TRBDM -Chapter 35 Punishing Xie Wanyi

“Sister, I don’t think the Old Madam is as blindly protective and fierce as the rumors say.”

“Rumors can’t be trusted.” Dou Shuyuan patted her hand. “Mother is very good to me—she’s treated me well. As for what Xie Wanyi said about Xie Chuan divorcing me, huh—”

Dou Shuyuan let out a cold snort. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t have that ability. I now manage the entire Ruixiang Courtyard. If Xie Chuan wants to spend even a tael of silver, he needs my permission. And Mother has handed my entire dowry over to me. With my dowry in my hands, what do I have to fear?”

Hearing this, Dou Shuxin was finally at ease.

“So the Old Madam is actually this kind. I misunderstood her before.”

“Mother really is good.”

Before lodging her complaint that evening, Dou Shuyuan had felt uneasy. But the outcome proved she had been right—Mother truly had changed.

As for why she had changed so drastically, Dou Shuyuan didn’t want to dwell on it. As long as it benefited the main branch and herself, she could live her days in peace.

If her own life was stable, she could also become a support for her younger sister.

Otherwise, how could it be that her sister was bullied at the nanny’s place and she, as the elder sister, hadn’t even known?

“Shuxin, no matter what happens in the future, you must write to me. If you’re wronged outside, don’t hide it. Otherwise it’ll make me seem useless as your elder sister.”

“Mm, I promise.”

“What about your handkerchief?”

“I’ll just have to embroider another one.”

“Mm.”

The next day, Dou Shuxin set off back to the Prime Minister’s residence. Before she left, Wei Zhaorong prepared some gifts for her to take back.

There were precious medicinal herbs and fine silk fabrics. Dou Shuxin couldn’t refuse and had no choice but to accept them.

After seeing Dou Shuxin off, Wei Zhaorong led her attendants to Linshui Courtyard.

The sun was already high in the sky, yet Xie Wanyi was still asleep.

Wei Zhaorong and her group entered the bedroom. The commotion wasn’t small, but Xie Wanyi still didn’t wake.

There was a faint smell of alcohol in the room. Wei Zhaorong frowned. “Did Second Miss drink?”

Her personal maid replied softly, “Miss had a little yesterday.”

“Only a little?”

“It… it was half a jug.”

“Who taught her to drink?”

According to the Marquis residence’s family rules, daughters were not permitted to drink alcohol. Someone must have enticed her.

The maid lowered her head to her chest, not daring to answer.

“Someone bring a bucket of cold water.”

Soon, a servant carried in a bucket.

“Pour it over her!”

Splash—an entire bucket of icy water was dumped onto the bed.

“Ah—ah—ah—!”

Xie Wanyi shrieked as she leapt up from the bed. “Which blind dog dared splash water on me? Do you all have a death wish?”

Though spring had arrived, it was still far from the heat of summer. The freezing water made her gasp sharply, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

“It was me!”

Wei Zhaorong spoke coldly.

Under the shock of the cold water, Xie Wanyi’s mind cleared rapidly. Only then did she notice the room full of people.

“Mother, aren’t you going too far? Splashing me with cold water so early in the morning—are you trying to freeze me to death?”

A maid brought over a clean quilt to wrap around her, but Xie Wanyi knocked it to the floor.

“Mother, these days you’ve been targeting me openly and secretly, as if I were picked up from the street,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “Did Dou Shuxin complain to you? I can explain what happened last night. Why are you blindly believing her one-sided account and punishing me without even distinguishing right from wrong?”

In the past, Wei Zhaorong could never bear to see Xie Wanyi cry. The moment she shed tears, Wei Zhaorong would be helpless, wishing only to gather her into her arms and comfort her.

But now she knew—crocodile tears were not worth pity.

She had seen too much in her previous life: villains striking first, twisting black into white.

“Fine. Then tell me what happened last night.”

“I only wanted to borrow her handkerchief. She refused and even pushed me,” Xie Wanyi pouted, looking deeply aggrieved.

Wei Zhaorong’s expression did not change.

“Was it borrowing, or was it snatching? Be clear. If you borrow and return it, that’s borrowing. If someone is unwilling to give it and you insist on taking it, that’s snatching. Which one were you?”

“I…” Xie Wanyi retorted indignantly, “She’s been eating and living in the marquis’ residence for days for free. What’s wrong with me taking one of her handkerchiefs? She’s stingy to the extreme.”

“Taking without asking is theft. Xie Wanyi, have all the books you’ve studied these past years been eaten by dogs?”

“She even insulted Eldest Brother!” Xie Wanyi blurted stubbornly.

“How did this suddenly involve your eldest brother?” Wei Zhaorong frowned.

“She refused to lend the handkerchief. I was angry, and I thought Eldest Brother would divorce Sister-in-law sooner or later anyway, so I mentioned it in passing. Then she scolded him, saying he was lustful, keeping a mistress outside, and not a good man.”

“Insolence! Xie Wanyi, can you not bear to see the marquis’ residence at peace? Must you stir up trouble before you’re satisfied? That reckless mouth of yours truly deserves to be sewn shut.”

Flames seemed to blaze in Wei Zhaorong’s eyes, as though she could burn straight through her.

“Servants, take Second Miss to the ancestral hall. She is to kneel in punishment for ten days and copy the Mingde Marquis Residence family rules one hundred times.”

“Mother, why are you punishing me? I didn’t do anything wrong! I won’t go to the ancestral hall!”

“Take her away. If she steps even half a pace out of the ancestral hall, you will answer for it.”

Several servants stepped forward together and dragged away the struggling, cursing Xie Wanyi.

“Let go! Don’t touch me! How dare your filthy hands touch me? I’ll kill you!”

“Help! Somebody help! Eldest Brother! Second Brother! Save me!”

Xie Wanyi cried and screamed all the way. Quite a few people peeked out to watch, but not a single one stepped forward.

The Xie family’s ancestral hall was solemn and austere. Once Xie Wanyi was taken inside, her voice fell silent.

“Old Madam, the ancestral hall is cold and damp. Second Miss’s clothes are still wet. I’m afraid she may fall ill,” Nanny Qi reminded gently.

Wei Zhaorong recalled how, after contracting smallpox, she had been left in a dilapidated side courtyard during freezing winter days when dripping water turned to ice. She hadn’t even had a proper quilt.

Back then, her cries to heaven went unanswered, her pleas to earth unheard. The little daughter she had doted on all her life had not returned even once after marrying Nangong Hai.

Before dying, she had still fantasized about seeing her beloved daughter one last time.

In the end, her dream shattered as her life slipped away.

“No need to worry.”

Xie Wanyi was no easy target. Wei Zhaorong was only punishing her to kneel in the ancestral hall—she wasn’t depriving her of food or clothing. The maids from Linshui Courtyard would naturally change her clothes.

That day, Anhe Courtyard did not enjoy peace either.

“Mother, I heard you confined Second Sister to the ancestral hall. What happened?”

Shen Zhizhi was the first to arrive at Anhe Courtyard, using the excuse of paying her respects to probe for news.

Wei Zhaorong lifted her eyelids and looked at Shen Zhizhi expressionlessly.

“She spread rumors and tried to instigate the main branch into divorcing their wife. Tell me—should she not be punished?”

Shen Zhizhi covered her mouth in shock. “Second Sister said that? But she’s not that kind of person. Could it be she had a conflict with Second Miss Dou and said it out of anger?”

Wei Zhaorong observed Shen Zhizhi without revealing her thoughts.

This second daughter-in-law of hers came from a modest background, with a meager dowry. Marrying into the Mingde Marquis Residence had been a significant rise in status.

Yet her scheming was by no means light—especially the way she whispered in others’ ears, smooth and persuasive.

Xie Sheng coveted the marquis title and had stirred unrest within the residence. Wei Zhaorong did not believe Shen Zhizhi had no hand in it.

“Today she instigates the main branch to divorce. Tomorrow she may instigate the second branch to divorce. Madam Shen, what do you think?”