Wu Baozhang had always harbored resentment toward Zhou Shaojin. She would be very enthusiastic about causing trouble for Zhou Shaojin, but to pour out her grievances to Zhou Shaojin in such a humiliating way—she would never do it even if it killed her.

Hearing Zhou Shaojin say this, Wu Baozhang’s tears immediately stopped.

“How long have you been married into the Cheng family?” She looked at Zhou Shaojin sideways with a disdainful expression and said: “Even if I told you, could you help me solve it?”

If it weren’t necessary, Zhou Shaojin didn’t want to have any more contact with Wu Baozhang at all.

Seeing Wu Baozhang acting so arrogantly, she was even less inclined to deal with her. She simply stood up and said indifferently: “In that case, I’ll have someone escort you to Xinglin Alley to see Sister-in-law.” Then without waiting for Wu Baozhang to say anything, she ordered “Show the guest out” and rose to leave the flower hall.

“You!” Wu Baozhang’s face flushed red with anger.

Not wanting to pour out her grievances to Zhou Shaojin was one thing; being driven out by Zhou Shaojin was another matter entirely.

She stepped forward a few paces, wanting to needle Zhou Shaojin with a few words. Unfortunately, before she could speak, she was blocked by a nanny with a fake smile who said: “Young Madam Nuo, you heard what our mistress said. Madam Yuan is not easy to talk to. In the end, you might still have to plead before our old madam. If I were you, I wouldn’t offend our mistress, otherwise you probably won’t even get to see the old madam’s face!”

Wu Baozhang recognized this as Nanny Shang from Zhou Shaojin’s side.

She was so angry her teeth clenched. She wanted to retort a few words to this servant woman, but saw that the maids and servant women serving in the flower hall were all looking at her with contempt, while she had only brought one maid to the door, and that maid had been taken away by the Cheng family’s maids due to protocol.

Wu Baozhang’s nails dug into her flesh before she finally swallowed this indignity. She quickly left Chaoyang Gate and headed for Xinglin Alley.

Zhou Shaojin had already returned to Tingxiang Courtyard.

Old Madam Guo was placing her finger beside Yun Ge’er’s hand, teasing him to grasp her finger, while asking: “What did Nuo Ge’er’s wife come for?”

“She didn’t say.” Zhou Shaojin sat by the edge of the kang. Yun Ge’er kicked his legs trying to grab his grandmother’s finger as she smiled and said: “Perhaps I’m too young, and some things aren’t appropriate to tell me. She went to Xinglin Alley.”

Old Madam Guo nodded and said no more about the matter.

Madam Yuan listened to Wu Baozhang’s words and was so surprised it took her a long time to recover. She asked Wu Baozhang for confirmation: “You’re saying Nuo Ge’er is keeping a woman outside, and has even bought her a residence in a neighboring alley… This, this doesn’t seem very likely, does it? How old is Nuo Ge’er this year?”

The problem was, from what she understood, Cheng Wen didn’t even have much money for his mistress to spend. How could Cheng Nuo have money to buy a residence for a mistress? Even the residence that Cheng Wen and his family currently lived in was purchased partly with money borrowed from Cheng Chi.

Madam Yuan was very skeptical.

Wu Baozhang began crying again: “Eldest Aunt, you don’t know. Since the beginning of spring this year, he’s completed several business deals and earned several thousand taels of silver…”

Whether Cheng Nuo had a woman or not, she didn’t care at all. But for Cheng Nuo to keep that woman outside without going through her, and even give that woman money to spend—she had been married into the Cheng family for so many years, and aside from the public funds, Cheng Nuo had never privately given her a single penny. This she couldn’t tolerate.

At this moment, Wu Baozhang suddenly understood Madam Wen a little.

Why should what rightfully belongs to me be enjoyed by that harlot outside?

Upon hearing this, Madam Yuan felt somewhat troubled.

She most detested those who kept mistresses outside.

Cheng Wen was like this. She hadn’t expected that young Cheng Nuo would follow suit at such a young age!

She immediately said: “Don’t worry about this matter. Let me first ask your father-in-law. After all, this is your family’s household matter. It’s not good for me to interfere too much. It’s better to hear what your father-in-law has to say!”

“Listen to my father-in-law?!” Wu Baozhang continuously wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said: “Normally a son doesn’t speak of his father’s faults, but you’re not just anyone. You know better than I do what my father-in-law has done. Listen to my father-in-law? What could he possibly say? Otherwise, why would I shamelessly come to find Eldest Aunt…”

Madam Yuan felt that Wu Baozhang had actually done quite well in this matter, so she asked: “Do you know that woman’s background?”

“I do.” Wu Baozhang was angry precisely because she knew, and said: “That woman’s surname is Kang. Because she’s the sixth child in her family, everyone calls her Miss Kang the Sixth. She’s the daughter of a merchant family from Hui County. Her parents died when she was young, and she was raised by her grandmother. Their family has several silk and satin shops at Xizhimen, right next to our tea shop. It’s her paternal uncle’s business, managed by her second male cousin. Last year when her second cousin’s wife gave birth to a son, they had her come care for the mother during her confinement month. Back and forth, she got her hooks into my husband, coaxing him into buying her a residence in an alley not far from our home. Although it’s only one courtyard deep, it still cost nearly a thousand taels of silver…”

In just a few short sentences, Wu Baozhang had mentioned twice that Cheng Nuo bought a residence for the woman surnamed Kang.

She probably wasn’t heartbroken that Cheng Nuo sought a new love, but rather pained that money from her own purse had ended up in someone else’s, right?

This was another Madam Wen.

Truly, birds of a feather flock together.

Madam Yuan criticized inwardly but showed nothing on her face, saying gently: “It would be best if your father-in-law could step forward in this matter. After all, I’m only a sister-in-law, and there are some things I can’t easily say to your father-in-law. I think you should go back first, stay calm, don’t make a fuss. Wait until I discuss it with your eldest uncle, then we’ll decide what to do.”

Wu Baozhang could only nod tearfully and return to Xizhimen.

The house was quiet. Her father-in-law had gone to the tea shop, and Cheng Nuo had gone to the teahouse.

Her personal senior maid stood at the hanging flower gate, craning her neck waiting for her.

Seeing her sedan chair stop at the hanging flower gate, she immediately stepped forward.

Wu Baozhang gave her a look to remain patient, and the two entered the inner room one after the other. Wu Baozhang had the maid help her change clothes. Once in the inner room, seeing that the servants were all in the outer room, she finally asked in a low voice: “How is it? Has a letter come from Jinling?”

On the day of Yun Ge’er’s third-day washing ceremony, Cheng Nuo had used business as an excuse not to attend. Wu Baozhang was very happy and wanted to reward him, only to discover he was at Miss Kang the Sixth’s place helping her find someone to repair the heated wall.

That’s when she discovered the matter between Cheng Nuo and Miss Kang the Sixth.

She had long wanted to stop living with Cheng Nuo.

But her not wanting him was one thing; being coveted by others was another matter.

She immediately went to tell her father-in-law and proposed that since she hadn’t borne the Cheng family a single child all these years, she was willing to accept Miss Kang the Sixth into the household, and they would address each other as sisters in the future.

Cheng Wen was extremely surprised.

He had no idea about this matter at all. He quickly sent a young servant to summon Cheng Nuo back for questioning.

As a result, Cheng Nuo refused to admit having an affair with Miss Kang the Sixth no matter what. He said he only knew Miss Kang the Sixth because Wu Baozhang had recently borrowed money from the Kang family’s silk shop. When the Kang family came to him for repayment, he kept apologizing to them. The Kang family, knowing his difficult circumstances, helped connect him with the Kang family’s tea business associates. That’s how he managed to complete several profitable tea deals…

When her father-in-law heard that those profitable tea deals were introduced by the Kang family, he immediately changed his mind. Not only did he imply that she was paranoid and suspicious, he even told Cheng Nuo to invite the Kang family to dinner at home, introduce them to him, and see if there were any other business opportunities they could introduce to him. He said that only after doing business did he realize there were so many tricks to it. Without someone to guide you, it was like a blind person touching an elephant—who knew when you could enter the trade.

That bastard Cheng Nuo jumped for joy upon hearing this. He immediately went to the Kang family to arrange for them to meet Cheng Wen, and even prepared to pool money to follow the Kang family members on a trip to the Western Regions as an investor… not mentioning the matter between Cheng Nuo and Miss Kang the Sixth at all.

Wu Baozhang decided to handle this matter herself.

As a result, when she sent an invitation card to Miss Kang the Sixth, not only did Miss Kang the Sixth not come, she gave the card directly to Cheng Nuo. Cheng Nuo took her invitation to Miss Kang the Sixth and had a huge fight with her. He hadn’t come back even until today.

She wrote to her brother, wanting him to ask their father to intervene on her behalf…

Wu Baozhang calculated the days. The letter from Jinling should arrive in the next few days, so she sent her personal maid to check the courier station daily to see if there was a reply, lest it fall into Cheng Nuo’s or Cheng Wen’s hands. She herself went to Old Madam Guo’s place, hoping to have Old Madam Guo step forward to restrain Cheng Wen.

She hadn’t expected not to see Old Madam Guo, but instead see the Zhou Shaojin she most detested.

Thinking of this, Wu Baozhang felt stifled.

The maid, thinking Wu Baozhang was worried about the Jinling letter falling into Cheng Wen’s hands, nodded repeatedly upon hearing this and took out two letters from her bosom.

Why were there two letters?

Wu Baozhang took the letters in confusion.

Looking at the handwriting, one was written by her brother, and one by Wu Xiu.

After thinking it over, she opened her brother’s letter first.

Her brother’s letter opened by mentioning the son born to their stepmother, saying he was already three years old this year. When they found a teacher for his elementary education, he learned everything after just one lesson. Both the teacher and their father were very gratified. Their father even said their family’s entire hope rested on this son born to the stepmother. He then told her that their father, due to his outstanding political achievements in Jinling, would soon be promoted to Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong, a third-rank official. At this critical juncture, he certainly didn’t want any family members causing trouble. He told her to endure everything—wasn’t it just having a lover on the side? She should just turn a blind eye. Which man didn’t have to play along in social situations when out and about…

Wu Baozhang crumpled her brother’s letter into a ball and threw it into the fire.

If every mistress was just playing along in social situations, where did Cheng Nuo’s half-brothers from different mothers come from?

Why did Madam Wen have to go crazy from time to time?

Because of her brother’s letter, Wu Baozhang held no hope for her father’s letter.

Sure enough, not only did her father’s letter offer no comfort, it berated her thoroughly. He said she hadn’t borne Cheng Nuo a single child—the Cheng family not divorcing her already showed their kindness and tolerance. Yet she wanted to separate from Cheng Nuo? Fine, she could separate, but she’d have to leave her dowry as compensation to the Cheng family and return to their old home in Meizhou to farm and support herself. Not only that, her father even told her to take a concubine for Cheng Nuo and hurry up to produce a son to continue the family line…

Wu Baozhang threw the letter aside before finishing it.

Her natal family was completely unreliable.

She had known this in her heart all along, but when trouble came, she couldn’t help hoping they would become her support…

Wu Baozhang sat on the large kang by the window, and tears couldn’t help but fall.

What should she do?