Chapter 51 Stained by Bad Breath
Shen Shu recalled the day she copied Buddhist scriptures, when Xia Qingqing and Shen Xiao sneezed and vomited.
How could she have forgotten this?
Seeing Shen Shu's furrowed brows, Madam Fang added, "I heard that the Empress Dowager was furious and punished the eldest young lady by making her kneel in the courtyard and copy scriptures until the eunuch who issued the decree was satisfied. It's a way of venting the anger of the second young lady."
Fang's mother has never forgotten the harrowing night at Qiyun Temple.
Although she didn't ask Shen Shu in detail how she escaped, she imagined it must have been a perilous journey.
Now that she's managed to get some justice back, how could Fang's mother not be happy?
But... there's something else she doesn't know whether she should say or not.
Seeing that Fang's mother was hesitating, Shen Shu looked up at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
Madam Fang looked displeased: "This morning, when I went to collect my monthly allowance, I overheard some rumors...about you and Prince Cheng..."
She didn't dare say the whole thing, because what she said was just too harsh.
Shen Shu gave a cold laugh. Her good mother, couldn't hold back so quickly?
She instructed, "Don't worry about it. If necessary, Madam Fang, you should pretend nothing's wrong."
Madam Fang was taken aback, wondering why she would do such a thing. A woman's reputation is of utmost importance; what would happen if this reached Lord Lin's ears?
But seeing Shen Shu's confident demeanor, she didn't dare ask any more questions and simply obeyed and left.
...
At the same time, Shen Xiao was kneeling on the ground copying scriptures.
Wen Lanting cried and wailed, "Eunuch, Xiao'er did not do the copying of the scriptures on her own. Someone wanted to harm her. Please, Your Majesty, see the truth!"
Eunuch An, who was by the Empress Dowager's side, saw right through Wen Lanting's thoughts and spoke without any politeness:
"If you knew you were not feeling well, you should have brought it up earlier. If you were sick, you should have gone to get treatment as soon as possible. The Empress Dowager wouldn't have forced you to do that."
"If you were to say something else about someone plotting against Miss Shen, we might listen to you, but is sneezing something that someone could plot against her?"
"We've also heard that there was some feces stuck to the Buddhist scriptures. It was sprayed out of Miss Shen's nose. Do you dare say that this could also be a case of someone secretly harming her?"
Wen Lanting was speechless at the question, realizing that she could only shift the blame onto someone else. She tentatively began to speak:
“Father-in-law, but... this isn’t entirely Xiao’er’s fault. Maybe it was Miss Xia from the Duke of Qing’s family who vomited.”
With a forced smile, Eunuch An said, "I went to the Duke of Qing's mansion last night. It was Miss Xia who told me that Miss Shen's nose sprayed feces onto her face, which caused her to vomit."
Shen Xiao, who was still copying scriptures, could hardly believe what she was hearing: "How could Sister Xia slander me like this!"
Although it was true that horse manure came out of her nose, Xia Qingqing couldn't just say something so embarrassing to clear her name!
Eunuch An glanced at Shen Xiao: "Miss Shen, how many times have I told you not to talk while copying scriptures? Who knows if you still have feces in your mouth and nose? If you spit something out later, that will be adding insult to injury!"
Shen Xiao's face flushed red! How could her father-in-law say such a thing to her!
He's just a eunuch without any connections, what's he so arrogant about!
Eunuch An naturally noticed Shen Xiao's disdain and reached out to pull out the copy Shen Xiao was making: "This one is tainted by Miss Shen's bad breath, copy it again!"
Shen Xiao's hand was about to break from writing.
She had written it dozens of times, and each time it was because one character was crooked or another was bad that Eunuch An ordered her to rewrite it.
But this time she only said one sentence, and that can be used as a reason to rewrite it? Is there no justice in this world?!
Shen Xiao was so angry that she wanted to stand up and argue with Eunuch An, but Wen Lanting held her arm down firmly.
With a sob in her voice, Wen Lanting whispered, "Xiao'er, be patient. Don't act impulsively now! The Empress Dowager is already angry. If you offend Eunuch An again, and he files a complaint against you, you'll be finished."
Shen Xiao's chest heaved violently, her nails digging deeply into her palms.
She now absolutely hates Shen Shu. If Shen Shu hadn't sent Fang Mama to pick flowers, which made her sneeze, she wouldn't have soiled the Buddhist scriptures and been punished by the Empress Dowager!
Besides, why is she the only one being punished? Shen Shu is illiterate, and her Buddhist scriptures are probably just illegible scribbles. Why is she the only one being punished?
"Why doesn't Your Majesty punish Shen Shu? She didn't defile the Buddhist scriptures, but she can't read a single character. Even if she copied them, they would probably be illiterate. Doesn't that count as disrespecting Your Majesty?"
When Eunuch An saw Shen Xiao talking back and even dragging Shen Shu into it, he became furious.
That day, the Empress Dowager was critically ill in the palace. If it weren't for the marriage between Miss Shen and Lord Lin, which brought her back from the brink of death, she would have been saved.
The chief eunuch by the Empress Dowager's side had long since passed away.
Therefore, in Eunuch An's eyes, Shen Shu was his savior.
But Shen Xiao dared to slander Shen Shu right in front of him, how could he not be angry?
A mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips as he casually tossed the extracted scripture onto the ground and ground it with his toe.
“Miss Shen, the Empress Dowager is merciful and has given you a chance to copy scriptures to atone for your sins. If you continue to be ungrateful and implicate others, we will have no choice but to ask the Empress Dowager to come and judge this matter personally.”
When Wen Lanting heard that Eunuch An was blaming her, her face turned pale: "Eunuch, please don't be angry. Xiao'er is young and doesn't know any better. Today I will make her copy until you are satisfied."
Eunuch An sneered, "That's more like it. Miss Shen, hurry up and copy it. I'm waiting to return to the palace to report back."
Shen Xiao bit her lower lip hard. She picked up her pen again and had to start copying from scratch.
Wen Lanting was furious. She never expected that even Eunuch An would speak up for Shen Shu.
She retreated with her head down, a ruthless glint in her eyes.
“Aunt Zhao”.
Zhao's mother stepped forward from behind.
Wen Lanting lowered his voice: "How's the news about Shen Shu and Prince Cheng spreading? Has it gotten out yet?"
Zhao Mama: "Yesterday when I returned to the city, I had people spreading the word around the city. I imagine there are already rumors going around."
Wen Lanting: "Has Prince Cheng sent word that he spent the night with Shen Shu?"
Madam Zhao was uneasy: "The message hasn't come through yet, but Madam, aren't we really going to get ourselves into trouble by doing this?"
Wen Lanting looked at Shen Xiao copying scriptures under the sun through the shadows of the trees, and felt another pang of pain in her heart.
"It's because Prince Cheng chose the wrong person, what does it have to do with us? You should arrange for people to spread this widely in teahouses and restaurants throughout the capital, preferably..."
She looked in the direction of Eunuch An: "It will reach Eunuch An's ears."
She refused to believe that she couldn't kill Shen Shu even after all this.
They're all protecting Shen Shu, fine, then she'll show them what kind of shameless woman they're protecting!
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