Rebirth of an Abandoned Woman

Chapter 221: Furious

“Since Nanny Li is so clear about this, then why ask me? Is Sister Sang Wan purposely giving me a hard time?” Gu Fangzi said coldly. Her expression remained just as haughty.

Sang Wan could not help but feel infuriated. Gu Fangzi still refused to exercise restraint and instead went for a counterattack even though they had already arrived at this point. As such, Sang Wan did not answer her and said, “Now that Nanny has mentioned it, I remember now! That day, the two servants kneeled in the courtyard and were spanked before being sent to do hard labor. With that as an example, how dare others commit the same offense again. Clearly, Mother was too merciful, so I shall act as the villain in her stead! Nanny Li, these two shall be spanked thirty times each, three months’ salary forfeited, and them and their families be sent to the country house! No need to wait until tomorrow, arrange everything to be done immediately! Let every servant in the household know so that they do not repeat the same offense. Otherwise, the punishment shall become even more severe!”

“Yes, Young Mistress!” Nanny Li gave a glance at Gu Fangzi before acknowledging.

Li Shun and Wu Chunfang turned pale. They never thought that Sang Wan would have such a bad temper and they instantly became paralyzed with fear. Neither of the two could even open their mouths to beg for mercy.

Gu Fangzi’s expression turned awfully dark. Li Shun and Wu Chunfang looked at her subconsciously for help, but she could only return a cold look and could not plead for leniency. She finally understood why Sang Wan had requested her to be present. Firstly, she did so to warn her, and secondly, it was to make her helplessly witness Li Shun and Wu Chunfang being punished. After this, which servant would still dare to do her bidding in the future?

Li Shun and Wu Chunfang were soon taken away. Sang Wan glanced at Gu Fangzi before smiling softly, “This incident is neither major or insignificant. However, it implicates the First and Third family. I think it is better to let Mother know about it! Sister Fangzi, you will follow me to be the witness!”

Gu Fangzi witnessed Li Shun and Wu Chunfang being dragged away right in front of her. She was already unhappy that there was nothing she could do, and after hearing that Sang Wan wanted her to go Wang Shi’s place to discuss about it, she felt suffocated and did not want to go. “Since this is a grave matter, Sister Sang Wan can go by yourself! I’m feeling a little tired, so I won’t be coming along. I’ll take my leave now!”

“Stop right there!” Sang Wan ordered coldly and glared, “I’m not asking you to!”

“So you are ordering me then?” Gu Fangzi pressed her hands closely together, otherwise, she would’ve exploded in anger. She had never seen this side of Sang Wan before.

“If you understand it that way, then so be it.” Sang Wan welcomed her glare and said, “Or am I not allowed to order you around?”

Gu Fangzi suddenly choked with anger. Even though the servants were quiet and had their heads hung low, Gu Fangzi knew that they were paying attention to the competition at this moment. As for Sang Wan, she did have the right to order her around.

“Then let’s go!” Sang Wan smiled and got up. As she walked to the door, she gave an instruction to Zhide, “Hold onto Miss Gu.”

Zhide brought two servants and walked up to Gu Fangzi. Gu Fangzi’s face immediately turned from red to white as she glared angrily at Sang Wan. She shook off Zhide and ran up to Sang Wan, “Sang Wan, you better not take this too far! One day, I will surely get you back for this!”

Sang Wan only spoke while looking into her eyes, “You were clearly the one who started this conflict first. There is a limit to my tolerance so you better behave yourself!”

Gu Fangzi was feeling at a loss and confused as she angrily watched the back of the person in front of her. It was as if she never knew the person in front of her. She dared to act impudently precisely because she had a good temper, cared about her image, acted like a saint, and disliked bickering. But when she got mad… Gu Fangzi was completely baffled.

When the two arrived at Wang Shi’s place, Sang Wan told Wang Shi about the incident. Of course, she did not mention the part when Third Old Mistress Shi personally went to tell her about what had happened. Instead, she only lamented that one of Ning Garden1’s servants unintentionally overheard it.

After Wang Shi finished listening, she became angry and scolded, “Those servants are the worst, luckily, they were heard by someone from Ning Garden. If your third aunt were to hear of it instead, there might be another episode of conflict in the household! Those two servants deserve to be punished severely. But to chase their families out too, isn’t it a little too much?”

“Aunt Wang is right!” Gu Fangzi immediately smiled and said, “Our household has always been merciful. Those two servants were just foolish at that moment and spoke more than they should, but nothing happened in the end. What Sister Sang Wan could do is to educate them and take away two months of their salary to make them learn from their lesson. Everyone makes mistakes unless they are saints! Why does Sister Sang Wan want to punish them so severely without sparing their families? This would make the servants feel that the masters are unkind!”

Gu Fangzi could not say anything previously when there was only Sang Wan. But since Wang Shi had already spoken, she had to seize the opportunity herself.

After Wang Shi heard her, she nodded her head in agreement.

Sang Wan spoke calmly, “Mother, that won’t do! It is only our luck that this incident did not bring a severe consequence, but if the household is turned chaotic because of this, don’t mention how our family members would not be harmonious, but won’t we become a joke to the public? I would want to remind Mother that when I first entered the household, Sister Fangzi punished two small servants when they chose to speak badly behind us. It’s clear that they were obviously trying to undermine our relationship. With that previous example, these two servants still dared to act this way, which means that the warning had not been effective. If we let them go with light punishment, we will never know when they might commit the same mistakes again.”

Wang Shi thought about it for a while and her face sunk, “Sang Wan, you’re right. The servants who speak incessantly are disgusting, but those who don’t learn from past mistakes are the worst. Carry on with the harsh punishment! Such an incident must not happen again.”

However, Gu Fangzi quickly replied and said to Sang Wan, “Sister Sang Wan, are you blaming Aunt Wang for being too lax on the servants?”

“Quiet!” Sang Wan glared at her coldly and yelled. She raised her brows as she said coldly, “Is Sister Fangzi learning from those impudent servants who try to sow discord? Mother was being merciful out of kindness, but who knew that there would be servants who did not appreciate it and give me no choice but to be the bad person. I’m sure that in the future, maybe there would be fewer of such cases. So why does it sound so different when you say it? Sister Fangzi, don’t tell me you are trying to incite disharmony between Mother and me?”

Everyone in the house, including Wang Shi, was stunned as they looked at Sang Wan. It was the first time they had seen her this way; she lashed out at her mother-in-law’s favorite niece in the public for the first time, and it was in front of her too.

All of a sudden, Gu Fangzi felt many eyes looking towards her and her face turned red. She was so ashamed that she wished she could find a hole to hide into right away! In her heart, she cursed Sang Wan a hundred folds, but on the surface, she bit her lip and looked at Wang Shi pitifully.

Wang Shi was also shocked. There was a small amount of fear and timidness as she smiled at Sang Wan, “Sang Wan, you mustn’t be so overly sensitive. I’m sure Fangzi must not have meant it that way! You have always been very filial to me, how can I not know this? This matter will be handled the way you have done so! Whatever happens in the household, I’m relieved that you’ll handle them well.”

“Mother, thank you for being considerate towards me!” Sang Wan quickly kneeled and said with teary eyes, “I must’ve overreacted just now and scolded Sister Fangzi in front of Mother. I shouldn’t have done that. But what she said just now had too much bias against me. If I weren’t careful, it could impact me negatively. Because of that, I became very anxious and could not help but lash out! If what she said was heard by others, how will I have a footing in this household in the future? Even for Mother, your act of kindness would be disrespected! I was taught since young by my parents to be filial and maintain a peaceful relationship with everyone in the household, so I’ll continue to do so. If I were unfilial, not only would I feel uneasy, even Lord will not forgive me too. Mother, please understand my intentions!”

When Sang Wan kneeled, Gu Fangzi could not help but kneel as well. As she lowered her head and kneeled beside Sang Wan, her heart was filled with hatred. When she heard Sang Wan, she hurriedly apologized and admitted to her wrong and said that she didn’t mean the words she said, and did not know that she had infuriated Sang Wan with her words.

Wang Shi saw this and hurriedly ordered Nanny Jiang to help the both of them up before sighing, “It was just a slip of tongue, let’s not put it in our hearts. Sang Wan, Mother is clear about your character, so why would I think that you are unfilial? Don’t think about this anymore. Fangzi, you are not young anymore so you’ve got to watch your mouth. I won’t forgive you if you speak this way again.”

Sang Wan and Gu Fangzi both acknowledged her, but when their eyes met, they quickly looked away.

After staying to talk for a while, Sang Wan quickly took her leave.

Liu Ya’s heart was filled with joy as she held onto Sang Wan’s arm. Her smile never disappeared even after they left Wang Shi’s place. Chuckling to herself, she said, “Young Mistress, that was great! Hehe, did you see that Miss Gu’s face flushed purple like the colour of a pig’s liver? Let’s see if she’ll still dare to be so arrogant again. Fancy her thinking that our young mistress is a pushover!”

Sang Wan glanced at Liu Ya and smiled, “Enough now and don’t blab too much. If someone were to hear you or see your face full of smiles, they might think I purposely wanted to make things difficult for her!”

Sang Wan felt exhausted and frustrated at the same time. This wasn’t the life she wanted, but she had to face it, and deal with it. She had to be aggressive at times. She never thought that when Shi Fengju was not around, Gu Fangzi would dare to sow discord right in front of her. If she had been passive or hesitated for half a second, she would have been held hostage by Gu Fangzi’s hostility. Wang Shi, who swayed easily, would have thought differently of her again! Scolding Gu Fangzi in front of everyone was an act she had to do without a choice. Luckily, she did not bet wrongly and her mother-in-law stood on her side this time.

Right now, she had officially fallen out with Gu Fangzi. Who knew what would happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? However, she knew that Gu Fangzi would not give up easily. The game had already begun and even if she didn’t want to play, she would still have to.

On a certain afternoon, a servant rushed to Ning Garden and requested permission to see Sang Wan.

Today, Old Mistress Zhuang had organized a banquet to admire flowers and Wang Shi ordered Sang Wan to accompany her. When Liu Ya heard that they were going to the Zhuang Household, she immediately thought of their young master and intentionally found an excuse not to go. As such, Sang Wan brought Zhide with her.