Shao Mingyuan remained calm in expression: “Shao Zhi, take them away.”

After Shao Zhi escorted the men out, Shao Mingyuan said indifferently, “This Xie Wu is also somewhat suspicious, but there are currently no more clues, so I’ve never revealed anything. Xie Wu and Steward Shen only think I’ve been investigating matters concerning my mother.”

Marquis Jing’an nodded blankly, indicating his understanding.

Shao Mingyuan looked at his father, whose temples were now streaked with gray, and sighed inwardly: “How to handle mother’s affairs—Mingyuan leaves that decision to father. However, there’s one point I must make clear: from now on, please don’t let mother interfere with your son’s life in the name of filial piety.”

At this point, Shao Mingyuan gave a self-mocking smile, suppressing the churning blood and qi: “My life has already been destroyed by my mother.”

From the moment he shot that arrow at his wife, the latter half of his life had been completely ruined. He would forever carry this debt of conscience and never find peace.

“Mingyuan, rest well and recover. I will handle your mother’s affairs.” Marquis Jing’an seemed to have aged considerably, even walking with a shuffle.

He returned to the Marquis Jing’an’s residence in a daze.

“Where is Madam?”

Seeing the Marquis’s poor complexion, a maid timidly replied: “Madam went to the garden to clear her mind.”

“Ask Madam to return. I’ll wait for her in the room.”

After a long while, Lady Shen finally walked in unhurriedly. Upon seeing Marquis Jing’an sitting by the window, she sneered: “What, is that second son still alive?”

Marquis Jing’an suddenly looked toward her.

The gaze he cast her way was too cold—so cold it made Lady Shen shudder and involuntarily step back. She then became angry from embarrassment: “What is the Marquis doing?”

“All of you, get out!” Marquis Jing’an spoke in a heavy voice.

The maids looked at each other uncertainly and couldn’t help but glance toward Lady Shen.

Over the years, the servants in the Marquis residence all knew clearly that the Marquis was good-tempered and had never interfered with decisions Madam made, especially regarding household matters—listening to Madam was never wrong.

“Get out!” Marquis Jing’an roared.

When someone who had never lost his temper exploded, it was enough to frighten people half to death. The maids could no longer care about waiting for Lady Shen’s nod and hurriedly retreated with lowered heads.

“Does the Marquis feel heartache now?” Lady Shen, having lost face in front of the servants, spoke even more coldly. “Then why doesn’t the Marquis simply divorce me and send me back to my natal family? Let everyone see how you drove away the legitimate wife who bore you three sons for the sake of a concubine’s child!”

Marquis Jing’an closed his eyes, his ice-cold gaze falling upon Lady Shen’s face: “I will not divorce you. I will have people convert the courtyard in the northwest corner into a Buddhist hall. From now on, you will worship Buddha there, and household affairs will be handed over to our eldest son’s wife.”

Although Second Son’s wife, Lady Qiao, had still fallen into Tartar hands and hadn’t taken the predetermined route, the fact that Lady Shen had sent people to contact the Tartars couldn’t be erased. To put it mildly, it was a woman’s ignorance; to put it seriously, it was treason!

With such an accusation, how could he dare divorce Lady Shen and send her back to her family?

“On what grounds?” Marquis Jing’an’s words greatly surprised Lady Shen, and she said hatefully, “After more than twenty years as husband and wife, just because of that concubine’s child, the Marquis wants to confine me? Has the Marquis’s conscience been eaten by dogs?”

Marquis Jing’an was already exhausted: “My conscience can only guarantee not to expose Madam’s collusion with the Tartars.”

Lady Shen was greatly shocked: “What does the Marquis mean? What collusion with Tartars? What did that little beast tell you?”

Marquis Jing’an shook his head and handed Lady Shen the box of evidence to examine.

After Lady Shen looked through it, she collapsed limply in her chair.

What a vicious little beast! She had sent him a box of letters, and he returned her a box of this!

Why hadn’t she strangled him to death back then?

Lady Shen gnashed her teeth in hatred.

“Madam should prepare yourself.” Lady Shen’s reaction extinguished Marquis Jing’an’s last glimmer of hope. His heart dead as ash, he stood up to leave.

After more than twenty years of marital affection, how could he feel good at this moment? But if he didn’t give Mingyuan an explanation for such matters, what face would he have to meet his second son in the future?

Only now did Lady Shen truly panic, grabbing Marquis Jing’an’s sleeve: “Marquis, do you want me to spend my days with only Buddhist lamps and ancient texts?”

Marquis Jing’an sighed deeply: “When one does wrong, one must pay the price.”

“Does wrong? If the Marquis hadn’t brought home a concubine’s child back then, how would I have come to this point today?”

“Looking throughout the capital—no, throughout all of Great Liang—how many have concubines’ children? Yet not one person has been able to reach Madam’s level. Madam need not say more. Today, hand over the household affairs to our eldest son’s wife.”

Lady Shen’s heart kept sinking.

This man’s years of tolerance had made her forget that this household ultimately still followed the principle of the husband as heaven.

Fear spread through Lady Shen’s heart, and she hastily said: “Marquis, our eldest son’s wife is with child. How can she manage when this enormous Marquis residence is suddenly placed in her hands?”

Marquis Jing’an remained unmoved: “I remember when Madam was pregnant with our eldest son, you were already managing the household. Madam has managed for so many years—now it’s time to rest.”

“No, no, you cannot treat me this way—” Lady Shen shook her head repeatedly, unable to accept this reality.

Marquis Jing’an looked deeply at his bedside companion of many years, waves of pain stabbing his heart: “Or would you prefer to let our eldest and third sons know the truth, tearing away even the last fig leaf?”

Lady Shen fell into complete despair.

When Shao Jingyuan heard that his mother would henceforth live permanently in the Buddhist hall worshipping Buddha, he couldn’t help but seek out Marquis Jing’an to plead.

The Crown Prince’s wife, Lady Wang, suddenly gained household management authority as if struck by a pie falling from heaven. Even her morning sickness suddenly lessened considerably. Seeing this, she quickly intervened: “As a son, the Crown Prince shouldn’t interfere in his parents’ affairs.”

“But mother’s determination to worship Buddha must be because father was angered by protecting Shao Mingyuan. If father would just make his position clear by scolding Shao Mingyuan and saying a few soft words to mother, mother would surely change her mind.”

Mother wasn’t even fifty years old yet, and she wasn’t a widow—how could she spend her days with only Buddhist lamps and ancient texts? It was too desolate.

“I think the Marquis is truly angry this time. If the Crown Prince goes to plead now, it would be like adding fuel to fire, and might even make the Marquis feel more guilty and protective toward Second Brother,” Lady Wang said.

The household management authority that had already fallen into her hands—she naturally wanted to grasp it firmly.

She had already borne two sons and was pregnant with another. In other families, she would have long since begun managing the household and letting the old lady enjoy leisure, but her mother-in-law had gripped the household authority tightly with no intention of loosening her hold.

She didn’t want to endure another ten or eight years and wear herself into an old woman.

Shao Jingyuan was indecisive. Hearing his wife speak thus, he immediately abandoned the thought of seeking out Marquis Jing’an.

In the Marquis Guanjun’s residence, Shao Mingyuan heard about the affairs of the Marquis Jing’an’s residence. His heart felt completely numb as he leaned against the bedpost and slowly opened the red wood box.

The letters in the box stung his eyes. He picked them up one by one to read through, until he picked up a letter whose paper quality was completely different from all the others—his hand couldn’t help but tremble.

Elegant letter paper with refined calligraphy.

This was a letter Qiao Zhao had written to him!