Chapter 4: Hypocritical Mother-in-law
Feng didn't expect Xu Shuhe to speak first and turn the situation into this, and her face froze for a moment.

Then it was immediately repaired.

"Chun Liu was originally a sensible girl. She has been with San Lang for so many years and has never made any mistakes. I think it's because she saw that San Lang had married a wife and she had been without a name and status for many years. She was afraid that her life would be difficult in the future, so she was anxious."

As she spoke, Feng glanced at Chen Zhi again and continued to speak to Chen Huaiqian in a low voice.

"After all, Chunliu gave birth to a child for Sanlang. She was also very clever and well-behaved when she was with me. If that hadn't happened, she wouldn't have gone to Sanlang's room. Besides, Sanlang had already punished her severely yesterday, which shows that Sanlang is reasonable. On such a happy day today, please don't be angry, Master."

This is a very clever way of saying it.

He started by talking about Chunliu's understanding and "difficulties", implying that it was understandable, and then brought up Chunliu's contributions.

She gave Chen Zhi a child, a boy.

After that, although Xu Shuhe didn't know what Feng had said, it was definitely not a good thing.

This operation made Chun Liu, the troublemaker, appear to be a pitiful person with justifiable circumstances, but it made Chen Zhi's heavy punishment of Chun Liu seem a bit inhumane.

As Xu Shuhe observed, the expression of her father-in-law Chen Huaiqian also softened from the gloomy look just now.

Xu Shuhe couldn't help but applaud when seeing this.

Tsk tsk tsk, this is the complete combination of a confused father and a hypocritical stepmother!

I glanced at Chen Zhi, who was pursing his thin lips, and felt that he was really pitiful.

Oh, that’s not right. It’s obvious that she, the daughter-in-law, is the more pitiful one.

On the day she entered the house, she was disturbed by the maidservant. Today, she has to endure the bitterness of being framed and accused.

That won’t work. We can’t afford to suffer any loss!
Thinking this in his mind, Xu Shuhe narrowed his eyes slightly and entered combat mode.

His eyes turned red and he spoke.

"Yes, father-in-law, please don't be angry. What man doesn't have a concubine? My husband only had Miss Chunliu to serve him before, which was already a shortage of people. My daughter-in-law is not a jealous person. She was shocked yesterday. She didn't expect that my husband already had a concubine's child."

Having said that, Xu Shuhe bit her lip, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then continued.

"My daughter-in-law has also learned the rules in her boudoir. Before the wife marries, a respectable family can have a maid but not a concubine. Some families have stricter rules, and concubines are not allowed to have children before the wife marries. Even if a woman gets pregnant accidentally, she should abort the child. This is considered a strict family."

Every word he said made sense and there was no way to refute it. For a moment, Chen Huaiqian and Feng Shi looked unhappy.

Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Xu Shuhe changed the subject and whispered.

"But think about it, Miss Chunliu was personally trained by my mother-in-law, and she is different from other concubines. My mother-in-law loves her more and allows Miss Chunliu to have a child, which is reasonable. My husband is filial and told me last night that Chunliu was given by my mother-in-law, so it's okay to punish her. If my mother-in-law hadn't mentioned what happened yesterday, my husband and I wouldn't have mentioned it again. So please rest assured, father-in-law and mother-in-law, your daughter-in-law won't mind it."

Who doesn't know how to put labels on others?

Come on, I'll dunk you!
Xu Shuhe was full of fighting spirit.

Chen Zhi, who was mentioned by her, couldn't help but glance at her secretly.

Of course Chen Zhi knew clearly that he had not said those words to Xu Shuhe yesterday. However, he was not stupid and could see that Xu Shuhe was defending the two of them and challenging Feng.

Therefore, Chen Zhi thought about it and then added in a low voice.

"Don't worry, Dad. I won't let my wife suffer any grievances." The taciturn man took over and Xu Shuhe was also surprised.

She thought that this person would just hold her back if he didn't expose her lies, but she didn't expect that he was not stupid enough and could provide some assistance.

So she immediately showed her emotion and looked at Chen Zhi with a bit of shyness.

They look like a newlywed couple, and their relationship is very sweet.

Seeing this, Chen Huaiqian didn't say anything else. He gave a few more symbolic instructions and sent the two of them away.

However, just as the young couple left, in Wanshuangzhai, Chen Huaiqian rarely got angry with Feng.

"It's all your fault! As soon as the third daughter-in-law came into the family, she saw such a big scandal in our Chen family. Back then, I asked you to beat the baby in that slave's belly, but you said that the baby was too old and it was not good to kill and see blood, and it would damage your virtue, so you were soft-hearted and let it go. Now, the Chen family has lost all face. The wife hasn't married yet, but the concubine has given birth to a child. If this gets out, where will our Chen family put its face?"

Feng's face turned ugly after being scolded, but she had to suppress her annoyance and persuade him humbly.

"Master, don't be angry. Take care of yourself. Yes, yes, it's all my fault. But Chunliu hid it very well back then. When she was found pregnant, she was almost six months old. It happened that our family's business was not going well at that time. If she did something like killing and aborting, it would be even worse. I was thinking about my family. Besides, if Sanlang hadn't been drunk and done that ridiculous thing, Chunliu would have been a victim as well."

Seeing Feng crying in grievance, Chen Huaiqian finally remembered that it was not Feng's decision alone to agree to Chunliu keeping the child, and the root of the disaster was planted by Chen Zhi, his ignorant son.

His expression eased a little, and then he sighed again.

"Fortunately, the third son's wife is a sensible child and did not make a fuss about this matter. Otherwise, it would be our fault anyway."

"Yes, the marriage that the master arranged personally was naturally very good. This time, the third son's wife has suffered some grievances. Later, I will personally pick some things and send them to her courtyard as a consolation."

Seeing that Chen Huaiqian's temper had subsided, Feng immediately grabbed him and smoothed his temper.

Chen Huaiqian nodded, "It's time to comfort her. Okay, I still have things to deal with in the store. I'm leaving now. You can take care of the things at home."

"Don't worry, sir. I will take care of it." Feng hurriedly stood up and saw him off.

As the person walked away, the gentleness on Feng's face disappeared, and her face turned gloomy.

"Madam, are you going to mention the matter of promoting Chunliu to be the third young master's official concubine?" Song Qiu, the personal maid, asked in a low voice.

Feng went back to her room and sat down in annoyance. "How can I bring it up? Didn't you see how angry the master was just now? How could I have the chance to speak? I underestimated this Xu. I didn't expect that she was such a sharp-tongued person."

"It's also because of that useless girl Chunliu. I prepared everything for her yesterday and told her what to do, but she didn't get it done." Song Qiu's tone was filled with disdain.

When she said this, Feng's eyes became even colder. She took a sip of tea and spoke in a deep voice.

"Well, since it didn't work, let's clean it up and don't let anyone find out. There's still a lot of time to go by, so there will naturally be another chance."

"I know, madam, don't worry." Song Qiu nodded.

At this time, the little maid at the door came in and told her that the second young master's wife had come to pay her respects.

The second young master Chen Jin is Feng's biological son, and the second young master's wife Li Mingzhu is her legal daughter-in-law, so naturally she has to meet her.

He waved his hand and someone brought him in.

(End of this chapter)