Chapter 158 Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 158 Unexpected Visitor

While repeatedly telling herself that this was indeed her home, Xie Wanniang forced a smile and said, "Wanniang greets Madam and Seventh Miss."

Lady Hou raised her hand, "No need for formalities. We are sorry for our intrusion."

Xie Wanniang subconsciously shook her head. Polite words flowed naturally from her lips without her having to think. "You're too kind. It's my honor that you two could come."

Her polite words were also the truth, which is why Xie Wanniang's expression and tone were extremely sincere at this moment.

Lady Hou smiled and said, "Please sit down and let's talk."

Chang Yuan waved to Xie Wanniang, "Why are you being so polite? We came uninvited and were impolite, so please make yourself at home."

Xie Wanniang smiled, walked over and sat down next to her, thinking to herself that this mother and daughter really didn't seem like noble ladies from a wealthy and powerful family. Perhaps it was because they came from a military family and had always lived in a border town.

She gestured for the flustered female worker to leave and go back to her work, then instructed Haitang to serve tea again.

The female worker dared not enter her room. The tea and snacks served to the mother and daughter were the kind of food the shop usually served to guests, which was known for its large portions and filling portions. They were clearly not suitable for entertaining the mother and daughter.

She treated the guests with utmost hospitality, and the mother and daughter calmly drank tea with smiles until Haitang and the others had all retreated to the courtyard gate. Only then did the Lady Hou slowly speak and explain her purpose.

"I have come here today with a request," said Madam Hou, adopting a humble posture. "Regarding the matter of the bandits, I hope Miss Xie can keep it to herself."

"My nephew, that fool who let those bandits into the pass, recently secretly took a woman of unknown origin as his mistress..."

Through her ashamed account, Xie Wanniang learned that her nephew was the posthumous son of her second brother who died in battle. He was an ordinary sixth-rank military officer with no great abilities or major flaws, and one of the guards of Zijing Pass.

Although he hadn't achieved anything particularly remarkable before, he had always been law-abiding and dutiful. The reason he had made such a huge mess this time was because he had recently met a woman in distress whom he had fallen in love with at first sight.

The woman's origins are currently unknown, but the guards of the Marquis's residence have already learned from the guards on the day the bandits entered the pass that these bandits entered the pass with the waist token of the Marquis's niece.

Upon hearing this, Lady Hou immediately led a group of people to find her nephew.

She knew her own nephew; he was indeed not very capable, but he wouldn't be so foolish as to do something like this.

However, she did not let her foolish nephew who had caused such trouble off easily. Upon meeting him, Lady Hou did not say a word and first ordered her guards to give her nephew twenty lashes.

Her nephew was caught by the Lady Hou in the house where he kept his mistress. Unaware of what was going on, he thought the Lady Hou was beating him because his affair with his mistress had been exposed.

His mistress was quite shrewd; although she had no evidence, she sensed that danger was imminent.

While the Lady Hou was disciplining her foolish nephew, the woman tried to slip away quietly without saying a word.

However, Lady Hou had already had people keeping a close eye on her. As soon as she ran to the back gate of the house, the two old women who were secretly watching her grabbed her.

Upon seeing the young woman brought over bound hand and foot, the Hou lady's foolish nephew hurriedly craned his neck to plead for her life.

Lady Hou was so angry that she kicked him and pointed at his nose, giving him a severe scolding.

Only then did her foolish nephew realize that the Lady Hou wasn't punishing him for keeping a mistress, but because someone had taken his waist token and let a group of bandits disguised as a merchant caravan enter the pass.

Originally, Lady Hou wasn't sure if the problem lay with the people around her foolish nephew, or with the mistress he had taken in on a whim. But of all the people in the house, only that woman was guilty and wanted to run away.

Her nephew, who had been given a good beating, wasn't completely stupid after all. When he learned what had happened, he didn't care about grimacing in pain anymore. He forced himself to endure his injuries and carefully recalled which person around him had the opportunity to steal his waist tag for a period of time and then return it to him without anyone noticing.

After thoroughly investigating all the suspects from head to toe, and confirming that all his attendants and guards were innocent, his mistress, whose whereabouts had been a mystery for a brief period, naturally became the most suspicious person.

Unfortunately, the woman was very stubborn, and the guards of the Marquis's mansion have yet to find out her identity and background.

On the contrary, the foolish nephew of the Marquis not only received a beating from his aunt, but also a beating from Chang Yao, the commander of Zijing Pass and his cousin. After that, he volunteered to be demoted to a common soldier to guard the pass.

The punishment seemed severe, but in reality, because he did not intentionally commit evil, it left him room to atone for his crime.

After he left, Lady Hou not only personally helped him clean up the mess, but also handed the woman over to Chang Yao, ordering his two most skilled interrogators to try to get the woman to talk as quickly as possible.

Only in this way can we minimize the negative impact of this incident while quickly tracing the source and identifying and resolving all potential problems.

Lady Hou was very frank. She not only briefly explained the whole story and the punishment her foolish nephew had received, but she also told Xie Wanniang directly that her visit was entirely due to her selfish motives as an aunt.

Although her nephew was foolish, he was still a descendant of her deceased brother. As long as he did not commit evil intentionally, the Lady of the Marquis still wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself.

As for how his grandmother and widowed mother would deal with him after his affair was exposed, how his cousin, the head of the family, would punish him, and whether his wife would have conflicts with him because of it, the Lady Hou said that these were all the consequences of his own choices, and he had to learn to bear them himself.

If you can't kill them by beating, kneeling, or cursing, then beat them to death, make them kneel to death, and curse them to death.

Xie Wanniang listened quietly, treating it as gossip. She felt she had no right to comment on what the Lady Hou was saying.

As for the Hou lady's small request that she not reveal it to others, Xie Wanniang agreed without hesitation.

She said to Madam Hou, "Besides Uncle Hao and Aunt Chen, I haven't told anyone else about this. I will also tell all the people in the know here to pretend that this never happened."

Lady Hou knew that Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan had a close relationship, and she also knew that her family and Xie Wan Niang had always helped each other. Therefore, she was not surprised at all that Xie Wan Niang would tell Hao Yu and his wife about it.

She nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you to take care of it."

As for the county magistrate, her son has already sent someone to negotiate, so she doesn't need to worry about it.