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

Ye Ruyue made a decision in an instant.

"That was just a coincidence!"

"When I learned about the poetry gathering, I longed for the grand scene of scholars from the capital gathering together. I happened to have been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood, so I wrote two poems on a whim. But I felt they weren't very good, so I ordered my servants to throw them away. Who knew they would end up in that manuscript!"

Ye Ruyue had a sudden inspiration: "Cousin, Aunt, you were really stunned and confused by that sudden situation just now!"

These words came so suddenly that the two were stunned: "How could we be so confused?"

"It's true that Zege'er is talented, and it's also true that those few poems were written by him, but the others' poems are definitely not. But in your panic, you overlooked this point and only thought about clearing Zege'er's name, rashly admitting to all of them. Doesn't that just arouse suspicion?"

"The situation was urgent at the time, and I really couldn't think too much. But the most important thing to do was to calm down and find out who stole Zege'er's and my poems and mixed them in to smear you!"

Zhao Ye's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

Yes, they don't need to admit that the entire manuscript is theirs; they just need to insist that a few of the poems are indeed Zhao Shize's work.

The rest can be dismissed by the fact that Zhao Shize is young and that the incident happened suddenly and he couldn't think of anything else.

Anyway, putting everything else aside, those few poems were written by his Yue'er. No one else could have possibly smeared them!

Madam Zhao believed Ye Ruyue's words without hesitation. To make her believe that her grandson was truly incompetent and to have him branded as a thief was more painful than death for her.

"Moon, you're so clever. You saw right through our deception," praised Madam Zhao.

Ye Ruyue breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Shize listens to whoever is in his favor, and right now he's just following Ye Ruyue's advice.

Zhao Ye was still worried and looked at Ye Ruyue with questioning eyes, asking if she had written anything else for anyone else.

Ye Ruyue shook her head in grievance. She only cared about her own son; how could she allow others to use her achievements!

Zhao Ye was finally relieved and said sternly, "It seems someone is deliberately targeting my Zhao family! Anyone who can steal manuscripts like this must be implicated. We must investigate thoroughly and show no mercy once the truth is revealed!"

He finished speaking and looked at Cheng Nanzhi with dissatisfaction.

"Madam, you are the same. If you hadn't sided with outsiders just now, the situation wouldn't have gotten to such an unmanageable point."

Madam Zhao said with a stern face, "Nanzhi, you are not as clever and sensible as Yue'er, who knows how to help Zege'er."

Zhao Shize also showed a resentful expression, but because he had been frightened earlier, he dared not say anything.

Cheng Nanzhi retorted, "I knew nothing about the manuscript. At the time, I even wanted to clarify things for Ze Ge'er. How was that helping Ze Ge'er? How was that helping an outsider? If Ze Ge'er really had the ability, why would he be afraid of other people's questions? Besides, just now, my husband and I recognized that all of those were written by Ze Ge'er."

Trying to shift the blame onto her? No way.

Zhao Ye and the others were speechless.

Zhao Ye was even more annoyed by Cheng Nanzhi's questioning. Unable to answer, he simply changed the subject: "In any case, that's the end of the matter. First, find out who in the household has ulterior motives, and then clarify things to the outside world as my cousin said!"

Cheng Nanzhi sneered inwardly.

If you want to protect your reputation so much, you'll have to see if she allows it!

This time, she underestimated Ye Ruyue's intelligence. She didn't expect her to be so quick-witted and come up with a solution in a short time. But Zhao Shize can forget about getting rid of the reputation of plagiarism.

They clarified, so she had the news of Zhao Shize's plagiarism spread widely. Let's see if their mouths can clarify things faster, or if she can use money to spread the rumor in a flowery way faster.

If they also use silver, then it's a contest to see who has more silver.

Ha, anyway, she used money she scraped off them.

“But Mr. Zhou seems very angry. Will he still accept my brother as his disciple?” Zhao Huaiyu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

Zhao Ye and his companions immediately looked worried.

"Will Mr. Zhou believe us?" Old Madam Zhao was so worried that her head was throbbing.

Zhao Ye, Ye Ruyue, and Zhao Shize all showed signs of guilt.

No matter how he tries to clarify things to others, Zhao Shize's talent is undeniable.

Even if he believed it for a while, he would know better when he started teaching Zhao Shize, and things would probably get even more complicated then.

"Madam, what do you think we should do?" Zhao Ye asked Cheng Nanzhi subconsciously.

Everyone else immediately looked at her.

Madam Zhao sat up straight: "Nanzhi, after all, you know many people and have many ideas. Can you get Mr. Zhou to continue teaching Zege'er?"

They practically said they wanted Cheng Nanzhi to use the Cheng family's name.

Zhao Shize looked at Cheng Nanzhi expectantly: "Mother, you must have another way, right?"

Zhao Shize wanted Zhou Xiangru to be his teacher, not for any other reason than that he would be very prestigious after becoming Zhou Xiangru's disciple, just like at today's banquet.

Beside her, Zhao Huaiyu stared intently at Cheng Nanzhi.

Cheng Nanzhi said calmly, "I have no choice."

"How could you not have one? Haven't you made a lot of friends in Beijing over the years? And haven't they all given you face? Just find someone of high status to speak to Mr. Zhou on our behalf. Mr. Zhou might agree, seeing how sincere we are." Old Madam Zhao was anxious.

Cheng Nanzhi said bluntly, "Today I have become a laughing stock because of Ze Ge'er. Who would be willing to help me with this mess anytime soon?"

She said, "If you mothers-in-law don't mind others seeing me and laughing at me again, and me humbly begging under the name of the Zhao family, then I will go."

Zhao Ye was the first to object: "That won't do! My Zhao family is innocent and blameless, how can we suffer such humiliation!"

Cheng Nanzhi glanced at him coldly and said, "Husband, are you suggesting I go and let others laugh at the Cheng family for failing to raise their children properly?"

“No…” Zhao Ye choked up.

Cheng Nanzhi stood up abruptly, not giving them a chance to speak again, and said in a heavy voice, "To be honest, I am very disappointed today! Especially Ze Ge'er, I did not expect that after three years, you have become like this... It is my fault for not being able to stay by your side to teach you. I do not blame you."

"As for other matters, my husbands, please do as you please. I'm exhausted from preparing for the banquet and need to go back and rest. If you find out who the thief in the mansion is, please send someone to let me know."

After saying that, Cheng Nanzhi turned around and left.

However, Madam Zhao and the others still wanted her to find a way to invite Zhou Xiangru back, so they called her repeatedly. When she didn't turn around, Madam Zhao got angry.

"If you're not going to help Ze'er, then don't. You're acting like we can't do without her. What kind of manners are you!"

Zhao Shize felt wronged: "But does what Mother said mean that she doesn't believe me? Does she think I stole from others? I didn't! How can Mother not believe me?"

Old Madam Zhao hugged him tenderly and comforted him, "Don't worry about her, Grandmother believes in you, my Ze'er is the best."

Zhao Huaiyu lowered his head, unwilling to look any longer, and suggested going back.

Zhao Ye was in a bad mood and waved her away.

Ye Ruyue wanted to make a good impression at this time, so she said, "How about this? No matter what we say or do, it's not as good as what Mr. Zhou sees with his own eyes. Let Ze'er take his own writings to Mr. Zhou and let him believe that Ze'er is indeed talented. As for what happens in the future, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."

Zhao Shize looked up in alarm: "But how could I possibly..."

"You can!"

Ye Ruyue interrupted him loudly and gave Zhao Ye a meaningful look.

Zhao Ye understood Ye Ruyue's meaning and wanted to use the same trick again, writing an article for Zhao Shize to use. This might fool him for a while, but how could it really fool him forever?

But we can't lose Zhou Xiangru as our teacher. Where else can we find someone as suitable as Zhou Xiangru?

Besides, if we don't use Ye Ruyue's method, we'll have to ask Cheng Nanzhi for help...

Zhao Ye gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll do as you say!"

Zhao Shize swallowed the words in his mouth, worried about how to write them, and couldn't help but wonder if his father would help him again and not make him write them.

Madam Zhao firmly believed that her grandson was the reincarnation of the God of Literature, and urged him to write well.

Zhao Shize reluctantly agreed.

This matter was temporarily put to rest, and Zhao Ye hurriedly went to find Qian Yidong to see how the investigation was going.

Cheng Nanzhi also returned to Guantang Courtyard. At this time, Qian Yidong had not yet led anyone to Guantang Courtyard.

"How's the situation with the people going?" Cheng Nanzhi asked.

Qingdai arrived ahead of time and dismissed the servants, saying, "Miss, don't worry. I went to find Lan as soon as possible and asked her to send away those servants who had been sent to the banquet. We were short-handed for the banquet anyway, so it's no big deal for the people we brought in from the estate to leave. Since Lan is in charge of the back gate area, it's easy for her to send them away carefully."

"As for what happened outside, I had Chen Wang leave the manor to take care of it long ago. He used the excuse of preparing things for Mr. Zhou's room after the banquet. He left the manor early and separated it from what happened in the front hall, so no one can find him."

In short, it will prevent anyone from finding fault with it.