Harem Daily Life

"Are you serious?" Mrs. Wang no longer cared about crying. What Butler Zhao said really made her eyes light up.

Butler Zhao nodded. "I overheard this once. At first, I was puzzled as to why the young lady of the Tao family called the Empress her cousin. Later, after careful investigation, I learned that Empress Tao was actually the niece of the Ningyuan Marquis. I was shocked. Madam is from the capital, so she must have heard about the disappearance of the eldest daughter of the Ningyuan Marquis. Putting the two together, it seems that there is something fishy about Empress Tao's life experience. She is not Madam Tao's daughter, but her biological mother is the missing eldest daughter of the Gu family."

Madam Wang thought for a moment and said, "Well, since she's not a member of the Tao family, then her act of taking the Tao family's daughter's place in the imperial selection was deceiving the emperor. I'll go back and find a way to use this secret to force them to release my son."

Butler Zhao glanced at her and said with a smile, "Madam, this is a shocking piece of evidence, and you're only thinking about saving your son?"

Mrs. Wang was stunned for a moment and asked, "What other use could it have?"

Butler Zhao chuckled and said, "How about this, give me a hundred taels and I'll tell you what I can do."

Although Mrs. Wang was reluctant to part with the money, she really couldn't think of any other way to do it, so she reluctantly took out a hundred taels and gave it to the housekeeper Zhao. This hundred taels was obtained from Wang Jiao, who said that she needed it to save Wang Yin.

After hearing what Butler Zhao said, Mrs. Wang suddenly understood and hurried home to discuss it with her husband.

Wang Zongnan had never expected that his wife would bring back such a big secret after going out. After much deliberation, he decided to seek help from various parties to make the most of this secret.

Shu Fei's father, Lord Shu, had a good relationship with Wang Zongnian. Because the two families were of equal status and both had produced queens, they had always been in contact. Even when Shu Fei entered the palace, she had a very good relationship with the then Queen Wang and got along well with her in the palace.

Later, Shu Fei was demoted to Zhaoyi and later sent to the temporary palace by the empress dowager. Queen Wang was demoted to Jingci Temple to practice Buddhism and is now demoted to a commoner. The Shu family no longer has any contact with the Wang family.

Wang Zongnan had come to the door to ask for a meeting many times but was turned away. Today he came again with a secret, but was again stopped outside by the gatekeeper.

After much persuasion and giving another five taels of silver, the servant was willing to go in and report.

"If you don't want to see him, just say I'm not at home and I'm out for a social event. Everyone knows that his son has committed a crime and is being held in the jail in Jingzhao Yinfu, waiting for help. How can I see him at this time? Humph, send him away quickly. What's the point of seeing him?" Lord Shu waved his hands, his face full of disgust.

The housekeeper said, "Master, Master Wang said he has a secret of the Queen that he wants to tell you. Do you want to listen to it first?"

Lord Shu thought it was the former queen's secret and had no interest at all. He waved his hand and said, "She is a deposed queen. No matter how many secrets she has, it is useless. Wang Zongnian, a father, is selling his daughter's secrets. It's amazing that he can do it!"

The housekeeper knew his master had misunderstood and quickly explained, "No, no, no, Master Wang wasn't talking about the former Queen Wang's secret, but the current Queen Tao's secret. It's all my fault for not reporting it clearly. Please forgive me, Master."

When Lord Shu heard this, his eyes lit up: "In that case, let him in. I want to hear what he has to say."

Wang Zongnan finally entered the Shu Mansion, so he naturally wanted to seize this great opportunity. After getting Lord Shu's promise that he would find a way to save his son, he revealed that there was something wrong with Queen Tao's background.

After hearing this, Lord Shu walked around the room several times before excitedly saying, "This is truly a rare and great opportunity!"

He looked at Wang Zongnian and said, "This matter must be made public, preferably so that everyone knows about it. When everyone knows that Empress Tao is the daughter of the missing eldest daughter of the Gu family, and that her biological father is unlucky, they will criticize her background. Moreover, the Tao family allowed a daughter of unknown origin to enter the palace as the legitimate daughter of the Tao family. This is the Tao family deceiving the emperor. Tao Qian and his son will definitely lose their official positions. The emperor may even be furious and execute the entire family."

Wang Zongnian said awkwardly, "I have no official position now, so there is very little I can do. I have to rely on Lord Shu for everything."

Lord Shu smiled and said, "Don't worry. You told me such a big secret because you trust me. I will definitely work hard and make sure your efforts are not in vain."

Wang Zongnian clasped his fists and said, "So, what about my son?"

Lord Shu said, "How about this? I'll use my connections to get you to the prison to meet Young Master Ling and smooth things over so he doesn't suffer in there. What do you think? Once we cause trouble for Empress Tao, everyone will focus on the Tao and Gu families, so who will care about yours? Then you can find a way to replace Young Master Ling with a death row inmate."

Wang Zongnian thought this was a good idea and thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you for your help, Lord Shu. I will go back and prepare and wait for your good news."

After Wang Zongnan left, Lord Shu was excited for a long time before he decided to visit the Wen family, the maiden family of the former noble concubine, the Wang family, the maiden family of the virtuous concubine, the Wang family, the minister of rites, and the Zhang family, the censor, in order to unite as many forces as possible and try to make a move at once to completely overthrow Empress Tao and the forces behind her.

When Lord Wen learned of Lord Shu's intentions, his expression suddenly changed. "Lord Shu, don't even mention that I don't believe the source of your information. Even if I did, I wouldn't join hands with you in undertaking such a dangerous undertaking. For today, I'll pretend you haven't been here, and I haven't heard anything you've said. Leave now."

Lord Shu said unhappily, "Both our families have suffered terrible fates because of Queen Tao's arrival. Now, instead of offering a helping hand, why are you drawing a line between us? Don't you want justice for your daughter?"

Lord Wen said coldly, "My daughter was demoted because of a grudge she had with the former Queen Wang, not Queen Tao. Besides, the eldest princess is still being raised by Queen Tao. As long as Queen Tao is queen, the eldest princess will be treated well. Stop trying to sow discord here and leave immediately. I'm not going to report you for taking action against Queen Tao because we've been colleagues and friends for many years."

Lord Shu didn't expect Lord Wen to be so stubborn, so he had to leave angrily. He had to unite with the other two families as soon as possible, otherwise if the news leaked, it would be disadvantageous to him.

After Lord Shu left, Lord Wen immediately called Madam Wen and said, "Put Ruyi's marriage on hold. Maybe once the Shu family overthrows Queen Tao, Ruyi can take the opportunity to enter the palace and become the empress!"

Madam Wen was overjoyed. "Oh, who would have thought that Empress Tao's background was like this? With her background, she's definitely not worthy of the position of Empress. But Master, why don't you lend a hand to Lord Shu? If you help him, wouldn't it be faster to bring down Empress Tao?"

Lord Wen shook his head and said, "This is like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Wouldn't it be better to wait until they are both defeated before I intervene? Besides, the eldest princess is indeed being raised by Queen Tao now, so it's not appropriate for us to intervene."