The Duke of Pingguo’s reaction this time was unexpectedly swift. Just the afternoon of the next day, he summoned Seventh Miss and Xu Fengjia to Menghua Pavilion.

This wasn’t Seventh Miss’s first time entering Menghua Pavilion to talk. After bowing to the Duke of Pingguo, she calmly sat down below Xu Fengjia’s seat, appearing not to take the Duke of Pingguo’s dark expression to heart, even showing a composed air.

Seeing Seventh Miss’s expression, the Duke of Pingguo couldn’t help but feel a trace of distaste rise from the bottom of his heart.

In great households, fathers-in-law rarely had direct contact with daughters-in-law. If there was any dissatisfaction, they would drop a few words to their son, and the son, treating it like an imperial decree, would rush home to first give his wife a beating, then hurry back to apologize to his father: “So-and-so Madam’s improper conduct offended Father. I’ve already punished her. Please don’t take it to heart, Father.”

But the Xu family’s situation was, in many respects, quite different from ordinary families.

Setting aside that Fengjia had always had his own mind since childhood and had his own group of supporters around him, by now his wings were fully developed—without his father’s care, he could probably forge his own path in the world. Just the Yang family backing Lady Yang was already a formidable force, and she herself was so capable… Speaking of it, the Xu family did owe the Yang family some debts… All these special circumstances accumulated together, plus the fact that the proper mother-in-law clearly stood with the Sixth Branch—many matters in the manor seemed not to be decided by the Duke of Pingguo, but rather by Lady Yang, this Heir Apparent’s Wife. Even Fengjia and Lady Qin seemed to be puppets in her hands, obeying her completely in household affairs.

Although a qualified Heir Apparent’s Wife, a qualified future Duke’s Wife, did indeed need such superior skills, the Duke of Pingguo was only in his fifties this year, a few years younger than Minister Yang. Though not young, he was still far from decrepit.

If she was already this formidable now, when he became old and muddled, wouldn’t the manor become Lady Yang’s world, where she could do whatever she wanted… How could this be acceptable?

The Duke of Pingguo couldn’t help but glance at Xu Fengjia again.

His son—he didn’t know if it was because he always harbored guilt over Yang Fifth Miss’s death, but now he indulged this Seventh Miss too much. Not only was he exclusively devoted to her, he exclusively listened to and believed her… For a man to be so henpecked was not a good thing.

Perhaps due to these various complex and subtle considerations, although Lady Yang had always performed impeccably, the Duke of Pingguo always harbored a hint of wariness toward her in his heart.

However, finding an excuse to discipline her wasn’t that easy.

Regarding the matter of heirs and bed attendants, Fengjia stood in front to shield her. Lady Qin, who should theoretically be most anxious, only cared about playing with her grandchildren, seemingly not at all concerned about Lady Yang’s difficulties in childbearing.

In household management, there wasn’t a single flaw to pick. Even when things with the Fifth Branch had reached such a tense state, the usual provisions and care for the Fifth Branch were done thoroughly and thoughtfully. Right up until she produced sufficient evidence to strike the Fifth Branch dead with one blow, he hadn’t noticed anything amiss at all…

Such deep scheming, such methods—yet now she had rarely quarreled with the Grand Madam, nearly making the Grand Madam ill with anger. This handle of unfilial conduct had been so easily delivered into the Duke of Pingguo’s hands. Making the old man, who rarely grasped any wrongdoing, feel somewhat smug and proud: Lady Yang, you don’t seem to be perfect after all. Once you err, the error is actually this serious.

But the Duke of Pingguo was, after all, still one of the empire’s few great strategists, the former main commander of the Western Expedition. Amid his pride, he couldn’t help but feel a trace of unease.

Given Lady Yang’s style, even if the Grand Madam’s demands were excessive, she would just give a soft rebuff and be done with it. What matter could have caused such fierce conflict between the two, making Lady Yang yield not an inch and refuse to give the Grand Madam any face-saving way out?

This demand must also be very critical and seriously offensive to the Sixth Branch’s interests.

Though the Duke of Pingguo didn’t like Seventh Miss, he absolutely didn’t want more disturbances in the manor or fraternal strife that would further dishearten the Sixth Branch and make the sole remaining First and Fourth Branches even more difficult to position themselves.

Especially the First Young Master—after so many peaceful years, he had been repeatedly implicated by his brothers. This time with the Fifth Branch’s incident, judging from Little Songhua’s confession, they had even thought of first implicating the First Branch…

Thinking of the First Young Master’s high spirits back then versus his current cautiousness, the Duke of Pingguo felt more sympathy.

He had heard that yesterday morning Lady Yang had even entered Shendou Hall to talk with Lady Mo…

The Duke of Pingguo set aside his dislike of Seventh Miss.

“I hear the inner quarters have been quite lively these past few days. Lady Yang, you first entered Leshan Residence, then Shendou Hall—wherever you go, you cause quite a stir.” Though his words carried faint mockery, there wasn’t much anger.

Xu Fengjia moved. Just as he was about to speak, the Duke of Pingguo pointed at him. “I hear that matters in Mingde Hall have always been decided by Lady Yang. Since that’s the case, you need not say much in Menghua Pavilion today.”

The old man was still an old man after all. Though these words were clearly criticizing Seventh Miss, they made Xu Fengjia’s face flush red with embarrassment.

Young people were still young people after all. Xu Fengjia glanced at Seventh Miss and said defiantly, “I’m a man. Naturally household matters are decided by my wife. If I don’t use my scheming mind outside, should I use it at home against my own people?”

But these words dragged up past matters. Though they were reasonable, they were still excessively unfilial and still touched the Duke of Pingguo’s sore spot.

Before the Duke of Pingguo could speak, Seventh Miss said gently, “Heir Apparent, how can you speak to Father so impetuously?”

Xu Fengjia let out a cold snort, turned his head away, and refused to show any weakness at all.

This child was just so stubborn!

Seeing the difficulty on Seventh Miss’s face, the Duke of Pingguo felt a trace of interest. His expression remained cold, but he waited for Seventh Miss to continue.

Seventh Miss gave Xu Fengjia a look, then turned directly to the Duke of Pingguo and said slowly, “Actually, there are some matters Xiaoqi has long wanted to discuss privately with Father, but had no way to begin… Since Father already knows about the matter at Leshan Residence, then this letter should also be shown to Father.”

As soon as she mentioned the word “letter,” the Duke of Pingguo was already visibly moved, nearly having the impulse to stand up.

“You mean—” He measured his words carefully, his gaze fixed on Seventh Miss, having already cast aside that minor displeasure from earlier.

Seventh Miss’s expression dimmed slightly. She took out a letter from her bosom and delivered it to the Duke of Pingguo’s hands.

The Duke of Pingguo received the letter but hesitated first, glancing at Lady Yang again before concentrating his gaze on this plain-colored envelope, as if wanting to see through it to the contents inside.

A letter could, after all, be forged…

He still pulled out the letter paper and studied it carefully.

Just looking at the handwriting, the Duke of Pingguo secretly nodded.

A person’s state of mind when writing naturally revealed itself involuntarily between the lines. If this letter were forged later, emotions like haste and desperation between the strokes couldn’t possibly be imitated so closely.

He set his mind somewhat at ease and began carefully reading the letter’s contents.

But the more he read, the more ashen his face became. Before finishing, he couldn’t wait to ask Seventh Miss, “What does this ship contract for one hundred fifty thousand taels mean?”

Seventh Miss looked to Xu Fengjia.

Xu Fengjia didn’t continue to sulk with the Duke of Pingguo either. His face took on a grave and solemn expression as he took out a colorfully decorated contract paper from his bosom and delivered it before the Duke of Pingguo.

The hand holding the letter paper trembled slightly.

The Duke of Pingguo was aware that Lady Zhang had embezzled public funds. The Zhang family had the most children. Though the family assets overall weren’t worse than the Han or Mo families, when divided among them, Lady Zhang’s dowry was a bit less.

Naturally, the manor had to be fair to all, and each branch had its own face to maintain. Lady Zhang had it hardest. Moreover, when Madam Xu handed things over, the account books might not have been clean. Thirty thousand taels over three years was a bit much, but not inexplicable. Furthermore, the Xu family truly didn’t care about these thirty thousand taels. Even the vast wealth of the Yang sisters was but a drop in the ocean compared to the Duke’s Manor’s assets.

But embezzling public funds to supplement household expenses versus systematically embezzling public funds to secretly establish Fifth Branch assets outside were two entirely different concepts. The former could still be claimed as born of necessity, while the latter was already nakedly betraying one’s own family.

Having just set down the ship contract, Fengjia handed up another stack of rice papers. The Duke of Pingguo glanced through them briefly, and his pupils immediately contracted further—he naturally recognized at once the source of these accounts.

Seventh Miss watched the Duke of Pingguo’s expression. She smiled faintly.

Whether intentionally or because the Fifth Young Madam felt this matter needed no explanation, regarding this one hundred fifty thousand tael ship contract, she hadn’t mentioned the three words “Grand Madam” at all.

The Grand Madam and Fifth Young Madam had always been close. When Seventh Miss was checking the accounts, she had even spoken several words on the Fifth Young Madam’s behalf… This one hundred fifty thousand tael ship contract was written last year—during that very period, the Grand Madam had privately sold off her dowry to gather one hundred thousand taels…

These several matters were ironclad with no room for argument, and moreover they were indeed all true. What Seventh Miss concealed was only her speculation: regarding the whereabouts of these one hundred thousand taels, even the Grand Madam had been deceived by the Fifth Young Madam. These one hundred thousand taels were money the Fifth Young Madam had swindled.

Only if the Fifth Young Madam had swindled the silver would she not dare tell the Grand Madam that she had again used the account books to set a trap against the Sixth Branch, thus causing the Grand Madam to intercede for the Fifth Branch, confirming the Fifth Branch’s embezzlement.

Only if the Grand Madam fundamentally didn’t know these one hundred thousand taels had already gone to Guangzhou would she never ask about the ship contract and even be indifferent to Qiu Zhi’s life or death…

According to Seventh Miss’s speculation, the Fifth Young Madam might have told the Grand Madam that she needed some silver to cover the deficit and patch over the financial crisis that might appear after the Fifth Young Lady gave birth—for instance, withdrawing silver from the usury loan establishment also required time. Using this excuse, she swindled the Grand Madam’s private savings.

Of course, the Duke of Pingguo had no need to know these things.

What he needed to know was only that the Grand Madam’s favoritism had reached this degree—not only did she sit by and watch the Fifth Branch embezzle public silver to establish private assets outside, she had even bypassed the Duke of Pingguo to privately sell her own dowry and gather enough silver for the Fifth Branch to handle this ship.

Though the Duke of Pingguo was a concubine-born son, he could inherit the title because the Grand Madam had taken him as her adopted son. This dowry should rightfully be inherited by the Duke of Pingguo. What the grandson generation could receive were only limited commemorative items. It could be said that the Grand Madam’s actions not only violated the unspoken rules indispensable to great families establishing households, but had already wounded the mother-son bond between her and the Duke of Pingguo.

When the Duke of Pingguo read further and saw the Fifth Young Madam admit that the Grand Madam knew in her heart about the poisoning matter, he felt no surprise at all.

Even in embezzling public assets, the Grand Madam had actively helped. Compared to that, poisoning someone—what did that amount to?

The Fifth Young Madam’s analysis of the Grand Madam naturally also fell under the Duke of Pingguo’s eyes. Though the Fifth Young Madam’s writing was sharp and her language harsh, wasn’t what she said both reasonable and justified? Precisely because it came from the Fifth Young Madam’s hand, it was all the more credible.

Because of discord with her daughter-in-law, she had created such chaos in this household, stirring up such great storms… If the Grand Madam wasn’t an elder failing in virtue, what was she?

By the time he finished reading this letter, the Duke of Pingguo had no temper left at all.

He pondered for a long while but still blamed Seventh Miss.

“You still made this matter’s commotion a bit too large.” The Duke of Pingguo’s attitude was already more than a little mild. He said slowly, “After all, the Grand Consort in the palace is concerned about Mother. If this spreads to the palace, how will you explain?”

A trace of bitter smile appeared at the corners of Seventh Miss’s lips. “Father, even if this matter doesn’t spread to the palace, Fifth Sister-in-law’s sudden death and Fifth Brother’s distant departure must still be explained to the Grand Consort… I’m prepared to bring this letter into the palace to show the Grand Consort.”

The Duke of Pingguo couldn’t help but grip the letter paper tightly. After pondering for a moment, he also smiled bitterly along with Seventh Miss. “Good. We won’t hide or conceal. Let the Grand Consort judge right from wrong herself.”

Thinking of the Grand Madam’s actions over these years, his heart felt like he had eaten an entire block of fat meat—so greasy he felt somewhat nauseated. He let out a long breath and wearily asked, “Then this time, what matter did the old lady fight with you about?”

Between the two questions, the Duke of Pingguo’s wording had already changed noticeably, from ‘Seventh Miss causing trouble’ to ‘the old lady causing trouble.’

Seventh Miss answered calmly, “Grandmother hoped Fifth Brother could remarry in the capital and stay near the capital, not go far away to Yunnan. The old lady wanted me to speak up and plead with Father and Mother for mercy. Xiaoqi refused. Back and forth, it escalated to this degree.”

She explained further to the Duke of Pingguo, “Originally, I wanted to produce this ship contract at the same time. Because it implicated Grandmother and I feared everyone would lose face, I thought to wait until a future opportunity to explain privately to Father…”

The Duke of Pingguo waved his hand, his heart full of bitterness.

In this household, there truly wasn’t a single fuel-efficient lamp. Someone like Lady Yang who displayed her formidability openly had already lost a round compared to someone like the Grand Madam who appeared kind on the surface but stirred up storms privately.

The heart of a family head always wanted to maintain fairness, feeling that whoever was more vulnerable deserved more care.

“Does your grandmother know the ship contract matter has been exposed?” he asked. After pausing, he added another question, “Regarding the poisoning matter, did you confront her about it?”

Seventh Miss’s gaze was like water. She answered sincerely, “I don’t know how to speak about the ship contract matter yet. As for the poisoning, I did say a few words. Grandmother slipped up in her speech, but at the time only the two of us were alone in the back hall… There’s no evidence.”

Entering Menghua Pavilion today, she had no intention of lying. Every word she spoke could withstand the Duke of Pingguo’s examination, consideration, and interrogation. Therefore, her attitude was particularly frank and straightforward.

Seeing this, the Duke of Pingguo couldn’t help but ponder again.

After a long while, he said softly, “Good. I understand. You may return first. Don’t speak of this matter to anyone.”

Seeing both Seventh Miss and Xu Fengjia stand up without hesitation, the Duke of Pingguo couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t forget to take the ship contract. I’ll keep these account books for now.”

Keeping the account books was naturally to confront the Grand Madam. After all, Seventh Miss had only copied them according to format without stealing the originals. But this confrontation was merely going through the motions—if Seventh Miss were foolish enough to forge such important evidence, she couldn’t possibly have reached her current position.

Xu Fengjia’s face showed some surprise. “Father, this is one hundred fifty thousand taels of silver!”

The Duke of Pingguo glared at him. “Did I say I was giving it to you?”

His face showed more disgust. “I just find it filthy having it here, dirtying my table!”

Xu Fengjia was about to say more when Seventh Miss tugged his sleeve. He stopped talking and pouted as he reached forward to stuff the ship contract into his sleeve. “Once you give it to me, I won’t spit it back out.”

Since the Duke of Pingguo told him to take it, he naturally intended to give it to him. Anyone could understand this subtext. Seventh Miss gave Xu Fengjia a look, bowed to the Duke of Pingguo again, then stood up and pulled Xu Fengjia to exit Menghua Pavilion.

They had already reached the doorway when the Duke of Pingguo coughed.

Seventh Miss turned back to look, only to see the Duke of Pingguo gazing at her meaningfully. He asked, “Regarding what Lady Zhang wrote in the letter about the poisoning matter, there’s another explanation. Lady Yang, what do you think?”

Seventh Miss answered without hesitation, “For matters without any evidence, what does it matter whether I believe or not? Better not to think about it and just live life well.”

These words had already reached the Duke of Pingguo’s heart.

Though the Xu family was powerful, without solid evidence, to prosecute any young madam meant guarding against her natal family making a fuss to defend and support their daughter. At that point, everyone’s face would be too ugly.

Though this matter was vile, without evidence, it could indeed only be left as is.

He nodded at Seventh Miss, his words laden with meaning. “That you think this way puts Father’s mind much more at ease.”

This was the first time the Duke of Pingguo had been so warm toward Seventh Miss, even referring to himself as “Father.”

Seventh Miss smiled faintly, then turned and left the room with Xu Fengjia.

As soon as Xu Fengjia left Menghua Pavilion, he became animated. “Saying household matters all listen to the wife’s words… In the past, weren’t household matters decided by Mother? Pointing one finger at others means four fingers point at yourself!”

Seventh Miss wanted to cover his mouth. “Can you say a few words less! I’ve never seen you like this before—in Father’s presence, acting like a child with such a stubborn temper!”

The young couple bickered and blamed each other all the way back to their room. Xu Fengjia pulled out the ship contract to give to Seventh Miss. “You keep this safe.”

Seventh Miss said lightly, “You keep it and give it to Silang and Wulang later.”

She paused, then said, “If not for these one hundred fifty thousand taels of silver, Fifth Sister wouldn’t have…”

Xu Fengjia didn’t respond but still stuffed the ship contract into Seventh Miss’s hands. “Even if it’s for Silang and Wulang, you should keep it.”

Seventh Miss stopped declining. She opened her safe and put both items inside, then said thoughtfully, “Today at Leshan Residence, there must be quite a show to watch.”

Xu Fengjia also smiled ambiguously. “Unfortunately we don’t have the fortune to be there in person. For many matters, it’s difficult to know the details.”

Seventh Miss only smiled without speaking.

The next morning when Little Huangpu was dressing her hair, she recounted to Seventh Miss, “Oh my, what a commotion it was! The Duke came in and first asked about the account books, then asked the Grand Madam about the ship contract. The Grand Madam first said she didn’t know. Later, the Duke patiently explained everything to her piece by piece, turning the Grand Madam’s face the color of earth. She was stunned for quite a while, then fainted… Only then did the Duke summon someone to fetch a physician…”

The greatest blow to a person wasn’t physical torture and suffering, but the destruction of their most valued spiritual pillar.

The Grand Madam might not know about the ship contract matter, but the Fifth Young Master certainly would, as many things required him to come forward. For instance, one hundred fifty thousand taels in large denomination banknotes—the Fifth Young Master would definitely have to come forward to exchange them.

If the Fifth Young Madam deceived her, the Grand Madam might not feel much. But even the Fifth Young Master deceiving her too… This point dealt the Grand Madam a severe blow.

Seventh Miss gazed at herself in the mirror. She slowly revealed a smile of satisfaction.

After this incident, whether the Grand Madam or the Fifth Branch, both had already prematurely exited the Duke’s Manor’s stage. It was no longer possible, nor did they have the heart, to pose any threat to the Sixth Branch’s heir apparent position.