SFS Chapter 213 Removing from the Family Tree
Chapter 213 Removing from the Family Tree
The Duke and his wife's faces darkened when they smelled the odor in the room.
"Erlang's condition had been stable until now. Why did he suddenly fall ill?" The Second Madam asked suspiciously, pointing to Jiang, who was standing at the door: "You went to the Duke's mansion to report the news. Do you know something inside?"
Jiang was trembling and shaking all over, and dared not speak.
The second wife frowned: "Come in and give your report."
Jiang was so nervous about the person she was about to meet that her palms started to sweat. She took a step, tripped over the threshold, and fell at the feet of the second mistress.
She scrambled to her feet, looked up and met Shen Qingtan's eyes. Her pupils contracted, and she quickly lowered her head.
The second wife looked down on Jiang's unseemly appearance. Seeing her trembling like a leaf and cold sweat beading on her forehead, she frowned in displeasure.
She asked, "You said you wanted to save your daughter, so who would want to harm your daughter?"
Jiang's lips trembled: "I...I..."
"Your daughter serves by Second Madam's side, who would dare to harm her?" Second Madam said with a fierce look. "Second Master was in trouble, and Second Madam kept it a secret. How come your information is so good that you got the news before us?"
Suddenly, her tone changed: "Could it be that you harmed Erlang?"
"No...it wasn't me..." Jiang denied vehemently, stammering, "It was...it was realgar..."
"No wonder I smelled something strange in the room, it was realgar..." The second madam's expression suddenly changed, and she looked abruptly at Shen Qingtan: "How could there be realgar in a temple?"
Tingxue replied, "The monk in charge of the guest said there are many mosquitoes and snakes in the temple, so he burned realgar to repel them."
The second wife said coldly, "The temple never sprinkles realgar, let alone applies it; otherwise, it would be considered killing."
Tingxue hurriedly explained, "But...but Master said it's been four or five days..."
"We haven't seen any realgar anywhere else along our journey, only in your quarters." The second madam looked at Shen Qingtan and said meaningfully, "Niece-in-law, aren't you going to explain?"
“The realgar was applied at the temple to repel insects.” Shen Qingtan, her eyes misty with tears, looked both fragile and helpless. “Realgar is slightly poisonous, but it didn’t affect us. Second Master’s illness had nothing to do with the realgar; he was…”
The second wife interrupted Shen Qingtan: "Everyone in the manor knows that Erlang's illness cannot be aggravated by the smell of realgar."
She said sarcastically, "Niece-in-law, as Erlang's bedmate, you must know this, right?"
“Second Master’s illness wasn’t triggered by the realgar; it was because of the medicine he took,” Shen Qingtan explained earnestly.
"Are you still going to try to deny it?" The second madam sneered. "Second Master didn't just take his medicine today; he takes it every day. Why is he fine on other days, but has an accident today?"
"I……"
"Liu Yue, who is by your side, just went back to her parents' home a while ago, right?" the Second Madam said aggressively. "So that's why Liu Yue's mother knew about Erlang's illness in advance. It turns out that you made Liu Yue find an excuse to go back to her parents' home to visit him, and secretly bribed someone to put realgar in the dormitory to murder Erlang."
"Liuyue's mother was afraid that if things were exposed, Liuyue would not escape death, so she came to the Duke's mansion to beg us to save Erlang. As long as Erlang is safe, Liuyue will be safe too."
"Now that you've been recognized as a princess and granted the title of a county princess, you despise Erlang for being sickly and want to kill him. Why don't you choose another good husband?"
At this point, the second wife said with a chill in her heart, "We have treated you well, but we never expected you to be so vicious!"
Seeing that the Second Madam wouldn't listen to her, Shen Qingtan seemed somewhat powerless to explain, and looked at Jiang, who was kneeling on the ground: "Liu Yue Niang, please speak the truth for me, did I conspire with Liu Yue to harm the Second Master?"
The second wife said slowly, "Think it over carefully before you speak. The Duke and the Old Madam are very fair and kind. If you are coerced or tempted, they will show mercy and will not harm you or your family."
Jiang shuddered, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes tightly: "Liuyue's father's leg wasn't injured. Second Madam and Liuyue used this as an excuse to send Liuyue home, take realgar from home to the temple, and then bribe someone to set it on fire in the room where Second Master and Second Madam lived, thus murdering Second Master without anyone knowing."
Upon hearing this, the second wife felt her heart sink completely.
She lowered her head, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.
This time, even if a god descended to earth, he couldn't save Shen Qingtan.
Her face was contorted with anger, and she was about to confront Shen Qingtan when she heard Jiang continue, "Second Madam bribed me with money to frame Second Madam like this."
The second wife's expression changed drastically.
“Second Madam has treated my family very well. Knowing that the head of the household had broken his leg, she gave us ginseng that had been growing for decades without batting an eye. How could I be so heartless as to frame Second Madam?” Madam Jiang took out a money bag from her bosom: “All the money Second Madam gave us is here.”
The second wife retorted angrily, "You're lying! When did I bribe you? You and Shen Qingtan are in cahoots, deliberately framing me."
She said anxiously to the Duke and the old lady, "Father, Mother, I have been wronged. Her husband's leg is not injured. Liuyue has nothing to hide, so why did she say that her father's leg was injured and that she asked for leave to visit him in the hospital?"
Jiang's tears had dried up, and she said in a choked voice, "The master's leg is injured."
Last night, Shen Qingtan's men broke into her house and interrogated her about who had instructed them.
She refused to speak, and not only did she take away her son, but she also broke the head of the household's leg.
They threatened her that if she didn't do as the second grandmother said, they would collect her son's body the next day.
She only had this one son, and she accepted the second wife's money only for his sake. What use would the money be to her without a son?
Having witnessed the ruthless methods of the second mistress, she confessed everything in detail.
Now, Jiang is filled with remorse, regretting that he was blinded by greed and got his hands on this hot potato of money.
Upon hearing this, the second wife had a bad feeling.
Just then, the physician from the corner came over and said, "My lord, Liuyue's father broke his leg and it hasn't gotten better. The second mistress took pity on him and ordered me to treat his leg."
The second wife was dumbfounded, suddenly recalling the appearance of Jiang Shi that she had seen at the Duke's mansion.
Her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked haggard.
Could it be that the matter has been exposed, and that Shen Qingtan, that vicious woman, broke Liuyue's father's leg and threatened the Jiang family to turn against them?
The second wife said unwillingly, "Father..."
"Shut up." The Duke looked coldly at the Second Madam: "Whether Liuyue's father's leg is broken or not can be found out with a simple examination. The physician has no reason to lie."
The second wife's face turned deathly pale, and she still wanted to argue.
“You’re right. As his wife, I know best which medicines can trigger Yi’er’s illness.” The Duke’s face was cold and stern: “Yi’er’s wife is trying to harm him. The medicine served in this room today is not realgar.”
The second wife was bewildered and didn't quite understand the meaning behind the words.
"Realgar will not trigger Yi'er's illness," the old lady said with disappointment. "The various remedies that are said to trigger Yi'er's illness are just a smokescreen. If the real cause were revealed, wouldn't others be able to easily harm him if they wanted to?"
The second wife's mind went blank. She was trying to scheme against Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi, but in the end, she fell into her own trap.
It's a complete admission without being asked.
"Second Aunt, I just said that Second Master had taken medicine and was feeling unwell. You wouldn't listen to my explanation and insisted that I used realgar to harm him." Shen Qingtan's eyes gradually turned cold: "So it was you who wanted to harm him and frame me."
"I……"
Shen Qingtan interrupted the Second Madam and demanded justice from the Duke standing to the side.
“Grandfather, if realgar weren’t something that wouldn’t trigger Second Master’s illness, Second Aunt’s vicious methods might have…”
Shen Qingtan's eyes were red: "Please, grandfather, give your granddaughter-in-law and second master an explanation."
The last shred of mercy the Duke had for the second branch of the family vanished, and his aged voice, tinged with weariness, said, "Remove the second branch from the family genealogy."