Chapter 1217 Who Did It?
Shao Jie’er cried and said firmly while wiping away her tears, “Although such a thing happened to Grandma after I left, how can I leave now? I have to stay to serve Grandma. I’m not leaving until she gets better.”
Zhao Xiran was so angry that she almost blew up. “Does she mean that this only happened after she left? She’s blaming me for not taking good care of Old Madam.”
She reached out to pull Shao Jie’er and continued to persuade her. “Second Sister…”
Shao Jie’er shook off Zhao Xiran’s hand and grabbed the table beside her tightly with the other hand. She grabbed the table so hard that it was pulled over. “If you insist on me going back, I will die here today.”
Zhao Xiran was so pissed that she gritted her teeth and didn’t want to care about Shao Jie’er anymore. She turned to Shao Hua’an. “Hubby… what do you think of this matter?”
“Let Second Sister stay and take care of Grandma!” Shao Hua’an said with a cold face and glanced at Zhao Xiran with dissatisfaction.
Zhao Xiran could also see the displeasure in Shao Hua’an’s eyes, but she didn’t mean to take over and serve Old Madam. She thought it was good for Old Madam to end up like this, who would no longer get to point at her and scold her as soon as things went wrong. Her face still hurt a little now.
She had wanted Old Madam to come back because she wanted her to stop her father-in-law from marrying a bitch and taking her into the mansion. Unexpectedly, after Old Madam and Shao Jing talked about it in private, Old Madam seemed to agree to it.
“In fact, not only Old Madam and my father-in-law but also my husband agreed to this, right?”
At the thought of this, Zhao Xiran felt very aggrieved.
“Why do they all know the reason but I don’t? It’s obvious that they don’t treat me as one of them and suspect me.” What Madam Jiang had said at that time always came to Zhao Xiran’s mind. “Does Shao Hua’an really know that I married him for another purpose and then secretly observe me and fool me like a clown? Or is it just Madam Jiang who thinks so?”
Zhao Xiran had no answer to those questions, so she could only be careful. She really didn’t want to intervene in the matter of Old Madam.
Old Madam was in a bad situation now. Zhao Xiran thought that it was better for her to avoid unnecessary trouble.
When Shao Jing came back, Old Madam had already fallen asleep. After she had a stroke, her face and mouth were twisted, and she couldn’t even say a complete sentence. However, it could be seen that she was very angry. She pushed Shao Jie’er to the ground, wanted to slap her, and then fell asleep.
She was no longer as clear-minded as before.
Shao Jing sat on the chair in front of the bed with a gloomy face and looked at Old Madam lying on the bed. After a long while, he waved his hand and asked Shao Jie’er to come over.
“Do you want to stay and take care of your grandma?” Shao Jing asked coldly.
Shao Jie’er was still very scared upon seeing Shao Jing. She said in a trembling voice, “Yes… I… I’m worried about Grandma’s health…”
Shao Jing looked kind with his round face, but now it somehow made Shao Jie’er feel scared.
“You don’t do well in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion, do you?” Shao Jing said coldly. Looking at Shao Jie’er, who was trembling, he felt disgusted. His daughter was so useless that it really made him angry.
If it were Ru’er, he wouldn’t need to spend so much effort to support her.
At the thought of Shao Yanru, he felt annoyed again. He had to solve this problem immediately. So what if he was a disloyal man? It was best for Ru’er to become his daughter again.
“Father… I… I don’t want to go to Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion.” Knowing that Shao Jing had seen through her, Shao Jie’er knelt with a thud, crawled to him on her knees, and cried, “Father, they said that they would give me a title of consort, but they haven’t officially given it to me yet and asked the people in the mansion to call me Second Miss. I… I am at least your daughter!”
“They call you Second Miss Shao?” Shao Jing said with a trace of anger across his eyes.
“Being bullied by other princes is one thing, but Commandery Prince Qing is nothing. How dare he disgrace me?”
“Yes… they said… they said that I’m just your concubine’s daughter, and your legitimate daughter is just the lowest-ranking Secondary Consort, so why… why should I be a high-ranking consort?” Shao Wanru knew that Shao Jing had never cared about her, so she deliberately mentioned Shao Yanru.
Shao Yanru was the Secondary Consort with the lowest status, while Commandery Prince Qing’s consort would be more honorable than her, and had a much higher status. Because of Shao Yanru, Shao Jie’er didn’t even have a title.
“Chu Qing has gone too far!” Shao Jing was furious and gnashed his teeth hard.
If he were still the powerful duke in the past, he would directly attack Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion and would never give up until Chu Qing apologized.
But at this time, Marquis Xing’s Mansion was in chaos, and he had not cleared his name yet. Although it was impossible to find out what had happened at that time, he was suspected. For him, if there was no big change in his future career, it was impossible for him to get promoted.
Unless Prince Cheng, whom Shao Jing placed his bet on, could ascend to the throne, he could be put into an important position.
Compared with Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, Shao Jing had always favored Prince Cheng the most. He was very angry with his daughter’s previous behavior. “My bets are on Prince Cheng, so my daughter can only marry into Prince Cheng’s Mansion. As for Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, they are both useless. Otherwise, my daughter would not have ended up like this and even pretended to be dead and left the Palace.
“It’s useless for Ru’er to hesitate any longer. This time, I can’t have her be so willful as to ruin herself and Marquis Xing’s Mansion.
“As long as Prince Cheng can ascend to the throne, everything that had happened before would not be a big deal. Hua’an will get the position of the heir of Marquis Xing again, and Marquis Xing’s Mansion will be restored to Duke Xing’s Mansion due to my help to the future Emperor.
“Everything will not be a problem as long as I stick with Prince Cheng closely and send my daughter to him.”
Shao Jing stood up and said coldly, “Since you don’t want to go, stay here and take good care of your grandma.” After that, he turned around and strode away.
Shao Jie’er was overjoyed and said in a hurry, “Yes, Father. I will take good care of Grandma.”
Since her father had said so, he would definitely send his men to Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion to inform them that she would be staying. After that, she would never leave Marquis Xing’s Mansion. If Chu Qing insisted on sending his men to pick her up, she would run away. Even if she needed to run away from the capital city, she would never go back to Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion and live with the women there again.
Shao Jie’er stood up with pride in her eyes and looked at Old Madam lying on the bed with a smile. “This damned old woman has always looked down on me. She thinks that I’m not as good as Shao Yanru. She must have never thought that she would be schemed against by me one day.
“I don’t need her dead. As long as she lives like this, even if she hates me, it doesn’t matter. She can’t even talk now. No one will know what she means, and no one will know that I made this happen.”
When Nanny Yu entered the room, she saw Shao Jie’er standing in front of Old Madam’s bed with a bright smile on her face. In contrast, Old Madam was lying on the bed unconscious. This inexplicably appeared terrifying.
With a clang, Shao Jie’er was alarmed. When she looked up and saw Nanny Yu squatting down to pick up the basin on the ground, she quickly restrained the complacent smile on her face and stepped forward to help Nanny Yu clean up.
She thought that Nanny Yu didn’t see anything unusual, but in fact, she didn’t see that Nanny Yu was holding the side of the basin tightly with her trembling fingers, and her eyes were full of fear.
There were some things that could be guessed. Nanny Yu had always been a smart person. If she hadn’t seen Second Miss’s expression, she might not have guessed her intention, but now she knew what happened.
“No wonder Old Madam got so agitated when she saw Second Miss that she even pushed Second Miss down…
“Although Old Madam doesn’t treat Second Miss well and usually doesn’t take her seriously, after all, she is her grandmother and has been protecting her since she was a child. If it weren’t for Old Madam, Madam Jiang wouldn’t have tolerated Second Miss…”
The news that Old Madam had a stroke reached Prince Chen’s Mansion in the evening. Shao Wanru and Chu Liuchen came over together.
Hearing that the two of them came over, Shao Jing personally led them to the Chuntang Courtyard of Old Madam. In the night, lanterns had been lit up in the courtyard.
Chu Liuchen walked in the front with a lazy face. Shao Wanru was behind him and followed him slowly. Although they didn’t talk, they appeared in harmony.
Shao Jing coughed in a low voice, trying to break the silence.
“Marquis Xing, has the Ministry of Justice finished recording the statement?” Chu Liuchen suddenly asked, squinted at Shao Jing, who was also following him, and then reached out to pull Shao Wanru’s sleeve and walked a few steps forward with her. They happened to walk side by side, leaving Shao Jing behind.
Shao Jing didn’t want to talk about the Ministry of Justice at all, especially in front of Shao Wanru. He coughed in a low voice and said, “Yes.”
“Have they found any clues?” Chu Liuchen said indifferently, “The Ministry of Justice has been less effective recently. Madam Jiang was killed there. Who couldn’t tolerate her to that extent? Or is it that someone killed her because they were afraid that she would say something inappropriate?”
Shao Jing was furious. It was obvious that Chu Liuchen was insinuating him, but he didn’t dare to argue with Chu Liuchen. Chu Liuchen was a wanton person who always acted according to his will. If Shao Jing really provoked him, no one knew what kind of trouble he would make. No matter what kind of trouble he made, since it happened in Shao Jing’s mansion, it would inevitably be his fault in the end.
Shao Jing was angry and full of hatred. He could only grit his teeth to suppress the anger in his heart and said, “Don’t worry, Prince. They will find out the truth.”
Chu Liuchen smiled and said leisurely, “That would be for the best. Marquis Xing, you also need to be careful. Madam Jiang died during the interrogation. If something bad happens to you when you go there, Shao Yuanhao will become the new marquis. He’s still too young!”
Shao Jing clenched his fists hard, and the blue veins on his forehead couldn’t help twitching a few times. Finally, he calmed down and said, “What a nice joke, Your Highness. No one dares to take action in the Ministry of Justice. I will be very safe there. Nothing will happen to me.”
“You trust the Ministry of Justice too much. If those officials were so competent, your madam wouldn’t have had an accident in the Ministry of Justice,” Chu Liuchen said disapprovingly.
What he said meant that Madam Jiang had been murdered. Shao Jing’s face darkened.
Comments