The vice minister of works barely held himself upright. He raised his head and met the emperor's intrigued gaze.
The emperor asked, "Vice Minister Rong, do you still think this is what your son was guilty of?"
The vice minister of works kowtowed in anguish. "No. Your Majesty, please forgive my rashness."
The emperor remained unhurried. Even if he was willing to forgive him, someone was bound to refuse to let the matter rest.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, these people all want to harm me! They all want to harm me! Your Majesty, you must uphold justice for me!"
Tears and snot streamed down the Heir of Duke Anguo's face. With his legs unable to move, he looked as wretched as could be, enough to stir a little sympathy.
But everyone in the hall was as shrewd as could be. Even those who were not had learned the inside story Tong Aning had revealed.
The Heir of Duke Anguo was plainly a man who would stop at nothing, vicious to the extreme. Someone like him deserved no sympathy at all.
The emperor said calmly, "If you hadn't harbored the desire to harm others, how could it have circled around and landed on your own head?"
The Heir of Duke Anguo paled. "Your Majesty, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then let..." The emperor raised his hand and pointed at the mistress, who had remained remarkably composed ever since entering the hall. "Her explain."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The mistress faced Duke Anguo and the vice minister of works' son. "I wanted both of you dead. If anything happened to Duke Anguo, the sachet would be irrefutable evidence. Rong Lang would never be able to escape implication."
She still called him Rong Lang with such affection, yet the words she spoke made one's hair stand on end.
[Xixi, why did she want them both dead? Was there some deep-seated blood feud involved?]
The others thought the same, so they all pricked up their ears to hear the answer from the system called Xixi.
[No. When Duke Anguo and Rong Lang first got together with her, they both promised to bring her home in an eight-bearer bridal sedan, marrying her with all due pomp and splendor. But so many years have passed, and neither wants to marry her.]
[When she got together with Duke Anguo, she was only twenty, a young woman who knew little of the world. Just like that, Duke Anguo's honeyed words deceived her.]
Tong Aning could only sigh.
The vice minister of works wiped the sweat from his face. He knew his son all too well. Duke Anguo had deceived her with honeyed words, but hadn't his son done the same?
No wonder the young woman wanted to kill him.
Duke Anguo was so furious he nearly had a stroke. "You actually... actually thought that way! And to think I gave you my whole heart!"
A voice came from outside the hall-
"Who did you give your heart to?"
Duke Anguo shuddered. Once he saw who had arrived, he actually toppled straight over.
The mistress sneered.
Whenever she asked Duke Anguo to bring her into his household, he always trotted out the excuse of his wife's jealousy, saying that if his wife discovered them, she would surely kill them both.
Now the mistress wanted to see which was better: being killed or having a stroke.
The Tong family left the hall.
Su Zhouyue said, "Duke Anguo truly brought this on himself."
Tong Aning and Tong Siyan nodded.
[Host, there are plenty more things like this...]
The system was rather used to such sights.
At the time, Tong Aning had no idea she would encounter another such incident three days later.
Three days later, at the general's residence, a banquet was held to acknowledge their recovered daughter.
When Tong Aning arrived, Lou Yingyu was talking with the other noble young ladies. Seeing her arrive, she came over and affectionately linked arms with her.
Tong Aning asked, "What were you just talking about?"
"The big news in the capital lately."
"What big news?"
"You actually haven't heard?" Lou Yingyu was a little surprised. She lowered her voice. "Duke Anguo had a stroke! The second branch kept making an endless fuss. Duke Anguo's Wife couldn't stand their pestering, so she actually chose a child from a collateral branch to raise as her own. She's already submitted the memorial requesting that he inherit the title."
Tong Aning had long since heard about Duke Anguo's stroke from Xixi, but by then she was no longer paying much attention to the matter, so she had thought little of it.
She asked, "Did the second branch agree?"
"Of course not. Then... Duke Anguo's Wife came carrying a blade, and it flew right over their heads. It scared them half to death, and only then did they settle down."
Tong Aning nodded.
Everyone said Duke Anguo's Wife was jealous, but in the end, she was the one who could shoulder the burden.
Duke Anguo had been brave and skilled in battle in his youth, yet in his old age, he had become indecisive and of little use.
Amid a bustle of noise, the star of the day appeared.
Tong Aning and Lou Yingyu watched Azhu slowly approach, and their eyes brightened.
Compared with the noble young ladies present, Azhu was still very thin, but the green dress she wore made her look like bamboo in its prime, unbending and unyielding. That air about her instantly drew everyone's attention.
Lou Yingyu was the first to clap, calling out, "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"
Azhu walked up to her, a little bashful at her praise. "Miss, please don't say that."
Lou Yingyu blinked, deliberately teasing her. "Still calling me Miss?"
"I..." Azhu opened her mouth but could not get anything out.
Tong Aning smiled. "She's only teasing you. Don't take it to heart."
Azhu looked at Lou Yingyu. Only when Lou Yingyu smiled did she relax.
After announcing Azhu's identity, Zhuang Qing sent her off to spend time with the noble young ladies.
Originally, Zhuang Qing and Meng Yu had still been worried. Of course they were happy to have their daughter back, but she was too frail and too soft-natured.
None of that could be corrected overnight, and both Zhuang Qing and Meng Yu feared she would be bullied.
To their surprise, although their daughter had not grown up in the general's residence, its resilience was still in her bones. Besides, she had Marquis Tong's fourth daughter and the chancellor's daughter with her.
Zhuang Qing and Meng Yu gradually breathed easier.
"Oh, what a beautiful painting."
Lou Yingyu stood before the covered walkway, looking at the painting in front of her. It depicted Azhu.
Tong Aning nodded. "It really is beautiful."
Apparently, Azhu knew very well where the painting had come from, and she grew more talkative. "A painter heard that the general's household had found me and sent this especially to congratulate us."
"How strange. He's never met you, so how could he capture your likeness so vividly?"
Azhu shook her head. She did not know either.
"You may have forgotten, Miss, but we met once before."
The sudden voice made all three of them turn toward its source.
A tall, graceful figure came into view.
Lou Yingyu whispered, "Could that be the painter?"
Tong Aning said, "Most likely."
The painter walked up to them, his gaze settling on Azhu. He asked courteously, "Might I have another opportunity to paint you in the future, Miss?"
Having never encountered anything like this before, Azhu lost her composure and instinctively looked toward Tong Aning and Lou Yingyu.
Lou Yingyu asked with a grin, "You'll only paint her and not us? Could it be that you look down on our chancellor's and marquis's households?"
The smile on the painter's face stiffened for an instant. "Miss Lou, that wasn't what I meant."
Lou Yingyu gave a huff.
[Xixi, I keep feeling there's something strange about this painter.]
[Host, your instincts are so accurate. That's right, this painter is already a repeat offender. He often seeks out young women who have hit rock bottom and gives them hope. Once they gradually recover and he has captured them in a painting, he cruelly abandons them.]
[What scum.]
A sharp smack interrupted Tong Aning's thoughts.
She actually saw Azhu slap the painter across the face.
Although Azhu's hand was still trembling, Tong Aning could not help wanting to say-
"Azhu, well done!"