"Grandmother, this maid of Concubine Yuan and this pageboy said that if the master could seize the opportunity to lift Concubine Yuan's house - arrest and let her take care of Chenghui, she would agree to all the requests the master made before!"
"You're lying!" Concubine Yuan staggered and took two steps back.
Xie Fengran ignored her. She walked up to the two people kneeling on the ground, bent over slightly and said softly, "You two, tell me everything!"
The two people kneeling on the ground were shaking like leaves and didn't dare to look up. When they heard Xie Fengran's words, they trembled even more.
The master was standing on one side, his face ashen as he stared at the two on the ground. He wanted to step forward, but Xie Fengran gave him a look.
At the sight of her expression, the old master was rooted to the spot and didn't dare to say a word.
"What on earth is going on?"
Grandma Xie pressed her hand on her chest, her face pale.
Xie Fengran quickly went over to support Grandma Xie. Her eyes swept over the two on the ground as she said indifferently, "I'm giving you a chance. If you don't speak up, then you don't have to."
"I'll speak!" The maid quickly looked up and spilled the whole story in one breath.
"Old Madam, it was the concubine. Seeing Young Master Chenghui start his studies, she wanted to raise Young Master Chenghui by her side. So she deliberately went to the school to get close to Young Master Chenghui and asked the master about the young master's whereabouts.
"Who would have thought that the master was actually a hypocrite with a false appearance. Greedy for the concubine's beauty, he even had the audacity to have an affair with the concubine, but was rejected by the concubine. Old Madam, I've told you everything!"
Fearing Xie Fengran's methods and also afraid of being retaliated against by Concubine Yuan, the maid played a trick and shifted all the blame onto the master.
Hearing this, the old master was so angry that his beard stood on end. He pointed at the maid and stammered, "You, you, you, you, you, you!"
The little pageboy looked at the maid in disbelief, "You're slandering. It was clearly your concubine who deliberately got close to the master for your young master. This time, because your concubine was under house - arrest, she asked you to secretly pass a message to our master, hoping that the old madam would believe that the young master would only make progress if the concubine watched over him.
"Every time your concubine went to see our master, she was dressed up like a peacock. Who would believe she had no ulterior motive?"
"Old Madam, she was just trying to seduce our master!"
"You're talking nonsense. It was clearly your master who threatened the concubine!"
"You, you, you. You're lying. It was your concubine who was trying to seduce the master!"
Before the two main characters could say a word, the two on the ground started arguing. They bickered back and forth, and without Xie Fengran's further questioning, they exposed all the secrets.
Grandma Xie was holding her chest and gasping for breath.
"Nanny, get Grandmother's medicine!" Xie Fengran, along with Nanny Su and Nanny Shen, helped Grandma Xie into the inner room.
"Hey, hey, here it is!"
After the chaos, Grandma Xie finally calmed down.
All Xie Fengran could do was to find out the truth of this matter. The rest still had to be handled by Grandma Xie.
"Grandmother, this family still depends on you. You must take good care of your health!"
Grandma Xie nodded and patted Xie Fengran's arm, "Good child. It's hard on you, an unmarried girl, to hear such dirty things."
Xie Fengran shook her head, "Please forgive my recklessness, Grandmother. You can handle it as you see fit. I already have a plan for Chenghui's master. Grandmother, don't worry."
Grandma Xie's eyes lit up, "Really?"
Xie Fengran nodded.
Only then did Grandma Xie feel relieved. After all, this was a family scandal. If it got out, it would be a disgrace to everyone. If others really found out, it would be difficult for Chenghui to find a new master in the future.
But if there was a suitable master for Chenghui, then she didn't have to be so cautious!
Seeing this, Xie Fengran got up and excused herself, "Grandmother, I'll leave the rest to you. I'll go to the academy now!"
Grandma Xie quickly let go of her hand, "Go! Grandma will handle things here!"
Xie Fengran bowed and exited the inner room. The people were still locked in the main hall, guarded by Nanny He and her people.
When they saw her come out, their looks were full of hatred as if they wanted to devour her.
But Xie Fengran was not afraid at all. She walked to the door. Nanny He eagerly opened the door and saw her out.
When Xie Fengran reached the gate of Green Pine Courtyard, she tilted her head slightly, "Hexiang, Zhuqing will follow me today. You go and find Nanny Shen to see if there are enough people to take care of Grandmother!"
Hexiang understood, "I'll go find Nanny Shen now!"
...
When Xie Fengran arrived at the academy a bit late, she entered the classroom but didn't see the master.
The students were chatting in twos and threes inside. When they saw her come in, no one paid attention.
But Sun Yuelan spotted her at a glance. She waved and whispered, "Over here!"
Xie Fengran usually sat next to the Fourth Princess, but neither of the princesses had arrived today.
"Why hasn't the teacher come yet?"
Sun Yuelan leaned over, "Something's happened! Master Wang from the Imperial Academy has been impeached. Mother has summoned all the teachers away!"
Qin Junxing has taken action!
Xie Fengran glanced at the two empty seats and whispered, "Is it serious?"
Sun Yuelan tried hard to suppress her excitement and whispered, "Of course it's serious. Master Wang has a mistress and even a son. After his wife found out, he even wanted to keep the son and get rid of the mother. How cruel!"
"When he interviewed us, I knew he wasn't a good person, but I didn't expect him to be so shameless. At his age, he's still teaching students. Bah!"
"..." Xie Fengran thought that if they weren't in the classroom, this girl would scold even more boldly!
"How did this get out?"
"Now it's common knowledge." Sun Yuelan looked at her as if she was surprised that Xie Fengran didn't know anything and explained, "It has spread throughout the Imperial Academy and here. Mother summoned the teachers away to ask them to keep the students in line and not to talk about this casually. After all..."
Sun Yuelan pointed in the direction of the palace, with an expression that said 'you know what I mean'.
Xie Fengran nodded and started to think.
It seemed that the prefectural magistrate didn't help the Wang family cover up yesterday's matter. She just didn't expect Qin Junxing to act so quickly!
However, it wasn't actually Qin Junxing who impeached the Wang family.
Although he had influence in the capital and people in the court, he couldn't be the one to speak up about this matter.
In the Lingfeng Teahouse, Qin Junxing looked at the chattering crowd in the lobby downstairs.
The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. He gave an order, "Throw the evidence in our hands bit by bit to the Second Prince and tell him to count every piece. Don't miss any!"
A long - standing dike may collapse because of an ant hole. The Wang family was a large and prosperous clan and not easy to shake!
But nothing could withstand close scrutiny. As long as a crack was opened, sooner or later, the veil of shame would be torn off.
They would have nowhere to hide!