bookcurios Chapter 271: Confronting the Chen Family (1)
Chapter 271: Confronting the Chen Family (1)
Wu'an Marquis Mansion in the capital.
Marquis Wu'an's face was ashen and his eyes were wide open with anger. Behind him was a servant who was holding the trembling and terrified Manager Zhao tightly.
The two men hurriedly stepped into the gate of Wu'an Marquis Mansion, attracting the attention of many servants along the way, but no one dared to step forward and ask any questions.
After entering the mansion, Marquis Wu'an walked straight to the front hall and loudly ordered the servants beside him: "Go and invite the lady to the front hall!" The voice was so loud that it seemed to penetrate the entire mansion.
At the same time, Ru Yue walked slowly into the Wu'an Marquis Mansion with the Emperor's Teacher of Chu and the Grand Tutor of Qin.
The three of them walked lightly, leisurely and at ease, as if strolling in a garden. Ru Yue, in particular, took in the surrounding scenery with curiosity as she walked, secretly wondering what kind of place this Wu'an Marquis Mansion was.
After all, this is where Chu Ningan grew up.
But what she never expected was that she would step into this mansion in such a special way.
She couldn't help but think back to her past life, when she had the privilege of visiting the Imperial Palace. Its magnificent architecture and rich history and culture had left a profound impression on her. In comparison, the Marquis's mansion, while certainly impressive, didn't pique her interest.
Soon, everyone was seated in the front hall, divided into host and guest positions. Servants soon brought in exquisite refreshments, placing them before everyone.
At this moment, everyone sat quietly, waiting patiently for the arrival of the wife of Marquis Wu'an.
About a cup of tea later, I finally heard light footsteps outside the door.
Mrs. Chen, wife of Marquis Wu'an, walked slowly into the front hall with several maids.
When the servants went to pass on the message, they had already reported to her in detail what had happened in the front hall. Therefore, when she appeared in front of everyone, she did not show any panic, but instead looked calm and composed.
Chen first bowed gracefully to the Imperial Tutor of Chu and the Imperial Tutor of Qin. When she saw Ru Yue, she was only slightly stunned for a moment, then shifted her gaze away without leaving a trace.
She greeted them softly, "Hello, my lords." Then she turned to the Marquis of Wu'an and said, "I wonder why the Marquis has sent for me in such a hurry today?"
As she spoke, her eyes swept lightly over everyone present, and finally landed on Marquis Wu'an, with a hint of doubt in her eyes.
Wu Anhou's face was filled with rage, his eyes wide as bells, staring intently at Chen, and he shouted angrily: "You did a great job!"
This roar exploded in the hall like thunder, shaking everyone present.
Chen was startled by the Marquis of Wu'an's sudden outburst, her face instantly filled with terror. However, she quickly regained her composure and said in a slightly trembling voice, "I have always lived in seclusion in the rear quarters, never leaving the main gate or the secondary gate. I truly do not know what I have done wrong to deserve such harsh rebuke from you, Lord Marquis, in front of so many guests."
As she spoke, Chen's eyes had already turned slightly red, with tears welling up in them. She looked so pitiful and wronged that if it were anyone else, they would probably feel pity and be moved by her.
However, how could Marquis Wu'an be fooled by Chen's hypocritical behavior? He had been married to Chen for many years, so how could he truly be unaware of her character and methods? Especially since he had known about Manager Zhao's various evil deeds beforehand, how could he be fooled by Chen's superb acting skills?
Seeing Chen pretending to be innocent and aggrieved, the rage in Marquis Wu'an's heart not only did not subside in the slightest, but instead burned even more fiercely.
Marquis Wu'an waved his hand and shouted to the servant beside him, "Go and bring that Manager Zhao up to me!"
The servant did not dare to delay and quickly responded, then hurried out to bring Manager Zhao to the hall.
As soon as Manager Zhao entered the hall, he fell to his knees with a thud, trembling all over and not daring to raise his head.
Seeing this, Marquis Wu'an snorted coldly and pointed at Manager Zhao and asked angrily, "Tell me, was this servant ordered by you to forcibly purchase someone else's workshop?"
When Chen saw Manager Zhao being brought up, she couldn't help but groan inwardly.
She originally thought that she could do this without anyone knowing, but she didn't expect that it would be exposed.
However, although Chen knew very well that today's incident would not end easily, she still pretended to be calm on the surface and did not show any panic at all.
She glared fiercely at Manager Zhao, who was kneeling on the ground, and cursed inwardly, "What a useless piece of shit! You can't even handle such a small matter. Now you've made me so helpless! I really should beat you to death!"
Although she was extremely angry, Chen's face did not show much emotion. Instead, she acted as if she was extremely angry and about to cry.
She raised her hand and gently wiped the non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes. Her delicate body trembled slightly, and tears suddenly rolled down like pearls from a broken string, making her originally delicate face look even more pitiful.
She cried to the Marquis of Wu'an in a coquettish tone, her voice filled with grievance and resentment: "I really don't know what fault I have committed to cause the Marquis to summon such a rude and impolite servant, and to humiliate me so mercilessly in front of all the distinguished guests!"
In ancient times, the mistress of a household was always known for her gentleness, generosity and grace. However, it was really surprising that the woman before him displayed such an unsightly attitude in front of outsiders.
Seeing this, Ru Yue couldn't help but mutter to herself, "What kind of mistress is this? To do such an unbecoming act in front of everyone is totally unbecoming!"
Marquis Wu'an looked at his wife in front of him with a gloomy expression, his eyes full of annoyance.
He snorted coldly and demanded angrily, "Humph! This servant keeps claiming to be under orders from a noble, claiming that the noble has taken a liking to this young lady's sauce workshop. He even vainly attempts to seize someone else's property with a mere ten thousand taels of silver. Was this actually your order?"
Upon hearing this, the Marquis's wife quickly shook her head and denied it, saying, "My Lord, please understand. I'm just a woman living deep in the backyard. I only care about household chores. How could I possibly know anything about the sauce workshop? My Lord, please don't baselessly accuse me based on the one-sided words of a servant and an outsider!"
As she spoke, she looked at Wu'an Hou with tears in her eyes. Her expression showed her true feelings and a feeling of being wronged, as if she had really suffered a great injustice.
Ru Yue's eyebrows furrowed slightly, a hint of impatience and sharpness flickering in her beautiful eyes. She parted her red lips, her voice crisp yet undeniable, "Since the Marquis's wife is unaware of all this, then may I ask whose orders this Manager Zhao followed to forcibly purchase my workshop?"
Her eyes were as sharp as torches, staring straight at Manager Zhao, as if she could penetrate his soul.
At this time, Ru Yue no longer wanted to listen to these people's endless bickering and nonsense. She just wanted to quickly uncover the truth of the matter.
"Could it be that your servant dared to act behind his master's back? Is it because he was instructed by someone else to come to me? Master Zhao, please tell me!" Ru Yue pressed on step by step, and her words shot at Manager Zhao like a machine gun.
Manager Zhao was now pale with fear, his whole body trembling. He knelt on the ground, his head bowed, not even daring to breathe.
He knew very well that if he rashly agreed to Ru Yue's questioning, he would be charged with betrayal. Not only would his life be in danger, but even his family would be implicated.
However, if he were to try to implicate the Marquis' wife, he would suffer equally. After all, the Marquis's mansion was a powerful force, not something a mere steward like him could easily afford to offend. Therefore, no matter what he chose, he would face an abyss of no return.
Thinking of this, Manager Zhao felt darkness before his eyes and his heart was filled with despair and fear.
He could only lower his head and pray that this nightmare would end as soon as possible.
"Hurry up and tell me!" Wu Anhou shouted angrily, like a bolt from the blue, shaking the whole room.
The sound was so loud and fierce that it frightened Manager Zhao so much that he shuddered all over and shivered involuntarily.
His face turned pale as paper in an instant, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a complete word for a long time.
At this time, Marquis Wu'an's face was full of anger, his eyes were wide open, and he stared at Manager Zhao as if he was about to spit fire.
Seeing Marquis Wu'an so furious, Chen couldn't help but secretly groan inwardly. Furthermore, with the presence of two highly respected figures, the Imperial Tutor of Chu and the Imperial Preceptor of Qin, she knew that if she couldn't give everyone a satisfactory explanation, the matter would be difficult to resolve.
What she was most worried about was that Manager Zhao would confess everything under the powerful pressure from Marquis Wu'an, and then there would be no way out.
Chen was terribly anxious at this thought, but she managed to maintain her composure on the surface. She racked her brains for a response, while secretly observing Manager Zhao's reaction. She thought to herself, "Looks like this Manager Zhao is doomed... I must find a way to extricate myself from this as soon as possible!"