Chapter 55 Deception

  Is it better to be married as a wife or to run away as a concubine?

  Sheng Siyan suddenly realized that no matter how Wang's wife asked, she and Sheng Qiye both avoided talking about how they got married.

  Also, how can they start talking about it?

  Especially Wang, must she tell her ten-year-old daughter that her mother and father eloped...?

  That's too stupid.

  In fact, if Sheng Siyan hadn't changed her mind, knowing this truth would be enough to make the real Xiao Siyan collapse!

  Sheng Siyan's face revealed a hint of a smile. She was relieved that she hadn't forced her mother to ask about the truth.

  She knew that if it wasn't for the reason being too difficult to mention, why would her wise and powerful mother keep it from her all along?

  Of course, the biggest culprit of this matter is her father who speaks without reserve! —— If it weren't for his reckless talk, how would Tou's concubine, whom he took in the countryside, know about what happened back then?!

  Doesn't he know that telling others about this kind of thing can be fatal?!

  All these thoughts are just momentary things.

  Xing Siyan's face had a calm smile on it, without any other emotions.

  Elopement is viewed as a heinous crime in the Great Xia Dynasty.

  But for Sheng Siyan who came from a later generation, it was really nothing to be taken seriously.

  It was worse than she had imagined.

  It's okay, things haven't gotten out of hand yet.

  Sheng Siyan felt ashamed of her own wild imagination and relieved that her recent worries had been for nothing.

  In her opinion, no matter how troublesome things are, as long as you know what's going on, there will always be a way to solve them.

  What's most feared is hiding and concealing, making people be in a state of confusion, unable to see anything clearly, only letting them guess back and forth. That kind of situation is truly even harder for gods to save.

  Now that Su's trump card and reliance have been revealed, just like the second shoe finally falling to the ground upstairs, Sheng Siyan felt relieved instead.

  Tu Shi looked at Sheng Siyan's calm demeanor and was quite surprised.

  Tu Shi thought she was young and didn't understand the pros and cons, and said: "Young lady, do you really know what 'married as a wife, run away as a concubine' means?"

  Sheng Siyan muttered to herself. Fortunately, she had sent all the maids and servants out of the house in advance, otherwise today's matter would have been difficult to settle! She also thought, Tu Shi, you've been deceiving me for so long, making me anxious, I won't let you off easy... So she put on a skeptical expression, smiled slightly, leaned back into the high-backed chair and said lazily: "Second aunt, it seems your brain really isn't working well. You actually believe such nonsense?"

  Tu Shi felt uncomfortable as her words did not have the expected effect on her.

  "What is called nonsense?" Tu Shi was illiterate and did not understand these elegant four-character idioms.

  Sheng Siyan explained to her: "It's just nonsense, made-up lies."

  "How can it be nonsense?! It was your father, Qi Ye, who told me. Not just anyone would casually say such things." - Tu Shi said with a straight face and confidence.

  Sheng Siyan pouted and shook her head, smiling: "Huh? Second Auntie, you believe whatever my dad says?"

  "Of course, Seventh Grandfather never cheats me." Tou said with a lift of his round chin, quite proudly.

  Sheng Siyan was waiting for her to say that, and slowly said: "Never deceive you? That's strange. Then I'll ask you, when my father took you as his concubine back then, did he ever tell you that he was the black sheep of the Shennong Sheng family?"

  "Of course not!" Tou Shi flatly denied, "He said that my parents would never marry me off to him as a concubine. He told the people in my household that he was a fallen scholar because he failed the imperial examination and gave up on literature to study medicine."

  "Oh. Then where did he say he grew up before?" Sheng Siyan asked again.

  "He said he was a Beijinger, grew up in Beijing since childhood." Mr. Tu recalled the scene at that time, with a hint of shyness on his face.

  But Sheng Qiye was clearly raised in a Buddhist temple!

  Sheng Siyan slammed her palms together and shouted loudly: "Isn't this enough?! You still say he didn't cheat you?!"

  Tu's beautiful memories were suddenly shattered by a slap from Sheng Siyan, and she said angrily: "That's not the same!" She shook her arm in fierce rebuttal.

  Sheng Siyan hastily stood up and slipped towards the door. —— She was most afraid of physical confrontation...

  "What's different?" Sheng Siyan said while wiping away her tears, "The reason is very simple. My dad never believed in you and never told you the truth. What makes you think what he said about my mom is true? I don't believe a single word!"

  Sheng Siyan shook her head and continued to persuade Hua Shi, "If you don't believe me, then tell me exactly what my father said, word for word, without leaving out a single character. Also, show me all the evidence you have, let's see if you have any reason to speak nonsense and tarnish my mother's reputation. Otherwise, if my father finds out, he'll be furious and have you charged with 'concubine offending wife', and send you to the authorities, where the judges will teach you how to behave as a concubine!"

  Tu Shi hastily said, "I didn't lie! At the beginning, Seventh Master got drunk and kept crying to me, saying that your mother ignored her father's opposition and insisted on following him out of the house, living a life of eating bran and swallowing vegetables. He lost you and your mother, and he regretted it terribly!"

  So that's how it is!

  Sheng Siyan thought for a moment and compared Tu's words with the attitudes of Sheng Qiye and Wang, finding that they all matched, so she believed Tu's words.

  But she wouldn't follow Mr. Tu's lead either.

  Sheng Siyan sighed and said: "The words of a drunk person, Er Niang also believes, you are really good at deceiving."

  "People always say 'drunken words are true words', how can you deceive me?" Tu Shi hummed to herself, not believing Sheng Siyan's words.

  Sheng Siyan spread her hands and said, "People say 'to feign madness by drinking', but why did Second Aunt forget again?"

  Sheng Siyan made a bitter expression and said to Tu Shi, "Second aunt, it's not that I'm speaking ill of you, but you can't just believe those words that are beneficial to you. Sometimes the truth is hurtful, but it's fact! Isn't this matter obvious? Think about it, at that time, my father was still a wanted criminal by the imperial court, and one misstep would have meant losing his head! My father was afraid of your family being implicated, so he hinted to you that my mother had run away from home. But how could that be possible? You didn't think about it, did you? My mother is from a noble family. How are the daughters of noble families raised? You've been living in the Guo Gong Fu for a month or two now, don't you know some things? How could she possibly run away with a man? Try letting your daughter Ning Fang elope with a man and see if it's possible. If it is, I'll give her a dowry!"

  "Nonsense! My daughter would never elope with someone!" Mrs. Tu suddenly changed color as if she had thought of something.

  "I'm just making an analogy." Sheng Siyan stood beside the half-person-high blue flowered reeds by the door, her mind at ease. "With so many maids and servants following her around every day, and having to show her token when going out of the second gate, how could she possibly run away with a man? My mother isn't some country bumpkin like you!"

  Tu's face changed suddenly.

  Sheng Siyan continued to press her advantage, nailing down the matter once and for all. "In short, if this gets out, you'll probably end up being the biggest loser of all!"

  Tu was shocked, pacing back and forth, how could she have lost everything? She stared blankly, asking in return: "What does this matter have to do with me? How could I become... the loser?"

  "How could it not be? Think about it. This matter was originally not true, but you had to make a big fuss about it and offend who? First of all, you will offend my father, he won't come to see you again, isn't that a huge loss for you? Secondly, you will offend my mother, she is the mistress, if she wants to deal with you, it's just a matter of minutes, even without waiting until tomorrow. Thirdly, you will offend my maternal grandparents. Originally, it was a good girl marrying the Duke, three matchmakers and six gifts, door-to-door comparison, but because of your fuss, it became something that can't be seen in public, who would like that? They get angry, and let you become the biggest loser is also just a matter of minutes!"

  Tu Shi was startled by the prospect depicted by Sheng Siyan and trembled all over, saying with lingering fear: "Won't be, will it?"

  "How can it not be? Think about it carefully. See if what I'm saying makes sense." Sheng Siyan warned her, "It's not like before now. My father is no longer a wanted fugitive of the imperial court, he is a hereditary duke. If Miss can marry Duke Sheng, it would be a blessing from their ancestors. The implication is that even if they eloped in the past, now they will definitely rush to acknowledge their relationship. If you jump out and say something about eloping, don't blame others for not giving you a way out..."

  Other members of the Tu family did not understand, but she clearly saw this struggle for profit as "bowing to those in high positions and trampling on those in low positions".

  It's just like her, if she hadn't known that Sheng Qiye had succeeded to the title of Duke of the State, she wouldn't have followed him to the capital...

  Tu's face fell.

  "Think carefully. Don't blame me for not reminding you, if a single word gets out, you still have three children...” Sheng Siyan threw down a sentence as she was about to leave, scaring Tu Shi into trembling again. This time, she really believed what Sheng Siyan had just said. Because the words Sheng Siyan spoke as she was leaving were exactly the same as Wang Shi's warning to her!

  Sheng Siyan left Tu's Emerald Bamboo Pavilion, pondering in her heart how to turn this disadvantage into an advantage.

  She thought for a moment and felt that this matter, apart from the parties involved, should have no evidence. Or rather, having no evidence is the greatest evidence.

  Because Wang and Sheng Qiye couldn't produce a legitimate marriage certificate, that was the biggest loophole.

  But she's not afraid now that she knows what's going on. Even without evidence, she'll create some to slap her opponent in the face!

  But the key is still to deal with these two parents who are guilty of being thieves!

  Sheng Siyan arrived at the main courtyard of Wang's residence, Yan Yutang Hall.

  Yan Yudang has three floors, with two courtyards on the east and west sides. The buildings are high and magnificent, with a grand and luxurious interior design. There are four flower stands around each courtyard, named after the seasonal flowers of the four seasons, which bloom in profusion throughout the year.

  Arriving at Wang's daily residence in the Dark Shadow Building, Sheng Siyan chatted for a while before dismissing all the servants in the house.

  Wang put down the work in her hands and asked her with a questioning gaze: "What's wrong? Do you have something to say?"

  It's been four days in a row with three updates. Do I still need to today? Or should I just roll over and beg for pink tickets and recommendation votes instead~~~ There will be an extra update this afternoon.

  ……

  ps：

  Thank you to everyone who gave me a peace symbol yesterday, and also to those who gave me pink tickets. To those who have subscribed in the past few days, take a look and see if there are any remaining guaranteed pink tickets that haven't been cast yet. If you subscribed last month, it's possible that the system will give out an extra pink ticket at the beginning of this month. Please vote for San Han, supporting three updates~~