“What?” Old Madam raised her head in astonishment and stared at Duke Xing in surprise; she couldn’t believe what she had heard.

“Mother, I think we should dispatch her to a nunnery to cultivate in seclusion. She can’t handle the affairs in our mansion now, considering what she has done. Let my sister-in-law take charge of the internal affairs in our mansion, and I’ll have to trouble you to guide her,” Duke Xing said in a cold tone.

“How…how… how could we do that? She is your official wife! How could you be so cruel!” Old Madam said in a hurry. It was her who brought up Duke Xing’s wife, so she had a close relationship with her. She took her as her own daughter more than a daughter-in-law. How could she allow her to be sent to the nunnery like this?

If she were sent to the nunnery, she wouldn’t be able to come back for the rest of her life!

“Mother, do you want our whole family to be implicated by her? You must have heard the rumors from the outside. Now everyone in the city is gossiping about our family. If you insist on protecting her, all of us will be brought into trouble, and I won’t be able to have a foothold in the court. No matter what happens, as long as others pick on me with this matter, I won’t be able to defend myself.”

Duke Xing spoke coldly with a stern look in his eyes. No one had expected that he, who had always been affable, would be so decisive. He would either remain silent or make an unshakeable decision.

“But… but she is your wife and the mother of your children. She served you with all her heart. Everything she did was for you… Even if you didn’t care about her, for the sake of your two children, you shouldn’t push her to such a corner!” Old Madam said in a trembling voice.

“Mother, I have been kind enough to her. She took charge of everything in the mansion. She scolded, beat, and even sold my concubines as she wanted. It was all her fault that the matter would come to this point. Although Her Highness, the Empress Dowager, just sent over a ruler, she wouldn’t stand by, neither would His Majesty, if we don’t handle this matter properly.”

Duke Xing massaged his forehead. He was really upset; he hadn’t expected that what his wife did would be exposed so suddenly and that the whole matter would get out of everyone’s control so soon. At present, if he didn’t make a trade-off, the matter would not be resolved and he would be too ashamed to stay in the imperial court.

Of course, he was not willing to leave the imperial court just because of his wife. He couldn’t let his plan that he had been making for many years fail just because of this matter!

“But… but…” Old Madam still wanted to say something but was interrupted by Duke Xing rudely. “Mother, if it weren’t for the sake of my two children, I would divorce her directly instead of letting her cultivate in seclusion so that she wouldn’t bring shame on our family. Now, I just ask her to cultivate in seclusion for the sake of my two children.”

He had one son and one daughter, but he cared about the latter more than the former. His daughter had chances to rise high, so he wouldn’t allow anything to stain her reputation.

“There is no need to send her to a nunnery. She can cultivate in seclusion in our ancestral hall. From now on, she will cultivate in seclusion in our ancestral hall wholeheartedly, and your sister-in-law will take charge of our family affairs, just as you said.”

After all, Old Madam had experienced a lot. She gritted her teeth and agreed to send Madam of Duke Xing to cultivate in seclusion.

Although Madam of Duke Xing would be locked up in the ancestral hall to cultivate in seclusion, it was much better than being sent to an unknown nunnery. After all, it was inside the mansion, so her children could visit her sometimes.

Based on what she knew about her son, Old Madam was sure that he was thinking about killing his wife. If that woman was kicked out of the mansion, she might die unknowingly.

Old Madam liked her second daughter-in-law the most, who was chosen by her. At the very beginning, she had wanted her eldest son to marry this woman, but accidentally, her second son married her. No matter what, Old Madam was very happy that the woman married her son, which meant that her plan worked. However, in the current situation, she couldn’t help her at all.

“Mother, it’s not wise to keep her at home!” Duke Xing glanced at his mother and said coldly.

“You have to think about your children!” Old Madam frowned and refused to send Madam of Duke Xing out of the mansion.

“Mother, since you insist, she can stay here. Just let her meditate in the ancestral hall for the rest of her life. As for the things that happened recently, place all the blame on her, so as not to ruin the reputation of Ru’er and others!” Duke Xing said decisively. He stood up and shook his sleeves as he continued, “Mother, I am going to see her. She has to admit what she has done by herself!”

“It’s… it’s not proper to blame all this on her,” Old Madam said, frightened.

“Then, mother, who else do you think can take the responsibility? Ru’er or you?” Duke Xing asked while staring at his mother coldly.

Old Madam was rendered speechless. After a long while, she gritted her teeth and said, “That’s it. But she has to be willing to accept the punishment. Otherwise, there will be gossip again!”

“Mother, don’t worry. She has to think about her children. Besides, she did all these stupid things herself. Even if she wants to blame someone else, she can’t do it!” Duke Xing said coldly.

After saying that, he turned around and strode to the ancestral hall. At present, this was the best way to settle the matter. At least, he could minimize the adverse impact by doing so. After all, it was just some harem affairs, and it had nothing to do with him.

There were some things he didn’t want others to notice, and he was even more worried that someone would investigate them. Since the matter was already settled, he would just let it be. There was no need to dig it out, which would bring him into trouble.

The prosperity of Duke Xing’s Mansion could not be destroyed by the harem affairs. In Duke Xing’s eyes, his wife was short-sighted to have done those stupid things. Shao Wanru was just a girl, and even though she was his elder brother’s daughter, she was not their biggest enemy.

…

When Shao Wanru saw Duke Xing, her second uncle, she stopped at the door of the ancestral hall and stepped back, giving way to him. Then she bowed sideways and greeted him. “Second Uncle!”

Though she lived in this mansion now, she had only seen Duke Xing twice or so. Yet, it was easy for her to recognize him, judging by the way he behaved. His chubby round face made him look kind, but there was a hint of gloom in his eyes just now.

When Duke Xing saw Shao Wanru, he smiled slightly and looked much more amiable.

“Why are you here?” Duke Xing asked gently and looked toward the ancestral hall. There were some candles on the ground in front of the door. The candles were in a mess, which showed that they were thrown out by someone intentionally. Duke Xing’s eyes turned frosty.

“I’m here to see Second Aunt. I want to ask her… what she meant by what she said before,” Shao Wanru said softly. She lowered her head, so Duke Xing couldn’t see her expression, but what she said was thought-provoking.

Madam of Duke Xing was locked up in the ancestral hall just because she said something wrong. She said that Shao Wanru and her brother were not the daughter and son of Duke Xing’s Mansion.

“Your aunt was talking nonsense. There’s some misunderstanding between your aunt and your mother. Your aunt is jealous of your mother. For so many years, she still failed to let it go. I didn’t expect her to treat you like this. It’s my fault. I thought she would handle the family affairs fairly!” Duke Xing sighed and comforted Shao Wanru in a gentle tone.

He seemed a little disconsolate and sad. He stared at Shao Wanru as if he were able to see his brother through Shao Wanru. There was a smile around the corner of his lips as he continued, “You look like your father. If he were here, he would be very happy to see you and your brother so similar to him.”

What he said indicated that he believed Shao Wanru was his niece and put all the blame on his wife. Shao Wanru quietly took another step back and nodded softly. “Thank you, Uncle. Since you said so, I’ll go back first. Grandma is changing the furniture in my room for me!”

“You can go. If there is something you don’t want to tell me, you can tell your Third Aunt. She will take charge of the affairs in the mansion in the future!” Duke Xing nodded his head and said mildly.

Shao Wanru bowed sideways again and then left slowly. She narrowed her eyes slightly; she understood what her uncle meant. Madam of Duke Xing had lost her power and she couldn’t even control the harem anymore. She must have been locked up in the name of cultivation in seclusion, but Shao Wanru didn’t know whether she was locked up in the mansion or had been sent to other places.

“Miss, how did you know that the Duke would come over?” When they walked far away, Yujie lowered her voice and asked Shao Wanru. Just now, they came to provoke Madam of Duke Xing into throwing out the stuff in the ancestral hall.

Shao Wanru’s long eyelashes fluttered as she said slowly in a low voice, “Since what she did was exposed, the matter had to be settled properly and someone had to take the blame. But the one who would take the blame had to be willing to do so.” Her face became serious. Although she just talked with her second uncle for a short while, she could tell that he was not a simple man.

She knew that he was not as kind as he seemed to be.

He didn’t say much, but he always spoke ahead of her, like everything was under his control. Shao Wanru rarely had this feeling when she talked to others, except for Chu Liuchen. However, she believed that her second uncle was different from Chu Liuchen, but she couldn’t tell what exactly was different.

“He snatched the opportunity ahead of me, but he was merely suppressing me in secret. This was what a woman in the harem would do. If he had used a more forceful method, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to deal with it.” Shao Wanru could not help but become alert when she thought of this. She decided to be more careful in the future.

“Miss, will Duke make Madam take the blame?” Yujie asked worriedly.

“I’m sure he will. No one else can take the blame for her!” Shao Wanru said with certainty. At present, except for Madam of Duke Xing, no one had the place to take the responsibility.

For Duke Xing’s Mansion, although it would harm the family a little by abandoning Madam of Duke Xing, it was not a big deal after all. Their children were not involved and all had promising futures.

However, it was not easy for Duke Xing to make his wife take the blame willingly. Shao Wanru had provoked Madam of Duke Xing before the latter could take any action. Now, she wanted to know what the Madam could do after being locked up.

She hoped that this Second Madam would not let her down and that she hadn’t come there in vain. She knew that whether the Madam would take the blame depended on whether she was willing to do so. Based on what she knew about the Madam, Shao Wanru didn’t believe that the Madam would be willing to take the blame for what happened in the past days.

What was more, Shao Wanru had even provoked her into losing her temper…