Chapter 20: Discuss this matter before His Majesty
Ji Qingwu's skirt was blown up by the wind, and she felt for Zizhu's knee pain when she heard the sound.
"Fifth Miss, please save me. I don't want to be sold. Please have mercy on me, please..."
Lu Juan tightened his jaw and looked at Ji Qingrong, while she looked at her fifth sister.
It seems that this matter has to be left to Ji Qingwu to decide.
Zizhu pulled her skirt with her hands, as if she was pulling at a life-saving straw.
Cui had a string of Buddhist beads on her wrist. She twisted them and sighed, "I can tell at a glance that Fifth Miss is kind-hearted. This girl's life depends on your thoughts."
Listening to the pitiful cries and the lady's pleadings.
Ji Qingwu's eyes became even colder, and she pulled back the corner of her clothes.
"You are pitiful, but isn't my elder sister pitiful too?"
If the soup had not been discovered by her at lunch time, what kind of suffering would Ji Qingrong have to endure for the rest of her life.
This black-hearted lady and servant girl were not worthy of her sympathy at all.
A smart person can easily hear the hidden meaning in the words.
Lu Juan had already stood up, but sat back down again, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "What kind of grievance did Qingrong suffer that he had to speak through Fifth Sister's mouth?"
Good question! This is such a great injustice!
Ji Qingwu bent down, approached Zizhu, and asked, "Let me ask you, the bowl of soup you brought at noon contained tiger and wolf medicine, did you know that?"
Zizhu's face turned pale and she shook her head violently, "I, I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know."
How could Ji Qingwu believe her? He added, "In the past three years, thousands of bowls of soup you sent were all filled with burdock. Since you didn't know, then the lady must know!"
Cui's careful planning over the years was suddenly revealed by Ji Wu.
She could no longer hold the Buddhist beads, and the string fell to the ground, the string broke, and the sandalwood beads scattered all over the floor.
Seeing the two's reactions, Lu Juan's heart sank, and he said with a deep look in his eyes: "Fifth sister, tell me in detail."
Ji Qingwu clearly explained the fundamental reason why his elder sister had not been pregnant for so many years.
But he omitted the contraceptive pills and only talked about the problem in the soup.
Even if Lu Juan was calm, he could not have imagined that his mother would do such a thing and use such vicious means.
He sent a confidant over, his tone unchanged.
"Go search."
Half an incense stick of time passed.
The confidant came in with several medicine bags in his hands, and also brought in a cook.
Lu Juan had worked in the Dali Temple, and his subordinates were all skilled interrogators.
He looked over and said, "The evidence is all here, mother, do you have anything to say?"
Cui was silent.
At this point, no matter what she said, it would be useless. She knew her son's ability. He could even pry the truth out of the dead. She didn't want the servants around her to suffer anymore.
That's admitting it.
"You go down first." Lu Juan said calmly.
Ji Qingwu quietly walked to the last chair and sat down.
From here on out, they were all family affairs of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery’s Mansion. Her brother-in-law was a man who knew what was going on, so it was not convenient for her to interfere.
Ji Qingrong's mood was full of twists and turns. She was surprised that her husband did not favor her mother-in-law and just stood on her side. She was also surprised that he found evidence of her mother-in-law's guilt so quickly and did not allow her to refute it in a strong manner.
If she had known it would be so hassle-free, she wouldn't have endured it so hard.
Ji Qingrong's eyes looking at Lu Juan were more tender and her heart felt sweeter.
Cui was humiliated and lost her dignity in public, and she seemed to have aged in an instant.
She said dejectedly: "Ziyou, don't you know my good intentions?"
Lu Juan looked back at her and said sarcastically, "You used all your efforts to make Qingrong childless, and make me childless?"
"I am your mother, how could I let you really be childless." Cui said excitedly: "The concubine I chose for you is a poor lady from a noble family. Except for her family background, she is no worse than Ji Qingrong in every aspect. If she can't give birth, there are naturally other women who can."
When Ji Qingwu heard this, he frowned and curled his lips.
Cui is a married woman and should know the difficulties faced by women in the inner house, but women just like to make things difficult for other women.
Ji Qingrong looked at her mother-in-law coldly. If her plan succeeded, and she was still childless in a few years, the wife of the first wife who could not give birth to an heir would be forced to accept the birth of a child by a concubine, and then be controlled by Cui.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Mother-in-law really has a good plan."
Cui was still able to talk calmly to her son, but as soon as Ji Qingrong said something, she seemed unable to bear it.
He said with hatred: "A woman from the Ji family is not worthy of giving birth to the Marquis's legitimate son!"
There were two women from the Ji family present.
They looked at each other, their big eyes filled with the same confusion. When had the Ji family ever offended the Cui family?
Ji Qingwu felt from the lady's words that the daughter of the Ji family was a disaster for the country.
But if Cui had opposed this marriage at the beginning, she could have simply not let Ji Qingrong enter the house. With Lu Juan's status and position, as well as his handsome appearance, most of the noble ladies in Lin'an City would have been willing to marry him.
Lu Juan's face darkened and he said in a cold voice, "Mother, Qingrong is the wife I personally married after going to the Ji family with three letters and six ceremonies, four betrothals and five gold coins. She is already a wife of the Lu family!"
When Cui heard what he said, she covered her chest and gasped, obviously very angry.
She spat, "How can she deserve it!"
When Cui's eldest sister married into the former Yong'an Marquis's Mansion, she died of illness early. However, Yong'an Marquis Zhao Shichang hurriedly married a new wife, Ji, before her eldest sister's body was cold.
Now, Ji Fangmin sat on the throne of the empress dowager, second only to the emperor, and took away the glory that should have belonged to her Cui family.
Cui hated the Ji family in her heart, and her eyes were filled with resentment that was no longer concealed.
"Ziyou, do you still remember what you told me at the beginning?"
Lu Juan's expression turned stern and he wanted to stop Cui from continuing.
But the emotions that Cui had hidden for many years were like a beast breaking out of a cage.
"That day three years ago, you came home late, covered in snow, and came to me to say that you wanted to marry the eldest daughter of the Ji family. I disagreed, but then you said that if she, Ji Qingrong, married another noble family, the Ji family would become more and more powerful and would pose a threat to the imperial power. You wanted to marry her in order to stop the Ji family from expanding."
Cui said loudly: "You said that you married her not for love but for the greater good!"
Lu Juan’s back stiffened and he immediately turned around to look at Ji Qingrong’s expression.
Ji Qingrong felt like he had been struck by a bolt from the blue.
This was even more difficult for her to accept than the drastic medicine her mother-in-law had given her.
Just now, she was very moved by her husband's act of protection, but now her mother-in-law said so again, who can she trust?
Ji Qingrong's mind was in a mess and she lost her backbone. She turned around and went to look for her fifth sister like a lost soul.
Ji Qingwu embraced the elder sister, looked at the two of them and said, "Since the Madam thinks that the Ji family's women are not worthy of being the Crown Prince's wife, then I will bring the elder sister home today."
Lu Juan said with a dark face: "Fifth sister, this is a family affair of the Marquis' Mansion. Qingrong is my wife."
"Master Lu, this is not just a family affair of the Marquisate, it's also a state affair."
Ji Qingwu changed his address and no longer called him brother-in-law.
She said firmly: "Don't forget that the Ji family is also a royal family. We can ask the emperor to discuss this matter in front of His Majesty to see who is right and who is wrong!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
