“Don’t listen to his nonsense!” Old Madam Shen was still trying to defend herself. “Are you going to do something unfilial?”
“We’ll know if it’s nonsense once we investigate. As for being unfilial,” Luo Xueyan sneered and said word by word, “I won’t let my children be around such a family even if it means that I have to be unfilial!” She pulled Shen Miao and said, “Let’s go!”
No matter how angry Old Madam Shen was, how sad the Jing family was, or how Chen Ruoqiu tried to smooth things over, these things were not important. Shen Miao was brought back by Luo Xueyan to the west courtyard, and she was in an extremely good mood.
This was what she wanted to achieve. If she suggested separating from the Shen family, it wouldn’t be taken seriously. But if she showed them how evil the rest of the Shen family was, they would do so willingly. It was not an easy thing to make Shen Xin make up his mind to separate from the Shen family as it meant that he would have to be criticized.
However, after today, Shen Xin and Luo Xueyan would no longer have any pity for Old Madam Shen. As parents, when faced with people who wanted to hurt their children, they would instinctively want to protect their children.
Luo Xueyan pulled Shen Miao back into the house and closed the door. She said indignantly, “Your father and brother went to the palace today. How I wish they were also there to see the scene with their own eyes!” After saying that, she suddenly thought of something and looked at Shen Miao apologetically. “Jiaojiao, you must be frightened. I was too angry just now.”
Shen Miao shook her head and looked at her. “What should we do next? Mother, after what you said to Old Madam today, I’m afraid Old Madam will make things hard for you.”
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Luo Xueyan slammed the table. “When your father comes back, we’ll discuss it. All of them are up to no good. If this continues, who knows what will happen?” She touched Shen Miao’s face and said, “No wonder you wanted us to stay in the capital for another half a year. Did you… already know?”
Shen Miao smiled and did not say anything. Luo Xueyan felt that her guess was right. She stood up and said, “No, I still have to investigate this matter. I’ll get more guards to guard the courtyard door. Don’t go out.”
Shen Miao nodded. After Luo Xueyan left, Jingzhe asked, “Miss, are we really going to split up from the Shen family?”
“Of course.” Shen Miao said indifferently, “My mother is someone who can’t tolerate bad people.”
“That’s great.” Jingzhe said, “After we split up from the Shen family, Miss will have more freedom to do whatever you want. You don’t have to be wary of this and that all day long.”
Bai Lu walked in and said to Shen Miao, “Miss, Miss Tao Yuan has already been paid and sent away.”
Shen Miao nodded.
It was extremely easy to bribe Tao Yuan, who was Jing Chuchu’s maid. Jing Chuchu originally planned to make Tao Yuan Shen Yuan’s concubine and use Tao Yuan to win Shen Yuan’s heart. What Jing Chuchu did not know was that Shen Yuan already hated her to the core. If Tao Yuan really became his concubine, Shen Yuan would not treat her well either. However, Jing Chuchu thought that she had done a huge favor to Tao Yuan, but she did not know that Tao Yuan had already been bribed.
Tao Yuan did not want to be a concubine, nor did she want to follow someone like Jing Chuchu. She took the risk to trust Shen Miao and finally won her freedom. Shen Miao gave her the money she promised and helped her escape. Shen Miao had always followed the principle of treating people who worked for her with generosity and gratitude.
From today onwards, everything would go according to her plan. Gu Yu said, “After Second Young Master is executed, it will be the perfect time to split up.”
“Second Aunt will definitely be very sad when she finds out that Second Brother is executed,” Shen Miao said softly.
“Isn’t Second Madam already mad?” Gu Yu was surprised to hear that. “She’s mad and has lost her mind. I heard from the people of Rosy Cloud Garden that Second Madam can’t even recognize her maids now.”
“Mad?” Shen Miao shook her head. “That’s not necessarily the case.”
When people were in so much pain that they were in despair, they would use “madness” to escape the reality that they did not want to face. Ren Wanyun was in pain because of her “inaction” that night at the Wolong Temple, which eventually led Shen Qing to her death.
Once the word of Shen Yuan’s death was brought back, she would probably go even madder.
Ren Wanyun had actually not been mad for long. Whether she would continue to be mad depended on whether she could accept the fact her two children were dead. Shen Miao thought that it would not be long before Ren Wanyun woke up because she still had Shen Yuanbai. She was afraid that Shen Yuanbai would die at the hands of Concubine Wan.
Shen Miao wanted Ren Wanyun to “wake up” in advance.
What she had to deal with had never been an individual, but the entire branch. Before the second branch was wiped out, she wouldn’t stop.
What she wanted was for Shen Gui to die without descendants.
