Chapter 671 Strange Things About the House

The two guards immediately threw away Granny Yin, stepped forward, grabbed Madam Qi, and dragged her away.

Qi was both shocked and furious, struggling desperately to stay away: "You, you, you, how dare you?! I am your mother-in-law, you should call me mother now!"

Gu Qianhan remained indifferent: "I'm already being generous by calling you Madam. Didn't you say you're soft-hearted and can't bear to see those around you suffer? I'm giving you a chance to replace Granny Yin, isn't that good enough? Or are you just pretending to care for Granny Yin, unwilling to even take a punishment for her?"

Of course, Madam Qi was unwilling to suffer this punishment for Granny Yin. She was the mistress, and Granny Yin was the servant. How could a mistress be punished for a servant?

It's all Granny Yin's fault! Why did she have to provoke that jinx for no reason! Wasn't the lesson from last time enough? How dare she make things difficult for Shen Wantang in front of Gu Qianhan? Isn't that courting death? Couldn't she have taken advantage of Gu Qianhan's absence to annoy Shen Wantang again?

She glared at Granny Yin with fury, her eyes practically spitting fire.

Granny Yin knew exactly what Madam Qi was thinking. She had served Madam Qi for so many years and knew that if Madam Qi really took the punishment for her this time, she would never have a good day again!

She rushed forward and blocked the two guards: "It's all my fault, I misspoke, how can I let you be punished for me! Please punish me, sir, and let you go!"

Gu Qianhan looked at Madam Qi and said, "Your old servant is indeed loyal, and she is quite old. Fifty strokes of the cane would kill her, but she refuses to let you take the punishment for her. What do you say to that?"

Madam Qi's face turned from white to green, then from green to red: "Since Granny Yin is so loyal, I can't refuse her good intentions. Let her be punished herself. She spoke rudely to Tang'er and needs to be disciplined."

"You're not going to soften your heart anymore?"

“I… I should change my soft-heartedness. It’s all because I’m too soft-hearted that these servants have become so arrogant and even dare to talk about their masters. Now that she’s met the Second Young Master, she’s really bitten off more than she can chew. I should thank the Second Young Master for disciplining her for me.”

Gu Qianhan turned to look at Granny Yin: "Did you hear that? Your master also said you should be disciplined, it's not that I insist on disciplining you."

Granny Yin's face turned ashen, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud, unable to utter a single word.

This time, she couldn't beg for mercy, and there was no one else to beg for.

Now she felt nothing but endless regret. If she had known this would happen, she shouldn't have listened to Madam Qi and deliberately made sarcastic remarks to slap Chen Wantang's face.

She felt incredibly stupid.

Knowing full well that Shen Wantang is now married into a high-ranking family like the Duke's Mansion and has a ruthless yet protective husband like Gu Qianhan, she is no longer the little girl who can be humiliated and beaten at will. Yet, she is still unwittingly used as a pawn by Madam Qi. It is difficult for Shen Wantang to stand up for her.

Gu Qianhan was good at reading people's hearts. He only glanced at Granny Yin's face and knew that she had already regretted being Qi's pawn.

A cold smile appeared on his face. He was making an example of Shen Wantang today so that no servant in the entire Shen family would dare to speak disrespectfully to her again.

He waved to his men: "Take them away and beat them."

The guards obeyed and dragged Granny Yin out of the main courtyard.

Before long, the shrill screams of Granny Yin could be heard from outside.

The screams started out sharper and higher, but after a while, they gradually subsided, and eventually, they were no longer heard at all.

Madam Qi's face was ashen, her heart bleeding.

Granny Yin was her dowry maid, who had been with her for many years. She was both clever and loyal. If Gu Qianhan beat her to death this time, where would she find such a useful servant?

Today's mission has gone awry; one of our men was killed as soon as we met. Madam Qi was so angry that her nails were digging into the flesh of her palms.

Fortunately, she will soon be able to avenge Granny Yin!

Didn't Gu Qianhan value Shen Wantang? Didn't he want to stand up for Shen Wantang? Then let him witness the scene of losing Shen Wantang with his own eyes, and see how smug he will be then!

She forced a smile: "Don't stand outside anymore, Tang'er, come inside with the Second Young Master. Your father has been looking forward to your return since yesterday!"

Shen Wantang did not go in immediately; she felt that something strange was amiss in the house today.

First, Xiao Qingyuan appeared at her home. On her wedding day, he tried to steal her away, but he stole Shen Mingxuan, whom she had arranged in advance. He had taken the wrong person. Today, however, he acted as if nothing had happened, only exchanging barbs with Gu Qianhan, without mentioning the mistake of taking the wrong person.

Then there's Shen Guannian. He clearly loathed the Qi family and had already ordered them to be kept under guard. How could he suddenly be overthrown and become bedridden with illness?

Then there's Madam Qi. Her attitude today was also very strange. She acted as if nothing had happened, radiant with joy. If it weren't for Gu Qianhan dealing with Granny Yin, she probably wouldn't have been able to suppress the smile on her lips.

"Tang'er, what's wrong? Don't just stand there. Your father is still inside waiting for you and your new son-in-law to pay their respects to him. He's even prepared the red envelopes long ago."

Shen Wantang gave Qi Shi a deep look, then stepped inside.

Gu Qianhan naturally followed her into the house, but once inside, she did not see Shen Guannian.

Madam Qi quickly added, "Master is ill and is lying in the inner room. It's just time for him to take his medicine, so I had Xuan'er feed it to him inside."

Administer medicine?

Let them be poisoned!

The thought flashed through Shen Wantang's mind, and she continued walking into the inner room.

Upon entering, the strong smell of medicine hit her face, almost making Shen Wantang vomit.

Shen Mingxuan was sitting on a chair by the bed. When she saw them come in, she stood up gracefully, looking gentle and obedient: "My sister is back. Greetings, brother-in-law. Congratulations on your marriage."

Today she wore a very simple sky-blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and her hair was styled in the unique chuitiao zhuo (a type of traditional Chinese hairstyle) of an unmarried girl. Stray hairs fell gracefully from her temples, and with her beautiful face, she exuded an elegant and refined aura.

This was quite different from her usual attire, but it must be said that dressed like this and speaking in the gentlest tone, she looked very much like a refined lady from a respectable family who was detached from worldly affairs.

But clearly, she wasn't dressed up like this for Shen Wantang's benefit. Judging from how she glanced at Gu Qianhan eight times in just a few words, she was dressed up for Gu Qianhan.

What, she failed with Xiao Qingyuan, so she's now eyeing Gu Qianhan?

Shen Wantang actually wanted to laugh a little. This was one of the advantages of being reborn. She and Gu Qianhan knew each other's backgrounds and personalities too well, so there would be no major misunderstandings or messy suspicions.

For example, at this moment, she didn't need to look at Gu Qianhan's expression to know that Shen Mingxuan was giving him a flirtatious look.