Finding Zhao Ruyu

Wei Qiu didn't take the conflict between the Lady Wei and the Marquis of Suiping's Residence's household to heart. After all, the men in the Marquis of Suiping's Residence's household were all incompetent; not even one of them was capable of attending court. So what if the Lady Wei caused her mother-in-law to have a stroke? Did they think the Marquis of Suiping's Residence would dare to make a scene?

Unexpectedly, the matter escalated to the point of reaching the imperial court. He was impeached by the censor and reprimanded by the emperor in front of all the officials, losing face greatly and feeling extremely depressed.

When he returned home, he found that his wife had also been summoned to the palace and was severely reprimanded by the Empress Dowager, who scolded her for failing to properly educate her daughter, causing her to be disobedient, arrogant, and unfilial.

Thinking about the way his colleagues looked at him, he was furious and brought up Lady Wei again to give her a good scolding.

After he finished scolding her, he said to his wife, "Tomorrow, take some things to the Marquis's residence and apologize on behalf of Liniang."

If Madam Wei Lady Wei could raise a daughter like Wei, then she was not a well-mannered or polite person.

She immediately glared at them and said, "Apologize to them? Dream on. Who spread these rumors? If they hadn't told those married-out women, and they went back and spread the gossip, would you have been reprimanded by the Emperor? They're the ones who should apologize. These people, calling themselves noble ladies, bah! They're always gossiping and worse than the old women in our village."

She waved her hand. "Don't worry about this. I'll go and demand justice from them tomorrow. This is outrageous!"

"Exactly," Lady Wei had just been scolded, immediately chimed in.

Wei Qiu slammed his fist on the table. "Nonsense! I've already been reprimanded by the Emperor today, and you still dare to cause trouble at the Marquis's residence. Do you think the censors haven't impeached me enough?"

Madam Wei and Lady Wei dared not speak.

After a long pause, Madam Wei reluctantly said, "Alright, I understand."

She secretly vowed to first bow down to the Marquis of Suiping's Residence, and once the matter was over and the censors stopped targeting their family, she would then take action to punish those people.

Wei Qiu had the same thought.

It seems he needs to find some Ministry of War officials aligned with the Third Prince and have them sabotage Zhao Yuanxun. Zhao Yuanxun holds a military post, while he is a civil official; the two positions are unrelated. Now he needs to find a way to get rid of Zhao Yuanxun's sinecure, lest he use that worthless title to bully his daughter all the time.

The Wei Family never suffers a loss, no matter what they eat.

Lady Wei's eyes darted around.

First it was Li Mu's family, then it was Concubine Wang's affair, and now they've sent her back to her parents' home, yet they still dare to spread rumors outside. These events, happening one after another, always made her feel uneasy.

In the past, whether it was the Li Mu incident or yesterday when she angered the old lady to the point of illness, the old lady and the first wife would have acted like cowards, swallowing their anger and enduring the matter for the sake of the peace of the entire Marquis's mansion.

But the First Madam acted out of character, her attitude was unusually tough. Moreover, she aired her dirty laundry in public, telling her married daughters about it and letting them go home and spread the word, making it known throughout the capital. In just one day, it even reached the ears of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

This aggressive attitude is really abnormal.

Could it be that Lady Zhu knows about that matter?

But how did she know?

You should know that, besides herself, the only person in the world who knew she had switched the babies was the runaway midwife.

How did Lady Zhu, who knew nothing about the midwife, know that she had been searching for her for years without success? Surely the midwife didn't have a daughter-in-law who knew what her mother-in-law had done and went to the authorities to sue her?

What a coincidence!

She touched her wildly beating heart and decided that no matter what happened, she couldn't just surrender like this.

She stood up and said to Wei Qiu and Madam Wei, "Father, Mother, I'm going out for a bit."

"Stop right there." Wei Qiu's face darkened. "What are you doing running out at a time like this? Do you think someone won't point their fingers at you and yell at you? Get back to your room and stay there. You're not going anywhere. The Marquis's mansion will send someone to pick you up in a while."

"I'm going to find Miss Yu," said Lady Wei. "I need to tell her to check on the situation in the manor, so we don't end up completely in the dark."

"You don't need to go," Madam Wei. "Just send a servant back to inquire."

"Oh, Mother, I have something to say to Miss Yu," said Lady Wei. "I won't go to the Marquis's residence; I'll wait at the entrance of the Women's Academy, say a few words to her, and then come back."

"Why not just send a servant to call Ruyu back? Why do you have to go yourself?" Madam Wei couldn't understand her daughter's thinking at all.

The Lady Wei is currently in the eye of the storm. If they go out and people see them, they will inevitably point fingers and gossip, and it would be bad if they caused any more trouble.

"It's alright. I'll hide in the carriage and say a few words to her, making sure no one sees us. Ruyu returns to the Wei Residence and is seen by someone, it'll cause a lot of trouble."

Lady Wei spoke, before Wei Qiu and Madam Wei could say anything more, she lifted her skirt and walked out.

Madam Wei wanted to complain to her husband a bit more, but then she saw Wei Qiu stand up.

"I'm going to my study. Don't bother me." Wei Qiu waved his hand and walked out with his hands behind his back.

Lady Wei knew the time when Zhao Ruyu would be dismissed from school, so she waited for her in the carriage not far from the gate of the Capital Women's Academy a little earlier, and sent a young maid from the Wei Residence who was unfamiliar with her to guard the gate.

Seeing Zhao Ruyu come out, the little maidservant quickly went to greet her, "Miss, Miss."

When Zhao Ruyu saw her, her heart sank. She said goodbye to her friend and pulled the maid aside, "What are you doing here?"

"Your aunt is looking for you; she's in the carriage over there." The maid pointed to the Wei Residence's carriage parked not far away.

The news of Wei Qiu's impeachment caused a great stir in the city, and Zhao Ruyu already knew about it even while she was at the academy.

At this moment, she desperately wanted to ignore Lady Wei. But she knew that if she did, Lady Wei might do something crazy right there at the academy gate.

She had no choice but to carry her book bag and walk towards the carriage.

"Come on up." Lady Wei was more enthusiastic and affectionate towards Zhao Ruyu than ever before. She personally pulled back the curtain for her, pulled her up, poured her a cup of tea, and pushed some snacks in front of her. "Are you hungry? Here, have a snack first."

Zhao Ruyu was in a very bad mood and didn't bother beating around the bush with Lady Wei, so she asked directly, "What do you want?"

Lady Wei was not a good-natured woman, and she got angry when she saw that Zhao Ruyu was being disrespectful.

She knew this adopted daughter was shrewd, and that coaxing wouldn't work, so she cut to the chase. "I suppose you've noticed. Ever since your fifth sister returned to the Marquis's mansion, the Old Madam and the First Madam have doted on her. Even though you've been accepted into the Capital Women's Academy, it seems you can't compare to her standing in their hearts. So I want you to find a way to lure Zhao Ruxi out. I don't want to do anything special, I just want her to marry into the Wei Family. I promise you, as long as your fifth sister marries into the Wei Family, I'll do everything in my power to ensure you marry the Marquis of Pingnan smoothly."

She stared intently into Zhao Ruyu's eyes, not allowing her to back down in the slightest. "How is it?"