"What do you mean by that, my lord?" Shen Jiashi’s complexion darkened as she stood up, "Are you blaming me? But do you even have the right to?" She paused, "When these two children were born, the old madam instructed you to bring them to me for upbringing. What did you say? You said they would be more comfortable with their own mother... What could I do?"
Shen Wanyin’s face instantly turned beet red.
"Shen Wanyin, for years you have pampered your concubines and neglected your wife, never regarding me, your lawful spouse, as worthy of your attention. Every month you come to my chambers on the first and the fifteenth due to ancestral tradition. When else have you entered? They may call me ’mother’ openly, but which day are they not spending with their real mothers? Also, when you said they should interact more with the princes, I even advised against it. Did you not then say that my hair was long but my insight was short? Now that there’s trouble, you remember that I am their stepmother?"
Shen Wanyin was left speechless. This wife had been with him from before the Shen Family rose to prominence, and there was a time when the family was struggling, during which she had helped them get by with her dowry. Later, she had borne him two sons and managed the household impeccably, hence his parents held this daughter-in-law in high esteem, and he himself felt a degree of fear towards her. The anger from before was but a moment’s flare, and it had now subsided.
"Shen Wanyin, I’m telling you, I, a Jia, will not carry this blame," Shen Jiashi declared as she stood up. "I’m going to seek an audience with the elder master and mistress right now... My sons have been raised well, if the concubine daughters have caused trouble, why should it fall on me?"
"You..." Shen Wanyin hastily went to hold back his wife, "Fine, I misspoke, can’t you accept that?" He sighed again, "Our parents are of old age, and I fear a mishap befalling them due to agitation... I am simply too anxious, that’s all."
Shen Jiashi didn’t insist on leaving and casually sat back down, "So what are you planning to do about this, my lord?" This was no time for holding grudges; after all, if this matter wasn’t handled properly, it would be the end of the Shen Family, and she would be doomed as well. However, she ignored the injury on her spouse’s forehead, thinking that it served him right for finding this trouble himself.
"I have already sent Yi’an to Beijing overnight," Shen Wanyin sighed. "We’ll have to rely on my older brother for a solution... It’s a family misfortune," he said, glancing at Shen Jiashi, "In the next few days, those two cursed daughters will need more guidance from you, madam, given they belong to Prince Rong now..." Yi’an was his personal servant, skilled in martial arts and very loyal.
"I would like to educate them, but is there enough time?" Shen Jiashi scoffed.
Shen Wanyin frowned, "Madam, let’s not speak in anger, we need to find a solution to get through this."
Shen Jiashi glanced at Shen Wanyin, "Actually, my lord, this incident might not entirely be a bad thing."
"Oh?" Shen Wanyin’s eyes sparkled, "What do you mean, madam...?"
"Didn’t my lord intend to play it safe from the beginning?" Shen Jiashi sneered, "Wasn’t it because you feared that if there really was a conflict between the two sides, you would pick the wrong side? But now, isn’t the burden gone? We can wholeheartedly align with Prince San’s faction without any hesitation..."
"You make it sound so simple," Shen Wanyin exhaled, "Whether those fools are still wanted by Prince Rong’s side is another matter... Not to mention, we still don’t know my older brother’s thoughts on this." He had asked his brother before, but his brother always told him not to meddle in court politics, assuring that he had plans—inexplicably vague ones—which only added to his anxiety, leading to his own schemes, but who could predict...