Seeing Fan shi's expression, Zhou shi knew she didn't understand what she meant, that she had truly become foolish.
If she felt anger at this moment, it was more like hatred.
"Mother, do you know how outrageously wrong you have acted? Do you know you will cause my husband to be branded with the crime of deceiving the emperor and defying loyalty?"
"Don't lie to me. At most... at most, it would be Lord Shen taking Wan zhu as a concubine. It wouldn't be as you say."
Hearing this, Zhou shi burst into laughter, but at the end of her laughter was an endless sorrow. "Take a concubine? So your main concern is for your husband to take Wan zhu as a concubine?"
Fan shi hadn't expected to say that in her haste, but she still retorted righteously, "Yes, to take Wan zhu as a concubine. I told you before, but you wouldn't listen. It's said that good fortune shouldn't flow to outsiders. But you? You absolutely refused. All this good fortune was wasted. So, we had to find a way ourselves."
Zhou shi looked at Fan shi with a bitter smile and asked word by word, "Mother, am I your daughter?"
"Nonsense, how could you not be my daughter?"
"I don't think I can be your daughter, otherwise, how could you do such a thing? Forcing my husband to take a concubine? I don't agree, and it has even reached the imperial court. I think Wan zhu is your daughter, isn't she?"
"Nonsense." Fan shi was so angry she slapped Zhou shi.
Zhou shi covered her face and laughed mockingly.
Fan shi was stunned. Looking at the hand that had just slapped Zhou shi, she seemed to doubt herself. How could she have hit someone? "Child, I..."
She wanted to stroke Zhou shi's face that she had just hit.
"Don't touch me..." Zhou shi roared.
Fan shi trembled all over. She looked up and saw Zhou shi's angry eyes, tinged with red.
"Child..."
"Don't call me that. Do you ever treat me as your daughter? When I was young, if I snatched anything from my brother, no matter right or wrong, I was the one who got scolded or beaten. But when my brother made mistakes? You didn't even discipline him. Other families have the elder yield to the younger, but what about our family?
It was me who yielded to my brother. Later, I realized that if I yielded to my brother in everything, you would show me a good face. For a long time, to get your affirmation and praise, I started to curry favor with my brother. How old was I then?
I was only five years old. I gave my brother everything I loved to eat and drink the most. This continued until I met Lord Shen. To marry Lord Shen, I swore in the ancestral hall that I would never forget you. Others' dowries were ten miles of red silk, but mine? The bottom half of the chests were empty.
After marriage, you said you wanted to come to the capital and asked me to beg Lord Shen. Do you know how anxious I was during those days? I didn't know that I, a person of no use, had to ask Lord Shen to do this and that. What right did I have?
Later, you came to the capital. Seeing that I had been married for half a year without any children, you wanted me to have my husband take a concubine. I agreed, but my husband did not. Now you are bringing the betrothal gifts my husband gave me back then and forcibly demanding my husband take a concubine."
"Child... you misunderstand, you..."
Zhou shi's smile was somewhat tragic. "Misunderstand? What have I misunderstood? Aren't these things happening right before my eyes? Or is it that Sun Wan Yue in the imperial court right now is not forcing my husband to accept Sun Wan Zhu?
Or are you waiting here, not to stop me from entering?"
Fan shi took a step back. "Child, you... how have you changed?"
"Changed? Yes, I have changed. Because I understand that no matter how well I do, you will never truly look at me properly. So why should I find joy in your happiness or sorrow in your sadness?
It is said that a married woman obeys her husband. I am married now, and my husband is Shen Yun Xuan. I will obey him. You... are in the past."
Fan shi looked at Zhou shi in disbelief. "Child, you... you don't acknowledge us anymore?"
"Yes, today is the end. I will no longer acknowledge you. I believe I have repaid your nurturing kindness over these years. From now on, you go your separate ways, and I will live my own life."
Fan shi could not accept this and took several steps back. "Child, how can you..."
Zhou shi said no more. She turned and walked towards Xiao Min shi. Suddenly, there was a thud behind her. She did not look back, but kept walking straight ahead.
"Child, you can't leave..." Fan shi reached out to grab Zhou shi.
Zhou shi came to Xiao Min shi and said, "Sister, let's go."
Xiao Min shi nodded, took Zhou shi's hand, and said, "Sister, don't be sad. You did the right thing."
Zhou shi nodded, and tears finally began to flow down her cheeks.
In the Imperial Court
Sun Zhi Yuan sneered, holding the jade pendant, and questioned, "Lord Shen, isn't this your Shen family's jade pendant? It even has the character 'Shen' on it. Please answer, Lord Shen."
Shen Yun Xuan stepped forward and looked at the jade pendant. "It is my jade pendant, but this jade pendant was a gift from this official to my wife, Madam Zhou. How did it end up in Miss Sun's hands?"
"It is good that Lord Shen admitted it. Denying anything else is just pale. Lord Shen should admit to it all."
"Ridiculous. That jade pendant was clearly given to me as a dowry by Lord Shen. When did it become a betrothal gift for someone else?"
A voice was heard, and a woman walked in from outside the door. She approached the front of the hall, knelt down, and paid her respects, "This commoner, Zhou shi, pays her respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever!"
"Rise," the Empress said.
Zhou shi stood up and walked towards Sun Wan Yue. Before anyone could react, she slapped her. Sun Wan Yue was stunned by the slap. She came to her senses after two slaps and angrily exclaimed, "Zhou shi, what are you doing?"
"I am here to wake you up. Otherwise, you will always be daydreaming, and that is not good."
Sun Wan Yue was so angry she almost gritted her teeth. "This is in front of the Emperor, and you dare to administer punishment privately."
Zhou shi let out a soft laugh upon hearing this. "Sun Wan Yue, have you forgotten? The Minister of Justice is standing right here. Whether I administered punishment privately is not for you to decide, but for the Minister of Justice."
"You..."
"Your Majesty, this commoner lost control in her haste and hit someone. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
"It's fine," the Empress said.
Sun Wan Yue gritted her teeth. This Zhou shi was doing it on purpose.
Zhou shi walked up to Sun Zhi Yuan and, looking at the jade pendant in Sun Zhi Yuan's hand, said, "Lord Sun, may I have a look at the jade pendant?"
Sun Zhi Yuan wanted to refuse, but the Empress spoke, "Let her see."
Sun Zhi Yuan knew the Empress wanted to shield Shen Yun Xuan, so he wondered how she would shield him this time.
He handed the jade pendant over. Zhou shi took it and, after a moment, burst into laughter. "Lord Sun, you have been deceived. This is fake."
"Nonsense, how could it be fake?" Sun Zhi Yuan said.
Zhou shi's gaze turned cold. She suddenly threw the jade pendant hard onto the ground. The jade pendant shattered on the floor.