Given my appearance, will I be unable to walk in the capital openly for the rest of my life? Besides, Ye Xingli's official position will only grow, and he will have ample opportunities to appear in public. Will her existence always suppress him? This is not what Wu Caiwei wanted.
Before she could devise a plan, rumors spread throughout the capital that the fifth young mistress of the Ye family was the illegitimate daughter of the eldest young mistress of the Duke of An Ding's mansion.
When Madam Ye heard this rumor, her teacup almost fell to the ground. Whenever she saw Wu Caiwei, she felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had met her somewhere. Due to Wu Caiwei's humble background, she had never associated her with the eldest young mistress of the Duke of An Ding's mansion.
Later, a nanny from the eldest young mistress of the Duke of An Ding's mansion visited her residence and spoke some ambiguous words, hinting that she should keep a close eye on the fifth young mistress and prevent her from going out. At that time, she only thought that the eldest young mistress had seen her son's concubine and found her to be somewhat similar in appearance, which made her very angry. After all, one was the high and mighty young mistress of a ducal mansion and the future mistress of the household, while the other was a peasant girl from the countryside. No one would be happy to be associated with her.
But this rumor was too outrageous! She had met the young ladies of the ducal mansion, and they were all younger than Wu Caiwei. If the rumor were true, it would mean that the eldest young mistress had given birth to Wu Caiwei before marrying into the Duke of An Ding's mansion.
As for the eldest young mistress of the Duke of An Ding's mansion, she had the urge to kill the couple standing before her.
Father Liu and Mother Liu, seeing the eldest young mistress's murderous glare, involuntarily took a step back. Looking at the lavishly dressed people around them, they suddenly felt a sense of fear. They had only intended to come to the capital to extort some money, but the situation seemed different from what they had imagined.
The Duke and his wife sat at the head of the table, their faces grim. The eldest son sat with his head bowed, lost in thought.
"I heard you came to the gate to look for my eldest daughter-in-law. She is standing before you now. What is it you want to say? I will see that justice is done," Madam Hou said, trying to maintain a calm tone and gently guiding them.
The couple rejoiced and quickly knelt down. Just as they were about to speak to Madam Hou, they saw the expression on the eldest young mistress's face, and the words got stuck in their throats. Seeing her parents hesitating, Qi Yue became anxious. She was a fearless young girl. It had taken them a lot of effort to bring her along this time. Wealth and glory were within reach. They had traveled thousands of miles to the capital and endured untold hardships along the way. They couldn't let it all go to waste.
She quickly interjected, "Replying to Madam, we are from Qinghe Town. Sixteen years ago, Mother encountered this Madam, who was passing by, in the back hills. She handed over a toddler girl to my mother and left reluctantly. In between, a steward-like person visited Qinghe Town to see my elder sister. A while ago, my elder sister ran away from home. We heard she was in the capital, so we came to find her."
As she spoke, Qi Yue recalled the etiquette she had learned at the county magistrate's mansion. Due to the passage of time, her delivery was somewhat clumsy.
Madam Hou frowned and asked, "How did you find our residence?"
"Mother, don't listen to their nonsense. How could I, a noble lady from an official family, go to some unknown small town? Their clothing and appearance clearly indicate they are from the countryside. Mother can investigate. I have lived in the capital my entire life and have never left. They must have mistaken me for someone else," the eldest young mistress quickly defended herself.
"How can Madam say she doesn't recognize us? I remember there was a maid named Lijuan by your side. Has she gotten married now? When we left, you repeatedly asked us to treat her well. Why are you denying it now? And didn't a steward come to our house to give us money a few years ago?" Mother Liu was anxious. What was wrong with this Madam? Her words implied that she was a swindler, but it was clearly she who had entrusted her daughter to her care.
"Speak, who sent you? How did you find out so much about us? Do you have an enemy with the Duke of An Ding's mansion?" She truly hadn't expected that after so many years, they would still remember Lijuan's name.
"Madam, we are being wronged. We raised her daughter for her, and now she is slandering us." Seeing that Madam was trying to distance herself, Mother Liu shrewdly looked at Madam Hou, who was sitting at the head of the table.
"Are you the ones spreading the rumors in the capital?" Madam Hou asked in a voice so calm it was terrifying. If this were true, the Duke of An Ding's mansion would become the biggest joke in the capital, as the eldest young mistress was the future matriarch of the mansion.
"What rumors? We only arrived in the capital yesterday. We heard that our daughter had become the young mistress of the Ye family, so we traveled thousands of miles to the capital. Upon arriving, we heard that she was actually the illegitimate daughter of the eldest young mistress of the Duke of An Ding's mansion, so we came to the ducal mansion to try our luck and see if we could meet my unfilial daughter. When she left, she had some misunderstandings with us. Knowing that she doesn't want to see us, we wanted to ask the eldest young mistress to intercede for us, as we raised her for so many years." Mother Liu looked at Madam Hou with some confusion, not understanding what she meant.
"Who told you your daughter was in the capital?"
This question stumped the Liu family. They had been walking in the small town when they overheard two men discussing the matter of Liu Yue. They were furious. Their family had lived a difficult life in the village, while she had run off to the capital to find her biological parents and live a good life. Without much thought, they packed their belongings and came to the capital. They believed what they were told because they knew in their hearts that Liu Yue was a true daughter of an official family, and with the help of her biological parents, wouldn't she marry into an official family?
Thinking back now, they felt a chill of fear. If the story was false, they would have wasted so much time and money coming to the capital only to be disappointed, with no money left for the return journey.
Seeing their expressions, Madam Hou understood. Clearly, someone had deliberately sowed discord among them, luring them to the capital. Upon their arrival, those rumors were deliberately spread to lead them to the ducal mansion. The ultimate target was likely the eldest young mistress, and the one who would oppose the eldest young mistress was likely the seemingly tranquil second young mistress. Indeed, appearances could be deceiving.
"Mother, someone wants to frame me. Please don't fall for it. It's obvious they don't want our Duke of An Ding's mansion to prosper." Hearing this, the eldest young mistress also realized that someone was deliberately orchestrating this. She and Madam Hou had reached the same conclusion. She had underestimated the second young mistress, who always appeared meek and smiled at everyone.
Madam Hou ignored her and simply ordered the three of them to be taken to a secluded courtyard, where they were essentially placed under house arrest, with limited freedom to leave.