Sang Wan treated the two of them amiably on the surface, but she was no different from the heartless Sang Hong, Sang Yufei, and Fang Shi! If she got to know about this, she would be the first one to not spare him. As if she would even help him to take care of it!
Upon hearing that, Lan Xiang felt happy but she remained calm and collected as she asked doubtfully, “Why not? Young Mistress is your niece and her words weigh so much more compared to my Missy!”
The more Sang Pingliang did not dare to tell Sang Wan about it, the more Lan Xiang wanted him to seek her help.
Sang Pingliang darted his eyes around anxiously as he pleaded, “Miss Lan Xiang, I really can’t tell her! You know my niece. If she knows about this, she definitely won’t empathize with my situation and forgive me for being muddled for a moment. She certainly won’t let me off! Miss, you mustn’t tell her!”
When Lan Xiang saw him panicked and terrified, she found it amusing but couldn’t help sympathizing with him. She said with a sigh, “You’re right! Young Mistress is very strict. She will not tolerate any small mistakes. If she knew about this, she would definitely hand you over to court without a word!”
“Exactly!” Sang Pingliang rubbed his hand in panic.
Lan Xiang said with a sigh, “Would anyone not make mistakes? I can tell that you’re sincerely regretful. Why don’t I guide you on the path to take? If it works, it’s your luck. If it doesn’t, you mustn’t blame me! But regardless of whether it works or not, you can’t tell anyone that I gave you this idea!”
It was as if he had finally seen hope, so why would he refuse? He hurriedly nodded his head in agreement and asked Lan Xiang for guidance.
Lan Xiang said with a smile, “As a servant, what I’m most afraid of is getting into trouble. I’ll only believe you if you swear.”
If Sang Pingliang could get through this ordeal, he would be willing to kowtow on the floor, let alone swearing. He immediately raised his hand to swear to Heaven, just as Lan Xiang had told him, before he said impatiently, “Miss Lan Xiang, please tell me quickly! What idea do you have?”
Lan Xiang answered with a smile, “Our Old Mistress often consumes vegetarian food and prays to Buddha. She is the most benevolent and empathetic! Why don’t I take you to her? Since Miss Gu is with Old Mistress now, I’ll signal her. I’m sure she will definitely put in a few good words for you!”
Sang Pingliang’s eyes lit up. That sounded good. There was still Old Mistress Shi! He was the same generation as her and they were relatives. Since she was a religious old lady who ate vegetarian food, she would definitely be easier to talk to! As long as she let this matter go, wouldn’t Shi Fengju and Sang Wan, who were younger than her, have to listen to her?
Sang Pingliang even had a shameless thought. As a woman of the household, it would be embarrassing for her to not agree with a grown man, right?
“Great! Great! I would never have thought of this! Miss Lan Xiang, I’ll have to trouble you to take me to your Old Mistress!” Sang Pingliang could not wait.
Lan Xiang secretly sneered and replied, “Alright. Let’s go there now! Once you meet Old Mistress, you have to seize the chance quickly to be humble and plead for leniency! Old Mistress has a soft heart. As long as she agrees, she definitely won’t go back on her words! I’ll have to tell you that if she knew the one who hired you for the job was my missy, I’m afraid it would only inconvenience her pleading for you…”
Sang Pingliang stared at Lan Xiang blankly, but he understood quickly and replied, “How can I trouble Miss Gu when she had good intentions for me? I was the one who asked her for the job!”
Lan Xiang smiled in satisfaction and asked, “By right, Young Mistress is closer to you. Why didn’t you ask her for the job instead?”
Sang Pingliang answered, “At that time, Sang Wan wasn’t at home and Miss Gu was the one taking care of the sea freight!”
Right on track!
“Good, good! Just like that!” Lan Xiang said with a smile. “Miss Gu has always respected the Young Mistress. Since you are her maternal uncle, there is no reason why Miss Gu shouldn’t help you!”
“Miss Gu had good intentions. I’m so ashamed of myself for failing to live up to it!” Sang Pingliang quickly smiled.
Why did that statement sound so awkward? Lan Xiang frowned slightly but quickly said with low snort, “Let’s go. I’ll bring you to see the Old Mistress!” After which, she led the way quietly.
Gu Fangzi was talking to Wang Shi when she suddenly heard that Second Old Master Sang was looking for Wang Shi. Wang Shi was startled and she asked, “Second Old Master Sang?”
Gu Fangzi coughed and answered with a smile, “Aunt Wang, did you forget! I’ve told you before that I arranged a job for him. He should be in Qingzhou now! It’s strange for him to suddenly come and look for you!”
“Look at my poor memory!” Wang Shi suddenly remembered and smiled. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Invite him in! I suppose he must have some matters.”
In the end, he was a relative of her daughter-in-law. She did not think otherwise and asked Gu Fangzi, Nanny Jiang, and the others to look at whether she was well-dressed.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Sang Pingliang came in, he kneeled before her and lowered his head as he wailed. “Old Mistress Shi, I was wrong. Please show mercy and spare me this once! I will never dare to do it again! I beg you, Old Mistress Shi!”
Other than Gu Fangzi and her servant, everyone in the house, including Wang Shi, was dumbstruck. Everyone was dead silent as they listened to Sang Pingliang pleading.
Gu Fangzi pretended to be shocked and lifted up her handkerchief to cover her mouth. In fact, she was afraid that she couldn’t help but laugh, and she exchanged glances with Lan Xiang. She was simply overjoyed with the situation!
She did not know what Lan Xiang had said to Sang Pingliang for him to be doing this. Since her aunt had never experienced such a scenario, it would be strange if she was not taken aback!
“Old Mistress Shi, please say something! I know I was in the wrong. I really do. Please forgive me and spare me some face! I won’t dare to do it again, and I promise that it won’t happen again! You’re a benevolent person, so you don’t have to lower yourself to sympathize with me…” When Sang Pingliang did not get a response from Wang Shi, he was even more terrified. Besides pleading with her, he flattered her by lowering himself!
“My god! What… what is going on!” Wang Shi returned to her senses and exclaimed in shock.
She had really been given a fright! The Sang Family’s Second Old Master was the uncle of her daughter-in-law, who had lost both of her parents. This was her daughter-in-law’s elder who was on an equal standing with her. However, once he came in, he kneeled and cried for mercy. His behavior was clearly like a servant, which caught her off-guard!
When Gu Fangzi saw it was almost time, she coughed a few times and said loudly, “Second Old Master Sang, please explain to us slowly! If you don’t make it clear, how is my aunt supposed to help you?”
“That’s right, that’s right! Explain yourself!’ Wang Shi was feeling uneasy and she looked at Sang Pingliang with a frown. Apart from his bad manners, he had lowered himself to behave like a servant. His appearance was not pleasing to the eye, so Wang Shi had a very bad impression of him.
Sang Pingliang looked up to cast a glance at Gu Fangzi and made up his mind: Miss Gu indeed cares about me. Isn’t she helping me now?
“I’ll say it!” Sang Pingliang raised his sleeve to wipe his tears and said, “I… I…”
“Hold on!” Gu Fangzi scanned around and said, “Aunt Wang, it’s better to let the servants take their leave first!” If the servants gossiped outside, things would become more interesting soon! Sang Wan would definitely be embarrassed! Gu Fangzi silently sneered.
“Alright!” Wang Shi nodded her head and waved her hand. Other than Nanny Jiang, the rest of the servants took their leave. Then, Wang Shi said to Sang Pingliang, “You should get up too!”
Wang Shi felt uncomfortable calling the man in front of her ‘Second Old Master Sang’, so the words could not come out from her mouth.
“Let me put it simply! I’ve let the Shi Family and Old Mistress Shi down! I’m ashamed of myself!” When Sang Pingliang heard Wang Shi telling him to get up, his heart was swayed: Things are turning out well! Old Mistress Shi is indeed benevolent!
Wang Shi was not concerned that he was kneeling. But at the thought of his status, she felt it was unpleasant to her eyes to see him kneel before her. As such, she frowned slightly.
Gu Fangzi quickly said with a smile, “Second Old Master Sang, please get up! You’re Young Mistress’ uncle. No matter how huge the issue is, you shouldn’t be kneeling!” She then hinted to Lan Xiang to help him up.
“You’re right, Fang’er. Please get up and have a seat first!” Wang Shi faintly said.
“Thank you, Old Mistress Shi! Thank you, Miss Gu!” Sang Pingliang didn’t wait for Lan Xiang to help him up. And besides, Lan Xiang didn’t want to help him up either. She only went to his side and pretended to raise her hand to help him.
After Sang Pingliang got up, he thanked Wang Shi and Gu Fangzi with a bow before taking a seat with Lan Xiang’s assistance.
Sang Pingliang thought that he had good etiquette, but what he did not know was that he had lowered himself to the bottom. Since he did not have a lowly status to begin with, the more ‘etiquette’ he had, the more Wang Shi could not bear to watch. She disliked his actions before, but now, she was simply feeling disgusted.
“My aunt is benevolent, so you don’t have to hide anything from her. Just speak your mind!”
Gu Fangzi said with good intentions.
“Yes, yes!” Sang Pingliang quickly nodded his head and smiled again.
Since he had done something wrong, he felt very ashamed. However, the words would not leave his mouth even after trying a few times, and his face turned even redder. In the end, he made the resolve to himself: If I don’t say it, I would have come here in vain. Things will surely become uglier if I turn back now!
“Old Mistress Shi, it’s very hard to talk about this, but everything was my fault! I shouldn’t have been blinded by money and lost my conscience…”
Sang Pingliang stuttered and finally admitted everything he had done. Then, he unconsciously stood up again. “Old Mistress Shi, I was wrong. I really know my mistakes! Please spare me this once! If this issue is made public and I’m disgraced in front of everyone, how am I to face others in the future? Furthermore, Sang Wan would also be affected! I promise that I’ll never commit the same mistake again in the future!”
