Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 171 - 169: The Reason

Chapter 171: Chapter 169: The Reason

"Third Brother, seeing how your mother has been beaten, you just stand by and do nothing. Aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?" Mrs. Shen, ignored by everyone else, expressed her frustration towards her own son.

She was not foolish and knew that her son was the only one in this room who would stand for her.

Of course, except for her son, everyone else in this room was, to her, an outsider.

"Mother, the rule of law comes first followed by filial duty. This has always been the case," Shen Chengyao found himself caught in a tough situation.

Being a man who was living in the era of feudalism, even though his heart ached as his mother was beaten until she looked like a battered swine, he didn’t find anything particularly wrong with the situation.

The Empress’ parents still had to pay their respects when they saw her. This was simply etiquette!

Additionally, Mrs. Shen committed a horrifying act against her own daughter. He was furious and disheartened once again. Even a heart made of steel should be softened by this point, he thought!

But not his mother, her heart seemed to never warm. Good things always seem to bypass their family while misfortunes always consider them a primary target.

This imbalance was pointed out by Xiao’er. In the past, they had been too accommodating towards their family members, giving them the impression that they could always pass the buck onto them.

"Fine, you won’t discipline them, will you! I am going to file a formal complaint! See if you can keep your title as Marquis then! As for the compensation... She will marry him, whether she likes it or not!" Mrs. Shen, remembering Aunt Rong’s intimidating words, quickly changed her tune.

"You can file your complaint! Even if it means we lose the title, my daughter won’t be getting married," Mrs. Liu angrily retorted to Mrs. Shen’s threats.

"Mother, I’d rather forsake wealth and honour than ruin my daughter’s life! This marriage with Xiao’er absolutely cannot happen, Xiao’er isn’t even of marrying age yet," Shen Chengyao said without hesitation. If it meant letting his daughter marry into suffering, he would rather return home with his wife and children to farm, even if they might not have enough to eat, they would have each other.

"I am your mother, dare you not listen to me? I have spoken, whether you like it or not, you must agree to this marriage!"

After throwing these words at them, she stormed off back to her own courtyard.

She was aware that the Emperor always demanded that officials were filial. There were always those in the world who, when dealing with certain matters, only knew what they wanted to know, only what was beneficial to them, and chose to ignore what was detrimental. Therefore, Mrs. Shen didn’t know that the Emperor was not the type to favour one side over the other. He promoted filial piety, but he would not tolerate intentional harm to descendants.

Xiao’er resisted the urge to roll her eyes: She always threatened to file a complaint, how annoying!

Mrs. Liu was so angry that she was panting.

Xiao’er picked up a cup of tea and handed it to Mrs. Liu: "Mother, don’t be angry, it’s not worth it."

Mrs. Liu took the tea and drank a few sips, gradually catching her breath.

Xiao’er turned to Xuemei: "What happened?"

"The old lady and the young lady were playing by the river outside the villa when they encountered..." Xuemei, without any personal bias, described the incident in full detail.

Apparently, Shen Yuzhu took a medicinal plant that someone was drying by the river. When the person politely pointed out that it was his and asked for it back, Shen Yuzhu insisted that finders are keepers, refused to return it. Worse still, she threw the plant on the ground and stomped on it until it was unrecognisable.

The man was furious, claiming that the medicinal plant was meant to heal his older brother’s leg wound in order for him to get married sooner. Since she damaged it, she ought to marry his older brother and serve him for the rest of her life as atonement.

Shen Yuzhu didn’t take it seriously and went back to the villa.

Who would have thought that in the afternoon, people from the General’s Mansion would come to make a marriage request, also bringing along 10,000 taels as a betrothal gift.

Mrs. Shen, swayed by the money, agreed to the proposal and secretly told the people from the Admiralty’s mansion that the bride was from Rui’an County. This was kept a secret from all the servants. Xuemei only found out about it when she returned to the mansion and Mrs. Shen told Shen Chengyao and Mrs. Liu.

The next day, Mrs. Shen and Shen Yuzhu took the 10,000 taels of silver to make their purchases. Once finished, they directly returned to the mansion. Seeing that they were using the bride price money, Xuemei didn’t alert anyone back at the mansion.

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er thought to herself: ’Typical Shen Yuzhu, always looking to gain an unfair advantage. And if she can’t get something, she’d rather destroy it.’

Xiao’er comforted Mrs. Liu and her husband, assuring them not to worry. She had a way to solve this problem and then returned to her own courtyard.

Aunt Rong immediately assigned someone to investigate the details of the matter, and it wasn’t long before Xiao’er knew even more about it.

It turned out that the Admiral’s second son had been watching over a mountain for three years to cure his elder brother’s leg injury. He finally saw the scarlet lotus bloom and harvested the entire plant, intending to bring it home to heal his brother’s wound.

Remembering that he hadn’t shaved his beard for three years and his hair was a mess, he went to the river to clean himself up. While he was there, he decided to catch some unique whitebait to make soup for his brother.

Having lived in the mountain for three years, he drank fish soup almost every day and had not grown tired of it in all that time, which speaks volumes to its delicious taste.

When he saw someone approaching, he quickly came out of the river. Seeing the lady trying to take his scarlet lotus, he claimed it was his. He was taken aback when she brazenly took his flower in front of him. When he tried to take it back, she tossed it on the ground and stomped on it!

Well! She was the reason his brother’s leg couldn’t heal! And now, no woman in the Imperial Capital dared to marry his older brother! So, he would have her serve as his brother’s concubine, to atone for her sins for life!

As for the bride price of 10,000 taels, his mother gave it to save face for the newly risen Marquis Shengping’s sister. Living in the Imperial Capital, petty squabbles among officials, for the most part, were masked with a façade of civility.

Once married and the bride is brought home, her family has no say in how she is treated by her husband’s family!

The Generals’ mansion and the Admiralty’s mansion had a friendly private relationship, and they also had a superior-subordinate relationship. Di Shaowei, Shangguan Xuanyi, and the two legitimate sons of the Admiralty’s mansion, were childhood buddies.

However, in recent years, their interactions had decreased as one was confined to his mansion due to his inability to walk, and the other had been living on the mountain.

So Aunt Rong sent someone to investigate directly, and everything was quickly made clear.

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er thought and came up with a plan.

It was time to teach them a lesson and let them taste what it’s like being plotted against.

"Aunt, you let Xuemei talk to my nurse about this... then you let someone talk to Young Master Di about..."

Aunt Rong listened to Xiao’er and smiled, "Miss, this is a great idea!"

"Let’s keep it a secret from my father for now. My mother, in her current temper, can do anything. After all, it’s better for my father, as a son, not to know about this."

"The old servant understands. Don’t worry Miss, you should rest early. You must be tired these past few days, you even look thinner," said Aunt Rong, who had genuinely grown fond of Xiao’er.

"Aunt, you’re exaggerating! Where could I possibly lose weight? I’ve even gained a layer of fat on my stomach, which you clearly haven’t noticed." Xiao’er deliberately squeezed her belly to show Aunt Rong.

"My dear girl, what are you doing! Why would you do such a thing? Go to sleep, we have a battle to fight tomorrow!" Aunt Rong hurriedly slapped Xiao’er’s hand away.

Xiao’er smiled, laid down as if being compliant, waiting for Aunt Rong to leave. She had to enter the space again.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.