Phi-Fic Chapter 54 Do You Know? 8
Chapter 54 Do You Know? 8
Sheng Hong sat opposite Madam Wang in Wei Rui Xuan, looking menacing. Lin Xiao Niang, enduring the pain in her back, stood with a pitiful expression, supported by Mo Lan. Her eyes kept glancing at Sheng Hong, while she kept thinking about how to cover up her secret sale of land.
Upon hearing the news that Changfeng had fainted from the ancestral hall, Madam Wang sneered: "Third Brother is really too pampered. Back then, Rulan and Minglan were forced to kneel all night in the ancestral hall and nothing happened to them, but he fainted after only kneeling for two or three hours."
The old lady's words were quite clear; she was saying that Changfeng was faking fainting.
Sheng Hong was already furious because Chang Feng had talked nonsense outside, which had caused the steward to detain him in the palace for two days. Now, seeing that he was pretending to faint in order to avoid punishment, he was even more enraged and immediately said, "Even if he faints, bring him here. I want to see if he is really fainting or faking it."
Sheng Hong gave the order, and servants immediately obeyed, going to the ancestral hall to carry the person away.
Seeing that Sheng Hong had taken her words to heart, Madam Wang felt smug. Looking down at Lin Xiaoniang, who had been beaten but was still flirting with her master, she immediately straightened her posture and reprimanded her in the tone of a matriarch:
"Changfeng was originally a good child, but he was corrupted by you, you shameless scoundrel, which led to this disaster and caused the lord to suffer this calamity today. If you ask me, my lord, you must teach him a good lesson this time, so that he will not cause any more trouble in the future and implicate my entire Sheng family."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Hong's anger intensified. He had not forgotten the fear and unease he felt in the palace. Now, hearing his wife say this, he wholeheartedly agreed and secretly resolved to teach Chang Feng a lesson.
Seeing that things were not going well, Lin Xiaoniang quickly knelt down on the ground with a thud, took out a handkerchief from her bosom and pretended to wipe away her tears: "Madam, I know you hate me and are angry that Changfeng broke into Shou'an Hall. I asked the old lady for help and you didn't force me to my death. But if you hate me, you can take it out on me. Why did you have to force Changfeng to his death? He also had to call you 'Mother'!"
"You still dare to argue here?" Madam Wang sat firmly and calmly took several land deeds and house deeds from Granny Liu beside her and handed them to Sheng Hong.
“When the lord was in trouble, I ordered everyone in the household to stay put and not to go out unless necessary. But you took the land deeds worth thousands of taels of silver and went out to meet someone in secret. You still dare to say that you were not going to abscond with their valuables and elope with them.”
???
What? Elopement?
Sheng Hong was still unaware of what had happened that morning. Upon hearing the news, he was struck dumb, his mind blank. He incredulously accepted the land deeds and the previously signed document from Lin Xiaoniang from the eldest daughter-in-law.
He had just gotten into trouble, and now the woman he had doted on for twenty years was about to elope with someone else.
Is he being cuckolded?
"What's going on?" Sheng Hong asked.
Lin Xiaoniang, however, sobbed and couldn't speak for a long time.
Sheng Hong's heart sank: "Could it be that you really..."
Mo Lan immediately knelt before him, crying and pleading, "Father, I would never have done such a thing. I had my own reasons."
Madam Wang gave a sarcastic smile: "What hardship? It's nothing more than seeing that her husband is about to fall into trouble, so she packed up her gold, silver and valuables in advance so she could run away in time."
Sheng Hong was so angry that he felt like he was going to vomit blood because he thought he might have been cuckolded. To make matters worse, Madam Wang was fanning the flames, which made him even angrier. He pointed at Lin Xiaoniang and said, "Hurry up and tell the truth!"
Seeing Sheng Hong's angry expression, Lin Xiaoniang feigned helplessness and said, "My lord, are you doubting me? Everything I've done is for you."
Sheng Hong laughed angrily: "You sold your land privately, and you say it was for my sake?"
"My lord has not returned for two days, and I am filled with anxiety. I don't know what has happened to him, so I assumed that His Majesty had found out about Madam's affair, which is why he was detained in the palace, so..."
"How did this involve Madam again?" Sheng Hong asked, puzzled.
Looking at Lin Xiaoniang, Madam Wang suddenly had a bad feeling.
Then Lin Xiaoniang looked like she was going all out: "Madam is taking the family's money out to lend money at exorbitant interest rates to support her family. My husband is knowledgeable and must know what exorbitant interest rates are."
Sheng Hongxin felt utterly disheartened.
He knew exactly what usury was.
As the saying goes: "Original interest, one loan will be repaid three times; interest compoundes year after year; one year's loan, ten years' repayment; several lifetimes' worth of debt!"
Usury is a form of high-interest lending. Many people have been ruined and destroyed because of the compounding interest on usurious loans. Therefore, the imperial court explicitly prohibited usury.
If people found out that his wife was lending money at exorbitant interest rates, not only would his reputation be ruined, but he might also face investigation by the imperial court. Losing his official position would be the least of his worries; in the worst case, his entire family would be implicated.
Compared to lending money at exorbitant interest rates, what is having an affair?
Lin Xiaoniang was still kneeling on the ground, explaining her 'bitter situation'.
"I didn't know that you were implicated by Changfeng. I thought it was because the story of Madam lending money at exorbitant interest rates had been spread. So I thought I would convert everything I had into money to give to those who borrowed money, in order to suppress this matter and help you."
Who would have thought that the eldest mistress would accuse me of having an affair, and without a word, have me tied up. She even summoned Granny Zhang from the brokerage firm, intending to sell me off. If Changfeng hadn't pleaded with the old lady, Honglang would never have seen Shuang'er again.
After saying this, Lin Xiaoniang could no longer hold back her tears, her sorrowful appearance making her all the more pitiful.
Sheng Hong's mind was about to explode. He never expected that so many things would happen at home in just two days, and each one was more shocking than the last.
He looked Wang Da Niangzi up and down with a surprised gaze. Seeing that her eyes were darting around and she was stammering, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal, he knew that what Lin Xiao Niang had said was indeed true.
'Snapped'
Sheng Hongqi slammed his fist on the table in anger.
Madam Wang was startled and leaned against Liu's mother with some fear, explaining in a low voice, "I only took out a portion of the money and asked my sister to help manage it. The profits will be split equally in the end. This doesn't count as subsidizing my family."
"How dare you say that! Don't you know that the imperial court prohibits usury? You still dare to defy the law, are you trying to ruin the Sheng family?" Sheng Hong said angrily.
The old lady stammered and couldn't speak, her previous arrogance completely gone.
Lin Xiaoniang lowered her head and covered her mouth with her handkerchief, afraid that the smile on her lips would be seen by others. This eldest daughter-in-law is really stupid. Even now, she still doesn't understand the seriousness of the matter. She used the fact that her daughter-in-law was lending money at high interest rates as an excuse to sell her private land, but her daughter-in-law didn't realize it and was still explaining whether it counted as subsidizing her family. Who cares whether you subsidize your family or not!
"You must immediately resolve all matters related to usury. You are not allowed to ask for any more money that cannot be recovered, and you are not allowed to lend us money at usury again in the future. Otherwise, if I find out, I will never forgive you." Sheng Hong scolded his wife fiercely.
Seeing the master's furious expression, the lady of the house readily agreed, then shrank to the side, not daring to say another word.