Because Liu "demonstrated her loyalty with her death," many in the Zhen family believed that the child was born to Master Zhen, since Master Zhen was indeed quite fond of women, and he had the most women among the several masters of the Zhen family.
Even after being rescued, Liu refused to change her story, which made the Zhen family even more convinced that the child in Liu's womb was Zhen's. Now, Zhen was in a difficult situation.
That evening, someone came to Liu's room. Without even looking at Liu, she knew who it was. Her eyes remained expressionless: "What are you doing here?"
The person who came was none other than the biological father of the child she was originally pregnant with.
I came to see you.
Liu said sarcastically, "What's so interesting about me?"
With so many things happening these past few days, Liu has actually grown a lot. She now realizes that this person didn't come because he felt guilty towards her or because he had feelings for her.
"Don't worry, I have no intention of betraying you."
The man said, "That's not what I meant."
The Liu family did not believe it.
The man continued, "I came here tonight to ask if you want to leave. I'll let you leave the Zhen family."
Liu was taken aback: "Even in my condition, you still want to send me away?"
It wasn't that she didn't believe it, but it was simply impossible. She was now a thorn in Madam Zhen's side, and she wished that someone would watch her all the time. She found it quite strange to see this person in front of her at this moment.
"We can't really send you to your death."
Liu knew her situation and fate; she was going to die sooner or later. Who would want to die if they could live? She just had no other choice.
But then she thought about it again and realized that wasn't right. Even if she escaped, where could she go? The Zhen family was powerful, and even if she managed to leave the mansion, she wouldn't survive.
Besides, with her current condition, she wouldn't survive even if she escaped. She still harbors hatred in her heart! She'd rather keep her life to cause trouble for the Zhen family.
"No need, I'm not leaving."
"Have you thought this through?" The man asked, surprised by Liu's choice.
"Think it through. Don't come back. Let's pretend we never met."
Although Liu had no romantic love for this man, she still had some affection for him. He was there for her during her most difficult time. Although she was now in a miserable state, at least she had experienced the pleasures of intimacy, which was much better than being a widow.
She was the one who initiated the relationship between the two.
"I'm sorry."
"You haven't done anything wrong to me, so go now and don't come back again."
After exchanging a few more words, the man left.
In another courtyard of the Zhen residence, a servant woman from the Fourth Madam's side came over and said, "Madam, when the Fourth Master went out tonight, I saw that he went west."
The fourth wife was taken aback upon hearing this: "You're not mistaken, are you?"
"This servant is not mistaken."
Only Liu lived on the west side, which was very remote. The fact that she went there late at night made the Fourth Madam uneasy.
"This matter cannot be told to anyone; just pretend you don't know anything about it."
The fourth wife was the fourth sister-in-law of Master Zhen. Her husband was Master Zhen's youngest half-brother. Usually, the fourth branch of the family had little presence in the mansion. The fourth wife's family was decent, but not as good as the Zhen family. She was considered to have married up. After marrying into the family, she listened to her husband and never overstepped his bounds.
But when she heard her mother-in-law say that her gentle and honest husband had gone to her niece's house, especially at this time, she couldn't help but overthink things.
But for the sake of her current peaceful life, she could only tell the old woman to shut up and that this matter absolutely could not be spread.
During the day, she was enjoying watching Madam Zhen's drama unfold, but by evening she realized that the drama had somehow involved her. How unlucky!
Thinking of this, the fourth wife felt that she had to do something.
The next day, the fourth wife went to Madam Zhen's place and learned that Liu was insisting that the child in her belly was Master Zhen's, which relieved the fourth wife.
She now hopes that Liu will say this until her death.
That noon, while the Fourth Master and Fourth Madam were having lunch together, the Fourth Master suddenly said, "Did you go to your sister-in-law's place today?"
The fourth madam was startled by what she heard, but she quickly recovered and her expression returned to normal. It was only for a moment, but the fourth master still noticed it.
"Go and see what's going on. After all, something like this happened to the Zhen family. We can't just be completely clueless!"
The fourth master nodded upon hearing this: "Your considerations are valid, but this is a shameful matter for the eldest branch of the family. Your elder brother and sister-in-law may not want you to ask too many questions, so don't get involved in the future."
The fourth wife nodded: "Yes, I only asked this once."
Madam Zhen had many ways of dealing with people. The more Liu suffered, the more hatred she harbored, and the more she insisted that the child belonged to Master Zhen, refusing to budge no matter what.
This made Madam Zhen certain in her heart that the child was Master Zhen's, otherwise she wouldn't have been so stubborn, after all, no one could withstand those methods one by one.
Madam Zhen: "We've asked everything we needed to ask, and we've used every means we could. But Liu still says the same thing."
Which sentence?
Of course, it's the phrase "The child belongs to Master Zhen".
Now, apart from Master Zhen himself, everyone else in the Zhen family says that the child is his.
Master Zhen was furious.
Seeing the suspicious look in Madam Zhen's eyes, she said, "If that child were really mine, I would have had it dealt with as soon as I found out that Liu was pregnant. Why would I wait until you investigate? I'm not that stupid. Keep asking. I don't believe we won't find out."
Madam Zhen: "Yes, sir."
Liu was indeed stubborn; no matter how you asked her, she would only say the same thing.
Another day passed, and Liu was gone; she had committed suicide.
With Liu's death, the matter hanging over Master Zhen's head became completely unpredictable.
Just then, the government office received a letter containing a lot of information about the Zhen family.
If the contents of the letter are true, then the Zhen family is truly finished.
Since the evidence in the letter was genuine, the investigation went very smoothly. Youqing had already kept Liu Shi around because of the chastity arch, and then she discovered that the government was investigating the Zhen family.
Emperor Kangxi also discovered it.
Then they had someone investigate the source of the letter.
The results of the investigation surprised Kangxi. He thought it was done by the Zhen family's mortal enemy, because if it wasn't a mortal enemy, there wouldn't be such complete evidence. But the truth was that the letter was sent to the government office by the fourth master of the Zhen family.
Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case. If the contents of the letter are true, the Zhen family is practically finished, if not completely. The Fourth Master himself will also be affected.
He himself is a member of the Zhen family, how could he be so righteous as to betray his own family?
Emperor Kangxi failed to uncover this matter. No matter how skilled his secret guards were, they couldn't see through a person's thoughts.
While Master Zhen was preoccupied with the rumors, the soldiers surrounded the Zhen family and he was thrown into prison in a daze. The rest of the Zhen family were not taken away, but the incident involving Master Zhen caused panic among the family.
The Fourth Master was fairly satisfied with the situation.
All that he did was worth it.
Once Master Zhen was in jail, he naturally refused to admit anything, but the evidence presented by the yamen was so irrefutable that he had no choice but to confess.
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