Chapter 101: Chapter 46: Disposal_3
Nanny Deng’s words were ruthless. Now that the facade was torn, she ripped it to shreds without leaving Lady Cheng any chance to rebut. You could say Cheng Lizi’s incident was an accident, but the negligence of your steward can’t be escaped.
Lady Cheng’s face reddened with rage as she glared at Nanny Deng. When she had first arrived, she had been thinking about how to deal with Granny Liu, since she was certain Yueyao would not intervene. But she had never anticipated Old Granny Deng getting involved. The longstanding discord between her and Granny Liu meant that she could find a way out if she had a good enough reason, but now with the outsider Nanny Deng present, and even allowing this outsider to listen in, the Old Master was truly furious this time.
Lady Cheng felt a tremor of fear in her heart; she hadn’t expected matters to become so thorny. She remembered how after the incident of her attempting to harm Ma Peng came to light years ago, Ma Chengteng had ignored her for a full five years. Only after she humbled herself and acted obediently did things slowly improve. However, she never had another opportunity to meddle in the affairs of Ma Peng.
Upon hearing Nanny Deng’s merciless words, Ma Chengteng thought of his mother and sister’s previous comments about Lady Cheng being vicious at heart. He immediately decided not to give Lady Cheng another chance to explain and outright ordered that Cheng Lizi be sent back to the Cheng Family first thing the following morning. He warned Lady Cheng that if a whiff of this matter leaked out, and the Cheng Family dared to make a fuss at their door, he would divorce her and send her back to her own family.
Lady Cheng wanted to correct Nanny Deng’s false accusations, but Ma Chengteng had already lost his patience and directly ordered the old nanny to escort her out. Having already caused harm to the legitimate eldest son once, and now seeking to destroy him again, he had completely lost hope in Lady Cheng, with no trust remaining.
Lady Cheng had not anticipated that Ma Chengteng would not even give her a chance to explain. Biting her teeth in frustration, she took out the items she had prepared for just such an emergency: “Old Master, these were given to me by Lizi. I had no idea that the two children would hatch such thoughts. Old Master, if these things were to spread, where would the Ma Family’s face be…” Anyway, things had come to this pass, so she might as well lay it all on the table.
Ma Chengteng didn’t believe his own son would commit such vile actions. As soon as the items were in his hands and after he had examined them, he slammed his hand down on the table with a heavy smack: “You’re saying Peng’er wrote this?”
Lady Cheng was horrified inside, these were forgeries of the Eldest Young Master’s handwriting, prepared as a precaution. In fact, these were all planned by Lady Cheng for the future, if Ma Peng failed the Juren examination. Then, she would arrange for Cheng Lizi to be alone with Ma Peng, present these ‘evidence’ after an incident, and the Old Master would have no choice but to acknowledge it. But now, presenting them in haste and under duress, their effect was significantly diminished.
Ma Peng looked at the notes, all of them lovesick verses, and his face flushed with color: “Dad, I never wrote these. Dad, believe me, I really didn’t. While the handwriting looks somewhat like mine, I honestly never wrote them.”
Yet Nanny Deng said, “Old Master, when I was walking over with Miss Cheng, the Young Master was three or four steps away from Miss Cheng, not behaving inappropriately at all. On the contrary, it was Miss Cheng who was desperately pleading with the Eldest Young Master to save her.” Her timing in saying this was impeccable.
Ma Chengteng’s last shred of hesitation vanished. Once bitten, twice shy. Lady Cheng’s previoustly unseemly intentions had been buried over the years without mention, but upon bringing them up now, the past incidents were vividly laid out before his eyes. Thus, even with these ‘evidences’ presented by Lady Cheng, Ma Chengteng would not be swayed again: “Someone, escort Madam back to her quarters.” Ma Chengteng intended to put Lady Cheng under house arrest.
Lady Cheng was horrified, this was replaying the same misfortunes from more than a decade ago. She vehemently refused: “Old Master, you cannot just listen to the one-sided words of servants.”
Ma Chengteng coldly retorted, “I have eyes, I can see.” With that, the attendants escorted Lady Cheng out.
Granny Liu had initially wanted to ask Nanny Deng to leave as well, but Nanny Deng shook her head, indicating she still had words for Uncle Master, and so did not leave. Granny Liu felt puzzled but nevertheless complied obediently. After all, nothing mattered more than ensuring no harm would come to her Young Master.