Chapter 181: Arrogant and Disdainful
Master Su, being merely a businessman, no one dares to easily meddle with the Su Mansion, precisely for this reason, the rules set by the ancestral Su Family, which allowed the legitimate second house to separate, were also made with long-term considerations in mind, leaving a fallback for the Su Family. Brothers of the same root, even if their households were divided, their relationship still stood firm, which is also why Su Hengyi and Su Hengxuan, despite being adept both in literature and martial arts, did not pursue government careers.
“There’s no need to alarm Father-in-law for now. Mr. Sun, though being the general magistrate of Yiyang Prefecture and holding high authority, doesn’t have a direct connection with our military, and even if he wants to do something, it won’t be easy,” Han Yu mused, though his promotion was unexpected, it just came a bit earlier, and everything was still under his control. He wasn’t a stickler for rules or overly self-righteous. Where he could leverage his wife’s family, he would not be polite, but for matters he could resolve himself, there was no need to trouble his Father-in-law; it would make him seem incompetent.
“But it’s still better to be more vigilant. And that person, they might also play dirty behind our backs; we still need to be cautious…” Su Wenyue remained uneasy, wanting to say more, when Han Yu simply bent down and swallowed whatever it was into his mouth.
A moment later, Su Wenyue sat in Han Yu’s arms, panting and with a blank mind, remembering nothing.
“Listen to me, take good care of yourself and the child. Your husband is not so useless, I have a good grasp of these matters and will arrange them properly. You worrying is just unnecessary worry. As long as you take care of yourself and leave me without worries about our rear, everything else is trivial.”
Su Wenyue thought it over and it made sense – in her previous life, Han Yu had climbed to such a high position without relying on the Su Family’s help, which demonstrated how formidable his means and thoughts were. She had always believed in Han Yu’s ability. To speak a rebellious word, in her eyes Han Yu was even more formidable than the emperor; she was simply anxious because she cared too much. So, she nodded, “I’ll listen to you, but you must be very careful. Both I and the child in my stomach are relying on you.”
Seeing his wife’s blindly trusting eyes, Han Yu felt a tenderness in his heart, “Don’t worry, for you and the child in your stomach, I won’t let anything happen to me.”
Since she had told Han Yu all that she could think of and knew, Su Wenyue truly stopped overthinking. Her own intellect was hardly adequate, and those convoluted matters that taxed the brain were better left to Han Yu.
Mrs. Wang Sun returned from attending the banquet at the Han Family with a cold and dark expression. Since arriving in Xinluo Town, she had never suffered such a loss, being ridiculed and threatened by Su Wenyue in front of so many people, losing face completely. What’s worse, she was helpless against Su Wenyue, and she did not know how much truth there was in Su Wenyue’s words, or whether Su Wenyue truly had something incriminating on her.
Although she had leveraged her mother’s family to be quite dominant in the Wang family, even making her mother-in-law yield to her, only she knew that her husband’s heart was not with her. Otherwise, she would not have been so ruthless in suppressing those concubines and aunts; she was also holding back frustration inwardly, afraid that if her husband learned of her deeds, he would grow even colder towards her.
“Madam, don’t be angry. That Madam Han really doesn’t know what’s good for her. Madam’s lesson for her was for her own good. If she doesn’t appreciate it, that’s one thing, but to oppose you, Madam, and make you lose face like this, she needs a good lesson, to show her her place!” said the servant girl who had accompanied Mrs. Wang Sun to the banquet, voicing indignantly upon seeing her pale with rage.
Mrs. Wang Sun didn’t appreciate this. It was time to change this servant girl; she’s not so ignorant as to not have noticed that day. Taking advantage of a modicum of beauty, flirting with the master right under her nose, she wasn’t a well-behaved girl, trying to climb into bed with such little ability, she was getting ahead of herself.
“Shut up, it’s not your place to tell me what to do. None of you give peace of mind, get out!”
The servant girl, not understanding how she’d offended Mrs. Wang Sun, knew the mistress’s temperament all too well; no one dared linger, frightened and quickly retreated.
Seeing the servant girl leave, Mrs. Wang Sun was still unsatisfied, and smashed a vase, followed by more noises in the room. When Lord Wang came back, he saw the room in complete disarray, knowing Mrs. Sun must have been upset at the Han Family. Seeing her sullen face, Lord Wang’s eyes flashed with disgust, but he quickly hid it.
That Han Yu was formidable; he hadn’t managed to gain any advantage over him. As for Han Yu’s wife, he estimated she wasn’t far behind. Having seen today’s reception at the Han Family, where not a single detail was overlooked, it was clear she provided substantial support for Han Yu. There were also rumors of her carrying twins, a sign of good fortune, unlike his own wife, who had failed in both managing the household and giving birth to children.
Mrs. Sun’s mood softened when she saw her husband approaching, at least he hadn’t gone to those seductive women. Little did she know that Lord Wang was enduring his revulsion, curious about the banquet’s affairs and the need for Father-in-law’s support in his career advancement, which was why he approached her.
When it came to the incident at the banquet, Mrs. Sun naturally wouldn’t speak of Su Wenyue’s threats, selecting inconsequential details to share, and went out of her way to present Su Wenyue as a disrespectful and insolent rustic fishwife. Lord Wang, aware of his wife’s temperament, didn’t believe her. Just based on the arrangements at today’s banquet at the Han family, he already held Han Yu’s wife in higher regard. To have put Mrs. Sun, the shrew, at a disadvantage, in his eyes, was an added credit to her.
Madam Fang Chen learned that Mrs. Wang Sun had been disgraced at the Han Family’s banquet only afterwards, and immediately wanted to visit the Wang family. Mrs. Wang Sun, who came from a decent background, was one of the few people that Madam Fang Chen respected enough to call a friend. Hearing that her good friend had been humiliated by the same person who had embarrassed her, Madam Fang Chen felt a sense of commiseration.
“Older Sister, if only I had warned you sooner. You have no idea how cunning Su Wenyue can be. At the County magistrate’s wife’s birthday celebration, she made me lose all my face; even instigated people from the county government to kick me out. When have I ever been treated like this? It was a humiliation that I’ll remember for a lifetime! Sadly, I lack the means to retaliate, with my mother’s family in decline. And now with Han Yu’s promotion in office, we are even less capable of dealing with them. It’s different for Older Sister—Uncle is the general magistrate of Yiyang Prefecture. If anyone dares to bully you, Uncle will definitely not stand for it!”
“There really was such a thing; I thought she was just arrogant in front of me. I didn’t expect her to be the same in front of you, too unrestrained. She’s nothing but an unweaned girl who thinks she’s beyond reproach!” Mrs. Wang Sun, enraged, slapped the table and immediately decided to find a way to make Su Wenyue lose face and teach her a lesson.
“What Older Sister said is right. That Su Wenyue is too arrogant. If she isn’t taught a lesson, she might get even more out of hand,” said Madam Fang Chen in agreement.