"Qin! Do you think that I don't know what you did because Hongxiu didn't give you away?" Luo Rui said to Qin Mei angrily, "Do you think others are blind? Hongxiu is just a little maid. If it weren't for your instructions, would she have the money to bribe the people in the kitchen? Do you think I'm a fool?"
"I didn't, husband, please don't accuse me!" Qin Mei was still unwilling to admit it.
Seeing this, Luo Rui said directly to Shu Qi: "Execute Hongxiu and see if she is not afraid of death."
Shuqi immediately dragged Hongxiu away and gave her a beating with a stick.
Hongxiu was so scared that she could only shout, "Miss, save me!"
Unfortunately, Qin Mei didn't dare to speak out.
Not long after, Hongxiu's shrill wails could be heard outside the courtyard. In the end, Qin Mei's verbal threats could not withstand the severe pain of being beaten, and she finally confessed:
"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I confess! I confess! It was the Young Madam who gave me money to bribe Aunt Zhang!"
When Shuqi saw that she confessed, he dragged her back to the front hall.
Hongxiu was covered in blood and lay on the ground, unable to even kneel up. Qin Mei saw her miserable state and was so scared that she screamed and hid behind Luo Rui.
Luo Rui pulled her out mercilessly: "Why, you have the guts to do it but not the guts to admit it? It's your master's fault that Hongxiu was beaten like this!"
“I confess everything. I only beg you, master, to spare my life… The idea of treating the step-wife harshly was suggested by the young lady. She was resentful of the step-wife for refusing to send her flowers and for driving her out of the yard, so she wanted to use her power as the housekeeper to humiliate her…” Hongxiu took a step at the gate of hell and blurted out everything.
…
Thanks to Hongxiu's confession, it didn't take long for Qin Mei to be unable to resist Luo Rui's interrogation and she admitted that it was indeed she who wanted to treat Xu Shichu harshly.
After hearing his wife's confession, Luo Rui had no choice but to apologize to Xu Shichu repeatedly.
Xu Shichu waved his hands and pretended to be generous and said, "Forget it. After all, you and her are the real family. I am just a nominal stepmother and an outsider in the prime minister's mansion. It doesn't matter if I suffer a little grievance. After all, I can still live in this mansion. I should be grateful to you, right? At least you didn't drive me out of the mansion."
Xu Shichu said this lightly, but the two men who heard it in the hall felt a chill on their backs. Although her tone was light, the meaning behind her words was very serious. Luo Rui would never dare to agree with her words, otherwise wouldn't he become a hypocrite who was unfilial and harsh to his stepmother
Luo Rui just opened his mouth: "No, Madam, you are the legitimate wife of the mansion. It is natural for you to live here. Who dares to drive you out? Besides..."
Xu Shichu waved his hand to stop him from talking: "Don't say more, I will build a wall and a gate where my yard connects with the prime minister's residence, and then I will not enter and leave the prime minister's residence casually. Of course, people in your residence cannot enter and leave my yard casually.
Also, I will build a small kitchen in my yard, and I will no longer get meals from the big kitchen in the prime minister's mansion. Of course, I will be responsible for the ingredients, rice, and other things myself, and I will not spend your money anymore.
Also, I will open another outer door on the west side that will lead me out of the house directly. In the future, I won’t have to pass through your house when I go out, so as not to disturb you.
That's all. The best situation for us is to keep to ourselves and contact each other when we need to cooperate. Then your daughter-in-law won't find me annoying, and I won't be disliked by others. What do you think?"
At the end of her speech, she turned around and asked Luo Changqing for his opinion.
When Luo Changqing heard her words, his eyes darkened and his face turned cold. He pursed his lips and asked, "Do you really have to be so clear with me?"
"It's not that I have to make things clear with you, but if I don't make some things clear, I'm afraid that there will be endless trouble. I am most afraid of trouble. I don't want to waste my time and energy on fighting with others. Do you understand
Because it's not worth it, and I don't covet your wealth and status. Of course, I still covet some power, but the marriage between you and me was originally a tool for you to use me as a shield, and I use you as a shield to bully others. It's a good thing that kills two birds with one stone and is consensual. Since it's about interests rather than emotions, it's good for both of us to be clear about it, what do you think?"
Xu Shichu said frankly. When Luo Changqing heard what she said, his face became colder and expressionless. After a long time, he sighed: "You are really smart."
Xu Shichu smiled and said, "Thank you for the compliment. I just know my own limitations. Since we have agreed, I will leave now."
After she finished speaking, she left with her maids and servants.
Luo Changqing looked at her back, which showed no reluctance at all, determined and unrestrained, with a sense of strangeness and alienation towards him. He felt inexplicably uncomfortable, depressed and not at ease.
Why is this woman so eccentric, not like an ordinary woman at all, who regards her husband as her heaven and wants to be loved by him? But she is always distancing herself from me, wishing to live in a separate house from me
No, in fact, they have already lived in separate houses. After all, if they do as she said, her courtyard will be a house within a house separated from theirs.
With a trace of reluctance that he himself did not notice, Luo Changqing glanced at Qin Mei before looking at his son:
"Rui'er, our Luo family is a family of integrity. We value family tradition and moral character. We cannot do anything that would bring disgrace upon our family. You should educate your wife well. As your stepmother said, she will be the mistress of the Luo family in the future and will represent the Luo family. Her character cannot be bad. Otherwise, it will not only harm herself, but also future generations."
Luo Changqing's words were very harsh. After hearing them, Luo Rui felt ashamed and his face turned red. For the first time, he regretted marrying this wife.
"Yes, father, I will punish Qin severely." He said with his head lowered, and Qin Mei had already shrunk like a quail, not daring to make a sound, hoping that the father and son would ignore her.
"The housekeeper power will be returned to Madam Liu, and Qin will be confined to her home for three months and required to copy the family rules three hundred times." Luo Changqing stated the punishment for Qin Mei lightly.
When Luo Rui thought of the long family rules of the Luo family, he instantly felt sympathy for his wife, but he did not plead for her. After all, Qin Mei was too willful and unruly, and she really needed to be punished so that she would not dare to cause trouble again in the future.
After Luo Changqing returned, he found a lot of gold, silver, jewelry, and precious fabrics from the warehouse and sent them to Xu Shichu as an apology, and then sat quietly in the study for the whole afternoon.
He called Luo Rui over and said, "Qin is the one you wanted to marry. She may do more wrong and bad things in the future, and as her husband, you have to clean up her mess and be responsible for her actions."
Luo Rui groaned in his heart, but he couldn't regret it anymore.