Chapter Sixty-Four: Leading the Shen Family Down a Path of No Return

“What, you don’t believe me?” Shen Fuyu glanced at Madam Yue. “Go and check for yourself if you wish.”

“And furthermore, I ask that Third Aunt address me as Lady Virtuous Consort.” Shen Fuyu straightened her posture, looking down from above. “Given your attitude toward me just now, I could have punished you on the spot. Take a good look at the distance between us. I hope that next time you come, you remember your place.”

Madam Yue was so intimidated by her cold gaze that she stumbled back. Yet at this moment, her head was filled with thoughts of her two daughters, leaving her no time to dwell on Shen Fuyu’s words. She staggered away from Shen Fuyu’s presence, nearly losing her footing and falling to the ground, only barely supported by the maids and old women as she made her way back in disarray.

“Your Highness, the Third Madam was so disrespectful to you—why didn’t you punish her, but let her go instead?” Bai Lian asked in utter bewilderment, as though she were realizing for the first time how lofty and powerful Shen Fuyu had become, her own attitude turning haughty as well. “Now that you are Lady Virtuous Consort, it’s only right to punish her.”

“Weren’t you scared out of your wits just now? Must you show off how good you are at kicking someone when they’re down?” Shen Fuyu frowned, her tone turning dismissive. Really, if there’s anyone I can’t count on, it’s these two pigs at my side. “Punish her, you say—are you the consort, or am I? Do you so wish to be the mistress?”

At this, Bai Lian’s legs gave way and she knelt to the ground. “Your servant wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh, you dare plenty.” Shen Fuyu waved her hand. “Get out.”

After sending Bai Lian away, Shen Fuyu did not order her to keep quiet. With that girl’s nature, she would go out and spill everything the moment she stepped outside—and that was precisely what Shen Fuyu wanted. The more chaos in the Shen family, the worse their reputation outside. She would not give Shen Shucheng or Madam Gu any chance to repair the Shen family’s face.

Soon enough, as the Shen family’s status rose because of her, and as they gained more and more power, they would realize that it didn’t matter if they didn’t restore those so-called connections or reputation. Lured by the interests before their eyes, how could the Shen family care for anything else? In the past, the second and third branches would support the main branch, but by stirring up these family conflicts, magnifying them, she would be sure to cause cracks to appear within even the most solid house. With Shen Shucheng’s ambition, he would never abandon his current prospects to reconcile with the other branches.

This was truly the road of no return for the Shen family.

Let them reap maximum benefit, only to plunge themselves into the abyss, never to recover.

Heh, how wicked she was!

As expected, the chaos in the third branch broke out even faster than Shen Fuyu had anticipated. Madam Yue had never borne a son, only two legitimate daughters—the younger not even a year old, the elder already of marriageable age. Never had Madam Yue imagined that her elder daughter would lay a hand on her younger one!

“What is this! Answer me!” Madam Yue’s expression was on the verge of collapse as she brandished a packet of powder found beneath Shen Moyu’s bed, questioning the girl who had just awoken. “Just what is this?”

Shen Moyu’s face was pale as she looked at the glaring packet in Madam Yue’s hand, her heart skipping a beat. This was the laxative she’d had someone procure for her before her birthday feast...

Seeing Shen Moyu’s evasive gaze, Madam Yue knew at once that what Shen Fuyu had said was true. She collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. “How could you do such a thing! Xing’er is your own younger sister! Why would you do this to her!”

Shen Moyu, clutching her aching stomach, stared at Madam Yue in disbelief, a deep resentment she could no longer suppress surging to the surface. “She didn’t actually ingest it! I’m the one who did! I’m already like this, and yet in your heart, there’s only my sister?”

Smack! Madam Yue, beside herself with rage, slapped Shen Moyu across the face. “This drug is so potent—you should be grateful your sister never took it! Otherwise, you might have killed her!”

“In your eyes, do I not matter at all?” Shen Moyu retorted fiercely. Why had she done all this? Did her mother ever notice? Ever help? When Shen Fuyu humiliated her, Madam Yue was busy comforting Shen Xingyu. Now, just because she used Shen Xingyu to achieve her own ends, suddenly that was unacceptable?

Madam Yue looked at her in disbelief. “What do you mean? Drugging your own sister—have you no conscience!”

“Conscience? Where were you when that wretched Shen Fuyu humiliated me?” Shen Moyu, in a fury, swept everything off the bed. “Today when I was humiliated by that wretch, where were you? I thought you’d seek justice for me, but now all you do is come back to question me! What am I, anyway!”

“You! How did I give birth to such a daughter! What a sin!”

Madam Yue’s outburst was loud enough for the entire household to hear. The Third Master returned home on urgent leave, only to find Madam Yue sitting on the floor, Shen Moyu sobbing through her pain, the room in utter chaos—chaos didn’t even begin to describe it. He hurried to help Madam Yue up and ordered someone to settle Shen Moyu, then asked, “What’s going on between you two?”

“Why don’t you ask your daughter what she’s done?” Madam Yue, agitated, pointed at Shen Moyu. “Why do you think she’s been suffering from diarrhea? She tried to drug Xing’er and ended up tasting her own medicine!”

“So what if I did?” Shen Moyu shouted at her parents. “Have you ever cared about me? After all the humiliation I’ve suffered from that lowborn wretch Shen Fuyu, have you cared about me?”

“You!” The Third Master glared at her. “Moyu, whatever happened, you should never have drugged your sister!”

“All you ever care about is Shen Xingyu!”

...

“Madam, there’s trouble in the third branch.”

Madam Gu was leaning on the armrest, and upon hearing this from her maid, she lifted her eyelids slightly. “What’s happened?”

“I asked around. It seems the Third Madam found some laxative in the Sixth Miss’s room,” the maid replied. “The Third Madam is very worked up—I couldn’t hear clearly from afar, but I think I heard her mention the Fourteenth Miss, and then she and the Sixth Miss started quarreling.”

“Oh?” Madam Gu’s gaze lifted. “That’s rare. Madam Yue only has two daughters, and hasn’t she always doted on Moyu most?”

“Yes, it’s certainly not a simple matter.”

“What else could it be? Madam Yue is foolish, so her daughters can’t be much better,” Madam Gu said lazily. “She’s just hoisted a stone to smash her own foot. That Moyu girl probably meant the drug for Xingyu, yet ended up swallowing it herself.”

“Then this is a perfect chance to suppress the third branch!” the maid said eagerly.