Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 187 (Subscription)

"Son, please greet your mother." Sheng Hong saluted.

"sit down."

The old lady waved her hand and said calmly: "Why are you back so early today?"

"There isn't much official work today, so my son came back early. I was worried about my mother's health, so I came over to check on her." Sheng Hong said and sat down.

"I think it was Miss Lin who found you, right?" the old lady sneered.

"Mother misunderstood. The son did come back on his own. The reason why he brought Lin Xiaoniang here was because he heard that a man who was a female servant over there made her unhappy. He even called her over to punish her personally, so he brought her here to apologize to her mother. "Sheng Hong said.

"Have you forgotten that I told her that she would never be allowed to enter the Shou'an Hall?" the old lady said.

"Mother, Miss Lin gave birth to a son and a daughter for the Sheng family, which can be considered a meritorious service. It has been so many years, why do you need to know her the same way?" Sheng Hong said with an apologetic smile.

"boom!"

The old lady put down the tea cup she just picked up and said in a cold voice: "The concubine's duty is to spread the branches and leaves. If she can't even do this, what should she do? The concubine's birth of children is considered meritorious. I This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

"Yes, yes, what mother said is true. However, it was wrong for her to make mother angry. She asked her to kowtow to her mother outside the hospital to apologize," Sheng Hong said quickly.

"I'm afraid she didn't tell you why I asked someone to bring Chi Wu, right?"

The old lady said coldly: "That good concubine of yours asked Chi Wu to bribe people to spread the news about Minglan. This was because she wanted to force Minglan to death. Moreover, according to Chi Wu's confession, when Wei Xiaoniang died in childbirth, she was the one who bribed her. Doctor, when I asked the doctor to diagnose her pulse, she said that Miss Wei is weak and needs to take more tonic. Didn't your concubine tell you this?"

Sheng Hong was surprised when he heard this: "Mother, how could Lin Xiaoniang do such a thing because she has a weak temperament? That servant must have made a mistake and deliberately slandered her. Minglan's matter is not a secret at all. There were many five people at the beginning The city's military commander and people in the patrol camp all saw it, and it was normal for word to spread. As for Wei Xiaoniang's death, it had nothing to do with her. The reason why Wei Xiaoniang had a dystocia was because she was frightened by a wild cat and fell down. Yes. Mother can’t believe the nonsense of this servant.”

"Hmph!" the old lady snorted coldly, "You might as well just say that I'll give in."

"Son, I don't dare." Sheng Hong shook his head quickly.

"Don't you dare? After all, you have been a local official for many years. Is this how you handled cases before? You didn't even meet the witnesses and just exonerate people?" the old lady asked.

"Mother, this kind of thing is a family matter after all. How can you believe the nonsense of a servant? If Lin Xiaoniang is really interrogated for this matter, it will also damage the Sheng family's reputation if it spreads." Sheng Hong said.

"Is this what you are telling the truth? It's not that you don't believe it, but you are afraid that the bad things that Miss Lin has done will spread and affect the Sheng family's family style and your reputation, right?" The old lady sneered.

She has seen through Sheng Hong for a long time. Sheng Hong has been in the officialdom for many years. He can get to where he is today, although he has the help of the Wang family, but he also has his own abilities.

Otherwise, Sheng Hong's uncle from the Wang family is the son of Grand Master Wang, so why is his official position not as high as that of Sheng Hong?

With Sheng Hong's intelligence, it was impossible not to notice some of the things Lin Xiaoniang did.

However, because of his love for Lin Xiaoniang and fear of affecting his reputation, every time he wanted to have an attack, Lin Xiaoniang coaxed him away, and he quickly calmed down, turning the big problem into a trivial one.

It was his connivance that made Lin Xiaoniang become more and more unscrupulous, and she dared to murder Wei Xiaoniang.

Now, regardless of the reputation of the Sheng family and Minglan's life and death, people spread news about Minglan.

"No matter what my mother said, the government also pays attention to the completeness of witnesses and material evidence when handling cases. Moreover, the words of the servant will not be accepted." Sheng Hong said.

According to the law, a slave has the obligation to protect his master. If a slave sues his master, not only will he not be accepted, but he will also be hanged.

Of course, rebellion and rebellion are not an example of this.

"That's right, but what if Liangji identified it? Erlang discovered this matter and caught the people bribed by Chi Wu. They admitted that Chi Wu paid them to do it," the old lady said.

"It's also possible that Chi Wu himself was dissatisfied with Ming Yatou and did it privately. After the incident, he deliberately framed Xiaoniang Lin and wanted to escape punishment." Sheng Hong said.

"How can a servant give out hundreds of taels of silver to bribe someone? Sheng Hong, it's now like this, and you still pretend to be confused. I didn't want to keep Miss Lin at the beginning, so I begged on your side. I felt soft for a moment, so I agreed. You doted on your concubine more than your wife, and your family has been in trouble these past few years, and even the eldest lady is resentful of me because of this."

"Forget it, since you don't want to take care of it, I will be a bad mother today. I brought him back in the first place, so I will send him away."

Mrs. Sheng called Sheng Hong by his first name, which shows how disappointed she is in him.

"Come here, Miss Lin has evil intentions. She plotted against her concubine in the front and her sister in the family behind. She took my name card and sent her to the Shenjie Department for me." The old lady said with a cold face.

Sheng Hong's expression changed when he heard this, and he said: "Mother, after all, she is here to have children for the Sheng family and spread her branches. Even if she makes a mistake, she will not be sent to the Shenjie Department. Moreover, the marriage between Chang Feng and Mo Lan has not yet been completed. It’s not decided yet, if Miss Lin is sent to the Shenjie Department, it will also have an impact on their marriage.”

The Shenjie Department is located in a remote corner of the imperial city. The earliest palace maids and nobles who made serious mistakes but did not meet the death penalty were all imprisoned here.

Later, a female member of a high-ranking official's family made a mistake and asked for grace from the official's family to have her imprisoned.

Gradually, the Shenjie Department became the place where noble officials and officials detained their erring female relatives.

The Department of Shenjie is also known as the Tomb of the Living Dead. No matter how big a scandal has been caused outside, all the right and wrong will go in with the people, and it will be buried invisible, and no one can probe it anymore.

Moreover, the Shenjie Department is managed by people in the palace. It is easy to send people in, but it is as difficult as going to heaven to see them once they are in. So far, they have not been imprisoned and can still come out alive.

The old lady said with a cold face: "I wanted you to deal with it before. Since you are unwilling, then I will be the villain."

"Mother, my son didn't say that he didn't care. Mother Kong also said that right and wrong can only be determined after a debate. You have to call Miss Lin and ask her face to face, right?" Sheng Hong said quickly.

He originally wanted to be with Xini, but he could more or less guess some of the things Lin Xiaoniang did.If Lin Xiaoniang is really sent to the Shenjie Department, things will get serious.

All the officials and powerful people in Bianjing would know that he was not strict in running the family and doted on his concubines more than his wives.

Now that the old lady is serious, he also knows that this matter cannot be fooled.

If it were left to him to handle, there would still be room for change. If it were sent to the Department of Caution, there would be nothing that could be done.

"Well, today you treat me as a court and let me see how you handle the case." The old lady said.

She didn't really want to send Xiaoniang Lin to the Shenjie Division. After all, she was the biological mother of Chang Feng and Mo Lan, so she had to consider the two children.

She said this just to force Sheng Hong to deal with Lin Xiaoniang himself.

"Go, bring Xiaoniang Lin in, and bring Chi Wu and those two people as well." the old lady ordered. …

Mrs. Wang was extremely happy when she learned that the old lady had Chi Wu arrested and taken to Shou'an Hall, and she quickly ordered Mother Liu to inquire about the news.

However, the Shou'an Hall was surrounded like an iron barrel, and the servants of the Shou'an Hall were very strict with their mouths, so they couldn't find out any news.

All I know is that Lin Xiaoniang went to Shouantang and was driven away.

Later, I learned that Sheng Hong had returned and went to Shou'an Hall. No matter how stupid Mrs. Wang was, she knew that things were not simple.

Ask Mother Liu to inquire again.

"Madam." Mother Liu returned to Wei Ruixuan with a happy face.

"How is it? Can you find out what happened over there?" Mrs. Wang asked quickly.

"Madam, it's not like you don't know that the servants over at Shou'antang are all trained by the old lady herself. They are very strict and can't ask anything at all." Liu's mother said.

"Then why are you happy?" Mrs. Wang said angrily.

"Madam, the less news there is, the more it means that something is serious this time. The old lady asked Chi Wu to be taken away, but Lin Xiaoniang was so anxious that she invited the master back. I just watched it from a distance for a while Lin Xiaoniang, she was outside the door of Shou'an Hall, as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. The master went in for a long time and didn't come out." Mother Liu said with a smile.

"Are you saying that bitch has committed a serious crime?" Mrs. Wang said.

"Madam, although the old lady doesn't want to see Xiaoniang Lin, when will she start such a big fight like today? I feel that this time the matter will definitely not be trivial." Liu's mother said.

"Haha, this bitch is here too. I really want to see her in such a state of desolation." Madam Wang said happily.

But she soon calmed down and said: "No, I really have to go and take a look. That bitch is like a goblin and is used to charming people. Maybe if she cries in front of the official, the official will be soft-hearted and let her go." . I have to add insult to injury and not give her a chance to stand up."

"Madam, you can't go." Liu's mother hurriedly advised: "This time the old lady is so angry, she will not let Xiaoniang go easily. Even if the master is soft-hearted, he will not dare to disobey the old lady."

In her opinion, Mrs. Wang is adding insult to injury, and her part-time job is just a timely help.

Mrs. Wang is a decent lady, so she has a natural advantage in dealing with concubines.

In addition, although Sheng Hong dotes on his concubine, he cares about his reputation very much.

If you use the right methods, it will not be difficult to deal with Xiaoniang Lin.

But every time she caught Lin Xiaoniang's sore foot, Mrs. Wang got carried away and gave Lin Xiaoniang a handle.

Sheng Hong also had an excuse to expose the matter.

That's all, but Miss Lin doesn't know how to coax people.

Mrs. Lin made Sheng Hong happy, but Mrs. Wang was quarrelsome with Sheng Hong.

In the end, it was Mrs. Wang who suffered the loss.

She felt that things would not go well this time. If Mrs. Wang went there, there would be changes.

Mrs. Wang didn't know what Liu's mother was thinking, so she insisted on going to Shou'antang.

Mother Liu couldn't persuade her, so she could only go with her. Fortunately, someone arranged by the old lady was guarding the door, so she couldn't get in at all.

……

Shou An Tang

After Lin Xiaoniang was brought here, she felt bad when she saw Chi Wu and two unknown men, and Chi Wu lowered his head and did not dare to look at her.

However, her face remained calm, and she first saluted the old lady and Sheng Hong.

The old lady ignored him, looked at Sheng Hong and said, "The witnesses and Miss Lin are here, you can ask."

"Chi Wu said that you ordered him to bribe people to spread news about Minglan. When Wei Xiaoniang had a difficult childbirth, you bribed the doctor. Is this possible?" Sheng Hong asked.

Faced with Sheng Hong's question, Lin Xiaoniang panicked and pretended to be calm: "How is it possible? Let's not talk about the benefits of harming Minglan to me. Just talking about harming Xiaoniang Wei is simply ridiculous. Since ancient times, there have been concubines. There are those who murder eldest wives, and there are also eldest ladies who murder concubines. Who has ever heard of a concubine murdering a concubine?"

Hearing this, Sheng Hong looked at the old lady.

The old lady said coldly: "Do you usually resolve cases like this? Who has committed a crime and told you as soon as you asked?"

Sheng Hong smiled sarcastically when he heard this, looked at Lin Xiaoniang and shouted: "So Chi Wu has slandered you? These two people are strangers to Chi Wu. They confessed that they took money from Chi Wu to spread Minglan. The news. And Chi Wu also admitted the matter, saying that he was instructed by you, and you also gave him the money. Chi Wu spent hundreds of taels of silver to bribe people, how can a servant of him get it out? "

"Perhaps the two people recognized the wrong person and only admitted it because they were afraid. After all, there are people who look alike. Master, Minglan and I have no enmity, how could I harm her? And Minglan has a good reputation. The damage will also have an impact on the Sheng family and Mo'er, could I also harm my own daughter?"

Lin Xiaoniang's eyes turned red as she spoke, and she started to cry: "I know the old lady doesn't like me, it's all because I and Hong Lang liked each other back then and did wrong things. But old lady, you can't accuse me wrongly. I Even though she is just a concubine, she has made a fortune for the Sheng family, and Brother Feng is also named in the family tree."

"What a clever mouth. Do you mean that I threatened Chi Wu and asked her to frame you?" The old lady smiled sarcastically and said to Fang's mother: "Take people to Lin Qige and arrest all the servants around Lin Xiaoniang for individual interrogation. , especially the one named Xue Niang, she should know a lot of things. If you don’t tell me, just hit her."

"What are you doing, mother?" Sheng Hong asked quickly.

"Humph!" the old lady said, "Didn't she say that she was unjustly accused? Then interrogate the people around her and see if what those servants said is the same as what Chi Wu said. If it is different, it's me. She has been wronged. If it is the same, it means she is lying. If you feel uneasy, you can arrange for someone to keep an eye on me to see if I am lying."

"What did mother say? If she just stirs up troubles like this, it will definitely make the matter bigger, and it will also be bad for the reputation of the Sheng family if word spreads." Sheng Hong said.

"Reputation, reputation, if you were concerned about the reputation of the Sheng family, you wouldn't have indulged her like this. If you didn't care about her, one day she would cause great trouble to the Sheng family," the old lady said.

"Old lady, there are not enough people in the courtyard. I will go to the eldest lady to ask for some people." Fang's mother said, bowed, and was about to go out.

When Lin Xiaoniang saw that the old lady was getting serious, she was so panicked that she turned her eyes and used the trick of pretending to be dizzy. She closed her eyes and fell down.

"Shuang'er." Sheng Hong exclaimed and ran over quickly.

(End of this chapter)