Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 323 Mother and Son's Love

Before Anping Earl and his sons returned to the capital, they already knew what Anping Earl's wife had done. Anping Earl was furious, but fortunately he had military merits and he and his sons were to be stationed on the frontier. The crime committed by his wife did not implicate them. The Princess and Lu Jing did not say a harsh word. They even rewarded Anping Earl and his two sons with a banquet.

At the banquet, the atmosphere was heavy. Both the Earl of Anping and his son knew that their mother had committed a crime, and an indisputable one at that. She had been caught red-handed. It wasn't that the Regent's Consort had deliberately set a trap; she was the mastermind who sent the elite guards from the manor, just as Li Xueying had done to Xie Zhaolan years ago. The Earl of Anping knew it was impossible to pin the blame on Su Qingwan, as Su Qingwan was too innocent in this matter.

The dismissal was done by the eldest princess, while the murder was orchestrated by the Lady of Anping. She was innocent; she only sent people to arrest the Lady of Anping and imprison her in the capital's prison. She did not indiscriminately kill innocent people or treat human life lightly. She wanted to wait for the Earl of Anping and his sons to come to the capital for a public trial.

At the banquet, Lu Jing was high above everyone else, drinking with all the officials. The Earl of Anping and his son were in an awkward position, and no one brought up the matter of the Earl of Anping assassinating the Regent's Consort.

Anping Bo also toasted Lu Jing, and Lu Jing clinked glasses with him. Anping Bo wanted to say something, but he knew from Lu Jing's indifferent expression that there was no way to change the matter.

Late at night, Anping and his son went to the prefectural governor of the capital.

In the prison, Lady Anping received no special treatment whatsoever. She was locked in the darkest, dampest corner, where a chilling wind blew. She was dressed in thin clothes, her hair disheveled. Although she had not been severely tortured, she looked disheveled and aged, as if she had aged ten years overnight.

The Prefect of Kyoto couldn't afford to offend the Earl of Anping, so he opened the prison. Lu Jing had also instructed him to simply keep an eye on the Earl of Anping's wife and ensure she didn't attempt suicide before the Earl and his sons returned to the capital; otherwise, he shouldn't concern himself with anything else. Having served as an official for many years, the Prefect of Kyoto naturally understood Lu Jing's unspoken message: as long as the battle between the powerful figures didn't affect someone as insignificant as him, that was all that mattered.

He didn't care how they fought; he did what he was supposed to do.

"Mother!" The two young masters of the Li family knelt in the prison cell, tears welling in their eyes. The last time they saw their mother was on the Lantern Festival. After the festival, they went to the army in Jiangnan. They never expected that when they met again, their mother would be in such a sorry state in prison.

Lady Anping brushed aside her tangled hair, saw her son, and instantly broke down, rushing over to hug them, crying, "Jing'er, Xin'er, Mother has finally waited for you."

"Mother..." The two young masters held the frail Lady Anping in their arms, overwhelmed with grief. "Have they wronged you? It's outrageous! They've locked you up in this place to suffer! I must go and confront the Prefect!" "No, no, don't go to them! It must have been Lu Jing's doing, otherwise how dare they!" Lady Anping's voice was hoarse; these past few days had been worse than death for her.

Unable to die, she finally understood that they wanted a public trial, to ruin the Li family's reputation and make them a laughingstock. She had made a terrible mistake in a moment of confusion.

“Mother, don’t worry, we will do our best to save you!” the second son of the Li family said, crying. “You have endured several days in prison. Father and we have returned and will definitely take you home.”

A glimmer of hope flashed in the eyes of the Lady of Anping. Did she still have a chance to get out?
"Mother, is there still a chance?"

“Yes, definitely!” The second young master looked up at the Earl of Anping. “Father, if you say the word, we can definitely save Mother, right? Even if the Regent has immense power, his queen is safe and sound. It is their misconduct that is to blame. How can it be Mother’s fault alone? He cannot cover up everything. I can use my military merits to save Mother’s life.”

The second son is a filial son and wholeheartedly wants Lady Anping to live.

Anping Bo turned away, secretly wiping away tears. He never imagined that one day he would see his wife in prison. He and Anping Bo's wife were a loving couple with two sons and a daughter. The sons were all married and had grandchildren. Li Xueying was his youngest daughter, whom he doted on. Two years ago, everyone in the capital envied him for having both a son and a daughter, a house full of children and grandchildren, and a loving husband and wife. Anping Bo's wife was harmonious and prosperous, and the family was thriving. He never expected that he would now face the destruction of his family.

He was powerless to stop his daughter's murder, partly due to his poor parenting and partly due to the revenge of others. However, his wife became increasingly mired in hatred.

"How could I have fallen to this state!" He couldn't understand how he had ended up like this!

"It's my fault. I couldn't swallow my anger. Knowing that the princess is Xie Zhaolan, I just can't let this go. They must have been having an affair as uncle and sister-in-law for a long time, and they still have the audacity to blame our daughter for murder. They were the ones who killed her to cover it up!"

Anping Bo shook his head, "But you shouldn't have acted impulsively and killed someone. It's one thing to kill someone, but if you get caught red-handed, the evidence will be irrefutable."