Chapter 377: Conflict Between Husband and Wife
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
At this point in the capital, the news of the Prime Minister’s daughter having an affair with her lover and secretly becoming pregnant spread like wildfire.
It became the biggest topic of conversation among the people of the capital in their leisure time.
While people despised the Prime Minister’s family, they also pitied Song Rui, the great scholar.
In the teahouse, a scholar said indignantly, “That Young Miss of the Prime Minister’s residence must be blind! She didn’t want a talent like the Immortal Poet and actually had an affair with someone else!”
He was the Immortal Poet. He could compose beautiful essays and he possessed unparalleled poetic sentiments. Moreover, he was so handsome. Yet, he was still cuckolded.
“Hey, seriously. How can anything be more interesting than illicit acts? What if the Young Miss Shen doesn’t like that kind of weak and feeble-looking scholar and likes other types?” a burly man at the table next to him chimed in.
Although there were rumors that the Young Miss of the Prime Minister’s residence was having an affair with someone, there was no mention of who the lover was.
In his opinion, that lover must be very different from Song Rui.
Otherwise, why would Young Miss Shen abandon the Immortal Poet and go look for someone else?
That lover must be as powerful and physically strong as him. Thus, he exuded a different kind of attraction for women…
When he thought of this, the brawny man could not help but let his imagination run wild.
He heard that the Young Miss Shen was both talented and good-looking. If her personality was really that bold and unrestrained, he wondered if he would have the chance to catch her attention…
“Haha! That’s right! The weak and feeble scholar was good-looking but useless. Miss Shen must have felt that the body of the Immortal Poet was not enough to satisfy her! Haha!” Another brawny man beside the first brawny man added.
As he spoke, he winked at the first brawny man with an expression that implied, “If you get my drift…”
These words immediately stirred up a heated discussion.
Some people nodded and felt that it made sense.
However, some people felt that it was an insult to their intellect and held a disdainful attitude.
Nonetheless, neither line of thought could stop Shen Rong’s reputation from getting more unsavory as the rumors spread.
In the Prime Minister’s study.
When Minister Shen heard the news brought back by the servants, his face turned downright ominous.
Just as he was about to say something, he heard wailing coming from outside.
“Master, I beg you to let Rong’er come back! She’s our only daughter…” It was Mrs. Shen.
That was right. Mrs. Shen regained consciousness not long after she returned to the residence.
Thereafter, she somehow found out about the order that Minister Shen had given Song Rui.
Following that, she clamored to see Minister Shen.
Minister Shen naturally did not want to see her, so Mrs. Shen knelt outside Minister Shen’s study and begged.
A day and a night had passed. During this period, Mrs. Shen even fainted once, but she still did not manage to see Minister Shen.
In spite of this, Mrs. Shen did not give up and continued to linger outside in the courtyard, begging from time to time.
When he heard the pleas again, Minister Shen became furious instantly.
“Damn it!” He cursed out loud. Thereafter, he swept everything off his desk with one hand.
“Ignorant woman! If she hadn’t let those onlookers at the Buddhist Temple leave, my Prime Minister’s residence wouldn’t have fallen to such a state!” Minister Shen bellowed angrily.
The servant stood at the end of the study, his heart filled with fear. He kept his head lowered and did not dare to raise it at all.
Right now, those rumors about the Young Miss and the Prime Minister’s residence must have been spread by those people who were gawking on that day.
At that point, in order to prevent the Young Miss from embarrassing herself in public, the Mistress had told people to drive those onlookers away.
However, at that juncture, the people who were watching the drama had already heard everything, including things that they should not hear.
Mistress simply got servants to ask them to leave straight away, which only gave others more room to let their imaginations run wild. It could be said that she had outsmarted herself.
“Master… Boo hoo hoo…” At this moment, Mrs. Shen’s weeping could be heard coming from outside again.
Minister Shen’s expression turned even more ominous.
Finally, he could not hold back his anger any longer and dashed out of the study.
The servant was badly frightened when he realized that his master had stalked past him like a gust of wind.
Following that, the servant came back to his senses and quickly followed his master.
Thereafter, the servant witnessed with his own eyes the sight of his Master rushing to the courtyard and kicking Mistress to the ground.
“Shut up! Rong’er ended up like this all because you spoiled her!” Minister Shen was so furious that his eyes were as round as saucers and his beard was fluttering from his huffing. He totally ignored Mrs. Shen’s expression, which changed from the initial shocked look to weeping piteously again.
However, Mrs. Shen did not have the luxury of indulging in sorrow at receiving her husband’s violent treatment. Instead, she quickly grabbed the hem of Minister Shen’s robe.
“It’s my fault. Sob, sob… 1 was wrong! It’s not Rong’er’s fault! Master, Master, I beg you! Please give Rong’er a way out and let Rong’ er come back!” she wailed pitifully.
Minister Shen’s expression darkened even more. He flung away Mrs. Shen’s hand that was holding onto him and pushed her over again, causing her to fall to the side.
“You still have the cheek to plead for leniency for that rebellious daughter?
“The dignity of the Prime Minister’s residence has been completely destroyed by that unfilial daughter!”
When he saw that Mrs. Shen was about to pounce on him again, Minister Shen quickly dodged.
Following that, he ordered in a deep voice, “Men!”
“Yes, Sir!” Two servants quickly responded.
“Send Mistress back to her room. In the future, without my orders, she is not allowed to take a step out of the room!” Minister Shen continued. He did not even look at Mrs. Shen when he spoke.
The two servants hesitated.
When they saw Minister Shen looking at them with displeasure, they hurriedly went forward.
Mrs. Shen’s expression changed drastically and she wanted to pounce on Minister Shen again.
“Master, you can’t treat me like this! Master…”
However, Minister Shen avoided her once again and still did not look at her.
When she saw that the two servants were about to forcefully take her away, Mrs. Shen became anxious.
“How dare you two touch me? I am the wife of the Prime Minister, the Empress’s biological elder sister!” she shouted.
These words frightened the two servants so much they froze.
Minister Shen finally looked at Mrs. Shen.
Mrs. Shen’s eyes finally lost the look of pleading. She looked at Minister Shen and her face also turned icy as she stood up from the ground.
“I am the Empress’s biological elder sister!” she spoke again.
When she saw Minister Shen narrow his eyes dangerously, a hint of fear flashed across Mrs. Shen’s eyes, but she straightened her neck again.
“Master, have you forgotten what you promised my father and the Empress?” she questioned Minister Shen.
Back then, Minister Shen was just a poor scholar without a single penny.
It was because of the Jia family and the Empress’s support that he had come this far.
Back then, the reason she was willing to marry him was not because she loved him.
It was her father who admired him and betrothed her to him.
If he hadn’t taken the initiative to mention to her father and younger sister that he would only love her in this life and that she would be the only mistress in the residence, Mrs. Shen wouldn’t have agreed to the marriage due to feeling touched by his gesture.
Over the years, she had indeed lived a very happy life and was envied by the womenfolk of countless officials.
And as she spent more time with him, she gradually discovered his good and excellent qualities. Gradually, she fell in love with him.
Back then, when she gave birth to Rong’er, she had fallen ill and was unable to give birth to any more children thereafter.
Due to this, she had even felt guilty.
She even took the initiative to propose that she would look for a concubine for him.
However, he used his previous promise as an excuse to refuse. He even said that even if they only had one daughter, he would be content.
From then on, her heart sank to the bottom completely.
Was the truth really as what he presented?
Before she found out that the Master was keeping a lover outside, she had really thought so.
However, when the cruel truth was right in front of her, how could she still deceive herself?