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

After saying this, Lan frowned and asked, "But Miss, can the old lady and the others really find the 'Lonely River and Thousand Cranes' painting?"

This painting is worth a fortune. If it were really lost like this, Jianlan would feel that her young lady would suffer a great loss!

Cheng Nanzhi and Qingdai suddenly looked at each other and smiled.

"Miss?" Lan asked, puzzled.

“Zhao Ye most likely went to the pawnshop manager himself; he’ll definitely find the ‘Lonely River and a Thousand Cranes’ painting on his trip,” Cheng Nanzhi said.

Because she knew where the painting "A Thousand Cranes on a Lonely River" was!

In the dream, the painting changed hands several times before ending up in the hands of the owner of Wanbaoge. Because the owner was a shrewd person, he happened to see the painting while having dinner with a pawnshop manager he knew on business. He immediately recognized that it was probably not ordinary and bought it to collect.

Later, when the third prince ascended the throne, he learned that there was really no "Lonely River and Thousand Cranes" painting in the national treasury, so he took a gamble and offered the painting to the emperor.

The emperor was overjoyed. Not only did he become a royal merchant, but his foolish son was also favored by the emperor and was given special treatment, becoming a newly appointed scholar and embarking on his official career!

Therefore, when scheming against Zhou Xiangru, Cheng Nanzhi quickly thought of this matter and asked Qingdai to secretly pass a message to Lin Bo, asking him to find a way to trick the owner of Wanbaoge into giving up the painting at a low price under the pretext that there was a problem with it, and then pay another pawnshop owner to help keep it safe.

Lin Bo succeeded.

Zhao Ye would then follow her instructions to investigate the entire process and eventually acquire "A Thousand Cranes on a Lonely River" at a high price.

After deducting the commission agreed upon with the pawnshop owner, a large sum of money would still end up in her pocket.

Cheng Nanzhi was certain that no matter how high the price, Zhao Ye would grit his teeth and scrape together enough money to buy back "A Thousand Cranes on a Lonely River".

Judging from his inner thoughts, the painting seemed to be related to something he had done that was considered extremely rebellious. Therefore, he dared not gamble on the risk of the painting being discovered and destroyed.

After Qingdai explained in detail, Jianlan exclaimed in realization, "I see! Miss, you had already made arrangements. That's wonderful! With that sum of money deposited into the treasury, Miss's treasury has been replenished!"

Qingdai was also pleased to hear this.

Cheng Nanzhi just smiled and didn't say anything.

This is just the beginning. She wants the Zhao family to give back everything to her step by step, and she wants to bring them profits so that they will be bankrupt!

Just like Cheng Nanzhi, Zhao Ye was overjoyed to learn that there was still a painting called "A Thousand Cranes on a Lonely River". He did not hesitate to investigate and was determined to get his hands on the painting.

So he spent almost the entire night running around the major pawnshops in the capital, and finally found the painting in the middle of the night. He then had someone knock on the door to wake up the owner so he could buy it.

The boss was very annoyed when he was woken up late at night. When he saw that the other party was buying a painting that he had agreed to buy from someone else, he immediately made an exorbitant demand.

Zhao Ye said, "The market price of this painting when it was in circulation was less than half of what you said! You did this on purpose?!"

"This is the price here. Buy it if you have the money, leave if you don't!" The night was dark, and the shopkeeper was yawning from sleepiness. He couldn't see Zhao Ye's face and clothes clearly and said impatiently.

Zhao Ye clenched his fist.

The boss noticed: "What? You still want to use force to rob me? Come on, try it. If you dare to lay a hand on me, I'll make you famous all over the capital at dawn, and show you that even under the emperor's nose, there are people who run rampant."

Zhao Ye was furious with his boss, his face turning ashen, but he couldn't really force the issue. At this point, his reputation couldn't afford even the slightest damage.

Thinking of the possible consequences, Zhao Ye had no choice but to go back and raise money, taking away all the items he could buy from the pawnshop in the warehouse.

That wasn't enough, so Zhao Ye went to find Old Madam Zhao.

"What? That much money? No, I don't agree. If you really can't accept it, then don't take it..."

"Now is not the time to hoard money. That painting must be bought back. Mother, is money more important, or your son's future?!" Zhao Ye roared.

Madam Zhao froze, then slumped down.

Zhao Ye asked Zhang Mama to take stock of the usable items. The old lady's storeroom contained many of Cheng Nanzhi's dowry items, each one extremely valuable. After moving half of them, they estimated that it would be enough.

Old Madam Zhao felt as if her heart was bleeding: "If only I hadn't touched that painting in the first place. How could it have sold for so little money, and now it costs so much to redeem it!"

Granny Zhang comforted her, "Madam, people are important. Money can be earned back."

Madam Zhao wiped her eyes and said, "I will definitely earn it back ten times, a hundred times in the future."

Ye Ruyue, who was in the back courtyard, inevitably heard the commotion and called out anxiously, "Chunyu, quickly go and find out if the adults have brought the outsiders back. If they have, you need to take care of it right away!"

Chunyu was extremely nervous, as it was her first time doing something like this. But after asking around, she returned completely bewildered.

“Miss, the master didn’t bring anyone back, but he took quite a few people out with him, and they also moved a lot of things.”

"Huh? What happened?" Ye Ruyue and Chunyu looked at each other blankly. Ye Ruyue decided to go to Old Madam Zhao to find out what was going on.

Madam Zhao was sometimes quite clear-headed. She knew the importance of the "Lonely River and a Thousand Cranes" painting, but she didn't tell Ye Ruyue a word. She vaguely said that Zhao Ye was trying to keep Zhou Xiangru, and that it would be done soon.

Ye Ruyue then asked about Qian Yidong.

Upon learning that Qian Yidong had not yet returned, Ye Ruyue became anxious again. She signaled Chunyu to go out and keep an eye out, while she stayed behind to keep the sleepless Old Madam Zhao company.

Ye Ruyue had her own ulterior motives. If it worked out, she would have an alibi with the old lady.

As dawn broke, Qian Yidong had not yet returned. Zhao Ye, who had been up most of the night, returned home first with the painting "A Thousand Cranes on a Lonely River".

"Mother, I've got it. I'll personally deliver it to Mr. Zhou right away and ask him to stay and continue teaching Ze Ge'er. The sooner it's done, the sooner he can come forward and explain things to us."

"If we then take the opportunity to clarify the matter of Zege'er's poetry manuscript, I believe the rumors will stop spreading. I will also be able to keep my promotion."

Upon hearing that it had nothing to do with the Purple Bamboo Pavilion, Ye Ruyue realized that she had been overthinking things last night and felt relieved.

"Ye Lang, you've worked so hard, your eyes are all dark circles." Ye Ruyue said with concern as she stepped forward.

Zhao Ye was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. He was so busy spending money that he was in a daze, and he had no mood to respond to his sweetheart's concern. He could only manage a forced smile.

Madam Zhao couldn't laugh at all. Thinking of the empty, drafty storeroom, her face looked worse than if she were crying.

"What about the thief who stole the manuscript? We haven't even been apprehended yet." Old Madam Zhao forced herself not to think about the storeroom, nor to look at the painting in Zhao Ye's arms that she hated so much.

"Qian Yidong should be back from the Purple Bamboo Pavilion soon. Just send out the people he brought back to silence everyone. If he didn't bring anyone back, find a servant in the manor to take the blame. In short, this matter must be settled today," Zhao Ye said sternly.

When Ye Ruyue heard the name Purple Bamboo Pavilion, her heart almost jumped out of her throat.

But when he heard that Zhao Ye wanted to make that person take the blame and die, he calmed down a bit and said, "Let's do it this way. If we drag it out any longer, it won't be good for Ze Ge'er's reputation."

Madam Zhao thought about it and agreed, but said, "If we have time, we should still review them and find out what's going on with those poems."

Ye Ruyue's heart clenched again.

Zhao Ye didn't have the energy to deal with it, so he waved his hand and said, "Mother, you decide what to do. I have to go find Mr. Zhou now." With that, he left.

Ye Ruyue swallowed hard and said, "Madam, do we really have to interrogate him? In my opinion, interrogation is no longer important. Clearing Ze'er's name is the most important thing. Perhaps..."

"How can we not interrogate him? That person has harmed our Zhao family so much. He must be interrogated severely, punished with a beating, and made to confess everything he did!" Old Madam Zhao was now venting all her anger through this interrogation.

Ye Ruyue's heart trembled slightly.

We still need to let Chunyu deal with that person!

Ye Ruyue waited anxiously with Old Madam Zhao. Less than half an hour later, Qian Yidong returned to the mansion. Upon hearing that Zhao Ye was not there, he went straight to inform Old Madam Zhao.

"I led my men to stake out the place all night, but there was no one at the Purple Bamboo Pavilion!"

"After the news spread, many people went to the capital to see what was going on, but there was no trace of the person suspected to be the owner of the poems and articles, and they couldn't be found at all!"

"I suspect that this person may not even exist!"

Ye Ruyue finally breathed a sigh of relief, secretly glad that she hadn't caught anyone.

Madam Zhao was furious and ordered Qian Yidong to send people to continue the search, at least to find the person who spread the rumor that the owner of the poem was there.

At the same time, Zhang Mama was instructed to find a servant who was most likely to have access to Zhao Shize's manuscript.

"Now that things have come to this, the only way out is to find someone to take the blame," said Madam Zhao, fiddling with the prayer beads in her hand.

Ye Ruyue shivered unexpectedly. She lowered her head and looked away silently, pretending not to have heard, and returned to the side courtyard.

Chunyu had been waiting, waiting to see what she wanted to say.

Ye Ruyue was not in the mood to listen at the moment. She waved her hand wearily and went inside to catch up on her sleep and rest.

Chunyu stood tall and proud outside, letting the passing maids look on.