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

Ye Ruyue seized the opportunity to sow discord: "Ye Lang, listen to this! That woman Cheng Nanzhi still remembers what happened earlier. Otherwise, why would she refuse the other people you and the old lady offered her and insist on taking that servant instead?"

Zhao Ye's expression darkened further.

Old Madam Zhao was also extremely frustrated and said, "Alright, we were in the wrong today, let's just let it go."

The more the old lady thought about it, the angrier she became at Ding Mama, who had caused all this trouble.

Seeing that Ye Ruyue was no longer very enthusiastic, he said with a stern face, "You should be more careful in the future and not let this happen again."

Ye Ruyue felt even more aggrieved, but she dared not contradict Old Madam Zhao and could only lower her head and obediently agree.

Zhao Ye felt sorry for her and said, "Mother, since it's all in the past, let's not talk about it anymore. I'll take Yue'er to get her medicine first."

Ye Ruyue covered her face at the right moment, hissed softly a few times, and her eyes were as red as a rabbit's.

After all, Madam Zhao was biased towards Ye Ruyue, and her heart softened a bit when she saw this. She waved for them to leave, but then added worriedly, "Ye'er, you can't stay too long at this time. When you have time, go to Guantang Courtyard and coax Cheng Nanzhi more, so that she doesn't still hold a grudge about what happened today."

“I understand,” Zhao Ye said, feeling frustrated.

A hint of jealousy flashed in Ye Ruyue's eyes.

……

Meanwhile, Cheng Nanzhi led her people back to Guantang Courtyard.

Seeing that Lan was waiting for them, and noticing that Cheng Nanzhi's eyes were a little red and swollen, she immediately asked someone to bring the prepared hot eggs to apply as a compress.

Lianruo said indignantly, "The son-in-law and the old lady are really something, how could they treat you like that!"

Cheng Nanzhi said calmly, "They are family, it's perfectly normal."

“But you are the daughter-in-law of the Zhao family. The Zhao family has relied entirely on your help to get to where they are today! Putting that aside, don’t they know what kind of person you are?” Lianruo said.

Qingdai looked at Cheng Nanzhi with a questioning gaze.

Lan also silently watched.

Cheng Nanzhi shook her head almost imperceptibly.

We still need to wait a while to investigate Lianruo.

"Alright, young lady, I know you care about Miss, but your muttering is giving her a headache!" Qingdai said. "Jianlan and I can take care of things here. Go out and settle the servant that Miss brought back. Have someone tidy him up and bring him back to report."

Lianruo accepted the order and went out.

"Jianlan, you can leave the manor tomorrow to find Granny Li's son. I have other plans to make first," Cheng Nanzhi instructed.

Seeing that Lan agreed, he added, "Miss, it's getting late. Would you like to have lunch now?"

"Of course I'll use it!" After letting out a sigh of relief at Shou'an Hall, Cheng Nanzhi's appetite was now incredibly good, and she could eat quite a lot!

Seeing that Lan had gone out to prepare, he went out to make preparations.

Shou'an Hall has a small kitchen, and Guantang Courtyard also has one; they've been there since Cheng Nanzhi married into the household. This means there's no need to go to the main kitchen to get food according to rations; Cheng Nanzhi can eat whatever she wants, according to her own preferences.

A few days ago, Cheng Nanzhi only used the small kitchen and rarely dined with Zhao Ye and Madam Zhao, which they already complained about. But after what happened just now, all their objections disappeared.

"Qingdai, you will personally handle the selection of servants in the courtyard this afternoon. I will give you a few important pretexts; find good reasons to sell them off, and don't let the young master and his family find fault with you," Cheng Nanzhi said.

Qingdai nodded and listened to her explanation, then asked with some doubt, "Miss, why do you suddenly want to get those people out? Could it be—" She reacted quickly, "Do they really have ulterior motives, serving two masters...are they here to monitor you on behalf of the young master and the old lady?!"

Cheng Nanzhi hummed in agreement.

"!!" Qingdai exclaimed angrily, "This servant will definitely do it well!"

Seeing that Cheng Nanzhi's eyes were not so swollen anymore, Qingdai prepared to go out to run errands, but before leaving, she thought of something and hesitated, turning back.

Cheng Nanzhi raised an eyebrow: "What?"

Qingdai wondered how Cheng Nanzhi knew which servant had ulterior motives.

But then she thought, who cares why? The young lady can't be wrong! She just has to listen to her!

"Nothing, Miss, I'll go and get busy," Qingdai said with a smile.

Cheng Nanzhi could hear her thoughts, so she smiled and said, "Go ahead."

Not long after, Lianruo returned with the servant to report back.

The servant boy's name is Chen Wang. He is twenty-one years old. He was sold into the mansion by a matchmaker when he was seven years old and signed a death contract. There are hardly any people left in his family.

"Chen Wang, you did well today."

Chen Wang was the person who bribed when Lan went to Shou'an Hall, and he was specifically tasked with helping the Latin nun get involved.

The person Qingdai arranged knew Chen Wang well; he would do anything for money, was pragmatic, and ambitious. Seeing that Lan wanted him to be willing and keep quiet, she offered him a benefit he couldn't refuse.

"This is your indenture. I can change it from a dead contract to a live contract. If you save enough money in the future, you can redeem yourself and leave."

Chen Wang happily kowtowed to express his gratitude.

“However, you are still a slave,” Cheng Nanzhi said calmly.

Chen Wang felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water, and he immediately hung his head in dejection.

As long as he remained a slave, even if he left the Zhao family, he would still be a servant and would continue to be looked down upon!

“However, as long as you do your job well, I might be willing to change your status from slave to commoner,” Cheng Nanzhi added.

Chen Wang suddenly looked up, incredulous: "Is what you said true, Madam?"

The Northern Qi Dynasty had a clear decree that slaves who wanted to be freed from slavery either had to pay 10,000 taels of silver to redeem themselves or achieve meritorious service, both of which were extremely difficult for slaves!

Therefore, slaves had no hope of escaping slavery unless a miraculous event occurred.

“Ten thousand taels of silver is not something I cannot afford,” Cheng Nanzhi said. Seeing the glint in Chen Wang’s eyes, she added, “However, you must show me your value and make me feel that you are worth it.”

"Yes, madam! I will obey your every command, even at the cost of my life!" Chen Wang knelt down excitedly and kowtowed repeatedly.

Cheng Nanzhi smiled slightly. "Alright, come forward. I'll tell you something first, to see how capable you are and how loyal you are."

……

It took Zhao Ye a while to calm Ye Ruyue down. She then started to act coquettishly again and took the opportunity to ask for a lot of money as compensation.

Zhao Ye felt guilty and heartbroken for her at that moment, and he responded to everything she said.

He couldn't stay too long, and thinking about it, he was worried. Before leaving, he told Ye Ruyue not to go out recently, and especially not to go in front of Cheng Nanzhi.

Ye Ruyue would pretend to agree, but as soon as he left, she would immediately scold him for being heartless and only knowing how to make her feel wronged!

Despite her complaints, Ye Ruyue remained obediently in her room. Even when she heard that the two children had come to Shou'an Hall seeking comfort in the afternoon, she refrained from going to see them.

By evening, Ye Ruyue couldn't stand it any longer and called Chunyu to ask Zhao Ye where he was.

She was still furious and wanted to go find Zhao Ye to throw more money at him, because only money could make her happy.

Chunyu wondered if this young lady was being too concerned about their adults.

She dared not think too much about it and obeyed orders to inquire. When she returned, she said that Zhao Ye had gone to Guantang Courtyard to see Cheng Nanzhi.

Ye Ruyue became even angrier upon hearing this, "How could he go there!"

“The master and the lady are husband and wife, of course they should go there. Besides, the master wronged the lady during the day, so he should keep her company…” Before Chunyu could finish speaking, she saw Ye Ruyue staring at her gloomily, so she immediately shut her mouth.

Ye Ruyue told her to leave, cursing inwardly, "So dramatic! It's just a misunderstanding, is it really necessary to have someone go and coax her?!"

Ye Ruyue felt increasingly regretful for making a scene with Old Madam Zhao.

But with Granny Ding gone, and the servant being taken to Cheng Nanzhi's side, she couldn't vent her anger by punishing him. Was she just going to swallow her anger?

No, there's also Sanmei! It's all her fault for telling her without clarifying the situation!

Ye Ruyue immediately went out and found Sanmei's residence. As soon as she entered, she saw Sanmei applying medicine to herself. The medicine bottle she was holding looked very expensive; it wasn't given to her by Sanmei!

"Where did you get this medicine?!" Ye Ruyue rushed over and snatched it away. "The master wouldn't give it to you, and the old lady wouldn't suspect you either. Could it be... Cheng Nanzhi?! Well, so you've been Cheng Nanzhi's person all along. You deliberately helped her tell me about this strange thing during the day, just to embarrass me, didn't you?!"

Ye Ruyue slapped him across the face.