She was extremely concerned about her appearance and figure. Over the years, she had gone to great lengths to maintain her good looks and physique. How could she have become like this now?
"Sheng Li, have you gained weight?"
Madam Sheng, being a caring mother, looked her daughter up and down: "Doesn't this dress feel tight on you?"
All of Sheng Li's clothes were made to fit her when she was at her current size. She wouldn't be able to wear them if she gained even a little weight, all to showcase her so-called good figure.
Upon hearing this, she looked down at her stomach and saw her flesh bulging out in several lines, nearly collapsing.
"No! How could this be, how could this be?"
She had maintained her figure and appearance for years, why had it become like this?
Madam Sheng was about to express more concern, but General Sheng pulled her back: "Why are you still bothering with that ungrateful creature? Her mind is only on herself."
Madam Sheng couldn't help but sigh, truly not understanding why Sheng Li had become this way.
Tao Lengshuang, who had just watched a good show, looked coldly at the devastated Sheng Li, her eyes devoid of any warmth. This was only the beginning.
From now on, Sheng Li would become uglier and fatter.
If Sheng Li stopped targeting and plotting against her, she would give her the antidote.
"Tao Lengshuang, you're a bit like Madam Sheng."
Suddenly hearing Mo Lingxi say this, Tao Lengshuang looked at him as if he were crazy: "What strange things are you thinking about?"
"There are many people who resemble each other in the world. Resemblance alone cannot represent anything. Besides, I am indeed the daughter of the Tao family."
Mo Lingxi thought it made sense, but he vaguely felt something, though he couldn't recall it for a moment.
"Let's not talk about this for now. Let's go watch the good show between Sheng Li and the Cheng family. According to the calendar, the Cheng family should be coming to find Sheng Li."
Tao Lengshuang's spirits immediately lifted, and she cast a knowing smile at the near-collapse Sheng Li.
Seeing Sheng Li muttering about finding a doctor, she quickly got into the carriage. She and Mo Lingxi followed behind, waiting to watch the next act.
Halfway there, Tao Lengshuang saw Sheng Li's maid buy a veiled hat and a set of women's clothing, knowing what they were for.
"Do you think that person deliberately taught Sheng Li to be like this?" she whispered to Mo Lingxi.
Mo Lingxi nodded: "Most likely."
"It's estimated that this person also deliberately kept Sheng Li from knowing more, so that Sheng Li would keep making trouble, thereby dragging the entire Sheng family down."
From what had just happened, Tao Lengshuang had already realized this: "I wonder who it is that has such great ability to raise their only child like this right under the nose of Madam General Sheng."
Mo Lingxi didn't find it strange. He said that families with a little money all had their young ladies and masters cared for by wet nurses, while the matriarch was responsible for managing the household and taking care of the master.
This resulted in some young ladies and masters being misguided by attentive wet nurses.
Tao Lengshuang frowned. She didn't particularly like this rule, but she understood that it was the norm in ancient times. Very few matriarchs would personally care for their children.
"Do you want to inform General Sheng?"
Mo Lingxi: "I'll talk to General Sheng later, so he can understand the reason for things."
Tao Lengshuang hummed, feeling that General and Madam Sheng were quite pitiful, being schemed against by such a scoundrel, causing their only daughter to become like this.
The two followed Sheng Li and her maid to a pharmacy. As Sheng Li was about to enter, a handsome young man with an elegant appearance stopped her.
"Sheng Li, let's talk." Cheng Han frowned, looking at Sheng Li with an annoyed expression.
Sheng Li forcefully pushed him away and reprimanded him with the tone one would use for a servant: "What do you think you are? You want to talk to me, so I have to talk to you?"
"Get lost, I don't have time to bother with you."
Sheng Li's mind was now entirely focused on curing her appearance and figure, and she couldn't control her temper, let alone the fact that the man in front of her was one of the people she disliked the most.
Cheng Han knew Sheng Li's temperament well. Seeing that she wasn't displaying her proud appearance, he was somewhat puzzled but didn't ask further.
"Do you want a divorce, or do you want to have a child?"
Sheng Li raised her head high and said mockingly: "I will not have children with someone like you. Give up on that idea."
Cheng Han was not surprised. He took out the letter of divorce: "This is the letter of divorce. Once you sign it, it will be effective. My family will not touch a single copper of your dowry."
He had had enough of Sheng Li over the past few years.
The joy and affection he once felt had long since vanished due to Sheng Li's constant troubles and arrogance.
Sheng Li was eager to divorce, and without a second word, she signed her name and pressed her fingerprint. She then turned and instructed her maid to go to the Cheng family to inventory her dowry.
"Remember to have the Cheng family return what they have eaten and used from me over the years. Every single copper must be returned by the Cheng family."
Thinking back to these years, if she hadn't supported the Cheng family, how could they have achieved their current prosperity? She thought the Cheng family was ungrateful.
Cheng Han was very annoyed by Sheng Li's attitude, as if the Cheng family couldn't function without her. He sneered and enumerated how much Sheng Li had used from the Cheng family over the years, and how much harm she had done to the Cheng family, and so on.
The onlookers were in an uproar.
"I really can't believe she's such a shameless woman. How dare she say that she wants her husband's family… oh, no, her ex-husband's family to return things to her."
"Don't you know Sheng Li? General Sheng's only child, yet she's a vicious and harmful person. Even General Sheng no longer acknowledges her."
"So she's that Sheng Li. It's a good thing for Lord Cheng to divorce her. Anyone who marries such a woman is unlucky. Look at the wicked things she's done, she's worse than an animal."
"Listen to what Lord Cheng is saying. To support her own extravagance, she almost emptied the entire Cheng family, and she still shows no remorse. She even dislikes the Cheng family's low status and feels it disgraces her."
Sheng Li had never suffered such humiliation. Wanting to restore her appearance as soon as possible, she glared hatefully at Cheng Han and prepared to enter the pharmacy again.
Just then, a gust of wind blew from somewhere, blowing off her veiled hat and revealing her terrifying, spotted face, scaring many people.
"Ah! Her face, her face is too terrifying. Did she get sick?"
"I think she's being punished by heaven. She's done so many wicked things, heaven can't stand it anymore and has sent down divine punishment to deal with her."
"She deserves it, she deserves to be this ugly. It's best if she stays like this forever, so she doesn't harm others."
Sheng Li screamed and ran into the pharmacy, hiding in the back room and refusing to come out to see anyone. She even forced the doctor to cure her, threatening to kill the doctor otherwise.
Her behavior caused the common people to drive her out of the pharmacy and throw stones and eggs at her.
Before long, Sheng Li became very dishevelled and couldn't escape the crowd's encirclement.
This made Tao Lengshuang, who was watching the show, feel much more comfortable. She gave Mo Lingxi a thumbs-up: "Impressive."