Chapter 36: Let Her Disgrace
"Why should I blame you for what happened to Mother Wei?" Shen Qingtan seemed unable to understand and said nonchalantly, "It's not like you murdered Mother Wei and framed me."
These meaningful words made Shen Mingzhu's heart pound.
Although she didn't kill the man, she did put the blame on Shen Qingtan.
"I don't have the courage." Shen Mingzhu clasped her fingers together. "Mother Wei treated me very well. She died suddenly, and I couldn't accept it for a while. My eldest sister was suspected at the time, so I blamed you with great pain."
"Your actions really hurt my heart." Shen Qingtan showed a hurt expression and said sadly: "No matter how well Madam Wei treats you, she is a servant and that is her duty. I treat you no worse than she does. We are sisters, and treating you well is what I should do. In terms of closeness, you should be more on my side instead of directly convicting me without any evidence."
Shen Mingzhu's face turned pale: "Big sister..."
"I'm tired." Shen Qingtan turned away from Shen Mingzhu and ordered Tingxue, "Send Third Grandma back."
Shen Mingzhu widened her eyes in astonishment, as if she didn't expect Shen Qingtan to just send her away.
If she refuses to leave, she will be shameless.
Shen Mingzhu stood up suddenly: "Big sister, if you don't want to pay attention to me, just say it directly. I won't be so shameless as to pester you."
"Second sister, if you insist on saying this, I can't help it." Shen Qingtan seemed to have no energy to deal with her unreasonable demands, and said helplessly: "Whatever you say, that's what it is."
Shen Mingzhu punched the cotton and felt even more aggrieved.
She glared at Shen Qingtan with red eyes, then turned and left Lanxueyuan.
Returning to the second room, she was furious and ordered Wandong, "Let Qiuchan and Chunjiao destroy all her kesi. I want to see how she can still be so proud!"
"Yes." Wan Dong agreed.
——
Shen Qingtan was not affected by Shen Mingzhu. Instead, he was in a good mood and ate an extra bowl of lunch.
The eldest lady sent the fish recipe last night and also sent a few fish. The cook cooked them at noon. The taste was indeed delicious, and the meat was plump and tender.
Shen Qingtan ate half of the fish in one breath, but still felt unsatisfied.
If she hadn't had a small appetite, she would have eaten the whole fish.
Shen Qingtan lay lazily under the window basking in the sun, his bones softened by the sun.
Liu Yue sat beside her, sewing shoe soles, while Ting Xue was making lace.
Qiu Chan stood in the corner, glancing at Shen Qingtan, as if he had something to say but hesitated to move forward.
Shen Qingtan took her abnormality into consideration and closed his eyes, pretending not to see it.
The autumn cicada seemed to muster up the courage to move forward.
At this time, Madam Guan, who was beside the eldest lady, came to tell her, "Second Madam, the lady wants you to come over and talk."
"I'll be right there."
Shen Qingtan extended his hand towards Tingxue.
Tingxue helped Shen Qingtan to stand up and tidied her appearance.
Shen Qingtan left Liuyue to guard the yard and took Tingxue and Chunjiao to Mingde Hall.
The eldest lady had something secret to say, so she gave Shen Qingtan a look, and Shen Qingtan left the maid at the door.
Mother Guan closed the door and stood guard at the door herself.
Shen Qingtan's mind was moved: "Mother, have you found out about Second Aunt's affairs?"
"I can't hide anything from you." The eldest lady smiled, then thought of something and put away her smile. "Luo Lingzhi's money was taken from her mother's family. Her brother from her mother's family secretly opened a gambling house, setting traps to trick merchants from other places into gambling, and they all lost everything."
Shen Qingtan was shocked: "Second Uncle and Zhao Jue don't know?"
"It's a secret." The eldest lady frowned and said, "But they haven't found any connection between the counterfeit and them."
Shen Qingtan pondered, "Second Aunt's brother runs a gambling house and knows all sorts of people. It makes sense that she would hire someone to make a fake."
"This family has evil intentions and only takes the path of crooked ways. Sooner or later, they will be wiped out." The eldest lady really looked down on the second lady: "I just hope she won't bring disaster to the Duke's Mansion."
"She cherishes Zhao Jue and only wants the title of Duke of Guofu, so she shouldn't do anything stupid." Shen Qingtan thought that the Second Madam was a fool, and it was not uncommon for her to do stupid things: "You should keep a close eye on her on weekdays."
The eldest lady nodded and said, "I heard that the second wife was ill due to anger. I asked the court doctor to see her early this morning. The doctor said that it was due to depression in the heart and anger in the chest, and the evil spirits entered the body."
She snorted coldly: "If you ask me, Luo Lingzhi has pink eye. If she can be cured of this disease, she will be immune to all diseases."
Shen Qingtan chuckled: "You are right."
The eldest lady said worriedly, "You cheated her out of her money, she won't let you go, so be careful of her in the future."
"Mother, I know what's going on." Shen Qingtan's eyes flickered, and he curved his lips and said, "Isn't Second Aunt going to the temple to fulfill her vow? She's still sick, is she going?"
"She's going. I've already arranged for the servants to prepare. She'll be leaving tomorrow." The eldest lady curled her lips and said, "She's such a wicked person. She'd be content if the Buddha didn't accept her. She still dreams of the Buddha protecting her."
Shen Qingtan smiled innocently: "Second Aunt is not asking Buddha to bless her, but praying for me and my husband."
The eldest lady suddenly remembered that when serving tea, the second lady promised to light lotus lanterns for Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi.
She didn't take it to heart because the Second Lady would definitely not do it.
As the first lady expected, the second lady did not intend to light the lotus lantern.
At dawn the next day, the second wife took Zhao Jue and Shen Mingzhu to Hualing Temple, for fear that if they were delayed for a moment, they would meet that bitch Shen Qingtan and remind her to light the lotus lantern.
Shen Mingzhu asked without a trace of emotion, "Mother, do you want to light the lotus lanterns for my second brother and sister-in-law?"
The Second Madam glared at her and said, "If you can't speak, then shut up."
She hoped that Shen Qingtan and Zhao Yi's marriage would be unhappy, so how could she wish them a happy marriage?
What's more important is lighting the lotus lantern. Not only does she have to eat vegetarian meals for three days, but she also has to recite scriptures for several hours every morning and evening, which is torture for her.
Shen Mingzhu shut up and lowered her head in grievance.
When the Second Madam saw her petty behavior, her eyes hurt. She was really not presentable and was not even as good as Shen Qingtan.
Thinking of Shen Qingtan, the second wife's expression was gloomy. She had never suffered such a big setback in her life. She wanted Shen Qingtan to pay the price and regret it.
She wrote a letter to her brother last night, asking him to use any means necessary to ruin Shen Qingtan's reputation and get back the 90,000 taels of silver.
Thinking that he could stay in the temple for a few days and would hear good news when he returned home, the gloomy atmosphere that lingered around him dissipated.
The carriage stopped at the foot of Hualing Temple Mountain. The Second Lady and her group climbed up the mountain, looked at the gate of Hualing Temple breathlessly, and let out a long sigh.
The next moment, when the second wife saw the unexpected person, her pupils shrank, she let out a half breath, but then forced herself to hold it back.
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