Young widow in her boudoir

Pei Zhiheng did not notice her unusual behavior. Considering her years of service to him, he said, "I will let you off this time out of consideration for the past. If there is a next time, you will no longer need to work at Suxue Residence."

Zhu Lan's face turned deathly pale!

She could only whisper her agreement and silently retreat.

Zhu Lan was practically driven out by Pei Zhiheng. Tonight, she had dressed up meticulously to become a concubine, acting coy and affected, which made everyone around her aware of it.

Zhu Lan was seen being chased out of the house by the Second Master with a pale face.

She had just returned to her room when she overheard the other maids mocking her behind her back.

"She usually acts like a concubine, relying on being the Second Master's head maid. She orders us around every day, and even beats and scolds us. But now... the Second Master doesn't even look at her properly."

"If it were me, after such an embarrassing situation, how could I possibly have the face to remain in the manor..."

Every word of the idle chatter reached Zhu Lan's ears, making her blush with embarrassment. She went back into the room, and in a fit of anger and embarrassment, smashed the tea set on the table with a loud crash.

She took a slow, deep breath, then pretended nothing had happened and went into the courtyard to raise her voice in warning, "Anyone who dares to utter another word about what happened today will be in for a world of hurt!"

The maids all lowered their heads and scattered like birds and beasts.

……

The following day, all the maids and servants in Shou'an Hall who knew the truth were punished, either sold by human traffickers or sent to rural estates. All news was kept strictly confidential, and not a single word was allowed to circulate.

Ye Wanyu was in a great hurry early in the morning, and specially invited two highly respected elders to her residence.

However, when the group arrived at Shou'an Hall, the old lady downplayed the incident and showed no intention of investigating it further.

Ye Wanyu looked up in shock.

The old lady, however, sat on the couch and looked at her with displeasure. Her eyes clearly rebuked her for acting rashly and lacking manners. "What's the big deal? Why bother the elders? Quickly take them back. Do you intend to air our family's dirty laundry in public?"

"I appointed you to manage the household affairs and run the household, and this is how you manage things?!"

Ye Wanyu's triumphant expression froze instantly. Was she crazy, or was the old lady confused?

Xie Rutang, as the eldest daughter-in-law, cheated on her husband with another man in the mansion. Isn't that a big deal?

Ye Wanyu was puzzled as to why the old lady had suddenly changed her attitude overnight, when she had clearly wanted to devour Xie Rutang alive last night.

She was still unwilling to give up, so she stepped forward, curtsied, and said, "Mother-in-law, this matter concerning Madam Xie is no small matter; it has tarnished the family's reputation. If it is not handed over to the clan elders for judgment, how can we expect everyone in the household to be convinced?"

"Moreover, that wild man's outer robe was even found in the Xie family's house..."

She kept saying that Second Master Pei was a "wild man".

The old lady's hand trembled, and the teacup in her hand almost fell to the ground. What was Pei Zhiheng's status that Ye Wanyu could address him like that?

She frowned, but quickly changed her tune, saying calmly, "Yesterday I misunderstood and wronged Madam Xie. It's just that I'm getting old and my eyesight is failing me. That blue outer robe was Yuan Cheng's. There's no truth to the claim that Madam Xie was having an affair."

Ye Wanyu looked at her in disbelief.

Misunderstand?

How come she didn't recognize it at first yesterday? Those were her own son's clothes!

The old lady said impatiently, "That's enough."

"Since it was a misunderstanding, let's just let it go and never mention it again. Or are you going to make a scene so that everyone knows about it and the neighbors will laugh at our Shen family?"

The old lady's tone was almost threatening, her eyes flashing with a chilling light: "From now on, no more such foul language is to be circulated in the manor. Anyone who dares to gossip about this again will not be spared!"

If it were to get out that she had forced her daughter-in-law Xie Rutang to have a child with Master Pei, she would lose all face. The old lady had always been a ruthless person, so naturally she wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.

Ye Wanyu was unwilling, but she dared not show her resentment in front of the old lady. She could only lower her head and act obediently, "It is...it is that your daughter-in-law was not thoughtful and acted rashly. I hope my mother-in-law will forgive me."

Then the old lady looked tired and said that she would take a short nap in the afternoon. She then waved her hand, signaling Ye Wanyu to leave and not to serve her anymore.

……

After being summoned by the old lady, Xie Rutang had lunch at Cuiwu Courtyard and then began to dress up.

She had intended to keep her clothes simple, but then she realized that from this day forward, Pei Zhiheng would be considered her "husband" in the Shen household.

Xie Rutang combed her hair in front of the mirror, thought for a moment, hesitated for a while, and then began to put more effort into her appearance.

Because she was a widow, she could not wear earrings or beads, so she could only put more thought into the cutting of the fabric and the stitching of the clothes.

She chose a moon-white silk dress, embroidered with a few magnolia blossoms. The embroidery was so faint that it was invisible from a distance, only revealing a soft, shimmering light when it shone.

When she arrived at Shou'an Hall.

Pei Zhiheng was also there. Today, he was dressed in a blue robe, which made his slender figure appear even taller and more imposing.

When Xie Rutang arrived, she happened to meet the man's gaze, which was somewhat cold.

Thinking that he had agreed to the sperm donation, Xie Rutang felt a little flustered, and her cheeks inexplicably warmed up, but it was not visible on her face. She stood in the room, and the profile of the woman under the flower window was dignified and graceful.

She suddenly felt a little nervous and subconsciously rubbed the hem of her skirt, like a white lotus ruffled by the wind.

I wonder if the Second Master noticed the clever detail in her skirt...

Hopefully he never found out.

Seeing that Pei Zhiheng had already looked away, Xie Rutang slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

The reason Madam Shen summoned them here today was to have them sign and affix their fingerprints to a document so that Pei Zhiheng could officially take care of Shen Yuan's widow.

The document states that Pei Zhiheng, the eldest son of the Pei family, is also the heir of the Shen family's eldest son, Shen Yuan. It also specifies the future marriage and offspring arrangements for the second master Pei.

The offspring of Xie Rutang, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family, and Pei Zhiheng will inherit the Shen family's ancestral line and worship at the ancestral temple.

Xie Rutang looked at the words written on the black paper. The moment had truly arrived, but she felt an indescribable sense of embarrassment, unsure whether it was for Shen Yuan or for the Second Master.

Xie Rutang slowly wrote her name on the brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and pressed her fingerprint on it. Just then, the man slowly approached her, reached out from his side, and took the wolf-hair brush from her hand.

The man's cool, rough fingertips gently brushed against the inside of her wrist, causing her skin to tremble slightly. His aura remained cold and indifferent.

After the documents were signed, each of the two families kept a copy, and a copy was kept in the Shen family clan genealogy.