Chapter 353

Madam Mu spent great efforts making Wei Chan calm down. But Lu Chai’er in the Gu Family didn’t have a mother comforting her, who knew the whole story well. So, after struggling for half a year, she had really gone mad!

Madam Deng sighed and sent the doctor away. She returned to the hall, seeing Gu Tongyu seated with a sad face. She also felt very uncomfortable, “Let’s just send someone to ask around to see if there are any people who can exorcise evil spirits.”

“Thank you for worrying about that, Mother.” Gu Tongyu said in a mute voice, “But I want to go and visit my mother-in-law to figure out what has happened!”

“Princess Consort Wei is still in mourning. And you are a man. So you may not be able to see her even if you go there.” When Madam Deng told Song Yixiao that she didn’t believe Wei Mengying had harmed Lu Chai’er, she meant it.

But these days, Lu Chai’er was becoming more and more fearful and was spilling out some secrets in a messy order, which surprised Madam Deng and Gu Tongyu. So they didn’t think that Weng Mengying was innocent. After all, it was not a secret that Wei Mengying had abandoned her husband and daughter to marry Prince of Hengshan. No one would think that a woman with such an experience was an innocent person.

But Madam Deng and Gu Tongyu had earlier felt that there was no conflict of interest between Lu Chai’er and Wei Mengying. Also, Gu Tongyu was a good match, both in terms of family and temperament. Wei Mengying was willing to help a concubine daughter to secure this marriage, so she must have been concerned about this concubine daughter at least, no matter if she treated Lu Chai’er as her own.

Therefore, they had never taken Lu Chai’er’s words seriously. At the moment, even though they suspected Wei Mengying, they had no proof. Lu Chai’er’s words could not be evidence as she had been diagnosed as insane by the doctor. Moreover, if a concubine’s daughter accused her stepmother, who had found her a good marriage, would be blamed by the public!

It wouldn’t be different even if the Gu Family was currently in the ascendant!

So how could Madam Deng be comfortable with Gu Tongyu going to Wei Mengying?

But looking at the concubine son’s face expressing his refusal to back down, Madam Deng also felt that when her daughter-in-law had only been married to the family for a year and became in such a state, she couldn’t bear it if she didn’t do her justice!

“If you beg to see her, since it’s your mother-in-law, what can you do without evidence if she just ignores you?” Madam Deng thought about it and then said, “But Lady of Yan has come to visit your wife. How about asking for information in the mansion of Duke of Yan?”

Gu Tongyu frowned and said, “Mother, Lady of Yan is my mother-in-law’s own daughter. I heard from Chai’er’s dowry, Hongchuang, that when they were at the royal girls’ school, Chai’er was constrained by Song Yixiao. She didn’t dare to get close to Song Yixiao, and sometimes she would embarrass her. So they were not in a good relationship. It was hard to say whether she had come to visit Chai’er last time, or she had come to see how Chai’er was doing for her mother. If I go to her place now, will she tell me the truth? Of course, she will help her own mother to cover it up!”

“It’s a deliberate act as a warning to the opponent.” Hearing this, Madam Deng said in a soft voice, “Because Lady of Yan is Princess Consort Wei’s own daughter, and other children of hers are still young. If she has something secret but important to do, who else can it be but her eldest daughter?”

In this way, Song Yixiao must have known that Wei Mengying had harmed Lu Chai’er, “But Lady of Yan has been married and she even has a daughter! She is in such a good relationship with Duke of Yan. How likely is it that she will give up her husband, daughter, future and her wealth for the sake of Princess Consort of Wei, even if she still remembers the kindness of her birth and upbringing?”

Madam Deng lowered her voice, “You are a man. You won’t be able to visit Lady of Yan directly when you arrive at the mansion of Duke of Yan. Surely you will meet Duke of Yan. You only need to talk about your wife’s current situation and words, and let slip a bit of information to provoke Duke of Yan’s suspicion! When he returns to the backyard, he will definitely ask Lady of Yan. Do you think Lady of Yan won’t be surprised or scared?”

“When she is surprised and scared, she will naturally make a move!”

“Then we will try to keep an eye on her every move. If we can get the evidence, with your grandfather’s current status, we won’t need to worry that your wife can’t have her grievance redressed.”

This would have a much higher chance of success than going directly to Prince of Hengshan’s mansion and arguing with Wei Mengying!

At least Song Yixiao couldn’t use filial piety to pressure Gu Tongyu.

But Madam Deng and Gu Tongyu didn’t know the inside story. Not only did they completely misjudge the relationship between Wei Mengying and Song Yixiao, but they also didn’t expect that in the matter of Song Yuan’s death, the one who was really feeling guilty was not Song Yixiao, but Jian Xubai!

The reason was simple. Yuan Xuepei had the motivation to kill Wei Mengying, but he didn’t want to leave a gap with Jian Xubai because of this. Therefore, he politely asked for Jian Xubai’s opinion.

Jian Xubai had figured out the truth at that time that Wei Mengying put Song Yixiao’s life in danger in order to murder Dowager Consort of Hengshan. With his love for Song Yixiao, he was afraid of a repetition of the incident. He also hoped that Wei Mengying would die sooner rather than later, so he acquiesced to this matter.

But it was Song Yuan who died in the end!

Even at present, Jian Xubai didn’t know how he would explain to Song Yixiao once the truth was revealed.

After all, no matter how bad Song Yuan and Wei Mengying were, they were Song Yixiao’s biological parents. She hated them in her heart without showing it. Even if Jian Xubai was her husband, how could he overstep his bounds and take their lives?

Emperor Xianjia was a good example. He was Emperor Duanhua’s own father and was in a good relationship with Emperor Duanhua. When he wanted to kill Emperor Duanhua’s own mother, Noble Consort Cui, he had spent a great effort and used many ways to force Noble Consort Cui to try to kill the current emperor in front of Emperor Duanhua. Only then did they kill her due to the law!

So, that day, when Jian Xubai heard that Gu Tongyu paid a visit, his heart thumped. He invited the guest inside, served tea and asked everyone else to leave as was implied by Gu Tongyu. Gu Tongyu’s said, “My wife has been very bad for half a year. She’s been saying some things that cannot be told to the outsiders. I am surprised to hear that. I intend to ask my mother-in-law about it, but she has not been well lately. So I think about it. I have taken the liberty of coming to your door and would like to ask Your Excellency to convey this to Madam Song. I beg her to present it to my mother-in-law!”

“Mr. Gu, there’s no need to be so polite. Please speak clearly!” Jian Xubai’s face didn’t change, but he was worried in his heart.

Luckily, Gu Tongyu had no idea of his role in the whole matter. He only said, “My wife is so afraid of my mother-in-law. Whenever my mother-in-law is mentioned, she will always say that my mother-in-law is trying to harm her. Although I think this is the raving of a delirious mind, I find it strange to hear it often. In particular, my wife mentions the valley, the capsized boat, the murder, and so on. But I am not smart enough to deduce what happened.”

Based on his tone, Jian Xubai thought that he believed that Wei Mengying had made the boat capsize and then persecuted Lu Chai’er in the nearby valley, causing her to be scared to death as she had been possessed by a demon after returning home.

If that was the case, it would be easy for Jian Xubai to be perfunctory.

Gu Tongyu was easy to cheat, but his own wife was not easy to fool!

“There’s no other way now.” Jian Xubai said in his heart, “Gu Tongyu has come to the door. This matter won’t be hidden for long. If Shanyao knows the truth someday from elsewhere and learns of my acquiescence, how can she let me go?”

He had agreed to this because he wanted to do justice for his wife and because he was afraid that she would be victimized by Wei Mengying again. He didn’t want to leave a gap between him and Song Yixiao because of this!

With this in mind, after he had sorted out the reason and the process, he went to the back hall to find Song Yixiao and asked all the servants to leave. Then he said with a serious face, “Just now Gu Tongyu came to see me for his wife, Lu Chai’er!”

Hearing this, Song Yixiao’s face changed. She twisted her handkerchief before forcing a smile, “When I visited Chai’er before the New Year, I heard from Madam Deng that she was not doing well. So is she better now?”

“If she were better, why would Gu Tongyu have come all the way here?” Jian Xubai observed her expression carefully and saw that she had some sense of composure. If Gu Tongyu were here, he would have thought that Song Yixiao was involved in the murder of Lu Chai’er and that she was afraid. But Jian Xubai knew Wei Mengying’s methods well and knew that Song Yixiao was just unsure of her own mother.

Since Song Yixiao didn’t think Wei Mengying was a good person, this would be much easier!

Jian Xubai suddenly became relieved, and his words became more and more fluent, “He said that Lu Chai’er had gone completely mad and that she had been treated by several imperial physicians these days, even the Commissioner who used to specialize in treating Emperor Xianjia. They all said that there was no way…”

“Then why did he come to you?” Hearing this, Song Yixiao couldn’t help but ask, “Did he want to ask Aunt Yun to have a try?”

“Not really. It was for some of the things Lu Chai’er yelled after she went crazy.” Jian Xubai cast his gaze on a cluster of peacock tail feathers not far away, but he momentarily observed Song Yixiao’s expression from the corner of his eyes, “Lu Chai’er said that she was victimized by Mother-in-law!”

After a pause, seeing Song Yixiao twisting the handkerchief and biting her lip without speaking, he continued to say, “He also said that Lu Chai’er repeatedly mentioned the capsized boat the valley.”

Song Yixiao didn’t even notice his observation at this point. She only thought in panic, “Oh no! It seems that Lu Chai’er’s madness is really related to Mother! She refused to admit it in front of me last time. There won’t be a wall that is impervious. Now the Gu Family is suspicious. What can she do?”

She barely managed to settle down and said in a deep voice, “Is that true? But you know I haven’t been to my mother’s place lately. How about my asking her tomorrow? Maybe there’s some kind of misunderstanding?”

Song Yixiao felt helpless when she said this. She sympathized with Lu Chai’er in her heart. But Wei Mengying was her own mother. She couldn’t help her own mother speak up before the hard evidence was presented.

Even after the hard evidence was presented, she couldn’t say anything about Wei Mengying!

“If you go asking like that, Mother-in-law will definitely get angry.” Jian Xubai found that Song Yixiao didn’t doubt his words, but suspected Wei Mengying. As he felt relieved, he also felt glad. He continued without showing his pleasure, “After all, Gu Tongyu has no proof. If he were not Prime Minister Gu’s grandson, I would have held my tea and sent him away. How can he be allowed to talk this nonsense?”

“But as Lu Chai’er is always yelling those words, it’s impossible to just leave her like that.” Song Yixiao wasn’t in the mood to talk to Jian Xubai at this moment. All she wanted to do was to ask Wei Mengying for clarification. You said with confidence last time that as long as your path towards Dowager Consort was not blocked, everything would be just fine. How did Lu Chai’er annoy you?

So she forced a smile and said, “Otherwise, if it’s spread out and Mother’s reputation is ruined, Mother will have a headache! I can also remind her of that this time I visit her.”

For the rest of the day, Song Yixiao was so distracted that even when Jian Qingyue suddenly stood up and took two steps holding the table while playing on the couch, which caused people’s scream of surprise, she just smiled temporarily.

She knew that her behavior would certainly arouse her husband’s suspicions, but the growing sense of foreboding in her heart left her no time to worry about this breach.

The next day, she arrived at Prince of Hengshan’s mansion. However, when she saw Wei Mengying, before she could speak, Wei Mengying said, “You’re just in time!”