Chapter 369
Chapter 369
Qiao Jinniang said to Lady Qian, “Then let’s go to my small courtyard and have a talk. When you were young, you often came to my small courtyard.”
The small courtyard was not far from hundred savory building. Lady Qian had originally lived opposite her house, but after she got married, the house here was sold.
When Qiao Jinniang entered the small courtyard, she found that nothing had changed. It was rebuilt and repaired. It could be seen that Lu Chen had put in a lot of effort to restore this house.
Qian followed Qiao Jinniang to the hall of the small courtyard and whispered, “Jinniang, do you still remember Mei Canruo?”
Qiao Jinniang still had quite an impression of Mei canruo. She was quite a maverick in the academy.
It was said that her ancestor was a famous aristocratic family in Jin Ling, the Mei family. The Mei family even had a prime minister in the current dynasty.
During the glorious era of the late emperor, it had once made people feel that the aristocratic family had revived.
However, when Qiao Jinniang met her, the Mei family had already fallen. She remembered that when she was almost eleven years old, Mei Canruo couldn’t afford to pay her tuition fees and was almost expelled from the academy.
She heard that Mei Canruo’s parents had already been killed according to the law. She relied on a pair of loyal servants who had already left the Mei family to support her and survive. At that time, she heard that it was the loyal servants who sold her daughter as a slave, that was why Mei Canruo had been allowed to continue studying in the academy.
The girls in the academy were somewhat displeased with Mei canruo. It was also because of Mei Canruo’s bearing as a legitimate daughter of an aristocratic family.
At that time, other than Qiao Jinniang and Qiu Su, who were businesswomen in the Academy’s Heaven Class, which one of them was not from an official family? They all hated Mei Canruo’s lofty and lofty bearing.
Qiao Jinniang didn’t like Mei canruo either. She didn’t make fun of her for being a merchant daughter, but whenever she passed by, she would cover her nose with her faded silk handkerchief.
When others asked her why she covered her nose, she said she couldn’t smell the stench of money.
Qiao Jinniang was also young at that time. She loved to wear bright little dresses in front of Mei canruo. She wore the best silk and used the best perfume, which was much more fragrant than Mei Canruo’s two sets of dresses every year.
However, ever since Mei Canruo had relied on her loyal servants to come to the academy to study, Qiao Jinniang had also become more sensible and was no longer so childish.
Lady Qian said, “After you left the academy that year, the women in the Academy did not associate with you. It was because of Mei canruo.”
“Wasn’t it because they were afraid of offending the young master of the Lin ‘an magistrate’s office at that time?”
Qiao Jinniang asked. When her parents were seriously ill, she had no choice but to leave the school. In fact, many of her classmates who were in the same class as her had also dropped out of school at that time.
However, they often had banquets. After Qiao Jinniang left the school, her classmates who had been her classmates for ten years did not interact with her. Even when she married Lu Chen, no one came to write a letter to them.
It was not until that year when Qiu Su came to Chang ‘an that Qiao Jinniang heard from Qiu Su that she did not come to her wedding because she was afraid of offending the young master of the Lin ‘an prefect.
Lady Qian shook her head and said, “No. At that time, I was washing clothes for the caretakers of those young ladies’manors. When I went to their courtyard, I heard Mei canruo gossiping about you behind their backs.
“At that time, I did not think to tell you. It was not until a few years ago when something happened to Lord Yang of the Jinling Prefect’s family that I went to the Yang family to deliver the washed clothes. I heard Lady Yang and Lord Yang complain, “It turns out that their daughter, Yang Qinqing, caused the death of Miss Li from the Yue Kiln to slander you. It was because of Mei Canruo’s instigation.”
Qiao Jinniang heard this and thought of Miss Li, who had died prematurely. She asked, “If Yang Qinqing was wronged, why didn’t he file a complaint?”
Madam Qian said, “Back then, the Mei family in Jinling and the Xie family in Lin ‘an were both aristocratic families in the Jiangnan area. The ancestors of the two families were in-laws. I heard Lord Yang say that Mei canruo would be Lord Xie’s concubine in the future.
“He has already been demoted. In the future, if he wants to stay in the Jiangnan officialdom, why should he offend the Xie Family?
“Moreover, Mei Canruo did not make a move. He only instigated Yang Qinqing.”
Hong Ling served Qian Jin a cup of tea. Qian Jin took the cup of tea and thanked her profusely, “Jin Niang, you must be careful of Mei canruo. She is a scheming person.”
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Qiao jinniang sneered, “The concubine of Master Xie? Mei canruo said it herself?”
Lady Qian said, “This is a secret that will not be spread among the big families in Jiangnan.”. This matter has been brooding in my heart for a long time. I wanted to tell it to glutinous rice, but I was afraid that glutinous rice would have a bad temper. Moreover, you are in Chang ‘an, and Mei Canruo is in Lin ‘an. She would not harm you, and her hands would not be so long.
However, since you came back this time, I felt that I should give you some advice first. If you don’t believe me, I can invite my former schoolmates to have a gathering.
When you left Lin ‘an and disappeared without a trace, the Qiao family clan slandered you for adultery, so after being divorced, they left in shame. Miss Wei, Miss Feng, and the others even spoke up for you…”
Qiao Jinniang said, “Thank you, Sister Qian, for telling me about this.”
Mei canruo… she really thought that Mei canruo was so noble back then. She didn’t expect that she had done so many things behind her back. It was really disgusting.
Qiao Jinniang returned to her room and saw Lu Chen sitting by the window. She told Lu Chen what the Qian family had said.
After Lu Chen heard it, he said, “Now that you mention it, I remember that there was indeed a young lady who claimed to be from the Mei family in Jin Ling. She came to me and said some nonsense.”
“What did she say to you?”
Lu Chen smiled faintly and said, “That was half a month after we got married. She told me that you were unruly and capricious in the academy and that you liked to hit people and disrespected your elders…”
“She actually came to you behind my back to say this. Why didn’t you tell me at that time? How did you answer her back then?”Qiao Jinniang asked.
If she had known ten years ago that Mei Canruo had said so many bad things about her behind her back, she would have torn Mei Canruo’s mouth apart!
Lu Chen said, “You’re not allowed to be angry?”
“Of course not,”Qiao Jinniang said. “It’s already been ten years. I’m not such an angry person.”
Lu Chen said, “When I replied to her back then, not only were you unruly and hot-tempered, you also liked to snore and grind your teeth…”
Qiao Jinniang widened her eyes. “When did I snore and Grind My Teeth?”
Lu Chen said, “If I didn’t say that, she would still pester me. It’s better to let her think that I stayed behind as a son-in-law because of your money. I’m a man with no ability, so she won’t be jealous of you anymore.”
Qiao jinniang said, “Why didn’t you tell me back then?”
Lu Chen said, “Back then, father and mother were seriously ill. You were in front of father and mother’s sickbed every day. If I told you about this, wouldn’t it make father and mother even more worried if you went out and caused a ruckus?
“Moreover, you and I weren’t close at that time. If I told you about this, I can’t guarantee whether you would believe your classmate of ten years or me more.”
Qiao Jin understood after hearing Lu Chen’s explanation. “I heard that she was the concubine appointed by Patriarch Xie. I’m going to ask Xie Yun if it’s true.”
Lu Chen said, “What if it’s true?”
Qiao Jin said, “If it’s true, then the death of Luo Wei will have to be investigated. I’m quite curious why Zhou Shihui would do this to harm Qiao Ruoyi and Nichang’s lives?
Isn’t she afraid that she won’t be able to keep her life after this matter is exposed? Qian Yin might not be able to protect this niece of his!
He hates our Qiao family. Why is he only targeting these two people?
Unless she has another way out. It’s just that she didn’t think that Qiao Ruoyi would directly kill her for revenge before she had even revealed her trump card!”