Matriarch Rules, Scumbag Begs - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Mother-in-law’s Kindness and Daughter-in-law’s Filial Piety

In the Lanyue Pavilion.

“Old Madam! Xue Xiaoniang just fell asleep. She was up all night, so can you wait until she wakes up to talk to her?”
“Move aside!”

Under the ravages of her addiction, the old madam’s face was twisted, her eyes were bloodshot, and she had a surge of strength. She pushed aside the maid guarding the door and kicked open the door with a vigor that belied her age.

When the old madam entered, she saw Xue Yinshuang still sleeping on the bed. She walked quickly to her bedside and patiently called out twice, “Shuang’er, Sguang’er, wake up.”

However, Xue Yinsguang slept too soundly and didn’t respond at all. The old madam was anxious and pulled off her quilt, shouting: “Get up!”

Xue Yinsguang was startled awake by the loud voice. She opened her eyes wide, looking around in confusion, and asked: “Mother?”

“Quickly, quickly get up!” The old madam dragged Xue Yinsguang off the bed, not even bothering to let her put on her outer clothes or shoes. She pulled Xue Yinshuang, who was barefoot, out of the room.

Xue Yinshuang, still disoriented, asked: “What are you doing, mother? Where are you taking me?”

“Go kowtow to Shen shi!”

“???”
Xue Yinshuang struggled along the way, but she was not only dragged by the old madam, Liu Momo and Zhang Momo also helped. Unable to break free, Xue Yinshuang was forced to walk in her thin inner garments, barefoot in the snow, all the way to the Bi Xi Hall where Shen Qiuci lived.

“Mother!” Xue Yinshuang shivered with cold. “Please tell me clearly what’s going on.”

The old Madam, driven mad by her addiction, only now realized that Xue Yinshuang wasn’t wearing outer clothes. She hastily took off Liu Momo and draped it over Xue Yinshuang’s shoulders. With a twisted smile on her face, revealing her yellow teeth, she asked Xue Yinshuang: “Shuang’er, Shuang’er, listen to mother. Don’t you always take care of mother?”

Xue Yinshuang nodded mechanically. “Of course.”
The old Madam quickly said: “That’s good. Then quickly kneel down and kowtow to the door!” “What?” Xue Yinshuang’s eyes widened in incredulity.

“You just kowtow a hundred times, it’ll be quick!” The old madam said as she forced Xue Yinshuang to kneel down in the snow.

Xue Yinshuang was naturally unwilling to be treated like this. She even got angry, pushing the old  away and standing up, saying: “Mother, if something’s wrong, you can tell me. Everyone in the mansion is watching. Why should I kowtow to Shen shi for no reason?”

The old madam wiped her nose and held Xue Yinshuang’s hand, saying: “Good child, listen to mother! She has Fushou paste in her hand. If you kowtow, she’ll give it to mother. You don’t want to see mother suffer, do you?”

Xue Yinshuang thought this was absurd. The entire capital’s Fushou paste had been confiscated by the imperial court.
How could Shen Shi possibly obtain it?

Just as she was about to explain to the old madam, a soft voice came from the Bi Xi Hall: “Old madam, you’d better keep an eye on the time. If it’s past noon, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

The old madam’s reaction was like someone had gripped her lifeline. Her eyes turned red, and without another word to Xue Yinshuang, she ordered her servants loudly: “Come! Press her down and make her kneel!”
As soon as she finished speaking, several servants rushed up and forced Xue Yinshuang to kneel down again.

Although Xue Yinshuang didn’t know what kind of trick Shen Qiuci was playing, she saw that the old madam’s rationality was completely occupied by her addiction. Since Pei Yuanzhou hadn’t returned from the palace, Xue Yinshuang knew she couldn’t save herself, and arguing would be useless.

With no other choice, she had to endure the humiliation and kowtowed one by one. The old madam laughed crazily, happily shouting towards the Bi Xi Hall: “Qiu’er! It’s cold outside, if you don’t want to come out, stay warm inside. Mother will count for you, listen carefully!”

“One, two, three…” Before she could count to ten, the door of the Bi Xi Hall slowly opened. Xia Chang stood under the corridor, her face expressionless, looking at the chaotic scene in the snow. After a moment, she said solemnly: “The Eldest wife says the sound outside isn’t loud enough, she can’t hear it.”

If it were in the past, Xia Chang would have been dragged away and beaten to death with sticks for speaking to the old madam in such a tone. But now, everything she said represented Shen Qiuci. The old madam had to restrain her temper and bowed to Xia Chang, saying: “Yes, yes, the sound is a bit small. It’s not that Qiu’er can’t hear it.”

She glared at Xue Yinshuang and scolded loudly: “Shuang’er! Use some strength! You’re so perfunctory, do you want to kill me, an old woman?”

But who would willingly knock their own head to death? Even though the old lady scolded loudly several times, Xue Yinshuang only slightly increased the amplitude of her kowtows, but the sound was still muffled.

As it was almost noon, the old madam couldn’t wait any longer. Like a wild beast, she grabbed Xue Yinshuang’s hair and shouted in her ear: “Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Use more strength! I’m telling you to use more strength!”

As she spoke, she grabbed Xue Yinshuang’s head and slammed it to the ground, while shouting towards the room: “Qiu’er, listen carefully! Mother is avenging you!”

At first, Xue Yinshuang could still cry out, but after being slammed to the ground more than ten times, her head was dizzy, and she couldn’t even cry out loud. Xia Chang watched the scene of “mother-in-law’s kindness and daughter-in-law’s filial piety” with a cold smile, and silently closed the door.

Inside the room, a new altar was set up on the pear wood table facing the courtyard, with a spirit tablet in the center. The tablet read: “The eldest daughter of the Zhongyong Duke, Shen Qiuyu’s spirit”.

This was the spirit tablet that Shen Qiuci had personally made for her elder sister. Now, she stood with her back to the door, listening to the movement outside, holding three incense sticks, and bowing to her elder sister’s spirit tablet.

“Elder sister, did you see?” “All those who bullied you will receive the punishment they deserve.”

“I will make them pay back the debt they owe you in this life, and then they will kneel down and apologize to you in the underworld.”

She inserted the incense sticks straight into the incense burner. At this moment, a gust of wind blew, and the tears at the corner of Shen Qiuci’s eyes were blown away. The incense burned more vigorously.