SBCEJM -Chapter 240 Sister-in-law’s “Blessing” Arrives! Miss Kong Gifts Her a Chastity Archway in Return!

【Of course she knew.】

The system’s voice carried a kind of admiration usually reserved for works of art.

【Miss Kong’s intelligence network is sometimes even better informed than ours.】

【The moment that midwife accepted Madam Cui’s bribe, detailed records about her entire family—including which private academy her youngest son attended—were already compiled into a booklet and delivered straight to Miss Kong’s dressing table.】

Inside the Golden Throne Hall, several officials felt a chilly shiver crawl up their backs.

What kind of “inner-courtyard woman” was this?

She was clearly the commander of the imperial secret police in disguise!

Those methods… that efficiency…

Even these seasoned veterans of officialdom felt utterly outclassed.

Inwardly, Feng Zexuan gave Sister Kong a silent thumbs-up.

【So how did she strike back? Hand the woman over to the authorities directly? Or secretly beat her up?】

【No, no, no. That would’ve been letting her off too easily.】

The system flatly rejected such crude and simple methods.

【Miss Kong was still confined after childbirth, reclining against soft cushions. Her fingertips lightly traced across the booklet containing the fate of the midwife’s entire family, as though she were composing a funeral requiem.】

【What she wanted… was to arrange a dazzling, unforgettable second half of Madam Cui’s life.】

Almost every official unconsciously straightened their backs, throats tightening.

Here it comes!

The real killing move was about to appear!

【The first thing Miss Kong did was secretly imprison the midwife.】

【No interrogation. No torture. She fed and housed her well, but forbade her from seeing anyone. She left the woman trapped in endless terror over her family’s safety, suffering day and night.】

【The second thing she did was praise Madam Cui tirelessly in front of Wang Ju’fang.】

【She said her childbirth had been unimaginably dangerous, and that it was all thanks to Sister-in-law Cui praying devoutly outside the residence—kowtowing every step of the way from the Wang Manor to the Great Buddha Temple outside the city—that Heaven had been moved and granted mother and child safe passage.】

Standing among the officials, Wang Ju’fang’s face alternated between green and white.

He remembered it now.

At the time, he had been deeply moved. All the suspicion and distance he’d developed toward Cui over the “underwear incident” had instantly dissolved into overwhelming gratitude and guilt.

He had even believed he and his wife had wronged such a virtuous sister-in-law.

【But the best part was the third move.】

The system’s voice trembled with barely restrained delight.

【After resting a few days, Miss Kong contacted several highly respected noblewomen in the capital under her own name. Together, they jointly submitted a petition to the Ministry of Rites requesting an imperial “Chastity Archway” for her widowed sister-in-law, Madam Cui!】

Those words hit the hall like a massive boulder crashing into water.

The entire court erupted.

A chastity archway for Madam Cui?!

A woman who had tried to seduce her brother-in-law and even plotted against her younger brother’s wife and child was about to become an officially recognized model of feminine virtue and chastity?!

Once that archway was erected, it would become an eternal shackle around her neck.

She would have to live the rest of her life as a glorified living widow beneath its shadow!

This move…

Wasn’t merely ruthless.

It was poisonous.

A bloodless conspiracy in broad daylight.

The Minister of Rites instinctively touched his official hat, his heart skipping a beat.

He remembered now—such a petition had crossed his desk recently!

At the time, he’d thought it was a perfect example of promoting morality and feminine virtue among the people, so he’d approved it with a grand flourish of his brush.

The memorial had even reached the Emperor, who had personally praised the matter!

Who could have imagined such twisted schemes hidden beneath it all?

He had unknowingly become part of someone else’s domestic war.

【When Madam Cui heard the news, she completely froze. The teacup in her hands shattered onto the floor with a crack.】

The system continued vividly.

【She wanted to refuse, but the noble ladies invited by Kong Mengqi spoke so sweetly and enthusiastically that she never even had a chance to interrupt.】

【One clasped her hand and praised warmly, “Madam Wang is truly a role model for all women. Such loyalty to your deceased husband is enough to move Heaven itself!”】

【Another immediately added, “Indeed! His Majesty himself has commended you—what an honor! The Wang family must have ancestral graves smoking with good fortune to possess such a daughter-in-law!”】

【Surrounded by them, every compliment stabbed into Madam Cui like a red-hot needle.】

【Inside, she ground her teeth in hatred. Yet outwardly, she still had to maintain the image of dignified gratitude, forcing her lips into a stiff smile while tears welled in her eyes—whether from “emotion” or despair, no one could tell.】

【And that still wasn’t the end of it.】

The system continued:

【Miss Kong was especially “thoughtful,” publicly planning out the rest of Madam Cui’s life for her.】

【“Now that Sister-in-law has been honored by the court as a virtuous widow, your conduct is beyond reproach. You should no longer burden yourself with worldly affairs.”】

【“From now on, leave the household management and trivial matters to others.”】

【“All you need to do is pray for Elder Brother in the Buddhist hall every day, accumulate blessings for the Wang family, and peacefully enjoy a life of purity.”】

Feng Zexuan laughed so hard inwardly she nearly slapped her thigh.

【Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! This isn’t “peaceful retirement”—this is arranging every single detail of her remaining life!】

【Stripping away her authority, placing her under soft confinement, and pinning her down forever beneath a chastity archway… that’s even crueler than throwing her into prison!】

The officials listening in court were horrified.

Miss Kong’s schemes twisted and coiled like eighteen bends in a mountain road, each trap linked seamlessly to the next.

Only now did Wang Ju’fang finally understand.

A freezing chill spread through his body.

His wife…

Was truly “virtuous” to the core.

【On the day the chastity archway was erected, drums and gongs thundered while ceremonial guards cleared the road. The celebration was grander than an ordinary family wedding.】

The system’s tone dripped with sarcasm.

【Madam Cui stood numbly beneath the towering stone archway in plain white mourning clothes, accepting the people’s worship and praise.】

【A stiff smile hung on her face, but the light in her eyes was utterly dead.】

Feng Zexuan concluded confidently:

【I’ll bet she won’t last long.】

【The more someone like her is pushed onto a holy pedestal, the more desperately they’ll fall into hell.】

And indeed—

【The newly erected chastity archway stood in the night like an enormous tombstone, cold and oppressive, crushing Madam Cui’s heart beneath its weight.】

【After shutting her door, she stared at her still youthful reflection in the bronze mirror. The thought of spending the rest of her life under this archway’s shadow—accompanied only by dim lamps and Buddhist scriptures—ignited a blazing resentment deep inside her.】

【Why?! Why could that woman enjoy her husband’s affection and children around her knees, while she had to guard a dead man’s memorial tablet and remain a living widow forever?!】

【Late that night, she locked her door and tore apart the mourning clothes symbolizing her shackles.】

【From the bottom of her trunk, she dug out the bright pink dress she had hidden away for years and put it on.】

【Then she rushed beneath the chastity archway, singing, dancing, even tearing at her own clothing while babbling madness.】

【And by pure “coincidence,” Kong Mengqi had invited members of the Wang clan and neighboring families to “admire the imperial archway overnight and bask in His Majesty’s grace together.”】

【They witnessed everything firsthand.】

【Witnesses and evidence alike were complete.】

【Not only had Madam Cui failed in virtue, she had gone mad enough to desecrate an imperial chastity archway.】

【That very night, the Wang family convened the ancestral hall and struck her name from the clan registry for “bringing disgrace upon the family.” She was expelled from the household immediately.】

【And the chastity archway, erected less than a day earlier, instantly became the greatest joke in the capital.】

Feng Zexuan let out a long sigh.

【Killing without bloodshed… this is what it truly means.】

【Sister Kong’s a real queen—ruthless and efficient!】

Silence blanketed the Golden Throne Hall.

Several officials with troublesome relatives at home felt cold sweat trickle down their backs as they looked at Wang Ju’fang with newfound sympathy.

Others, more calculating by nature, had eyes darting around, clearly wondering whether this strategy of “praising someone to death” could be applied in their own situations.

Only veteran ministers like Lin Zhengyan frowned deeply, sighing at the terrifying cruelty hidden within women’s quarters.

Then everyone turned to look at the tall, burly Wang Ju’fang standing silently among the ranks, his body trembling faintly.

Their gazes were impossibly complicated.

For Official Wang…

To have survived until today while still keeping both his position and family intact…

Truly had not been easy.