Shen Muyu was locked in the courtyard. The maids who usually served her were all transferred away, and Dongqing was also imprisoned. Two strong old women were now guarding the door.
She was locked in her room like a prisoner, and wasn't even allowed to go to the yard.
Fang was worried and came to see her, but was stopped outside by the old woman guarding the gate.
The gatekeeper looked troubled: "My lord has ordered that no one is allowed to visit the young lady."
Before Fang could speak, Liu Mama, who was beside her, glared angrily and scolded, "Master, those were just words spoken in anger. The mistress is still the one in charge of this household! Have you thought it through? Do you want to show off your power for the next few days, or do you want to stay in this mansion for a long time?"
The gatekeepers exchanged glances, but finally made way, saying cautiously, "Please hurry, mistress. If the master finds out, we won't be able to explain ourselves."
Liu Mama took out two silver ingots from her sleeve and tossed them to the two men: "Don't worry, go and drink. It's already so late, the lord won't come."
The two old women accepted the order and retreated meekly.
Fang, who had been trying to remain calm, quickly walked into the inner room. When she saw her daughter lying on the chaise longue, weeping, she felt a pang of heartache and took her into her arms, saying, "My child, you are carrying two babies now. You mustn't cry and upset the babies."
Shen Muyu buried her face in her arms and wiped away her tears, choking back sobs as she said, "I'm carrying twins now, but if Father doesn't agree to let me marry into the Chen Prince's mansion, he might secretly give me some kind of potent drug one day."
“Your father wasn’t that heartless.” Fang hugged her, and seeing her trembling with sobs, she herself shed tears. She couldn’t help but pat her back and scold, “How could you be so foolish?!”
“I’m not confused, it’s Father who is confused.”
Shen Muyu pulled away from her embrace, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and grabbed her hand with a pleading expression: "Mother, please think of a way for your daughter. I don't want to stay at home and be an old maid. If that's the case, I might as well hang myself. Mother, you can't bear to see your daughter suffer like that, can you?"
“But how can your father’s decision be changed so easily?” Fang gently smoothed her hair and sighed, “You saw your father’s attitude before. If I try to persuade him now, it will only make things worse. It would be better to wait until your father calms down and then try to persuade him indirectly in a few days. Maybe there will still be room for negotiation.”
"But Prince Chen told me he'll be coming to propose marriage in the next few days!" Shen Muyu said anxiously, "What if Father isn't still angry by then? Are you really going to make him refuse Prince Chen's proposal?!"
She gripped Fang's hand tightly and said quickly, "Mother, didn't you always want me to marry into a high-ranking family so that I could become the mistress of the house and help my second brother? In this capital city, which family has a higher threshold than the Chen Prince's Mansion?" She stared directly into Fang's eyes, not letting her evade the question: "Yes, I can only be a concubine if I marry into the Chen Prince's Mansion now, but I am carrying the Chen Prince's child, and the Chen Prince dotes on me. Once I marry into the Chen Prince's Mansion and win over the Chen Prince, it will be easy for me to whisper in his ear and get him to find a respectable job for my second brother."
"My second brother has lost his job, and the marriage he was engaged to has fallen through. Even if Mother doesn't think about me, shouldn't she think about my second brother?"
Madam Fang hesitated. This was the first time she had ever discovered that her daughter, who had been spoiled and somewhat arrogant, could be so eloquent and persuasive.
Her son's future was indeed a major worry for her, but now, after hearing her daughter's description of a bright future, Fang couldn't help but be tempted.
Yes, she was eager to find a good marriage for her daughter so that she could rise to a high social status, and wasn't the Chen Prince's Mansion just such a place?
"Don't worry, take good care of yourself. I'll talk to your father again," Madam Fang comforted her.
Seeing that she had relented, Shen Muyu finally felt relieved. She rested her head on her shoulder and said coquettishly, "Then my future depends entirely on my mother."
*
After Fang returned home, she waited until midnight before Shen Mingjiang finally returned to the backyard.
Holding the lamp, she approached him gently and cautiously, observing Shen Mingjiang's expression, and tentatively asked, "Since Mu Yu caused such a scene, Master didn't even have time for dinner. Would you like the kitchen to send some snacks?"
Shen Mingjiang shook his head and asked again, "Have you gone to see her?"
Fang paused for a moment, then nodded. She sat sideways and dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief: "She is a piece of my flesh. Even if she makes a terrible mistake, my heart aches when I see her suffer."
“A doting mother spoils her son.” Shen Mingjiang said, “If you had been less protective of them when I disciplined them, they wouldn’t have developed such audacity.”
Fang's hand, which was pressed against the corner of her eye, stiffened, but she did not argue. Instead, she said in a low voice, "Yes, I was raised by my aunt since I was a child. I have little knowledge and have not studied the Four Books and Five Classics. I have only read 'Admonitions for Women' and do not understand any great principles. I only know that when I went to see Mu Yu just now, she was crying so hard that she almost passed out."
She lowered her head and sobbed, "I know the master is angry at her for being confused, but so am I. But now that the mistake has been made, the deed is done. She's pregnant now, is the master really going to cruelly force her to take a potent drug? This is driving her to her death."
Shen Mingjiang glanced at her sideways, then suddenly sneered, "So you've come to be her advocate."
Fang's sobs paused slightly. She wiped away her tears, smoothed her disheveled hair, and said in a hoarse voice, "I know that Master only has Sister Ye in his heart, and I have never dared to hope for anything. But Muyu is still your daughter. When she was little, Master loved her dearly and even held her when he met guests..."
"It is precisely because she is my daughter that I must discipline and stop her." Shen Mingjiang's anger flared up, and he abruptly stood up, looking at Fang Shi: "If it were the second son who had committed this offense today, I would have already asked the family law to beat such an unfilial son to death!"
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