one and a small thing into nothing.
"Mother." Ling Wan knelt down and kowtowed solemnly to Old Madam Shen. Then, she straightened her back and said calmly, "Mrs. Ding is dead. Madam Ding simply feels that there is no evidence, so she is slandering her daughter-in-law's innocence."
"The daughter-in-law is a daughter of the Xu family and also a wife of the Shen family. If this matter is not investigated thoroughly, both the Shen and Xu families will be burdened by the daughter-in-law."
"If this matter is reported to the authorities, although the reputations of the Shen and Xu families will be damaged, there are ways to solve difficult cases in the inner chamber in the Mingtang. This way, on the one hand, we can restore the innocence of our daughter-in-law, and on the other hand, we can make the Ding family pay the price for framing her!"
Ling Wan said this, flashing a stern smile towards Madam Ding. She wasn't from the ancient times, and she was more willing to sacrifice her reputation than anyone else!
"The root of this matter is that my daughter-in-law neglected the management of the inner house, which led to this series of disasters. Once this matter is resolved, my daughter-in-law will ask to be divorced and atone for her sins. I beg mother to grant my wish!"
After saying that, Ling Wan once again touched the ground with her forehead and kowtowed heavily to Old Madam Shen.
Chen Yuanyuan had already researched this. In this era, there were many options for aristocratic women who divorced their husbands: they could return to their parents' home and become a "Beigong Ying'er" who would only serve their parents and never remarry; they could also set up their own household and live a leisurely life as a widow, receiving advice from others; or they could donate to a Taoist temple and become a Taoist priest like Xue Tao, making friends through literature...
Only modern people can't think of it, but there is nothing that ancient people can't do. Given the Xu family's attention and love for her, no matter if she remarries, her life will not be too bad, not to mention that she is so rich.
"Mrs. Ding relies on my wife's youth and respect for the elders to force the principal wife to leave the house. She is really capable!" A sneer was heard from behind, and a purple robe flashed in front of him. When he turned around, Ling Wan was picked up by Chen Cong.
He was wearing the official uniform of the imperial court. Except for Old Madam Shen, everyone else stood up and bowed their heads in greeting.
Chen Congsi had hurried back from the office, his shoes caked with snow, barely enough time to change. He stepped forward, bowed to Old Madam Shen, and said to Madam Ding calmly, "I just heard Madam Ding tell my mother outside that my wife had murdered Madam Ding out of jealousy of her pregnancy."
"That's quite interesting. I haven't had sex with Ding for seven years. How did she get pregnant?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone's face changed drastically. Mrs. Ding was the most embarrassed. "Minister Shen, it's true that Xu is your wife, but Lian'er has been in your Shen family for many years. How can you slander her like this? You..."
Shen Cong's expression was calm: "Every time the master of the Shen family enters and leaves each room, there is a record of the case. Send someone to bring Ding's case over."
"And Ding, Qiu, and Zhao all live in Fangfei Pavilion on weekdays. Everyone in the pavilion can attest to this. Come, bring all seventeen people from Fangfei Pavilion here."
"Mrs. Ding also sent a few trusted aides to accompany us, so as to prevent the accusation that the entire Chen Mansion is in collusion."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
