CHAPTER 319: CHAPTER 160: SOFTHEARTED FARCE (PART 2)

"You! How dare you! Release me at once!" Sang Wan, both ashamed and furious, found it inappropriate to fight with a few servants. Should her dress rip during the struggle, she wouldn’t be able to face anyone!

Hong Ye and a group of maids who had arrived on command were all shocked, shouting "Impudence!" as they hurried forward to pull and pry the hands of those few maids off Sang Wan.

The maids refused to let go. Seeing that Sang Wan did not push them away, they did not know whether she was too dignified to argue with them or mistakenly believed she was soft-hearted and could not bear to do so. Their spirits were lifted, and they clung to her dress tightly, weeping and pleading, utterly unwilling to let go! The other maids, distressed like ants on a hot pan, hated them and were extremely annoyed with Hong Ye!

"What is going on here!" Shi Fengju stepped in from outside and was met with such an absurd scene. Seeing a bunch of slaves pulling and dragging at Sang Wan, he could not help but rage.

A stern shout from Shi Fengju stunned everyone for a moment. Taking advantage of their brief daze, one maid was finally pulled away by the group. The other two, coming to their senses, continued to cling tightly and pleaded, "Please spare us, Madam! We beg you, Madam!"

"Impudence!" Shi Fengju stepped forward and kicked one of the maids, saying coldly: "Will you not let go? Who is Madam, and what are you? How dare you show such disrespect to Madam! If you do not let go immediately, I’ll have you dragged away and beaten to death!"

The two maids turned pale, their hands unconsciously loosened, and they were promptly dragged away, awaiting their fate.

The house fell suddenly silent, and everyone dared not even breathe loudly.

Sang Wan was extremely angry, staring at Hong Ye and said: "What are you staring at? Why don’t you go and give orders? Or are you waiting for me to do it myself?" Among the senior maids, Hong Ye was the most honest and straightforward. Sang Wan always felt that an honest person had their merits–at least they were not lazy–without complaining about her. It turned out Hong Ye was too easily swayed! She could be tasked with individual assignments, but she failed when it came to dealing with people! No wonder Mrs. Li almost never instructed her to do anything on her own.

"Yes, Madam!" Hong Ye’s face turned white, and she hurried out.

"Are you alright?" Shi Fengju waved his hand for everyone to leave, then stepped forward and held Sang Wan’s hand with concern.

The rapid change in his attitude from before to now made Sang Wan feel dazed for a moment, and she smiled, "I’m fine. How come you have returned?"

"I’m glad you’re alright!" Shi Fengju sat down next to her and smiled, "I was just at Second Uncle’s place, talking with Second Uncle and Third Uncle, and I was worried something might have happened here, so I came back. Those three maids must be the ones from this morning, right? And you, you shouldn’t have met with them. You could have simply given your instructions on how to deal with them!"

Sang Wan quietly withdrew her hand without a trace and sighed with a smile, "Why would I want to meet with them? It’s all because Hong Ye that maid is meddlesome!"

Shi Fengju chuckled, "No wonder you spoke to her so harshly just now! Since Hong Ye is too honest, it’s no surprise she couldn’t stand up to their pleading."

Sang Wan gave him a sideways glance, "Indeed, I’m the heartless one, no matter how they begged!"

Shi Fengju laughed, "What are you thinking about? I didn’t mean that! The way you are is very good. In my opinion, you’re not heartless enough. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be using someone like Hong Ye!"

Sang Wan shrugged, "What choice do I have? Auntie Three is in a hurry to move out, and Mrs. Li and Xingzhi were all busy with that. Without them personally overseeing things, I can’t be at ease!" She said this with a slight sigh.

Shi Fengju hastily inquired as to what happened, and Sang Wan recounted her visit to Third Madam Shi.

"You have suffered an injustice!" Shi Fengju gazed at her softly, "Miss Wan, don’t take to heart the words of Mother and Third Aunt. At least you worked hard these past few days. I know this matter is not your fault. If you are unhappy," he said with a smile, "take it out on me!"

Sang Wan’s face flushed, and she quickly avoided his gaze, laughing lightly after a moment, "Actually, I can’t blame Mother and Third Aunt for this, it is indeed my oversight. It was my task to deal with, and if it wasn’t done properly, I naturally bear the responsibility. Mother did not wrong me!"

Shi Fengju, who was initially worried that she felt aggrieved inside, immediately felt relieved when he heard her speak so, and hurriedly laughed, "It’s good that you can think like this! But on the other hand, with so many things happening these past few days, how could you possibly attend to everything? Mother and Third Aunt should be more considerate of you! Once we’re through this busy period, how about we go to the manor for a couple of days to unwind?"

Sang Wan’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly agreed with a laugh: "The New Year is coming; where can we find the leisure to go out? In these few days, we’ll need to prepare New Year gifts to send out, entertain relatives and friends who visit, and also prepare offerings for ancestral worship, paper money, candles, and oil!"

"You’re right, after the New Year, then! We have a manor where the plum blossoms bloom best. I’ll take you there to enjoy the plum blossoms!" Shi Fengju added with a smile.

Without making eye contact, Sang Wan could feel his burning gaze; she felt almost overwhelmed, panicked and confused inside. If she refused again, who knew what else he might say, so she nodded hastily and agreed with a laugh. Seeing that he was about to add more, Sang Wan quickly said with a smile, "Mrs. Zhang is still waiting to be questioned; we should hurry up and question her to explain things to Third Aunt!"

Shi Fengju then nodded, "You’re right, call someone in then!"

Mrs. Zhang came in, and without any evasion, she answered whatever was asked of her. She honestly kowtowed and admitted her mistake, "It was all my foolishness. I had already laid out the felt carpet yesterday, but it got dirty. Third Madam Shi’s maid told me to take it away and replace it with a new one. It was getting late at the time, and I went away but forgot to bring a new one. Who would have thought such a coincidence would happen that very next morning, this incident occurred. I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"