Zhao Luoming looked at the situation before him in puzzlement.
Zhao Luoyu was back? How come no one had told him about this?
And what about the eldest sister, Zhao Luoning?
Zhao Luoming asked, "Where's the eldest sister?"
Zhao Luoning quickly spoke up.
"Third brother, aren't you confused too? The eldest sister has clearly..."
Only then did Zhao Luoming realize he had said the wrong thing.
Back then, when Ji Shisu searched everywhere for the eldest sister and inquired about her all over the world, he had also asked Zhao Luoming about her whereabouts and explicitly told him not to leak the news. If this news got out, Ji Shisu would make the second branch of the Zhao family atone for it.
Actually, there was no need for Ji Shisu's threat.
Not to mention that Zhao Luoming already owed Zhao Luoning a favor, he wasn't stupid either.
Zhao Luoming certainly knew the gravity of this matter.
He wasn't Lady Zhao the Second. He knew to prioritize the overall situation.
If this matter really got out of hand, the Zhao family would be in big trouble.
Of course, Ji Shisu had also heard about the past between Zhao Luoming and Zhao Luoning. Moreover, since Zhao Luoming took over the Zhao family's tea house, Ji Shisu had dealt with him. Although Zhao Luoming came from the second branch of the Zhao family, he wasn't a muddle - headed person.
Otherwise, Ji Shisu wouldn't have dared to tell him about Luoning's news.
What should he do now? He had just let the cat out of the bag.
Thinking of this, Zhao Luoming quickly tried to make up for it. "I heard people talking about it, so I thought..."
Master Zhao had originally thought he had found evidence, but upon hearing this, he felt despair.
It seemed that from beginning to end, it had just been a play staged by Lady Zhao the Second.
Only then did Zhao Luoming think of his mother. He quickly asked, "Father, where's mother?"
When Master Zhao heard about Lady Zhao the Second, he felt even more annoyed.
"Your sister took her away. Remember, from now on, you only have one mother."
On his way here, Zhao Luoming had already heard about this.
He felt deeply guilty about what his mother had done, but he couldn't even find a reason to speak up for her.
He knew that his mother had been doing wrong all along.
He bowed deeply to Master Zhao and quickly stepped back.
Although he knew his mother had done wrong, after all, she was his mother. He couldn't just ignore her. Hearing that Zhao Luoyue had taken her to the Ning Mansion, Zhao Luoming quickly rushed to the second branch.
At the Ning Mansion, there was an uproar because of Lady Zhao the Second's arrival.
Without informing anyone, Zhao Luoyue brought in Lady Zhao the Second, who was on the verge of fainting after being beaten.
At that time, only the old couple were at home in the Ning Mansion.
They watched as the servants of the Zhao family carried in Lady Zhao the Second, whose body was bruised and bloodied.
The old couple had been tortured by the arrogant Zhao Luoyue, so when they saw this situation, they didn't even dare to ask. They quickly ordered someone to call Ning Huaizhi back.
After the servants of the Zhao family sent Lady Zhao the Second to Zhao Luoyue's room, they were about to leave. Only then did Master Ning and Lady Ning dare to come forward and ask.
"What's going on?"
"Lady Zhao the Second did something wrong. Our master spared her because of the child in Miss Second's belly and out of respect for your mansion. But our master has declared that Lady Zhao the Second has been divorced by the Zhao family. From now on, she has nothing to do with the Zhao family. How to deal with her is up to your mansion."
A child in her belly?
Master Ning and Lady Ning were both stunned.
Since Zhao Luoyue got married, Ning Huaizhi hadn't spent much time at home. When did this young couple consummate their marriage? How come they didn't know?
Before the old couple of the Ning family could wait for Ning Huaizhi, they first waited for Zhao Luoming.
Compared to Zhao Luoyue, Zhao Luoming's attitude was much better.
When he entered the door, he first apologized to the old couple of the Ning family, saying things like "sorry to bother you" and "thank you for your trouble".
The old couple of the Ning family were quite pleased. Moreover, since Zhao Luoming and Ning Huaizhi had always had a good relationship, they didn't make things difficult for him and let him in.
Zhao Luoming rushed to the courtyard where Zhao Luoyue was. As soon as he entered the door, he saw the maids carrying out basins of bloody water.
This made Zhao Luoming's hair stand on end.
Zhao Luoming quickened his steps and walked inside. As soon as he reached the door, he heard Lady Zhao the Second's painful groans mixed with curses.
"Damn first branch, damn Zhao Luoning! I won't let them go!"
Zhao Luoming frowned and pushed the door open.
"Father was the one who beat you. Why blame others?" Zhao Luoming advised.
His mother had indeed suffered a lot of criticism back then. Although she had his father's love, since the old master Zhao had always disagreed with her entering the family, in the first few years when his mother followed his father, people on the street would point fingers at her.
But over the years, his father had doted on her extremely. Everyone in the city knew that Lady Zhao the Second was the most powerful figure in the Zhao family. A concubine lived more gloriously than the legitimate wife.
But the hardships she had endured in the past had made Lady Zhao the Second fall into a kind of obsession.
She always thought it was the obstruction of the first branch that had made her live outside for several years and could only be a mistress.
So, she had always harbored deep hostility towards the first branch.
From Zhao Luoyu, Zhao Luoning, Zhao Luochun to Lady Zhao.
And finally Zhao Luojing.
Even though the first branch of the family had cut off all relations with the Zhao family, she didn't relax.
Lady Zhao the Second started to compare, comparing sons and family wealth.
She wanted to live better than Lady Zhao, and her son had to be better at making money than Zhao Luojing.
So, since Zhao Luoming took over the business, Lady Zhao the Second had put a lot of pressure on him.
Moreover, thinking that she was in charge, Lady Zhao the Second spent money even more recklessly.
As a concubine, she acted like a legitimate wife.
All these things had caused Zhao Luoming a great deal of suffering.
Actually, Zhao Luoming had long seen through that what his mother was doing was wrong.
He used to be selfish. Although he would advise his mother, he thought it was none of his business and didn't care if his mother didn't listen.
It wasn't until Lady Zhao the Second drove the woman he loved out of the mansion, until he fell in love with Caixue, until he found that the eldest sister and the second brother, who were on the opposite side of him, would actually consider his feelings and protect the woman he loved.
At that moment, Zhao Luoming realized his own cowardice and stupidity.
Because of his indulgence, he had not only harmed the first branch of the family but also pushed his own mother into an abyss of no return.
So in the past one or two years, Zhao Luoming had been trying to advise his mother. Every time his mother had any extreme actions, when his open - faced attempts to stop her were ineffective, he would secretly stop her.
Under his care for more than a year, everything had been calm and peaceful.
But Zhao Luoming didn't expect that when he was overwhelmed with the tea house's liquidation and neglected his guard, his mother had caused such a big problem.
It wasn't that Zhao Luoming was siding with the others. He had lived in the Zhao family for so many years and knew the temperaments of his family members very well.
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, he didn't need to ask to know that his mother had ended up like this because she had provoked the first branch first.
Zhao Luoming was very troubled.
His mother always thought she was very smart and that she had suppressed Zhao Luoning and Lady Zhao. In fact, it was just that Zhao Luoning didn't want to argue with her for Lady Zhao's sake.
Zhao Luoning and Zhao Luojing were such powerful characters. The elder sister, Zhao Luoning, could handle the complex Ji Mansion smoothly and even win Ji Shisu's heart.
The younger brother, Zhao Luojing, could stand firm in the unpredictable business world. Even during the war when everyone's business had come to a standstill, the silk shop and the pharmacy under Zhao Luojing's name had still achieved both fame and fortune, and their turnover had increased several times.
Facing such characters, how could Lady Zhao the Second's little schemes compare?