Without Dividing the Family, Disaster Looms
Seeing the old lady start crying again, Matron Jin said helplessly to Xu Xi, "Try to comfort the old lady. Ever since the First Madam received the news this afternoon and hurriedly went to the Zhu residence with the Marquis's family, the old lady has been in a bad mood."
She glanced at the old lady and said, "In my opinion, if a family is not united, it's best to separate as soon as possible to avoid such things from happening again."
She said that on purpose.
For so many years, the old lady has been planning for the Marquis's mansion, always hoping that it could regain the glory it had when the old Duke was alive. But now that such a thing has happened, the division of the family property is a foregone conclusion. If the old lady is not allowed to vent her frustrations, who knows what might happen to her given her advanced age.
Although Matron Jin hadn't spent much time with Xu Xi, she could tell the child was extremely intelligent. The old lady was stuck in a rut, and in the entire mansion, probably only the First Madam, the Marquis, and Xu Xi could persuade her. With the First Madam and the Marquis absent, they had no choice but to rely on Xu Xi.
Sure enough, her words caused the old lady to break down, her emotions, which had been weighing on her all afternoon, and she cried out to Matron Jin, "What do you know? We don't have any other good properties. If we divide the family property, our ancestral home will be divided into three parts; the fields and shops will also be given away. How much will we have left then? A once noble family will end up as a middle-class family. It will be extremely difficult to find a good match again."
As she spoke, her silent tears turned into sobs.
When Xu Xi was reading the novel, she had seen from God's perspective how the old lady and the first lady did many things to save this noble family. She understood the old lady's feelings of falling from prosperity and hoping to regain her glory.
In the end, however, the Marquis of Huanping's Residence was still raided. The old lady hanged herself in the Rongxi Hall during the raid. After burying the old lady, Matron Jin threw herself against the coffin and died, thus ending their lifelong bond of mistress and servant.
Besides the master and servant who died to prove their loyalty, the men of the Marquis of Huanping's Residence's household were exiled three thousand miles away, and the women were sold off. Zhao Yuanxun was already in poor health, and he died on the way after being exiled for less than two hundred miles. The first wife was redeemed by the Zhu Family, and upon hearing of her husband's death, she rushed to a distant place to collect his body before falling ill herself.
In short, apart from Zhao Ruyu, no one in the Marquis of Huanping's Residence had a good ending.
She sighed, patted the old lady on the back, but did not try to stop her.
Only after the old lady had cried herself to sleep did Xu Xi signal Matron Jin to fetch water to wash her face, and then help her lie down on the couch before speaking, "Old Madam, the Marquis's mansion is not divided into separate households. A crisis is imminent. No one in the entire mansion will survive. Do you know that?"
The old lady was exhausted, lying on the couch with listless eyes. Hearing Xu Xi's words, she was startled and immediately sat up straight on the soft couch, scolding, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Matron Jin, however, felt that Xu Xi wouldn't say such a thing without reason, and hurriedly asked, "Fifth Miss, what do you mean by that?"
"What I'm about to say is very important and should not be overheard. Matron Jin, please stand guard at the door and don't let anyone near," Xu Xi said.
Seeing Xu Xi's serious expression, which didn't seem like a bluff, not only Matron Jin but also the old lady were startled. "Have you heard some news?"
Xu Xi nodded to the old lady.
Matron Jin quickly ran to the door to stand guard.
Xu Xi moved a small table next to the soft couch, sat down, and whispered in the old lady's ear, "Do you know that the Third Master is very close to one of the Crown Prince's advisors?"
The old lady's heart skipped a beat, her face filled with shock. "How did you know?"
Because she was worried about her two illegitimate sons, the old lady had long ago planted spies around them, so she knew about six or seven tenths of their actions, if not completely.
She knew perfectly well that the Second Brother, Zhao Yuanliang, was incompetent and only hoped that his father-in-law could get him a cushy job that was both easy and lucrative. Such a person couldn't possibly cause any trouble.
Only the Third Brother, Zhao Yuankun, was extremely ambitious. In his youth, he repeatedly wanted to participate in the martial arts examinations, but after being suppressed by her, he restrained himself. However, he was not honest and liked to make friends everywhere. As a man, he was involved in social interactions, and the old lady could not control him. As long as he did not curry favor with people of particularly prominent status, the old lady could only turn a blind eye.
Recently, the Third Brother did indeed befriend one of the Crown Prince's advisors. However, that advisor did not seem to be valued by the Crown Prince and could only see him a few times a year, so the old lady did not take it to heart.
But how did Xu Xi find out?
Xu Xi smiled and said, "Madam, please don't forget that our teachers at the Women's Academy come from wealthy and noble families or from families of court officials; even our classmates come from families with extremely distinguished backgrounds."
As soon as she said that, the old lady had no doubts.
She asked doubtfully, "So what? He's just an advisor. Can he really help him take our lives and hand over the title to your third uncle?"
Xu Xi shook his head. "The Crown Prince was born to the late Empress, who has long since passed away. Besides the Crown Prince, the Emperor also has the Second Prince and Fifth Prince born to the Consort Jin, the Third Prince born to the Third Prince Jin, the Fourth Prince born to the Consort De, and the Sixth Prince born to the Consort Xian. Currently, the Emperor dotes on the Consort Jin, and there are rumors that the Consort Jin has been frequently reprimanded by the Emperor recently, and the Emperor is already dissatisfied with him and wants to replace him as Crown Prince."
At this point, she glanced at the old lady's expression and saw that she was deep in thought. She knew that the old lady, as the Duchess, still possessed political acumen.
She continued, "If Third Uncle wants to break free from your control, he needs to find a powerful backer. His approach to the advisors isn't for the advisors themselves, but for the Crown Prince. However, the situation in the palace is unpredictable. If Third Uncle gets too close to the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince falls from power, our Marquis's mansion will inevitably be affected. At that time, the Emperor, either out of kinship or pressured by public opinion, might not be able to kill the Crown Prince, but could only imprison him, and would inevitably target those close to him. Our Marquis's mansion has very shallow roots, no one in the court to rely on, and no one to speak up for us. We are very likely to be dragged out as scapegoats, and then it will be a tragedy of our entire family being wiped out."
The old lady's face changed drastically, and her lips trembled as she said, "No... no way?"
What Xu Xi said might have seemed like mere scare tactics to others, but to Lady Tang, the old lady, it truly struck Xu Xi as a point.
Because Lady Tang's own family is a living example of this.
Lady Tang's ability to marry the Duke as his principal wife naturally indicates that she came from a noble family. However, her father and brothers made a mistake in choosing sides when the current emperor was still a prince, leading to the Tang Family being purged after the current emperor ascended the throne. Although their property was not confiscated, they were successively demoted.
Even though her nephews were good at studying and passed the imperial examinations one after another, they were not given important positions by the imperial court. They are still serving in remote and poor areas.
Lady Tang was still Youyu by the struggle for the throne, and she would never allow the Zhao Family to get involved in such a matter.