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

The commotion spread throughout the Zhao residence, and Cheng Nanzhi couldn't pretend she didn't know, so she immediately went to Zhao Shize's courtyard.

As they approached, they heard the wails and pleas for mercy from several servants in the courtyard. Upon entering, they saw Old Madam Zhao sitting angrily to one side, ordering the servants to beat her severely.

Qian Yidong, who was under supervision, didn't dare to utter a sound.

Cheng Nanzhi feigned surprise and asked, knowing full well why Old Madam Zhao was so angry and punished so many servants.

"These lowly brats have spoiled Ze'er; they deserve to be beaten to death!" Old Madam Zhao demanded sternly. "And you, what kind of mother are you? Ze'er was led astray by the servants to gamble, and you didn't even notice?!"

Normally, Cheng Nanzhi would have bowed her head and admitted her mistake, blaming herself for not teaching Zhao Shize well, but she is not the same person she used to be.

“Mother-in-law, what are you saying? When have I not cared for Ze’er? If I hadn’t cared for him, would I have invited Mr. Zhou to be his tutor and gone to such lengths to organize the apprenticeship banquet? Besides, it is you, mother-in-law, who is in charge of the household now, not your daughter-in-law. It is not appropriate for a daughter-in-law to be involved in too many things.”

This time, Madam Zhao was truly angry and no longer cared about pretending in front of Cheng Nanzhi.

"Are you implying that my steward is incompetent, resulting in such a wicked and treacherous servant? How dare you!"

Cheng Nanzhi stood her ground: "It was my mother-in-law who said that. I was just stating the facts and explaining to you that I have always done my best and have a clear conscience. On the contrary, it is you, my mother-in-law, who truly breaks my heart. How could you think of me like that?"

"you!"

Old Madam Zhao suddenly stood up, her chest heaving violently.

Seeing the situation was not good, Granny Zhang quickly stepped forward to support her, patted Madam Zhao's back to calm her down, and said, "Madam, the important thing now is to investigate these wicked servants and apologize to Mr. Zhou. Other matters can wait."

It's really unfair to blame Cheng Nanzhi for this. After they parted, it became a thorn in Cheng Nanzhi's heart, affecting their future plans!

Madam Zhao managed to calm down a bit.

Cheng Nanzhi glanced at her, then suddenly turned to Qian Yidong: "You only found out that these servants were behind it? How could they alone have the ability to keep it a secret for three years!"

“This…” Qian Yidong broke out in a cold sweat.

Old Madam Zhao's face darkened, and she snapped, "Speak!"

Qian Yidong felt a pang of panic, but he still retained some rationality and said tactfully, "To be able to keep it from you, Madam, you must have someone with audacity in your service. I dare not offend you by arresting them, and the master also said that we will deal with the people in your courtyard when he returns."

"What's the point of waiting for him..." Old Madam Zhao said angrily, but then suddenly realized that the only person Zhao Ye would ever deal with was Ye Ruyue!

Was it Ye Ruyue who protected them?

Old Madam Zhao stared wide-eyed at Qian Yidong.

Qian Yidong breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that she understood.

Cheng Nanzhi deliberately said, "Such a wicked servant should have been dealt with long ago, no need to wait for the master to return. Qian Yidong, you tell me who it is!"

Qian Yidong looked to Old Madam Zhao for help.

Old Madam Zhao gritted her teeth and had no choice but to help cover it up, but Cheng Nanzhi didn't cooperate with her at all this time and directly slapped Qian Yidong and yelled at her.

“I will not let anyone who dares to corrupt my son get away with it. Speak!”

Qian Yidong dared not say it aloud, so he could only kneel down and beg Cheng Nanzhi to calm down.

Madam Zhao broke out in a cold sweat, but Zhang Mama reacted quickly: "Qian Yidong, are you afraid to speak up because it involves the old lady's elderly servants? They have served the old lady, and even if they have no merit, they have worked hard, so it's not good to make a fuss about it?" She then named a few people.

Qian Yidong grasped at two of them as if they were lifelines: "According to the investigation, they wanted to curry favor with the young master so that they could have a better old age in the Zhao family in the future, but they didn't expect to make things worse." He had already come up with a reason.

“Even if they are old servants, they should be severely punished for delaying the young master like this. They should all be given thirty strokes of the cane and sent to the estate to do hard labor! Mother-in-law, what do you think?” Cheng Nanzhi pressed Old Madam Zhao with an air of concern for Zhao Shize. “But if it’s a misunderstanding and it’s not actually them, then let’s not punish them for now and investigate first!”

Cheng Nanzhi only gave two choices, blocking Zhao's way out.

Madam Zhao's heart was bleeding; those were all her trusted confidantes!

Zhang Mama strained to give Old Madam Zhao a meaningful look; preventing Cheng Nanzhi from finding out about Ye Ruyue was more important than sacrificing her trusted confidante.

Madam Zhao took a deep breath and said fiercely, "Guards, seize those two and punish them severely!"

Several servants hurried away.

Cheng Nanzhi waited until the person was actually captured and severely beaten with a board, almost to the point of death, and until she had seen enough of Old Madam Zhao's heartbroken expression before slowly speaking.

“Mother-in-law, I’ll leave the affairs of the household to you. It’s also up to you to find new servants for Ze’er. I need to have someone prepare a carriage to go to the clan school now. I’m afraid Mr. Zhou will be very angry. It would be bad if he left in a fit of anger and stopped teaching Ze’er.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhao disregarded her distress towards her confidante and hurriedly instructed Cheng Nanzhi to find a way to keep Zhou Xiangru, showing no trace of the dissatisfaction she had shown not long ago when she questioned Cheng Nanzhi.

He even personally escorted Cheng Nanzhi to the gate of the mansion.

“I understand your feelings for Ze’er. Your mother-in-law didn’t mean to misunderstand you earlier, and she apologized to you. In short, if Ye’er can’t handle Ze’er’s matter, you must take it to heart and not let Mr. Zhou really leave.”

Then he watched Cheng Nanzhi leave with longing eyes.

Granny Zhang comforted Madam Zhao, "Don't worry, this isn't a big deal. Can't you two resolve it together? Besides, our Zhao family presented Mr. Zhou with the painting 'A Thousand Cranes on a Lonely River.' Just for that reason, Mr. Zhou won't hold it against us."

When Madam Zhao returned to the mansion, she saw the servants in Zhao Shize's courtyard and her anger flared up again.

"Go and bring Ye Ruyue to me!"

This was the first time in seven years that Old Madam Zhao had been so dissatisfied with Ye Ruyue.

"How dare she let Zege'er go astray? What is she up to?!"

"And she's supposed to be Ze Ge'er's biological mother? What kind of mother is she? Now it seems she's not even half as good as Cheng Nanzhi, at least Cheng Nanzhi is somewhat useful in Ze Ge'er's matter!!"

Ye Ruyue was catching up on her sleep when she was suddenly dragged out of bed by Zhang Mama, leaving her completely bewildered.

"Granny, what are you doing? Let go! How can you treat me like this? Aren't you afraid Yelang will be angry?!"

At this moment, Granny Zhang no longer had a kind look on her face: "Master? I'm afraid that when the master comes back, he will be the first to not forgive you! For the sake of our past relationship, I will give Miss Ye some time to change her clothes. After you're changed, come with this old servant to Ze Ge'er's courtyard immediately!"

After saying that, he left.

Ye Ruyue was even more confused.

Chunyu seized the opportunity and hurried in.

"Miss, something has happened to the young master. I heard that it seems to be related to you, but I don't know how it got involved." She told Ye Ruyue about Zhao Shize's gambling and assault on Zhou Xiangru, as well as Zhao Shize's previous lack of proper education.

"The servants of the Sixth Bureau in the young master's courtyard have all suffered. The old lady is furious. If you go there, you probably won't get away with it either!"

Ye Ruyue's head buzzed, and she understood.

The truth about her previous indulgence of Zhao Shize and Zhao Huaiyu's playful antics has come to light.

Old Madam Zhao is taking out her anger on her.

Ye Ruyue was sweating profusely, but Zhang Mama was still urging her outside, so she could only ask Chunyu to help her change her clothes first.

After leaving, Zhang Mama glanced at Chunyu and said that Old Madam Zhao only asked Ye Ruyue to go.

Chunyu grew anxious: "Granny, please do me a favor. Miss still needs someone to serve her..." She would go with her, so that if something happened to Miss, she could help think of a solution.

Ye Ruyue knew that Old Madam Zhao wanted to settle scores separately and did not want her three-year relationship with Zhao Ye to be exposed, so she pretended to be calm and told Chunyu to stay, while she left with Zhang Mama.

"Granny, Yue'er doesn't know what happened, please help her out..." Ye Ruyue stuffed a thick purse into Granny Zhang's hand.

Unexpectedly, Granny Zhang pushed it back directly.

"Miss Ye, you'd better watch yourself this time."

Ye Ruyue immediately became even more uneasy.

When Ye Ruyue arrived at Zhao Shize's courtyard and saw the servants who had been punished and were unconscious, her face turned pale.

Madam Zhao was indeed furious and didn't even give her a chance to explain before slapping her several times.

"Kneel down! Where did you get the audacity to let Ze'er do this?! I thought you were smart, but you're so muddle-headed and clueless. You've done Ze'er a terrible disservice!"

Ye Ruyue was knocked to the ground and hurriedly tried to explain.

Madam Zhao was furious and ordered Zhang Mama to slap Ye Ruyue's face. After ten slaps, Ye Ruyue's face was so swollen that she could no longer speak.

Old Madam Zhao went to select the servants sent by the matchmaker, and told Ye Ruyue to continue kneeling.

Ye Ruyue was in pain and dizzy, feeling extremely uncomfortable, and a surge of hatred welled up in her heart.

That old hag! She just wanted her son to have more fun, what's wrong with that! She'll definitely get her revenge someday!