18 Family Laws
"Are you threatening me?"
Upon returning to the Shen residence, the main courtyard was unusually brightly lit.
Shen Jinghe wanted to go to the side courtyard to see Jiang Yao first and tell her about his daughter's situation that day.
Unexpectedly, Granny Gui stopped them and insisted on having them invited to the main courtyard.
Kneel down!
As soon as Shen Jinghe and Shen Suqiu entered the courtyard, they heard Shi Yunzhu's voice coming from inside the house.
The two stared at each other in silence.
Then, Shen Jinghe slowly knelt down in front of all the servants.
Shen Suqiu stepped aside.
The door opened, and Shi Yunzhu walked out with a cold face. Standing on the stone steps, she looked down at Shen Jinghe and said, "You have a well-disciplined daughter. She's quite imposing, even cursing her own family."
Shen Suqin scolded the aristocratic families for indulging in pleasure and ignoring worldly affairs. She, Shi Yunzhu, was born into royalty and single-handedly brought the Shen family to the top. Now she was being scolded by her own family.
She walked down the steps one by one, each step feeling like she was stepping on Shen Jinghe's face.
When she reached Shen Jinghe, she glanced at him and said, "Putting aside her inability to distinguish between inside and outside the family, just look at how she openly provokes the aristocratic families. Where does she intend to place the Shen family?"
"Shen Jinghe, sooner or later, she will kill you."
Shen Jinghe lowered his head and remained silent.
"Someone, keep an eye on the master." After giving the order, she said to Shen Jinghe, "Whenever that Shen Suqin bows his head and admits his mistake to me, this princess will let you get up."
At the same time, Xiao Pingchuan, accompanied by his personal guards, personally escorted Shen Suqin home.
The two of them had just left Yinshan Residence and walked quite a distance when Shen Suqin was still smiling with her eyes narrowed.
Xiao Pingchuan couldn't help but laugh along with her, and said, "Are you that happy?"
"I'm so happy! Didn't you see the expressions on those people's faces after they were slapped in the face? It was absolutely hilarious."
Most importantly, he completely overwhelmed Shen Suqiu.
She really wanted to see what Shi Yunzhu's expression was; it was probably terribly ugly.
Xiao Pingchuan shook his head and sighed, "Is there anything you can't do?"
"What did you say?" Shen Suqin didn't hear clearly.
"He didn't say anything, let's go."
As the two were walking, Tuksu suddenly came running up from afar, panting, and said, "General, Miss Shen, the princess made Lord Shen kneel as punishment in the mansion, and he is kneeling there right now."
Shen Suqin paused for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Doesn't Shi Yunzhu cherish him a lot? How could she bear to embarrass him in public?"
Ju Tao lowered her voice, "He's probably furious."
"What's she angry about?" Shen Suqin asked without thinking. "Oh, she's angry about what I said at Yinshan Residence."
"Furthermore, you also completely outshone Miss Suqiu," Ju Tao added.
Shen Suqin clicked her tongue and asked Tuksu, "Where is she? What is she doing?"
"who?"
"Madam Shen."
"She didn't do anything, saying it was just a habit."
Shen Suqin's face turned cold. "General, please go back. I have family matters to attend to."
Xiao Pingchuan grabbed her arm. "I'll go with you."
"No need, I can handle it myself."
“You didn’t abandon me at the Central Military Training Ground,” Xiao Pingchuan said. “I’ll give you a chance to repay me, Miss Shen.”
Shen Suqin looked into his eyes, and seeing his insistence, she went with him, saying, "Thank you."
"Of course."
And so the group hurriedly returned to the Shen residence.
All the servants in the main courtyard stood in a row, silently, like terracotta figurines.
In the center of the courtyard, Shen Jinghe knelt upright, his shadow stretched long and thin by the light, making him appear frail and thin.
Hearing someone come in, Shen Jinghe seemed to shrink back, and lowered his head even further.
Shen Suqin quickly walked to his side, grabbed his arm without saying a word, pulled him up and handed him to Ju Tao, "Ju Tao, hold on tight."
Ju Tao responded and steadily supported the person.
Shi Yunzhu stood on the steps under the eaves with a gloomy expression, looking down at them. Shen Suqiu stood behind her.
"Shen Suqin, you've gone too far!"
Shen Suqin raised an eyebrow, her gaze icy. "What is the princess doing?" She tilted her head slightly to look at Shen Suqiu behind Shi Yunzhu and said, "I originally thought you were no good at academics, but you were good at being a person. I didn't expect you to be no good at being a person either."
Shen Suqiu turned around and looked at her expressionlessly. "I advised you."
Shen Suqin stared coldly at the mother and daughter on the steps, who looked exactly alike, and then looked at Shen Jinghe behind her, whose face was pale. She suddenly realized that before she returned to the Shen residence, Shen Jinghe and Jiang Yao must have suffered a lot of grievances.
"Guards, bring the family discipline," Shi Yunzhu said.
The Shen family's family discipline involved using a rattan cane soaked in water, specifically to beat the muscles and bones; if the blows were too heavy, fifty lashes would cripple a person.
When Shen Jinghe heard that she wanted to invoke family discipline, he panicked and hurriedly begged for mercy, "Princess, Zhaozhao is still young, please spare her."
"She's young? Qiu'er is the same age as her, so why does she know how to behave and what's important?" Shi Yunzhu said. "If I don't give the aristocratic families an explanation today, do you think they will let me off the hook, or let the Shen family off the hook?"
"And you, always protecting me, now that you've caused trouble, what use are you!"
"Since you can't bear to discipline them, then I'll do it. You just stay here and watch them closely."
Shen Jinghe broke free from Ju Tao and stepped forward, saying, "If you want to hit someone, hit me. Zhao Zhao can't take it..."
Seeing that he was about to kneel down again, Shen Suqin scooped him up: "Don't kneel!"
After saying that, she looked up at Shi Yunzhu and said, "Since the princess is so afraid, why not just divorce Lord Shen and separate from both sides? When the Shi family holds us accountable, they can just ask us. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"
Shi Yunzhu was stunned for a moment; she had never thought about divorce.
“Why bother with a divorce? Wouldn’t it be faster to simply remove you from the Shen family?” Shen Suqiu said.
“No, Zhaozhao is my daughter,” Shen Jinghe said.
“I am also a father’s daughter,” Shen Suqiu said. “A father shouldn’t be too biased.”
Shen Jinghe: "But..."
"Where are the guards? Why haven't you made a move yet!" Shi Yunzhu shouted angrily.
A dozen or so servants rushed into the main courtyard in an instant, some carrying stools and others carrying wooden buckets...
Xiao Pingchuan, who had been standing silently, moved. Without saying a word, he kicked the person carrying the stool aside.
"Princess, Miss Shen has already been betrothed to the Xiao family. Are you going against the Xiao family by taking action against her today?"
Shi Yunzhu had never been provoked like this before. "She, Shen Suqin, is disrespectful to her elders and acts arrogantly. As the mistress of the house, it is none of anyone else's business to discipline her."
Xiao Pingchuan remained unmoved. "With me here, you won't be able to touch her today."
Upon hearing this, Shen Suqin's heart stirred slightly; the feeling of being protected was not bad.
Before she could even savor the experience, Shen Suqiu stepped forward and said, "General, although you two are engaged, you have neither formally betrothed her nor formally married her. By what right do you protect her?"
"Besides, this is a family matter of the Shen family, and outsiders have no right to interfere."
"Furthermore, General, don't you think about the northern border?"
Xiao Pingchuan frowned deeply. "Are you threatening me?"
"So what if it is?"
Seeing this, Shen Suqin, though unaware of the connection between the two, did not want to put Xiao Pingchuan in a difficult position, so she took the initiative to defuse the situation, saying, "General Xiao, I also have hands, so I'll show you my skills."
Xiao Pingchuan was taken aback; he had no idea that Shen Suqin knew martial arts.
Shi Yunzhu couldn't stand her arrogant attitude, and with a wave of her hand, she urged the servants, "Hurry up and get to work."
The servants all rushed over again.
"General, don't interfere," Shen Suqin instructed. Then she slowly swung her wide sleeves around her forearms a few times and stretched her neck slightly.
Before Xiao Pingchuan could even agree, she charged straight into the crowd, sidestepping, raising her arm, lifting her leg, and throwing a punch... her speed and power were impressive, each punch landing squarely.
In the blink of an eye, all the servants in the courtyard had been taken down.
He suppressed his shock. Others might not have noticed, but he knew very well that Shen Suqin was extremely skilled and ruthless, a true assassin.
This was also the first time Shen Suqiu had seen her make a move, and she was no less shocked than Xiao Pingchuan. She looked at her with increasing curiosity.
Shi Yunzhu was both angry and scared. "This is really outrageous!" She glanced across the courtyard and saw Shen Jinghe being protected by Ju Tao and Tu Kesu in the corner. Her heart calmed down. "It is the father's fault if the son is not taught. Since I can't beat you, I can deal with your father as well."
"You dare!" Shen Suqin said.
Shi Yunzhu: "Why wouldn't I dare? If I can't do it today, there's always tomorrow or the day after. Unless you guard him every day, you can't protect him."
Shen Suqin laughed in exasperation: "Does the princess think we have no choice but to stay in this Shen residence?"
"What do you mean?"
“The literal meaning.” Shen Suqin turned to Ju Tao, “Take the master back to the courtyard to pack his things, and move to the West City immediately.”
There is a residence there that Shen Suqin had arranged.
Ju Tao accepted the offer and helped Shen Jinghe up, ready to leave.
Unexpectedly, Shi Yunzhu waved her hand and ordered the servants to block the courtyard gate, saying each word clearly, "You are not allowed to leave! Do you know that I am Princess Changtai?"
Shen Suqin sneered: "Even if you were the Queen Mother of the West today, I would still take them out of the mansion."
Shi Yunzhu seemed somewhat incredulous: "Shen Suqin, I, the princess, have the imperial court backing me. With a flick of my finger, I can send someone to the Jingzhao Yin to be imprisoned until death. Where do you get the courage to go against me?"
"Then let's see if the Prefect of the Capital is more powerful, or if my Black Flag Army is more powerful," Xiao Pingchuan said sternly.
Shi Yunzhu took a deep breath. "Xiao Pingchuan, you know you can't bring your military power back with you after this trip south, right? What will you use to protect them?"
"Does the princess think that I, the general, used my military power to mobilize the Black Flag Army?"
The Black Flag Army was originally Xiao Pingchuan's private army. The imperial court only recruited him by giving him the title of general because Xiao Pingchuan was too busy to produce food and wanted to take advantage of the imperial support.
Now that the court has stopped providing grain, he could easily raise an army and declare himself independent. The only reason he hasn't is because he's afraid of the trouble, and also because the crown prince has treated him quite well.
Princess Changtai was speechless for a moment.
“Shen Suqin, have you thought about what they will say about you if you take your father out today? They will say that Shen Jinghe is ungrateful and has abandoned his family to climb up to a more powerful backer.”
The most powerful backer is naturally Shen Suqin, who is now the most talented woman in the Great Liang Dynasty and is at the height of her fame.
"And Father, can you bear to let people say that my younger sister's arrival has caused unrest in the Shen household and alienated the head of the family? My younger sister's reputation is already..."
Shen Jinghe listened attentively and said repeatedly, "Zhaozhao, I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving."
“I don’t care about these things,” Shen Suqin said.
Shen Suqiu continued, "Since ancient times, the royal family of Liang has only had widowhood, not divorce. Is my little sister trying to force Father to his death?"
Xiao Pingchuan might be able to protect them for a while, but with imperial power above and ancestral laws below, even if he could defeat everyone, he couldn't overcome the mountain of family power.
Shi Yunzhu also said, "Yes, once you're in, the only way out is through a corpse."
At this point, Shi Yunzhu had the upper hand. In the flickering candlelight, her eyes were cold and filled with a ferocious ruthlessness.
It was at this moment that Shen Suqin tasted the flavor of power with unparalleled clarity.
That stinking, rotten power, like a pool of silt.
She felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.
"Shen Suqin, I know you have some skills. But as long as I am surnamed Shi, don't even think about turning the world upside down." Shi Yunzhu persisted.
Shen Suqin's face was grim, and she said, word by word, "Then please watch closely, Princess, and see if I can ultimately overturn this world."
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