They Could Not Report It to the Authorities

Xiali was younger and close to Chuntao, always following Chuntao's lead.

She quickly echoed Chuntao's words, "Yes, that's exactly what Sister Chuntao said." Chuntao had just told her not to mention what happened last night when she fell asleep.

She knew that these masters always loved to find scapegoats. If things went wrong, she and Chuntao could both be beaten to death.

The other two who weren't on duty last night were also interrogated. Naturally, they said they knew nothing, only that they discovered the news of the master's death this morning.

Lady Su was interrogating people while crying. At this moment, she "forced back her grief" and said, "Granny, I think we should report this to the authorities."

"Madam, this... In my opinion, the way the master died was not honorable. If it is reported to the authorities and the news gets out, it may not be good. Why don't we first report to the clan head and the Earl, and let them decide?" Nanny Sun suggested.

Lady Su has always been perceived as incompetent, weak, and lacking in assertiveness.

She nodded hoarsely as she cried, "Okay."

The person she sent had just left when the butler rushed in.

Before the family was divided, Zhao Yuankun was afraid that the steward assigned to him would be someone from the old lady and Lady Zhu, so he instigated Lady Su to make trouble with the old lady and Lady Zhu, insisting on promoting one of her maids to steward. After the family was divided, that person directly became the steward.

After the family split up, Zhao Yuankun was busy seeking official positions, and after becoming an official, he was busy climbing the ranks and had no time to take care of his family. Therefore, he didn't have time to change the steward.

When Zhao Yuankun was beaten with a cane and Lady Su went to the alley entrance to cause trouble, the steward was Lady Su's personal attendant.

Later, while Zhao Yuankun was recuperating in bed, pondering his future, he immediately replaced his housekeeper.

The steward is Zhao Yuankun's former attendant and remains very loyal to him.

He was about the same age as Zhao Yuankun and had long been married with children. Last night, his son suddenly fell ill, and upon receiving the news, he rushed back to the servants' quarters at the back to watch over his son. By dawn, his son's fever had subsided, and he had finally drifted off to sleep. It was only after receiving the news that he hurried over.

"Madam, what happened? I heard the servant say that Master..." He asked anxiously, still catching his breath.

Lady Su cried until her eyes were swollen and her voice was so hoarse that she couldn't speak. She could only point into the house.

The steward glanced back and gestured to the servant who had come with him, saying, "You come in with me." Firstly, to bolster his courage, and secondly, to serve as a witness.

The two went into the house together.

Lady Su and Nanny Sun were uneasy, afraid that the two of them would notice something.

Although they had the Su Family's guards erase all traces, they were still worried that something might go wrong.

What they didn't know was that after Lady Su's guards wiped away the traces, Lady Zhu sent one of her trusted men to do the same for her.

Because she was worried that Zhao Yuanxun still had brotherly feelings for Zhao Yuankun, Lady Zhu didn't tell anyone about this except Zhao Ruxi. Not even the old lady knew.

The trusted confidant she sent was also her personal attendant.

The three butlers went inside and came out a while later, their faces extremely grim.

Zhao Yuankun's body was naked, lying there in an embarrassing position. Concubine Wu's body was the same. Both of their bodies were already cold.

"Madam, what's going on?" the steward asked, looking at Lady Su.

While crying, Lady Su pointed in the direction of the maids.

The four maids were still kneeling on the ground.

Nanny Sun then spoke up for her, saying, "Chuntao said that Concubine Wu instructed her to go to the brothel to buy aphrodisiacs for her."

housekeeper. "..."

He couldn't utter a single word of his original question.

He knew that Concubine Wu's biological mother came from a brothel; he also knew that the master was not usually interested in women, but lately he had been quite fond of Concubine Wu Concubine Wu, which made her increasingly arrogant.

If Concubine Wu used such despicable means to secure the master's favor, and something went wrong during the administration of the medicine, causing the master to suffer a stroke and die from a woman's body, that would be understandable.

It would seem inappropriate for him to question his wife further.

He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Madam, what should we do next?"

Lady Su finally stopped crying and said in a hoarse voice, "I have already sent someone to inform the clan head and the Earl."

The butler frowned.

"Madam, we can't let Master leave in such an undignified manner. Why don't we have someone go in and tidy things up?" the butler suggested.

"This..." Lady Su hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No. The master's departure was so unclear; the clan head and the earl might report it to the authorities. Although I am a woman, I understand that if they report it, it's best not to touch anything at the scene."

She raised her swollen, red eyes and looked at the butler. "You don't want your master to die without knowing why, do you?"

Although the steward sent people in to clean up, the traces would be erased again, but with the clan chief and Zhao Yuanxun here, their attention might be focused on suspecting the cause of Zhao Yuankun's death, and they might insist on reporting it to the authorities.

But if you leave it as it is, when they come and see this scene, their first reaction will be to cover it up and not let their family scandal be exposed. They will try their best to suppress the matter and not want to report it to the authorities.

Therefore, the site must not be moved under any circumstances.

Faced with Lady Su's question, the butler could say nothing more. His last remaining doubts about Lady Su dissipated.

If the master's death was suspicious, Lady Su had something to hide, she would definitely be happy for them to deal with him. Now that she insists on reporting it to the authorities, it seems that the master's death was indeed an accident and had nothing to do with Madam Su.

The group waited patiently for a while before the clan chief and Zhao Yuanxun arrived in a hurry.

The clan chief lived in a house not far from Zhao Yuankun's, not in a large, secluded courtyard, so it was easy to call him and he arrived first.

Zhao Yuanxun had already gone to the yamen. His servants had to go to the Earl of Suiping's Residence to inform him and have someone from the Earl of Suiping's Residence send someone to the yamen to call him back, which would take a long time.

Upon hearing of this, Lady Zhu arrived at the Third House beforehand. However, it was naturally inconvenient for her to visit the deceased, so she sat down with Lady Su on the veranda to comfort her.

When the clan chief arrived, he learned that Zhao Yuankun had died, and that he had suffered a sudden stroke while on horseback; his expression was extremely grim.

Unwilling to take responsibility, he didn't go in first, but waited until Zhao Yuanxun arrived before following him in for a quick look.

He came out quickly and scolded Lady Su, "This is outrageous! Why didn't you send someone in to clean up? Do you want this scandal to become common knowledge?"

Lady Su repeated what she had said to the steward.

The clan chief, who was inherently timid and irresponsible, turned to Zhao Yuanxun and asked, "Yuanxun, what do you think?"

Before Zhao Yuanxun could speak, he added, "If this gets reported to the authorities and spreads, our entire Zhao Family will be too ashamed to show our faces. You have to go to the yamen tomorrow. If this matter concerning Yuankun gets out, your official position will likely be affected."

After saying this, he made a firm decision. "No, I can't report this to the authorities."