The temperamental white moonlight is back, and the entire Marquis's family obediently calls him

"Muqiu, I assure you, whether Zhou Shili did such a thing or not, I will stand by your side."

Liu Muqiu nodded silently, tears streaming down her face.

Butler Sun quickly brought the person over from the Liu family. The woman claimed to be surnamed Jin, and the child she was leading did indeed resemble Zhou Shili in appearance.

But after examining the child closely for a while, Lu Mingzhao noticed that the child's ears looked rather strange.

Neither her nor Zhou Ningchuan's ears look like this, and Zhou Shili's ears look even less like this.

Lu Mingzhao had only seen a similar appearance in the village chief's family—the village chief's six children all had identical ears.

Seeing the woman's trembling appearance, Lu Mingzhao had a guess in his mind, so he simply cut to the chase: "If you tell the truth, I can guarantee to spare your life and your child's life."

Jin silently hugged the child in her arms tighter, not daring to look up.

Lu Mingzhao paused, then said, "You know, our eldest mistress just gave birth to a child. If you enter the manor at this time, it won't end well, especially since Zhou Shili doesn't acknowledge you. It's questionable whether you can even enter the manor."

Jin suddenly raised her head, seemingly not expecting Lu Mingzhao to be so cruel to his grandson.

Lu Mingzhao looked directly into her eyes: "So, this is your last chance to tell the truth."

"Although you can't enter the manor, I can at least ensure your survival, can't I?"

"..."

Jin closed her eyes briefly: "This is not Young Master Zhou's child."

"A month before the wedding of Young Master Zhou and Madam Zhou, Madam Wang gave me a sum of money and asked me to sabotage the relationship between Young Master Zhou and Madam Zhou, and preferably get pregnant with Young Master Zhou's child. She even created the opportunity for me."

"At that time, I had just been released from the brothel and had nowhere else to go, so I had no choice but to agree."

"But Young Master Zhou wasn't drunk at all that day. He spotted me as soon as he was put on the ship. I knelt down and begged him to spare my life, and he agreed. He said he wouldn't say anything after he left."

Thus, Jin deceived Madam Wang, making her believe that she had successfully had a one-night stand with Zhou Shili.

Jin immediately found a man who looked similar to Zhou Shili, got pregnant with his child, and has been deceiving Madam Wang ever since.

Madam Wang held onto this card the whole time.

They were only released today.

"I had no choice... If I had told them that the plan had failed and I would be sent back to the brothel, I wouldn't want to go back."

"When Madam Wang brought me to the eldest mistress today, I saw that she was six months pregnant. I didn't want to say anything, but Madam Wang forced me..."

"After I finished speaking against my conscience, I was about to chase after her to tell her the truth, but Madam Wang kept knocking on my door and wouldn't let me leave."

Kim lowered her head:

"...Now that things have come to this, the truth will come out sooner or later when Young Master Zhou returns. I have caused Madam to be in this state, and it is all my own fault."

"I only beg you, old lady, not to take your anger out on my child, and to give him a way out."

Lu Mingzhao remained silent for a long time before taking a deep breath and saying, "I promised to spare your lives, and I will not go back on my word."

Ms. Jin looked up in disbelief.

"However..." Lu Mingzhao changed the subject, "I need you to be a witness."

"You must take Wang to court and tell her everything about how she forced you. I want Wang imprisoned so she can never rise again and cause trouble."

"After it's done, I will protect you and send you and your son out of the city."

Ms. Jin opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know how to answer.

Lu Mingzhao suddenly chuckled: "Oh right, you have another option, which is to go back and beg the Wang family to save you."

"However, I suggest you trust me. After all, I have a better conscience than she does when it comes to my own people."

"..."

Under Lu Mingzhao's gaze, Jin bit her lip, hugged the child, and nodded heavily.

"At your disposal, Madam."

.

During the first court hearing, Wang denied all accusations.

Lu Mingzhao was not surprised at all.

Just before the second court session, Liu's father took his two children to see Wang, urging her to confess her crimes quickly.

Wang suddenly went mad.

She rushed to the railing, gripping it tightly, and glared venomously at Liu's father: "Who do you think I did all this for?!"

Father Liu took two steps back in shock: "Could it be that you discovered I still had Qingqing's portrait that year? Is that why you treated my Qiu'er so cruelly?"

"I really misjudged you, you jealous woman!"

Wang's eyes widened, and she grabbed Liu's father's collar tightly: "No! You idiot!"

"The reason I did this is because you've always been so indecisive. In front of me and the two children, you always seem to care more about Liu Muqiu and Liu Muyuan, but in front of them, you always seem to side with us. I want to fight for the inheritance for my children, I want my children to live a good life. I'm afraid, I'm afraid that one day you'll suddenly think of Liu Muqiu and her brother, and suddenly decide to leave all the inheritance to them!"

Wang suddenly laughed, almost mockingly: "Unfortunately, I only see things clearly now..."

"In the entire Liu family, only you—only you—live the most comfortable life!"

"You enjoy everyone carefully flattering you and watching your every whim, and now you want to pretend to be a loving father and persuade me to confess? At least I won't confess for the sake of my children, but what about you? What about you?!"

"You do nothing! You sit back and reap the benefits, watching from the sidelines!"

Seeing Mr. Liu's stunned expression, Madam Wang laughed even louder: "What? You've always looked down on me for being the daughter of a merchant, but you didn't expect me to know idioms? Let me tell you, I always have! I've read just as many books as you! But all these years I've pretended to know nothing, just to make you think you're superior!"

Mr. Liu was frightened by Wang's appearance, but more than being frightened, he was struck by the jarring sound.

Wang's words made him very uncomfortable.

He does nothing? Then where did he get such a large fortune?

Besides, his unpredictable moods are all for the sake of balancing the relationship between his children.

He went to great lengths for this, so how could Wang not understand him?

"You're crazy."

After hesitating for a long time, Liu's father only managed to utter this one sentence before turning and leaving with his two children.

Lu Mingzhao and Liu Muqiu, who were at the corner, overheard their entire conversation and exchanged a silent glance.

The whole thing was orchestrated by the Wang family behind the scenes, but ultimately, is the Wang family really the culprit?

The two left the cell silently.

During the second court hearing, Wang confessed without resistance, but she insisted that Liu's father was also involved.

The witness, Ms. Jin, also changed her testimony, saying that Mr. Liu was indeed involved.

In the end, Liu's father and Wang's wife received the same amount of labor, but Wang's punishment was slightly reduced so that her two children would have someone to take care of them.

After the case was closed, Lu Mingzhao's efforts over the past few days finally came to fruition.

Dong Heqing persuaded the Dong family to join forces with several grain merchants they knew to sell grain at a low price. Princess Wenyu also somehow obtained a batch of grain, which, along with the grain from the Marquis's estate, was transported south.

After the emperor noticed this, he immediately summoned Lu Mingzhao to the palace.