Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 724 - 677 Interrogation (1)

That night, Baili Huang and the Second Madam Baili talked until past midnight before resting.

Early the next day, just as dawn was breaking, the couple got out of bed.

After finishing breakfast, a person from Old Madam Baili’s side came to summon the couple.

The two rinsed their mouths with tea and followed the maid to Old Madam’s upper room.

In the room, the First Madam Baili and Baili Dalang were already there, both looking puzzled, staring at each other dumbfoundedly.

The Second Madam Baili glanced at the First Madam Baili, walked over with a stern face, "Father, Mother."

She saluted the two elderly people sitting at the head.

Baili Huang also followed with a greeting.

Old Master Baili and Old Madam Baili waved their hands at Baili Huang and his wife, "You may sit."

The First Madam Baili raised an eyebrow; the second couple could sit while she and her husband stood?

Why?

"Father, Mother, so early in the morning, is there something going on?" The First Madam Baili quietly nudged her husband, asking Old Master Baili and Old Madam Baili with a forced smile.

Old Master Baili showed no expression, ignored her, and only tapped his cane on the ground to express his dissatisfaction.

Old Madam Baili couldn’t hold back any longer and looked straight at the First Madam Baili, snorting, "Ms. Wu, where is Madam Xue from?"

The First Madam Baili was taken aback and nervously asked why they called her and her husband just to ask about Madam Xue.

Why?

"She is from the Capital," the First Madam Baili smiled, "Mother, why did you suddenly ask this?"

"What is her name, and what is her surname?" Old Madam Baili asked coldly.

The First Madam Baili blinked, "Surname... daughter-in-law... doesn’t know."

"Don’t know? You’ve been interacting with her for half a year, and you don’t know her name?"

"She has the surname... Xue, right?" The First Madam Baili thought for a moment and said, "She calls herself Madam Xue, so presumably her surname is Xue; as for her given name... daughter-in-law doesn’t know."

"See for yourself!" The First Madam Baili, with a face full of anger, threw a letter at her.

The First Madam Baili, completely bewildered, opened the letter that had been thrown into her arms.

What she saw made her heart pound with fear.

The letter advised Madam Xue to approach the First Madam Baili to use her to weaken the Baili Family.

The person in the letter referred to Madam Xue as Zhen Niang and mentioned how recently the relatives of Zhen Niang’s maternal family, the Xue Family, had been doing, asking Madam Xue not to worry, and the letter’s signature was a single character: "Zan."

"This... Mother, where did this letter come from?" The First Madam Baili felt a growing sense of foreboding, with her complexion growing ever paler.

Standing next to her, Baili Dalang, Baili Ju suddenly said, "Madam Xue, the Xue Family? Aren’t they the same person? Oh, right, Madam Xue’s residence is the Xue Mansion; this Madam Xue must be from the Xue Family, and the person in the letter calls her Zhen Niang, meaning her name is Xue Zhenniang?"

"Her real name is Xue Wenzhen, a native of the Capital, and Yu Wen Zan, the legitimate second son of the Marquis Zhongyi from the Capital, is her lover. Yu Wen Zan wants to harm our Baili Mansion, so he sent her to approach Ms. Wu. Ms. Wu, do you understand the letter?" Old Master Baili’s voice was stern.

The First Madam Baili’s face turned deathly white with fear, "Father, Mother, daughter-in-law... daughter-in-law didn’t know she was here to harm people, daughter-in-law... daughter-in-law didn’t follow her instructions to harm the family either."

"Are you still trying to quibble? Since we’ve obtained one letter, we can get others as well. See for yourself!" Old Madam Baili, face full of anger, threw several more letters at the First Madam Baili.

The First Madam Baili, trembling with fear, began to peruse them one by one.

After reading all the letters, she was so frightened that she collapsed onto the ground.

Baili Dalang helped her up, "Heihei’s mother?"

The First Madam Baili trembled, cold sweat dripping from her forehead, unable to utter a single word.

"What? Are you speechless now?" Old Madam Baili sneered, pointing at Baili Huang and his wife, "Both of them fell ill one after the other and almost died; was it your doing? You were the one handling the doctors and the medicine! I always wondered what kind of illness couldn’t be cured. A doctor from another region came and said they weren’t sick at all and would get better if they stopped taking the previous medication. I realized then that their ’illness’ was caused by the medicine they were taking! And all those prescribing doctors were hired by you! Ms. Wu! Why did you do this?"

"Oldest, don’t support her. Let her kneel!" commanded Old Master Baili.

Baili Dalang, Baili Ju, a straightforward person, was so intimidated by the Old Master’s shout that he indeed didn’t dare to support her. As soon as he released his hand, the First Madam Baili slumped to the ground.

"Speak!" Old Madam Baili commanded, "If you don’t explain clearly today, don’t even think of leaving this room!"

Old Master Baili, being a military officer, had married a wife who was equally formidable. Though she wasn’t a military officer’s daughter, she had wielded both spear and sword in her youth.

The Old Master was actually someone she had seized back with her own strength, and when she was young, she managed the entire vast Baili family so that everyone, young and old, obeyed her, and those who didn’t were beaten into submission. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

But now she’s aged, only staying away from trivial matters, leisurely listening to music, admiring flowers, raising cats, and teasing dogs with Old Master Baili.

Yet when she truly became angry and started hitting people, her strength was not inferior to that of the young.

The First Madam Baili, having personally witnessed the Old Madam’s prowess, shook like a leaf from fear.

"Are you going to speak?" Old Madam Baili roared, rolling up her sleeves, ready to teach a lesson.

Baili Dalang, Baili Ju, terrified, hurried to persuade his wife, "Heihei’s mother, speak up quickly, mother will really hit people."

"Bring the family discipline tools!" Unable to wait, Old Madam Baili shouted to the Second Madam Baili, "Second daughter-in-law, go get the family discipline tools!"

"I’ll talk—" The First Madam Baili, frightened, finally spoke.

The family discipline tools of the Baili Family are two rattan sticks twisted together, as thick as a child’s arm.

The Old Madam’s strength surpassed a young servant’s; when she hit people, it wasn’t just skin and flesh that broke, but sometimes only half of someone’s life remained.

The First Madam Baili feared death and pain, so she spoke up.

"Madam Xue said... as long as Erlang does not inherit the position of envoy, and as long as Dalang becomes the envoy, they would help my maternal family brother marry the eldest daughter of the Lin Hanlin family in the Capital." The First Madam Baili lay on the ground, speaking of the benefits given by the Xue Family.

The First Madam Baili’s maternal family was also a prestigious family in Liangzhou, and her elder brother was doing significant business in the Capital.

But her elder brother lacked the understanding to study, so he couldn’t follow the path of officialdom.

Her maternal parents were keen to rid the family of its merchant identity, aspiring toward an officialdom path, and thus set their sights on arranging a marriage for their son and daughter-in-law.

The First Madam Baili’s elder brother set his sights on a daughter of a Hanlin scholar, but that Hanlin scholar did not favor the merchant identity of the First Madam Baili’s maternal family.

The First Madam Baili’s maternal parents turned to her for help.

The First Madam Baili contacted the then-acquainted Xue Family.

She approached the Xue Family to explain her request, and the Xue Family assured her with utmost confidence that they would help arrange the match.