CHAPTER 352: CHAPTER 346: I AM THE MARQUIS MANSION DOWAGER 35

Anning, while educating her three children, did not forget to keep an eye on Mrs. Song and Ms. Zhang.

After Zhang Feng’er was reprimanded by Mrs. Song once and almost miscarried as she returned, Anning paid even more attention to this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair.

Naturally, Anning’s attention indeed led her to discover something.

It turned out that at a time when Dowager Fu Gui was increasingly falling out of favor in the palace and the Fu Family was desperately floundering, Ms. Zhang considered stabbing them in the back secretly. She planned to pave the way for her daughter Tang Ying, encouraging her to seek favors from Emperor Yong Guang, in order to be granted the title of a consort.

Ms. Zhang’s reliance was on Prince Lao Yizhong, who was a son of Emperor Jianyuan and the former Crown Prince’s orphan from a concubine, and the news of a daughter born to a concubine married into the Fu Family.

She wanted Tang Ying to inform Emperor Yong Guang of this news, hoping to gain favor in his eyes.

Ms. Zhang’s thoughts were quite idealistic, unfortunately, she hadn’t yet acted before Anning found out.

Ms. Zhang could not enter the palace; all her communication with Tang Ying was done through the secret channels established by the Zhang Family within the palace.

Anning directly swapped her letters, changing them to ones merely conveying well wishes. The letter mentioning the former Crown Prince’s concubine’s daughter ended up in Anning’s hands.

Instead of burning the letter after reading it, Anning hid it away.

Then, Anning contacted Xu De in Yangzhou, asking him to send someone to accuse the Tang Family of Ms. Zhang’s wrongdoings against Tang Xu.

Furthermore, Anning sought out Tang Bai, instructing him to bring out all the evidence gathered over the years—of Ms. Zhang’s usury leading to deaths, her audacity in colluding with local tyrants in the illegal salt trade—and have Tang Bai confront Mrs. Song and Tang Zong.

Later, Anning also called Tang Tao, instructing him to support Tang Bai with evidence of Ms. Zhang selling off ancestral properties from Jinling in recent years.

Anning timed everything exceptionally well; she did not urge Tang Bai to act immediately but rather waited until the people from Yangzhou were nearly there before letting Tang Bai step in.

Once everything was arranged, Anning continued cheerfully educating Xu Wan and the two others, this time, on the Dajing Law.

These three young ladies would one day become housekeepers, and a housekeeper knowledgeable about the law could prevent much trouble for the family, as was clearly evidenced by Ms. Zhang’s case.

Besides teaching Xu Wan and the others, Anning even called Zhang Feng’er over to listen while she taught the law.

Instead of directly talking about the dry statutes, she started from various stories to impress upon them the importance of abiding by the law.

Anning was truly skilled at educating others; having been to many places, traversed many lifetimes, and once been a lawyer herself, she spoke eloquently about the laws and told stories that were both engaging and enlightening.

Initially, Zhang Feng’er was skeptical, but after hearing so much from Anning, she was sweatily frightened.

She had once engaged in usury without giving it much thought, believing there would be no consequences for a young lady from the Marquis Mansion dabbling in a bit of usury, not realizing its severe implications.

What she considered minor usury could lead countless families to ruin, causing the death of many innocents.

The more she thought about it, the more frightened Zhang Feng’er became.

She couldn’t help but touch her stomach, secretly relieved she had stopped early, otherwise, she might have truly invoked divine retribution from hell.

While Anning was teaching the children, Tang Bai and Mrs. Li were excitedly preparing.

That day, as Mrs. Song was discussing with Ms. Zhang about visiting the Prince Nanjun Mansion, Tang Bai burst into the main room, his face full of anger.

"Eldest, what are you doing here?"

Seeing Tang Bai, Mrs. Song was irritated: "I was just discussing matters with your brother’s wife, what are you rushing in for?"

Tang Bai glared at Ms. Zhang hatefully: "Brother’s wife? I don’t have such a brother’s wife who brings calamity upon the whole family and harms the clan."

Mrs. Song got even angrier: "What kind of language is that?"

"I’m speaking human language."

Tang Bai sneered coldly: "Unfortunately, some non-humans can’t understand."

This statement also included Mrs. Song in the insult.

Mrs. Song angrily banged the table: "Unfilial son, well, now you despise us, just right, I and your brother’s family will leave your side, saving you the eyesore. Someone, prepare the carriage, we are returning to Jinling."

In the past, Tang Bai would have eagerly pleaded for Mrs. Song’s forgiveness, or even made some concessions, allowing the second branch of the family to push further.

But now, Tang Bai had his backing, and he was not afraid of Mrs. Song at all, holding his neck up and saying: "If Old Madam wishes to return to Jinling, then go ahead, but before leaving, we need to clarify some things, lest one day I die without knowing why."

Mrs. Song was stunned.

She didn’t expect the usually submissive Tang Bai to be so ruthless today, daring to confront her head-on.

"You, you..."

She pointed at Tang Bai, so angry that she couldn’t speak.

Tang Bai didn’t wait for her to say anything and directly said: "Old Madam, you should ask your beloved daughter-in-law what she has done. Hah, over the years, using Uncle Zhongyong’s name to lend out usury money and even colluding with others planning to smuggle salt, Old Madam, each and every one of these is driving me towards a dead end."

"What?"

Mrs. Song was greatly shocked.

She knew that Ms. Zhang had once engaged in usury.

She didn’t care about that, as many housekeepers in the Capital were doing that; it’s just lending some money, she thought it was nothing.

But smuggling salt was different.

That was a calamity that could lead to the extermination of the entire family.

If Ms. Zhang succeeded, and this got exposed, the whole Marquis Mansion would be implicated.

Mrs. Song’s face darkened for a moment, and she looked fiercely at Ms. Zhang: "Second daughter-in-law, what is going on? How dare you get involved in smuggling salt?"

Ms. Zhang was particularly scared at this moment.

She didn’t expect her secretive actions to still be discovered by the main branch.

At this moment, she definitely couldn’t admit it, she could only grit her teeth and deny it: "Old Madam, I didn’t do it, it is all Big Brother slandering me."

"Heh."

Tang Bai laughed sarcastically: "Ms. Zhang, do you think I would come out without evidence? If I hadn’t caught definitive proof, how could I expose you?"

He took out the evidence from his bosom and tossed it in front of Mrs. Song.

When Mrs. Song picked it up and saw the details of each incident recorded on it, she got so angry that her mind went dizzy.

"I not only have these, but I also have witnesses, Ms. Zhang, would you like me to call over the people you instructed, or should I call the gentry you tried to collude with for a confrontation?"

At this point, Ms. Zhang had already collapsed to the ground, trembling.

She kept kowtowing, "Old Madam, I... I had to do it, Ying’er in the palace needs money, and we don’t have much silver left in the family, I had no choice, I was also considering the household’s situation."

"What a consideration for the household."

Tang Bai stood there, looking down disdainfully at Ms. Zhang: "I don’t know when you became so selflessly public-spirited. This so-called consideration for the household, where did the silver you gathered go? Not a single tael has been seen in the public funds, I’m afraid Old Madam doesn’t know a bit about it, this silver must have all gone into your private coffers."

With that, Tang Bai grew even more furious: "Someone, call the Second Old Master here, today I must have a good talk with him, his wife has done something that implicates the entire Tang Family, I need to know if he intends to manage it or not."