Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Linlang had reason to believe that this woman was deliberately trying to cause trouble for the original owner of this body, and that it wasn't because she thought the original owner liked the heir of the Duke of Chengen.

But the original owner had no past grudges or recent conflicts with this woman, so why was she causing trouble for the original owner? Could she be some kind of reborn woman who had a grudge against the original owner in her previous life?
Thinking of this, Linlang stared even more intently at Liu Siniang, trying to see if she was up to any tricks.

As for Liu Siniang asking the heir of the Duke of Chengen to tell the Duke of Chengen's wife that she had behaved improperly and wanted to sleep with him, and to have the Duke of Chengen's wife reprimand her... Linlang did not try to stop her, but instead planned to turn the tables and let this happen, so that she could use this as an excuse to break ties with the eldest son's family and then have a legitimate reason to cause trouble for them in the future.

Now that the heir of the Duke of Chengen had promised Liu Siniang, he naturally had to keep his word. So the heir of the Duke of Chengen told his wife about it.

Of course, this doesn't refer to Linlang's alleged incestuous relationship with Liu Si Niang. After all, if word got out, Lady Cheng'en wouldn't believe it. She simply said that it was Liu Si Niang's request. Lady Cheng'en immediately understood and told her son that she would bring Linlang over, give her a scolding, and then make him explain to Liu Si Niang.

She had long disliked her sister-in-law's daughter, so this was a good opportunity to give her a good scolding.

Lady Cheng'en immediately summoned Linlang and scolded her, saying, "...Your cousin said you're behaving improperly and trying to get into his bed. Let me tell you, don't be swayed by the fact that someone isn't as good as your cousin. Just because someone isn't as good as him doesn't mean you like them and you think you can seduce him! You think you can marry your cousin! Your cousin is going to marry the Empress's sister; he's not someone you can even dream of! If you don't want this to get out, you'd better behave yourself!"

Linlang deliberately let her ramble on and on, so that all the maids and servants who hadn't been dismissed could hear her, before interrupting her, "Wait, Aunt, what are you saying? When did I ever behave improperly or try to climb into my cousin's bed? Every time I see my cousin, there are always a bunch of people around, and they treat me with respect. When have I ever been alone with him or tried to climb into his bed? Aunt, why are you accusing me of this for no reason?"

Lady Cheng'en knew Linlang wouldn't admit it, since she hadn't done anything like that, so she wasn't surprised by her words. Now, seeing that Linlang wouldn't admit it, she was about to use her seniority to pressure Linlang into admitting it, and then use that as an excuse to scold her, venting her frustration at not being able to scold her sister-in-law back then. But then she heard Linlang say to the nanny beside her, "Nanny, go and invite the matriarch here. This matter concerns my reputation. If it's tarnished, I won't be able to get married in the future. I must get the matriarch here to give me an explanation and clear my name."

The old nanny beside Linlang was someone the original owner had brought from her parents' home. She was very loyal, and she was already furious after hearing the slander from the Duchess of Cheng'en. Upon hearing her young mistress's order, she immediately agreed and went to invite the old Duchess.

Lady Cheng'en originally thought that Shen Linlang was young and would be frightened by a few scoldings, and would only dare to respond obediently and not dare to say anything. She did not expect Linlang to make such a big fuss. She was immediately alarmed and wanted to stop Linlang's nanny from going to the old Duchess. Unexpectedly, Lady Song from the second branch happened to pass by, heard the commotion, and came over to ask what had happened.

—Actually, Madam Song heard from her maid that there seemed to be a quarrel in the main house (Madam Cheng'en originally wanted to smear Linlang, so she did not dismiss the servants around her, which naturally led to someone informing Madam Song that something had happened here). Madam Song was keen on gossip, so she hurried over to see what was going on.

When questioned, Linlang naturally recounted the words the Duchess of Chengen had just used to insult her, saying that she and the Heir Apparent of Chengen had always treated each other with courtesy and that nothing had ever happened—the affair the Duchess of Chengen had alleged. She refused to bear such a stigma and asked her second aunt to be a witness. The Second Madam Song had been anticipating some drama, but she hadn't expected the eldest daughter-in-law to be trying to frame her niece, Linlang. She knew Linlang's thoughts and that Linlang had absolutely no interest in the eldest son of the main branch. Her face immediately darkened, and she said, "Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Why would an elder like you slander a junior like this, throwing such mud at a junior? And why deliberately let so many people hear it? Are you trying to spread this and ruin your niece's reputation? She has no grudge against you, why are you being so vicious to her? Even if there really was something, as an elder, shouldn't you have privately reminded her? Why make such a big fuss?"

Lady Cheng'en was clearly frightened as things spiraled out of control, but she didn't want to lose face, so she stubbornly insisted, saying, "How could I have slandered her? It was my son who told me. He didn't want the people from the Duke of Anguo's mansion to misunderstand, so he asked me to remind my niece. That's why I brought her here to remind her."

Lady Cheng'en knew she couldn't let people say she was slandering Shen Linlang, so she shifted the blame onto her son.

Anyway, her son said it happened, but Shen Linlang said it didn't. It's all just empty talk. Why do they believe what Shen Linlang says, but not what her son says?
Is she wrong to believe what her son says?

On the surface, it seemed to be true, but the old Duchess didn't care about the Duchess of Chengen's sophistry. After being summoned by Linlang's nanny, she immediately leaned on her cane, pointed at the Duchess of Chengen's nose, and scolded, "How can you be such a proper aunt? You want to harm your own niece like this? I know you don't like her, but I never thought you would actually harm her! Have you lost your conscience?"

Seeing that things had come to this point, Lady Cheng'en naturally couldn't deny her actions. After all, if she denied it, wouldn't that be admitting she was wrong? How could that be? So she insisted that this was what her son had told her, and she believed him. By saying this, no one could do anything about it, and no one could accuse her of slander.

By now, the heir of the Duke of Chengen had already been invited by the old Duchess.

As soon as he entered, the old Duchess, angry that he had slandered Linlang, picked up her cane to hit him.

The old lady's cane was quite heavy, and it would definitely hurt if it hit him, so the heir of the Duke of Chengen naturally dodged it, saying as he dodged, "Although Cousin Shen seems very distant from me, she did do what I said, and I really did not slander her."

He knew on his way there that Shen Linlang had brought the matter to the old Duchess's ears. Since it had reached her, he couldn't deny it, otherwise people would accuse him of slandering an innocent girl, which would damage his reputation. So he immediately insisted that Linlang had done those things. (End of Chapter)