Chapter 400: Chapter 399: Do You Really Think You Can Flaunt Your Status in Front of Me?
The girl’s statement was so audacious that everyone present was caught off guard. In an instant, all eyes turned to Shen Zhushi.
The air came to a standstill, even Zheng Qianyu who was behind her held his breath.
One must know that in the several months Shen Hua was absent, her life was as calm as dead water. And now, it was finally disrupted.
Zheng Qianyu couldn’t hold back.
"Hahahaha."
"You’re truly thoughtless, to raise such matters deliberately. Look, your Second Aunt’s face has gone dark."
Shen Hua lifted her eyelids slightly: "Second Aunt’s skill in changing faces is indeed formidable. It’s not the first or second time anyway."
Their conversation, as if no one else was present, made everyone else come back to their senses.
The ladies who were flattering Shen Zhushi just a moment ago now looked at her with an indescribable expression in their eyes.
"How impudent!"
Shen Zhushi scolded.
She was so angry that her whole body trembled.
"Since childhood, you’ve lacked discipline, and I have tolerated it, but are those heart-piercing and chaotic words yours to say? Your mother passed away early, and as an elder, I should have tidied you up properly!"
"On what grounds? Merely calling you Second Aunt and you think you can flaunt your status before me?"
She smiled coquettishly, stepped forward at a leisurely pace, and affectionately patted the back of Shen Zhushi’s hand, offering tender comfort.
"After all, we are one family. There’s no harm if Second Uncle and my stepmother are close. Now spending the main branch’s money and living in the main house’s residence, you ought to be more generous."
Shen Zhushi stared at her, yet failed to find the slightest trace of lying on the girl’s face.
Her hands under her sleeve clenched tightly, seemingly unwilling to believe.
The girl’s voice was leisurely but cut into her heart like a sharp knife.
"All the descendants of the second branch call you ’mother’. You sit very securely in the position of the main wife. Second Uncle and my stepmother do have their indiscretions, and their secret liaisons behind closed doors aren’t few, but Second Uncle has you in his heart. He’s just committed a mistake any man would. Look, my stepmother has had several miscarriages, unfit to bear his son. Now, isn’t that the reasoning?"
Shen Zhushi’s vision went dark as she nearly fainted.
She couldn’t help but think back to the past, all the things she missed little by little emerging, tugging at her rationality.
Clearly, she should not heed Shen Hua’s provocations, but a voice in the depths of her heart was screaming.
That... it was true.
Every visit from the second branch, half of the dishes on the table were Shen He Wen’s favorites.
When Shen Xue-shi spoke with Shen He Wen, her smile was gentle, lacking the confrontational sharpness and harshness she showed before her.
Not long ago, Shen He Wen said he had business outside and did not return for the night. She never took it to heart since it was common for Shen He Wen to be out, nothing unusual.
But... that day was Shen Xue-shi’s birthday.
The next morning, Shen Xue-shi’s brows were touched with happiness, and she seemed more enchanting than usual to Shen Zhushi.
Shen Zhushi dared not think any further.
With a darkened face, she strode outside.
"Second Aunt, leaving just like that?"
"Such a hasty temper."
She complained: "Such a jealous woman, how could the Shen Family want her? Just turn a blind eye and let it be, can’t she live in muddleheaded peace? Having a wife like this, no wonder my Second Uncle and my stepmother are entangled in loving affection."
Shen Zhushi almost stumbled.
Her face was as dark as ink as she got into the carriage.
"Go back!"
Everyone present looked at each other in confusion.
Obviously, seeing Shen Zhushi’s reaction... they believed her.
Shen He Wen, who had always been a very courteous man in the public eye, harmonious with Shen Zhushi, earned many praises, but now his image had completely collapsed.
As the person left, Shen Hua seemed somewhat unsatisfied with the outcome.
Not waiting for Zheng Qianyu’s limited vocabulary to praise her, the girl’s soft hand rested on Yingwu. Her dark, clear, and bright eyes blinked slowly as she spoke languidly.
"Yingwu."
This time, Yingwu finally understood!
Fifteen minutes later, Shen Hua was sprawled on the tile roof of the Shen Family estate. Expertly twitching the roof tiles.
Zheng Qianyu stood beside her, on the verge of saying something but hesitated.
It was the first time she learned of Shen Hua’s peculiar hobby.
Indeed, the girl had previously been too frail to withstand even a breeze, gasping for air after walking just a few steps. Let alone climbing to the rooftop, even stepping outside the door made her Mama tremble with fear, so she would send a horde of servants to follow her.
These past few days, Shen He Wen was not in Fengzhou, so the one Shen Zhushi must be looking for was definitely Shen Xue-shi.
This courtyard was all too familiar to the girl. It had originally been her Mama’s.
Every flower, every grass, every tree had long since changed, utterly unrecognizable from her memories.
Inside the house, since being warned by Shen Qu, Shen Xue-shi had been suffering from a headache, and an old woman carrying medicine came to attend to her.
"Lady, please do not be vexed. The young master’s filial piety is for your good."
Shen Xue-shi turned her face away.
"Shen Qu, he has never truly respected me as Mama."
"Since his birth mother came, he’s been visiting her secretly every now and then; you and I are fully aware of it."
Shen Hua scorned such conversations and didn’t bother to listen.
The girl shifted to a more comfortable position out of sheer boredom.
Being up high gave her a broad view.
After waiting and waiting, she finally saw Shen Zhushi, furious and heading this way.
She was born quite dignified, but at this moment, her lips were tightly pursed, making her look very mean. She was about to burst into the room, but was quickly stopped.
"Second Madam, please wait here for a moment; I’ll go and inform Madam."
Shen Zhushi breathed rapidly, like a demon coming to claim a life.
She looked at the firmly shut door.
"Well! Xue Mouyan. You really are something! What, too ashamed to see our Madam?"
She angrily straightened her clothes, losing all her former grace as she raised her voice.
"Xue Mouyan, get the hell out here! What’s the meaning of hiding from me! Feeling guilty, aren’t you!"
"Second Madam, our lady is ill and it’s inconvenient for her to receive guests."
"Ill? How timely!"
"Does she think herself so frail that everyone should pity her?"
"Unless she’s dead, she must see me today!"
"Shameless!"
Inside the room, Shen Xue-shi, hearing the noise, turned pale; she truly knew how to feign innocence.
But Shen Qu had said he would deal with the matter and silence it.
She felt slightly reassured.
"Help me get out. I have to see what madness she has come to unleash in my place!"
Shen Zhushi also got to see someone at last.
Shen Xue-shi was indeed born beautiful. Her profile resembled that of Shen Hua’s biological mother. Now weak and leaning on the old woman, she had a certain frail beauty.
Vixen!
"What brings you to find me? Sister-in-law, my courtyard is not a place for you to run wild."
"Sister-in-law? Do you still remember that I am your sister-in-law?"
"Why didn’t you mention it when you were seducing my man?"
"Xue Mouyan, there’s no bed you wouldn’t dare to climb into, is there? Aren’t you disgusted with yourself?"
Above the roof, the girl unconsciously caressed the Jade Pendant between her fingertips, finding the texture smooth and greasy.
A pleased smile curved the edges of her mouth.
"Shen Zhushi normally prides herself on being dignified, seeing her fierce appearance is rare."
Zheng Qianyu turned his head to ask, "What do you think, will these two come to blows?"
Contemplative, Shen Hua replied, "I won’t guess."
"But I’d like to watch."
Saying this, she looked forward to Yingwu’s reaction.
Yingwu: ... Damn it, she’s figured it out again.
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