CHAPTER 278: CHAPTER 278: ACCOUNTABILITY (4)

The First Master’s face bore no hint of a smile as he looked at the Lady and asked, "Let me ask you, how did you come by the ticket from Tianheng Bank back then?!" The Lady’s heart skipped a beat; why would he bring up this matter without reason? Feeling uneasy, she forced a smile and said, "That’s all in the past, why bring it up again, my lord!"

"I told you to say, how did you get the Tianheng Bank ticket back then!" The First Master abruptly raised his voice, his eyes filled with anger. The Lady, feeling frightened, glanced at Madam Xia and said, "It was sent back secretly by the maid who used to serve Madam Xia. But that maid died a few years ago. Why are you bringing this up again, my lord?"

The First Master let out a cold laugh; his gaze was icy and piercing: "Sent back secretly? Haha... and still, you won’t tell me the truth, still playing tricks on me!" The Lady, too, grew angry. In the presence of Madam Xia and Madam Liu, the First Master spoke to her like this, which naturally left her no room for dignity, so she angrily retorted, "Why are you suddenly bringing this up out of nowhere? And now you say I’m playing tricks on you, my lord, what do you mean by that?" After speaking, she fixed a cold gaze on Madam Xia and asked, "Has someone said something to you?!"

Unlike before, Madam Xia did not shrink away but stood there calmly, letting the Lady look at her as she pleased.

"Good!" The First Master slammed the table and stood up, pointing at Madam Liu: "Do you recognize her?" Not waiting for the Lady to speak, the First Master coldly laughed: "Of course you don’t recognize her, but she recognizes you." Then he looked at Madam Liu and said, "Madam Liu, please tell her who your husband’s family is and where you live!"

With a face full of lingering terror, Madam Liu cautiously glanced at the First Master and then sneaked a look at the Lady, whispering, "My husband’s family name is Liu, living in Liu Yong County of Yongzhou Prefecture.... While alive, my husband served as the County Magistrate of Liu Yong for three terms." Like a sudden clap of thunder, the Lady’s mind exploded; she never dreamed that the woman before her was the County Magistrate’s Wife of Liu Yong County. Her heart tumbled like giant waves, and all her uneasy emotions came surging forward. The First Master, not giving her a chance to react, continued, "Now will you tell me the truth? How did you get that ticket back then?!"

After all, twenty years of marriage, the First Master still wants to hear the Lady admit it personally!

"My lord, I don’t understand what you are talking about. You investigated this matter personally back then, and I just stumbled upon a ticket by accident. What does bringing a random Madam Liu today entail? I’ve been living in the inner chambers all this while; how would I know any Madam Liu or Madam Xu!"

The First Master’s last bit of patience was completely exhausted. He looked at the Lady and said, "Then let me tell you, that ticket back then was clearly deposited by the maid beside Peirong on your orders. Then you bribed Madam Liu with five thousand taels of silver to cause a commotion at the government office, banking on my anger making me not verify the details, isn’t it?!"

"Zhang Feifeng, we’ve been married for over twenty years. I saw you manage the household affairs alone and raise so many children; I always tolerated you. Even when Liu’er died a few years ago, I turned a blind eye. But you, instead of restraining yourself, let your hands reach into my government office to cause trouble, making Peirong suffer unjustly for years. Tell me... what is your intention!"

The Lady’s face flushed red with rage. She looked at the First Master and retorted angrily, "Is this how you see me? I’ve been keeping this family together these years, working tirelessly. Even if I did do something, which I didn’t, what then, do the merits and demerits cancel each other out? My lord shows me no consideration, questioning me publicly!" She continued, pointing at Madam Xia and coldly laughed, "Moreover, matters happened so long ago, without evidence or proof, yet my lord doubts me based on Madam Xia’s words alone, based on a woman of unknown origin, saying I bribed her to frame Madam Xia? My lord doesn’t believe the words of his legal wife but chooses to believe those of a concubine and a stranger. What is my lord’s intention!"

The Lady was aggressive, her face full of anger with no sign of yielding.

Upon hearing the Lady question her identity, Madam Liu was so frightened she fell to her knees with a thud. She looked beseechingly at the First Master and the Lady and said, "I am indeed the legally wedded wife of the Liu family, with no falsification. If the Lady doesn’t believe, you can send someone to inquire in Liu Yong. What I said is all true."

In her fury, the Lady flung her sleeve and pointed at Madam Liu, saying, "Silence!" Madam Liu turned pale with fright, fearfully looking at Madam Xia. Madam Xia lowered her brows and eyes, slowly walking over to Madam Liu to support her and help her rise, with a face full of poise. Ever since the Sixth Miss’s betrothal to Shandong was arranged by the Lady, Madam Xia felt as if her heart were being cut by a knife, blamed herself for being powerless, unable even to protect her own children. She even contemplated death... Luckily, the Sixth Miss was clever enough to resolve the engagement herself, but it sounded a warning bell in her heart. The Sixth Miss was growing; marriage was only a matter of time. After escaping this Shandong Hong Mansion, would there be a Fujian Zhou Residence or a Liao State Xu Mansion?

She could not let the Sixth Miss marry far away, nor could she let the Lady casually betroth the Sixth Miss to someone. But what could she do, what means did she have...?

Until the incident with Sixing occurred, when the concubine confined Sixing in a room, Madam Xia guessed the concubine’s motive. Her mind went blank, but she was resolute not to let the concubine achieve her goal. Therefore, she asked Xiuzhi to convey those words to Xiqiu, and sure enough, the next day, the Sixth Miss went to Puji Temple. Standing in the courtyard covered in cold sweat, she clenched her fists so tightly that her palms bled from her nails. She suddenly came to a realization... She had been unwilling to lower her head for years to seek out the First Master actively, unwilling to care about a man who had never shown trust and had judged her guilty without inquiry. She realized how selfish she had been—he was not just anyone, he was the father of her two children. Now... only he could save Xiqiu!

Thus, after months of preparation, with Tong Minzhi, she traversed mountains and waters, experiencing countless hardships, to Yongzhou, taking the initiative to discuss the matters of the past with the First Master, to untie the knot that had lingered in their hearts all these years. The First Master indeed believed her words, dispatched people to Yongzhou to investigate, uncovered the truth, and their misunderstanding was resolved. Watching the First Master treat her fondly as he did in the past, seeing him lovingly embrace the Seventh Young Master, the smile on the boy’s face, she suddenly understood that even if there was no love left between them, and she could no longer be with him as naturally as before, what did it matter? As long as he could bring joy to her children and provide them protection, everything was worth it!

Everything was worth enduring and sacrificing for!

After contemplating, she looked up at the Lady and said, "Lady, the First Master didn’t believe my words, nor Madam Liu’s words. The First Master personally went to Liu Yong County to confirm, personally went to Tianheng Bank, where he compared the bank’s retained ticket from back then. The signature on it was not mine at all... Lady, you cannot speak of the First Master in such a way!" She then held a kerchief and began to sob softly.