As the master and servant talked, they arrived at the flower hall.
After the two sides exchanged greetings, Madam Shen sent her granddaughter off to play and said to Ye Zhen, "Madam Xiao took her cousin out for a big shopping trip today. She's very picky and doesn't have many people she likes. This cousin is no ordinary person."
That day, Ye Zhen suddenly asked her daughter's name and told her that her daughter might still be alive.
Upon returning to the capital, he told her that the Prime Minister's residence might have another cousin, and asked her to keep an eye on the cousin's movements.
Madam Shen still wanted to know her daughter's whereabouts, so she dared not neglect the task assigned to her by Ye Zhen.
And he had a vague feeling that this cousin might be related to his daughter's matter.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Zhen told Madam Shen that the cousin was Xie Jinyao.
"I only found out by chance that she was still alive and had become eccentric."
She used your daughter's affair to threaten Xiao into entering the Prime Minister's residence.
He then recounted Xie Jinyao's connection with the Xiao family, saying, "I sent people to investigate, and there is indeed a village called Zhenyue Bay near the capital."
More than 20 years ago, a family bought a child bride for their mentally challenged son.
The child bride was named Yu Niang. She kowtowed and lost her memory, but then suddenly disappeared three months later.
Based on Xie Jinyao's words, it seems that your daughter did not actually die back then, but was sold to a mentally challenged person by the Xiao family.
The fool's family was wiped out by bandits while visiting relatives. One reason I didn't tell you the details before was that I was worried you might alert them if you went to Pillow Moon Bay to investigate.
Having received Xie Jinyao's threat, the Xiao family will definitely send people to keep an eye on Pillow Moon Bay.
If she knew that someone was watching this, she might tell Xie Jinyao, and then Xie Jinyao would know that someone was watching her.
It won't be so easy for Ye Zhen to obtain Xie Jinyao's memories of her past life again.
"But Xie Jinyao has never sent anyone to any place. I suspect that she only knows the inside story of that year, but does not know the true whereabouts of your daughter."
Ye Zhen believed that she knew Xie Jinyao quite well, and Yu Niang was an important handle that Xie Jinyao had on Xiao Shi.
If Xie Jinyao really knew where she was, she would definitely try to find out, just like how she was worried about forgetting her memories and went to Shuanzi in the middle of the night to ask for paper and pen to record them.
Unless she has no idea where Yu Niang is now, and she is deceiving Xiao Shi, or Yu Niang is no longer alive.
If it is the former, it means that Xie Jinyao did not truly pledge allegiance to the Xiao family, but rather used her as a stepping stone to get to know someone who could suppress the Xiao family.
Ye Zhen thought of Prime Minister Li.
She also recalled that Prime Minister Li had spoken up for Ye Wantang. At that time, she thought that Prime Minister Li was one of Prince Liang's men, which was why he wanted to help Prince Liang arrange the marriage between Ye Wantang and Prince Ning.
However, judging from the fact that the King of Liang rebelled, he did not conspire with Prime Minister Li.
Those in high positions tend to be more cautious in their words and actions, so Li Xiangguo's help to Ye Wantang is worth considering.
Madam Shen understood what she meant and clenched her fists tightly. "When Yu Niang had the accident, she was the same age as Sui Huan."
At that time, I found a teacher for Chenghe. The teacher was unwilling to go to the capital and only agreed to let Chenghe study at his home.
I was worried about my son going out alone, so I wanted to take Yu Niang with me to personally escort her brother there.
At that time, Xiao's son was about to have his first birthday banquet. She was convinced that I had deliberately left the mansion to make a fool of myself, and the matter was brought to the Prime Minister's attention.
At that time, the Prime Minister still had to rely on the Xiao family and valued his reputation, so he asked me to stay..."
Madam Shen paused, tears glistening in her eyes, "Yu Niang is clever. In order to get me to send her brother away from the mansion, she deliberately made herself break out in a rash."
My daughter is unwell, so I, as her mother, have an excuse to go out and find a doctor for her, but she has to stay at home.
I pulled her out of the abandoned well in the backyard. She had been in the well for many days and her face was no longer recognizable, but the dress she was wearing was sewn by my own hands.
The one who confessed was the nanny who served Yu Niang. The nanny said that she resented me for driving her son out of the mansion, so she took revenge on Yu Niang by pushing her into the well.
And I lied to the Prime Minister and Madam Xiao, saying that during the days when Yu Niang was missing, she secretly went out of the mansion to look for me.
But I knew that the real culprit was Madam Xiao. She resented Yu Niang for pretending to be sick and making me leave the mansion.
The Prime Minister favored sons over daughters and had little affection for Yu Niang. Instead, he accused me of being harsh on the servants, which led to the downfall of my own daughter.
I wanted to seek revenge against the Xiao family, but the Prime Minister threatened my son's life, forbidding me from harming the Xiao mother and son..."
She could only proceed gradually, and before the Prime Minister could find any fault with her, she cut off Li Chenghai's ability to have children and also gave Xiao a sterilization drug.
Over the years, she often felt guilty for not being able to truly avenge her daughter, but she never expected that her daughter had not died back then, but had been sold by Xiao Shi.
She was sold to the Li family as a child bride when she was young. Despite the ridicule of the world, she learned to slaughter pigs to support Li Heng's education, bore him children, and served his parents-in-law. However, he married another woman after rising to prominence.
Unfortunately, she was a child bride with no maternal family to rely on, and her eldest son's fate and future were in the hands of a man. She truly hated the identity of a child bride.
However, Xiao sold her daughter to be a child bride, which was both cruel and heartless.
Ye Zhen's eyes flickered slightly. "Does the Prime Minister know Yu Niang's whereabouts?"
She always felt that the reason why women in the inner quarters could cause trouble was mostly because of men.
Just like the Marquis of Zhongyong's family before, if the Marquis of Zhongyong hadn't trusted Lady Liu and Lady Shu so easily, he wouldn't have ended up with his family destroyed and his people killed.
When Li Xiangguo sought power, he initially needed to rely on the Xiao family, so he might not necessarily condone the Xiao family's actions.
Li Heng is no fool; he rose from a destitute scion of a wealthy family who relied on his wife to slaughter pigs for sustenance to his current position, second only to the emperor.
It's not impossible to see that the old woman was working for Madam Xiao.
Furthermore, the disappearance of Yu Niang and the massacre of the mentally challenged family cannot be mere coincidences.
“I suspected that he was protecting the Xiao family.”
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