Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 282: Not Relying on the Zhen Family

Early that morning, a family letter was sent from the side of the Taishang camp's tent and went straight to the back house of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion in Yingtian Prefecture.

Ding Mingyi's wife Zhen had just finished taking care of her household chores when she received a "letter from home" from her husband and was extremely surprised.

However, seeing that the messenger was not Ding Mingyi's personal guard, he realized that something bigger might have happened, so he remained calm and said with a smile, "My children at home are in urgent need of something, so I am sorry for delaying you."

He also ordered people to give rewards.

The messenger took the reward and left.

Zhen narrowed her eyes, took the letter and said she had a headache. She returned to her inner room and asked her confidant to guard the door before she opened the letter.

After taking a look, he was shocked and his face changed drastically!

With trembling fingers, he read the entire letter in one breath, then took a deep breath, gripped the corner of the table tightly, and his face flushed.

The confidant maid guarding the door turned around and looked at her, startled, and couldn't help but ask her softly: "Madam, do you want some hot tea?"

Zhen was awakened by the sound. She shook her head quickly, went to the desk, ground the ink herself, and wrote a letter quickly.

He sealed the mouth himself, called the maid over, and whispered to her, "There are ready-made plum blossom cakes in the kitchen, which were just made today.

"Take it with you, go back, and give the letter to the old lady in person. Then wait there and tell her that I am waiting for your reply."

The nanny was worried: "Madam, nothing bad happened, right?"

"Not yet. You'll know when you come back." Zhen quickly sent the nanny out.

However, after thinking it over again, he quickly picked up his pen and wrote another letter, sealed it tightly, and called someone to tell him:

"Immediately hand it over to the post station, and send it to the capital at an expedited rate of 800 miles!"

Zhen family.

The old lady with silver hair called the eldest son, Master Zhen, who was the president of the Jinling Provincial Imperial Envoy and the Tirenyuan, and handed him the letter, and read it with a worried look on her face:

"Yingniang's affairs can no longer be covered up."

Master Zhen read the letter at a glance and was a little uncertain: "Is this really talking about Yingniang and her siblings?"

The old lady's face was as gloomy as water: "That's right. I didn't know where the little beast went after escaping, but now I know that he went to Gusu to guard his sister!

"At the beginning, the Queen Mother issued an edict to reprimand us, saying that our family should not have done anything reckless to cover up the shame, and also said that Yingniang's embroidery was the most authentic and beautiful in the world..."

When the old lady said this, a trace of disgust flashed across her face, "If Yingniang had not been Lin's concubine at that time, I'm afraid she would have issued an order to let her return to her family!

"So, since someone with the surname Lin is mentioned, it must be Ying Niang!"

Master Zhen frowned and twirled his beard, thinking carefully for a while, then sighed and said tactfully: "Ying Niang also wanted to subsidize her unpromising aunt.

"Mother, why don't you give her brother and sister a chance to have a child, considering how obedient she has always been?"

The old lady snorted and leaned back on the big soft pillow beside her: "Does it still depend on me whether I stay or not?"

Master Zhen sighed, nodded, and said, "In that case, I will write back to my little sister."

"Tell her, I know she is also a concubine's daughter, and out of sympathy for her own kind, there's no guarantee that she won't want to do something more.

“But she also thought carefully about what good it would be for her children to have such an aunt!

"What good will it do for her children to have an uncle like that and a cousin who becomes a concubine?

"She must not forget that she has only married her daughter-in-law for a few days, and she still has a little daughter who is not married yet!"

Master Zhen just felt a headache, but he had to agree and retreat.

Before lunch, the nanny came back with the letter.

Zhen didn't have time to eat. She read the letter first and couldn't help but feel upset. She couldn't eat anymore. She just took the letter back to her room and fell on the bed crying.

Ding Mingyi was restless as he did not receive a reply from his wife until the evening.

Dai Quan saw through it, quietly pulled him out of the camp, and asked him, "Want to go home?"

Ding Mingyi was startled, then he reacted and bowed to the ground: "The Minister is very insightful! I wrote a letter to my wife this morning, but there is still no reply!"

Dai Quan sighed and asked in a low voice: "How are the sisters?"

"My wife is still teaching her youngest daughter needlework and she uses her elder sister as a role model.

"Every time she privately tells me about the death of my eldest daughter, she cries.

"I regret that I happened to go to my uncle's house with my elder sister to play at that time, so I didn't see him for the last time."

Ding Mingyi was displeased, "Who knew the Zhen family was so black-hearted!"

Dai Quan tactfully advised: "The girls in the boudoirs of the aristocratic families have their needlework all over the world. It's not all wrong.

“Your Madam must have discussed with her family what to do.

"The Zhen family is in a difficult position. If they do it, it will be like admitting a scandal that happened many years ago. I'm afraid the marriages of the children in the family will be in trouble in the future.

"No, the Supreme Lord has already known that Princess Zhaoqing has even revealed the details of the case. Jiangning County is a stubborn person, and I think he must seek justice.

"It is better for the county magistrate to take charge now. I am afraid that the Zhen family will not be able to escape the entanglement of Jiangning County."

Yin thought for a while and whispered, "Otherwise, you should go back. Tai Shang will understand and won't ask any more questions."

Ding Mingyi bowed repeatedly, expressing his gratitude: "Thank you, old minister, for your understanding!"

"Well! Although my family has no home, after so many years of ups and downs, I found that every family is the same: success and failure are all due to Xiao He.

"As strong-willed and wise as the women were when they were young, they become as willful and stubborn when they grow old. There's nothing we can do about it."

Dai Quan waved his hand and told him to leave quickly, "Come and serve me tomorrow!"

Ding Mingyi agreed and couldn't wait to go home.

When he entered the backyard, he saw his two sons, daughter-in-law and daughters, all sitting together in the side rooms of the main courtyard, with worried looks on their faces.

He hurriedly asked what was the matter.

The youngest daughter came up to report: "Mother has not eaten either lunch or dinner. We thought she was unwell, but she refused to let the doctor see her.

"We sisters and sisters-in-law wanted to go and take a look but were not allowed in. Mammy just told mother to lie down quietly for a while.

"But we are really worried and are discussing whether we should send a message to father."

Ding Mingyi immediately understood that it must be the Zhen family who had stabbed his wife's heart. Veins bulged on his forehead and he cursed in his heart.

Fearing that she might scare the children, she suppressed her anger and comforted her little daughter, "Don't worry. Your mother is fine."

He also ordered his eldest son and daughter-in-law, "You should take more care of the household chores these days."

Finally, he couldn't help himself and added, "Don't tell the Zhen family about our family's affairs for the time being!"

The children were suddenly shocked.

Ding Mingyi could no longer care about them. He waved his hand and told them to leave, then hurried back to the upper room to see Zhen.

Sure enough, Zhen was crying on the bed, her eyes swollen as peaches.

Ding Mingyi sighed in his heart and sat next to her.

They are an old married couple, so they didn't beat around the bush and said directly: "Tell me face to face in Daming Palace that your stepmother is old and unlucky.

"Don't pay attention to her. Our family name is Ding, not Zhen.

"I was able to become the Governor-General of Liangjiang not because of the Zhen family, but because of my own ability!"

Zhen turned over and sat up, hugged her husband and burst into tears!