HWMP 10

Chapter : 10

I’d Rather Tear It Down With My Own Hands

Excellent embroidery was closely related to the fabric, thread, embroidery techniques, and patterns used. Among these, fabrics were divided according to their purpose into various types, such as ling, gauze, silk, satin, velvet, and brocade, each with its own distinctive characteristics.

The Shen Family Embroidery Shop was highly renowned and enjoyed an excellent reputation, so countless influential customers willingly paid their deposits and patiently waited for long periods of time.

However, Shen Gu knew nothing about embroidery and had no discerning eye for it. In his previous life, he had been obsessed solely with immediate profits, ignoring the rules that had been passed down in the embroidery shop for generations and repeatedly disregarding the shopkeeper’s advice.

Despite the enormous differences in price between various fabrics, he even deceived customers by selling cheap fabric as expensive material and pocketing huge profits.

Since the customers could not tell the difference, most of them were easily fooled as long as the fabric felt good and the embroidery looked elaborate.

But the longer a fox’s tail, the easier it was to catch.

In her previous life, someone who was deeply knowledgeable about embroidery eventually exposed Shen Gu’s misconduct. More than half of the embroidery shop’s orders were canceled, and most customers demanded refunds and compensation. Some even came in groups and caused a commotion in front of the shop.

It became such a serious crisis that even all the ill-gotten gains Shen Gu had accumulated up to that point were not enough to smooth things over.

That disaster at the embroidery shop would not happen until a year from now.

But Shen Hui had no intention of quietly waiting for an entire year.

In any case, she would not live much longer, and there were no other children in the main branch.

‘Rather than sit around and watch the second branch swallow up the embroidery shop, I’d rather tear it down with my own hands.’

She wanted to live long enough to see Shen Gu helplessly struggling to clean up the mess he had created.

“Yiqu, prepare the carriage.”

The world was covered in snow. Combined with the white cloth hanging from the high eaves and the white mourning clothes, the entire residence looked even more desolate.

Shen Hui loved snowy scenery.

Every year around this time, she would spend a fortune buying all kinds of furs and attend countless gatherings. Whenever she encountered people from the second branch, she would raise her chin and bully them mercilessly.

The third daughter of the Zheng family, Zheng Qianyu, the owner of the Da Heng Rice Shop, was Shen Hui’s sworn enemy.

Once, when she encountered Shen Hui, she had maliciously remarked that Shen Hui was frail and that her fate was so ill-starred that she had brought death upon her own mother and elder brother.

Enraged, Shen Hui had grabbed the back of her neck and collapsed, extorting money from her in the process.

“I was already weak to begin with. You almost got yourself accused of murder and dragged to the government office.”

Shen Hui had always been domineering, prickly, and even sly.

But perhaps there was truth in the saying that people became honest when facing death.

Shen Hui now admitted that she was indeed a nasty person.

Still, since she did not know when she would die, she believed that even if she could live for only a single day, she should live it freely and enjoy herself without restraints.

‘Father raised me like a precious jewel. Who could possibly stop me?’

Shen Hui had decided to go out on a whim and left in such a hurry that she had not even brought a hot-water bottle.

By the time she left the inner courtyard and walked outside, her fingertips were already frozen numb.

The cold wind howled fiercely, making Shen Hui hunch her shoulders and bury half her face in her thick fox-fur scarf.

She had bought the fox-fur scarf with the money she had extorted from Zheng Qianyu.

On the first day she wore it, she had deliberately gone to find Zheng Qianyu and flaunted it, making subtle remarks about how generous Zheng Qianyu was.

The furious expression on Zheng Qianyu’s face at the time was still vivid in her mind.

Yiqu asked worriedly,

“Miss, aren’t you cold?”

“Ah, I’m not cold…”

Shen Hui’s teeth chattered, and Yiqu frowned in self-reproach.

“You should put on another cloak. I’ll go get one right away.”

Even if Yiqu went to fetch another cloak now, they had already walked quite a distance. Shen Hui would have to shiver in the cold while waiting.

She shook her head, buried her face deeper into her scarf, leaving only her bright eyes exposed, and continued walking.

The two of them were walking and chatting when they encountered Auntie Yu standing there with a worried expression.

Auntie Yu was Shen Wai’s only concubine.

After losing her young daughter, she had never become pregnant again. She had gradually lost all presence in the Shen household and lived almost like an invisible person.

With her haggard face, Auntie Yu spoke first.

“Miss, your health is already poor. Why are you outside on such a cold day?”

But perhaps she worried that her words had offended Shen Hui, because her face soon turned pale.

Shen Hui looked at Auntie Yu with complicated emotions before speaking.

“If you hang yourself, you’ll suffocate painfully, and your corpse will look ugly. If you drink poison, your internal organs will rot away and you’ll vomit blood. If you jump from a high place, your blood and flesh will splatter everywhere, and your corpse won’t remain intact.”

“…What?”

Terrified, Auntie Yu tightly clutched her handkerchief.

Shen Hui asked calmly,

“Are you thinking of dying?”

It was exactly the same tone she normally used when cornering people.

Feeling sorry for the haggard-looking Auntie Yu, Yiqu unconsciously tried to admonish Shen Hui in a soft voice.

“Miss, Auntie Yu is a pitiful person. You’ve gotten along with her without any trouble all this time…”

But before Yiqu could finish speaking, Auntie Yu answered in a small voice,

“Yes. That’s right.”

She had, in fact, already been wondering what method would be best for her to die.

Yiqu was utterly bewildered, but Shen Hui nodded as if she understood everything.

“If you’re going to die anyway, freezing to death isn’t such a bad option. I’ll use the hot-water bottle, so give it to me.”

Auntie Yu blankly handed over the hot-water bottle.

Shen Hui hugged it to herself and let out a sigh of relief. The warmth reaching her fingertips made her feel as though she had come back to life.

She walked past Auntie Yu with large strides, but soon frowned and stopped.

In truth, she owed Auntie Yu something.

In her previous life, Auntie Yu had taken her own life not long after Shen Wai died.

“Hey.”

Auntie Yu’s heart sank when she heard Shen Hui calling her, but she turned around anyway.

“I was planning to go out for a while. If you don’t have anything else to do, come with me.”

“I… don’t want to go out.”

But Shen Hui spoke firmly, as if the decision had already been made.

“Stop saying useless things and follow me.”

Meanwhile, as soon as Madam Shen Xue returned to Eungyun Courtyard, she smashed every bowl and dish she could get her hands on, but her anger still refused to subside.

“So he really isn’t my biological son, is that it? His heart is ultimately with his birth mother. What good does it do to take him in as my adopted son? Didn’t you see that little girl Shen Hui making a fool of me? And yet that son of a bitch Shen Gu didn’t care one bit about my dignity!”

If Madam Shen Xue had not agreed to it, Shen Gu could never have dreamed of becoming the adopted son of the main branch and enjoying such prestige today.

Yet Shen Gu seemed to have completely forgotten that fact.

Nanny Wang hurriedly comforted her.

“Madam, you’ve misunderstood. The young master has no choice but to rely on you. His birth mother is nothing more than a lowly concubine. How could she possibly compare with you? If the young master truly had such deep feelings for his birth mother, he wouldn’t have become the adopted son of the main branch in the first place.

“In fact, if he had immediately abandoned his birth mother after becoming the main branch’s adopted son, wouldn’t you have worried that he was too cold-hearted? Wouldn’t that have been an even greater problem?”

Nanny Wang was right.

If Shen Gu wanted to enjoy wealth and glory for a long time, establish a firm foundation for himself, and preserve his reputation, he ultimately had to join forces with Madam Shen Xue.

Madam Shen Xue’s eyes flashed sharply before she closed them.

Seeing that her mood had eased somewhat, Nanny Wang informed her that Shen Hui had gone out.

“She even took that stiff-necked Auntie Yu with her? How many days has it been since her father died, and she’s already thinking about going out to have fun?”

The corners of Madam Shen Xue’s lips twisted mockingly.

Thinking about the pitiful state Shen Wai had been left in, she even felt a sense of satisfaction.

“I’m worried that Miss might cause another incident. The eldest young master is also away at the moment. Shouldn’t we inform him?”

At Nanny Wang’s worried words, Madam Shen Xue waved her hand dismissively.

“Tell him? There’s no need. Her father is dead, her marriage has fallen through, and the more trouble she causes, the more she’ll damage her own reputation.

“Right now, everyone is cursing me and Shen Gu, saying that we’re mistreating Shen Hui and bullying her at every turn. But just wait and see.

“The people of Fengzhou City will see with their own eyes just what a hopeless woman Shen Hui really is.”

Nanny Wang respectfully bowed her head and withdrew.

She carefully closed the door and stepped outside, only to see Joro hurrying toward her from across the way.

Nanny Wang had no intention of treating her as gently as before, so the smile immediately disappeared from her face.

But Joro regarded Nanny Wang as her lifeline and failed to notice the change.

“Nanny Wang, I don’t want to empty chamber pots anymore. Please help me.”

“Shut up. Do you dare disobey the orders of the First Madam?”

Nanny Wang slapped away Joro’s hand as it grabbed her and covered her nose in disgust.

“I thought you were capable of doing your work well, so I figured that if I helped you a little, you might soon make a good impression on Madam and secure a decent position.

“I never imagined you would be this useless.

“I suppose the marriage between you and my son will have to be called off. Who would want a daughter-in-law who spends every day emptying chamber pots and reeks of that foul smell?”

Those cold words caused Joro’s face to turn deathly pale.

Meanwhile, the carriage traveled at a steady pace without much shaking.

The coachman was a servant who worked in Shen Hui’s courtyard. He had previously worked at a carriage company for several years, so he was highly skilled at driving.

The thick, heavy curtain blocked the cold wind outside, so the inside of the carriage was not particularly cold.

As soon as Shen Hui climbed into the carriage, she leaned against Yiqu’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

Before long, the sound of her even breathing could be heard.

Sitting opposite her, Auntie Yu fidgeted uneasily and occasionally stole glances at Shen Hui’s sleeping face.

It was a gentle-looking face, one that gave no indication of the domineering personality Shen Hui usually displayed.

“Auntie Yu, you’re going to bore a hole through my face.”

Suddenly, her pale lips moved.

How long had she been awake?

Without opening her eyes, Shen Hui shifted her body into a more comfortable position.

Auntie Yu’s heart sank. Her lips moved, but she could not bring herself to say anything.

“This household is a complete mess.

“It’s crawling with filthy people, and even the air feels unbearably murky.

“My stepmother thinks she’s the most remarkable person in the world, but she’s foolish, dull-witted, and knows nothing but petty tricks.

“Shen Gu has a narrow outlook and loves to show off, but he’s blinded by profit and endlessly greedy.

“And his character is filthy, too. His head is filled with nothing but schemes to take advantage of others.

“And Auntie Yu…”

As she muttered on, Shen Hui opened her eyes and looked at Auntie Yu, who was barely able to breathe from nervousness.

“Why are you so nervous?

“Are you afraid I’ll sell you off?”