Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 471

……

Inside Shou'an Hall, the lights were bright, but they could not dispel the pervasive chill and anxiety.

Sheng Hong paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. Even the wind stirred by the hem of his official robes seemed to convey his restlessness. Meanwhile, Madam Wang sat on a rosewood chair at the lower end of the hall, her hands tightly twisting a handkerchief, her knuckles turning white. Her face was a mixture of worry for the family's reputation and a hint of... schadenfreude.

"Serves you right! Serves you right for favoring your concubine over your wife, raising this girl just like her mother, both of them are ungrateful wretches!" Madam Wang thought to herself with secret glee: "Now look what's happened, shamelessly climbing into someone else's bed. I might as well have just strangled her long ago!!"

However, although she muttered to herself, she didn't dare to show it directly on her face, lest she anger Sheng Hong.

The air in the room was stagnant, as if filled with lead, incredibly stuffy.

"Squeak!"

With a soft click of the door, Mrs. Fang appeared at the entrance, supporting Mrs. Sheng.

The dark blue plain jacket wrapped around the old man's thin body, carrying the chill of the night dew and... the weariness of settled dust.

"Mother!" Sheng Hong stopped abruptly, almost rushing to the old lady's side, his voice urgent and hoarse, "How is it? What... what did the Liang family say?"

His eyes were bloodshot, a trace left by humiliation and torment.

Madam Wang immediately stood up. Although she didn't speak, her eyes, which were fixed on the old lady, betrayed all her tension and anticipation.

With the help of Madam Fang and Sheng Hong who rushed over, Old Madam Sheng slowly walked to the main seat and sat down.

She accepted the hot tea offered by Aunt Fang, but did not drink it. Instead, she used the warm white porcelain cup to warm her thin, cold fingers.

Grandma Sheng raised her eyes, her gaze slowly sweeping over her son's anxious face and her daughter-in-law's complicated expression. Her voice was hoarse from not speaking for a long time, but it was unusually clear.

"It's done."

These two short words, like a boulder thrown into stagnant water, stirred up vastly different waves in the hearts of Sheng Hong and Madam Wang!

"It's done?!"

Sheng Hong took a deep breath, and a sickly flush instantly rose to his face!

It was a twisted expression born from the intense clash between ecstasy and humiliation. His clenched fist trembled slightly, and his voice choked with the sobs of someone who had survived a catastrophe: "Good! Good! It's done! It's good that the Sheng family's reputation has been preserved..."

"call--!!"

Madam Wang also let out a heavy sigh, her tense shoulders instantly collapsing. Then, an uncontrollable, vengeful smile spread across her lips, which she forcibly covered with her handkerchief.

Become!

That arrogant and shameless illegitimate daughter is finally going to be kicked out of the Sheng family! And in this "dignified" way!
She almost burst out laughing, her eyes flashing with undisguised contempt and glee.

"The wedding date," the old lady's voice interrupted their differing thoughts, carrying an undeniable coldness, "is to be set before the imperial examinations, within this month."

"Within a month?!" Sheng Hong's joy froze instantly, and he exclaimed in shock, "This...this is too rushed! How can we possibly complete the formalities of marriage? The dowry..."

He wasn't heartbroken for Mo Lan, but the haste itself was another unspeakable shame for the Sheng family!

"Hasty?" The old lady's lips curled into a faint, cold smile, her gaze piercing Sheng Hong like an ice pick. "If not hasty, are we going to wait until she shows her pregnancy and let the whole of Bianjing laugh at the Sheng and Liang families?"

"Or? Should we have the Censorate add another charge of 'tainting the imperial examinations' to your impeachment petition?"

Her words were merciless, completely tearing away the veil of pretense and laying bare the most unbearable reality before Sheng Hong.

Instantly, Sheng Hong felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water; he was speechless, his face turning from red to white, and finally ashen. "Yes, that wretched child… that wretched child's body…"

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, and his hatred for Mo Lan grew wildly again like a poisonous vine!
In the midst of this oppressive silence, Madam Wang's eyes suddenly lit up, as if her own thoughts had ignited a candle flame.

She slapped her thigh suddenly, almost knocking over the teacup beside her.

Her voice carried an excitement and eagerness to claim credit, as if she had discovered a "brilliant plan"!

"oops!"

"Mother! Master! Don't worry! What's so difficult about this! We can just give her a bowl of medicine!"

She straightened her back, her face beaming with a smug "look how clever I am" kind of pride, as if she had solved a huge problem. She spoke rapidly as she presented her secret: "My family has an old remedy that's incredibly effective! One dose will guarantee a clean sweep, completely undetected! Wouldn't that be foolproof?"

"Since we're not worried about her showing her pregnancy and making a fool of ourselves, we don't need to rush to push her out like this. Otherwise, outsiders might think that our Sheng family dislikes her!"

The more she talked about it, the more brilliant she felt the plan was. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Old Madam Sheng and Sheng Hong, practically screaming "Praise me!"

His appearance was just like that of a child who had finally gotten the chance to show off his cunning, with a kind of innocent and ignorant cruelty.

"Shh!"

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Sheng and Sheng Hong both looked at Madam Wang with a hint of inquiry in their eyes.

What exactly is this idea trying to achieve? Could it be...?

but……

Looking at her naive and smug daughter-in-law, Old Mrs. Sheng felt a complex mix of emotions that were hard to describe.

She sighed, a sigh that carried a barely perceptible hint of helplessness and... a compassionate tolerance.

This Wang woman is a bit stupid, but her intentions aren't exactly malicious. It's just that her brain... well, never mind.

As long as Brother Bai doesn't resemble her, that's fine.

"No need." The old lady's calm voice interrupted Madam Wang's "profound discourse." Looking at her daughter-in-law's eyes, which dimmed instantly and even showed some grievance and confusion, she patiently explained, "This haste is, firstly, to prevent that girl from becoming pregnant and causing an even bigger embarrassment. Secondly, and more importantly!"

The old lady's voice deepened: "With the temperament and methods of that mother and daughter, if they remain in the mansion for even a day, they will be like two firecrackers that could explode at any moment!"

"Lin Qinshuang's attempt to hire someone to harm Changquan failed, and she accidentally injured Changfeng instead. This heinous crime has not been cleared! And Molan has also shamelessly committed a terrible disaster! The longer we wait, the more things may go wrong! We must get rid of this source of trouble as soon as possible; that is the best course of action!"

She paused, looking at Madam Wang's seemingly understanding yet somewhat unwilling expression, and added, her tone carrying a hint of consideration for Mo Lan, who was about to be pushed into the fire pit, a consideration that even she herself might not have realized.

"Furthermore, no matter what, she is still surnamed Sheng and is a daughter of the Sheng family."

"Her situation was already difficult after marrying into the Yongchang Marquis's mansion. If she could really have a child... at least it would be a little support for her to gain a foothold in the Liang family, and her life... might be a little better."

The words were left unsaid, but the meaning was already clear.

That child might become the only piece of driftwood that Mo Lan could grasp in that dangerous place.

"Humph!"

Upon hearing this, Sheng Hong merely snorted coldly to himself, his eyes flashing with a chilling light. He was not moved in the slightest by Mo Lan's future, which he believed would be "somewhat better," but only felt disgust.

Madam Wang pursed her lips and muttered under her breath, "My mother is just so kind-hearted..."

Clearly, they didn't take the old lady's last bit of "womanly compassion" seriously, but they didn't dare to argue further.