Chapter 1229 Consort Dowager Qing Shifting the Blame

“What? Marquis Xing’s Mansion is going to break up today?”

“Aren’t they holding the funeral of the former Madam of Marquis Xing, Madam Jiang? Instead of holding the funeral, they’re breaking up the family?”

“What? Third Madam can’t bear to see a mistress of Marquis Xing take charge of the internal affairs of the mansion in the next few days, so she insisted on separating from the family. That’s why the mansion is breaking up?”

“What… what’s going on? Madam Jiang has just died. How could they let a mistress marry into the family and take charge of the family affairs?

“What Marquis Xing’s Mansion is doing is truly improper. No wonder the third branch has to separate from the family. If they stay together, they may do something absurd…”

Many people listened to the words of the servants of the third branch. They whispered to each other and pointed at Marquis Xing’s Mansion. What Marquis Xing had done was really terrible.

No matter how bad Madam Jiang had been, Marquis Xing should not let a mistress take charge of the affairs of the inner court at this time.

“No wonder Third Madam wants to separate from the family. This is so embarrassing…”

Originally, Shao Jing wanted to handle the matter of E’niang quietly. As long as she was recorded in the family tree, married into Marquis Xing’s Mansion, and had the support of Madam Wen, no one could interfere in his affairs. After all, he also cared about Madam Jiang’s dignity, so he didn’t set up a banquet or hold an official banquet to marry E’niang.

He didn’t expect things to turn out like this. Not only did many people know about it, but they also slandered him. He was so angry that he went straight to the study in the front yard and didn’t care about the funeral of Madam Jiang.

Shao Hua’an also went to the study and put all the blame on Zhao Xiran. Seeing that Old Madam was still struggling on the bed and trying to make a sound, Zhao Xiran felt that it was really hard for her to deal with the mess in the mansion alone.

When she married into Marquis Xing’s Mansion, she wanted to control the whole mansion. She thought that she could make the mansion thrive and prosper while helping her father look for what he wanted.

At this moment, the mansion was in chaos. Everyone blamed what had happened on her. She looked at Old Madam, who stared at her with hatred as if she was the one who broke up the family.

Zhao Xiran felt weak all over, but she had to deal with the affairs.

The family was breaking up, and there were so many things inside and outside. However, her father-in-law and Shao Hua’an didn’t care about anything and left them all to her. How could she, as a new daughter-in-law, deal with them?

At this moment, Zhao Xiran was so exhausted that she regretted marrying into Marquis Xing’s Mansion.

Back then, she actually had a lot of choices. With her hands on the pillar, her vision went dark for a while, and she could hear the voices of the servants coming from a distance. Her body went limp and she almost fainted.

“First Young Madam. First Young Madam!”

“First Young Madam.”

After a long while, Zhao Xiran slowly opened her eyes. She looked around blankly, took a deep breath, and said slowly, “I’m fine. Go and do your work!”

“First Young Madam, let me help you rest for a while!” The servant girls Qiu Yue and Qiu Lian, who came with Zhao Xiran when she got married, were worried, so they helped her sit down.

“No need for that. Let’s go back first!” Zhao Xiran whispered.

“First Young Madam, what… should we do with Old Madam?” Qiu Yue glanced at Old Madam secretly and whispered.

Seeing that Old Madam was in a bad situation, she was afraid that something bad would happen to her. If that happened, the Marquis and the First Young Master would blame everything on the First Young Madam.

Zhao Xiran smiled bitterly and lowered her eyes. In order to marry into Duke Xing’s Mansion, she had to endure that no one in the mansion had been sincere to her. But now she had to deal with the mess.

“Help me sit down on the stool!” Zhao Xiran said. She couldn’t leave now. She had to take charge of the affairs of the mansion. Fortunately, the mistress was about to enter the mansion.

Zhao Xiran had been very opposed to the mistress marrying into the Marquis Xing’s Mansion, but now she had given up objecting. “Since those women have to come in, so be it. The reputation of Marquis Xing’s Mansion has been ruined and is at its worst.

“I can’t deal with the mess in this mansion. Whoever wants to deal with that can do it!

“Marquis Xing’s Mansion won’t get any better!”

Shao Wanru left when Marquis Xing’s Mansion was in chaos. Now that the mansion was in such a mess, no one could make a proper decision. With the inner court in a mess, she didn’t intend to help Marquis Xing’s Mansion manage the affairs. She got on the carriage with her servants and went out of the mansion. Since she had come to pay her respects to Madam Jiang, Marquis Xing’s Mansion couldn’t find fault with her.

Marquis Xing’s Mansion was in a precarious situation. Shao Wanru would love to see how they could avoid this disaster.

The carriage was very stable. She took a cup of tea and looked at the tea inside. Her eyes were clear and a little darkened. “Since Marquis Xing’s Mansion has hurt my parents, there’s no need for me to show mercy…”

“Mother, what should we do? The people of the Ministry of Justice come to ask about it again!” In Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, Chu Qing was very annoyed. The Empress Dowager was still in Huaguang Temple, and not everyone could see her. At present, this matter could not be delayed any longer.

An official of the Ministry of Justice, even if he was just a junior official, died in Chu Qing’s mother’s Buddha Hall. If no one spoke, the Ministry of Justice would not close the case and would send people over from time to time.

“Make someone take the blame,” Consort Dowager Qing said with a gloomy face. She knocked on the wooden fish so hard that the sound almost covered her voice.

“Who will take it?” Chu Qing was not surprised by what she said. “There must be a reason!”

If the reason was improper, he might be implicated. Chu Qing couldn’t afford it. The Emperor didn’t care about him as his nephew. Both he and Chu Liuchen were the sons of the deceased emperor, but the Emperor treated them differently.

Not everyone in the mansion could hide a junior official in the Buddha Hall.

“Make a supervisor take the blame!” Consort Dowager Qing gritted her teeth. “Do it tonight. Make a supervisor take the blame and kill him. You’ll say that he committed suicide. Tell those officials that he’s the one who secretly brought the junior official in that day.”

“What’s the purpose?” Chu Qing asked anxiously.

Consort Dowager put down the wooden fish in her hand heavily and said sharply, “Someone used the supervisor to frame you. Someone wanted to frame you and then tried to assassinate you. The assassination was not the real purpose. The main purpose was to have the Ministry of Justice search the Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, find out the dead junior official, and frame you.”

Since she couldn’t ask for the Empress Dowager’s help, she could only come up with this idea.

This was a good idea. Chu Qing nodded repeatedly. At present, he was forced to do so by the Ministry of Justice. The minister of the Ministry of Justice had sent a message that if Chu Qing could not provide a suitable explanation, he would be taken directly to the Ministry of Justice.

Chu Qing thought for a moment and said, “Mother, who do you think is likely to frame me?”

There was a reason for this matter, and he had to accuse someone of being the culprit vaguely. Otherwise, the Ministry of Justice would not take it seriously.

“It was not supposed to be so late on the day when the junior official got killed. Because of the death of Madam Jiang, many officials of the Ministry of Justice were asked to stay, including that junior official. What if he had something to do with Madam Jiang’s death?” Consort Dowager Qing, who had survived two disasters and hid her son in the Yuhui Nunnery, had made up her mind at this time.

Thinking of what had happened before, the strange behavior of the Ministry of Justice, and some other clues, Consort Dowager Qing deduced that this junior official might have something to do with the death of Madam Jiang.

Consort Dowager Qing said, “After Madam Jiang died, Marquis Xing will definitely benefit from it. I heard that Marquis Xing has kept a mistress and even raised a daughter, they are determined to enter Marquis Xing’s Mansion. In order to frame Marquis Xing, Madam Jiang was ready to commit suicide. Now that she is dead, Marquis Xing can benefit from it.”

Chu Qing nodded repeatedly, but he had to hesitate. “Mother, Shao Jing is not qualified!”

Shao Jing was not qualified to assassinate him.

“If Shao Jing is not enough, what about Prince Cheng behind him?” Consort Dowager Qing sneered. At this time, she had no time to care about the secret connection between Prince Cheng and them. In order to save herself, she would make Prince Cheng take the blame.

Because of the secret connection with Prince Cheng, she knew that the relationship between Shao Jing and Prince Cheng was unusual. She also knew that Shao Jing was actually on the side of Prince Cheng.

It was inappropriate to blame the matter on Shao Jing, but what about Prince Cheng?

It would get her what she needed.

“Will Prince Cheng countercharge us?” Chu Qing was still a little worried. Prince Cheng was not easy to deal with. They knew something about Prince Cheng, and Prince Cheng also knew something about them.

“So what if he does that? He will just be making groundless accusations. We won’t say anything improper. We won’t spread the news either. It has nothing to do with us. Chu Liuyue, Chu Liuzhou, and Chu Liuchen are not easy to deal with,” Consort Dowager said coldly with a gloomy face.

“But… Mother…” Chu Qing was still hesitant. “We can’t let others find out.”

“Ask Mo Qiuyi to do it. Isn’t Wei Dahai on her side? Even if something gets found out, you won’t be involved,” Consort Dowager Qing said disapprovingly.

“Mother, Qiuyi is going to marry me. It’s inappropriate for her to be in trouble at this time, isn’t it?” Chu Qing was still worried. Mo Qiuyi had accompanied him in the Yuhui Nunnery for so many years, and they could be considered childhood sweethearts. She was different from other women. Even if Mo Qiuyi was not very good-looking and even not as good-looking as Shao Jie’er, Chu Qing was always partial to her.

“If she doesn’t do it well, someone will replace her.” Consort Dowager Qing said with a sneer, “I’ve kept her as a helper for you, so it’s inevitable for her to help you.”

Mo Qiuyi was related to a former royal princess, but so what? Chu Qing was the most important person to Consort Dowager Qing, and she didn’t care about anyone else.

Mo Qiuyi was not the only one related to a former royal prince. There were many former royal princesses. Consort Li, who had fled to the Xu State, was one of them. If Mo Qiuyi couldn’t marry Chu Qing, he could have other women marry him.

As for Wei Dahai, he was even less important. There were many means left by the previous dynasty. At present, Consort Dowager was possessing most of them, so she was very confident.

She thought that it was only right and proper for her son to ascend the throne, and no one else could do it.

“Qing, don’t be sentimental. Qiuyi is a good girl, and I will definitely draw her over to our side. But you must remember that you are the master, and the others are all your subordinates. Even when we have no choice left, I can sacrifice myself for you.” Consort Dowager Qing said earnestly, “Mo Qiuyi did something wrong before so that the treasury was confiscated. Until now, I don’t know who got it and whose suspicion has been aroused. You took all the blame for this matter at that time. If you continue to protect her like this, what will others think?”

Her words made Chu Qing silent for a while, and he didn’t know what to say. What happened back then was really the fault of Mo Qiuyi, which made him lose a lot of his people.