Chapter 772: Required Allies

She was stealing someone else’s husband with such an innocent helpless expression like justice didn’t allow her to look back.

Did An Lingyun possess no ability to tell right from wrong?

It was seriously infuriating! Ning Shu hammered at her chest. Truly, the longer you lived, the more you saw.

“Madame?” Zhu Er looked at Ning Shu worriedly. “Madame, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, go find the old madame.” Ning Shu coughed. She had to talk to the old madame.

What she needed to do was to protect the entire general’s residence, not destroy it. The residence was already like a little boat getting tossed around by a storm, she couldn’t sink the boat just to get revenge on a couple people. The general’s residence was Wei Lingxian’s life.

That was why she had to find allies, and the old madame would be a strong one.

The old madame lost her husband and had to support her entire family herself. She raised An You to be an outstanding man and even found him a virtuous wife like Wei Lingxian so that An You could work towards his aspirations without having to worry about the home.

The old madame was the most skilled at manipulating people’s hearts. All these past years, she had barely ever gotten into an argument with Wei Lingxian. The reason for this aside from Wei Lingxian’s natural virtues and filial respect was because the old madame never got involved with affairs between An You and Wei Lingxian.

Even though An You didn’t take any mistresses, the old madame didn’t show any disapproval, which set Wei Lingxian at ease.

And she felt even more respect towards this mother-in-law of hers.

Ning Shu walked into the old madame’s courtyard. When she heard the old madame’s personal maid say that the old madame was napping, she didn’t say anything and waited outside for the old madame to wake up.

The maid carried over a chair for Ning Shu and Ning Shu smiled faintly before sitting down.

After about two hours, there finally came movement from inside the room. It was clear that the old madame had just woken up. After another while, the maid finally called Ning Shu to enter.

Ning Shu dusted off her clothes a little before walking inside. The old madame was currently drinking tea. When she saw Ning Shu and noticed her slightly red eyes, she was taken aback. “What happened?”

“Mother, this daughter-in-law wishes to talk to you about something in private,” said Ning Shu.

The old madame had the maids in the room all leave before turning to Ning Shu. “Go ahead. There’s nothing between us that can’t be said.”

Ning Shu opened her mouth and told the old madame about everything she saw yesterday night in full. The moment the old madame heard about this news, her hand which was holding a teacup trembled so hard, the tea spilled out. Ning Shu stepped forward to take the teacup from the old madame’s hand and place it on the table.

The old madame’s face was filled with exhaustion. “Doesn’t An You understand his own status? If he does this, what are you and Princess Mingzhu supposed to do?”

The old madame’s expression darkened. “This can’t be allowed.”

Ning Shu wasn’t surprised at all by the old madame’s attitude. The old madame was a widow that had single-handedly raised her son. The difficulties she had to endure during this path was unimaginable. The fact that the general’s residence was as prestigious as it was today was largely due to the old madame’s efforts.

There was no way an imperial princess could become the mistress of a general. This was completely challenging the imperial family’s dignity. However, if An You divorced his wife to then marry her, then the label of being a Chen Shimei would be pinned onto An You’s head. Moreover, Wei Lingxian hadn’t done any unacceptable things, nor did she violate any of the seven grounds for divorce. On the contrary, she had given birth to two children and kept the general’s residence in perfect order.

She was well-known for being virtuous. If An You divorced Wei Lingxian, how would other people look at the general’s residence?

The old madame was a woman who had lost her husband, so she greatly valued reputation and integrity.

Meanwhile, Princess Mingzhu was someone who didn’t know anything about the world, so how could she possibly handle the responsibilities that came with being the main madame of a general’s residence? She seemed born to be a mistress.

That was why the old madame had been so against Princess Mingzhu and An You in the original storyline. However, the old madame was more rational compared to the original host. The original host had fallen into a whirlpool of endless pain and despair, which caused her actions to become a little crazed.

The room was quiet. Neither Ning Shu nor the old madame spoke, so the atmosphere became stiflingly heavy.

The old madame closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she looked towards Ning Shu and asked, “What do you think should be done about this?”

#comment: The seven grounds for divorcing a wife in ancient China are if she does not obey the in-laws, if she has no male child, adultery, jealousy, disease, if she talked too much, and theft. There are only three conditions in which a man couldn’t divorce his wife, which is if she has no family to return to because her parents had passed away, she had observed a full, three-year mourning period for a parent-in-law, or her husband was poor when they married and is now rich.