Following closely behind, Tao Lengshuang saw Sheng Li's maid, acting as if she were the mistress, swaggering over and banging forcefully on the door, as if she wouldn't stop until the Sheng family's door was opened.
"Open up quickly, the young lady is back!"
However, after the maid knocked for a long time, not a sliver of the main door opened, which made Sheng Li even more enraged.
"Smash it! Smash this main door! Let's see if my parents will open it."
Just then, the main door opened, and General Sheng and his wife, along with several servants, walked out.
"You scoundrel!"
General Sheng, imposing even in his anger, clenched his fists and glared at Sheng Li. "Is this your filial piety as a daughter? To smash the door of your family home? You truly have no rules."
Sheng Li's expression instantly turned to one of grievance. She dabbed her tears with an embroidered handkerchief. "Father, Mother, I am your only daughter."
"Now I have suffered such great humiliation, and even the shops under my name have had continuous trouble, yet you do not help me. You are so heartless."
"Help you bully the Cheng family?" Madam Sheng, usually gentle, was furious. "You have been married into the Cheng family for several years, and you have done so many foolish things, and you still refuse to have a child for the Cheng family. How dare you cry and complain."
In the early years, she and her husband thought Sheng Li was still young and that having children in a couple of years would be fine.
But who would have thought that Sheng Li, in order to maintain her figure and appearance, was determined not to have children, and even said that the Cheng family was not worthy of her having children.
Sheng Li did not feel she had done anything wrong, only that her parents and the Cheng family were being excessive. She was the only daughter of the Sheng family.
Her father was a great general of the current dynasty, and he had married her off to a low-life like Cheng Han. Cheng Han did not dote on her, and he dared to treat her like this. It was truly hateful.
"Mother, it's clearly the Cheng family who wronged me. If our family hadn't supported Cheng Han, how could Cheng Han have his current prospects? He even dared to threaten to divorce me."
Because of this matter, she had become a laughingstock among the noble families, losing all face.
Madam Sheng stared at Sheng Li blankly for a long while, then suddenly sighed bitterly. "I don't know how you became such a repulsive person."
"Your affairs with the Cheng family, my Sheng family will not interfere."
General Sheng picked up the conversation. "This matter is your fault. You must apologize properly to the Cheng family and have a child for them as soon as possible."
One of the things Sheng Li cared about most was her appearance and figure. Hearing this, her tone rose slightly. "I will absolutely not have a child for a thing like Cheng Han and ruin my figure."
She stomped her foot forcefully. "Are you still my parents? It's one thing to side with the Cheng family, but you won't even let me come home. This is too much."
*Slap.*
General Sheng slapped Sheng Li hard, pointing at her furiously. "How are you any nobler than Cheng Han? Your entire life, you have relied on the Sheng family."
"Without the Sheng family, you, Sheng Li, are nothing. What airs are you putting on here?"
Sheng Li covered her face, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes, while crying pitifully on the surface. "Father, I don't want to be like this either."
"If I have a child, I will become ugly, and then Cheng Han will dislike me. I don't want to be divorced."
How could General Sheng not see that she was not telling the truth? He lowered his voice. "Besides the matter with the Cheng family, there is also the matter of you gathering refugees and intending to deal with a village girl."
"Are you trying to kill the entire Sheng family? Gathering refugees at this time, the Emperor could at any moment suspect you of treason."
Sheng Li pouted disbelievingly and said indignantly, "Then Father, lend me a thousand soldiers."
"Father, you don't know how detestable that village girl is. If it weren't for her, how would my reputation be tarnished? I must make her pay."
*Slap.*
General Sheng slapped Sheng Li to the ground, looking at her with unfamiliar eyes. "Sheng Li, do you have any conscience at all?"
"Your mother and I raised you for many years. We don't ask for much filial piety, nor do we wish for you to kill our entire family."
He simply couldn't believe that these were the words of the daughter he had doted on for so many years.
Not only did she not admit her mistakes, but she was also unaware of the seriousness of the situation, even asking him to lend her a thousand soldiers to deal with a village girl.
Sheng Li jumped up abruptly, crying as if everyone had abandoned her. "Are you still my father? Are you still my father?"
"I have been bullied like this, and even the mere Cheng family dares to bully me as they please. If you don't avenge me, you even hit me."
She wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "You and Mother only have me as a daughter. Your old age and final rites will all depend on me."
General Sheng trembled with anger, pointing at her with a shaking finger for a long time, unable to speak a word. This was the good daughter he and his wife had raised.
"Husband!"
Madam Sheng, startled, stepped forward to support General Sheng and gently patted his back. "Don't be angry, don't be angry. Let's just pretend we don't have this daughter. You be careful not to anger yourself."
General Sheng took a few deep breaths, and just as he was calming down, he heard Sheng Li's spoiled words.
"I don't care, I don't care. You must help me, otherwise, what face do I have to remain in the noble circles?"
General Sheng's anger flared up. With a livid face, he looked at Sheng Li. "For your so-called face, are you disregarding your parents' lives and the entire Sheng family?"
Sheng Li secretly rolled her eyes and said indignantly, "Father, you are making too much of a fuss."
"You are a great general who holds military power and is deeply favored by the Emperor. Who would dare to make things difficult for you?"
It had been like this since she was little. Because she was the only daughter of the Sheng family and her father was a great general of the current dynasty, no one dared to make things difficult for her. Even several princes had to yield to her.
General Sheng roared, "Is there something wrong with your brain? Who doesn't know the real situation of our family, and you still dare to be so arrogant?"
"Sheng Li, your father's military power was already recalled by the Emperor, and your father is constantly being ostracized by the Emperor. Everyone dares to step on him. How can you be so ignorant?" Madam Sheng sighed deeply.
Sheng Li didn't understand the situation well. She spent all day only caring about how to show off, how to be more beautiful, and how to outshine all the other wives and young ladies, becoming the most outstanding existence.
"Mother is really joking..."
Before she could finish speaking, General Sheng interrupted her with a raised hand. "Madam, from now on, we will act as if we do not have this daughter. Inform the outside world."
He could not let Sheng Li ruin the entire Sheng family.
Madam Sheng also knew that General Sheng was planning for the Sheng family. She glanced at Sheng Li worriedly and helped General Sheng walk inside.
However, the defiant Sheng Li blocked them. "I am your only..."
The rest of her words died on her lips when she met General Sheng's murderous gaze.
"Sheng Li, your face, why are there so many spots on your face?" Madam Sheng suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Sheng Li's face. "Did you eat something you shouldn't have?"
Sheng Li, who carried a bronze mirror with her, hurriedly took it out to look.
When she saw that her face was covered with spots of various sizes, she immediately covered her face and screamed, "My face, how did my face become like this?"