sjar Chapter 536 You only feel the pain when the rod hits you.
Chapter 536 You only feel the pain when the rod hits you.
After reading the confession, the stewardess of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion bowed and left with her entourage.
The study was deathly silent.
Master Gu's chest heaved violently, and his eyes, which had seen through the vicissitudes of officialdom, now held only coldness towards the person beside him.
He took a deep breath, suppressing his barely contained anger, and called out towards the door, "Someone! Go and fetch the Second Young Master!"
Upon hearing this order, Madam Gu, who was slumped on the ground, trembled violently, and a look of extreme fear flashed in her eyes.
Before long, Gu Chengye arrived in a hurry, and immediately sensed that something was wrong as soon as he entered the door.
He saw his father's ashen face and his mother, sprawled on the ground in a disheveled state, and his heart sank.
"Father, why have you summoned me here?"
Master Gu didn't even glance at his wife on the ground, but instead coldly turned his gaze towards the door of the study.
The two maids, Chun Tao and Xia He, who were being watched by the servants, were kneeling timidly under the eaves, not daring to even lift their heads.
He pointed at the two maids and said to Gu Chengye, "Since your mother 'kindly' prepared those two maids for Lu Ge'er, and Lu Ge'er is too young and unfortunate to accept them, you may take them on his behalf."
Gu Chengye's mind went blank for a moment, and he almost thought he had misheard.
Master Gu's voice continued, each word as cold as ice: "From this day forward, elevating her to the status of your concubine will not be an insult to her 'loyalty'!"
These words struck Gu Chengye like a thunderbolt, turning his face deathly pale.
"Father! You mustn't!" he cried out in alarm. "Madam Yang... she just gave birth to my son, and she's not fully recovered yet!"
"By elevating two maids to the position of concubines, you are not only slapping your daughter-in-law in the face, but also slapping the face of the Yang family!"
The fire actually burned him!
Madam Gu could no longer pretend to be pitiful. She scrambled over and clung tightly to Master Gu's leg, wailing loudly.
"Master! You mustn't! Chengye's wife has only just recovered from her illness. If you do this, won't you cause them to turn against each other and disrupt the peace of the household?"
"Please, sir, reconsider! Please rescind your order!"
"Now you know fear?" Master Gu's eyes were filled with disgust as he kicked her away.
He looked down at her, his voice filled with icy disappointment.
"When you harmed Brother Lu and Sister Lan back then, didn't you ever think that this day would come?"
"They are your grandchildren too! You wouldn't even spare your young children, how could you be so vicious!"
Madam Gu was kicked to the side, her hair disheveled and her appearance extremely undignified.
Master Gu ignored her and, turning to his pale-faced son, gave his final, decisive order:
"It's settled then! This will both give those two girls a proper status and teach your mother a lesson she'll never forget!"
"From now on, you shall make her behave herself in the backyard. If she dares to cause any more trouble, don't blame me for not showing any affection between husband and wife and sending her to the family temple to spend the rest of her life in solitude!"
The moment this order was issued, the three households and their surroundings erupted into chaos.
The news spread like wildfire. Upon hearing it, Gu Chengye's wife, Madam Yang, was so angry that she fell ill on the spot.
The dignity and power that Madam Gu had cultivated in the third branch of the family for many years crumbled overnight.
She went from being a high-ranking matriarch to becoming a laughingstock that everyone avoided.
In the quiet courtyard, Lu Ge'er listened to the faint noise and the servants' hushed discussions coming from outside the window. He felt no pleasure, only a chill in his heart.
Grandfather's ruthless methods temporarily suppressed Madam Gu.
But is this really the end?
Upon hearing that Lan Jie'er had almost been corrupted, Song Ruyan immediately wanted to take her sword and confront Madam Gu.
"Outrageous! How dare they bully my disciple like this! I'll skin that old hag alive!"
Song Ruyan's eyebrows furrowed, her hand already on the hilt of her sword at her waist, poised to charge out.
Chu Ruohan quickly stood up, grabbed her arm, and said helplessly, "Calm down!"
She pressed Song Ruyan into a chair. "That Madam Gu is an official's wife. If you rush over like this, let alone whether you can even get close to her, even if you really start a fight, how can things end peacefully?"
Song Ruyan couldn't listen to any of this; she just felt a surge of anger in her chest with nowhere to vent it.
"I don't care if she's an official's wife or not! She dares to bully me and expects to get away with it?"
"Let me finish speaking first." Chu Ruohan spoke softly and gently, briefly recounting what happened in the third household last night, and how Master Gu dealt with Madam Gu and the two maids.
"She has been punished, and this matter is now considered closed."
Chu Ruohan sighed softly. The struggles within the inner quarters were sometimes more exhausting than those on the battlefield.
Song Ruyan listened in a daze. Having spent years traveling the martial world, living a life of chivalry and vengeance, she had no idea about the intricate ways of this wealthy and powerful family.
She frowned, looking at Chu Ruohan with a puzzled expression: "What did you say? You gave those two maids to her son? Is this what you call punishment?"
Song Ruyan slammed her hand on the table, splashing tea everywhere: "Isn't that just letting her son have it easy? He'll be enjoying the best of both worlds, what kind of punishment is that? And what does it have to do with that old man?"
The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. In her opinion, punishment should be brutal and let the other party know what's what.
Chu Ruohan couldn't help but smile as she looked at Song Ruyan's "all four limbs are intact, but the mind is simple".
Before she could speak, Yu Ling, who was standing to the side, covered her mouth and chuckled softly, explaining in a gentle voice, "Miss Song, you are unaware of this."
"The third son married a young lady from a respectable family, who has always been proud and arrogant."
"She had only been out of confinement for a short time when her father-in-law, without any regard for the consequences, stuffed two beautiful concubines into her husband's room. Do you think she could be happy about that?"
Song Ruyan blinked, seemingly understanding yet not quite.
Yu Ling continued, "The Yang family is a respectable family. Even if they don't dare to make a scene at the Third Master's place openly after their daughter has suffered such an injustice, can they swallow this insult?"
"Furthermore, it's clear to anyone with eyes that this whole thing started because the Third Madam's scheme against Lu Ge'er backfired."
"Think about it, how can a daughter-in-law not feel resentful when she sees her mother-in-law in the future? How can there be any peace between them?"
Yu Ling paused, lowered her voice slightly, and said with a meaningful tone, "This is called killing someone by destroying their spirit. The pain on the surface is easy to heal, but the estrangement and resentment in one's heart are accumulated over time and cannot be easily resolved."
"The Third Madam's days ahead are probably not going to be easy."
Song Ruyan frowned, her fingers tapping unconsciously on the table as she pondered Yu Ling's words.