Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Chapter 1446 A Maid's Fate 19
The wife of the Duke of Zhenguo heard a message secretly sent by Consort Wang in the palace: the doctor who had previously treated Consort Wang and Consort Zhou of Prince An's residence was brought into the palace by Prince An. He discovered that Consort Fang was poisoned, not sick. Not only did he remove the poison, but he also informed the emperor that Consort Fang had been poisoned, and the investigation eventually led to Consort Wang.

Upon hearing this news, the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo's heir felt that Prince An might already know that Consort Wang had poisoned her and her husband.

If he had known, and given that she had once again enlisted the help of Consort Zhou's family to cause trouble for Consort Zhou, which displeased Prince An, and upon hearing that Consort Fang was ill with symptoms similar to those of Consort Wang and Consort Zhou, he would have sent the doctor who had treated the two women to the palace. This would have led to the discovery that Consort Fang had been poisoned, and then the Emperor would have found out that it was Consort Wang who had done it. It is highly likely that Prince An would not have gotten involved in the palace intrigue if he had not known about this, lest he have gotten himself hurt.

If that's the case, then... was her wealth and status ruined because she kept causing trouble for Consort Zhou?

The wife of the Duke of Zhenguo never imagined that causing trouble for a servant would ultimately bring about her own downfall. Wasn't Consort Zhou out of favor? Then why would Prince An stand up for her?

Now look what's happened. The girl who was always harshly scolded by her, who was told she had the fate of a maid and had to accept it, has now become a concubine of a fourth-rank prince, a woman of noble status. Meanwhile, she has become a family member of a criminal official exiled three thousand miles away, all her titles have been stripped off, she has become a commoner, a lower-class person whom Zhou Shufei thought she should accept her fate and recognize her true identity. Luckily, she didn't run into Concubine Zhou, otherwise, she would have been humiliated enough.

This made her think of her past life as a person at the bottom of society, wondering why it was like this. She had a bad life in her past life, and in this life, she had a good hand, but she still played it badly and continued to have a bad life.

The wife of the Duke of Zhenguo's heir had a pretty good idea of ​​the truth, but no matter what the truth was, she certainly wouldn't dare to say it. After all, if she did, the other people in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion would know that their misfortune was their fault, and that would be terrible.

Therefore, although the wife of the Duke of Zhenguo's heir had a vague idea of ​​the reason for her family's misfortune, she dared not say a word.

Not only did she realize it, but her husband did too. After all, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo had been involved in the matter of having Consort Wang harm Consort Wang and Consort Zhou. He was the one who obtained the poison. Otherwise, how could the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's wife, a daughter-in-law, have the poison secretly prepared by the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?

At this moment, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo recalled that his poisoning of Consort Wang at the Prince of An's residence had been discovered, as had Consort Wang's poisoning of Consort Zhou in the palace. He had heard that the doctor who had saved Consort Wang and Consort Zhou at the Prince of An's residence had discovered it, and that doctor had reportedly been recommended to the emperor by the Prince of An. Thinking about this, it was easy to imagine that the Prince of An might have known the truth about Consort Wang's poisoning, but had not taken any action until Consort Wang poisoned Consort Fang in the palace, at which point he jumped out and dealt a heavy blow to the Duke of Zhenguo's residence.

The heir of the Duke of Zhenguo had thought of this, but like his wife, he dared not say it aloud.

Although he was sentenced to be executed in the autumn, he is not dead yet. He is afraid that if he speaks out, he will be beaten by his family members who are imprisoned in the same cell.

Since these two people who knew the reason didn't speak up, the rest of the Zhenguo Duke's mansion remained unaware of how the poisoning had been discovered. They simply wondered how the poison, which had killed so many people before without being detected, could suddenly be recognized as a symptom of poisoning. They were truly unlucky. Because they didn't know the truth, the people of the Zhenguo Duke's mansion could only accept their misfortune.

After the downfall of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the servant who had been sent by the Duke of Zhenguo's son and wife to guide the Zhou family to cause trouble for Linlang was naturally also taken away and sold off, and never returned to that inn.

When the Zhou family saw that the backer sent to them by the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had suddenly disappeared, and then heard from the innkeeper that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion in the capital had fallen, they were shocked. They wondered if they should still go to the Prince's mansion to make trouble, since their backer was gone and no one was there to guide them on what to do next.
No, that won't work. They've been in the capital for so long and know that if they don't have a powerful backer and go to the gate of Prince An's mansion to cause trouble, they're very likely to be accused of offending a noble and arrested.

They weren't afraid before because the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was their backer. But now that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has fallen, they have no backer and dare not cause trouble for the Prince of An's mansion anymore.

So when the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion fell, the person who had contacted them before disappeared. The inn in the capital was too expensive, and after that person left, they would have to pay for their own food, clothing, and lodging. They had no money and couldn't afford to stay there, so the inn kicked them out before they could leave on their own.

They were kicked out, had nowhere to stay, and no money to buy food. How could this be? Thinking of her daughter being a noblewoman in the Prince An's mansion, she wanted to ask her for some money.

When they arrived at the Prince An's residence, they still clung to their last hope of asking Consort Zhou to acknowledge them. However, as soon as they reached the gate of the Prince An's residence, people from the Five Cities Garrison rushed over to arrest them. This terrified them, and they quickly fled, never daring to approach again.

After Consort Wang fell from power, no one was there to support the Zhou family. The officers of the Five Cities Garrison became much more diligent, fearing that the Zhou family would cause trouble at the Prince's Mansion again. So, they had been guarding the vicinity of the Prince's Mansion for the past few days, ready to jump out and make a move as soon as the Zhou family appeared. After all, before the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion fell, they dared not offend either side, for fear of angering Prince An. Now that the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion had fallen, they naturally wanted to make a move and try to salvage the situation.

The Zhou family dared not approach the Prince An's residence again, nor did they dare to go there to cry and make a scene to claim their relatives. However, they still had no idea how to get back. After all, they were penniless. Who told the person who brought them to the capital to promise that they didn't need to bring anything and that everything would be taken care of? At the time, that person was in a hurry, so he made a big promise. Anyway, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had plenty of money, so the Zhou family really didn't need to bring anything.

Now things are really messed up. The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has fallen, the person who brought them here has disappeared, and they are empty-handed. How are they going to get back after traveling hundreds of miles?

In the end, having no other choice, Zhou's grandmother and mother—Zhou's father and grandfather were too proud to beg—went out to beg, and the whole family begged their way back.

Is going back enough to settle things? Of course not. After all, don't forget that Zhou's father and grandfather, upon hearing that their daughter had become a noblewoman, took advantage of the situation to borrow a lot of money outside, intending for Linlang to repay it in the future. They then gambled it away or lived a carefree life. Now that they're going back, they'll have to pay off those huge debts. It's clear that you really can't harm others, or you'll end up shooting yourself in the foot.