They Would Come to Make Trouble

When A Qi returned, he didn't dare to report directly to Zhao Yuankun. Instead, he quietly found Lady Su and the steward and told them everything Zhao Wen had said.

Lady Su trembled with rage. "You little hussy! I knew she was a troublemaker. She caused chaos in the second branch of the household as soon as she returned, ultimately leading to a separation. Now she's dragging my master into this mess!"

She instructed A Qi, "I'm already so angry when I hear this, your master must be furious enough to vomit blood. Don't tell your master about this yet. Just say that someone is jealous of his competence and has offended others, so they've slandered him to the Crown Prince. You've sent a generous gift, and Zhao Wen has agreed to plead for him before the Crown Prince. There should be results soon, so he can focus on recovering."

A Qi nodded repeatedly. "Your humble servant obeys."

He entered Zhao Yuankun's room and said so. Zhao Yuankun was indeed relieved, drank the medicine, and fell into a deep sleep.

Lady Su then prepared to take her maids and servants to the main house to demand justice.

The butler quickly advised, "Madam, you won't get away with this. You only have one mouth, while they have many. The old lady is still an elder; even if they are in the wrong, what can you do to them? Even if they want to compensate, what can they compensate for? Master has lost his official position and suffered a great deal for nothing. Even if they offer money as compensation, do we care about their money?"

Lady Su thought what he said made a lot of sense, and quickly asked, "Then what's your idea?"

"If the master knew about this, he would certainly be furious. It's only right that we avenge him." He lowered his voice. "How about we do it this way, and this way..."

Lady Su's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea."

Zhao Ruxi knew that Zhao Yuankun wouldn't fare well Xiao Lingyan. The Crown Prince wouldn't take his life directly for the sake of his reputation, but while he might escape the death penalty, he couldn't escape punishment. He would definitely be flogged, and he could forget about holding an official position.

That was her goal.

Because of Zhao Yuankun in her past life, hundreds of people in the Marquis of Suiping's Residence died, were exiled, or were sold off; few of them met a good end. Bearing the burden of so many lives, Zhao Yuankun was only beaten in this life. Zhao Ruxi felt that this punishment was far too lenient and could not atone for the sins he committed in his past life.

She thought that it would take at least two or three days to see the results of this plan. Unexpectedly, as soon as she returned to the manor, she heard from Lady Zhu that Zhao Yuankun had been beaten by the men of the Office of the Grand Steward and had to be carried back.

The old lady, Zhao Yuanxun, and even Lady Zhu each had planted spies around Zhao Yuankun and Zhao Yuanliang, keeping a close eye on their movements. Therefore, they knew the news as soon as Zhao Yuankun was brought back.

"Miss Xi, do you know why he was beaten?" Lady Zhu asked.

"Know."

The old lady, Zhao Yuanxun, and Lady Zhu were all greatly surprised and asked in unison, "You know?"

It's no wonder they were making a fuss; in reality, they were far removed from the power struggles in the imperial court. Not to mention them, even Zhao Yuankun himself had to spend a lot of money to ask Zhao Wen for information. Zhao Wen only knew the inside story because he had his own connections.

Zhao Ruxi claimed to know something that even Zhao Yuankun himself found difficult to ascertain, which was truly unimaginable to the elders of the Earl of Suiping's Residence.

Lady Zhu's question just now was just a casual remark; she didn't expect Zhao Ruxi to give her any answer.

"Yes, it was me who did it." Zhao Ruxi seemed oblivious to the shocked and incredulous expressions on the faces of her three elders, her expression remaining calm. "After the Jia Family's affair, we owe my master and the Prince of Zhennan's Residence favors, and we've also made an enemy of the Jia Family. Wouldn't it be a huge loss if we didn't take advantage of this?"

"Even without this incident, Third Uncle's hatred for us wouldn't be any less. He certainly wouldn't let any opportunity to cause trouble for our family pass away. Even without the threat of him participating in the succession struggle, letting him climb the ranks would be detrimental to us. It's better to just knock him down and prevent him from ever causing any more trouble."

Upon hearing this, the old lady, Zhao Yuanxun, and Lady Zhu were speechless for a long time.

Seeing their reaction, Zhao Ruxi glanced at them but said nothing more.

She knew that her words would have a great impact on them; they would think that her methods were terrifyingly ruthless and vicious.

But if she wanted to take them away from the capital city where they had lived for generations and move to Jiangnan in two years, she needed to make them more aware of her abilities and influence.

It was naturally not good to leave such an impression when she first returned to the manor. But after some groundwork was laid, and after they recognized her abilities, understood her character, and she gained a voice in the Earl of Suiping's Residence, they were able to understand and approve of her actions once they had time to process it.

After all, they weren't fools, nor were they saints. Zhao Yuankun was a major threat; even if she didn't act, they would have to expend a lot of effort to eliminate Zhao Yuankun later.

Everyone understands the principle of "raising a tiger to cause trouble." Taking advantage of Zhao Yuankun's current weakness and defeating him in one fell swoop is the wisest choice.

Sure enough, after a while of processing the shock, all three of them accepted it well. Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu, with their own filter, exclaimed, "My son is amazing, my son is smart, my son is unparalleled in the world!" The old lady, on the other hand, looked at Zhao Ruxi with a hint of awe.

"How did you do that?" the old lady asked.

Zhao Ruxi shook her head. "You don't need to ask any more questions. At most, this matter is just that Third Uncle was implicated because of my affair with the Jia Family, and he was angered by the Crown Prince. As for the rest, just pretend it has nothing to do with us."

The three nodded, exchanged glances, and were filled with emotion.

When Zhao Ruxi asked them how they would deal with Zhao Yuankun, they treated Zhao Ruxi like a child and told her not to interfere.

Now Zhao Ruxi has quietly taken down Zhao Yuankun, telling them to ignore it and not ask any questions, just pretend nothing happened.

The roles changed way too quickly.

Zhao Ruxi was worried that the third branch of the family would come to make trouble, and the three of them seemed guilty, so she first gave them a pep talk. "They won't let this go, they'll definitely come to make trouble. Although it's because I offended Jia Junze that my third uncle was implicated, what did I do wrong? Should I have to keep a low profile just to avoid being implicated? Should I just obediently accept being humiliated when others insult me? There's no such logic in this world. So when they come to our door with their insults, we shouldn't back down, we should just insult them back."

"You're right, my daughter." Upon hearing Zhao Ruxi's words, Lady Zhu indeed became angry.

She was angry that Jia Junze had gone too far and ruined Zhao Ruxi's reputation; she was also angry that Zhao Yuankun was unreasonable and disregarded his niece's life for his own future.

As for the claim that Zhao Yuankun's fate was due to his own daughter's scheme, is that true? I've never heard of it, I don't know! Anyway, forget the details and just focus on the beginning and the end.