Chapter 505: Here to Support Fang Jinxiu

Chapter 505: Here to Support Fang Jinxiu

Lu Shen said irritably, "How would I know what it's about? Humph, to see that wretched Fang Jinxiu, of course."

The person she hated the most was Lady Zheng, even more than Lady Wang.

It was rumored that Lady Zheng had sent someone to give silver to Erya, trying to bribe her and seal her lips so she wouldn't report anything.

Lady Lu thought for a moment and said, "I don't think it's that simple."

Ever since she and Qingqing had their argument, Qingqing hadn't visited again. She sensed that this visitor had ulterior motives.

Lu Shen was taken aback, "What did she say then?"

Lady Lu shook her head, "Nothing. She's in the flower hall now, and I've let Fang Jinxiu talk to her."

"Let her be. Do whatever she wants; we'll just ignore her."

"Oh no, we can't do that. Just because that Qingqing has good fortune. She herself isn't much, but her children are quite successful. Her eldest son is the Duke of Zhenan, and her youngest daughter is the Empress. How could her maternal brothers suffer? In the future, Qingqing's other two sons won't be far behind. With such a family, even if Qingqing were a pile of dog shit, we can't step on her casually."

"Then what should we do? We can't just let this pile of dog shit smear our faces, can we?"

"That's true, which is why I'm here to discuss it with you."

"Discuss what? You don't even know why she's here."

"It's not hard to guess. Why else would she come to our house? It must be about her adopted daughter, Fang Jinxiu. I suspect she wants us to restore Fang Jinxiu's status as a wife."

"Pah." Lu Shen spat, "She dreams. For all the wicked things that woman has done, I didn't sell her only because of my two sons."

Speaking of that matter, Lady Lu felt a bit guilty.

The incident where she had given Erya medicine, though partly due to Fang Jinxiu's instigation, was largely her own fault.

The timing was wrong, but she should have waited until after the birth.

What if, like Ning'er, the child resembled its father?

Thinking about it, she regretted it, but it also indirectly proved that her sons could have children with other women, not just Fang Jinxiu.

Lady Lu said, "Let's not bring up the past. Fang Jinxiu definitely can't be sold; Qingqing would fight to the death. From now on, treat her as a free wet nurse for Ning'er and Huan'er. Huan'er is still nursing."

"Mother is right. That's what I thought too; otherwise, I would have dealt with her long ago."

As they were talking, a maid came over, and they fell silent.

"Old Lady, Master, Lady Zheng has sent me to ask when you will be available."

Now, Lu Shen had become the face of the Lu family, having been promoted from young master to master.

Lady Lu naturally became the old lady of the Lu family.

Lady Lu glanced at Lu Shen and whispered, "See? She's here, definitely for this matter."

Lu Shen held back his anger, "Then let's go. I want to see what she has to say."

"Alright."

After saying this, Lady Lu instructed the maid to call Wang Fuzhen and Erya as well.

The entire family went to the flower hall together.

Now, Lady Zheng's status was different. She and Lady Lu sat at the top, while Lu Shen and Wang Fuzhen sat on either side below. Wang Fuzhen's subordinate seat was occupied by Fang Jinxiu, and opposite her, on Lu Shen's subordinate side, sat Erya.

Erya and Lu Shen occasionally hooked their little fingers and winked at each other, provocatively glancing at Fang Jinxiu, making her clench her teeth in anger.

At this moment, Lady Zheng was exchanging pleasantries with Lady Lu, making small talk.

Once they finished, they got to the main topic.

"I came today mainly about the matter of Jinxiu being demoted from wife to concubine. Such a significant matter, you handled it yourselves without informing me. I find that inappropriate. Regardless of whether you divorced her or demoted her, shouldn't you have informed me?"

Lady Lu's smile froze, and she looked at her son, Lu Shen, who was sitting below.

Lu Shen remained silent with a dark expression.

Lady Lu smiled and said, "Yes, yes, we should have informed you, Mother-in-law."

"No, if my Jinxiu is not a wife, I cannot accept the title of Mother-in-law from you, Lady Lu."

"This... Alright, Lady Zheng."

Lady Zheng huffed in anger.

"At the time, we didn't inform you because you were still Lady Zheng, but Jinxiu was no longer part of the Zheng family. Your husband announced it in front of guests, severing ties with Jinxiu, declaring her as Fang from then on. Her parents are dead, and there is a younger brother, but we only needed to inform him."

Lady Zheng was furious, "That boy, who hasn't even grown his hair, can he make decisions?"

"You can't say that. The Fang family has no one left. Even if he is young, he is still the head of the household."

Lady Zheng pursed her lips and said coldly, "I don't recognize this."

Lady Lu laughed, "If you don't recognize it, then unless your family acknowledges Jinxiu's identity, we will find it very difficult."

"Are you deliberately making things difficult for me? You know my stubborn husband won't agree."

"This..." Lady Lu smiled apologetically, "You are now the mother of the Empress. How dare we make things difficult for you? We only hope you will be magnanimous and not make things difficult for us commoners."

"You... Is this your attitude?" Lady Zheng was livid.

Now she understood what Fang Jinxiu meant when she said she was bullied by this family; they were clearly out to victimize others.

Opposite, Wang Fuzhen snorted coldly, "Madam Zheng, we welcome your esteemed visit to our Lu family, but you are, after all, an outsider. It might be inappropriate for you to meddle in the internal affairs of our family, wouldn't it?"

Madam Zheng's gaze shifted to Wang Fuzhen. She had long wanted to scold her, and now was the perfect opportunity.

"It was you, this venomous woman, who did this. Do you think I don't know? You tricked Jinxiu into becoming a concubine under the pretense of securing the family estate."

Wang Fuzhen suddenly laughed, "Oh, how could that be considered trickery? She herself didn't want the wealth of the main house to fall into the hands of the second or third houses, so she came to me for cooperation. I helped her son fight for the family estate, and she agreed to demote herself to a concubine. This was a mutually agreeable transaction. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't it you, Madam Zheng, who originally suggested this idea to her and advised her to seek my help?"

These words left Madam Zheng speechless.

At that time, when Jinxiu returned to her natal home in tears, she had hoped that Madam Zheng would seek help from Zheng Ji.

Zheng Ji, that stubborn mule, would never have helped.

Knowing that seeking help from Zheng Ji was futile, she had thus advised Jinxiu to cooperate with Wang Fuzhen, thinking that if they worked together, they could secure the family estate first, and then they could discuss how to divide it later.

But she hadn't expected Wang Fuzhen to be such a despicable person, proposing that Jinxiu become a concubine.

At this moment, Fang Jinxiu said with a pained expression, "At the time, to protect the wealth of the main house, I didn't weigh my personal gains and losses too carefully. Whatever Zhenzhen said, I agreed to."

Hearing Fang Jinxiu speak like this, Madam Zheng felt even more distressed.

In her view, Jinxiu had shown great understanding and had been taken advantage of by Wang Fuzhen.