Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

Sheng Hong was further angered by her repeated calls of "partiality". He raised his hand to hit her, but was held back by the eldest lady. She also started to cry, "Sheng Hong, that's enough! Isn't my daughter your own? You only favor the people from Lin Qi Pavilion. You didn't scold them at all when such a big thing happened, but you only hit my daughter! To what extent do you, the Sheng family, want to favor your concubine over your wife?"

Sheng Hong: "You taught your daughter to be rude and I'm disciplining her now, but you're still scolding me? Why don't you ask yourself why you taught your daughter to be so ignorant?"

The war finally reached the couple. Lin Qinshuang was secretly delighted. She quietly helped Molan, who was still kneeling, up and stood behind Sheng Hong.

Just as the couple was arguing, a servant came in and reported that Old Master Yu had sent a letter.

Sheng Hong felt strange. Didn’t the person just leave? Why was he sending a letter now?

He was afraid that the old tutor would say something urgent, so he temporarily stopped arguing with the eldest lady, immediately unfolded the letter and read it carefully. The more he read, the redder his face became, until it turned purple.

He snorted, slammed the letter on the table, turned around and told Molan to kneel back on the ground.

Lin Qinshuang realized something was wrong, but she didn't know what was going on, so she didn't act rashly. She glanced at Molan and asked An Jing to kneel down.

Seeing Sheng Hong's reaction, the lady also picked up the letter and looked at it.

It was written that after leaving the Sheng family, Yanran was restless, and only after repeated questioning by Old Master Yu did she report everything she saw in the hall. Although it was a family affair of the Sheng family, outsiders should not say too much, but Old Master Yu felt that he was a role model and had the responsibility of educating, so he wrote a letter to persuade Sheng Hong to discipline his daughter.

"Any lady from a noble family must behave properly in her daily life. If she encounters lost property on the road, she should inform the owner in person or let others know. If she picks up something and then puts it in her own pocket, it is not the behavior of a noble family..."

"That's all I have to say. I won't mention it again in the future. But I hope Lord Sheng can manage the family strictly and not let your children do whatever they want and bring disaster to the Sheng family's reputation."

After reading the letter, the lady felt completely enlightened. Old Master Yu was indeed a model of a scholar. Every word he wrote was like a gem. He explained the whole thing to Sheng Hong in detail. The lady was also brought back to the right path by this letter.

She pointed at Molan and said harshly, "I still remember when we were in Yangzhou, you and your daughter said you didn't know it was my Hua'er's dowry, and you accepted the stolen goods by mistake because you believed the slander of a villain. Now, there are no villains to slander you anymore, right? You should have informed the elders on the spot when you saw someone else's lost property. Your father and brother were there, so why didn't you just tell them directly? Why did you take it and hide it in your arms, and then say it was too late when you were exposed? The good things you did were all known to the old Grand Tutor of the Yu family! He is a Grand Tutor, but he still wrote a letter to teach us how to discipline our daughter. You really bring shame to the Sheng family, Fourth Miss!"

Sheng Hong was both embarrassed and annoyed, and the fire in his eyes seemed to burn through Molan.

Lin Qinshuang also knew that there was no way she could turn the situation around this time, so she shrank to the side and dared not move.

The eldest lady said, "Sir, Molan must change this habit! She secretly puts the things she finds into her arms. If she doesn't change her behavior, she will bring shame to the Sheng family when she gets married!"

Sheng Hong nodded: "That's right, my daughter of the Sheng family cannot leave such a reputation. Come, bring the ruler and hit her with twenty hands. After that, punish her to kneel in the ancestral hall for three full days before coming out."

Mother Liu brought the handboard and asked, "Master, should the twenty handboards only hit the left hand or the right hand?"

Sheng Hong glanced at her and said sternly, "Twenty slaps on each hand! Beat her until she knows she is wrong!"

Mother Liu took the order and walked forward with the ruler in hand.

Molan retreated on her knees until she reached the corner of the wall. Seeing that she had nowhere to retreat, she started pushing and shoving Liu Mama, shouting, "Father, spare me. Mo'er knows I was wrong. Mo'er knows I was wrong!"

Lin Qinshuang knelt down and hugged Sheng Hong's legs and said, "Master, Master! After forty blows, her hands will be disabled. How can she read and write? If scars are left, how can she face people in the future?"

Sheng Hong cursed: "Do you feel ashamed now? Why didn't you feel ashamed when you picked up other people's things? I think it would be best if her hands were broken, so that she won't bring trouble to the family again!"

These few words made Molan's heart sink to the bone, and she cried out, "Mother, help me!"

Lin Qinshuang knew she couldn't beg for mercy anymore, so she angrily said, "If your father wants to beat you, just take it. Remember these lessons and be careful in the future!"

Molan finally gave up struggling and obediently took the slap from Liu's mother.

Mother Liu hit him again and again, very hard, the sound could be heard in the courtyard of Weiruixuan.

Hearing this voice, the lady felt relaxed all over. The depression that had been pent up in her chest for a long time was finally released. The servants of Weiruixuan who were standing by also felt relieved.

Only Rulan, holding the burning half of her face, looked at her father.

In the candlelight, her father's profile flickered, making her feel very strange.

Although she knew that her father favored people from Linqi Pavilion, she had never realized that it had come to such a point where he could not distinguish right from wrong.

If the old master hadn't sent me the letter today, would I be the one being punished with a hand-slap?

For the first time, she was not happy because Molan was humiliated.

Instead, she was very sad.

But she herself couldn't figure out what she was sad about.

……

Molan had not been to the school for many days, and the only female students under Zhuang Xuejiu were Rulan and Minglan. Without Molan, Rulan became much quieter, and she stopped making trouble around Qi Heng. She studied seriously and did not worry Zhuang Xuejiu. On the contrary, Minglan's handwriting was getting worse and worse. After class that day, he kept Minglan alone and punished her to copy the "Salt and Iron Theory" several times.

Qi Heng pretended that he could not find the jade pendant and left it in the hall. He took to heart what Master Zhuang said as he scolded Minglan. He then went to Daxiangguo Temple to pick out two good pens. He also asked someone to buy water chestnuts grown in winter hot springs. He packed them in boxes and planned to find an opportunity to give them to Minglan.

As the young master's personal servant, Buwei was very embarrassed. On the one hand, he knew that the young master had some feelings for Minglan, and he wanted the young master to be happy, and he wanted to do whatever the young master asked him to do; on the other hand, he knew that this would make the princess angry. After all, in the princess's mind, the young master's most important thing at the moment was to study for the imperial examination, and everything else was a distraction. Even if he wanted to interact with a woman, it should be a princess or a county lady, how could she be a concubine of a fifth-rank official?

Buwei was walking towards Sheng Mansion with the hot box in her hand. Just when she was feeling gloomy and worried, a maid came towards her. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was Xiaotao, who was beside Minglan.

He watched Xiaotao walk up to him and asked, "Miss Xiaotao, what's the matter?"