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

Cheng Nanzhi took Qingdai with her when she went to the clan school. Seeing that Lan and Lianruo had been left at the mansion, Cheng Nanzhi assigned them a task.

Once Madam Zhao has selected servants for Zhao Shize, she will find one or two among them who can be bribed and make contact with them.

"The old lady even tried to accuse you of not caring about the young master. How dare she! She didn't even think before she spoke. In the end, she still had to beg you to help the young master." Qingdai sneered, secretly wondering if she would have the chance to personally point her finger at the old lady and scold her to vent her anger someday.

Hearing her thoughts, Cheng Nanzhi said, "Remember all of this. Once you're divorced, you can openly and honestly curse her."

Qingdai's eyes lit up instantly.

Upon arriving at the clan school, Cheng Nanzhi led Qingdai inside unhurriedly.

The servants led the way for her, and as they approached, they discovered that Zhao Shize was being punished by kneeling on the stone bricks in the courtyard, with a large, swollen handprint on his face, indicating that the person who hit him had used force.

He didn't know how long he had been kneeling, but Zhao Shize had never suffered like this since he was a child. At this moment, his body was swaying precariously, but he was too afraid to get up and could only sob softly.

"Mother!" Zhao Shize cried out to Cheng Nanzhi as if she were his savior, "You've finally come! Please help me! Father is helping outsiders, he's scolding and hitting me! I don't want to stay here, I want to go home! My knees hurt so much from kneeling!"

His voice wasn't low; you could hear it.

Cheng Nanzhi also heard the voices inside seem to pause for a moment.

"Shut up! Your father has already been lenient with you for disrespecting your teacher. Yet you still show no remorse. Do you think you haven't been beaten enough?!" Cheng Nanzhi said sternly.

Zhao Shize stared at Cheng Nanzhi in disbelief.

Suddenly, she saw Cheng Nanzhi wink at her, and Qingdai also quietly went inside.

His mind worked quickly at that moment, and he immediately shouted, "I know I was wrong! Mother, I really know I was wrong! I just couldn't believe that the teacher would hit me, and I couldn't help but fight back because I felt wronged. But I didn't mean to! There won't be a next time, and I will never gamble again. I will definitely study hard from now on!"

Cheng Nanzhi was there to be a good person, especially in front of Zhao Shize, so she patted his shoulder reassuringly, left Qingdai with him, and went inside herself.

Inside, Zhou Xiangru stood there, his face sour, snorting coldly.

Zhao Ye was in a state of utter distress on the other side, clearly still unable to appease Zhou Xiangru.

Zhao Ye saw her as if she were his savior, and quickly got up to help her sit down, giving her a look to ask her to speak on his behalf.

Cheng Nanzhi said sincerely, "Mr. Zhou, please forgive me. Ze Ge'er has really been spoiled by us. He was so stubborn that he hit you. He will definitely treat you with respect in the future."

"To be honest, both the Cheng and Zhao families are quite troubled by Ze'er's temperament. We hope you will put in more effort. Even if you have to punish him, we will not say a word. We only hope that he can learn some of your talents and character and become a useful person. At that time, our two families will definitely thank you properly and remember your kindness."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiangru coldly replied, "I dare not accept such words from Madam Zhao. Who knows if you would be happy to have me give you a strict lesson? Don't blame me for not treating you well next time."

"No, no!"

Zhao Ye immediately stated his position.

Cheng Nanzhi called Qingdai in at the opportune moment, "To express my apology, I have specially prepared a square ink stick, a specialty of Huizhou. Only five square ink sticks have been presented as tribute in the past ten years, and my Zhao family is fortunate enough to receive one from His Majesty. But we are just uncouth men, and Mr. Zhou is more worthy of it. I hope Mr. Zhou will not find it offensive."

Zhou Xiangru immediately looked at it and exclaimed, "Is this really Huizhou tribute ink?"

Qingdai opened the box, took it out, and showed it to Zhou Xiangru.

Zhou Xiangru's expression immediately brightened, and he beamed with joy.

“I understand the Zhao family’s intentions. Please rest assured, Lord Zhao and Madam Zhao, I will certainly not let such a trivial matter cause me any scorn.”

He was pleased, but Zhao Ye's expression changed.

Isn't that the ink he's been saving in his study, the one he's never wanted to use?!

Two years ago, he learned that Cheng Nanzhi had some in her warehouse, so he went to get them and took them out several times at gatherings with his colleagues, which drew a lot of envy.

How did Cheng Nanzhi end up giving it to Zhou Xiangru?!

Zhao Ye glared at Cheng Nanzhi.

Cheng Nanzhi, however, seemed to misunderstand his meaning and smiled, saying, "Husband, do you think this ink is especially suitable for Mr. Zhou? It was chosen by my mother-in-law, who saw me bring it here."

She went to Zhao Ye's study specifically to get it before leaving the mansion.

Old Madam Zhao had no idea how precious the ink was. When she heard that it was to be used to keep Zhou Xiangru, she let her into Zhao Ye's study without saying a word.

Under Zhou Xiangru's gaze, Zhao Ye gritted his teeth and said, "Suitable, of course it's suitable."

Zhou Xiangru's last bit of energy was gone.

However, with so many things happening that day, he was no longer in the mood to teach, so he asked Zhao Ye and Cheng Nanzhi to take Zhao Shize back and teach him properly, and to continue the lessons the next day.

As soon as Zhou Xiangru left, Zhao Ye immediately spoke up, with a hint of resentment: "Madam, why did you have to take my ink from my study of all those other things?!"

"What do you mean 'your'? Isn't this mine? What's wrong with me taking it?" Cheng Nanzhi asked, puzzled yet straightforward.

Zhao Ye choked.

At this moment, Qingdai brought Zhao Shize in.

Cheng Nanzhi said, "Besides, this is to appease Mr. Zhou and make him stop holding a grudge against Ze Ge'er. I'm willing to give it up for Ze Ge'er's sake, so why can't you give it up, my husband?"

Zhao Shize looked up abruptly.

Zhao Ye was even more ashamed to say he couldn't bear to part with him in front of Zhao Shize.

In an instant, Zhao Ye's anger reached its peak, so he changed the subject and cursed Zhao Shize to vent his anger.

"Kneel down! You're so young and already so delinquent, do you think you're above everyone else? If Mr. Zhou hadn't discovered this today, were you planning to gamble away money and disgrace the entire Zhao family?!"

Zhao Shize's grievances had reached their breaking point.

"Father, all you do is criticize me. You're not as good to me as Mother is!"

Enraged, Zhao Ye slammed his fist on the table and stood up to hit Zhao Shize.

Cheng Nanzhi seized the opportunity to pull Zhao Ye aside and speak highly of him to Zhao Shize.

Zhao Ye couldn't afford to lose his temper and disrespect Cheng Nanzhi right now, so he had to suppress his anger and stormed back to the mansion to confront the servants and Ye Ruyue.

Zhao Shize could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down his face.

Cheng Nanzhi and Qingdai exchanged a glance and said, "Ze-ge'er, don't blame your father. He still has high hopes for you. Otherwise, he could have treated Yu-jie'er the way he treated her, not letting her suffer, feeling guilty but also putting aside his pride to drink soup and chat with her. You have to understand his good intentions."

Zhao Shize exclaimed incredulously, "But Zhao Huaiyu is just as playful as I am. Why can Father treat her like this, but treat me like this?!"

Qingdai said, "Oh, young master, how can you compare yourself to Yu'er? She is a girl, so naturally she needs to be pampered, and it's okay for her to be a little playful. As for you, you won't have any chance to relax and play from now on. You must study day and night to live up to the expectations your parents have for you."

Then she muttered in confusion, "But if the master had no expectations for Yu-jie, why would he give her so many books and let her into the study? The whole mansion was in turmoil this time, but Yu-jie was fine. The master even let her go back to the courtyard to rest, so she wouldn't be affected by you."

"What did you say?" Zhao Shize glared at Qingdai.

Qingdai covered her mouth and quickly shook her head, saying it was nothing.

But Zhao Shize had just heard it clearly, and he was both angry and aggrieved: "Father clearly still has hope for her, but he is dissatisfied with me, which is why he is so harsh on me. It's too much!"

Cheng Nanzhi said, "Ze-ge'er, don't talk nonsense. Don't let this cause you to become estranged from Yu-jie'er. She even defended you, saying that you didn't mean to be playful before."

Zhao Shize's eyes widened: "She told Father about the past?"

Cheng Nanzhi pleaded earnestly, "She didn't want your father to punish you. Look, your father punished all the servants in your courtyard, sending them all away, but he only slapped you and made you kneel. It's clear that Yu Jie'er's pleading was effective; you should thank Yu Jie'er. She didn't even hold it against you for letting the servants in her courtyard be punished."

Zhao Shize froze, unable to believe what he was hearing. All the servants in his courtyard had been punished?!

A thought popped into Zhao Shize's mind.

"No! She must have said it on purpose! Otherwise, Father wouldn't have known about the past!" Aunt Ye couldn't have said it, and the servants wouldn't have dared to either. If Zhao Huaiyu hadn't been so talkative, Father wouldn't have known!

Zhao Huaiyu is still holding a grudge and is deliberately retaliating against him!

Zhao Shize felt a surge of hatred towards Zhao Huaiyu.