The mistress just wanted to be bad, but she took off after being replaced

He acted decisively and led his followers to break into the county government office. He captured the foolish county magistrate and his ambitious son with lightning speed, and threw them into jail for dereliction of duty and breaking the law.

In just over half an hour, Duke Dingguo unraveled the confessions of the county magistrate's son and his cronies and deduced their more sinister follow-up plans.

Madam Jin has two sons and two daughters, and now the ones who are being framed are the eldest son and his wife.

Once they were executed, the county magistrate's son intended to do the same thing and fabricate charges to put the second son and his wife to death.

They took every step carefully, attempting to destroy the Jin family and break down the psychological defenses of Mrs. Jin's granddaughter-in-law. In the end, only a helpless old lady was left as a bargaining chip to force her granddaughter-in-law to submit.

Duke Dingguo felt a strong sense of anger and responsibility in his heart. He vowed to do his best to expose and severely punish these unscrupulous villains, bring justice to the Jin family, and preserve the peace of his sister's family.

The fundamental reason for choosing to keep only Old Madam Jin was that if no one in the Jin family was spared, the young and affectionate granddaughter-in-law, in the despair of losing all her relatives to rely on, would most likely resolutely follow the Jin family to the underworld.

Madam Jin is very old and in her twilight years. She has long been eroded by time and has become frail and sickly.

Especially when she gave birth to her last child, she suffered from a number of incurable diseases, and she walked unsteadily and had a weak breath.

Such an old lady neither had enough power to fight against the evil county magistrate's family, nor could she escape alone and seek survival in the chaotic times.

They thought that as long as only this old and sick woman and the filial granddaughter-in-law were left in the Jin family, the granddaughter-in-law would have to submit to their tyranny in order to protect her grandmother.

Madam Jin's life was already flickering due to her illness.

When she encountered disasters that wiped out her entire family one after another, witnessed the tragic deaths of her children and grandchildren, and the decline of her family, it completely broke her already weak body.

What is even more sad is that when she realizes that she was not saved by her granddaughter-in-law, but was used as a bargaining chip to force her into submission and was ruthlessly exploited, she will probably no longer have any attachment to this world.

Although all this was just a conspiracy on paper at the moment, Duke Dingguo shuddered when he carefully read the detailed crimes and plans in the testimony.

He had complete faith in Sheng Junwei's accurate analysis.

Once his eldest nephew and his nephew's wife were unjustly beheaded, his own sister was destined to not escape this man-made disaster.

At this moment, Duke Dingguo's heart was filled with burning anger and relief.

He was angry at the high-ranking officials in the court for their despicable behavior and their audacity to reach out to his sister's family and treat human life as worthless.

Fortunately, he followed Sheng Junwei's wise advice and rode his horse to the scene without any hesitation.

He really couldn't imagine how much suffering the Jin family would suffer if he failed to arrive in time.

A few days later, Duke Dingguo finally properly handled many of the Jin family's affairs.

At this moment, he was full of excitement and with deep gratitude to Sheng Junwei, he set out on his journey home to the prosperous Shengjing.

After arriving in the capital, he immediately took his sister to visit Sheng Junwei in person to express his gratitude.

Faced with this great favor, Sheng Junwei did not pretend to be humble and frankly accepted the thank-you gift from Duke Dingguo.

Seeing Sheng Junwei accept the gift, Duke Dingguo felt relieved and solemnly announced: "From now on, Madam Pei will be the honored guest of my Duke Dingguo Mansion. No matter when and where, the door of Duke Dingguo Mansion will always be open to her."

Even Prime Minister Pei himself had never enjoyed such a distinguished treatment.

Zhang smiled and held Sheng Junwei's hand, jokingly saying, "Your Majesty, you are so polite. Our Junwei may look cold and aloof, but she is actually warm-hearted."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Junwei indifferently glanced at the newly added boxes of exquisite gifts in the courtyard: "Mother, I am not telling fortunes for the Duke for free. These gifts are indeed valuable and extremely luxurious, but I will only take 10,000 taels of silver as a reward, and please take the rest back home, Duke."

On that day, if it were not for the need to accurately check and balance the power of Prince Jingxuan, she would never have involved Duke Dingguo in this complicated chess game.

She knew very well that her decision had indeed changed the fate of Mrs. Jin's family, so it was legitimate for her to receive the corresponding remuneration.

However, she had no greed for the generous gift that far exceeded her expectations, and she was determined to give it away and not take a penny.

Faced with her determination, Duke Dingguo did not insist on persuading her, but instead followed her wishes and ordered his servants to select 10,000 taels of mirror-like silver from the dazzling array of gifts as a token of respect.

Afterwards, he gave all the remaining priceless thank-you gifts to Prime Minister Pei and his wife.

Sheng Junwei remained silent, only responding to this generous gesture with a slightly raised corner of her mouth. Deep in her heart, she secretly respected Duke Dingguo's open-mindedness and magnanimity.

"By the way." Just before he was about to leave, Duke Dingguo suddenly stopped and turned around to say, "The women in Sanma Village who have regained their lives have asked this Duke to convey their deep gratitude to Madam Pei."

Sheng Junwei was stunned when she heard this, and frowned slightly: "You, the Duke, rescued the person yourself, what does it have to do with me?"

"Does it really have nothing to do with you?" Duke Dingguo asked with a smile.

Sheng Junwei's heart trembled, she coughed lightly, cleverly avoided his sharp gaze, and said modestly: "I just moved my lips and tongue, and I pointed in the wrong direction. It was you, the Duke, who really lent a hand and saved lives."

A trace of praise flashed across Duke Dingguo's eyes, and he immediately turned to Prime Minister Pei and said loudly: "Your blessings are long-lasting, and good luck is yet to come!"

After that, he looked at Sheng Junwei again and said solemnly: "I have reported this matter to the Heavenly Court in detail. The Heavenly Court attaches great importance to it and has handed it over to the Ministry of Justice for a thorough investigation. I believe that in the near future, more innocent women who have been trafficked will see the light of day again."

At the same time, Pei Yu heard that Duke Dingguo had just returned to Beijing and went to the mansion to visit Sheng Junwei in person, so he put down the heavy book in his hand and hurried over.

Just at this moment, he walked into the hall and happened to overhear the conversation between the two. He stared at Sheng Junwei with complicated eyes.

"Since Lihua Town is the real hiding place of the Duke of Zhenguo's sister, why did you mention Sanma Village?"

Sheng Junwei met Pei Yu's inquiring gaze and said calmly, "What you really want to ask is probably why Han Yue'er and I mentioned Sanma Village at the same time, right?"

When Pei Yu heard this, a barely perceptible embarrassment flashed across his face.

Although he was unwilling to express his concern for Han Yue'er in front of Sheng Junwei, the strangeness of the matter really left him puzzled.