Chapter 590 Intentionally Destroying Him
Meanwhile, Madam Zhao instructed the kitchen to prepare the family banquet for tonight, and then went to Old Madam Meng's courtyard to deliver the good news.
While feeding Madam Meng her medicine, Zhao said, "Mother, the results of the autumn imperial examinations were announced today. Chengzhang is on the list, and he's even the top scholar."
Upon hearing this, Madam Meng was somewhat pleased and tried to force a smile, but her body was too weak; her mouth and eyes were crooked, and she couldn't even manage a smile.
The next moment, she suddenly remembered that her second grandson and eldest granddaughter were the same kind of people. No matter how successful they were, they would not benefit her youngest grandson, but would only suppress him. That bit of joy was instantly washed away.
Thinking of this, a surge of resentment welled up in her heart. She resented her son for being so unfilial to her, not only making her fall ill from anger, but also stripping her grandson of his title as heir and locking him up. The two of them have not been able to see each other since.
Zhao noticed that her mother-in-law's expression was not right, but she pretended not to notice. Her task was to have the maids and servants take good care of her mother-in-law and to have the doctor prescribe good medicine to prolong her life. She couldn't let her stepson delay important matters because of mourning. She didn't care about anything else.
Madam Meng was furious and refused to drink her medicine, completely refusing to cooperate with Zhao Shi.
Zhao Shi dared not let her be so willful, and gently advised, "Mother, your daughter-in-law knows you are afraid of taking medicine, but good medicine tastes bitter. You have to get better, because you still need to see Chengzhang and Chengxing get married and have great-grandchildren."
Chengxing is getting married?
A light suddenly appeared in Madam Meng's dim and cloudy eyes. She thought that her grandson would get married in the future, and when it came time to arrange a marriage, her son couldn't keep him locked up any longer. Once her grandson was released from confinement, they could meet. Then she would let her grandson know that his stroke and paralysis were not because of him, but because he was angered by her son.
When Zhao saw that she had started to cooperate in taking the medicine, she breathed a sigh of relief.
-
In the evening, Meng Dongyuan and his wife had a family dinner with Meng Chengzhang and Qiao Yunying. With the happy news of Meng Chengzhang passing the imperial examination, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
They held a family banquet to celebrate today, and Madam Zhao did not forget Meng Chengxing, who was confined to the courtyard. She sent someone to deliver a very sumptuous dinner to him. This was because she had always treated everyone equally and had never mistreated any of the Meng family's children. Her reputation for virtue and kindness had already spread beyond the mansion.
Unable to leave, Meng Chengxing could only indulge in pleasure with his maids in his own courtyard, living a life of debauchery.
At this moment, his face was pale and listless, and his eyes were swollen. He looked like he had been indulging in excessive debauchery with his maid. His moon-white inner robe was loosely draped over his body. He was embracing his favorite maid and whispering sweet nothings to her. When he saw the maid setting out the meal, he noticed that the dinner on the table was unusually lavish. He asked with some confusion, "Why is dinner so lavish tonight?"
The maid answered truthfully, "Third Young Master, the results of the Autumn Examination were announced today. The young master came out on top and became the top scholar of this year's Autumn Examination. The mansion is holding a banquet to celebrate, so the food is plentiful tonight."
Upon hearing this, Meng Chengxing's expression changed, and he subconsciously pushed away the maidservant in his arms. Caught off guard, the maidservant fell to the ground. Seeing his displeasure, she didn't dare to utter a sound or complain even though she was hurt. She only heard him ask incredulously, "What did you say?"
The maid saw his frightening expression and, though she was terrified, she repeated what she had just said.
Upon hearing this, Meng Chengxing's face darkened horribly. A moment later, he threw his head back and burst into laughter, appearing as if he had gone mad. The position of heir apparent belonged to his second brother, and now that his second brother had passed the imperial examination, his father would surely do everything in his power to support him, and would forget that he even had a son. But why? He was clearly his father's son, yet he was confined to the courtyard, living a life that was neither human nor ghost.
He was filled with hatred. He was the legitimate son of the eldest son, and all the glory should have been his. Yet his father treated him like this. If killing his son hadn't been so damaging to his reputation, his father would probably have wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible, just to avenge the child of the Dong family who had never seen the light of day.
His father was truly ruthless. Their father-son relationship of over ten years was not as strong as that of an unborn child. They say that with a stepmother comes a stepfather, and this is certainly true.
He laughed and laughed until tears streamed down his face. He gritted his teeth, his voice filled with hatred, and said, "Fine, fine, fine, everything's fine, hahaha!"
Despite his current loss of power and confinement in the courtyard, no longer valued by his father, the servants in the courtyard dare not neglect him. The maids in the house are terrified by his reaction and are cowering, not daring to utter a sound to provoke him.
It's hard to say that the Third Young Master was abandoned by the Meng family. If any servant neglected him, and the matter reached the ears of the Madam, she would surely punish him severely. He certainly doesn't seem like an abandoned child.
But even though the Third Young Master hadn't been abandoned, he was still confined to the courtyard and couldn't leave. The Earl hadn't even glanced at the Third Young Master.
The master's attitude toward the third young master was indeed ambiguous, but it seemed to be sending a subtle signal: as long as the lord calmed down, the third young master could be released from confinement. After all, they were father and son. Could the lord be angry forever? He would calm down sooner or later.
-
The next morning.
A servant from Meng Chengxing's courtyard rushed to find Zhao Shi and told her that Meng Chengxing had fainted.
When Madam Zhao learned that her stepson had fainted on the belly of a maidservant due to excessive indulgence, her face darkened. This was a family scandal, but as the stepmother, she couldn't interfere too much. So she said, "Quickly go and fetch the family physician to treat the Third Young Master." After saying that, she instructed her trusted maidservant, "Go and fetch the Earl. Tell him I have something important to tell him."
Meng Dongyuan was still in bed, embracing his beloved concubine. This concubine was his new consort, and she looked somewhat like his ex-wife, Dong. Unfortunately, she lacked Dong's talent and was just a pretty face, but he was satisfied with the resemblance.
Lately, he has been staying in his beloved concubine's room every day, working every night, hoping that his concubine, who resembles Dong Shi to some extent, can give him a child. The child he had with Dong Shi was killed by that unfilial son Chengxing before it was even born. If he could have his newly acquired concubine give him a child, he thought that the child would also resemble Dong Shi to some extent, which would be a fulfillment of his wish.
When the maid's voice came from outside, saying that Zhao Shi had something urgent to discuss with him, he instantly lost interest and even felt somewhat displeased. He was unwilling to see Zhao Shi, but the maid urged him urgently, saying that it was related to that unfilial son Chengxing, so he had no choice but to have his beloved concubine help him get up and dressed before going to see Zhao Shi.
When he arrived at Zhao's courtyard, he saw that Zhao's face was solemn. He was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and said, "What trouble has he caused this time? He's such a wretched child. He can't even be at peace when locked up."
Zhao told him the truth, and then added, "Chengxing is young and doesn't know how to control himself. The maids in his courtyard are restless and always trying to seduce him. Why don't we send them all to work on the estate and replace them with a group of honest and dutiful ones?"
She felt that this arrangement was fine; sending him to work on the estate, finding a good man to marry, having children, and living a simple life was better than wasting her youth with Meng Chengxing.
However, Meng Dongyuan disagreed, saying, "Those maids are already his people, how can we send them away? This time they didn't serve him well, so just deduct their monthly allowance as punishment."
Is this a plan to handle it with care?
Zhao frowned slightly, noticing the coldness and calculation in his eyes. A chill ran down her spine. This was not only a plan to ruin her son, but also to ruin his body by indulging in women all day long. He was only a teenager and he was already so indulgent. His body would soon be hollowed out and collapse.
Even tigers don't eat their cubs, yet he can be so cruel.
Well, she'd said what she needed to say. Since her biological father had made such arrangements, she, as his stepmother, wouldn't interfere too much. Even if she tried to change Meng Chengxing's personality with all her heart, he wouldn't appreciate it and might even resent her. Why should she do something so thankless? She'd just offer a few words of advice when she visited him later, and whether he listened or not was none of her concern.
Meng Dongyuan remembered another matter and said, "The contraceptive soup must be prepared for those maids. There must be no omissions, otherwise they will have illegitimate children before marriage, which will ruin the family's reputation and also tarnish Chengzhang's reputation."
Zhao replied, "There will be no oversights."
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