Chapter 46: Disposition
When the news reached the courtyard of Brocade Prosperity Hall, Madam Ning remained expressionless.
“What is all this shouting about? Such lack of decorum! Tell Er Shun to wait in the corridor. I will hear his report after seeing off my guest.”
Upon hearing that the imperial edict granting her son-in-law the hereditary title had arrived, Madam Shen’s face flushed and paled alternately.
Madam Ning glanced sideways at her expression, inwardly sneering, then picked up her teacup to signal the end of the visit.
“Madam, there are matters at home to attend to. I must excuse myself.”
Seeing her daughter still kneeling in the courtyard, Madam Shen knew it would be improper to leave without some resolution, so she endured the humiliation.
“Congratulations on your son-in-law inheriting the title. I imagine you must be busy. When Ningguo Mansion holds its grand banquet, our entire family will come to offer our felicitations. As for my daughter’s faults, you may discipline her with scolding or beating as you see fit. On such a joyous day for your son-in-law, please do not let her troubles dampen your spirits.”
Madam Ning deliberately sipped her tea, taking her time before setting the cup down.
“Yuan Jun has been back in the capital for a month, yet the edict granting his title was delayed. Our entire household has been uneasy. We spent money everywhere to inquire, but the Directorate of Ceremonial kept passing the matter to the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites kept passing it back to the Directorate. After all the searching, we couldn’t find the vermilion endorsement for this edict. Fortunately, Eunuch Lu of the Directorate of Ceremonial is magnanimous and issued another edict. For the imperial court to be so careless as to lose an edict—don’t you find it laughable, Madam?”
Madam Shen’s face flushed crimson at her words, unable to offer a coherent reply.
Madam Ning continued with a smile, “The Shen family is noble and esteemed. Without our hereditary title, our family would have been unworthy of such a match. No wonder your daughter has been so displeased and unhappy with my son. As her mother-in-law, I feel rather ashamed. Madam, perhaps you should take her back to her maternal home so she may suffer less under our roof.”
These words left Madam Shen fidgeting uncomfortably, forced to offer an awkward smile.
After exchanging a few more words, Madam Ning prepared to see her guest out. Unable to bear it any longer, Madam Shen ordered her daughter, Shen Shi, to kneel at the doorway, then crawl on her knees into the room to kowtow and offer tea in apology.
Shen Shi had been kneeling in the courtyard for two hours. Though the spring sun was not overly harsh, it still left her dizzy and disoriented.
She considered feigning illness and fainting as she had done before, but with her mother present, she feared her tricks would be exposed.
The courtyard of Brocade Prosperity Hall was spacious, and the bluestone-paved path in the middle was cold and hard, leaving her legs sore and numb.
Throughout the morning, the four young ladies of the Ning family, the wives of the second and third branches, various housekeepers, maids, and servants came and went, all casting sidelong glances at her.
Shen Shi had never endured such humiliation. She regretted not having hanged herself the previous night and wept until her eyes were dry.
Seeing that even her own mother offered no protection and instead made her crawl into the room, she wished she could vanish into the ground.
Granny Zhao, noticing her reluctance, grew anxious and hurried forward to push and persuade her.
After much effort, she managed to drag Shen Shi into the Main Chamber, step by step, kowtowing with each movement, and pressed her head down to bow four times before Madam Ning.
Shen Shi wept until she was breathless and speechless, while Granny Zhao spoke on her behalf, offering apologies.
After a long commotion, Madam Ning remained seated in silence.
With no other recourse, Madam Shen rose to bow, her eyes reddening as she said, “If not for anything else, please consider me and her father. I am over fifty years old and still have two unmarried daughters. It would not matter if you sent her back, but would it not implicate my two younger daughters? This wretched girl is not worth sparing, but what will become of the other two at home…” She trailed off, tears streaming down her face.
Madam Ning stood up, refusing to accept the bow, and ordered a maid to help her up.
“Do not speak like that, Madam. Your daughter has suffered in our household and has only recently begun to experience illness and weakness. It would be good for her to return to her maternal home to recuperate. Why speak of other matters?”
When a married woman returns to her natal home, it must follow proper seasonal etiquette—how can one simply return on a whim?
These words were spoken lightly, without mentioning divorce, but once spread outside, it would be no different from divorce.
Madam Shen hurriedly replied in tears, “Since my in-laws refuse to forgive her, there is nothing I can do. I absolutely cannot take this daughter back. Whether she lives or dies is entirely up to my in-laws…”
Sobbing and weeping, she raised her hand to strike Shen Shi, but Granny Zhao quickly stepped in to intervene.
Suddenly, the door curtain was lifted, and Hong Rong came to urge Madam Ning.
“Young Master, along with the Second Master and Third Master, have already entered the palace to express gratitude for the imperial favor. Please, Madam, quickly ask the Old Madam, Second Madam, and Third Madam to change into their ceremonial robes and open the ancestral hall to set up the incense altar in preparation for receiving the decree.”
Only then did Madam Ning rise, turning to the Shen mother and daughter with a mocking tone, “Since my in-law refuses to take her away, let her return to Phoenix Ripple Courtyard to recuperate from her illness. As you can see, our household is indeed busy and chaotic, so I won’t see you off.”
With that, she leaned on Hong Rong and walked straight back into the inner chamber.
Leaving Steward Sun Cai’s wife in the room, she smiled at Madam Shen and said, “Among the maids and servants the young mistress brought, a few are utterly lacking in propriety. We didn’t feel it was our place to say much, so we locked them in the Small Tea Room of Phoenix Ripple Courtyard. Their whispered words are not fit for the young mistress to hear. Their contracts all belong to the Shen family, so please take them back, Madam. Our Ning family cannot keep such treacherous servants.”
Madam Shen stood there, her face flushed with anger, for a long while before ordering Granny Zhao to support Shen Shi and turning to return to Phoenix Ripple Courtyard.
Having endured humiliation for half the day, Shen Shi returned to her room and immediately sought to end her life.
Before her daughter could even cry, Madam Shen raised her hand and slapped her, sending Shen Shi stumbling.
“Do you think I don’t know what you’ve been doing behind the scenes? You nearly cost your Third Brother his position as a Ministry of Rites secretary. How have your Third Brother and his wife wronged you that you would scheme against them like this? Giving birth to such a fool, I’ve let down the ancestors of the Shen family!”
Shen Shi had intended to withhold the imperial decree to make her husband anxious, hoping he would come to beg her.
Little did she know that Heir Ning not only refused to yield but spent a fortune to befriend Eunuch Lu of the Directorate of Ceremonial.
Eunuch Lu wielded immense power and dispatched two groups of imperial guards to the Ministry of Rites to investigate.
Third Young Master Shen, fearing the loss of his official position, dared not conceal the truth any longer and had no choice but to inform his parents.
Grand Secretary Shen and Eunuch Lu were at odds, and the old eunuch would seize any opportunity to cause trouble for the Shen family.
With such leverage in hand, how could he let it go?
Fortunately, the Minister of Rites was a protégé of the Shen family. He found a minor official to take the blame, absolving Third Young Master Shen of guilt and only imposing a penalty of one year’s salary. Third Miss Shen had spent money and pulled strings to help him secure a promotion, but all that money was wasted.
Grand Secretary Shen secretly cursed his son-in-law for failing to distinguish between close and distant relations and was even more infuriated by his daughter’s foolishness.
By now, Shen Shi’s regret was useless. She wept and wailed, threatening to end her life.
Madam Shen was a ruthless woman. Seeing her daughter’s incessant crying and tantrums, she directly threw out a silver knife.
“Feigning illness and threatening suicide to manipulate others—what kind of temperament is that? As your birth mother, how could I not know? If you have the courage, die here and now in front of me. If you’re willing to die in the Ning household, I’ll return immediately and have your father and brothers come tear the Ning family apart to erect a chastity arch in your honor!”
The silver knife was small and sharp. Shen Shi trembled with fear and dared not mention suicide again.
Seeing that she lacked the courage to die, Madam Shen sneered and sat in the main hall, ordering Granny Zhao to summon all the accompanying servants.
Someone unlocked the door and released the people locked in the Small Tea Room.
From the first-rank maids Zhi Qing and Angelica Orchid down to the third-rank maid Fragrant Grass, and the elderly servants like Granny He and Mama Hu, they all knelt in a dense crowd on the floor.
“I have long known you scoundrels are obsessed with wealth, scheming to deceive your masters! Today your mistress has been humiliated, each of you deserves death—none shall escape!”
After saying this, she first ordered Granny He, Mama Hu, and several other matrons to be bound and taken out.
“Take them to the estate immediately, break their legs and lock them up—give them no food!”
These matrons were so terrified they went limp, dragged out without uttering a sound.
The remaining maids trembled in fear. Madam Shen pointed directly at Angelica Orchid and scolded: “You little harlot, dressing in gaudy colors, thinking to trample over your mistress?”
Angelica Orchid crawled forward on her knees, pleading: “The young lady elevated me to chamber maid, but the Young Master has not taken me. This servant dares not deceive her mistress—Madam, please see clearly!” Turning back, she begged Shen Shi: “Young lady, speak for me!”
Shen Shi stood beside her mother—how dare she speak?
Madam Shen spat in her face and ordered Granny Zhao: “Take this little harlot and her sister to the slave dealer’s house. Have them both sold into brothels—do not sell them to ordinary people!”
Seeing Madam Shen’s fury, none dared utter a word.
Angelica Orchid and Fragrant Grass tried to wail, but nearby matrons quickly gagged and dragged them away.
After dealing with several more matrons, only the honest and simple-minded remained. Madam Shen then berated everyone and ordered them out.
Her face dark, Madam Shen commanded her daughter to kneel before her, speaking sternly: “Mother’s words remain: you are the legitimate eldest daughter-in-law of Ningguo Mansion, the future Lady of the Ningguo Duke. You must not behave like a petty girl. If you remain this weak and base, how will you manage a household? From now on, if you act so recklessly again and tarnish the reputation of a Shen family daughter, do not blame Mother for being harsh!”
With that, she rose and swept her sleeves, departing.
Shen Shi knelt alone. The fragrance from the Golden Beast Censer curled upward, yet behind her lay only a cold, desolate chill.