Chapter 396: Chapter 405: Struck a Nerve?
A single sentence stirred up thousands of waves.
Shen Hua knew clearly that family scandals should not be divulged.
But if others dare do it, why shouldn’t she dare to speak out?
The Shen Family was already tainted; why should she still care about saving face for these people?
The girl just found it ironic.
She had long learned from You Qing that Shen Xue-shi and Shen Wei had an affair behind Mama’s back, with Shen He Wen providing the place for their trysts.
Was it that Shen Wei and Shen Xue-shi had already exchanged vows secretly, and only after her marriage did Shen Xue-shi, unable to withstand loneliness, turn to Shen He Wen?
Or was Shen He Wen already involved with Shen Xue-shi, and with some scheming, ended up giving Shen Xue-shi to Shen Wei?
Shen Hua did not know.
She didn’t care either.
All three of them were unclean anyway.
Her daddy had already died—died when he betrayed Mama and killed her.
Shen Hua was clear about love and hate.
That’s why she was originally able to forgive Shen Wei, to empathize with him, always comforting herself despite her clear dissatisfaction and grievances, thinking that since she was the only little girl in Daddy’s name, he cared about her.
When she hated someone, she truly hated them, just as now, hating Shen Wei to the core. She no longer reminisced about any father-daughter affection from the past.
These people claim to uphold elegance and refinement; isn’t reputation what they value most?
Then she would deliberately trample on it.
The girl’s delicate face was filled with a triumphant, cold smile.
And Shen Xue-shi shivered, as if falling into an ice cellar.
That’s not right.
How did Shen Hua find out?
She and Wen Lang’s matter had always been tightly concealed.
Seeing those looks of contempt and surprise cast upon her, her fingertips trembled.
"Don’t spout nonsense!"
Shen Hua calmly replied: "Why so nervous? Did I hit a sore spot?"
Shen Qu’s face also turned completely dark, especially when he saw a flicker of guilt flash through Shen Xue-shi’s eyes.
He could no longer care about anything else, first had to hide his astonishment, stepped forward to protect Shen Xue-shi, and rebuked in a deep and grave voice.
"Yangyang! Brother has been tolerating you time and again! Why must you humiliate your elder like this?"
"Yes! You are young, hence, I have always indulged you! But you should never have done this! Ask yourself, do those filthy words sound right to you!"
"What position are you putting Mama and your uncle in? If you don’t apologize and make amends, the Shen Family will have no such daughter!"
Shen Hua scoffed coldly: "Do you think I care?"
"Dare to do, but not dare to admit. What? Do you, dear brother, also intend to cover up for her? Or perhaps, you knew about this too?"
"Indeed, otherwise how could you have the chance to be adopted?"
Suddenly, she changed her tone.
"I actually forgot, you’ve never married, but you are indeed my uncle’s true blood, and the stepmother, who has remained a widow, is not a proper woman. If you two also laid together, disregarding morality, it wouldn’t be surprising."
"After all, you are younger than my uncle, and it’s natural for the stepmother to prefer new to old. As for you, maybe you just like older ones."
The girl watched with satisfaction as their faces sunk completely like ink.
She then spoke lightly: "Why so agitated? It’s not a big deal."
Her lips parted and closed.
"Stepmother, isn’t it just that she miscarried a few times for my uncle?"
When she speaks, it is as if a massive stone has been dropped into the sea, stirring up waves and billows.
The onlookers were all dumbfounded.
Li San was the first to react.
He really, didn’t expect this.
To encounter something more frightening and stimulating than kissing his own man.
My goodness, this is just shameless.
But Li San was very professional.
He hesitated for a moment.
"This woman indeed looks pleasing, no wonder the men of the Shen Family are bewitched by her."
He nudged the dumbfounded auntie next to him, seemingly casual.
"Imagine the day you die, your husband marries a new wife, and the new wife, together with her newly born son, drives your daughter out of the house and then gets involved with your younger brother-in-law. Meanwhile, she doesn’t even spare your own son."
With his keen eyes, Li San could tell at a glance that this basket-carrying auntie was not to be underestimated, definitely a streetwise brawler.
Auntie: !!!
She indeed burst into swearing: "Beast!"
"You heartless people! If it weren’t for Miss Shen being protected by a noble benefactor in the past, her life would have been ruined by your hands long ago! It was right for her to leave Fengzhou! What a joke, you Shen Family still pretend in public, claiming Miss Shen sought to cling to high branches against advice and wanted to leave, pah! Not being good yourselves, do you think everyone else follows your lead?"
"Now she has recovered and returned! Yet you harbor evil intentions! Such shameless people, yet you act charitable every day! Who are you pretending for!"
"Even I know that illicit relations are punishable by the cangue! Mrs. Shen, you are old, but you have more tricks than a prostitute."
"Pah, what trash! So malicious and now you even scheme for her money! Enough is enough, the Shen Family’s wealth is enough for you to squander for a lifetime, why must you make an enemy of a woman? Please, do it for the sake of your descendants’ virtue!"
Her words quickly aroused public anger.
This time when Shen Qu went out, he only brought a few servants; he certainly couldn’t silence these people.
A surge of blood rose to his throat, which he forcefully swallowed back. A sense of unprecedented suffocation began to spread.
Especially seeing the girl leaning on the doorway, aimlessly tracing circles with her embroidered shoes, the provocative and evocative intention was clear.
Shen Qu closed his eyes momentarily: "To frame crimes against someone, what lack there is of pretexts? But as the Shen Family conducts itself with integrity, even if slandered, I can seek justice from the County Magistrate!"
"You do not wish to return with me, I see, nor should you in this lifetime! Such a little sister, I, Shen Qu, dare not accept!"
Shen Hua listened to him intently. Then she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.
"So scary."
The girl toyed with the Jade Pendant at her fingertips.
"Terrified indeed."
"Go ahead and sue."
Shen Hua said in a meaningful tone: "But unfortunately, your second uncle hasn’t returned to Fengzhou yet, and the government can’t catch a pair of wild mandarin ducks."
Shen Qu: ...
He took a deep breath, and all traces of amusement vanished from his eyes: "Stop spreading rumors! If you want to open a shop, then open it! I want to see what business you can possibly do!"
"Shen Hua, this is the path you choose, don’t come to regret it later!"
Although the Shen Family is in commerce and he has been hosting guests and drinks these days, he hasn’t met Magistrate Wang, but he has seen quite a few people! It would just take a word from him to make Shen Hua’s shop unable to continue.
Shen Hua naturally heard his threat.
"As long as I am alive, and the embroidery workshop sells an embroidery piece, I will have money, and even if my shop is perennially unprofitable, I can still afford it."
"Shen Qu, business relies on ability, obviously, you don’t have it, otherwise the Zhou Family Embroidery Workshop wouldn’t have caught up. You should just focus on making money, it’s best to use your skills to grow the embroidery workshop bigger and stronger. That would enable me to keep my shop open, maybe relying on you, coffins could be sold down the whole street too."
Shen Qu went pale.
The girl added another line: "In this way, you could also be said to have done a good deed."
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