Liang Zhe moved quickly. By the next afternoon, he had already had someone capture Nanny Luo and bring her to the secret chamber.

The residence in the suburbs.

When Qin Shuying arrived on horseback dressed in men’s clothing, Nanny Luo was already imprisoned in the secret chamber.

After being captured, Nanny Luo had her hands bound and face covered with black cloth, thrown on the ground. She trembled constantly, repeatedly shouting: “Please, good heroes, don’t kill me…”

Liang Zhe changed his voice and scolded: “Old woman! You dared to deceive me last time. Someone, chop off her feet!”

Hearing this, Qin Shuying thought Liang Zhe’s voice sounded like that of a man in his forties or fifties.

Then two people walked in, one holding a sharp knife and scraping it against the ground several times, making harsh sounds.

“Ah…” Nanny Luo shrieked like a ghost, her plump white body falling to the ground with a thud and rolling twice.

“Spare my life, good hero, spare me! I dare not deceive you, spare my life…”

“Bah! Not deceiving? If you weren’t deceiving, why isn’t that old hypocrite afraid? I sent a letter saying the Pingxi Marquis isn’t that old hypocrite’s biological child, demanding she wisely send me ten thousand taels of silver, but that old hypocrite completely ignored it!”

Nanny Luo was terrified beyond measure. What rotten luck was this, being targeted by a gang of bandits bold enough to send extortion letters to Old Madam!

Of course Old Madam would ignore them!

Old Madam wasn’t afraid of anyone using this matter against her.

“Good hero, good hero, please listen to me. Old Madam isn’t afraid of this, so… so she didn’t send… send money to you.”

Liang Zhe’s voice was clearly angry: “Not afraid of this? Women in your great households aren’t afraid after doing such things? You’re trying to fool me! Or is your information false, deliberately setting a trap, waiting for me to walk into the net?”

Nanny Luo was startled: “No, no! Good hero, listen to me. Old Madam, she… she really isn’t afraid. Nothing from back then left any evidence, so Old Madam isn’t afraid…”

“Pah! I know you old hypocrites have twisted minds—you must have deliberately set this trap for me to fall into! Old Three, seems this old woman knows nothing. Kill her—she’s wasting my breath!”

The cold blade was placed against Nanny Luo’s neck. She was paralyzed with fear, yellow liquid flowing from beneath her body.

Liang Yanjun lowered his voice and stammered: “Boss, boss, the… the money’s gone. What do we do?”

Though Liang Yanjun was imitating a middle-aged man’s voice and wasn’t very convincing, combined with the “honing” sound of knife sharpening, Nanny Luo couldn’t tell this was Liang Yanjun. Instead, she trembled with fear, her teeth chattering.

Liang Zhe said: “The money’s gone? Find more old nannies from wealthy households and keep asking about their family secrets. We’ll eventually find someone useful to extort money from! These high-ranking households have the most shameful secrets, and these old hypocrites have the most schemes! If the Pingxi Marquis family doesn’t have any, other families surely will. What are you standing around for? Kill her and throw her in the mass grave…”

Nanny Luo shrieked: “Good hero, good hero, I know something else… please spare my life!”

Liang Zhe: “What? I warn you, if what you say is useless, I’ll throw you in the mass grave right now!”

Nanny Luo said with a trembling voice: “Good hero, good hero, this is really useful—it involves a prince, really useful…”

Liang Zhe and Qin Shuying exchanged glances. A prince?

“Then speak up. I’ll only use it if I find it useful, otherwise I’ll still cut off your legs!”

Nanny Luo knelt on the ground, stammering: “It’s… it’s the Pingxi Marquis’s first wife, she… she had an affair with Prince Liang…”

The words “you’re lying” almost burst from Liang Zhe’s lips, but he managed to hold back.

His eyes were like lightning, nearly piercing through Nanny Luo’s round body.

Having just spoken these words, Nanny Luo felt some regret. This was truly a life-or-death secret—how could she reveal it?

But her own life was more important. Forget it, she’d speak.

“I… I saw with my own eyes the first wife talking with Prince Liang. The Pingxi Marquis also knew he was being cuckolded, then accidentally pushed the first wife into the water. The first wife caught a chill, fell ill, and died. Good hero, the Pingxi Marquis forbids anyone from mentioning this matter. If you demand money from him, he’ll surely give it to you.”

Liang Zhe and Qin Shuying exchanged another glance, both showing doubt.

“You’re saying the Pingxi Marquis personally pushed his wife into the water?”

Thinking her revelation had convinced the bandit leader, Nanny Luo quickly said: “Exactly, exactly.”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t her family step forward?”

“Zhao Zhenyuan saw with his own eyes his sister with Prince Liang, and saw with his own eyes the Pingxi Marquis accidentally push Zhao Wanniang into the water. He knew the whole story.”

The shock on Liang Zhe’s face was beyond description.

Qin Shuying believed sixty percent of Nanny Luo’s words. This would explain the attitudes of Old Madam Liang and Zhao Zhenyuan.

Whenever Old Madam Liang found her and Liang Zhe displeasing, she would use Zhao Wanniang’s past to provoke Liang Yunshan. When Liang Yunshan thought of his green hat, he would immediately turn his good attitude into a bad one.

Zhao Zhenyuan, knowing what happened back then, didn’t dare demand too much from Liang Yunshan. However, when Liang Zhe married, Zhao Zhenyuan finally showed some backbone.

After all, Zhao Wanniang’s crimes didn’t warrant death. Though Liang Yunshan acted accidentally, Zhao Wanniang could be said to have died by Liang Yunshan’s hand.

But did witnessing something with one’s own eyes necessarily make it fact?

Back then, hadn’t the Lu family’s guests also witnessed Qin Yaoyao with the steward?

Hadn’t many people witnessed Liang Zhen having an affair?

Qin Shuying tugged at Liang Zhe’s sleeve and quickly wrote on the paper in her hand: “Untrustworthy.”

Liang Zhe had been completely shocked by Nanny Luo’s revelation. How could his mother be that kind of person?

Seeing these three characters, his mind cleared considerably. He continued with his changed voice: “How could Prince Liang possibly be with… your madam? You have no evidence—you must be deceiving me again!”

“Good hero! Good hero! It’s true, it’s true…”

“Do you have evidence?”

Nanny Luo was stunned: “This… this… this…”

“No evidence? You want to deceive me again? Lure me before the Pingxi Marquis? I know the Pingxi Marquis is formidable—wouldn’t he chop me up? You old hypocrite, even at death’s door you’re still digging pits for me to fall into! Old Three, cut off one of her legs!”

Liang Yanjun’s knife scraped against the ground again with a harsh sound. Nanny Luo was horrified: “Spare me, spare me… Everything I said is true, all true…”

“Stop howling!”

Under Liang Zhe’s angry rebuke, Nanny Luo immediately fell silent.

“I’ll give you one more chance. Give me some evidence, or I won’t spare you!”

Nanny Luo immediately thought hard. Suddenly, she crawled forward two steps and said urgently: “There is something! Good hero, there is! There’s a poem: ‘When shall we meet again in mutual longing? At this moment, this night, emotions are hard to bear…’ It was written by Prince Liang for the first wife!”