NFBE Chapter 518 The Person Was Caught
Chapter 518 The Person Was Caught
Seeing that Madam Cheng couldn't get a word in edgewise with Du Mingxian, Aunt Liu simply stopped talking and remained silent.
The conversation died down in just a couple of sentences. Du Mingxian glanced at Xiangyang, who immediately stepped forward and said, "Madam, you just got up and haven't taken your medicine yet. It'll get cold soon."
"Then bring it here."
Soon the medicine was served, and both Aunt Liu and Madam Cheng could smell the medicinal aroma emanating from the bowl.
After finishing her medicine, Du Mingxian put a piece of candied fruit in her mouth, which made her feel a little better. "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well. If you two don't have anything else to do, please go back now."
Madam Cheng wanted to say something more, but Aunt Liu simply shook her head gently and said nothing more.
After the people left, Du Mingxian took a sip of water before instructing Xia Yu, "Have someone investigate and find out why these two came here."
"Yes."
Du Mingxian sat in the main hall without moving. She opened the box that Aunt Liu had brought over. Inside were silver notes, each worth a thousand taels.
"That's quite a generous gesture. It seems the Zhao family has a lot of money."
Xiangyang said from the side, "Actually, what Aunt Liu gave wasn't much, after all, the master and young master of their family weren't tortured by the adults."
"This is a bribe. Keep it and have someone send it back to the Crown Prince's residence later."
She can't leave herself with this kind of leverage.
"That's what you're thinking, Madam."
Xia Yu returned quickly, bringing with her a message: "Madam, Madam Cheng has come to plead for leniency."
"Plead for mercy? What's going on?"
"The girl who was previously kept by Young Master Zhao in the villa is Madam Cheng's niece. She has been arrested and is in jail."
"Wow, this is a big deal!" Du Mingxian was in high spirits. "Now that the perpetrator has been caught, it seems those children can be rescued too."
When she thought of those children, she thought of Yu Zhaodi and Yu Pandi. "If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have brought Yu Zhaodi and Yu Pandi back with me."
“Madam is right to have her own considerations. Given Yu Dabao’s situation, if we bring him back directly, he might turn around and accuse us, making things even more difficult to resolve.”
"I……"
Before Du Mingxian could speak, a servant came in to report, "Madam, Madam Cheng requests an audience."
"They left and then came back." Xiangyang asked, puzzled.
"Since the matter wasn't settled, they definitely need to see me first. Besides... I bet Aunt Liu doesn't know that the girl Young Master Zhao is raising is Madam Cheng's niece. Otherwise, she certainly wouldn't have brought her here."
Xiangyang understood.
"Alright, bring them in." She sat there without moving, just waiting for Madam Cheng to arrive.
Soon, Madam Cheng was invited in. She was also carrying a box, much larger than Aunt Liu's. "Madam, I've come to ask you for a favor."
Du Mingxian just looked at her without saying a word.
"I wonder if Madam is aware that the magistrate has arrested a young girl."
Du Mingxian sneered, "What do you mean by that, Madam Cheng? How could I, a woman confined to the inner quarters, possibly know about what's going on outside? Although I am the wife of the county magistrate, I won't be told everything that happens in the government office."
"Whether someone is arrested or not, there must be evidence. If someone is arrested, it's someone who deserves to be arrested."
Madam Cheng's face paled, and she immediately begged for forgiveness, "Madam, please don't be angry. It was my fault for not speaking properly. I meant to say that my niece from my maternal family has been arrested."
"Did your niece do something wrong?"
"Yes." After Madam Cheng finished speaking, tears silently streamed down her face. "Her parents died when she was young. My mother wanted to raise her herself, but her maternal grandmother was a meddlesome village woman who said she was afraid that others would bully the child, so she took the child back to the village to raise her."
“My mother only needs to provide some child support each month. At first, everyone was worried and would often go to check on her, but after a long time, they treated my niece very well, so we were relieved.”
"Later, my mother had a lot of things to do at home, so it was usually the servants who went to see the children. They would also bring the children back during holidays. At first, no problems were discovered."
“As the child grew older, we noticed that she became quiet and withdrawn. My mother tried to bring her back to her family many times, but her maternal family refused.”
"The matter was delayed again and again. The children were all grown up and ready to get married, but the maternal family still refused to let them come back. My mother also fell ill because of this."
“We don’t know much about her situation. Just this morning, her maternal relatives came to our door and said that the child had been taken away by the authorities.”
"We also wanted to spend money to smooth things over, but there was nothing we could do. In the end, I could only get to know the madam through Aunt Liu's introduction."
"I don't want to ask you to release the child, madam. I just want to ask you to help me clear my name."
Du Mingxian finally understood. It turned out that the child had been raised by his maternal grandmother's family, who were exploiting his paternal grandmother's family. As a result, the child had been raised in a bad way. Now that the child was in trouble, the maternal grandmother's family had come to his paternal grandmother's family, asking them to help him.
"Why didn't you say anything when you and Aunt Liu came in? Why did you have to wait until Aunt Liu left before you spoke up?"
Madam Cheng swayed slightly, and finally said resignedly, "I heard that the young master of the Zhao family was arrested a few days ago because he was keeping a girl in his villa. That girl is my niece."
“Aunt Liu is unaware of this matter, so… I don’t want Aunt Liu to know either.”
"You're quite frank," Du Mingxian said, staring at Madam Cheng. Seeing that she was telling the truth, and considering the nature of these ladies' diplomacy, "How much do you know about your niece?"
"Young Master Zhao took the county magistrate to a place that was actually an abandoned house. I don't know why my niece said that, but the people she brought to the county who were called family members were neither her maternal grandmother's family nor her maternal family."
“I don’t know exactly who it was. I asked her maternal grandmother’s family, and they said that around that time, my niece told them that she was going to go back to live with my maternal family.”
“The girl is growing up and wants to go back to her own home. Even if her maternal grandmother’s family has many ideas, they can’t watch her forever. In the end, they just let her go.”
"So she told her maternal grandmother's family about the absurdity, and during that time she lived with those so-called family members in the Zhao family's villa."
Du Mingxian nodded gently, "Good, you're quite clear-headed. Do you know about the human slave trade that caused such a stir a couple of days ago? The Zhao family's villa is another exit, so the adults need to find the people inside."
"Besides, my niece is the key person right now. Tell me... what can I do to get your niece out?"
Madam Cheng only had a vague understanding of the matter, and after hearing the whole story, she was completely stunned. "Is there really no other way?"