The screen was removed, and Granny Liu finally saw the person behind it. She immediately widened her eyes, her face filled with shock.
She thought that for the Lady Hou to personally accompany him and specially keep Mu Wencheng alive for another day, the identity of this listener must be very extraordinary.
But to her utter surprise, they turned out to be the two daughters-in-law of the Marquis.
As Cen's personal nanny who had served her for decades, she knew Cen very well. She was very particular about rules and would never spoil her daughter-in-law like that.
Besides, while Lady Hou wasn't exactly dissatisfied with her eldest daughter-in-law, she didn't like her either, so how could she possibly do such a thing?
Li Chunlan lowered her head and focused on eating sunflower seeds, trying hard to hide the sly smile on her face.
She knew that she was able to get so close to the gossip this time purely because of her third brother and sister-in-law.
After all, if Xu Wanying only brought her third sister-in-law to watch the fun, she might notice something or start to overthink things.
My third sister-in-law's thought process is unusual; she can really come up with some unique ideas. If she goes astray again, that would be terrible.
After ruling out Li Chunlan, Granny Liu looked at Xu Wanying and immediately had some guesses.
Every time the Marquis and his wife went to Qingxi Pavilion, they would have a big fight when they returned, and even threaten to divorce. At the time, she couldn't understand why, but now she thinks that the third wife must have some kind of supernatural ability.
However, she never had the chance to figure out what made this third wife different.
"Wanying, were you frightened?" Seeing that Xu Wanying remained silent for a long time without revealing her thoughts, Madam Cen immediately asked.
"No, this Mu is utterly depraved. He caused my younger brother to be transferred and suffer so much outside. He also caused my mother to be betrayed by her two personal maids. He deserves to die!"
"But we haven't found my brother yet. Should we keep him alive to sue the mastermind and get him back before killing him, to avoid any complications?"
Xu Wanying, with a stern face, analyzed the situation seriously, and her analysis made perfect sense.
But inside, she was screaming in pain: "Ahhh, I ate too many sunflower seeds, I'm so inflamed! My tongue's blistered, it hurts so much to talk!"
Cen Shi, who was just about to praise her, choked up instantly upon hearing this heartfelt remark.
"Third sister-in-law, people have always praised you for your intelligence and good judgment, but I've never truly appreciated it until now—"
Li Chunlan stopped halfway through her flattery, as if she were stuck and couldn't find the next sentence.
"So what is it, sister-in-law?" Xu Wanying was clearly looking forward to her next question.
"I've finally seen how amazing my third sister-in-law is, hahaha—" She chuckled awkwardly, sounding a little guilty about her praise.
Xu Wanying's rational analysis just now sounded very reasonable, and I thought she was silent because she was deep in thought. I never expected that she was just getting a sore throat from eating sunflower seeds.
There's really no way to reason with this.
Cen took a light breath and quickly dispelled her speechless mood; her strong heart had been toughened up by her third daughter-in-law.
"It's alright. As long as we know where the real Yi-ge'er is, we won't have to be so hesitant. Only when a subordinate wants to harm a superior does it take great effort. But when a superior deals with a subordinate, a little trick is all it takes to crush his entire family."
Cen Ying spoke slowly and deliberately, even her tone was gentle, but when it reached Xu Wanying's ears, she felt a chill run down her spine.
At this moment, Cen Shi displayed the demeanor of a matriarch of a wealthy family in ancient times—cold, wise, and aloof.
The two sisters-in-law left hand in hand, leaving only Cen Ying and Granny Liu kneeling in the center of the room.
"Considering you've served me for so many years, I'll spare you some dignity and prevent your family from suffering the consequences."
Cen glanced at her, and Liu Mama's tears instantly welled up.
In fact, she had already cried all her tears last night. Regret, pain, and the humiliation of having her shameful deeds exposed all welled up in her heart.
When she was brought here today, listening to Mu Wencheng recount those shameful things again, she felt completely numb and unable to muster any emotion.
It was only when she heard that Cen was going to beat this coward to death that she couldn't help but feel schadenfreude.
But now, hearing Cen Ying say these words again, all her emotions returned, and Granny Liu's tears flowed like a burst dam.
"Master, it is Lu who has wronged you!" Her mouth was swollen and her tongue could not be straightened, so her words were unclear, but her eyes were firm.
Finally, she respectfully kowtowed to Cen Ying, then got up and slammed her head against the corner of the table.
She used all her strength, and a dull thud echoed in the room. Her neck was almost broken from the impact, and she clearly had no chance of surviving.
Cen Ying's hand trembled slightly as she picked up the teacup on the table and poured it around the floor.
"Have a safe journey, I won't see you off."
She clapped her hands, and immediately several guards came in and quickly dragged the body away without leaving a trace, as if the accident was just an illusion.
***
At the Wei family residence, Cen Jie was cursing loudly: "You little beast, where have you been hiding? You'd better really be dead out there, otherwise, you haven't returned to the manor for so long, and I can't even find a trace of you. If you come back, I'll break your dog legs!"
Wei Sheng has completely disappeared in the past few days. Cen Jie has sent out several groups of people to look for him, but there is still no news.
Although there was no unusual activity at the Marquis of Zhongyi's residence after the Jiang family returned home that day, she still felt uneasy, as if something was about to happen.
"Has the master returned? Please invite him over." She was restless and had no choice but to call Wei Xian over.
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