Chapter 252: Conflict
Then how should she say it? Sang Wan got angry. Just like what Wang Shi had said, no matter what fault her Second Uncle had, it was not up to her to judge since he and his wife were her elders! Furthermore, it was something difficult to say in front of her mother-in-law!
Wang Shi seemed to be aware of how she felt. She knew that it was meaningless to carry on pretending, so she said with a sneer, “How clever of you! You’ve kept me unaware and only decided to tell me everything now that I asked you. I’m sure you must’ve guessed that I might know something. Sang Wan, has anybody told you how cunning you are?”
“Mother!” Sang Wan’s expression changed greatly upon hearing that. She suddenly got up with her head lowered. “Mother, I don’t know what you are talking about! Please enlighten me!”
“You don’t know what I’m talking about?” Wang Shi said with a sneer, “You ask me to enlighten you? Even I’m embarrassed to be doing that! Nanny Jiang, you tell her!”
“Yes,” Nanny Jiang responded. She glanced at Sang Wan with a pitiful look and explained to her in full detail about what had happened just then.
Before she finished, Sang Wan’s expression had changed greatly and she was stupefied from the news.
Her Second Uncle and Second Aunt left the village without anyone knowing the reason. It turned out that they had come to Qingzhou and were recruited into the Shi family’s business. Not only that, they even did such a thing and came to her mother-in-law to plead for leniency! It was no wonder that just now, her mother-in-law…
Just now?
Sang Wan felt so humiliated, resentful, and cold. Wang Shi had clearly seen Sang Pingliang, and yet, she pretended as if nothing had happened and sounded her out. What kind of person did Wang Shi regard her as? What was she to her?
For a moment, Sang Wan suddenly felt downhearted.
“What do you have to say?” Upon seeing her sad and in a daze without uttering a word, Wang Shi asked faintly.
Sang Wan no longer had the mood and heart to deal with it? As such, she smiled bitterly and said, “I have nothing to say. Just do as you see fit!”
You’ve probably made up your mind already, so why ask for my opinion? Even if you aren’t tired, I am!
Wang Shi hadn’t expected Sang Wan to give such a response. She choked and looked at Sang Wan before saying, “Do as I see fit? Aren’t you going to plead leniency for him?”
Sang Wan shook her head. “I am too ashamed to plead for leniency for him. Everything will be decided by Mother!”
Plead for leniency? That would probably be inviting disgrace unto herself! Moreover, even if she did not plead for leniency or was not disgraced today, she had already suffered enough insults. Thus, why should she say anything more?
This time, even Nanny Jiang could see that something was amiss with Sang Wan, so she couldn’t help but give her a worried look.
Startled, Wang Shi could not restrain her anger and laughed before saying, “Good, good! You’re the daughter-in-law of the Shi Family after all. You place righteousness before your family and allow me to decide on this! In that case, I’ll do as you say. When that happens, I hope you won’t change your mind!”
“I have nothing more to say,” Sang Wan answered faintly.
“You!” Wang Shi seethed with anger at Sang Wan’s submissive and uncooperative attitude, and Sang Pingliang’s matter. At this moment, she flared up and ordered angrily, “Nanny Jiang! Tie Sang Pingliang up and send him to the authorities!”
“Old Mistress!” Nanny Jiang was shocked and anxiously said to Sang Wan, “Young Mistress, hurry up and plead leniency. You’ve to put in some good words in front of Old Mistress! This matter mustn’t be handled like this!”
Sang Wan shot a grateful look to Nanny Jiang before looking down without uttering a word.
“Nanny Jiang, what are you waiting for!” Wang Shi said coldly, “Inform those supervisors to send a representative to report the case and let the authorities handle the rest! It is reasonable and fair for me to do so. What are you waiting for!”
“Old Mistress, you mustn’t do it!” Nanny Jiang kneeled and pleaded, “Old Mistress, in my opinion, it’s better to wait until Young Master returns and let him handle this!”
“Get up!” Wang Shi said angrily, “Why are you being so kind to her? Hmph, she thinks that it’s appropriate and fine anyway, so why are you still saying more!”
Gu Fangzi, who was in Wang Shi’s warm room, was also secretly anxious. She couldn’t help but scold Nanny Jiang for being meddlesome! If this matter really got to the authorities, Sang Wan wouldn’t be able to cover it up when things got outside the household, let alone inside it. It would definitely become major news in Qingzhou. Wang Shi was acting on emotions and would surely regret her actions afterwards. When that happened, she would naturally vent that anger onto Sang Wan, and hence implicate the reputation of the Shi Family! The crevice in her heart would surely be difficult to remove then!
After that, Sang Wan would be dealing with Wang Shi while feeling under pressure. Would she still have the mood and energy to cause trouble for her?
Sang Wan, who had not uttered a word, lifted her head and said, “Mother, you’re a decisive person, so I’ll leave everything to you. After all, my words do not carry much weight, so I do not dare to say much!”
If she had wished to deal with this appropriately, she would have discussed with her first instead of sounding her out. Since she had already done the latter, Sang Wan could tell what her intentions were! Sang Wan felt dispirited and did not have the mood to plead for leniency as she knew that even if she did, it would only invite humiliation.
“Did you hear that!” Upon seeing Sang Wan being indifferent, Wang Shi was even more furious. She pulled a face at Nanny Jiang and shouted sternly, “Who gave you this courage? Even you are going against me!”
Nanny Jiang did not dare to insist any longer. She could only reluctantly agree and give Sang Wan an embarrassed look before leaving with her head lowered.
For a moment, only Wang Shi and Sang Wan were left in the house. One was feeling furious while the other was indifferent. The two of them did not utter a word and the atmosphere was somewhat strained.
Gu Fangzi, who was in the warm room, smiled slightly and was relieved.
Although Nanny Jiang had left, would she dare to send Sang Pingliang to the authorities? She knew better than anyone about her master’s personality. She would not care now when she was angry, but she would definitely regret her actions later. She had been serving Wang Shi for decades, so she naturally knew what was beneficial for her master! As such, even though she had left, she only stood at the gate and looked out in hopes for Shi Fengju to hurry over. She did not do anything to Sang Pingliang at all.
Besides, Shi Fengju was also stunned when he heard what the supervisors told him. Sang Pingliang’s job was only to guard the warehouse. However, Shi Fengju would not go there usually and there was nothing to be reported about on such an insignificant job. As such, he had been unaware that Sang Pingliang was working in his family’s business.
After knowing that Sang Pingliang came during the period when Gu Fangzi was in charge of the sea freight, Shi Fengju could somewhat picture what had happened and did not ask further. He would be asking in vain even if he did so. Gu Fangzi was naturally thorough in what she had done, so she would have a set of explanations for herself. Now that things had already occurred, he was not interested in them at all.
After Shi Fengju listened to the supervisors calmly, he ordered Zhan Huan to personally bring Sang Pingliang over. Even though he was of no use to him, he could not punish him either. He would just let him leave and settle this matter behind closed doors! As for the deficits, he could not simply make Sang Pingliang return it all. Following his practice, he could only bite the loss and make up for it with his own money.
Who knew that after a while, Zhan Huan hurriedly ran over and said, “Young Master, Second Old Master Sang has left! I’ve asked Second Old Mistress Sang and she said that he went to our household to plead leniency…”
Shi Fengju raised an eyebrow and immediately stood up to return to the household.
Shi Fengju had in mind whether to find Sang Wan or Gu Fangzi first. In the end, he decided to head to Ning Garden1 as soon as he got back. Who knew that he would receive news from Zhide saying that the Young Mistress had been summoned by Old Mistress. Shi Fengju silently understood that the situation was terrible so he hurried over to Wang Shi’s courtyard and happened to see Nanny Jiang, who was anxiously at the gate.
“Young Master, you’re finally here!” Nanny Jiang was relieved when she saw him. She stepped forward and said, “You’ve to hurry and persuade Old Mistress! She is furious! For some reason, Young Mistress refused to say or do anything!”
“Nanny Jiang, don’t worry. Tell me what happened.” At this time, Shi Fengju was not anxious. He stopped in his tracks and asked Nanny Jiang.
Nanny Jiang couldn’t care less whether she would arouse suspicions. She immediately told him everything that happened between Wang Shi and Sang Wan just then and said with a sigh, “I don’t know what’s wrong with Young Mistress. If she’s willing to give in and plead for leniency, Old Mistress wouldn’t have become so angry! Young Master, you have to persuade Old Mistress later. If she has any prejudice towards Sang Wan because of this, the household will not have any peaceful days in the future!”
Shi Fengju nodded his head. “Nanny Jiang, don’t worry. I know what to do. When this happened, Sang Wan was still with me in Handan. She doesn’t know a thing so my mother shouldn’t have sounded her out like that! My mother clearly doesn’t trust her. If Sang Wan gave in and pleaded for leniency, how should she even say it?”
Nanny Jiang froze and was somewhat stunned.
Shi Fengju smiled faintly and went in.
“Mother!” Shi Fengju’s voice broke through the strange silence in the hall. Wang Shi and Sang Wan coincidentally felt more relieved at the same time.
“Hmph!” Wang Shi glared at him angrily.
“Sang Wan.” Shi Fengju lightly tugged at her. “Come, we’ll talk after you have a seat.”
Wang Shi’s expression darkened immediately and her eyes glared at Sang Wan without uttering a word.
Sang Wan pushed away Shi Fengju’s hand lightly and stood still.
Upon seeing that, Wang Shi’s anger unconsciously dissipated slightly and she said with a sneer, “Fengju, have a seat! She’s in a bad temper now, so how would she take the Shi Family seriously!”
Sang Wan’s body stiffened slightly and she clenched her teeth without saying a word.
“Mother.” Shi Fengju frowned slightly. “I’ve already heard from Nanny Jiang. This has nothing to do with Sang Wan. Why are you venting your anger out on her!”
“What did you say?” Wang Shi stared at him as if she didn’t know him. “Are you blaming me?”
“I’ll take care of this matter. Mother, you don’t have to intervene anymore!” Shi Fengju said.
Anger rushed up to Wang Shi’s head, so much so that she felt dizzy. If Sang Wan hadn’t hidden this matter about her second uncle and aunt, Gu Fangzi wouldn’t have agreed to let him work in their family’s business when Sang Pingliang came to find a job. Now that he had done such a shameless thing, couldn’t she even express her discontentment? For that, Sang Wan clashed with her and her son even called her meddlesome!
