After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

With a slight metallic click, the lock was opened.

Rong Yingluo took the unlocked lock and presented it to the old lady: "Grandmother, look."

"Ah Xi, what else do you have to say?" The old lady said, exasperated.

"Grandmother, I didn't take the key. It was Yuqing, a maid in my mother's courtyard, who stole it for me." Gu Xi shrank back and glanced at Madam Su before stammering out the words.

His mother had already planned this out with him. In the past, his sister-in-law would deal with her dowry after she died, but this time Rong Shi was still alive, so they couldn't take it out as boldly as before, and they had to find a way.

His mother told him to seduce the maid Yuqing and have Yuqing steal it from Granny Zhao for him.

If anything goes wrong, he can push the blame onto a servant girl. Even if things escalate, he is the legitimate son of the Duke's mansion, and at most he will be punished. He will then be able to complete the task assigned by the Crown Prince and gain considerable benefits from it.

Rong's dowry was already a target that the Crown Prince had long coveted. He had transferred the dowries of his four elder sisters-in-law to the Crown Prince's residence through gambling losses.

Yuqing, who had been implicated, was standing behind Su Jingyi. Upon hearing the Second Young Master's words, she was so frightened that she retreated repeatedly.

It was clearly the second young master who made her steal it, and he even promised to take her as a concubine after he married the second young mistress.

Su turned around and slapped Yuqing across the face: "You shameless slut, who gave you the guts to steal the key?"

Yuqing immediately knelt down, panicked: "Madam, it was the Second Young Master who told me to steal it."

"How could Ah Xi let you steal it? It must be you, you shameless maid, trying to seduce Ah Xi by stealing the key to curry favor with him." Madam Su wouldn't allow her to defend herself.

"Madam, I'm innocent! I didn't! It was really the Second Young Master who made me steal it!" Yuqing cried, tears streaming down her face.

"You unruly servant! Guards, beat her! Beat her to death!" Madam Su struck first.

Unfortunately, the courtyard gate was closed, and there were few servants or even any young men inside.

Another maidservant beside Madam Su had no choice but to step forward and slap Yuqing several times.

The old lady gave Granny Ye a wink.

Granny Ye instructed the maid to pull Yuqing to kneel before the old lady: "If you want to live, answer properly."

"I ask you, did the second young master really order you to steal it?" the old lady asked coldly.

"Reporting to the old lady, recently the second young master has become seriously addicted to gambling. He has repeatedly told me that he is short of money and that the Duchess of the State does not give him any money to gamble."

Once, I overheard Granny Zhao and the Duchess talking privately about how the young mistress had a lot of money and hadn't thought about using her dowry since she entered the manor. So I mentioned it to the second young master.

He then set his sights on the young mistress's dowry, having a maid steal the key to him, and promising to take the maid as his concubine in the future.

The maid was bewitched and stole it for the second young master.

He took the key and went outside to have a new one made, so the servant returned the original one. Yuqing knew that if she didn't tell the truth, she would surely die today. The second young master had directly implicated her without considering her life or death; she had been too naive.

"Ah Xi, what else do you have to say?" The old lady suppressed her surging anger.

"Grandmother, I..." Gu Xi was speechless. Yu Qing was his mother's maid, and no matter how he tried to explain, his grandmother would not believe him.

"Speak!" the old lady shouted sharply.

"Grandmother, I've been in a bad mood lately, so I went gambling a few times. But Mother gave me too little money, so I had some crooked ideas," Gu Xi confessed honestly.

"Mother, it's Ah Xi who is ignorant. I will definitely teach him properly." Madam Su also knelt down in front of the old lady.

Her son didn't rush to reveal the plan they had discussed, which greatly relieved her; her son knew what was important.

If we expose her, we'll be in deep trouble.

"A doting mother spoils her son! Look what you've done to your own son! Something worth 160,000 taels of silver has been wasted by him. How are you going to return it to Liuli?" the old lady scolded.

"What? Sixteen thousand taels of silver?" Gu Xi was a little confused. The gambling house hadn't valued it at that much.

"Second Young Master, the things you took from the Young Madam's dowry are worth 160,000 taels of silver," Granny Ye kindly explained to him.

"Impossible! The things I took were only pawned for a total of 30,000 taels of silver. And that was only because I'm the second young master of the Duke's mansion that they gave me such a high price." Gu Xi's eyes widened. How could this be?

"Second brother, do you know whose paintings are in your sister-in-law's dowry?" Gu Ce shook his head. His second brother had been spoiled.

"I don't like calligraphy and painting, how would I know?" Gu Xi said without any shame.

"You ignorant and incompetent bastard, that's a painting by the hermit of Lingyin, it's priceless."

"Those antique ornaments were all fine items that Master Rong had collected from several countries." The old lady was very disappointed.

"The Hermit of Lingyin? I've never heard of this person before?" Gu Xi was a little confused.

"You idiot! Ah Ce, teach him a lesson!" The old lady couldn't stand her stupid grandson any longer.

"Grandmother, he stole my dowry. Let me beat him." Rong Yingluo rolled up her sleeves, ready to take matters into her own hands.

"Why should Madam do this herself? Don't hurt yourself. I'll do it." Gu Ce stopped her, and without saying a word, he went up and gave Gu Xi a good beating, making Gu Xi scream in pain.

"Big brother, please spare me, I'll never dare to do it again." Gu Xi dodged left and right, but he was no match for Gu Ce.

Su tried to stop him several times, but to no avail. Instead, Gu Ce pushed her to the ground with a flick of his arm.

In the end, Gu Xi was beaten to the ground by Gu Ce, his face bruised and swollen, unable to move.

"Gu Xi, do you know your mistake?" The old lady stood up and looked down at him.

"Grandmother, I know I was wrong." Gu Xi admitted his mistake quickly, fearing that the old lady would punish him again.

Rong Yingluo sneered disdainfully: "The second young master of the Duke's mansion has no backbone at all. He's a disgrace to the Duke's mansion."

She showed no respect whatsoever to the Su mother and son.

With such a spendthrift son, let's see how Su will ever have the nerve to act like an elder in front of her again.

After today, Rong Yingluo no longer intends to pretend to be a dutiful daughter-in-law in front of Madam Su.

"Grandmother hereby punishes you by making you kneel in the ancestral hall for seven days, and you shall only be allowed to drink porridge to survive. Reflect on your actions before the ancestors of the Gu family. If you commit this offense again, you will be expelled from the Gu family and will no longer be a descendant of the Gu family." The old lady issued a severe punishment.

She hoped to save her grandson by imposing a severe punishment; if that failed, she would have no choice but to expel him from the Gu family and send him out of the capital.

Both Madam Su and Gu Xi were stunned by the old lady's words. How could the old lady be so heartless?

No matter what, Gu Xi is a descendant of the Gu family.

The Gu family already had few descendants; how could she bear to part with them?

"Did you understand?" The old lady got angry when she saw the incredulous look on the mother and son's faces.

They married the wrong daughter-in-law.

"Grandson remembers, and will never dare to do it again." Gu Xi struggled to his feet and knelt unsteadily in front of the old lady.

Madam Su had never seen the old lady so angry before, and she was also frightened.

The old lady walked up to Rong Yingluo: "Liuli, it is my Gu family who has wronged you. I'm afraid we can't get your dowry back, but my Gu family can't come up with that much money right now. What do you think we should do?"

The old lady was also in a dilemma.

She never expected that all the paintings in Rong Yingluo's dowry were by the hermit Lingyin.

"Then let my mother give me all of her dowry, however much it is. It's only right that a mother should repay her son's debts."