Chapter 4 A Damned Injustice

Shen Shu looked at Wen Lanting's carriage, already having a plan in mind.

She remembered that when she returned to the manor in her previous life, it was almost the Ghost Festival.

The Princess's Mansion, separated from the Bogong Mansion by only one wall, held a ceremony to commemorate their ancestors by distributing porridge outside the mansion gates.

So a group of people gathered there to collect porridge that day. The two families were neighbors, and these people inevitably blocked their way back home.

Liu's mother was used to being arrogant and had no pity for these poor people. She even ordered them to be driven away.

As a result, the servants from the neighboring princess's mansion and Liu Mama got into an argument.

Shen Shu learned from their conversation that Wen Lanting and the Princess had long been at odds, and even the servants of the two households disliked each other as if they were enemies.

In this life, Shen Shu can make good use of it.

As long as she finds an opportunity to show her face in front of the Princess, she won't be afraid of being "disappeared" silently after entering the Earl's Mansion.

Several bruised and swollen old women carried the person into the city, limping along.

Upon arriving outside the Bogong Mansion, Shen Shu looked at the open side gate and smiled coldly.

As expected, Wen Lanting would never allow anyone to open the middle gate.

Shen Shuzheng was just waiting for an opportunity to lash out, and now her good mother had delivered herself to her doorstep.

Then, seeing the pitch-black gate, he said, "Stop the sedan chair!"

Noticing the commotion outside, Wen Lanting lifted the carriage curtain, wondering what kind of trouble Shen Shu was up to now.

But what happened next completely shocked me.

Shen Shu jumped straight down from the sedan chair!

This doesn't look like a refined young lady at all; she looks like a wild monkey from the mountains!

Before Wen Lanting could recover from her surprise, Shen Shu's next words almost made her faint.

"I never expected that my dear mother, the wife of my great-uncle, would go back on her word and break her promise!"

"They promised to take me back to the capital in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men through the main gate. They made that promise in the countryside, but they turned their backs on me as soon as we got there."

"Since that's the case, why would I come back? I'll just go back to my hometown now!"

Shen Shu shouted angrily.

Just like in the previous life, the neighboring princess's mansion also opened a porridge shop to provide relief, and many people were standing around it.

It wasn't that they wanted to join in the fun, but since the two houses were next to each other, they couldn't help but overhear.

The purpose of distributing porridge is to help the poor. Seeing Shen Shu's country-style attire and hearing her righteous and stern questioning, people couldn't help but side with Shen Shu.

Although they didn't speak, they were already discussing it animatedly.

Wen Lanting's vision went black.

She hurriedly comforted her, "Shu'er, what nonsense are you talking about? Be good, let's go into the mansion first. If this affects the distribution of porridge at the Princess's mansion, the Princess will blame us."

Shen Shu didn't buy into her act at all, and instead sat down casually on the spot.

“If Mother does not do as I promised, I will absolutely not go in. The Princess is kind and benevolent, and she will not blame me if she learns of my situation.”

Wen Lanting suppressed his anger.

"This is the middle gate. It's no wonder you haven't seen one in the countryside. Come on, let's go in first."

The maidservant who was distributing porridge at the neighboring princess's house finally couldn't hold back any longer, "Miss, your husband and wife are definitely trying to deceive you. This is clearly a shady business."

They were all shrewd people from the princess's mansion, and they figured out the whole situation in just a few words.

The maids in the princess's mansion were overjoyed to finally see Wen Lanting suffer a setback.

Shen Shu: "Fine, it was a lie after all. I quit, I'm going back to the countryside!"

Zhao Mama, Wen Lanting's trusted housekeeper, scolded him.

“You little porridge-serving maid, just do your job properly. It’s none of your business to meddle in the affairs of our lord’s mansion.”

The girl distributing porridge immediately stepped in.

"What, can't we tell the truth? You're from a noble family, after all. How can you deceive a young lady like this? Have you no shame?"

Wen Lanting glared at Zhao Mama and scolded her for getting into a conflict with the people from the Princess's Mansion.

She rushed forward and grabbed Shen Shu, saying, "What does it matter what door it is? Your mother didn't intentionally hide it from you."

However, the matter of opening the middle gate still needs to be discussed with your father; it cannot be decided on your own.

But if you cause any more trouble, and it gets back to your father, he might punish you according to family rules.

Family rules?

Shen Shu laughed. Her parents, who had never raised her for a single day, were going to discipline her?

How dare they say such things!

Even if they take her back today, it must be for some other purpose. What right do they have to discipline her?

Shen Shu forcefully pushed Wen Lanting away.

"Mother, even if you don't like me, you can't beat me on the first day I return home."

"You're the one who went back on your word, and now you want to punish me? The rules of the Earl's Mansion are truly outrageous!"

Seeing this, the maid from the princess's mansion added fuel to the fire, "Was the old lady's virtue and gentleness all an act?"

Wen Lanting's eyes widened. No, what does this have to do with her princess's mansion?

Why are these maids meddling in this mess?

No, she had to get Shen Shu into the manor quickly, otherwise if she continued to cause trouble, where would their patriarch's manor put its face?

He closed his eyes, steeled his resolve, and, disregarding everything else, ordered his servants to arrest the man.

Alright, the fish has finally taken the bait.

Shen Shu was worried that Wen Lanting would really be very polite and welcome her in through the middle gate, which would be difficult to handle. If that were the case, how could she attract the princess's attention?

Unexpectedly, Wen Lanting did not disappoint her at all, and she was so angry that she lost her mind and had someone arrest her.

This is a good opportunity for her!

Shen Shu dodged aside, looking terrified, and cried out, "Help! The Lady of the Bogong Mansion is going to kill her own daughter!"

So he pretended to be panicked and ran straight to the porridge stall at the princess's residence.

Wen Lanting's vision went black and black again. What a terrible injustice!

Is this girl really her biological child?

The maids of the Princess's Mansion were surprised that the people from the Earl's Mansion were so bold as to come to their territory. A clever little maid hurriedly went in to report the news.

Shen Shuke had planned it all out. She dodged and walked toward the porridge pot, pretending to trip over it.

Seeing this, the servant hurriedly tried to grab her, but Shen Shu dodged and hid under the table. The servant, caught off guard, missed his target and fell into the porridge pot!

This has angered the public.

The local people couldn't stand seeing them wasting food like that.

They had already been watching the uncle and aunt bully a little girl, and now they've gone so far as to turn the soup kitchen upside down and bully the princess.

This is intolerable!

So everyone rushed forward and started fighting with the servants.

Vegetable leaves and porridge water flew everywhere.

The poor soup kitchen was soon torn to pieces.

Wen Lanting was dumbfounded.

Although she looked down on the princess because her family was only made of military craftsmen, she always spoke sarcastically about how the princess was uneducated.

But after all, their status is much higher than hers, so they wouldn't dare to be so blatant.

But now the soup kitchen is in such a mess, how can she explain it?

Just as Wen Lanting was racking her brains for a solution, a guard from the Princess's residence shouted, "Her Highness the Princess has arrived!"

When the people saw the princess arrive, they felt as if they had found their pillar of support and rushed forward to weep and plead their case.

"Please, Your Highness, do us justice. We all know that Your Highness is kind-hearted and is distributing porridge here, but the Earl's Mansion is ungrateful and has had the porridge shop overturned."