351. V4C351: A Fundamental Solution (III)
Wang shi, anxious as she was, tried her best to lower her voice, “Sister, what are you planning to do? You brought troubles to me now!”
Aunt Kang smiled and said slowly, “How’s this a trouble to you? I just wanted to make sure of your safety and wealth!”
“How, how’s that possible?” Wang shi got confused.
“You sixth son-in-law, Gu Tingye, is becoming more and more influential and will have great wealth. Your family will also gain some advantage from him. However, just think about it, is that honorable Madam Gu of one mind with you?”
Wang shi hesitated, “I watched her grow up and never treat her badly. Why isn’t she with me?”
Aunt Kang snorted with the corner of her lips curled, “If she’s with you and respects you, she wouldn’t have kicked the maid that you have sent to her out without informing you!”
“… Caihuan was kicked out by Minglan’s husband…” Wang shi’s voice sounded much lower.
“Just keep fooling yourself. If she hasn’t incited her man, do you really think he would have thought of that?”
Having taken a sip of the tea, Aunt Kang continued to persuade Wang shi with her glib tongue, “She has just got married for a short while. After she stands firm in her family, she will no longer respect you! She’s only close with your mother-in-law. Your position in the Sheng family would only be lower in the future!”
“I don’t think so…” Wang shi said with her voice sounding less and less confident. Suddenly, she remembered something and said hurriedly, “Are you sure that Zhao’er is of one mind with you? She wasn’t given birth by you, either.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Aunt Kang smirked, “I have her mother. If I tell her to go east, she wouldn’t dare to go west!”
With Wang shi’s eyes gleaming, she budged a bit. Seeing that, Aunt Kang added, “The concubine’s daughters needs to be lectured, otherwise they would forget about their identities. Don’t make her think that she could turn into a phoenix from a sparrow. After this, that wicked girl would definitely behave herself whether Zhao’er would gain a firm foothold or not. Also, she will also listen to your words in the future.”
“Then what should I say to my mother-in-law? She’s not easy to deal with.” Wang shi felt her blood freezing as she thought of Old Madam Sheng.
“What’s the big deal? When you go back, you can cry and say that I disagree with you no matter what. If the worst comes to the worst, I’ll never go to your family again. You can visit me secretly.” Aunt Kang seemed pretty careless, “Blame everything on me. After all, she can’t not let your husband divorce you.”
“Then… what about my master?” Wang shi felt her blood freezing again.
Aung Kang put on an expression of loathing, “Men are all like that. Do you really believe the so-called ‘deep love between couples’?”
This time, Wang shi didn’t agree with her sister, thinking, ‘You and your husband nearly turn on each other, but my husband and I still have our tender moments sometimes.’
However, Sheng Hong wasn’t tender right now. The moment he came back home, he was called to House of Peaceful Ages at once. After he heard Old Madam Sheng telling the whole story, he reproached with his face purple with anger, “What a foolish woman!”
It was hard to tell if he was referring his wife or his sister-in-law.
“Now that you are aware of it. What are you planning to do?” Old Madam Sheng’s rages had already gone away, now she only sat there calmly.
Sheng Hong pondered for a second and then asked respectfully, “What do you say, mother?”
“Do you want that Kang’s girl marry into the Gu’s family?”
“Of course not!” Sheng Hong stood up in anger. ‘Are you kidding me? Minglan is my blood daughter, the Kang’s girl isn’t. It is so hard to find a powerful son-in-law. My son’s career and my family’s fate all depended on Gu Tingye’s help. I have just tasted the meat soup, the Kang family now wanted to take the meat bone from us. This is outrageous!’
Sheng Hong realized that he had overreacted after losing his temper. Then he coughed lightly and said, “I’ve heard about my Sixth son-in-law’s family affairs more or less. Almost everyone knows about the bad blood between his stepmother and him. How could my sister-in-law be friend with Old Madam Qin? It’s like slapping on my Sixth Son-in-law’s face!”
It would be fine if Aunt Kang could be responsible for the things she had done. However, she had done that under the name of the Sheng family. Because of that, Sheng Hong felt so embarrassed to meet his son-in-law. The most important thing was that Sheng Hong was not close to the Kang family. If Kang Zhao’er truly was favored by Gu Tingye, only the Kang family would benefit from this.
“Since then, we cannot treat this casually.” Old Madam Sheng smiled. She felt comfortable talking with Sheng Hong who had a clear head. Communicating with Wang shi was like walking in the mire, being unable to move or pull out the legs from the muds.
“Mother, you are right. I’d like to know about your plan.” One of the greatest things about Sheng Hong was his modesty. He was good at listening to others’ opinions, so after so many years he had been in the official’s circle, his colleagues all praised him to be an honest and modest gentleman.
Old Madam Sheng was satisfied to heard that and said with a serious voice, “After your wife was out, I already sent someone to escort the Kang’s girl to Youyang. This is the fundamental solution. Then we can go on our own way. I’ll reproach the Kang’s madam. As for you…” She chuckled and looked to Sheng Hong, saying word by word, “Hasn’t Master Kang asked a favor from you lately?”
Sheng Hong raised his head all of a sudden. He had discussed about this thing with Old Madam Sheng before. At that time, the latter hadn’t expressed any opinion, but now she seemed to change the attitude completely. Sheng Hong was a gentle person who preferred to help others as long as he could. Then he hesitated, “This… is this the right thing to do…”
Old Madam Sheng snorted, “How many times have we cleaned up the mess for the Kang family? We could easily embarrass them by revealing a few things they have done. Now, I only want the Kang’s people to know that the Sheng family is not easy to bully!”
Sheng Hong pondered for a while. Master Kang was an unpromising guy and his son was too mediocre. There were a few officials in the Kang family, but they were not in high positions. Also, the Kang’s brothers were also not close to each other. Then Sheng Hong, teeth gritted, “Mother, we’ll do it your way.”
After Sheng Hong had left, Mama Fang supported Old Madam to walk to the inner room while saying gently, “Old Madam, you can rest assured. The two groups of people all set off.”
Old Madam Sheng sat on the bed in the inner room slowly to let Mama Fang take off her shoes and socks. Old Madam Sheng, with the revolted look still on her face, muttered, “It doesn’t matter if the Kang’s girl goes slowly. However, my nephew Wei has to give us the message quickly. With a fast horse and boat, it will take at most six or seven days for him to finish the round trip. Humph, that mean bitch, she’ll what we are capable of soon! She doesn’t treat other’s daughter like a human, but what about her own daughter? I’ll let her heart aching too!”
Mama Fang carried a basin of hot water into the room, planning to wash Old Madam Sheng’s feet. Suddenly, the latter remembered something with an anxious look on her face, “I truly am aged. My memory is so poor. After all the fuss I have made, I haven’t even sent Minglan a message!”
“But… it’s already very late.” Mama Fang hesitated.
Old Madam Sheng got impatient instantly while stamping on the footstool with bare feet, “The little girl is still pregnant now and her husband isn’t with her. She must be so worried now. What if she couldn’t sleep well for the whole night? Go now! Hurry!”
Mama Fang chuckled, “Fine, at your disposal, Old Madam. I’ll call someone now, do you have any other instructions?”
Having considered for a while, Old Madam Sheng said with a tender voice, “Tell her not to be afraid, she still has her grandmother…”
Hearing Old Madam Sheng uttering those words like coaxing a three-year-old child, Mama Fang couldn’t help tittering. Old Madam Sheng goggled at Mama Fang and continued, “Tell her that she should take care of her body. The most important thing is giving birth to a chubby boy.”
Mama Fang tried hard not to laugh and agreed. Then she ordered a young maid to wash Old Madam Sheng’s feet while going out to give the instructions. Before she went out, Old Madam Sheng suddenly stopped her, then she turned around to listen.
“When Madam comes back from the Kang mansion, say that I am so tired and already go to sleep. Tell her to come tomorrow.”