Chapter 4: The Necessary Generosity

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wang immediately looked at Sang Wan, only to see her lowering her eyebrows and continually putting on a smile while politely and modestly talking to Mrs. Mi. From her calm and polite expression, it seemed she had not thought of any inappropriate thoughts, which relieved Mrs. Wang. Annoyed, she glared at Mrs. Mi and rolled her eyes, wanting to scold her fiercely.

However, she had never been good at arguing with others. Even though she was furious, the anger lingered in her chest and throat and could not be transformed into a weapon to strike back. In the end, all she could do was let out a cold snort.

Gu Fangzi, on the other hand, gave Mrs. Mi a silly smile and whispered softly, "Of course, my new cousin-in-law is good, but Second Cousin's mother, you don't have to be envious of my aunt either! You also have a great fortune, otherwise, how could you have such a good daughter-in-law like my second cousin-in-law?"

The second cousin-in-law Gu Fangzi was referring to was the wife of Shi Fengming, the son of Second Master Shi and Mrs. Mi. Two years ago, Shi Fengming became infatuated with a beautiful lady named Su Qing'er from Zuixiang Building, the famous brothel, and insisted on marrying her. This thunderbolt from a clear sky shocked Second Master Shi and Mrs. Mi, causing the mother, son, and father to create chaos in the household.

Mrs. Mi firmly believed that her son was bewitched by a vixen, so she hastily arranged a marriage for him, thinking that he would naturally forget the brothel girl after marrying his wife. As a result, the Shi family's Second Grandma entered the family before the main wife.

Unexpectedly, Shi Fengming, who was young and impulsive, was sincere in his love. Pressured by his mother's threat to take Su Qing'er's life and her crying and feigning suicide, he had no choice but to marry and enter the bridal chamber. However, soon after, he took advantage of an opportunity to elope with his lover, leaving his newlywed wife, Zhou Jingyi, behind and never returning.

This incident was the most painful scar in Mrs. Mi's heart, and Gu Fangzi's words were nothing but extremely harsh.

As expected, Mrs. Mi's face instantly turned pale, her aura flared up in anger, and her eyes stared fiercely at Gu Fangzi. "What did you say? Say it again!"

Just as Gu Fangzi finished speaking, Mrs. Wang felt a little guilty after a moment of satisfaction and was about to scold Gu Fangzi to make up some nice words to muddle the situation, but seeing Mrs. Mi's threatening manner, she couldn't help but feel angry. In the end, she sided with Gu Fangzi, coldly snorting, "What did she say? Fangzi is telling the truth! Isn't Jingyi, such a good girl, a good daughter-in-law? Who are you putting on this show for?"

"Elder sister, you! Master, do you see—" Mrs. Mi thought of her wandering son and immediately felt her eyes well up with tears. She became both ashamed and furious, her words choked with emotion.

Shi Fengju furrowed his brows, not expecting the situation to turn out like this. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Fangzi interjected with a smile, apologetically saying, "It's all my fault! My mouth is so clumsy that even good words come out sounding bad, making Second Cousin's mother worry too much! I deserve to be beaten! I really deserve it! Second Cousin's mother, I'm sorry. Please be generous and spare me this time! If not for anything else, at least for the sake of my cousin-in-law's happy day of entering the family, please forgive me! I am apologizing to you now! Eldest cousin-in-law, don't you think so?" As she said this, she gave a deep bow to Mrs. Mi.

Sang Wan was speechless and found herself dragged into the situation by Gu Fangzi. With Gu Fangzi's declaration, how was Sang Wan supposed to respond? If she agreed with Gu Fangzi, it would be overly presumptuous and would refute her mother-in-law. If she disagreed, it would be like blaming Mrs. Mi, which would be disrespecting her elders.

Either way, she couldn't win! Sang Wan bitterly smiled in her heart, thinking how ignorant she was in her past life to consider Gu Fangzi a good person! Would a good person say something like this?

Sang Wan simply looked at Shi Fengju with hesitance and fear. As a new wife, it made sense that she was ignorant of the Shi family's internal affairs, and seeking help from her husband was normal.

Seeing her pleading gaze, Shi Fengju could not ignore her. With a light sigh, he said to Mrs. Mi, "Second Aunt, don't worry, my second brother will be safe and sound. I will definitely bring him back to you safely!" Although the words seemed somewhat abrupt and irrelevant at this point, it was the best way to comfort Mrs. Mi.

"You said it! Eldest Brother, your second aunt is counting on you!" Mrs. Mi did not even glance at Gu Fangzi; instead, she looked at Shi Fengju with teary eyes, and all her attention was successfully diverted by him.

Second Master Shi saw that the situation, which should have been resolved by simply opening her mouth, was twisted and dragged on by Mrs. Mi, wasting his own time and making him hold back his anger. When he heard about his worthless son, the anger in his stomach turned into fury. He coldly snorted, "What do you want to find him for? I forbid it! I want to see how long he can wander outside. If he never returns for the rest of his life, I will be impressed! What a disloyal and unfilial thing! I raised him for nothing!"