Shipin Dalizheng

"Whether it's easy to investigate or not, as long as you are willing, you can always find out the truth. You don't have to worry about our Sima family, but you have to help with the Tang family. After all, no matter what, your eldest brother can't investigate here."

Of course, Lord Tang was no longer at home at this time. Mrs. Tang thought about it and decided that hiding back at her parents' home was not a good idea. She might as well give it a try. Maybe she could find some clues to clear her name and that of her child.

Although Lord Tang holds the highest official position among his brothers, he is only from the third branch of the Tang family, above his two elder brothers. The family tree is now in the hands of the eldest sister-in-law from the first branch, so Mrs. Tang wants to go to the first branch to take a look.

After seeing off her natal sister-in-law, Madam Tang went to visit her eldest sister-in-law. The eldest sister-in-law, Li, now lived in a small courtyard of her own, with an extra door for servants to go in and out for shopping. She basically had no contact with the second and third wives.

Mrs. Tang knew her eldest sister-in-law's difficulties, but she had no way to stop the second wife from doing anything. She was just a woman who obeyed her husband's orders and could not influence his thoughts. The master tacitly agreed to the second wife's encroachment on the first wife's, and she could not do anything about it. The only thing she could do was not to collude with the second wife to bully her eldest sister-in-law.

Mrs. Li was praying to Buddha. When she saw her coming, she said in a cold tone, "What are you doing in my courtyard, Third Sister-in-law? I don't have anything here that anyone would like to see."

Mrs. Tang blushed, "Sister-in-law, I'm not here to steal your things. I want to look through the family tree and find some clues."

It wasn't a big deal, but it made Li sneer nervously. "You said you didn't want anything, but now you're trying to get the family tree? Let me tell you, the family tree has always been inherited by the eldest son and grandson of the eldest branch. I, Chu Yun, will return sooner or later, and he will be the next patriarch of the Tang family."

Mrs. Tang was slightly displeased. "What are you talking about, sister-in-law? We are the third branch, and we have never thought of plotting against the family tree or the position of patriarch. Even if the eldest brother is gone and Chu Yun can't be found, there is still the second branch to stop us. Sister-in-law, you are really worrying too much."

"Am I worrying too much? You dare to say that you were not sent by Tang Xunze..."

Suddenly, Li paused and asked, "Are you really not sent by Tang Xunze?"

Mrs. Tang was somewhat annoyed that her sister-in-law thought that she and her husband were despicable and short-sighted. The Tang family was not a famous family, and what good intentions could a poor patriarch have?

"Sister-in-law, I simply need to look for some clues. I won't ask anyone else, only our father-in-law, grandfather, great-grandfather, and other ancestors who are directly related to the three brothers. Is there anyone who married a Hu woman and might have passed down Hu bloodline? If we can't find it among the Tang ancestors, we can check our grandmother's family and our grandmother's family. There will always be some clues."

Mrs. Tang felt a headache when she said this. If there were no clues within two or three generations, the more she went back in time, the more families she would have to investigate. Just thinking about it would be a big deal.

Unexpectedly, Li's expression was extremely strange. "You want to check your mother-in-law's family, your grandmother's family, your great-grandmother's family? Third sister-in-law, there's no need. I can tell you clearly that none of the direct blood relatives you can think of have Hu blood. Even if they do have Hu blood, it won't be passed down to the third branch."

Mrs. Tang said excitedly, "Sister-in-law, what do you mean? My ancestors don't have Hu blood. Are you trying to say that I have done something wrong to the Tang family..."

"I didn't say that."

Mrs. Li interrupted her coldly, "Third sister-in-law, perhaps you have forgotten that I was right there with Fuyun and Tiantian when they were born. Others were talking about their appearance, but I was the only one who praised their beauty and never mentioned how strange they were."

"You...what do you mean?"

"Among the direct blood relatives you can think of, there's no Hu ancestry. Are there any you can't think of?"

"Sister-in-law, what do you mean? What do you know? Can't you just say it clearly?"

Mrs. Tang was almost worried to death.

Li sneered, "It seems you really know nothing and have suffered a lot from being kept in the dark. I now believe that you were not sent by the third brother to steal the family tree. Let me tell you this, I have hidden the family tree and will not show it to you, but I have seen it with my own eyes and can tell you one thing. No one in the Tang family has ever married a Hu woman, but my father-in-law once took a concubine, a Hu female dancer who was sent as tribute by Dayuan. My father-in-law made great contributions to the court, and the late emperor rewarded him with one. Do you understand?"

Madam Tang was very displeased. "What does a Hu concubine have to do with our third branch's bloodline? Sister-in-law, you..."

She was just about to say, "Sister-in-law, please don't throw dirty water on the third wife," but suddenly her face turned pale and she shut her mouth.

Li said sarcastically, "Is it hard to accept? Third brother wasn't born to my mother-in-law, but to a concubine who was a Hu woman. However, he looks exactly like my father-in-law, and my father-in-law didn't want outsiders to know he had Hu ancestry, so he recorded him under my mother-in-law's name and said he was the legitimate son. That Hu woman's name was once recorded in the family tree because she gave birth to a child, and it was crossed out, but there are still traces. After the third brother became an official, he was most afraid that others would find out his background, so he deliberately wanted to get the family tree, so he didn't hesitate to acquiesce to the second wife's bullying of us mother and son."

Mrs. Tang felt dizzy and out of control, as if a storm was coming. Anger and coldness were not enough to describe her mood.

"So you always knew that I was wronged?"

Mrs. Li looked at her with amusement. "Your husband knows it too! With his cowardly and sinister personality, do you think he would spare the lives of the children if they weren't his biological children? Even though he doesn't like the two children, he knows they are his biological children. But he will never clarify for you, because once he does, he will be known as a concubine's child of foreign descent. Maybe because his biological mother was a dancer, people will accuse him of having an unlucky father. As for me..."

She looked at Madam Tang and said, "Why? Why should I be bullied by the second and third wives just because my husband is dead? If you don't let me live a good life, then no one will live a good life. When I was bullied by them, you didn't come to help me!"

Mrs. Tang said nothing and turned to leave the main courtyard. Behind her came Mrs. Li's hearty laughter. Perhaps she guessed that the third house was about to make a big move.

Mrs. Tang had always been oppressed and despised in the Tang family. Because of her children's unusual appearance, she also endured the strange looks of the noble ladies in the capital, and even socialized very little. But Li knew that she was not a cowardly person who would willingly endure being bullied.

After Madam Tang returned home, she once again told Madam Shen to pack up and return to her parents' home. Madam Shen, not knowing what had happened, assumed she was still angry about what happened that morning and advised her, "Madam, that's all in the past. The two bastards from the Feng family were beaten, the Second Mistress was beaten, and even the Second Young Master... calm down. If you feel upset in the future, tell the servants to go to the Second House and scold the Feng family for you. There's really no need to go back to your parents' home."

How could she know that Mrs. Tang was not only angry about what happened in the morning, but also about what happened nearly twenty years ago. Tang Xunze had kept it a secret from her and bullied her so much.

Although she was extremely angry, her mind became calmer instead, and she asked people to pack things more carefully. Mother Shen found that the lady packed up everything including the gold and silver jewelry and banknotes.

Suddenly, Madam Tang seemed to have thought of something and asked Mother Shen, "When Prince Rong came this morning, did he say that the Second Young Master had stolen his horse? It was a Dayuan Ferghana horse, worth 1,800 taels!"

Mother Shen was at a loss for words. How could she believe that? It was just an excuse Rong Shizi made up to beat up the Second Young Master. "Madam, I've lived for most of my life and have never seen a Ferghana horse. Those are only precious beasts from legends."