Chapter 2422 - 2396: Helping You Vent Your Anger

Upon receiving confirmation from Wang Ruile, Madam Tang began to take action. Following her strategy, she first informed her father, then found an excuse to bring Ma Cong back to the Wang Family, while she directly suppressed the Ma Family. The next step was the matter of divorce, which was quite simple.

They had leverage over the Ma Family; they wouldn’t dare refuse to separate. Taking the child might be difficult, but the child was already with the Wang Family, and formally speaking, whether the child stayed with the mother was not too important. Even if not, once he grew up, he could go back and claim his share of the Ma Family’s assets. What could be difficult about it?

She believed her father had no problem living another twenty years. With him supporting, unless the Ma Family suddenly rose to great heights, she didn’t believe that Cong’er couldn’t compete against them.

He not only had maternal relatives but also a respectable status, being the legitimate eldest grandson of the Ma Family!

However, when Lord Tang heard her plan, he sprayed out his tea and laughed, "Are you planning to make Ms.Wang and Ms.Ma mortal enemies?"

Madam Tang was still fuming and snorted coldly upon hearing this.

Lord Tang laughed, "By doing this, you’re giving them half the justification. Originally, our family had the upper hand, so why let us bear the same reputation as them?"

He said, "For us, divorce is not difficult, but if you snatch the child away, people are narrow-minded. It’s easy for them to forget what the Ma Family did and instead feel that we’re aggressive. And if one day the younger sister wants to remarry, this will affect the child’s future."

"Then what do you say? Just divorce and leave, taking the dowry along?"

Lord Tang tapped her forehead with a smile, "You’re being rash. Have you forgotten why the Ma Family went to great lengths to marry the younger sister?"

Madam Tang was silent for a moment before saying, "My Fifth Uncle is gone. They married her for their prospects and to align with Ms.Wang..."

"Yes, Fifth Uncle is gone, but isn’t there still your father-in-law?" Lord Tang replied, "You should consult your father-in-law and your two brothers, and ask what they are willing to do for this cousin. Once they’re certain, the rest will be easier to decide."

Madam Tang suspiciously fixed her gaze on him, "Do you have a way to let her leave with the child openly after the divorce?"

Lord Tang smiled slightly and said, "The key lies with the father-in-law."

He paused and then said, "However, if father-in-law isn’t willing, I do have another way, though it is more challenging."

"What way?"

"Family connections," Lord Tang reached out to hold her hand, smiling slightly, "Family connections, family ties, aren’t they meant for situations like this? Excluding the kinship with brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, just the connections your sisters have are numerous, aren’t they?"

"Fortunately, years ago, Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt were protective of the younger sister, and specifically chose the Ma Family, whose status wasn’t very high. Therefore, we can coerce them. If it had been another family with a standing equal to ours, it would have been difficult to achieve."

Madam Tang spat twice, "If Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt hadn’t chosen such a disgraceful family as the Ma Family, Ruile wouldn’t have suffered like this."

Thinking about it, Lord Tang agreed, but he still comforted her, "Luckily, we discovered it in time, and there’s still a chance to remedy this. So it’s not too late. Don’t be too upset. First, write to your father-in-law and brothers."

Madam Tang went to get a pen, with Lord Tang diligently grinding ink for her.

However, after writing the letters, Madam Tang felt that waiting like this was too slow, so she angrily slapped Lord Tang’s arm several times.

Lord Tang exaggeratedly hissed, then leaned in to ask Madam Tang in her ear, "How about trying the second method?"

Madam Tang raised her head and said, "Quickly tell me!"

Lord Tang smiled slightly, clutching his arm and said, "It hurts."

Madam Tang: "... Should I massage it for you?"

Lord Tang reached out.

Madam Tang perfunctorily massaged his arm twice and patted his shoulder, "Hurry and tell."

"First, let you vent your anger. Invite several younger sisters to Yongzhou, preferably with their husbands, and then invite Ma Hongzhong. After meeting in Yongzhou, let the brothers-in-law give him a good beating."

Madam Tang frowned, "Why Yongzhou? Can’t they come directly to the capital?"

Lord Tang: "... My lady, I don’t want to arrest you, nor do I want to be impeached."

Madam Tang: "... What if I take them to Wan Nian County over there?"

"No, during major court sessions, County Magistrate Guo sits next to me. I don’t want him to beat me up. Madam, Yongzhou isn’t too far away either. Just find an excuse to meet them there, and choose a remote place to take action," Lord Tang said. "But you must remind them, it’s okay to beat him painfully, but definitely not to break limbs or cause deaths."

Madam Tang snorted, "I know. If he really gets hurt, the Ma Family will benefit."

"Exactly," Lord Tang comforted her, "In the future, there will be plenty of opportunities. In our kind of family, beating people is actually the least distressing method."

Madam Tang left Lord Tang to go write letters.

There are daughters of the Cui Family all over the world, but actually, the Wang Family has quite a few daughters too. But compared to the Cui Family, which has many daughters, the Wang Family has more sons than daughters, giving the impression that Ms.Wang has few daughters.

Madam Tang naturally didn’t contact just anybody. She reached out to those who could slap the Ma Family in the face and might participate with her in this face-slapping.

Four was the first.

Manbao was unaware of the storm brewing outside because of her patient. She was currently inoculating the second batch of patients, while the third batch had already been sent in.

The second batch of patients also numbered one hundred and eighty, while the third batch had directly grown to three hundred. More houses had been built on the imperial estate.

However, besides inoculating people, they needed to inoculate cows again these days.

After discussion, the Imperial Hospital felt the risk of cowpox was still quite significant, not because among the one hundred eighty people, one died and two became incapacitated, but due to at least forty experiencing high fevers, which was too high a proportion.

To the Emperor, high fever equates to high risk, with people having a higher risk of death or incapacitation, so it is imperative to lower this proportion.

The Emperor’s requirement was that ideally, no one out of the hundred and eighty should die, become incapacitated, or even develop high fever.

Director Xiao promised it publically, but once he turned away, he couldn’t help but talk to Manbao and the others, "It’s impossible."

Manbao: "Then why did you promise?"

"The Emperor knows it’s impossible too. He needs an attitude from us, but indeed, the proportion of high fever needs to be lowered to make cowpox safer."

Manbao: "Ultimately it’s the toxin being too strong. How can we adjust the cowpox so that its toxicity isn’t so great?"

Several imperial physicians pondered together for two days, after which Manbao said, somewhat uncertainly, "Cowpox is safer than humanpox, so if we use cowpox to inoculate cows and then derive matured pox, would it be even safer?"