As soon as Wang Wen and his wife left the courtyard, someone from Mrs. Wang Sr.’s side arrived, a maid who had accompanied Mrs. Wang Sr. as a dowry and also served as the nanny who raised Wang Wen.

Wang Wen hurriedly stepped forward to greet respectfully, but the old nanny stepped aside, "Second Master, Mrs. Wang Sr. heard that you and Second Madam were going out, so she sent me to have a look."

The intention behind this needed no further explanation to be understood.

Dong Boyun tightly pressed her lips and wanted to step forward, but Wang Wen spoke first, "Nanny, something has happened over at the Dong Mansion. We are going back to check, and we will visit Mother upon our return."

The old nanny looked at Wang Wen, and after seeing the determination on his face, nodded, "Then I will report back to Mrs. Wang Sr. now."

She said nothing more.

Only after getting into the carriage did Dong Boyun realize she was drenched in sweat. Wang Wen gently held her hand, "It’s alright, I’ll handle everything."

Dong Boyun nodded.

After the Second Prince was imprisoned, because the Dong Mansion’s daughter was married into the Second Prince Mansion, people in the Capital also distanced themselves. Dong Boyun understood that her mother-in-law did not want to engage too closely with the Dong Mansion, but as a daughter of the Dong family, she could not escape this relationship even if she wanted to.

Upon arriving at the Dong Mansion, Mr. Dong Sr. did not show any pleasant expression when seeing his second daughter return. He had already heard about the incident at the Zhou Mansion and had been restless. He was in no mood to deal with this useless daughter.

However, Dong Boyun called her father, "Father, I have something to discuss with you. Let’s talk in the study."

Mr. Dong Sr. frowned deeply, but seeing his daughter looking at him seriously, he nodded. Dong Boyun nodded towards Wang Wen with some guilt on her face, but Wang Wen didn’t mind and nodded back, signaling for them to go.

Once in the study, Dong Boyun handed over a letter from her sleeve, "Father, take a look at this. Mrs. Zhou had someone deliver this letter to me. Previously, she sent a little maid to find me, but I never went, so she sent this letter to the mansion instead."

Mr. Dong Sr. took the letter, and upon reading its contents, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "What she wrote is false. How could our Dong Mansion do such a thing? How can you believe outsiders instead of your own family?"

"Why so agitated, Father? I merely received this letter and brought it to you. It’s good if none of it is true because I was also shocked upon reading it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to the mansion, considering I’m a married daughter now and could very well ignore it. If it’s not true, all the better, and if anything similar happens in the future, I will not believe it," Dong Boyun said angrily.

Mr. Dong Sr. glared, "What kind of talk is this? Is this how you speak to your own father?"

Dong Boyun knew perfectly well that the Zhou Mansion would not speak falsely, but her father still wouldn’t tell her the truth, so she turned away. "If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave now."

"Wait," Mr. Dong Sr. called after her, softening his tone upon seeing his daughter turn back, "It’s not that I don’t want to tell you the truth, but you’ve seen what’s in the letter. Now the Zhou Mansion is trying to pin such crimes on us. Your sister’s situation is still unknown, and your brother has gone too. Now, you are the only one in the family we can count on. As for your aunt, you know the circumstances there. Over the years, you know how I’ve treated you. When you favored the Wang family marriage prospect, I didn’t object although their family status was lower, right? Which family does that?"

"Father doesn’t demand anything else from you. Your relationship with the East Mansion is good. Can you talk about this matter? It’s just a misunderstanding, and it seems the Zhou Mansion is framing us. So, go over and talk first. If this matter really escalates, at least we didn’t do anything," Mr. Dong Sr. added, fearing his daughter would object, "I met the Marquis yesterday, and he mentioned this too. He said he didn’t believe it either, but I’m afraid the Zhou Mansion could lash out. You see the reason, don’t you?"

Disappointed, Dong Boyun shook her head, "Isn’t it time to tell me the truth, Father? From the moment I received the letter from the Zhou Mansion, I knew it was true. The Zhou Mansion is in trouble now; how could they lie at such a time? I just can’t believe Father could be so bold, knowing the situation with the Second Prince, allowing Sister to do such a thing? Aunt is still in the mansion. What if the Marquis Mansion hadn’t found out? Would Aunt be finished when things go wrong? Isn’t Aunt a part of our Dong Family?"

"What do you know? Your aunt is not valued in the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, so why not take this opportunity to overturn the Marquis Mansion? The Marquis married the daughter of Prince Shou, and the Holy Emperor wouldn’t hold them accountable for that, at worst just demotion, but without a chance, your sister is finished for life, and so is our Dong Family. We’ve come this far, we must take this risk," Mr. Dong Sr. confessed when his daughter confronted him, "The Zhou Mansion is trying to drag our Dong Family into this. Though the Marquis reassured me, I am not at ease. You should go and speak about it."

Dong Boyun refused, "You commit these deeds and want me to speak now? You believe in me too much. Do I have that face?"

"You have no choice but to go, or would you rather see your aunt and the entire mansion beheaded?" Mr. Dong Sr. shouted.

With tears in her eyes, before Mr. Dong Sr. could scold her again, the study door swung open, and Wang Wen stood there with an icy expression, "I never knew when the safety of Dong Mansion depended on a concubine’s daughter? The Dong Mansion has made her do enough, father-in-law, please don’t force her further."

Mr. Dong Sr. didn’t expect Wang Wen to come in and overhear their conversation, his face alternating between shades of blue and white in shame, "This is the Dong Mansion’s affair, it’s not for outsiders to interfere."

"I can’t interfere, but Sister Yun is married into the Wang Family," Wang Wen said striding forward, pulling the tearful Dong Boyun away with him, "Father-in-law might as well consider her nonexistent. The plight of the Dong Mansion is self-inflicted, aiming for heights only to fall, no one else is to blame."

No one spoke from behind, only the sound of something being smashed. Without pausing, Wang Wen took Dong Boyun out of the Dong Mansion and into the carriage.

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Eight new works "Reborn as a Poor Farmer’s Wife"