Chapter 377 Unrepentant and Turning the Tables
The Duchess wanted to say she wouldn't choose either, and that it was all her fault. If you hadn't said in her dream that you wanted to pass the title to that wretched girl, would I have done it?
But she didn't dare.
If she said that, the Duke of Wei would immediately divorce her.
The Duchess swallowed back the words she was about to say. "My lord, we were wrong. Please don't send us back to our hometown. If we all go back, no one will be able to manage the affairs of the manor."
"You don't need to worry about that. I'd rather the mansion be in a mess than have you corrupt my grandchildren." The sons are beyond saving, but the grandchildren can still be salvaged.
When the Duchess heard what the Duke of Wei said, she wanted her grandchildren to plead for her. However, before she could speak, the Duke of Wei looked at his grandchildren and said, "Grandfather will pretend you know nothing about this matter. If you plead for your grandmother and mother, Grandfather will pretend you know about it."
The Duchess was nearly driven mad with anger. "You...you...you..."
The Duke of Wei glared at his wife. "What? I've already been very lenient with you. If you keep nagging, I'll have a good talk with my grandchildren about what you've done."
The Duchess dared not speak. She looked at her two sons.
The two sons lowered their heads guiltily.
Duke Wei coldly snorted. "Which one do you choose? If you don't know which one to choose, I'll send someone to take you back to your maternal homes right now."
Madam Jia tugged at her husband's sleeve. "Husband, I've given you three children. Please, ask my father for me."
Before Wei Lao Er could figure out what to say, the Duke of Wei blurted out, "Let him plead for you? He's barely able to protect himself, you know."
Wei Lao Er's eyes widened in fright. "Father...Father, what...what do you mean by that?"
The Duke of Wei looked at him and said, "Don't you know what you've done? Do you really think you can cover it up perfectly?"
“I…I…Father…”
"Shut up!" The Duke of Wei looked at his eldest son. "And you! You're involved too! You and your brother are both going back to your hometown and are never allowed to come to the capital again!"
"What?!" Old Master Wei could hardly believe his ears. "Father, I still have duties at the yamen."
"That's a sinecure for you."
"Even a sinecure is..."
"Shut up!" He was interrupted by the Duke of Wei before he could finish speaking. "If you don't want to die, obediently go back to your hometown!"
Death?! "Father...Father, what do you mean by that?"
The Duke of Wei looked at his grandchildren. "You may all go out first."
After his grandchildren left, the Duke of Wei looked at his two sons and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince discovered what you two did. After doing such things, you still dared to linger under the Crown Prince's nose? Do you two have a death wish?"
The faces of Wei Lao Da and Wei Lao Er turned pale instantly.
The Duchess, along with Ning and Jia, no longer dared to hope of staying in the capital.
With a pale face, Elder Wei asked in a trembling voice, "Why...why is His Highness...the Crown Prince...investigating our family's affairs all of a sudden?"
"Don't ask me that. In short, His Highness the Crown Prince already knows what you've done. If you're still in the capital and getting in His Highness's way... you can think about it yourselves."
The Duchess gritted her teeth. "Is it because of that scourge? Has that scourge caught the Crown Prince's eye?"
The Duke of Wei wanted to kick his wife out. "You're the real troublemaker! Look what you've done to our old Wei family!"
The Duchess was unwilling to accept this. "Is it because of her? Has she managed to get close to the Crown Prince?"
The Duke of Wei stared at his wife and said slowly, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask. The more you ask, the faster you'll die."
The Duchess dared not ask further. "Are you hoping I'll die sooner?"
"Stop with the nonsense. I'll give you three the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. If you still don't choose, I'll send someone to take you back to your parents' home."
In the end, all three—the mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and mother-in-law—chose to return
Although my hometown lacks the splendor of the capital, it's still better than living as a dependent and confined to a life of quiet contemplation.
After they made their choices, the Duke of Wei said, "Since you all want to go back to your hometowns, then come up with a reason so that everyone won't make wild guesses."
The three women—the mother-in-law, the eldest son, and the second son—were told: "..." They were being told to go back to their hometown and that we should come up with our own reasons?
Duke Wei glared at him: "You want me to come up with a reason for harming my Cheng'er! You're dreaming! Also, after you leave, I'm going to marry another wife to manage the household."
The three women—the mother-in-law, her daughter-in-law, the eldest Wei brother, and the second Wei brother—were all speechless. What? Didn't you just say you'd rather the house be a mess?
Duke Wei's eyes widened even more. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm the one who got me killed by this bunch of idiots! I was planning to go sightseeing with His Majesty after he abdicated."
"Now look what's happened! Not only can I not go sightseeing, but I also have to go to His Highness the Crown Prince to ask for a job."
"Otherwise, by the time Cheng'er and the other generation grow up, there will be no place for our old Wei family in the court."
"I'm working like a slave for His Highness the Crown Prince every day, how can I have time to manage the inner quarters? I'm not a god, I can't be split in two."
"I must have owed you guys something in my past life. At my age, I still have to clean up your messes and coax women."
"You dare look at me like that? You're the ones who ruined me! Get out!"
The three women—mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, eldest son Wei, and second son Wei—said, "..." You sound so pitiful, as if you're the one who's wronged. What old man wouldn't want to marry a delicate young wife?
Seeing that they still wouldn't leave, the Duke of Wei said again, "Get out! Get out! I'm annoyed just looking at you. Look at the Yun family, they went from being exiles to becoming royalty just because they had a capable girl. And you, you finally have a capable girl in your family, and you want to kill her. You... you're really infuriating me. Get out! Get out!"
The Duke of Wei grew angrier the more he spoke!
The mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and the two eldest brothers, Wei, dared not stay.
After they left, the Duke of Wei knelt down on the ancestral tablet, feeling dejected. "Ancestors above, I have come to beg for forgiveness. I have failed to properly manage my wife and children."
Duke Wei knelt in the ancestral hall for a long time.
On the other side, after Wei Laoda and the others came out of the ancestral hall, they all went to the Duchess's room.
As soon as the Duchess returned to her room, she started smashing things. "It's all that troublemaker's fault!"
Wei Lao Er quickly covered the Duchess's mouth. "Mother, please stop talking. If His Highness the Crown Prince's men hear this, we're all doomed."
The Duchess, while pulling her second son's hand, mumbled something, meaning: I'm speaking in my own room, how could His Highness the Crown Prince's men hear me?
Wei Lao Er guessed what his mother meant. "The matter of Cheng'er was discovered by His Highness the Crown Prince's people."
The Duchess stopped mumbling.
Wei the Second released the Duchess. "Mother, let's think of a way to explain this to everyone, shall we?"
The Duchess said angrily, "What's there to explain? Isn't your father going to take another wife? Once he does, everyone will understand why we suddenly went back to our hometown."
"This...this isn't appropriate, is it?"
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