"Only loyalty to the Marquis will earn his favor and protection!" Yulu frowned, looking at He Weifang with an elder sister's demeanor, lecturing her, "Mistress! Don't be foolish; you'll regret it when it's too late!"
"Alright, alright! I know!" He Weifang shook her head helplessly, only able to assure Yulu, "My loyalty to the Marquis is unwavering! You don't need to worry about this! No other gentlemen can catch my eye!"
Watching the two women whispering in front of him, Wei Tingyu was finally content! He had always felt a lingering regret about this part of the storyline when he watched the drama. Not only was it the tragic death of He Weifang's good sister Yulu, but also He Weifang's complete transformation into a different person thereafter, with her formerly gentle personality completely disappearing—that was a major regret! Now, it was good; a world where only old Liu Shen was injured had been achieved! Wei Tingyu felt very satisfied!
"You… what were you doing just now?" At this moment, Liu Shen finally reacted. Seeing the ambiguous interaction between the jade-faced fox gentleman and his daughter-in-law He Weifang, his face immediately turned ashen, and he stepped forward to accuse them.
"Men and women should not touch! How can you embrace each other in broad daylight, in public? What kind of decency is this?!" Liu Shen spoke, showing a furious expression. Of course, his reason for doing this now was to make He Weifang feel ashamed, and thus ultimately abandon the idea of going to the shops to mess up the business. After all, if He Weifang insisted on going now, he certainly couldn't stop her! Especially now, with so many onlookers, each one was keenly watching their side. Some roadside vendors had even stopped their business, craning their necks to enjoy the gossip.
Wei Tingyu, of course, understood Liu Shen's sordid thoughts. Since this old man had no shame, he might as well help him out! Thinking this, Wei Tingyu directly turned to Liu Shen and asked in a disdainful tone, "What I do with this lady has what to do with you?"
"This is my daughter-in-law! She's publicly entangled with an outside man; can I, as her father-in-law, not intervene?" Liu Shen immediately said brazenly, feeling that he was completely in the right on this matter.
"What do you mean 'entangled'?" Yulu immediately became angry, glaring at Liu Shen and saying loudly, "Everyone saw clearly! My mistress almost fell into the river from the bridge; this young master bravely rescued her. How did that become 'entangled'?"
"Exactly! He saved your daughter-in-law's life, he wasn't publicly seducing her!"
"But then again, the way this young master held your daughter-in-law… wasn't much different from seduction!"
"You're right! I just saw the way this young mistress looked at this young master; her eyes were truly filled with affection…"
"After all, he saved her life; what's wrong with a little admiration? As long as it stems from genuine emotion and stays within the bounds of propriety, isn't that fine?"
"But saving a life is one thing, why hold a married woman like that? That's not proper…"
"Proper? What's the point of propriety when your life is at stake? After all that talk, why didn't you go save her just now?"
"Exactly! Human life is at stake; expediency is key! Who cares about propriety at a time like that? I think you're just talking out of your ass!"
"This father-in-law is truly despicable! Someone saved your daughter-in-law, and instead of expressing gratitude, you're making baseless accusations here…"
"You don't know about this, do you? I think this father-in-law is also a shameless old pervert! I saw it clearly just now, he was trying to grab his daughter-in-law, which is what made her fall into the river!"
"What? There's more to it? This old man has a devious mind!"
"Indeed! I saw it earlier too, and I thought it was some wealthy old lord trying to snatch a commoner's daughter! Now I know she's his daughter-in-law!"
"Who is this person? To commit such a disgraceful act that corrupts moral principles and disrupts ethical norms?"
"Quiet down! This is Lord Liu, the Dongdu prefectural judge! I know him!"
"What? He's an official?"
"Why does the court employ just anyone? Does such an inhuman fellow deserve to be an official?"
…The surrounding crowd immediately started chattering upon hearing Liu Shen's words. Before long, the events that had just unfolded on the bridge and Liu Shen's true identity were exposed by these gossiping spectators. Of course, besides being fragmented, the public's words had another characteristic: they loved exaggeration! In just a short while, the incident of Liu Shen trying to grab He Weifang had already become a drama of an old perverted father-in-law harassing his daughter-in-law in everyone's rumors!
Upon hearing all this, Wei Tingyu only felt like laughing. And He Weifang was excellent at acting; anyway, they were misunderstanding Liu Shen, not her! Besides, her scene of falling into the river was also seen by these people as a loyal and steadfast woman who would rather jump into the river than let her father-in-law succeed, so it didn't harm her reputation… The only one who couldn't keep a straight face was Liu Shen. The accusation of a father-in-law harassing his daughter-in-law was already unbearable, and now the crowd had even exposed his true identity. Could he still live in Dongdu with any dignity after this? If these matters spread to official circles, then he wouldn't even dream of promotion; he'd be lucky not to be kicked out by the court!
"Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!" Thinking this, Liu Shen immediately frowned, then desperately tried to explain to the surrounding crowd, "I just wanted to send my daughter-in-law home! What do you mean 'corrupting moral principles'? Don't spread false rumors!"
"What kind of nonsense is that? Who grabs their daughter-in-law in the street? I clearly saw him trying to force her!"
"Exactly! This explanation doesn't make sense!"
"I think this person disregards human ethics and is now just looking for excuses!"
"Right! It's just his daughter-in-law going out for a stroll. Was it necessary to force her to jump into the river?"
…However, Liu Shen's explanation was clearly not believed by anyone, which made him sweat profusely. The only way to prove himself now was to have his daughter-in-law, He Weifang, personally speak up.
"Mudanya!" Thinking this, Liu Shen quickly turned to He Weifang and solemnly bowed, also saying, "Please, help your father explain! This misunderstanding spreading will truly harm our Liu family's reputation!"
He Weifang almost scoffed! You old scoundrel, now you care about the Liu family's reputation? But what does the Liu family's reputation have to do with me, He Weifang? Seeing Wei Tingyu secretly wink at her, the clever He Weifang immediately understood that this was an excellent opportunity to make Liu Shen admit to embezzling his daughter-in-law's dowry.
"Everyone!" He Weifang's eyes darted, and she immediately put on a pitiful expression, standing in the middle and bowing to the surrounding crowd, saying, "This humble woman only wished to see the two shops that came with my dowry today!"
"Because my mother-in-law and father-in-law previously wanted this humble woman to use her dowry to supplement the household's expenses."
"This humble woman only thought of her husband's family, yet I don't know why my father-in-law obstructed me so!"
…As He Weifang's words fell, everyone present immediately understood. So that's what happened! However, this old man Liu Shen, although he didn't harbor evil intentions towards his daughter-in-law, preventing her from seeing her dowry shops was simply too much! Besides, such a good daughter-in-law! And she was even willing to use her dowry to subsidize her husband's family. What more could the Liu family ask for? Thinking this, the crowd began to chatter again, filled with disdain for the Liu family and sympathy for He Weifang.
"Mistress!" Yulu, who had grown up with He Weifang since childhood, naturally understood her implicitly. At this moment, she immediately knew what she should do. She instantly put on an angry expression and spoke to He Weifang in a tone of persuasion, "Those rumors from before must be true! Why don't you believe it?"
"It's spread throughout the Liu family's servants that the Master and Madam of the Liu family are going to sell your dowry shops!"
"But you just believed they wouldn't do such a thing! Now, don't you see they're guilty as charged?!"
As Yulu spoke these words, everyone present looked as if they had suddenly understood.
"So that's it! It seems these rumors must be true!"
"No wonder he stopped his daughter-in-law from seeing her dowry shops! Perhaps they've already sold them!"
"Exactly! If they let the daughter-in-law see them, wouldn't they be exposed? I never thought there were such in-laws in the world!"
"Pfft! How shameless! And they're an official family too, yet so despicable!"
"Then everything before this makes sense. The Liu family actually sold the daughter-in-law's dowry shops?!"
…The act of using a daughter-in-law's dowry, let alone by a wealthy family, would be considered disgraceful even by ordinary commoners. And Liu Shen was even more shameless! To prevent his daughter-in-law from seeing the shops, he actually forced her to jump into the river! This… could only be described with the four words: "ultimate father-in-law"!
"I…" Liu Shen hadn't expected He Weifang and Yulu to, in perfect tandem, expose the ugly truth of his family using his daughter-in-law's dowry. Seeing the contemptuous gazes of the crowd and hearing their mocking words, his old face immediately lost all composure.
"Go! Go home!" However, since he was already exposed, Liu Shen decided to just give up. He pointed at He Weifang and said, "Fine, fine! Since you insist I sold your dowry shops, then let's just say they're sold!"
"Now, go home immediately and reflect behind closed doors!"
"Without my word, don't take a single step out of the courtyard!"
As these words were uttered, the onlookers were even more displeased, and they began openly criticizing Liu Shen. The other party had already clearly stated that they had sold the daughter-in-law's dowry shops. When the father-in-law displayed such a rogue's face, the daughter-in-law truly had no way to deal with it. Because the other party indeed had the right to confine her at home!
However, Wei Tingyu naturally wouldn't indulge Liu Shen! Especially not letting him bully He Weifang like this! He curled his lips into a cold smile, and with his right hand forming a sword with two fingers, he subtly pointed towards Liu Shen's knee! A sharp internal force shot from his fingertips, striking the acupoint on Liu Shen's left knee.
Liu Shen, who was still loudly scolding He Weifang, feeling very proud that she dared not retort, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his knee. Then, uncontrollably, his entire body fell backward. And at this moment, Liu Shen happened to be standing by the bridge, so his fall was just like He Weifang's earlier, directly over the railing and into the river.
"Ah!" Accompanied by the screams of Liu Shen and the onlookers, there was no legendary hero to save him this time. Liu Shen's obese body hit the water with a loud thud, splashing water that even reached the bridge.
"Pfft!" Seeing this disgusting father-in-law suffer such a fate, He Weifang couldn't help but burst out laughing. And Yulu laughed even more exaggeratedly, unable to straighten her waist. It was satisfying! Truly satisfying! Since the first day they joined the Liu family, the two women had fantasized countless times about Liu Shen's various misfortunes! But unlike those meaningless thoughts, this was now actually happening before their eyes!
"Help… help me… help…" Liu Shen didn't know how to swim, and with one leg paralyzed, he flailed a couple of times in the water and began to sink, gulping down river water with gurgling sounds. His two young attendants were also terrified at this moment. If their master drowned, they wouldn't be able to explain it when they went back, and they might even be beaten to death by the angry mistress and young master. So, disregarding everything else, they quickly ran to the riverside to try and rescue him.
Of course, none of this concerned He Weifang! After seeing Liu Shen's pathetic state, she glanced in Wei Tingyu's direction with her beautiful eyes, curved like crescent moons from laughing, and saw that his figure had already disappeared into the crowd.
"Huh!" At this moment, Yulu also noticed that the jade-faced fox gentleman had disappeared. She looked around, confused, and asked, "Where did that young master go?"
"Why are you looking for that young master?" He Weifang asked Yulu. "Weren't you afraid that young master had designs on me before?"
"That's a separate matter!" Yulu thought for a moment and replied, "I wanted to tell him directly that my mistress is already a part of the Marquis's residence, so he shouldn't harbor any more ideas! Lest he suffer the consequences later!"
"Of course, he saved my mistress's life, so we should naturally thank him properly! Wouldn't it be good to give him some gold, silver, and jade?"
Give him what gold, silver, and jade? I've already given him my whole self! He Weifang thought to herself, then pulled Yulu, who was looking around for someone, and walked straight away. Liu Shen's life and death were no longer her concern; she couldn't be bothered to care! Now, stopping the Liu residence's steward and accountant from selling her dowry shops was much more urgent! Of course, He Weifang felt even more at ease now! After all, she knew that the jade-faced fox gentleman surely hadn't gone far and must be silently watching and protecting her from somewhere!
At lunchtime! In Wei Tingyu's small courtyard, he was having a meal with his four beauties! Dou Zhao and He Weifang sat to his left and right, respectively, one pouring him wine, the other serving him dishes. Miao Ansu and Zhao Zhangru sat opposite him, one peeling shrimp, the other carefully picking out fish bones. Of course, the peeled shrimp and fish meat from both women naturally ended up on the plate in front of Wei Tingyu.
This kind of life, where everything was handed to him, already made Wei Tingyu feel a lot of guilt! Now, besides his three wives and concubines, He Weifang had also joined this large family that actively served him. But unfortunately, he couldn't refuse the kindness of these beauties. The thought of not letting them serve him, and seeing the expressions on all four women's faces—expressions that said, "If you don't let me serve you, I'll cry"—what could he do? He could only reluctantly be this useless head of the household!
"Sister He! Have you heard?" Miao Ansu placed a peeled shrimp onto Wei Tingyu's plate, while looking at He Weifang, who was pouring him wine, and asked, "The Master of the Liu family fell into the river today and almost died!"
"Oh? There's such a thing?" Zhao Zhangru's eyes immediately lit up. She had been practicing her swordplay all morning and hadn't heard any of these gossips. Now intrigued, she quickly said, "Quick! Tell me the details!"
"I also heard it from the servants!" Miao Ansu blinked and said, "It's said that the Master of the Liu family went to inspect his family's shops today, but encountered ruffians who tried to rob him. During the struggle, he was pushed into the river!"
"Pfft!" Upon hearing this, He Weifang immediately burst out laughing. This Liu Shen really knew how to flatter himself! But it was a pity that Heaven actually didn't open its eyes and didn't drown this guy directly in the river!
"Later, I heard that Young Master Liu happened to arrive there and, with the attendants, pulled his father out!" Miao Ansu blinked, then recounted the other gossip she had heard, "It's said that when he was pulled out, he was almost gone. Water was gurgling straight out of his throat!"