Chapter 156 - The Choice

There was a small torture room in the Shou’an Hall, and it was seldom used at ordinary times. Generally, the servants who made mistakes would come in to reflect, but all kinds of instruments of torture were inside.

A stick with salt water, a torture-rack and so on were included. More than ten kinds of instruments were used to torture Dong Shuang, and she was almost beaten half dead till Mo Shujun asked coldly, “Tell me. Where is the token granted by the Emperor?”

Dong Shuang couldn’t even open her eyes, with blood all over her body, and she almost had her last breath. She repeated her answer feebly. “I really don’t know.”

“It appears that you still don’t know my capability before I show you…” Mo Shujun sneered and waved at the tormentor, gesturing for him to continue.

At this time, somebody suddenly reported from outside, “His Lordship asked to see you.”

Shi Junhe had come.

The tormentor heard that and stopped, raising his head to look at Mo Shujun, but she ordered indifferently, “Did I tell you to stop? Go ahead.”

“But His Lordship…”

The powerful people had a fight, and the servants would suffer. The tormentor was from the first master’s family, and how could he go on since the master came?

“Trash.” Mo Shujun glanced at this man and waved her sleeve, leaving the torture room.

Shi Junhe was standing in the courtyard of the Shou’an Hall. The sun was burning on the sky, and in just a while, he had sweat all over his head, but he didn’t move a bit.

Mo Shujun stood on the corridor for a while and said at last, “Come in.”

The two sat face to face in the room for a long time, and then Mo Shujun asked nonchalantly, “What’s up?”

Shi Junhe lowered his head, looking guilty and hesitant. “Mother, I didn’t finish my job. I couldn’t take Qingxue back home.”

It turned out that Shi Junhe urgently went to King Rui’s mansion to pick up Shi Qingxue before she fully recovered because Mo Shujun had ordered him.

Hearing Shi Junhe’s report, Mo Shujun didn’t feel surprised or disappointed but told him casually, “I went to the Luotong Boudoir today.”

Shi Junhe still lowered his head and looked as before. Obviously, he had heard about it. He just explained in a hoarse voice, “Qingxue went out in a hurry that day and couldn’t have taken the token granted by the Emperor with her.”

In another word, the token granted by the Emperor must be in this mansion.

“She didn’t take it, but it doesn’t mean that her servants wouldn’t covet it,” Mo Shujun responded coldly and told the truth. “The token granted by the Emperor is not in the Luotong Boudoir now.”Read more chapters at Lisnovel.com

“Dong Shuang grew up with Qingxue since childhood, and she is the most honest and loyal. She would never have improper intentions.”

Shi Junhe cautiously defended Dong Shuang. “What’s more, you tortured a maid badly for no reason. If the news spreads, somebody might comment on you. Please think twice, Mother.”

Mo Shujun could certainly notice that Shi Junhe tried to protect Dong Shuang. She was astonished and angry while clenching her fists under the wide sleeves. He even retorted her because of a maid. He was really her good son!

The more furious she was, the brighter her smile was. She asked with sarcasm, “Do you mean that the medal that your father got with his efforts of a lifetime would be given to an outsider?

Shi Junhe, aren’t you afraid that your father would jump out of his grave in a rage?”

She called his full name and criticized him, with every word stabbing his heart, forcing him to lower his head with shame.

After a long pause, he explained in a low voice, “Qingxue is not an outsider.”

“An unmarried woman stays outside every day with no sense of shame, regardless of the family’s fame. We don’t have this girl as our family!” Mo Shujun pointed out Shi Qingxue’s blots one by one.

Under Shi Junhe’s stunned gaze, she announced arrogantly, “For the sake of the Shi Family’s reputation and future prosperity, I will take back the token granted by the Emperor from her and disown her.”

“No!” Shi Junhe shouted in astonishment and looked at Mo Shujun doubtfully.

All the powerful families concealed the members’ faults and protected their children. The masters wouldn’t easily abandon any family member unless the one was unforgivable and the family might be destroyed before sacrificing him or her.

Disowning her meant that she was abandoned by the family. In the past more than forty years since the country was established, there was no example in the noble circle.Read more chapters at L isnovel.com

Shi Junhe looked sad and begged, “Qingxue is your granddaughter. How can you be so cruel to her?”

Mo Shujun was unmoved and stated with no emotion, “I will never allow anybody to damage the family property won by your father with his efforts. Anybody who dares to snatch it should be killed.”

Every word stuck Shi Junhe’s heart. He argued anxiously, “But Qingxue didn’t make a huge mistake. Even in the family rules, it just stipulates that the lascivious ones should move to the family temple to reflect for three years. It never said that somebody should be disowned. Moreover, Qingxue is just sick and rests in King Rui’s mansion. She is not…”

“If you can take her back, I won’t say anything, but…”

Looking down at Shi Junhe, Mo Shujun asked meaningfully, “Can you?”

Shi Junhe couldn’t reply.

“Mother, I beg you. Please give Qingxue a second chance!” Shi Junhe pleaded.

Mo Shujun stayed silent for a minute and then agreed. “I can, but I have a requirement.”

Shi Junhe asked in a hurry, “What?”

Mo Shujun replied unhurriedly, “I have a maid, Leng Yan. You have seen her, right? What do you think about her?”

Shi Junhe didn’t understand what Mo Shujun meant and echoed her cautiously. “She is a smart girl and deserves your love.”

Mo Shujun finally laughed, and gentleness was shown on her wrinkled face rarely. “She has been working for me since she was a child. To be frank, she knows how to make me happy even more than my granddaughters. I always take her as my daughter.”

Shi Junhe didn’t answer and lowered his head silently. He realized what Mo Shujun was thinking about and couldn’t respond to her.

Mo Shujun didn’t notice Shi Junhe’s silent rejection, or she feared nothing with a bargaining chip. Since he kept quiet, she offered, “I want you to make Leng Yan your concubine.”

Shi Junhe refused immediately, “No.”

Seeing that Mo Shujun’s face darkened, he explained hurriedly, “Mother, I have a wife. How can I marry somebody else?”

“Huh! A hen which can’t lay an egg. What can she do?” Mo Shujun bore a strong grudge against Dong Hui and compared her with a useless hen. She just laughed at Dong Hui who couldn’t give birth to a son. It was unpleasant to hear.

Before Shi Junhe refuted her, she added, “Junhe, don’t forget that Duke Shi’s mansion needs an heir.”

Shi Junhe stiffened and avoided Mo Shujun’s eyes, playing dumb. “I have children. Why did you say that we have no heir?”

“Do you mean Shi Baoning or Shi Qingxue? One will marry somebody with a lower position, and the other has betrayed our family. How could either of them be the heir?”

“Wouldn’t Baoning’s baby have our family’s bloodline?” Shi Junhe asked all of a sudden and looked solemn.

Mo Shujun’s face fell, and she seemed to think of something. Then she stated angrily, “The position of Duke Shi was won by your father and can’t be given to somebody with a different family name.”

Shi Junhe sneered and asked, “Would it be okay as long as their child has the family name of Shi?”

Mo Shujun screamed emotionally in an instant, “What if he has our family name? Duke Shi’s heir can’t have the bloodline of the Wenren Family.”

Shi Junhe gazed at Mo Shujun. “Why not? Wenren Bo was Father’s chosen and trusted follower, and Wenren Chi is a child I brought up. If we give the title of Duke Shi to his child, we won’t make our mansion decline but they can continue to lead the Shi Army. Won’t it satisfy both sides?”

“Because there are no good people in the Wenren Family. They have evil intentions!” Mo Shujun shouted, looking ferocious, not as merciful and dignified as usual.

With his eyes darkening, Shi Junhe asked in a low voice, “Do they have evil intentions or you can’t accept the Wenren Family, Mother?”

Mo Shujun felt her breath stop, and her eyes couldn’t focus. She had no courage to look into Shi Junhe’s eyes.

“I…” Mo Shujun took a deep breath and straightened her back, stating seriously, “I don’t know what rumor you have heard of makes you ask such a question, but I did everything for the Shi Family. I have no guilt.”

Since her teenage, Mo Shujun followed the late emperor and Elder Duke Shi to fight everywhere, so she had an aura different from ordinary women’s, which was shocking.

Even though Shi Junhe didn’t agree to Mo Shujun’s attitude, he couldn’t retort. He even doubted if he was qualified enough as the family master in this aspect.

“Junhe…” Mo Shujun suddenly softened and continued, “Let’s forget what happened in the past. As I said just now, I can let Shi Qingxue get away with it, but you have to marry Leng Yan.”

“Mother…” Shi Junhe called helplessly. Obviously, he was unwilling, but he was not as determined as before.

Seeing that, Mo Shujun explained, “I just hope that Leng Yan can marry a good man and live a happy life. After she gets married, she will be a member of the East House. I won’t force you to treat her the same as Hui. It is not too much, right?”

Shi Junhe still made a last-ditch fight. “I am afraid that I can’t make Leng Yan live a happy life and I will only let you down.”

Mo Shujun sneered. “You can’t make her happy or you don’t want to? I won’t say more to you. Choose one between the two. Will you agree to make Leng Yan your concubine or let me disown Shi Qingxue? Go back and think it over.”

Shi Junhe still wanted to say something, but Mo Shujun prepared to see him off. He had to leave this matter behind and then asked for her permission. “Dong Shuang really doesn’t know anything about the token granted by the Emperor. What’s more, it must be in our mansion. We can find it after searching for some more days. Mother, please permit me to take that maid away.”

Mo Shujun snorted in her heart. “He is really caring. But I don’t know if he does it for Shi Qingxue or… That maid is really beautiful.”

“Since you insist, take her away.” Mo Shujun concealed her feelings and generously consented to his request.

Shi Junhe walked out of the Shou’an Hall but didn’t feel relieved.

He would never abandon Shi Qingxue, but he had to marry Leng Yan, just an unpresentable maid. He thought as long as she didn’t love him, he would take her as a piece of insignificant furniture for display rather than for use in the East House, but would Dong Hui agree?

Shi Junhe remembered that when Dong Hui just carried Shi Baoning, she offered him her maid to sleep with him, but he cherished Dong Hui then and refused.

And the fifth lady Shi Baoyan’s mother Kou Lian went to his bed when he was drunk and then had a baby, but Dong Hui was magnanimous and let her keep the baby, allowing him to make her his concubine. She just took Kou Lian as a person not concerned in the East House.

It happened so many years ago, and they were still in peace. And the current situation was almost the same as then.

“Maybe Hui won’t make a fuss about it because I just do it for Qingxue?”