♂?，，

  Ming Xuan didn't get angry, but instead smiled, as if she wasn't affected by the provocative words at all. She carelessly waved her hand at Sheng Yiniang and said, "Yiniang, please take her to see the young master's wife and ask on my behalf whether the large sum of money on Du's body was given by her family or not. If it really was, then I am truly sorry for being disrespectful to the young master's wife. But if it wasn't..."

  A faint, cold smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "If not, would you please help me ask the Young Master's wife to give an explanation? Such a disloyal and unrighteous slave who dares to offend his master should be punished accordingly."

  Du Niangzi saw the name of Shi Zai's wife being carried out, and Ming Xuan didn't dare to scold her again. She thought that this new big madam looked fierce but was actually still a soft persimmon. She thought that she had followed Shi Zai's wife for over ten years, without any merit but with hard work. If Shi Zai's wife were to abandon her and push her out, who among the slaves in the mansion would dare to serve Shi Zai's wife again?

  Besides, her husband is a runner at the second gate. In these years, he has not been idle in serving the young master's wife. As long as the madam needs him for one day, he will not sit idly by and watch the big madam beat or scold his wife. If it really goes to the yamen, it is hard to guarantee that she will not slip up and drag the young master's wife's dirty affairs into it.

  Du Niangzi thought to herself that she would definitely not be staying in the Jingyi Temple anymore. Although she had lost a sum of money, she didn't feel particularly regretful. In the master's courtyard, serving as a spy for the young master's wife, although she had made quite a bit of illicit profit, ultimately she still held no power or authority. Being able to serve by the young master's wife's side was what truly gave her confidence; even walking down the street could stir up a breeze.

  Since there's no master-slave relationship anymore, she simply didn't kneel. Before Ming Xuan could speak, she stood up and brushed off the dust on her knees. With a proud air, she wrapped up the things she had taken from her room and put them under her arm. Smiling at Nurse Jing, she said, "Nurse, shall I lead the way for you?"

  Ming Xuan saw Du Niangzi with a smug expression on her face. She couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, thinking to herself that if Du Niangzi knew about Huang Pozi's situation, would she still think it was wise to seek refuge from Yang Shi in Ping Sha Tang? Yang Shi was ruthless and had even gone so far as to murder her first wife's son, what were a few dead servant girls compared to that?

  Pei Jingchen can still be considered a member of the royal family!

  She gave a cold laugh and stopped paying attention to him. Instead, she cast her gaze on the rest of the people, her eyes slightly downcast, and suddenly let out a sigh, her tone also softening, "If you have the ability of Du's daughter-in-law, able to make the masters of this mansion disregard their dignity and want to protect you, then I will also send someone to respectfully escort you to the person who can protect you."

  Among the kneeling women, there were a few who had some intention of moving, just about to learn from Du's wife and get up to respond.

  But Ming Xuan continued, "Forget it, no matter what, the Pei family can't stay. I don't want to make things difficult for you either. If someone is willing to tell me the truth, then come into the house and find me. At that time, even if you leave, I will naturally let you take those assets with you."

  She said no more and turned into the house to wait, believing that it wouldn't be long before someone came in.

  In the Ping Sha Hall. Yang's face turned cold, Huang Pozi lost his hand in front of him, and it was not easy for her brother to solve the leader of the Ministry of Punishment, but she had just settled down for a few days when Gu Shi started another commotion. It is indeed true that enemies are bound together by fate. This Pei Jingxun is a troublemaker, and his wife is not a peaceful one either.

  She secretly resented herself for not knowing whose words she had listened to at the time, and actually took the initiative to go to Yongning Houfu to invite this demon star for herself.

  It has come to this, Yang Shi already had no other way out. She was determined not to admit that the large sum of money in Du Niangzi's hands was given by her. Otherwise, wouldn't it be openly acknowledging that Du Niangzi was her eyes and ears monitoring Jingyi Courtyard? If she insisted on arguing that it was out of concern for Pei Jingxuan, no one would believe this anywhere. If it were just concern, why would such a large sum of money be necessary?

  Everyone in the palace probably understands this, but some things can only be understood and not spoken of. Now that it's Empress Dowager's busy season, she absolutely cannot afford to say anything that would make people criticize her and distract the isolated and helpless Empress from her troubles.

  Yang's eyes flashed with anger, and she sternly interrupted Du Niangzi's plea, "Shut up! You're spouting nonsense. If I recall correctly, you were already working in the Qingyi Institute before I even entered the manor, so when did you ever work under me?"

  She spoke vehemently, without pausing, and continued to shout, "However, a gatekeeper in the Jingyi Temple, what virtue or ability does she have that I would bestow so many rewards? These are neither my rewards nor valuable items, they must be stolen."

  Du Niangzi was stunned for a moment and strongly argued, "Young Master's wife, these are clearly rewards given to me!"

  She was about to continue speaking when her mouth was stuffed with a cloth by Gui's nanny.

  Yang coldly smiled and said, "This thieving slave girl, stole the master's things but doesn't dare to admit it, actually dares to frame me, our great madam is right, this kind of disloyal and unfilial slave who brings shame to the master's house, our Pei family can't keep her."

  She slapped her palms on the table, "Gu Yigu, drag her to the punishment hall and give her twenty heavy slaps. If she still has a breath of life left, send her far away for sale, also as a warning to the rest of the female servants in the mansion."

  "Gu Yan's wife, go back and tell the Eldest Madam that the Young Master's wife is also very angry and has already punished the slave for her. The group of maids in Jingyi Yard have been making a ruckus, taking advantage of the Young Master's kindness. The Young Master's wife wants to discipline them on his behalf, but she's not their mother after all, so she's afraid that if she punishes them too severely, it will displease the Young Master."

  "Who would have thought such a thing could happen?"

  Yang also pretended to say, "The servants in Jingyi Temple are indeed early and should be rectified. The big nanny did a good job."

  Yan's mother-in-law watched as Yang's wife broke her teeth and swallowed blood, but still had to pretend to be in agreement. In her heart, she was delighted, but as an old and mature person who had been trained many times in front of Old Lady Zhu, she had long learned to control her emotions and not show them on her face. She bowed respectfully and took her leave.

  When the strict aunt left, Yang's mother finally smashed the tea bowl on the table in anger. "The Gu family is really not simple! They even sent two daughters to the palace to compete with the empress for imperial favor, and one by one they became pregnant. This can be tolerated, but this Gu Qi who was once torn apart from his engagement and almost died from it also has such endurance!"

  She turned around with a fierce expression and said to Gui Niangniang, "In the past few days, I have sent people to keep an eye on various wine houses and tea shops in the city. My brother said that the rumors that were unfavorable to me in the past were all spread from these places, and most of them were also the tricks of that little cheap woman. I'm afraid she's going to use her old tricks again and make me lose face in Shengjing City once more."

  Old Lady Gui nodded in agreement, and at the same time asked, "Du Dafu, Du's husband, is also one of our people, working as a guard at the second gate. We've often entrusted him with tasks before. This time his wife has gotten into trouble, I'm afraid he..."

  Du's daughter entered the Buddhist hall, and those twenty slaps would have made it impossible for her to come out alive. Du Dafu had married her as his wife and even had a daughter with her. If he were to jump over the wall in desperation, he would bring up things that shouldn't be said, and the trouble would be huge.

  Yang smiled carelessly, "The other day wasn't it said that Hua Mei is already 23 years old? It's time to let her out. Du Niang died, and Du Da Fu served in the mansion for a while, which was good. The child is still young, so he gave Hua Mei to him as his wife and secretly gave him 100 taels of silver as a gift."

  She sneered, "All men in the world are the same. Now that he has a new daughter-in-law with such a beautiful appearance, does Du Dafu still remember what his wife looks like?"

  Hua Mei is a third-class maid in the Ping Sha Tang embroidery workshop, with a silly and not very clever personality, but she has a good appearance and a high-quality figure. Many of the masters in the mansion have been eyeing her, but because she was assigned to the young master's wife, no one dared to ask for her hand in marriage. She remained unmarried until the age of 23, when Yang Shi finally remembered to arrange a marriage for her, and she ended up being married off to someone like Du Da Fu.

  Guigui secretly felt a little regretful, but Yang's words she had always dared not to disobey, hastily nodded and agreed, then hurriedly retreated to make arrangements.

  The people kneeling in the Jingyi Temple had now dwindled to just six or seven, with the rest unable to hold on and retreating into the inner house. After the origin of these goods was revealed and they were taken away, each person took their own bundle and either went to Mingxuan's dowry estate in the suburbs or redeemed themselves out of the mansion.

  Yan Laolao brought the news that Du Niangzi did not survive the twenty big boards and died. The few wives and daughters who were still hesitating immediately could not hold on, rushing into the house one after another, confessing to whatever they were asked, their faces no longer showing the defiant look from earlier, and even confessing to things they had not been asked out of fear.

  The servants in the Jingyi courtyard were replaced within two hours, which was so swift and decisive that not only did Yang Shi grit her teeth with hatred, but also made the other houses have lingering fears, and from then on, no one dared to provoke Ming Xuan again.

  At noon, Ming Xuan looked at the thick stack of materials and was speechless. She had intentionally tried to grasp the handles of the other houses, so when those maidservants came in and spoke frankly, she ordered Yu Si to take notes on the side. At first, they only asked about the origin of the silver money, but later, those women who were frightened by Du Niangzi's death became incoherent and spilled out all the old news from the mansion over the years.

  This is an unexpected gain.

  At this time, Yan Laolao's face was heavy as she lifted the pearl curtain and came in, "Big Madam, the Empress Dowager sent a eunuch to say that he had never met Eldest Sister before, and wants to summon you into the palace!"

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