If I had known this would happen, it would have been better to have chosen a concubine's daughter from a wealthy family rather than a woman from a merchant family like Lin.
Lin lowered her eyes, not daring to look at her mother-in-law's face, but in her heart she cursed Aunt Liu from head to toe. What kind of thing was Aunt Liu raising? All she did was cause trouble for her all day long. She knew her own daughter well. If Shen Ming'e hadn't spoken first, how could Shen Mingshu have said such a thing?
Shen Mingshu knelt for a while before her knees started to ache. Usually, she would kneel with a prayer cushion under her knees, but today there was nothing there. The floor was wet and cold, and kneeling for even a short time was unbearable.
Hearing her daughter's muffled groan, Madam Lin felt as if someone was whipping her. Forgetting everything else, she knelt before the old lady and pleaded for Shen Mingshu, saying, "Mother, it's my fault for letting the two sisters argue in public. Mingshu deserves the most punishment; she's the eldest daughter and the legitimate heir, yet she argued with her younger sister, Ming'e..."
He spoke while glancing at the old lady's expression.
Shen Mingshu, who was not very bright, immediately objected when her mother blamed her for everything. Her eyes reddened and she burst into tears: "It was clearly Eighth Sister who stole other people's work to redeem prizes. She's so narrow-minded, and I can't even say a word about it?"
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face, one after another, falling to the ground. Her pitiful appearance broke Lin's heart.
The old lady, whose expression had softened slightly because of Lin's words, sneered twice upon hearing this and looked at Lin.
Madam Lin was filled with bitterness. Her daughter had always been like this since she was a child, unable to keep her composure in the face of any situation. She was trying to coax the old lady to blame Shen Ming'e, but instead of helping, she was hindering her.
As angry as I was, she was the one I carried for ten months and gave birth to, so how could I possibly be angry with her like that?
"Mother, please punish me. I failed to discipline my daughter-in-law properly; it's all her fault!"
The old lady was already furious after Shen Mingshu's words, and Lin's words only added fuel to the fire.
“Young people, you’ve made mistakes, and as a mother, you’ve also made mistakes, but you should know when to stop!”
The implication is that Lin disregarded her status and was kneeling with the younger generation, which was inappropriate.
Zhao was speechless. To be honest, the simplest way to deal with this matter would have been to punish the two sisters, Shen Mingshu and Shen Ming'e, who were the culprits of today, and that would have been the end of it. But Lin was heartbroken for her daughter, yet she didn't know what was going on and just made the old lady even angrier.
The most displeased were the Gu family.
Even though Shen Mingshu was perfectly healthy, Lin Shi still felt sorry for her. But her Mingrong was weak and frail, and yet she still had to be punished, which made Lin Shi feel bad too.
“Mother, it was just that the children made a mistake because of their words. You said before that you wanted the girls to review the rules. My grandmother has a good friend who used to teach the nobles the rules in the palace. Now she has returned to her hometown to live a life of leisure. If you are interested, I will find an opportunity to go back and talk to my grandmother. We can invite this nanny to come to our house.”
Hearing this, Madam Lin felt as if she had found a lifeline, and her eyes lit up. She chimed in, "Yes, yes, Mother, why don't you listen to Second Sister-in-law? If you punish them like this, they probably won't remember it clearly. Why don't you invite a nanny back to discipline them..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the expressions of everyone present darkened.
Zhao Shi usually didn't like to get involved in these things. Anyway, she only had one son, and no matter how chaotic the family was, it wouldn't affect her branch of the family. The more chaotic it was, the better, so that the old lady wouldn't bother her with the matter of the eldest son's offspring.
Now, the two sisters-in-law, Gu and Lin, who have always been on good terms, are probably going to turn against each other because of this. Thinking of the days when she was neglected and ostracized, Zhao curled her lips and felt a little smug.
"Third sister-in-law, you should say less."
Madam Gu's face was somber; she had never thought Madam Lin could be so foolish.
People wanted to help, but she ruined it. Can't she see the old lady's expression?
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