Aunt Wu was the first to break. When she first entered the mansion, she had been somewhat smug, relying on her youth and Li Zixin's favor to defy the Madame for a while. But after being in the mansion for so long, she had long realized that it was the Madame who truly called the shots here.
She quickly admitted her fault. "This concubine knows she was wrong. I implore the Madame to be magnanimous. I shall never dare to do so again."
Wu Lian'er seemed to hear a great joke and snorted coldly. "You dare not? I heard those exact words not long ago. And just a few days later, you dare to collude with her and badmouth me to the master. Do you think I don't know? You speak with such sarcasm. You haven't even borne a son, yet you wish to climb over my head. Once you have a son, you won't even know your own surname. Today, I shall teach you both a good lesson."
"Madame, spare us! This time, we truly dare not. Please give us another chance." Concubine Liu, seeing that the Madame was serious, quickly begged for mercy. The reason they dared to challenge the Madame's bottom line repeatedly was because they had lightly escaped punishment under the master's protection in the past. This time, the master hadn't come to save them yet. Seeing that they were about to be beaten, they quickly tried to appease her.
"It's too late. Guards, bring the boards!" Wu Lian'er remained unmoved and gave the order directly.
Someone immediately brought stools, pulled the two women onto them, and began to beat them without waiting for the Madame's further instructions.
When Li Zixin received the news, he rubbed his forehead with a headache, not understanding why these women had gathered together again. It seemed to happen every few days. Although he disliked Wu Lian'er, he had to consider her uncle and couldn't always refuse her.
When he had first spoken to Wu Lian'er about taking concubines, she had looked at him in disbelief, crying and making a scene, even returning to her maiden home.
Seeing that he couldn't reason with her, Li Zixin approached Wu's parents and explained his difficulties. After all, the Li family needed heirs.
Wu's parents were not particularly surprised. They had anticipated this situation after their grandson's death, though it had taken longer than they expected. Unlike their daughter's heartbroken cries, they were more pragmatic.
They considered the status of these two concubines and what benefits their daughter could gain from this arrangement.
After much discussion, it was finally agreed that the two concubines would be provided by the Wu family. Li Zixin then transferred three shops under his name to Wu Lian'er and promised that she would raise any children born to the concubines, while the birth mothers would be separated from them.
Once the agreement was reached, Madam Wu asked Li Zixin to leave, saying she would properly persuade their daughter. In truth, Wu Lian'er knew everything but simply wanted to vent her frustrations. After staying at her parents' home for a few days, she returned.
From then on, she unconsciously developed a resistance towards Li Zixin, feeling utterly disappointed. In the end, she refused the two household maids provided by her mother to be concubines, leaving the matter of concubines to the steward.
She felt that this way, she could deal with them ruthlessly in the future, without regard for her family's servants.
Of course, there were disadvantages. For instance, after the concubines entered the household, they dared to defy her because they were from respectable families. When they had sought help previously, Wu Lian'er had feigned ignorance. She wanted to see Li Zixin's attitude, but unfortunately, he disappointed her. Li Zixin was truly heartless. She had devoted herself to him wholeheartedly for so many years, only for him to fall for other women and value concubines more than her.
In the previous encounters, she had felt a sense of despair, and her heart had grown cold, making her indifferent. But this time, she felt she had to curb their arrogance and let the concubines know that they were not to be trifled with.
As the boards fell upon their bodies, both women cried out in pain simultaneously. Li Zixin hesitated for a moment before finally arriving.
Seeing them beaten so severely, he felt a pang of sympathy and quickly reprimanded, "Stop!"
The servants immediately halted. Wu Lian'er, however, calmly said, "Continue beating!"
The servants looked from one to the other, unsure what to do. Wu Lian'er slammed the table forcefully, angered, "What? You don't obey me? If you don't want to do this job, you can leave the Li family immediately."
Upon hearing this, the servants quickly dragged the women, who had slowly started to rise, back onto the stools and beat them severely.
The screams rang out once again. Li Zixin, suppressing his anger, approached Wu Lian'er and said somewhat indignantly, "Madame, a few boards should suffice for a lesson. There's no need to beat them to death."
Wu Lian'er looked at him with a chilling gaze and remained silent for a long time. It was the first time Li Zixin had seen her like this, and he was somewhat frightened. He stammered, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
After a while, Wu Lian'er calmly said, "Today, I will teach them a lesson no matter what. This is the first time. Next time, I will simply sell them. If they had known this, why didn't they tell me earlier not to provoke me?"
Li Zixin touched his nose, unsure if it was guilt or fear of Wu Lian'er that made him stop interfering.
Wu Lian'er's anger finally subsided somewhat. Of course, she couldn't really beat them to death. This time, they would surely learn their lesson. She waved her hand, and the servants immediately stopped.
By now, the two women were half-dead. After Wu Lian'er left, he reluctantly approached them to check on their condition.
When they had recovered slightly, Li Zixin spoke to them earnestly, advising them to avoid Wu Lian'er in the future and not to provoke her. He knew Wu Lian'er was very proud, and as long as they didn't bother her, she wouldn't usually bother them.
The two women nodded tearfully, indicating they knew they were wrong. Even if he hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have dared to act as they did before; they had been genuinely scared this time.
After arranging matters with the two concubines, the steward investigated Wang Yumeng's recent circumstances, finding no discrepancies with what Li Changqing had said.
For some reason, Li Zixin suddenly felt a sense of crisis, believing that if he didn't suppress them now, he would fall into an abyss. Even if he passed the imperial examinations for scholar and provincial graduate, what good would it do? As far as he knew, the Huang family had no powerful backing and couldn't secure official positions unless he achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations, the jinshi, and even then, it would have to be a very high ranking. Was that even possible? In all these years, the entire county had only produced one Tanhua (third-ranked scholar) twenty years ago.
Reason told him he shouldn't focus too much on them, but he couldn't shake off the unease, feeling that if he didn't do something, he wouldn't be able to sleep or eat peacefully.
Immediately, he went to pay his respects to the County Magistrate. Of course, he didn't tell the Magistrate that he had threatened Wang Yumeng into leaving. Instead, he claimed she had voluntarily divorced herself from the family, fearing her retaliation.
The County Magistrate waved his hand carelessly. "Look how nervous you are. Is it just a Tong Sheng (lowest level scholar)? I know Huang Shijie; he passed the Tong Sheng at eleven or twelve. So many years have passed, and he hasn't progressed further. Can an old tree still bloom? She was the one who wanted to leave voluntarily, and Li Changqing was also agreed upon by her to acknowledge his ancestors. Can you still be blamed for this?"