My stepsister tried to steal the prince's hand in marriage, but little did she know I had been

Zhang's eyes flickered as she avoided Old Madam Chu's gaze.

Seeing this, Old Madam Chu's heart sank.

General Chu also had some guesses.

Only Wen Shuyao remained calm; she already knew about the collusion between Madam Chen and Madam Wen.

Under intense scrutiny from several people, Chen closed her eyes and whispered, "It's about lending money at exorbitant interest rates..."

Upon hearing this, apart from Wen Shuyao, General Chu and his wife widened their eyes in astonishment.

"You went to lend money at exorbitant interest rates?" Old Madam Chu's hand trembled slightly as she pointed at her. "Are you out of your mind? Does our Chu family lack you for food and clothing? How could you do such a heinous thing!"

The interest rates for loan sharks are shockingly high, and those who collect the money are ruthless, often forcing people to sell their children, and in some cases, even causing deaths.

After the current emperor ascended the throne, he carried out a thorough reform and even made an example of a prominent family by exiling the entire clan to Lingnan.

Nowadays, lending money at exorbitant interest rates is a serious crime!

This is a capital offense!

Even if General Chu had some influence with the emperor, it wouldn't be a catastrophe that would wipe out the entire Chu family, but it would still be enough to severely damage the Chu family's vitality!

Startled, Chen trembled and knelt on the ground, crying and complaining, "I only did it once, I never thought she would find out!"

“From then on, I lived in fear until she said she could keep the secret for me.”

"So, you conspired with her to murder your own niece?"

Old Madam Chu sneered repeatedly, seeing through Chen's ugly thoughts clearly.

Chen looked uneasy and was especially terrified. She knew how important Wen Shuyao was to the Chu family.

but……

She said aggrievedly, "But if I hadn't listened to Zhang back then, and she had exposed this matter, it would have probably implicated the entire family. How could I just stand by and watch..."

"When you were lending money at exorbitant interest rates, didn't you think that once the truth came out, this matter would implicate the entire Chu family?"

Old Madam Chu interrupted her sophistry, her tone extremely impatient.

Everyone present could see Chen's selfishness. She lent money at exorbitant interest rates for her own selfish gain, to cover up her crimes, and to cause Wen Shuyao to suffer for so many years.

Li looked at Wen Shuyao with heartache. Although Wen Shuyao was beautiful, her whole body was extremely simple and elegant, and the robe she wore looked even more oversized on her.

In families like theirs, all their clothes are sewn by a professional, and such an inappropriate situation would never occur.

Upon seeing this, Wen Shuyao realized that the Wen family didn't care about her at all, and even her clothes were just taken from a clothing store.

Wen Shuyao's maternal family was the Chu family, and her father was the Duke of Wen.

Among all the noble ladies in the capital, her status was among the highest.

But because of Chen's selfishness, she has suffered so many injustices over the years, which is truly pitiful.

Below, Chen still tried to argue his case.

However, Old Madam Chu was already impatient to hear her continue: "How long have you been doing this loan sharking?"

Even though she disliked Chen Shi very much, Old Madam Chu was absolutely unwilling to let the entire family suffer because of Chen Shi alone.

Upon hearing this, Chen quickly raised her head: "Just that one time! After Zhang caught me, I never did it again!"

"Mother, you have the right to know!" she cried out, sobbing uncontrollably, "I really did..."

"If that's the case, then there's still a chance to salvage the situation," Old Madam Chu said quietly.

Upon hearing this, Chen immediately fell silent. Although her eyes were filled with tears, her expression was no longer as panicked as before.

To everyone's surprise, Old Madam Chu's next words were: "You will come with me to the palace now to apologize to the Empress."

Upon hearing this, Chen sat down on the ground with a thud.

To the palace?

Should we apologize to the Empress?

Putting these two sentences together, her eyes widened: "But..."

"What do you think Zhang is good?" Old Madam Chu sneered. "Once her affair with Yaoyao is exposed, she will definitely use it to threaten you."

"It's one thing if you're threatened by her once or twice, but do you want to be controlled by her for the rest of your life? Today she's making you harm Yaoyao, but what if she makes you harm your own children in the future?"

Old Madam Chu's voice was firm and resolute, gradually clearing Chen's muddled mind.

Yes! She can't be controlled by others forever.

Moreover, Wen Shuyao has already returned to the Chu family, and that wicked woman Zhang is quick-witted; she's probably already plotting how to make things difficult for her.

With this in mind, she made a decision.

“That Tingfeng…”

"Shu Yao, what do you think?"

Madam Chu ignored her and instead gave Wen Shuyao a gentle look of encouragement.

"What do you want to do with her?"

In this matter, the one who was wronged was Wen Shuyao, so naturally she couldn't make decisions for Wen Shuyao.

Chen lowered her head, concealing the dissatisfaction in her eyes.

She is an elder; when did it become the turn of a junior to decide her fate?

However, Chen concealed all of this very well.

Wen Shuyao sat silently beside Old Madam Chu the whole time.

It wasn't until Old Madam Chu mentioned her name that she seemed to wake from a dream and glanced at Madam Chen.

Although Chen's act was well disguised, Wen Shuyao had already dealt with her in her previous life and knew what ugly thoughts were hidden beneath Chen's gentle face.

However, it's still easier to control the Chen family if they're kept under our noses...

After a moment's thought, Wen Shuyao made her decision.

“My maternal aunt is my maternal uncle’s wife. Her fate is not something I, a junior, can decide.” Wen Shuyao tugged at Old Madam Chu’s sleeve, her eyes pleading. “Grandmother, why don’t we let my maternal uncle decide?”

"No!" Upon hearing this, Madam Chen immediately raised her head.

She glared at Wen Shuyao with resentment, then knelt down beside Old Madam Chu.

“Mother! Tingfeng will definitely divorce me! Back then, our Chen family helped your Chu family a lot! You can’t just forget our past kindness just because our Chen family is declining!”

In her panic, Chen blurted out what was on her mind.

She is afraid!

Chu Tingfeng and she already had a bad relationship, and with this incident, what will happen to her two children if she is divorced?

While she was filled with fear, she also harbored resentment towards Wen Shuyao.

If it weren't for Wen Shuyao, how could such a huge disaster have occurred?

That jinx!

"I've done my part at home all these years, even if I haven't achieved anything significant," she murmured. "Is it really worth all of you trying to kill me over such a small matter?"

The Chen family has fallen into decline. If she were to return to the Chen family now, it would be like a lamb entering a tiger's den, carrying her large dowry with her.

She absolutely cannot go back to the Chen family!

"Shuyao!" Seeing that Old Madam Chu remained unmoved, she hurriedly knelt down in front of Wen Shuyao. "Auntie didn't mean it! Auntie never expected you to live such a pitiful life in the Wen family! Please forgive Auntie! Auntie will definitely make it up to you in the future!"

"Auntie, you flatter me!" Wen Shuyao quickly made a move to kneel down.

She couldn't bear Chen's kneeling; if word got out, how could she face anyone?