Madam of Duke Xing was so angry that her face looked ferocious. Her beautiful face no longer looked as gentle as usual.
Seeing Duke Xing come in, she stared at him coldly without saying a word, her eyes full of vicious hatred.
Duke Xing didn’t like her expression. He frowned and said coldly, “Now everyone has known what you’ve done, and Her Highness, the Empress Dowager, has also given you a ruler and Woman Precepts. Rumor has it that you forced Qi Rongzhi to marry Wang Shengxue, so she had to escape from our mansion to avoid the marriage.”
“What do you think of this, Duke?” Madam of Duke Xing raised her eyebrows and squinted at Duke Xing.
“I think you’re to blame for what you did. Besides, Ru’er is going to enter the palace soon, so we can’t let this matter discredit her. Otherwise, she may not be able to gain the title of a princess,” Duke Xing said, displeased, and a look of disgust flashed within his eyes.
“What do you mean? You want me to take all the blame?” Madam of Duke Xing stood up from the chair with an angry face and looked into Duke Xing’s eyes. She clenched her hands tightly in front of her. If she had not been rational enough, she would have slapped Duke Xing in the face.
“If you don’t assume the responsibility, who else will? Ru’er? Besides, you did these stupid things on your own. It was your idea to make Qi Rongzhi our goddaughter, and it’s your fault that the matter has come to this point. You spread the rumor in the mansion that my big brother was not the biological father of Wanru and her brother. What do you want to do exactly? If you don’t want to stay in our mansion, I can divorce you!”
Duke Xing sneered and took a step back in order to gain the upper hand.
Madam of Duke Xing’s face became paler and paler, and her lips trembled. Suddenly, she laughed out and pointed at Duke Xing, saying, “You have wanted to divorce me for long, haven’t you? I’m so sad that I’ve been so devoted to you and have managed everything in the mansion for you. I didn’t expect that I have no place in your heart. You actually asked me to take the blame for all the things that happened.”
Duke Xing looked at his wife with a stern look. Suddenly, he sneered and asked, “You did all this for me? Did I ask you to make Qi Rongzhi, a girl that has nothing to do with us, our goddaughter? Did I ask you to make things hard for my big brother’s daughter? You did all these stupid things on your own. You were so vicious that you wanted to drive her away. You bring it upon yourself.”
“I brought it upon myself? It was obviously you…” Madam of Duke Xing screamed.
The next moment, she was slapped hard in the face, and the force caused her to fall two steps backward and almost hit the table behind her. Fortunately, Nanny Sheng stood beside the table and caught her in time, but the nanny hit the edge of the table herself. She bent over covering her belly in pain.
“I’d suggest you take the blame. If something bad happens to Ru’er because of you, you won’t be able to absolve yourself from the blame even if you die. And I’d also suggest you behave yourself so as not to die without even yourself knowing why. Watch your mouth, for the sake of your daughter and son.”
After finishing his words, Duke Xing left in a hurry shaking his sleeves, displeased.
In his opinion, at this point, the best way to solve the problem they faced now was that his wife took the blame for what she had done. It was not only for the sake of their children but also for the reason that it was all her doings.
However, Duke Xing did not expect that his wife would object to the idea so strongly. It seemed to him that she would not be willing to take the blame. However, the duke didn’t care about this. He would settle the matter this way anyway.
“Maids, keep an eye on the ancestral hall. Don’t allow anyone to visit Madam and don’t let her come out.” Standing at the door, he ordered the two old maids who had followed him here.
The two old maids nodded and stood at the door of the ancestral hall.
“Your Grace, wait a minute!” Nanny Sheng rushed out of the hall, trying to stop the duke from leaving, but she was pulled back by the two old maids.
“Your Grace, Your Grace!” Nanny Sheng struggled desperately.
Duke Xing stopped and turned to look at the nanny. With a cold look in his eyes, he ordered. “From now on, you will stay in the ancestral hall with Madam, cultivate hard in seclusion, pray for our family, and repent for what she has done. You must serve her well!”
After saying that, the duke turned around and strode away. Nanny Sheng, who was behind him, was stunned for a moment and then shouted loudly again. Unfortunately, the duke did not look back this time.
Nanny Sheng collapsed on the ground and couldn’t help crying out. She was the wet nurse of Duke Xing. When Madam of Duke Xing was raised in the mansion, she had a close relationship with her. Later, Old Madam asked her to take care of Madam of Duke Xing. After Madam of Duke Xing married the duke, the nanny was still the most intimate maid of hers.
When her miss, an ordinary lady, married Duke Xing, the nanny became one of the most respected nannies in the mansion. She was very proud at that time, and she never thought that there would be a day when she was locked up with her miss.
She was Duke Xing’s wet nurse and Madam’s trusted nanny. She didn’t understand why she ended up like this.
Seeing that Duke Xing left without looking back, Nanny Sheng knew that there was no hope for her, so she could only turn around and go back. When she walked into the hall and saw Madam of Duke Xing sitting on the ground, she hurried forward to help her up. “Madam, why did you sit on the ground? It’s not good for your health.”
“Not good for my health? Who would care!” Madam of Duke Xing laughed wildly. She picked up the rush cushion that she had just sat on and threw it at the wall on one side.
“Madam, you still have First Miss and First Young Master on your side. The whole mansion will belong to you sooner or later!” Nanny Sheng comforted Madam of Duke Xing as she helped her up.
Now, she only had Madam of Duke Xing to rely on, and she would definitely be in trouble if something bad happened to the Madam. She would be able to live a good life only when the Madam was fine.
She knew that the duke wouldn’t show her any mercy if something happened.
“Belong to me? Doesn’t he have someone else outside the mansion? No wonder he has been so indifferent to me these days. No wonder I can’t find him in the mansion most of the time. It turns out that he had an affair long ago,” Madam of Duke Xing gnashed her teeth as she said.
“I wouldn’t have known this if Shao Wanru hadn’t talked about it with her maid when she was here just now. Besides the woman I know, he still has another woman. I’ve worked so hard to manage the family affairs, yet he is having affairs with other women.
“Now, the family is in trouble, and he places all the blame on me! If he hadn’t agreed to these plans tacitly, I wouldn’t have even done these things!”
When she thought of this, the Madam felt both hatred and bitterness in her heart. She was so angry that she threw out all the stuff in the hall, but to her surprise, it was not Shao Wanru but Duke Xing that came in.
“Madam, don’t be angry. This can’t be true. Fifth Miss must have said this to her maid with the purpose of making you angry. So you can’t let her get what she wants.” Nanny Sheng persuaded her.
Tears streaked the Madam’s face when she said in a voice of hatred, “He wouldn’t have been able to do his job without a single worry if it hadn’t been me who helped him manage the family affairs and take care of everything in the mansion. Now, he no longer needs me, so he wants to kick me out. I can’t accept it!”
It was impossible for her to accept it. She used to think that after she drove away that woman, she would be second only to the duke in the harem. She never expected that the shadow of that woman still lingered in the mansion and that the duke had another woman.
“Madam, I… I’m afraid it’s not true. It’s Fifth Miss’s conspiracy!” Seeing Madam of Duke Xing’s face turn livid and pale, Nanny Sheng hurriedly persuaded her.
“I know it’s true. It must be true!” Madam of Duke Xing shook her head and said with certainty.
There were some things that she couldn’t explain and she couldn’t understand in the past. She thought it was all because of that woman that the duke treated her coldly and seldom came home. It was not until now that she realized there was another woman in addition to that woman, who she thought was a weakness of the duke and the mention of whom would make the duke sad.
Madam of Duke Xing would never mention that past easily.
She had never expected that the duke had changed, and now, she finally found the answer to those confusing questions she had in the past. She realized that she had suspected that woman wrongly and that her husband had an affair with another woman. But, the Madam was sure that the woman she suspected wrongly did exist. She had learned it in secret before she even married the duke.
Back then, she was determined to marry the eldest son of Duke’s Mansion, and didn’t pay much attention to the affair between that woman and Duke Xing, the second son of the mansion, since it had nothing to do with her. She didn’t take it seriously. She never expected the affair to have resulted in such a thing. Now, when she thought about it again, she realized that she had ignored such a big loophole.
“Nanny Sheng, are you willing to be locked up in this hall with me for the rest of your life?” Madam of Duke Xing asked, biting her teeth. The strong hatred in her eyes was as sharp as a knife.
Nanny Sheng shivered. Of course, she was unwilling to do that, for she also had a family. If she was imprisoned like this forever, she would be separated from her family for the rest of her life. Even if she could see them once or twice, she was no longer free and dignified as she used to be!
“Madam… Do you have any solution?” Nanny Sheng asked timidly.
“Yes. That woman, that woman… I will ruin her!” Madam of Duke Xing glared at someplace in the hall, her heart full of burning pain.
The hatred was even stronger than that she had for Shao Wanru. She had been planning for so many years, so naturally, she was not willing to give up at this point or let others get the fruit she grew.
No matter what, she was still the duke’s wife even though she was under supervision. She would definitely not let that woman go well…
“Go to ask Ru’er to come here to me!” the Madam ordered coldly. She wiped the tears off the corners of her eyes, and she looked livid and furious at the moment. At this time, it was indeed not a good idea for her to go out, but she could have some come there and see her. Even though there were two rough old maids guarding the door, she believed that Ru’er would have a way to come to see her…
It was getting dark. A servant girl holding a lantern rushed to the ancestral hall, with a figure in a cloak. Although the figure’s face was hidden under the cloak, the servant girl turned out to be Shuqi, the maid of Shao Yanru.