Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

Chapter 325 Towards the Golden Palace (29)

He had barely finished speaking when he received another slap across the face.

"Xie Zhaolin, I am your mother! How dare you speak to me like that!" Meng Zhenyue said sternly. "Is this how your grandmother taught you to address me?"

Xie Zhaolin was used to being spoiled, and having been influenced by Cheng Qingshuang, he knew that Meng Zhenyue was an easy target. Now that he had been slapped twice, he did not restrain himself at all, but instead became even more wicked.

"Mother? You cripple, you don't deserve that title!" Xie Zhaolin said viciously. "You wait, when Father comes back from his shift, I'll make him divorce you, you vicious woman who abuses her stepson!"

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned Xie Zhao; the moment Xie Zhao was brought up, Meng Zhenyue's anger intensified.

She said to the maids and servants beside her, "Tie up this unfilial and disrespectful brat and hang him on the tree in the yard! If I don't discipline you properly today, you'll bring shame to the Xie family when you leave the gates in the future, and that will be my fault as your mother!"

Meng Zhenyue's maids had long been grateful to the family, but since their mistress had chosen to swallow her anger in the past, they, as servants, could not say anything lest they be accused of sowing discord between their mistress and her husband.

Seeing that Meng Zhenyue had finally reached her breaking point and was determined to teach Xie Zhaolin a lesson, the group of men were instantly energized, rolled up their sleeves, and rushed forward.

The two women pinned Xie Zhaolin to the ground, while one of them ran to get a rope. Several maids worked together to tie Xie Zhaolin up tightly, ignoring his kicking and shoving and his struggles, and tied him to a big tree in the courtyard.

Seeing this scene, Meng Zhenyue felt a slight release of the pent-up anger in her heart.

Is it really that enjoyable to be a tough, unapproachable villain?

Just then, she caught a glimpse of a figure sneaking out of the courtyard gate out of the corner of her eye. When she turned around, she saw that Xie Wanfang had run away when she realized that things were not going well.

If she wasn't mistaken, Xie Wanfang must have gone to Cheng Qingshuang to complain and ask for help.

Perfect, she took care of that old hag as well.

Not long after, Cheng Qingshuang, having received the news, rushed over.

Upon entering the courtyard and seeing Xie Zhaolin tied to a tree like livestock awaiting slaughter, Cheng Qingshuang's expression changed drastically. She angrily exclaimed, "What is this! What are they trying to do! This is outrageous! Put my grandson down at once!"

Xie Zhaolin also managed to squeeze out two tears and struggled to shout, "Grandma, save me!"

Half of the servants in the Xie family were brought by Meng Zhenyue from the Meng family as part of her dowry, and the other half were bought from slave traders after she married into the Xie family. The indentures were in her hands, and the servants knew very well who their masters were.

At this moment, there were more than a dozen male and female servants standing in the courtyard. After hearing Cheng Qingshuang's shout and seeing Meng Zhenyue sitting leisurely by the small table drinking tea without saying a word, no one dared to make any rash moves.

Seeing that no one paid attention to her, Cheng Qingshuang became furious and turned to Meng Zhenyue: "Xiaoyue, what are you doing? Why did you tie Zhaolin up? And this mark on his face... did you hit him?"

"Yes." Meng Zhenyue admitted without hesitation.

Cheng Qingshuang immediately turned pale with anger, her voice trembling: "You... Meng Zhenyue, how cruel you are! You actually took advantage of Zhao'er's absence to abuse his child, you..."

"Before you criticize me, you might as well ask what your eldest grandson has done," Meng Zhenyue said, giving a wink to the maid beside her.

The maid immediately stepped forward and vividly recounted Xie Zhaolin's insults to Meng Zhenyue, calling her a "dead cripple" and telling her to "make her father divorce her."

After listening, Cheng Qingshuang said righteously, "Zhaolin was wrong, but he's just a child. What does a child know? How can you, an adult, argue with a child..."

"The child may be ignorant, but are the adults also ignorant? If no one taught him, would a child say such vicious things?"

Cheng Qingshuang paused, a hint of guilt flashing in her eyes, before turning the question back on her: "Xiaoyue, what do you mean by that? Are you implying that I instigated Zhaolin to curse you?"

Meng Zhenyue sneered, suppressing her disgust, and mimicked Cheng Qingshuang, throwing the question back at her: "I didn't say that. Are you trying to accuse me of disrespecting my mother-in-law, Mother?"

After saying that, before Cheng Qingshuang could speak, she added, "Besides, Zhaolin is already twelve years old, not a child. Today he threw a tantrum at home and insulted his mother. I only hit him as a small punishment."

If you continue to speak so recklessly when you're out in the future and offend outsiders, it won't be as simple as just getting slapped twice or tied to a tree!

To put it bluntly, the capital is full of powerful and influential people. If he offends someone the Xie family can't afford to offend, and it brings ruin to the whole family, what will happen then? Must Mother wait until disaster strikes before she reflects on her actions?"

"..." Cheng Qingshuang was secretly alarmed.

The daughter-in-law was usually very gentle and kind, and had never said a harsh word to them.

Why do you seem like a completely different person after coming back from your trip today?

Her fighting prowess made her momentarily think she was facing the most shrewish widow at the entrance of Luo Family Village.

"But...but you can't hit him!" Cheng Qingshuang said indignantly. "We're all family, can't we talk things out properly..."

family?

This word, like a needle, pricked Meng Zhenyue hard.

She immediately stood up from her chair, her face extremely ugly: "Family? I only discipline Zhaolin because I consider you all family. Zhaolin and Wanfang were registered under my name by my husband himself, so I am their mother. It is only natural for a mother to discipline her children. What wrong have I done?"

Cheng Qingshuang: "..."

Unable to argue with Meng Zhenyue, Cheng Qingshuang resorted to bringing up Xie Zhao: "Does Zhao'er know how you treat Zhaolin? He trusted you, which is why he registered the child in your name, but for such a small matter, you slapped and tied him up. If Zhao'er sees this..."

“Since I’ve done this, I have no intention of hiding it from my husband.” Meng Zhenyue sneered. “If my husband is dissatisfied with what I’ve done, and since you, Mother, also despise my inability to have children, then let’s find a concubine for my husband who can give birth and take care of the children.”

Cheng Qingshuang was taken aback, then said angrily, "Do you think Zhao'er wouldn't dare?"

Meng Zhenyue ignored her and turned to walk towards the bedroom, not forgetting to instruct the servants in front of Cheng Qingshuang: "Keep an eye on the young master. Don't let him down until he's been hanging for two hours!"

"Yes!"

Cheng Qingshuang's face turned ashen.

After Meng Zhenyue entered the room, she twice made a fuss about rescuing Xie Zhaolin, but was stopped by the maids and servants both times.

Realizing she couldn't do anything to these loyal lackeys, and unwilling to let her eldest grandson hang from the tree for two hours, she could only turn around and go to the gatekeeper to send someone to find Xie Zhao.

However, the gatekeeper was also one of Meng Zhenyue's men, and had already received instructions from Meng Zhenyue's head maid. He didn't even bother to make up an excuse and simply said that the madam did not allow it.

Cheng Qingshuang was so angry she almost fell over backwards.

Cheng Qingshuang returned to the courtyard and waited with Xie Zhaolin, who was still crying, until the sun set and Xie Zhaolin returned from his shift.

Upon seeing Xie Zhao's figure appear at the gate of the courtyard, Cheng Qingshuang gathered her emotions, rushed over, hugged her son, and burst into tears.

"Zhao'er, you're finally back! Zhao Lin has been hanging from a tree all day without food or water, and I couldn't even get close to him. He was almost driven to death by this!"