The Seventh Madam wiped away her tears, but the more she wiped, the more they flowed, and she couldn't stop them no matter what she did.
Rong Ning looked at her, sighed softly, and handed her a handkerchief. The Seventh Madam hesitated for a moment and did not dare to take it.
Rong Ning grabbed her hand and placed the handkerchief in her palm. "It's just a handkerchief. Take it and wipe your tears!"
The Seventh Madam lowered her head in a daze, clutching her handkerchief tightly in her hand, remaining silent.
After a long while, she took a deep breath, as if she had made a decision, and said, "Your Highness... Zhu Qi is a son of a concubine and is not very favored at home. Although my mother-in-law likes me, there are many things I can't get involved in."
However, in the past two years, Zhu Qi has suddenly been valued for some reason. Since he has no official rank, he was put in charge of the family business and given various tasks. As his wife, I know some of this.
Rong Ning raised an eyebrow, "For example??"
“For example…” The Seventh Madam pursed her lips, pausing her words. She gritted her teeth, stood up, and then quickly knelt down, kowtowing heavily. “Your Highness, I can tell you everything I know, but… there are conditions!”
condition? ?
Rong Ning slightly lifted her eyelids, "You certainly have guts!"
The Seventh Madam felt a chill run down her spine, but she remained kneeling there, holding that position without moving.
She was demanding that Rong Ning agree to her conditions.
Seeing her like this, Rong Ning changed her sitting position and said lazily, "Then tell me, what do you want me to do?"
"Your Highness, please get my daughter, Ayu, out of here. My life is over, there's nothing left to fight for, but Ayu is still so young. As her mother, I don't want her life to end here before it even begins."
Upon hearing this, Rong Ning laughed, "Your condition is no small matter. However, I can take a child out of here. It just depends on whether what you give me is worth the risk."
When negotiating terms, there needs to be something to discuss!
Rong Ning is not some saint; she won't blindly agree to things just because she pities the mother and daughter. It all depends on what the Seventh Madam knows and how valuable it is!
Madam Qi wasn't stupid; she knew what Rong Ning meant. She exhaled a breath of stale air and continued, "Ever since Zhu Qi took over a portion of the Zhu family's business, he has become increasingly important in the mansion. Zhu Qi often proudly tells me that he is now in charge of the mansion's major businesses."
However, he remained quiet in the mansion, and his parents-in-law did not like him much. It was unusual for them to suddenly entrust him with many important businesses in the mansion. After all, he had many brothers above him, and I was afraid that he would be plotted against without even knowing it. So, under the pretext of helping him, I secretly kept an eye on things for him. As a result, I discovered that the Zhu family was using their businesses to win over and bribe officials in the court.
I know this is no small matter. If the truth comes out one day, Zhu Qi will definitely be the first one to be pushed out.
That's why I advised Zhu Qi not to help with these things anymore, but he wouldn't listen.
I had no choice but to pay even closer attention to his every move, and I even secretly wrote down some of the financial transactions that I knew about behind his back.
Remember it clearly, so that it may be needed in case of emergency.
I've been keeping records for two years, and I've recorded quite a lot.
Before Zhu's accident, my family wanted to take me back home, but I couldn't bear to leave Zhu Qi, and even more so, my three-year-old daughter, so I refused. However, shortly afterward, I used the excuse of saying goodbye to my parents to return to my family home, secretly hiding those account books under the peach tree in the courtyard where I lived before I got married.
She kept these accounts, originally thinking that if something happened to the Zhu family, and all the blame was ultimately placed on Zhu Qi, these accounts would also serve as leverage.
She didn't realize that her father-in-law's actions in the north were a heinous crime that would lead to the confiscation of his property and the extermination of his entire clan; these small accounts were, in fact, insignificant.
"Those accounts are evidence of the Zhu family's secret dealings with various officials. I wonder if they will be of any use to Your Highness!"
"Useful, of course it's useful!" Rong Ning smiled brightly. She hadn't expected to get any valuable information from the place she came today, but it turned out that this Seventh Madam was quite the enigma.
Rong Ning thought for a moment and then asked, "Have you told anyone about the existence of these accounts?"
"No..."
The Seventh Madam shook her head...
“I know that too many people are involved in these things. Once the Zhu family falls, everyone is eager to distance themselves. My father-in-law would rather drag the entire Zhu family down than admit to all the crimes. This is enough to show that everyone thinks that it is best to end with the Zhu family.”
Therefore, these accounts cannot be made public. If others knew that I had secretly hidden them, it would bring ruin to my family. That's why I haven't told anyone. If Your Highness hadn't come to tell me this today, I would have taken these secrets to the underworld.
Rong Ning nodded. "You're smart, but if you're so smart, why didn't you divorce him and sever all ties back then?!"
The Seventh Madam gave a self-deprecating laugh, "It was just some foolish thing I did to feel good about myself. Let's not talk about it. Your Highness, if those things are really useful, then use them to save my daughter Ayu's life."
She bowed deeply, almost pleading.
This is what she, as a mother, can do for her daughter now.
Somewhat pitiful.
Rong Ning sighed, but didn't agree immediately. Instead, she asked, "Do you know anything else?"
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