“Mother, what are you talking about? I… I don’t understand what you mean!” Sang Wan looked at Wang Shi while feeling puzzled.
“Lan Xiang? Lan Xiang is missing?” Sang Wan asked in surprise, “How can a living person go missing? Could she be taking a stroll in the flower garden?”
“Sister Sang Wan!” Gu Fangzi went forward to tug on her sleeves and pleaded, “Without your permission, how would Servant Li have the guts to take Lan Xiang away? Please return Lan Xiang to me! I beg you!”
Gu Fangzi was crying and tugging at the same time, causing Sang Wan to feel dizzy and she asked with a frown, “What exactly happened? You’ve got to tell me clearly!”
Gu Fangzi only cried and pleaded, and couldn’t say it clearly. Upon seeing that, Wang Shi became even more furious and she said resentfully, “Fang’er has already spoken humbly. Sang Wan, I’m sure that however much anger you have towards her should have dissipated by now!”
Nanny Li could no longer watch anymore. After she signalled to Zhide with her eyes, the two of them forcibly pulled Gu Fangzi back. Nanny Li said with a smile, “Don’t be anxious! Nothing will be resolved by being anxious! You have got to explain clearly!”
Nanny Li turned to Wang Shi and said with a smile, “Miss, please don’t blame Young Mistress anymore. Even I am unsure what has happened to Lan Xiang.”
“I’m afraid so. Don’t talk too much and just stand by the side!” Wang Shi still showed respect towards Nanny Li. When she talked to Nanny Li, she sounded warm despite looking cold.
Nanny Li knew that she was no longer allowed to speak. Otherwise, her face would be lost if Wang Shi blew-up! Moreover, since Wang Shi had said that, it meant that she would not believe her no matter what she said. Instead, she might even get angrier if she helped Sang Wan.
“Yes, Miss.” Nanny LI nodded her head and stood at the side.
“Young Mistress.” When Nanny Jiang saw that Gu Fangzi had been pulled aside and was not crying as badly as before, she explained everything and said, “Young Mistress, you should send someone to call back Servant Li and Lan Xiang! After all, Lan Xiang has served Miss Gu for so many years. If you suddenly sent her away, no one can stand that!”
Sang Wan froze for a moment. What Servant Li had done was a usual practice of the household. After Servant Li had reported to her, she nodded her head and allowed her to proceed. However, she had not expected Lan Xiang to be included in the list as well! Otherwise, she naturally wouldn’t have allowed it. Still, Servant Li definitely would not have the guts either. So who could it have been? Shi Fengju?
Sang Wan’s mouth tasted bitter. If it had really been Shi Fengju, then Wang Shi and Gu Fangzi had come to stir up trouble with the right person! Hadn’t Shi Fengju done so for her? In the end, she was the cause of it!
She looked at Nanny Jiang in disbelief. Surely an experienced and earnest person like her would not believe that this was her doing, right?
“As if I’d wait for her to call them back?” Wang Shi said with a sneer, “She couldn’t wait to stall for time! I’ve already sent someone to stop them! Sang Wan, what do you have to say? Without your permission, how would Servant Li have the guts? She even dared to take Lan Xiang away without letting Fang’er know!”
Sang Wan’s lips moved but was at a loss for words. She was disappointed to find that she had nothing to say.
Her mother-in-law was getting more and more aggressive with her words nowadays. She had no way to refute her, and she did not want to anyway. She knew that Servant Li was definitely not brave enough, so someone must have instigated her. Could she simply shift the blame onto Shi Fengju?
Whether or not her mother-in-law believed her, her mother-in-law would only feel more disgusted and furious if she did that. As a wife, criticizing her husband was definitely something her mother-in-law could not tolerate! Moreover, Shi Fengju had done it for her sake. She wouldn’t plead innocent and shift all the blame onto him.
“So you’ve got nothing to say!” Wang Shi sneered. “Sang Wan, you are getting bolder and bolder! How dare you show your pettiness just because Shi Fengju dotes on you! I’m sure there’s no other household with a daughter-in-law like you who is intolerant of others!”
Sang Wan clenched her fists tightly and her body trembled. Wang Shi’s words were like knives that kept stabbing at her heart and leaving her drenched in blood.
“Old Mistress!” A middle-aged woman came in and paid respects to Wang Shi before saying remorsefully, “Servant Li took Lan Xiang to some country house. I didn’t manage to stop her in the city so I’ve sent people to various country houses to search…”
Gu Fangzi, who had been sobbing with her head hung low, suddenly looked up at Wang Shi with deep worries. “Aunt…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely bring Lan Xiang back!” Wang Shi frowned and waved her hand. “You’re dismissed! If you can’t even get such a simple thing done, why do I need you? Search for them and bring them here!”
The woman acknowledged and soon left.
Wang Shi turned her head and glared at Sang Wan. “If anything happens to Lan Xiang, tell me how I should punish you, Sang Wan!”
“I will accept whatever punishment given!” Sang Wan replied lightly.
Wang Shi said with a snort, “Stop giving me that look! As the one who manages the household, you can’t tolerate others. Apart from that, you’ve used such unethical means. The Shi Family cannot tolerate a daughter-in-law like this! Sang Wan, reflect on yourself!”
Sang Wan’s face turned as pale as a wax paper and did not utter a word. She knew that her mother-in-law had already been polite by saying that. If she did not have an elder brother, who came in third in the examinations, her mother-in-law’s punishment might have been harsher! The least she would receive would have been house arrest.
Gu Fangzi, who had the same thoughts as Sang Wan, felt upset. Reflect on herself? That was letting her off lightly! After taking away her only trusted servant without a sound, only Heaven knew what she was going to do after. Her aunt was angry and said that she would stand up for her. However, she was not harsh with her punishment and only told Sang Wan to reflect on herself!
It was unfair!
“Aunt Wang, you mustn’t blame Sister Sang Wan. I was the one at fault for causing the matter with Second Old Master Sang! I shouldn’t have been softhearted and let him enter the Shi Family’s business. I deserve to be blamed by her! I shouldn’t have been so meddlesome! In any case, I’m willing to bear the consequences! However, Lan Xiang is innocent! As long as Lan Xiang can return to my side, I’ll let this matter pass!” Gu Fangzi said with tears.
Sang Wan was dizzy from the anger and stared coldly at Gu Fangzi before saying, “I know what my second uncle is like. No matter how muddled I am, I would not blame you! However, you claim that I do, which is odd! How would you know that? Regarding Lan Xiang, Servant Li would naturally explain to you after she comes back. Please don’t be anxious!”
Furious, Gu Fangzi said with tears, “If you don’t blame me, then why make a move on Lan Xiang? You clearly knew that she’s my most trusted servant. Without her, it’s akin to having one of my arms broken.”
Sang Wan faintly replied, “I’ve told you, and I’ll tell you again. You’ll know once Servant Li returns! Instead of asking me, why don’t you save your energy and ask Servant Li and Lan Xiang instead?”
Gu Fangzi was at a loss for words and was slightly startled. Then, she looked at Wang Shi as if feeling wronged.
Wang Shi had not expected Sang Wan to be so daring as to treat Gu Fangzi badly in front of her which made her angry and she said coldly, “That’s enough! Stop arguing! once Servant Li and Lan Xiang return, we’ll ask them!” While Wang Shi said that, she sneered slightly at Sang Wan, “Sang Wan, you’re behaving more and more like how the head of the household should be!”
Sang Wan looked straight at Wang Shi and calmly said without fear, “Thank you, Mother, for the compliment, but I think that I’m not doing well enough! Regardless of whether I am the one who caused Lan Xiang’s disappearance, is it a big matter for me to deal with a concubine’s servant? Why, even Mother is pulled into this!”
“What… What did you say!” Wang Shi had a great change in her expression while Gu Fangzi widened her eyes in shock as if she had been poked ruthlessly in the heart. Concubine… Concubine… She was simply just a concubine to her!
Sang Wan continued faintly, “A wife punishing a concubine is an insignificant matter, let alone her servant. Mother, isn’t that so?”
Wang Shi stared at Sang Wan as if she was a stranger. Her lips moved but she had no words to retort. If she spoke, she would seem unreasonable.
Gu Fangzi was just a concubine. A wife ordering the concubines around was an ordinary thing. As long as she was happy, she could even ask the concubines to make their beds on the floor and serve her throughout the night in her own room. If she were jealous and harsh, she would not need any servants to serve them. Instead, the concubines would be the ones doing so and even her husband could not say that there was anything wrong with that.
“Cousin Fangzi.” Sang Wan’s expression was sullen as she said each word coldly, “How do I normally treat you? Have I mistreated you? You’re even excused from paying respects to me. What more are you unsatisfied with? You ran to Mother whenever you wished and pleaded to her in tears for her to stand up for you. For overstepping your boundaries, say, how should you be punished?”
After Sang Wan dropped that question, there was only absolute silence. Nanny Li and Zhide felt relieved while Wang Shi and Gu Fangzi froze.
Wang Shi felt humiliated and was angry. What had she done? As a mother-in-law, she had rushed over to her daughter-in-law, got angry with her, and humiliated her for the sake for her son’s concubine. No matter how it sounded, it was unreasonable, but…
Gu Fangzi was shocked and furious. She looked down and clenched her teeth and fists tightly! Sang Wan clearly knew that this was her weakness, yet she jabbed her ruthlessly. She was utterly vicious!
“Fang’er isn’t any other concubine! She is…”
Before Wang Shi could finish her sentence, she instinctively closed her mouth.
Nothing could change the fact that Gu Fangzi was a concubine. So what if she was her sister’s daughter? When she had married into the Shi Family, she was her son’s concubine and should be serving her son’s wife. This was a tradition throughout history! If this tradition was broken, the household wouldn’t be far from chaos!
This was not what Wang Shi wanted to see and was something she wouldn’t allow to happen.
