Matriarch Rules, Scumbag Begs - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Lover’s Affection and Concubine’s Intent

The long whip landed less than an inch from Pei Yuanzhou’s feet, he looked down in a daze, stunned, and said:

“After all the years we’ve been husband and wife, you’re really going to go this far for a lowly servant girl?”

Shen Qiuci gently stroked Xia Shang’s hair, her gaze filled with affection, but her tone was icy,

“Xia Shang has been by my side since she was six, we have a master-servant bond of over ten years.”

“You think your status in my heart is more important than hers? Or is it that…”

She glanced at the whip, then looked up at Pei Yuanzhou with a mocking tone,

“You’re a grown man, capable of whipping women, but you don’t have the guts to take a lash yourself?”

“Fine! You said it, don’t regret it!”

Pei Yuanzhou knew further argument was futile, so he dropped a threat and picked up the whip, carefully striking his own palm with controlled force.

Even so, a crisp sound followed, and his palm’s skin broke, blood bursting forth.

His bleeding hand clenched into a fist, he glared at Shen Qiuci with malice,

“I’ll agree to all three of your demands!”

“But remember, from now on, even if you beg me, I won’t sleep with you again! You can keep your servant girl and spend your whole life as a living widow!”

With that, he stormed off in a huff.

Shen Qiuci watched his departing back and joked to Xia Shang:

“He thinks he’s a courtesan in a brothel?”

But unexpectedly, Xia Shang burst into tears?

She took out a handkerchief to wipe away the girl’s tears, “What’s there to cry about?”

Xia Shang said: “I’m just a servant, Miss doesn’t have to be so kind to me…”

Shen Qiuci laughed at her innocence, “Since childhood, you’ve grown up with me and my sister, playing and having fun together, when have I ever treated you like a servant?”

As she spoke, she rolled up Xia Shang’s sleeve, revealing the shocking scars on her fair skin,

“I was kidnapped at the age of eight, and I don’t know what happened at home after that.”

“But looking at these scars on you, I don’t need you to tell me, I know – every single wound was left because you protected my sister.”

Her fingers gently traced over the raised and indented scars, her eyes gradually turning fierce,

“What Pei Yuanzhou just suffered is far less than one-tenth of what he inflicted on my sister and you over the years.”
“Today’s whip is just a small test. In the days to come, I have plenty of ways to make him realize that the person he shouldn’t have provoked in this lifetime is the Shen family!”

After leaving the Bi Xi Hall, Pei Yuanzhou had his servants, who had some medical knowledge, simply dress and treat his wound, then hurried to the Lanyue Pavilion to find Xue Yinshuang.

In his opinion, the flesh wound was minor, but losing face in front of others would be a huge matter.

When he arrived, Xue Yinshuang was sitting at a small table, her maidservant was helping her take medicine.

Pei Yuanzhou sent the servants away, took the bowl, and personally fed Xue Yinshuang,

“Are you feeling better today?”

His tone was always gentle when speaking to Xue Yinshuang.

Xue Yinshuang sniffled delicately, “It still hurts a lot. But with the Heir by my side, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Her gaze fell on Pei Yuanzhou’s left hand, which was wrapped like a zongzi, and she quickly asked:

“How did the Heir get hurt?”
“It’s nothing.” Pei Yuanzhou slightly awkwardly hid his hand under the small table, and with his other hand, he naturally covered Xue Yinshuang’s hand,

“Shuang’er, I want to talk to you about something.”

Xue Yinshuang nodded at him, her eyes sparkling with affection.

Pei Yuanzhou said: “In the future, I don’t plan to use the silver from the Shen family anymore. With the salary from the court, I want to do some business myself, and I’m sure I can earn money to make our lives better and better.”

Xue Yinshuang’s eyes quickly spun around as she carefully considered Pei Yuanzhou’s words.

At this point, he didn’t want to use the Shen family’s silver, clearly wanting to cut ties with Shen shi as soon as possible.

After all, after Shen shi’s return to the mansion after recovering from her illness, she had repeatedly angered him, and her shrewish behavior was something no man could tolerate, so he wanted to divorce Shen shi as soon as possible?

She thought, anyway, the Marquis Mansion still had many shops, even without the Shen family’s support, they could still live a wealthy life.

“Not taking it is fine, we don’t need to listen to her nagging for the little silver she gives.”

She looked at Pei Yuanzhou, her eyes full of admiration, “I believe in the Heir, with your intelligence and talent, you’ll definitely achieve great things! We don’t care about the Shen family’s petty wealth!”

Pei Yuanzhou smiled happily upon hearing this.

Although recently, there had been one unpleasant thing after another in the mansion, but fortunately, his Shuang’er was still considerate and gentle,

“So Shuang’er supports me?”

“Of course.” Xue Yinshuang nodded forcefully, “Whatever decision the Heir makes, I will stand by your side without hesitation.”

Pei Yuanzhou was quite pleased, embracing her warmly, and whispered in her ear,

“Since Shuang’er supports me so much, could you bring me all the jewelry I’ve given you over the years? I can sell them to meet the urgent needs.”

“Urgent needs?” Xue Yinshuang’s smile froze on her face, “Heir, don’t joke about this, my jewelry isn’t worth much silver.”

Pei Yuanzhou lowered his eyes, trying hard to hide his embarrassment, “Mother signed a contract with Landlord He, and now we don’t have the money to buy the land, so we need to pay the penalty for breach of contract.”

“You know Landlord He, he’s always about the money, not the person. If we can’t pay the penalty within three days, he’ll definitely go to the government, and the Danyang Marquis Mansion’s reputation will be ruined!”

Xue Yinshuang was puzzled, “It’s just 1,000 taels, I remember before I handed over the token key, there were still over 2,000 taels left in the Marquis Mansion’s account?”

Pei Yuanzhou said helplessly: “There was, but Shen shi used that IOU as a reason, after getting the token key, they took all the remaining money in the account back to the Shen shi.”

“What?” Xue Yinshuang struggled out of Pei Yuanzhou’s arms, anxiously saying: “Then at worst, the Marquis Mansion still has assets, we have so many shops, don’t we?”

She spoke a bit anxiously, and her face couldn’t hide the worry,

Seeing Pei Yuanzhou’s gaze change, she immediately forced a smile and changed the subject:

“Heir, don’t misunderstand, I’m not unwilling to help the Marquis Mansion through this difficult time, it’s just that those jewelry were bought at a high price, selling them hastily will definitely result in a big loss, it’s not worth it.”

She thought for a moment and said: “I remember there’s a small manor in the suburbs of the capital, it’s remote and has been abandoned for a long time, why don’t we sell it?”

Pei Yuanzhou sighed deeply, finding it hard to say:

“If it were still there, why would I bother asking you?”

He rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache, “The Marquis Mansion’s manors, shops, and houses were all sold off by Shen shi…”

“What?!”

Xue Yinshuang stood up excitedly, stuttering:

“All, all sold?”

“Then isn’t the Marquis Mansion just an empty shell now?”