The Cinnabar Mole of a Beijing Circle Tycoon

"In the end, Lin Qinshuang is nothing more than a puppet he threw out." A faint cold light flashed in Meng Jiangyu's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by gentleness. "With Sheng Hong's cunning, how could he not see through Lin Qinshuang's little schemes? He's just pretending not to know."

"Lin Qinshuang came from a humble background and had no one to rely on. Even if she had ulterior motives and wanted to use Sheng Hong's favor to seize something, she could not escape Sheng Hong's grasp in the end. He held her life in his hands and indulged her only to use her."

"In this way, Sheng Hong used Lin Qinshuang as a pawn to sow discord between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, breaking the original structure of the Sheng family. He relied on his grandmother's resources and Wang Ruofu's family power, but with just the trick of 'favoring the concubine and destroying the wife,' he easily controlled both the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, becoming the only person in charge of the Sheng family and firmly grasping the power of the Sheng family."

After Meng Jiangyu finished speaking, the living room fell silent for a moment, with only the lines from the television still softly echoing.

Shen Qingyao leaned against him, her heart churning with turmoil, unable to calm down for a long time.

She watched "The Story of Minglan" dozens of times and always thought that Sheng Hong indulged Lin Qinshuang because he loved her, which led him to do the foolish thing of favoring his concubine over his wife. She never thought that there was such a deep scheme and so many entanglements of interests behind it.

This was the first time she had heard someone interpret Sheng Hong's actions from this perspective, overturning her understanding that she had reread dozens of times.

Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Meng Jiangyu looked down at her, raised his hand to ruffle her hair, and asked softly, "What's wrong? Are you confused?"

Shen Qingyao snapped out of her daze, looked up at him, her eyes filled with admiration and a hint of sudden realization: "So that's how it is. How come I never thought of that before? I was so naive to think he was blinded by love. I never imagined he was so shrewd."

Meng Jiangyu chuckled and pinched the tip of her nose: "Silly girl, this drama looks like a family feud, but it actually hides too many interpersonal relationships and calculations of interests."

"Sheng Hong is a civil official, and civil officials value their reputation the most. If word gets out that he favored a concubine over his wife, it will definitely affect his career and he might even be impeached by censors. He knows this better than anyone else."

"He is a smart man, good at calculating and seeking advantages while avoiding disadvantages. He would never do anything foolish that would harm his career or damage his reputation."

Meng Jiangyu said slowly, "Since he knew the drawbacks of this matter, yet still insisted on favoring his concubine over his wife, it means that the benefits he gained from doing so far outweighed the disadvantages. For him, this blemish on his reputation brought him absolute control over the Sheng family, a balance of power between his mother and daughter-in-law, and the ability to use the resources of both families for his own benefit. It was well worth it."

These words were like the sun breaking through the clouds, making Shen Qingyao suddenly understand.

"So Wei Xiaoniang understood this point, so she didn't compete or fight for anything herself, and she also made Minglan not compete or fight for anything."

"Mmm," Meng Jiangyu responded.

She watched the ongoing plot on the screen, feeling that all the dozens of times she had watched it before were just entertainment; she hadn't seen through any of the schemes hidden behind the plot or the characters' ulterior motives.

She leaned against Meng Jiangyu's chest, sighed softly, and said with a sigh, "It turns out that I didn't even understand 1% of this drama. I only saw the surface of the plot before, but now that you've told me, I realize there are so many intricacies involved."

Meng Jiangyu lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, his smile tender: "It's okay, I'll watch it with you from now on and explain it to you slowly."

Shen Qingyao looked up and met his deep eyes, which held an unyielding tenderness, like starlight in the night, dazzling and warm.

A warmth filled her heart. She reached out and hugged his neck, snuggling closer to him. Her nose brushed against his chin, and she said softly, "Okay, you'll have to come with me to watch from now on."

The TV drama continued, and the Sheng family's affairs remained the same, but when Shen Qingyao watched it again, she felt a different kind of emotion.

"Honey, look at it from another angle. If Sheng Hong really loved Lin Qinshuang, he wouldn't have put the two children with Lin Qinshuang to raise."

Why?

"The child raised by a concubine behaves like a concubine, only knowing how to please a man and gain his favor."

"Look at Mo Lan, isn't she just like that? She has absolutely no idea how to be a good matriarch."

"What respectable family would want a child raised by a concubine to be their mistress?"

The warm yellow light enveloped them, the softness of the cashmere carpet seeped through their clothes, and the light and shadow from the television screen fell on their intertwined figures, outlining the most touching scene.

"I want to eat strawberries," Shen Qingyao said, pointing to the strawberries on the coffee table.

"Okay." Meng Jiangyu got up to get the strawberries.

"Go on, I love listening to your explanations," Shen Qingyao said, eating a strawberry.

"The things a principal wife needs to know were taught by the eldest daughter-in-law to Hualan and Rulan, and by the grandmother to Minglan. Only Molan acts like a concubine."

"I think of all these girls, only Mo Lan had the worst life after getting married."

"Indeed, she later had an affair with Liang Han, which forced my grandmother to propose marriage for her."

"Isn't this the same path her stepmother walked and succeeded on!"

"This is what they mean by 'like mother, like daughter'."

"Therefore, there is a lot of truth to the saying that a good woman brings prosperity to three generations." Meng Jiangyu finished his tea in one gulp.

"Ah Yu, I've never understood why this drama is called this. It seems to have nothing to do with the plot."

"I don't know what the director was thinking, but I personally feel it should be related to favoring concubines over wives. Red refers to the legal wife, and green refers to concubines. The phrase 'green leaves grow fat while red leaves wither' should refer to favoring concubines over wives."

"That makes a lot of sense."

Zhou Yanqiu called, and Meng Jiangyu answered, turning on speakerphone. "Cousin, are you busy right now? I hope I didn't disturb your good time with your wife."

"Get to the point if you have something to say."

"I'm having a trial run at my resort in the suburbs of Beijing. Would you like to take your sister-in-law there for a few days?"

Meng Jiangyu looked at Shen Qingyao, who nodded vigorously, "Okay."

"We should go there around this afternoon. I'll send the address to the group chat later."

"it is good."

"Just letting you know in advance, Mingxuan and I will be bringing people over."

"Mmm, Yao Yao is used to it now, you can bring it with you from now on."

"Alright, you go ahead with your work, I'll take my leave now."