Favoring a concubine and destroying the wife? I'll abandon my husband and children and wipe out

Cheng Nanzhi made Ye Ruyue aware that something was amiss last night, all for the sake of this moment.

When she returned home, she didn't have many servants with her, so Old Madam Zhao and Zhao Ye took the opportunity to assign quite a few people to her courtyard. Ostensibly to serve her, but in reality, to monitor her every move!

In her dream, she still trusted them completely and accepted them. Later, when she fell out with the Zhao family, it was these very servants who repeatedly tipped her off, leading to her being framed and suffering considerable losses!

Especially Granny Ding!

Because he was someone who came from the old lady's side, in the dream she promoted him to be her personal servant within a few days.

As a result, Granny Ding helped the Zhao family harm her several times. In the end, she even stole her private key and seal and gave them to Zhao Ye, which made them think she was useless and conspired to burn her to death!

Now that Cheng Nanzhi had no good reason to refuse, she had no choice but to accept the people. Just as she was racking her brains about how to get rid of them, Qingdai unexpectedly gave her an opportunity to get rid of some of them first.

"Qingdai, go and arrest that Granny Ding immediately and bring her here for questioning! Today I will definitely get justice for myself!"

She choked up, her bright eyes brimming with tears as she tried to hold them back, a sight that deeply moved everyone present.

Zhao Ye had never seen Cheng Nanzhi like this before, and his heart trembled for no reason.

Having already spoken to her beforehand, Qingdai told Lianruo to go to Cheng Nanzhi's side and then quickly left.

Lianruo knew nothing and said angrily, "They slander my young lady without even asking her clearly. The Zhao family is really arrogant! My young lady has never been treated like this in the Prince of Anyang's mansion!"

While crying, Cheng Nanzhi silently gave Lianruo a thumbs up in her heart.

Although Lianruo is clever, she can be reckless at times. She's hesitant when handling important matters, and that's when she's ready to deliver the final blow!

The three people opposite were startled awake by Lian Ruo's words.

If the Prince's Mansion finds out about this, the Zhao family will be in deep trouble!

[Cheng Nanzhi is still the daughter of the Cheng family. If the Emperor finds out, he will surely punish the Zhao family severely to appease the Cheng family! I will definitely lose my chance for promotion!]

Zhao Ye immediately realized the implications and quickly stepped forward.

"My lady, please calm down. I didn't mean it. It's just that my cousin came all alone to seek refuge, but she suffered such a thing in this house. If word gets out, it will damage the Zhao family's reputation, making people think that the Zhao family is mistreating an orphan! That's why I'm so anxious!"

As he spoke, he winked at Old Madam Zhao.

Madam Zhao was stunned, unable to believe that it was actually Ding Mama who did this!

"That's right, Nanzhi, don't you know how we've treated you? It was precisely because we didn't believe you would do such a thing that we sent you here to ask, but who knew this servant would speak so vaguely!"

Granny Zhang chimed in, "Yes, yes, it's all the servant's fault for not explaining clearly!"

Zhao Ye and Madam Zhao immediately found an excuse.

"Guards! Drag this man out and give him thirty lashes! He deserves to die for not explaining things clearly earlier, causing the lady to suffer such injustice!"

The servant turned pale upon hearing this: "My lord, please forgive me! I truly did not implicate the madam, and I just said I would not dare to slander her!"

Cheng Nanzhi shooed away Qian Yidong, who was trying to arrest him, and said coldly, "He did not lie from beginning to end! If you, my husband, did not distrust me, how could you convict me without even asking any questions!"

“And my cousin,” Cheng Nanzhi said, looking at Ye Ruyue, “I only just realized that I am not as trusted by my husband and mother-in-law as my cousin!”

Ye Ruyue was initially annoyed that she hadn't brought up Cheng Nanzhi, but upon hearing this, her heart skipped a beat.

As expected, Zhao Ye and Madam Zhao hurriedly distanced themselves from her, and even turned to scold her for trying to convince Cheng Nanzhi.

"You're the same! You blame your sister-in-law without even asking clearly! If she gets angry and distances herself because of this, she'll definitely not let you off the hook!"

Ye Ruyue looked at Zhao Ye with a wronged expression, and reluctantly apologized.

Lian Ruo said, "Who cares about such light words! If anyone had treated my young lady like that before, they would have lost their head!"

Ye Ruyue's eyes turned red with anger upon hearing this.

Zhao Ye made a snap decision and suddenly kicked Ye Ruyue in the back leg, causing her to reflexively fall to her knees.

This surprised both Ye Ruyue and Old Madam Zhao.

Ye Ruyue suddenly looked up at Zhao Ye.

Zhao Ye forced himself to turn his face away, "Hurry up and apologize!"

Ye Ruyue's rebellious streak kicked in: "Granny Ding hasn't arrived yet, who knows if it was Granny Ding who did it!"

Say Cao Cao and Cao Cao will arrive.

Ding Mama was completely bewildered. She had just finished her work and returned to her room, and before she could even utter a word, Qingdai had her bound and brought here. She was surrounded by countless servants on the way, utterly humiliated!

"Madam, Your Excellency, you must do justice for this old servant! I have no idea what I have done to deserve such treatment from your people..."

"Snapped!"

Without saying a word, Qingdai slapped her across the face to interrupt her, and shouted, "You audacious Granny Ding, confess what you did!"

Ding Mama was so dizzy from the beating that she cried out, "What are you going to confess?!"

Qingdai waved her hand, and someone smashed a wooden box on the ground, from which rolled out a considerable amount of silver coins and banknotes, totaling several hundred taels. This was what had been found in Ding Mama's residence.

"You really have that much money?!" Old Madam Zhao's eyes widened.

Ding Mama's heart skipped a beat.

Has it been discovered that she embezzled a lot of money while working for the old lady over the years?!

"The masters have investigated everything you've done!" Qingdai only said half of her sentence before asking the kneeling servant, "Say it again, was it her who did it?!"

The servant immediately replied, "That's right! As for me, even if I had the desire to steal, I wouldn't have the guts!"

Ding Mama glanced over instinctively and saw that there was also silver money next to the servant. After hearing what he said, her face turned half white.

Did the investigation uncover corruption among other people in the household, implicating her?!

The relationships among the servants in large households are complex, and it's common for them to implicate others.

"My lords, please investigate! This old servant..." Granny Ding gritted her teeth, "This old servant did not do it..."

Cheng Nanzhi then said, "Didn't you do it at Shou'an Hall? Granny Ding, there are witnesses and evidence to prove it. Do you have to be beaten before you'll talk?"

"It seems Granny Ding is still quite vigorous despite her age; a beating won't hurt her. Qingdai—"

Cheng Nanzhi spoke coldly, but before she could finish, Granny Ding fell to the ground in fear.

"This old servant will speak! Speak everything!"

"This old servant did do a bit... but it wasn't intentional! I'm just getting old, have no children, and want to prepare for my retirement!"

"Madam, spare me! If this beating comes, this old servant will truly die!"

After he finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.

When Ding Mama looked up, she saw that Zhao Ye, Old Madam Zhao, and Ye Ruyue's faces had all turned green, and they were looking at her as if they wanted to skin her alive!

Madam Zhao was furious.

She sent Granny Ding to Cheng Nanzhi's side to help keep an eye on Cheng Nanzhi, not to have her cause trouble and almost bring disaster to the Zhao family!

"Where did you get the nerve!" Old Madam Zhao smashed the teacup beside her, directly hitting Granny Ding on the forehead and causing a bloody hole.

"Did you hear that, my husband?" Cheng Nanzhi spoke up at the opportune moment, her tone laced with sarcasm.

Zhao Ye choked up and vented all his anger on Granny Ding.

"Guards, drag her out and give her thirty... no, sixty lashes!"

Granny Ding begged for mercy in a pitiful voice.

Qingdai quickly covered her mouth and called for help.

Before long, a muffled scream came from outside, and she fell silent after less than twenty strokes of the cane.