CHAPTER 324: CHAPTER 320: I AM THE MARQUIS MANSION DOWAGER 9

The Marquis Mansion was busy handling the funeral of Old Madam.

After the mourning period at home, Tang Dingguo and his brothers went to the temple storage to hold rites for Anning.

It wasn’t until after the forty-ninth day had passed that things finally settled down.

Originally, Mrs. Song was just putting on a show at the mourning hall and did not commit any major mistakes.

But later on, Mrs. Song grew impatient, often neglecting to lament, using the excuse of managing household affairs to be lazy, and even began feigning illness.

This angered Tang Dingguo quite a bit.

However, the Song Family was on the rise, and since Mrs. Song had both sons and daughters, Tang Dingguo, for the sake of his children, could not treat her too harshly.

On the other hand, Mrs. Yang was indeed devoted and dedicated.

Having observed all of this, Tang Baoguo treated Mrs. Yang even better afterward.

Once Anning’s funeral was over, the Tang Baoguo family finally moved into Duke Zhongyi’s Mansion completely, and thereafter the two households lived separately. They would only visit each other during significant festivals or the parents’ death anniversaries; otherwise, they would rarely call on one another.

Mrs. Song cared little for visiting Marquis Yizhong’s Mansion.

While Mrs. Yang was reluctant to visit Duke Zhongyong’s Mansion and seek trouble.

The two sisters-in-law did not see eye to eye, naturally leading to little interaction between them.

Tang Dingguo and Tang Baoguo, on one hand, were busy, and on the other hand, did not pay much attention to the affairs of the inner court, allowing the relationship between the two households to gradually fade over time.

At this point, Anning had already returned to her hometown with loyal servants.

She had once deceived Tang Baoguo saying she was a descendant of the State Preceptor from the previous dynasty, and as it happened, it was actually true.

However, her original father never taught her anything about Feng Shui or physiognomy.

Anning’s return home this time was because she remembered that her original father seemed to have stored something in the old residence in their hometown.

She wanted to search for it this time.

Anning brought quite a lot of valuable items with her when she went back to her hometown.

She brought several tens of thousands in gold and silver notes, as well as many rare and exotic treasures. After returning home, she stored these items in a warehouse she had built in the countryside.

Speaking of which, her original person was truly astute.

She well understood the strategy of having multiple hideouts, and since she was not sure whether the Grand Ancestor would succeed in the rebellion, she was prepared to flee with her husband if things turned sour. Thus, she paid close attention to profiteering from wars during her campaign.

Before peace had been restored to the land, she had already secretly built a warehouse in her hometown.

Although her original father did not teach her Mysticism, he taught her martial arts and some Qimen Dunjia techniques, otherwise she would not have been able to achieve such great merits.

The warehouse built by her original person in her hometown was set with an Array, and ordinary people would find it difficult to break in.

This place stored good items that her original person had accumulated over many years.

This was also the reason why Anning directly gave Tang Baoguo the warehouse in the Capital.

After returning home, Anning took care of the items she brought, and then began to cultivate in the mountains from time to time.

Speaking of which, the environment here was indeed excellent, especially in the mountains. The spiritual energy was far more abundant than in the Capital.

Anning, without the need to worry about various concerns, dedicated herself to cultivation and to studying the laws of this timeline.

Anning’s Cultivation Technique was extremely profound, and she was a person who had cultivated for many lifetimes. When she resumed her cultivation, it was like treading on familiar ground; not only was her cultivation speed fast, but she also had no Heart Demon and no bottlenecks.

Within a year, Anning had made significant progress in her cultivation.

After that, she continued her cultivation while tentatively probing around, wanting to see if her speculations were correct.

Thus, after a few more years, Anning finally gained the ability to confront that individual.

However, at this point, a sudden incident forced Anning, who had planned to enter a deep seclusion, to abandon the idea.

It turned out that four years ago, Tang Bai got married. His wife came from a noble family, a very astute and capable lady, but one who was reasonable and understood human feelings.

Madam Song, however, was very dissatisfied with this new daughter-in-law.

Originally, Madam Song had wanted Tang Bai to marry her own niece.

But for some unknown reasons, Tang Bai was unwilling, and Tang Dingguo was also displeased. Unable to prevail against father and son, she had to reluctantly accept the situation.

Madam Li is Tang Bai’s wife. Upon her arrival, Madam Song immediately established a set of rules for her, causing Madam Li great suffering.

Later, Tang Zong also took a wife, and his wife, Mrs. Zhang, was personally selected by Madam Song. She was the legitimate daughter of the Zhang Family, closely related to the Tang Family.

Madam Song doted on Mrs. Zhang immensely, bringing Madam Li to tears frequently.

Eventually, Tang Bai toughened up and had a big argument with Madam Song, after which she stopped being so harsh on Madam Li.

Not long after she married into the family, Madam Li became pregnant and later gave birth to the eldest grandson, Tang Pei.

This was the legitimate eldest grandson of the Marquis Mansion. After Tang Pei’s birth, Tang Dingguo was extremely affectionate towards him, and even Tang Zong’s eldest son, Tang Run, seemed less favored.

This caused both Madam Song and Mrs. Zhang great jealousy.

However, with Tang Dingguo protecting his eldest son and grandson, these two, despite being incensed, were powerless to act.

At this juncture, disaster struck for Tang Dingguo.

One day, when entering the palace for an audience, he hadn’t anticipated an assassination attempt within. Tang Dingguo took a blade meant for Emperor Jianyuan, and after returning home, he was bedridden and passed away within a few months.

And Emperor Jianyuan also investigates how the assassin had infiltrated the palace. After much scrutiny, the investigation pointed to the Crown Prince.

It turned out the assassin was dispatched by the Crown Prince himself.

The Crown Prince sought to ascend the throne, but Emperor Jianyuan was not dying, and moreover, the Emperor was extremely dissatisfied with the Crown Prince’s maternal family, instilling a sense of panic in the Crown Prince, leading to this hasty assassination order.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince had his own power in the palace, where his loyal followers facilitated the assassin’s actions. If not for Tang Dingguo’s intervention, Emperor Jianyuan would have likely met his end.

Upon discovering that the Crown Prince was behind the attempt, Emperor Jianyuan could not publicize the incident.

After all, this was a royal scandal. If it became known, it would be too humiliating.

As a result, Tang Dingguo’s life-saving actions were not acknowledged, and his death was officially attributed to an illness.

Anning had sensed Tang Dingguo’s death at that time, wanting to save her foolhardy son, but before she could make a move, she was suppressed again.

This time, the suppressing force was immense, and despite years of cultivation, Anning could not withstand it.

Filled with hatred, she could only watch her foolish son die unwillingly, and with even greater urgency, she searched day and night for the source of that suppressing force.

She knew that if she didn’t possess power equivalent to that entity, she could only watch helplessly in the future as both Marquis Mansions vanished into smoke and her descendants died one by one.

After Tang Dingguo’s death, with nobody to keep her in check, Madam Song forced Tang Bai’s family to move to a residence next to the stable in the back courtyard while moving her second son’s family into the main residence.

Tang Baoguo, upon hearing this, became livid and confronted Madam Song, but she remained defiant, insisting it was merely splitting the family property and there was no reason an uncle should have say over his brother’s widow.

This infuriated Tang Baoguo even more.

Later, when an aggrieved Tang Bai came to Marquis Yizhong’s Mansion to complain about his mother’s favoritism and his dissatisfaction with her to Tang Baoguo, Tang Baoguo couldn’t hold back his disappointment and bluntly told Tang Bai, "Before your grandmother passed away, she told me that you are not really Madam Song’s biological child."