High-class maid

“Miss! Madam has already instructed us that you are not allowed to leave the house until you finish writing this piece of calligraphy, otherwise we will be punished.”

Xuejian pleaded.

"Yes, young lady, please show some compassion for your servants. You are so kind and gentle, it's just a small piece of calligraphy."

Doukou also offered her advice.

Shen Wanning finally understood why the young masters of the former Minister's Mansion, despite having so many servants and being waited on hand and foot, still threw tantrums at the drop of a hat. They were bound by these etiquette rules and regulations, so it was no wonder they were depressed.

It could also be that I'm not used to it.

"Alright then, Feiyan, go check for me, and report immediately if there's any danger," Shen Wanning pouted and gave in.

She looked at the paper and pen on the table, took a deep breath, and wrote it!

"Sister-in-law! It's me, Yuan'er! Please have them let me in."

When Shen Zhiyuan saw Wang, it was as if he had seen a savior.

Looking at the calculating man in front of her, Wang felt a tightness in her chest. If it weren't for his threat to cause trouble if she didn't see him, making it impossible for Xing'er to marry in peace, she wouldn't have bothered to come see him.

“We’ve settled everything, and I’m not your sister-in-law anymore. Let him in.”

Wang instructed the gatekeeper.

Shen Zhiyuan twisted his aching arm and continued, "Sister-in-law, this isn't the right place to talk. This is truly a matter of great importance!"

Wang had no idea what he was up to, so she had no choice but to let him follow her to the pavilion in the courtyard.

"Speak, what is it that makes a scholar like you shout so loudly without regard for your image? I don't have time to waste on your nonsense."

The implication is that you'd better be serious, as you claim, or I'll never believe you.

“My mother, she, she’s dead,” Shen Zhiyuan said, his eyes red.

He was truly heartbroken about Pang, after all, Pang had been very good to him.

Wang's hand trembled, and the resentment from years ago seemed to vanish in an instant. She tried to keep her voice calm and then asked...

"When did this happen? How did you die? And why have you come to me? I don't have the ability to bring people back to life."

"What happened yesterday, my wife miscarried. My mother's health was not good to begin with, and she was also proud. When she found out, she was so angry that she couldn't catch her breath and died of anger!"

Wang was already 80% convinced. Pang had always been a proud person; otherwise, she could not have raised two sons by herself and even trained Shen Zhiyuan to become a scholar.

"The dead cannot be brought back to life, please accept my condolences." Wang didn't know what to say. Even the greatest grudges were gone with the person. Perhaps Qi's miscarriage was her unborn child avenging her.

“Sister-in-law, I know that Mother wronged you back then, but I was focused on my studies and didn’t care about these things. Now my wife has miscarried and Mother is dead, so please forgive me, sister-in-law. I really have no one to rely on!”

Shen Zhiyuan said, with snot and tears streaming down his face.

Just when the Wang family was wavering

"No! You think you can erase the harm my mother suffered with just a few words? What were you all like when you schemed against my marriage? Did you come here to beg for forgiveness, or to find someone to rely on?"

Shen Wanning walked out of the west wing and said, word by word.

Shen Zhiyuan blushed and couldn't lift his head because of what she said.

"Madam, we servants couldn't stop the young lady."

Xuejian pouted and said.

"When the family ties were severed, it was clearly written in black and white that no matter what happened in the future, my parents were not allowed to be bothered. What, are you trying to take advantage of my family's good fortune?"

Shen Wanning slowly approached, looking at Shen Zhiyuan as if he were a joke.

"Don't get too cocky! If this gets out, as your granddaughter, won't you have to observe mourning? Why would your so-called 'Song Zhuangyuan' wait for you for three years? You'll probably have to hand over the position of wife that you've already got your hands on!"

Provoked by her, Shen Zhiyuan shouted out his thoughts.

"Look, look, Mother, this is probably his bargaining chip."

Shen Wanning had an expression that said, "I knew it," and only then did Shen Zhiyuan realize that he had fallen into a trap!

"Sister-in-law, that's not what I meant. We're still connected by blood, and even if my brother isn't the best, he's still better than others! I... I had no other choice."

Shen Zhiyuan tried to gain sympathy.

He decided to ignore Shen Wanning, that little rascal. If he spoke to her any further, she would probably find out all his secrets.

But he forgot that Wang was no pushover either.

"It's not like I angered her to death, so why are you coming to me? I can forgive my own actions, but Wan Ning is my bottom line. You've threatened me with her time and time again, even coming to my house to threaten me. Have I been too good-tempered? Or do you think that after all these years in the Minister's mansion, I can't see through your little schemes?"

"Shen Xing'er is still my mother's granddaughter! I refuse to believe you won't observe mourning!"

Shen Zhiyuan continued to be stubborn.

"Bai Zhi, give the order that the household will observe a vegetarian diet for a month," Madam Wang instructed, turning her head.

"Wang Meizhen! You've gone too far! She's still your mother-in-law! Fine, since you're not observing mourning, shouldn't you, as the eldest son's wife, contribute some money? Do you expect me to buy the coffin all by myself?"

Shen Zhiyuan asked.

They really are merchants; they lack even the most basic sense of propriety and shame!

"You're the only one buying it! What kind of man cries and screams like that! How much money did I give you? Get out!"

Back home, Shen Kun said with exasperation.

"Fine, fine, then I'll just wrap her in a straw mat and throw her on the ground! Let's see what the villagers say! Shen Kun has become the Master Shen of the capital, yet he doesn't even care about his mother's coffin money!"

"Get out of here. Tell the gatekeeper not to let this man set foot in the Shen family again." Shen Kun turned and ordered his personal servant.

He treated Shen Zhiyuan and his mother with utmost kindness and righteousness.

"Yes," Nanxing replied.

"Feiyan, take him away."

Upon receiving the order, Fei Yan lifted Shen Zhiyuan out with one arm.

Shen Zhiyuan, who had been left at the door, grumbled and dusted himself off. He turned and looked at the Shen family's plaque with resentment, then went back to the village with even more resentment.

"I saw Wen Yang today," Shen Kun said.

The family tacitly avoided mentioning Shen Zhiyuan and the Pang family.

"Oh? Is there something you want to say?" Wang asked.

Wen Yang said, "Since it is a marriage bestowed by the Emperor, there is no need for the formal betrothal and name-asking ceremony. However, the proper procedures must still be followed. On the sixteenth of August, we will send the three letters and six gifts directly."

"August 16th? Isn't that a bit too rushed?" Wang asked.

Shen Wanning quietly retreated. Her parents were really something, discussing these things in front of her? Her face was already red.

At the Shantao family home in the capital, Shantao held her little niece, finding the tiny child incredibly adorable.

"Mother, is my sister-in-law still not saying anything?" Shan Tao asked.

Chen Shan's family took a month off to take care of their daughter-in-law during her postpartum period, but Shi Pingniang didn't say a word because she seemed to have suffered some kind of shock.

They used to be arrogant towards the Chen family, but now they've become unusually quiet, and the Chen family has finally had a period of peace.