Young widow in her boudoir

Old Madam Shen, with her inherent aversion to women, feared that she might use this opportunity to seduce Pei Zhiheng, and continued.

"Whatever Master Pei wants to do in his room, you may do. You must remember that the reason we keep you in the Shen family is that we hope you will continue the Shen family bloodline and preserve the family line. From now on, you may only wear plain white clothes and skirts every day. You are forbidden from using any other hairpins, jewelry, fine silks, cosmetics, or perfumes!"

"Have intercourse at least three times a month to increase your chances of getting pregnant. I will ask the doctor to prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine to help you conceive."

Xie Rutang rubbed the hem of her skirt, not daring to think about Pei Zhiheng's overly aloof face.

She couldn't believe what it would feel like to share a room with such a cold man; she imagined it would be incredibly boring and painful.

"Yes, daughter-in-law understands..."

The old lady's eyes showed disgust and contempt as she looked at the woman kneeling on the ground.

Even she was surprised, wondering what Pei Zhiheng had taken a liking to Xie.

Xie Rutang was nothing more than a woman with a beautiful figure that would make any woman in the world feel jealous and inferior. Her lips were always as if she had applied rouge, and her breasts were so proud that even the loosest clothes could not hide their curves.

If you wear a ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) in the summer, men will see everything when you bend over, which would be terrible!

When Xie Rutang first married into the family, her beauty and figure stunned all the male servants in the mansion, infuriating the old lady who cursed her as a vixen with no sense of shame.

And look what happened, she even hooked up with Second Master Pei, who was staying at the Shen family's place! And she's only been a widow for two months!

The old lady coldly scrutinized her from head to toe.

It seems that Xie Shi, having been intimate and affectionate with Shen Yuan in the past and having gone through many things together, would certainly be able to serve Yuan Zhi very well, given that she is a sheltered woman. In this way, the entire Shen household would be under the protection of the man.

Despite all the criticism, the old lady still felt it wasn't enough, since allowing a widowed daughter-in-law to have a child with an outsider was against moral principles.

So she dismissed everyone and brought Xie Rutang before the ancestors.

She wanted Xie Rutang to swear an oath before the ancestors of the Shen family and before Yuan Cheng's memorial tablet.

Xie Rutang was pushed to her knees, her delicate skin likely bruised and swollen from the impact. She pursed her lips in pain, but dared not utter a word of complaint.

Because she agreed to have a relationship with Pei Zhiheng, it means she has already betrayed her husband emotionally...

Even she despised herself from the bottom of her heart.

The old lady said, "I want you to swear an oath before the ancestors of the Shen family in public that you will be loyal to Yuan Cheng for the rest of your life until death. Your husband will only ever be Yuan Cheng! If you break this oath, may you be struck by lightning!"

Each word weighed as heavily as a thousand pounds, making it hard to breathe.

Inside the ancestral hall, incense and candles crackled and popped.

The dark memorial tablets stood silently on the incense table. As evening approached, the sky gradually turned pale blue, and the surroundings dimmed, leaving only the memorial tablets illuminated by candlelight.

Xie Rutang felt a chill run down her spine, and her fingertips dug deeply into her palms.

To make her swear an oath to be faithful to her deceased husband for life was her heartfelt wish, but to add such a poisonous oath and to make her swear it in front of the ancestral tablets of the Shen family was nothing short of humiliation.

The old lady had clearly harbored suspicions about her after what happened with Pei Zhiheng, and wanted to use this bloody oath to bind her for the rest of her life.

Xie Rutang felt a bitter taste in his mouth; if he didn't swear an oath, it would mean he had a guilty conscience.

But if she makes this solemn vow, every word and action of the rest of her life will be bound by this vow. If there is even the slightest rumor, others will use today's vow to question her.

Xie Rutang was heartbroken. She looked up at Shen Yuan's dark memorial tablet, her cold, disheveled hair spread on the ground after she removed her hairpins. She solemnly uttered her vows before the spirit of her ancestor, word by word.

"I, Xie Rutang, am the wife of Shen Yuan, the grandson of Shen Xuanqing, the sixth generation of the Shen family, and I swear before my husband's memorial tablet that in this life, my husband will only be Yuan Cheng. From now on, I will faithfully fulfill my duties as a wife of the Shen family, serve my elders, and never change my heart in this life."

A bolt of lightning suddenly appeared on the horizon, illuminating her exquisite and delicate face, followed by a deafening rumble of thunder.

The old lady watched coldly, and only then did she feel a little relieved.

Her daughter-in-law was too charming and beautiful. If she weren't, she was really afraid that Xie Rutang would be unable to resist temptation and fall in love with Pei Zhiheng, thus doing something that would tarnish her son Yuan Cheng's reputation.

A faint trace of sadness flashed across Xie Rutang's eyes.

The old lady sternly ordered, "You will kneel here tonight until dawn, and only then will Yuan Cheng forgive your actions!"

After saying that, she was helped away by the nanny.

In the vast ancestral hall, only a few trusted servants and women remained standing around, never leaving Xie Rutang's side, keeping a close watch on him.

Inside the ancestral hall, incense smoke wafted, and the ancestral tablets of the Shen family stood in neat rows, with Shen Yuan's memorial tablet placed in one of them.

Xie Rutang stared at the dark memorial tablet, a thousand bitter feelings stuck in her throat, with no one to confide in.

What is she going to say?

Should I speak to a memorial tablet?

The person is already dead.

Xie Rutang felt ice-cold all over. When the pitch-black memorial tablet came into view, she felt only the most primal fear that touched the depths of her soul, the instinct of human nature.

Then it got completely dark.

Presumably following the old lady's orders, the candles in the ancestral hall were then taken away, and the servants quickly left, locking the door from the outside with a loud click, leaving Xie Rutang alone in the ancestral hall.

Xie Rutang rushed to the wooden door, pounding on it in fear. "Open the door! Let me out!"

"I am Madam Shen, Shen Yuan's wife! You cannot treat me like this!"

"Is anyone home outside? Open the door!"

The long night was lonely and cold, the silence was terrifying, with only gusts of cold wind blowing through the cracks in the window, making a mournful sound.

The air was filled with the smell of wooden plaques and incense, a putrid and deathly stench that sent chills down one's spine and made one want to vomit.

Xie Rutang's face was completely drained of color, deathly pale, and her pink lips trembled uncontrollably. She was surrounded by boundless darkness, and she felt dizzy, her hands and feet gradually grew cold, and her heart was racing erratically.

The mother-in-law was well aware that her night blindness was severe, but she still insisted on punishing her in this way.

To punish her for unknowingly seducing Master Pei while confined to her chambers, she is to be made to kneel here forever to atone for her deceased husband, Shen Yuan.