roccoschili Chapter 168 Seeing Zhou Yan'er Again
Chapter 168 Seeing Zhou Yan'er Again
Moreover, the first thing the eldest prince did upon returning was to kill his fiancée!
Fortunately, it's only the third day of November, and there are still three days until the eldest prince returns.
However, it's best to prepare early.
Xia Li hurriedly left the palace, but was unexpectedly stopped halfway.
"Xia Li!"
Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Zhou Yan'er.
Since their last parting in Duzhou, the two had not had any contact.
When they met again, they were both a little awkward.
After all, Xia Li had tried so hard to bring the two together, but in the end, Yu Yang fell in love with her instead.
And the other party...
"Zhou, Zhou Yan'er, it's been a long time..."
Zhou Yan'er greeted her with a smile, as if there had never been any distance between them: "Xia Li, long time no see! I didn't expect to run into you here!"
As he spoke, he took her hand and said, "Perfect timing, my family is having a banquet, why don't you come and sit at my house?"
Xia Li quickly waved her hand: "No, no, I have something to do..."
However, the other party pulled her towards the Zhou residence without saying a word, saying, "Oh dear, it's been so long since we've seen each other, please give me some face and come on, come on."
They soon arrived at the Zhou residence.
Upon entering the mansion, there were indeed many tables and chairs set up.
But no guests were seen.
Xia Li raised an eyebrow: Did she deliberately make an excuse to get me to come over and say something to me?
Or has something happened in this mansion?
As if to verify his own conjecture,
Zhou Yan'er asked the servant beside her, "Where are my father and the guests?"
The servant stammered and refused to answer.
"Speak!" Zhou Yan'er was an impatient person and lashed out with a fire whip.
The servants begged for mercy, "Miss, spare us! They're in the ancestral hall!"
"what happened?"
"Miss! You, you're finally back! Hurry, Madam has been framed by Concubine Ning."
Just then, her personal maid, Xiao Ning, came out and quickly led them towards the ancestral hall, explaining the whole story as she went.
"Not long after the concubine sent you away, she found an excuse to lead everyone to a side hall, where they saw a man running out of the madam's room. The master was immediately furious and wanted to drown the madam..."
Just then, as they arrived at the entrance of the ancestral hall, Xiao Ning urged, "It was only then that we realized that Consort Ning was trying to frame Madam by using today's birthday banquet. Madam is being punished in the ancestral hall right now! You should go in quickly!"
Zhou Yan'er was already very anxious and was about to rush in.
Xia Li quickly grabbed her arm: "Let's see how things go first."
Zhou Yan'er frowned: "My mother has been framed. Let me take another look?"
Xia Li said indifferently, "How do you know your maid hasn't been bribed?"
Zhou Yan'er: ...
“If you rush in recklessly now, you might not only fail to save your mother, but you could also harm her.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ying'er forced herself to calm down. The two of them climbed up the roof beam through the back door and watched the scene inside the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall was now crowded with people.
Madam Ning handed a letter to Lord Zhou, looking very troubled: "My lord, look, I found this letter by chance in Madam's room before. Madam... she has been having an affair with another man for a long time! But I was afraid of misunderstanding Madam and causing unrest in the household, so I never took it out..."
Lord Zhou pulled the person into his arms, saying, "You're just too kind-hearted."
Turning around, he yelled at Li Anyu again, "What else do you have to say?"
Li Anyu, who was in her thirties, turned pale: "Master, someone is deliberately framing me. I am completely loyal to you, and there is absolutely no such thing!"
But Lord Zhou was blinded by rage and wouldn't listen to her explanation: "You still dare to argue! The evidence is conclusive, what else do you have to say?"
Ning peeked out from Zhou's embrace, sobbing, "What do you mean, sister? Could it be that I framed you?"
Lord Zhou roared, "Li, you still dare to implicate Ning? She's gentle and understanding, unlike you, so vicious and shameless. I saw a man walk out of a room with you, and there's this handwriting. You dare say it's not yours? What? You dare to do it but don't dare to admit it?"
Upon hearing this, Li Anyu's face turned ashen.
Unexpectedly, her husband concluded that she was unfaithful without even asking any questions.
Ever since Ning entered the household, he has always favored her and neglected his own mother and daughter.
Today, she had originally planned to explain in front of everyone, but Ning Shi judged her guilty in just a few words, and made so many people laugh at her.
Even though she had just been tricked and a strange man suddenly appeared in her room and tried to take liberties with her, she pulled out her gold hairpin and threatened to kill herself. She finally managed to drive him away, but the moment she opened the door, she was surrounded by everyone.
She had never despaired despite everything that had happened before.
But right now she is utterly disappointed.
With a determined heart, he rammed his body straight into the roof beam.
Upon seeing this, Xia Li immediately jumped down from the roof beam.
First, she stopped Li Anyu, who was contemplating suicide, and then smiled at the crowd, saying, "Interesting, truly interesting. You've given this princess a good show."
Everyone quickly bowed in greeting.
She first helped Li Anyu up and calmed her down.
He then looked at the crowd and said, "I've seen plenty of people who favor concubines over their wives, but this is the first time I've seen someone like Lord Zhou."
Anyone with a discerning eye could see something was amiss, especially since nothing had even happened yet.
Lord Zhou, on the other hand, was direct, sentencing him to death without asking any questions. So eager to publicly shame himself, inviting so many people to the ancestral hall to witness this—was he so afraid others wouldn't know about the Zhou family's shameful affair? Or perhaps…”
Xia Li looked at Lord Zhou and clapped her hands slowly and rhythmically.
"Does Lord Zhou really condone his concubine's tarnishing of the Marquis's reputation like this?"
Lord Zhou could tell from the other party's tone that she disliked him, so he also gave her a cold look, since she was just a commoner princess after all.
He said, "Princess, you must provide evidence before you speak."
Xia Li smiled enigmatically: "Evidence? There's plenty. This Ning woman beside you first sent Zhou Yan'er away, then had someone drug her, and then had someone come in through the back door to force Li Shi..."
Upon hearing this, Ning immediately retorted anxiously, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me who asked Pi Zhuang to force her."
Xia Li smiled and pointed at the bound man on the ground: "Pi Zhuang, you tell me, did she send you here?"
Pi Zhuang was about to answer,
Xia Li stopped him from continuing and instead asked Lord Zhou, "According to our country's laws, how should one deal with someone caught in the act of adultery?"
Lord Zhou replied, "Naturally, they should be killed on the spot."
Xia Li nodded in satisfaction: "Did you hear that? Pi Zhuang, the person behind you is lying to you. If you don't tell the truth, you'll only end up dying on the spot. I'm saving you..."
Seeing the meaningful look in Xia Li's eyes, Pi Zhuang decided to tell the truth.
But Ning interrupted her: "Pizhuang!"
Her tone was sharp and anxious.
Pi Zhuang tensed up, pursed his lips, and remained silent.
Xia Li laughed heartily, though the laughter didn't reach his eyes: "Why is this concubine so confused today? She's repeatedly calling out the name of her alleged lover. Could it be that this lover isn't Madam's, but yours?"
Ning shook her head in a panic: "No, it wasn't me! I don't know him at all!"
She threw herself into Lord Zhou's arms, crying so pitifully, her face streaked with tears: "My lord! I have never done anything to wrong you, otherwise... otherwise may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death..."
"Ning'er," Lord Zhou quickly covered the other's mouth, tenderly pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly. He then looked up at Xia Li: "Please, Princess, have mercy on your words."
They looked like a couple who had gone through thick and thin together.
Xia Li smiled enigmatically, "I was just testing you out, and it turns out the name is real. And seeing how frequently you two are interacting, could you be old acquaintances? I'm really curious~"
"..."
"Lord Zhou, you may indeed have been cuckolded, but this cuckoldry doesn't seem to have been placed on you by the Li family! Perhaps we should investigate further?"
Just then, the steward rushed over, looking flustered: "Master, we have indeed found the source of this letter. It was... it was a servant who was outside Ning's room and overheard her talking to someone. It seemed like they were discussing how to forge this letter to frame Madam! We've brought the person up here."
Upon hearing this, Master Zhou roared in anger:
"Bring that servant in!"
His voice was low and cold, as if squeezed out from between his teeth.
The servant was half-pushed and half-shoved into the house by two burly servants. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground with a thud, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
The old man stepped forward, looking down at him with a gaze as sharp as a knife:
“Tell me everything you’ve heard, word for word. If you tell even a single lie, you’ll be in big trouble!”
The servant stammered, "Reporting to...Reporting to Master, that night, I passed by Consort Ning's room, intending to go in and offer her some tea. But before I even entered, I heard hushed voices inside. Curious, I leaned closer to the window to listen. First, I heard Consort Ning's voice, saying, 'We must make this letter as convincing as possible, so that Master will be convinced it was written by Madam, and then she'll never be able to recover.' Then I heard a man's voice, which sounded somewhat unfamiliar. He said, 'Don't worry, I've arranged everything. The handwriting will be absolutely identical.' After that, they talked about how to secretly place the letter in Madam's room. I was terrified, so I ran away as fast as I could."
Upon hearing this, the master laughed in fury: "Very well, very well indeed! I thought you were a gentle, kind, and considerate person, and I had always treated you fairly well. I never expected you to be so vicious!"
Ning's face turned deathly pale, her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, still unwilling to give up: "Master, he must have been bribed to deliberately slander me. How could I do such a thing..."
Unexpectedly, Pi Zhuang also knelt down and begged for mercy: "Lord Zhou, Lord Zhou, I confess everything, please spare me! It was...it was her!" He pointed at Ning Shi, "I am her cousin. The other day, Ning Shi gave me a large sum of money, instructing me to make sure that Madam's infidelity is confirmed today. In the past, she has always bribed servants to frame Madam..."
Now that the truth has come out, what else is there to say?
Upon hearing this, Lord Zhou was struck dumb and looked at Madam Ning in disbelief.
When Ning realized that her scheme had been exposed, she knelt down with a thud and cried out, "My lord, I was wrong! I was confused for a moment. I was afraid that Madam would steal your favor. I was blinded by jealousy. Please, my lord, spare my life!"