Chapter 606 - 612

Su Wenyue was not someone to be trifled with. Everyone was watching her reaction. If she let Mrs. Shao off the hook easily and showed signs of weakness, then wouldn’t everyone feel emboldened to bully her in the future? Even if she wasn’t afraid, she would be annoyed to death.

The incident with Zhou Yao was the same, flagrantly causing her trouble. If she let such matters slide and fade away, others would surely start thinking she was an easy target. Those who couldn’t find any faults with Han Yu would also start targeting her.

Furthermore, with Zhou Yao’s matter, the City Lord had already agreed to deal with Zhou Yao, yet it ended unresolved. There must have been some unavoidable reasons, which were difficult to justify to Han Yu. Therefore, Su Wenyue decided that using Mrs. Shao as a ‘scapegoat’ was the right decision. Mrs. Shao was the Second Young Lady of the City Lord Mansion. Given her attitude after the last incident, the City Lord would likely concede a bit, especially since Mrs. Shao had instigated the situation.

Just when everyone thought the incident was over, Su Wenyue’s face revealed an ironic smile, and she looked coldly at Mrs. Shao: “Speaking of which, I truly admire the Second Young Lady. The Second Young Master has numerous concubines, all well-managed by you, and you even let your servant girl become facially intimate with the Second Young Master, bearing him an eldest son. That’s the epitome of virtuous character. It’s no wonder you look down on someone like me.”

As Su Wenyue spoke, she even chuckled behind her hand. While it seemed like she was commending Mrs. Shao, everyone understood the sarcasm in her words. Out of fear of Mrs. Shao’s status and her notoriously domineering behavior, most of those present dared not express their thoughts openly, but they took great delight in her misfortune and laughed at Mrs. Shao behind her back, enjoying her humiliation.

Mrs. Shao’s overbearing behavior in normal times meant that, although these Madams and Madams outwardly flattered her, few were sincere. They harbored resentment and were eager to see Mrs. Shao suffer a loss at Su Wenyue’s hands. They somewhat agreed with Su Wenyue’s earlier words and now admired her for doing what they themselves desired but dared not do, openly slapping Mrs. Shao’s face.

Mrs. Shao’s face turned ugly indeed, as mentioning her heirs was her biggest taboo, her greatest sore spot. She had the status, the position, brothers in her mother’s family who adored her, a husband who was tenderly affectionate to her, and even her nominal mother-in-law had to show her respect. Her life should have been the most enviable among these ladies, but perfect things simply didn’t exist in the world.@@novelbin@@

Having married into the City Lord Mansion for so many years with no news from her stomach, to this day she failed to bear children for her husband. For this, she had suffered a lot, visited countless famous doctors and consumed numerous special remedies, but nothing had had any effect, and her stomach remained silent. As a result, her father-in-law was disappointed in her, her mother-in-law used this as an excuse to exploit her, and she could only swallow her grievances silently, mutely watching others pushing women toward her husband, even letting her own main servant girl become intimate with him, ultimately witnessing other women bear children for her husband.

Remembering all this, Mrs. Shao felt a sharp pain in her heart. People knew this was her taboo and generally would not mention it lightly, yet Su Wenyue used it to ridicule and mock her in front of everyone. Mrs. Shao originally targeted Su Wenyue with some ulterior motive, but at this moment, she truly hated this woman.

“Mrs. Su, what do you mean by that? Are you ridiculing me?!” Mrs. Shao’s voice was sharp, filled with aggressive accusation, as if one wrong answer from Su Wenyue might lead her to attack desperately.

The City Lord’s wife frowned deeply at the side, greatly displeased with Mrs. Shao’s behavior. Such actions not only contradicted the old master’s wishes but also embarrassed her.

“Second Daughter-in-law, enough, as the Second Young Lady of the City Lord Mansion, I thought you knew what you should do. Madam Han is my esteemed guest, and you must not be disrespectful!” Although the City Lord’s wife herself was itching to take several more swipes at the Second Young Lady’s face, and had long been dissatisfied with Mrs. Shao, the concubine daughter-in-law, she was aware of the bigger picture. Even if she desperately wanted to take the opportunity to properly reprimand Mrs. Shao, she still held back. After all, Mrs. Shao was still of the City Lord Mansion. What happens behind closed doors is one thing, but in front of so many people, she could not let the Mansion lose face.

Mrs. Shao was resentful and had a clear purpose in targeting Su Wenyue today, so she didn’t heed the City Lord’s wife’s words much and wanted to say more. However, meeting the cold eyes of the City Lord’s wife, she suddenly fell silent.

Although her nominal mother-in-law enjoyed picking fault with her, her approach was always passive-aggressive, keeping up a good front that left no handle to grasp, and she was rarely seen being so stern and angry. Seemingly really provoked, and recalling the words her father-in-law had said before leaving home, Mrs. Shao suddenly felt frightened and held back her voice forcefully.

Su Wenyue was prepared for a verbal showdown with Mrs. Shao, but didn’t expect Mrs. Shao to back down so easily, so she had to go with the conciliatory words of the City Lord’s wife.

“Madam Han, I’m sorry, my lack of discipline led the Second Daughter-in-law to offend you. She’s always been out of tune like this, don’t take her seriously. I’ll teach her a good lesson later!” The City Lord’s wife couldn’t help but disparage Mrs. Shao a few words, seeing Mrs. Shao’s face although not speaking up, still showing a reluctant attitude.

The City Lord’s wife had long warned Mrs. Shao about her behavior, especially because the old master had instructed her before the banquet. She hoped Mrs. Shao would control her temper and not go overboard, even if Madam Han’s attitude towards them wasn’t friendly due to Zhou Yao’s matter, they should still be accommodating. Instead, Madam Han had been cordial all along, not bringing up any unpleasant past issues, while Mrs. Shao, unprovoked, targeted Madam Han, causing her embarrassment in front of everyone. Now, she had to clean up the mess and silence Mrs. Shao, who still reluctantly did so.

The City Lord’s wife, full of indignation, thought of thoroughly disciplining Mrs. Shao after the banquet, having ample reason to do so.

With the City Lord’s wife taking such a stance, Su Wenyue was about to say something else but had to stop, as some things were not to be overdone, given the attitude shown by the City Lord’s wife.

Back at the Mansion, Su Wenyue discussed the incident at the City Lord Mansion with Han Yu: “Husband, although Mrs. Shao is inherently arrogant and dismissive, I still found her behavior today somewhat strange. Mrs. Shao may be arrogant, but she’s not a fool. To deliberately target me like this, setting aside the lack of any grievance between me and her, didn’t she realize what would come of it, blatantly going against the City Lord?”

Han Yu, upon hearing this, wasn’t the least bit surprised. Instead, he revealed an understanding and even pulled off a sneer: “No, her reaction is not at all surprising.”