Chapter 302: Humiliation

"Not only do you not think things through before you act, but you also don't study hard!"

Enraged, Shen Mingde rolled up his sleeves and was about to strike someone.

"I shouldn't have sent you to school in the first place. Even being a tutor to the Crown Prince would have been better than you gossiping outside!"

Chen Ruozhu was so frightened that she ran away like a mouse, covering her head: "Dad, you can't hit me just because I don't understand the painting! That's so unreasonable! I'm going to find Mom!"

"You don't know? Fine, I'll tell you, this is it!"

"Still? What the hell?"

Distracted, Shen Ruozhu's fleeing steps unconsciously stopped, and her hand was immediately whipped with a stick, causing her to cry out in pain.

"The Yuan family sent this scroll as a message: 'Disaster comes from the mouth!' They wish you would rather remain silent, for that would prolong your life!"

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because once he did, Shen Mingde became even angrier, his face turning red all the way to the roots of his neck: "My Shen family is a scholarly family, when have we ever suffered such humiliation!"

"No, Father, I really didn't say anything!"

Shen Ruozhu fled behind a pillar and hid, peeking out at him with an air of arrogance: "The teacher told us to say whatever we wanted, but Yuan Fuqing just got angry for no reason!"

"Tell me the truth. If you don't, I have ways of getting it out of you from other people!"

Helpless and afraid of losing face, Shen Ruozhu could only stammer and repeat her previous words in a low voice.

The worst thing is when the air suddenly goes quiet.

Shen Mingde paused for a moment, and then a series of ghostly wails and howls echoed from the Shen family ancestral hall.

Wang sensed something was wrong and rushed to the ancestral hall, kneeling there. She heard an incense stick being lit inside, and she was so anxious she almost fainted.

"What's going on? What exactly happened?!"

The servant standing guard at the gate lowered his head meekly and said, "I heard that a few days ago, the young master said a few bad things about Miss Yuan, and the Yuan family just came to vent their anger, which made the master very angry."

"She, Yuan Siyin, who in the capital can't say a word about her?!"

Wang repeated it in surprise, as if to make sure she hadn't misheard.

"Yes, Second Madam, it's because of her."

“My son has been bullied so badly by the tyrannical Yuan family at school. Master, you are truly heartless!”

As she spoke, Madam Wang took two steps back and leaned against the maid, clutching her handkerchief and weeping bitterly: "Zhu'er is my flesh and blood, whom I carried for ten months and gave birth to with great difficulty. She is also Master's flesh and blood. How could Master bear to part with her!"

"Let that ill-mannered brat from the Yuan family run rampant, while my son suffers..."

Shen Mingde could hear the woman's cries outside clearly. When he looked at his youngest son, who was beaten until his skin was torn and bleeding, even his great anger subsided by a fraction.

"Fine, take it."

He threw the willow branch on the ground, unable to bear looking at it any longer, and walked into the side room with his hands behind his back.

The servant, with sharp ears, heard that the fighting inside had stopped, and quickly opened the door to let Wang Shi in.

Wang's crying stopped for a moment, then she cried even more heartbreakingly, a sound that evoked pity in people.

"Zhu'er, my Zhu'er, what are you all standing there for? Hurry up and go fetch a doctor!"

At first, Shen Ruozhu was shouting very loudly, but after being beaten so badly by her usually gentle father, she could only groan weakly, as if she could only exhale and not inhale anymore.

Wang was extremely anxious and didn't even have time to apologize. She immediately had Shen Ruozhu carried back to her own courtyard.

It's impossible for Wang Shi not to feel resentment, but ultimately, it's all Yuan Siyin's fault.