TSWPF -Chapter 256 Thoughts

As soon as the Duchess returned to the Duke’s residence, she found out which courtyard the Duke was staying in and went straight there.

The Duke was in the middle of being intimate with another concubine when he heard that the Duchess had come looking for him. He immediately climbed out of bed and started putting on his clothes.

The concubine pouted in displeasure and wrapped her arms around him, refusing to let him leave.

The Duke had no choice but to turn back and placate her, telling her he would come back to keep her company once he had dealt with the matter.

Only then did the concubine smile sweetly and release him, repeatedly reminding him to be sure to come back for her.

The Duke gave her another playful squeeze, making her giggle, before straightening his robes and striding out of the room.

“Madam, how was it? What did Her Majesty the Empress say?” he asked.

The Duchess cast him a cold glance and tossed out a single sentence: “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”

How brainless did he have to be to ask something like that here?

Could the things the Empress had said be spoken of in a place like this? Honestly…

The older he got, the less sense he seemed to have. Other than sleeping with women, what else could he even do?

Only after saying that did the Duke realize his mistake. He slapped his forehead in mild annoyance—he really shouldn’t have asked those questions there.

He chuckled awkwardly, clasped his hands behind his back, and hurried after the Duchess.

In his heart, however, he felt somewhat dissatisfied, thinking that the Duchess had embarrassed him.

But no matter how unhappy he was inside, he would never show it on his face. After all, the Empress treated the Duchess far better than she treated him, her own father.

Offending the Duchess was essentially the same as offending the Empress.

That was far too bad a deal—something he would never do.

Once they returned to their courtyard and entered the room, the Duke impatiently asked again what the Empress had said to her.

After the senior maid poured them tea, the Duchess waved her hand and dismissed everyone.

She was in no hurry. Lifting her teacup, she took two slow sips to quench her thirst before looking up at the Duke.

“Her Majesty is very angry about the matter you caused.”

This husband of hers was truly becoming more unreliable with age—and increasingly unwilling to heed her advice.

All it took was a few whispered words at the pillow, and he would immediately change his mind.

Just thinking about it filled her with deep sorrow.

The Duke’s hand froze around his teacup. He slowly set it down, looked up at the Duchess, and said awkwardly, “What did I do wrong this time?”

If he had known, he would never have interfered in Fifth Madam’s matter. In the end, he’d only gotten himself covered in trouble.

Hearing this, the Duchess slammed her teacup onto the table with a loud bang. Her gaze grew colder and colder, and her voice was icy enough to cut.

“You didn’t do anything wrong? You actually have the nerve to say that? After making such a huge mistake, you still dare say you did nothing wrong? Just how thick-skinned are you?”

If this continued, she truly felt the Duke’s residence would eventually be ruined by him.

“If you had managed Fifth Daughter-in-law properly, would I have had to go to the Jingzhao Prefecture to back her up?” the Duke retorted. In his view, the biggest fault lay with the Duchess for failing to manage the inner household, allowing Fifth Daughter-in-law to cause such a disaster.

The Duchess’s heart turned ice-cold at his words. She stared at him in disbelief.

“So what you’re saying is that this is my fault? Huh?”

She had never imagined that he would push all the blame onto her.

How ridiculous—truly ridiculous.

If not for her self-restraint, she would have already splashed the tea on the table straight into his face.

So this was what shamelessness looked like. She had really learned something today.

The Duke guiltily rubbed his nose, turned his head slightly, and no longer dared to meet her gaze.

“I didn’t say it was your fault. I just want you to manage the inner household better in the future—don’t let people from the rear quarters go out and cause trouble again.”

Taking two deep breaths, the Duchess picked up the teacup and drank the entire cup in one go, barely suppressing the anger in her chest.

“Then explain it clearly right here—where exactly did I fail to manage the inner household properly?”

She had devoted herself wholeheartedly to running the Duke’s residence, only to be spoken of like this. How could she tolerate it?

Hearing this, the Duke swallowed, lifted his teacup, and took a sip. “Let’s not talk about that for now. Tell me first—what did Her Majesty say to you in the palace?”

In truth, he knew he was in the wrong. But being criticized like this by his wife bruised his pride, so he instinctively pushed the blame onto her to make her bear it instead.

The Duchess stared at him for a long while, then curled her lips into a mocking smile.

Why should she even care? She had long known what kind of man he was. Why take his words to heart and make herself miserable?

For the rest of her life, she would no longer rely on him—only on her sons.

Feeling even more uncomfortable under her gaze, the Duke picked up his teacup again as a cover and drank. In a short while, he finished two full cups.

Only then did the Duchess speak again.

“Her Majesty asked me to tell you this: if the Duke’s residence continues like this, she will no longer concern herself with it.”

“What?” The Duke nearly jumped up when he heard that. He had never expected the Empress to say such a thing. The Duke’s residence was her maternal family—how could she simply ignore it?

“Did Her Majesty really say that? You’re not lying to me, are you?”

He looked at the Duchess suspiciously, thinking she might be saying this just to scare him out of anger.

The Duchess was so furious she nearly fainted backward. Gritting her teeth, she glared at him, wanting nothing more than to rush over and slap him twice to knock some sense into him.

“A Duke’s residence that cannot support Her Majesty and only keeps dragging her down—why should she still care about it? Tell me, why should she?”

In the end, she couldn’t hold back and shouted at him.

It was probably the first time the Duke had ever seen her like this. He was badly startled.

He sprang to his feet and took two steps back, stammering, “When has the Duke’s residence ever been unable to support Her Majesty? Back then, His Majesty—”

Before he could finish, the Duchess sharply interrupted him. “Shut up!”

Her chest heaved violently with anger as she stood up and glared at him. If looks could kill, the Duke would have died countless times over.

“Is that something you should be saying? If you want to die, don’t drag the hundreds of people in the Duke’s residence down with you.”

She seriously suspected his brain was waterlogged—blurting out whatever came to mind.

Had he never heard the saying, walls have ears?

She truly wanted to sew his mouth shut, so he wouldn’t one day get them all killed with a single careless sentence.

The Duke realized he’d had a lapse in judgment to say something like that. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t find any words.

Fortunately, his wife had cut him off. If those words had gotten out, even a hundred heads wouldn’t have been enough for him to lose.

Cold sweat broke out on his back at the thought.

“Madam, this time it was my fault. I swear I won’t make this kind of mistake again.”

It was rare for the Duke to lower his head and admit his error.

The Duchess gave him a long, deep look, said nothing, and sat back down.

“Then… did Her Majesty say anything else?” Seeing that she remained silent, the Duke chuckled awkwardly and shamelessly returned to his seat.

Once she felt her emotions settle a little, the Duchess looked up at him again.

“As for the matter of inheriting the Duke’s residence, Her Majesty asked what you’re really thinking.”

In truth, she also wanted to know what he was thinking—whether he still held the same thoughts as before.

At the mention of this, it was the Duke’s turn to fall silent.

He was old and wanted to hand over the title sooner rather than later. But his eldest son truly wasn’t suited to inherit the Duke’s residence.

His temperament was far too weak, his ears far too soft. He simply couldn’t shoulder such a heavy responsibility.

If the Duke’s residence were handed to him, he might not even be able to maintain it, let alone expand it.

In his heart, he really wanted to give the title to his third son. With the third son inheriting, the Duke’s residence would surely flourish.

But the ancestral rules stated clearly that the title must pass to the legitimate eldest son—unless the eldest son was gone, only then could another be chosen.

Gone?

At this thought, a dark glint flashed through the Duke’s eyes. Could it be that he…

“What are you spacing out for?” The Duchess waited a long time without getting an answer. When she looked up and saw him lost in thought, she angrily shoved him hard.

“Are you thinking about those women in your rear courtyard again?”

Even when discussing serious matters, he could still drift off. She was truly speechless.

The Duke snapped back to his senses and shot her a glare, signaling her not to talk nonsense.

“What nonsense am I talking? Isn’t it true? Other than coming back to fool around with the women in the back, what else can you even do?”

Those words were extremely harsh, making the Duke’s face flush red with anger.

Before he could explode, the Duchess quickly repeated her earlier question, asking what he was really thinking.

With the conversation dragged back to the main issue, the Duke had nowhere to vent his anger.

He glared at the Duchess again before saying, “What about Her Majesty’s opinion? Did she say what she thinks?”

The Duchess shook her head. “No—Her Majesty hadn’t said anything. She only wanted to know what he thought and what his intentions were.”

“And you?” the Duke asked, looking at the Duchess. “Are you really at ease handing the Duke’s residence over to Yin’er?”

He certainly wasn’t. He feared the residence would be ruined by the eldest son.

Hearing this, the Duchess’s gaze sharpened. Lowering her voice, she said, “What is there to be uneasy about? The Duke’s residence should have belonged to Yin’er in the first place—it should be his.”

“You’d better put any other thoughts out of your mind. Don’t let those little ideas of yours cause the brothers to turn against each other.”

“If that ever happens,” she added coldly, “I really will skin you alive.”