Chapter Sixty-Six: Displease Me, and You'll Be Made a Eunuch

“Your Highness is thoughtful and considerate of the sisters at home; I am deeply grateful,” Lady Gu said, feeling a surge of satisfaction. In the end, Shen Fuyu was still afraid—she was nothing more than a pretty-faced wretch, all bark and no bite. After posturing with a few harsh words, she still had to bow her head and compromise. “In my humble opinion, Your Highness’s second and third sisters are about to be engaged. Entering the palace to accompany you now would only delay their marriages. As for the other girls in the main branch, they are all still too young and unsuitable for the palace.”

“The second branch’s daughter lacks proper status, and it would not be appropriate to bring her into the palace. As for the third branch…”

Seeing Lady Gu pause, Shen Fuyu continued, “Sixth Sister just caused such a scandal—surely everyone will soon know of it. Bringing her into the palace would only bring shame. The only other girls of the right age are Seventh Sister and Eighth Sister.”

Miss Shen Chayu and Miss Shen Liyu, both concubines’ daughters from the third branch, differed in age by only a year—one was fourteen, the other thirteen. Both were of suitable age.

“Mother, whom do you think is more suitable?” Shen Fuyu handed the choice directly to Lady Gu. In any case, bringing Shen Tangyu into the palace was the most important. The choice of the other companion hardly mattered.

Lady Gu pondered a moment. On the surface, the two concubines’ daughters from the third branch seemed obedient under Madam Yue’s hand, but in truth, neither of them was easy to deal with. If Madam Yue truly had any capability, she wouldn’t have let the concubines bear children so easily. “In my opinion, you might as well bring your Eighth Sister into the palace. She has always been sensible and well-behaved, though she is a bit young.”

“That sounds reasonable. Then I’ll trouble Mother to inform her for me,” Shen Fuyu said with a faint smile. “There’s little to do these days, and I haven’t been out in quite a while. Let’s have Eldest Sister and Eighth Sister accompany me for a walk.”

“That won’t do, Your Highness. You’re still early in your pregnancy; how can you go out walking?” Now that Lady Gu saw hope for her own daughter’s entry into the palace, she grew all the more solicitous toward Shen Fuyu. “It’s better to be cautious.”

But Shen Fuyu had no patience for the pretense, frowning as she replied, “If I can’t even protect myself and the child in my womb, then what use is the Shen family?”

Lady Gu’s face tightened in embarrassment, her back teeth grinding together. No matter—just a few more days, and once this wretched girl was gone from the Shen family and her own daughter was in the palace, she would have plenty of ways to deal with her!

“My apologies; I was overthinking. I’ll have someone prepare the carriage,” Lady Gu said, smoothing her expression into a smile and preparing to leave.

“Thank you for your trouble, Mother.” Shen Fuyu rose, supporting herself on Lucha’s hand. “If there’s nothing else, Mother, you may go. Now that I have some time, I wish to visit Aunt Wen.”

Having returned to the Shen household for more than a day, she still had to put on a show for outsiders. A visit to Aunt Wen was necessary; she couldn’t let people think the Shen family was on the verge of falling apart right from the start.

“I’ll go prepare, then. Your Highness may go now—Aunt Wen should be awake by this time,” Lady Gu replied, withdrawing. The moment she stepped outside, her expression chilled. That little wretch had learned to put on airs in front of her! Shameless ingrate!

After a few steps, seeing that Shen Fuyu had not moved yet, Lady Gu instructed, “Go over there and make it clear to her—remind her what can and cannot be said. Don’t let her ruin my plans!”

“Yes,” the maid beside her nodded, quietly slipping away toward the slightly secluded courtyard of the main branch.

Aunt Wen’s courtyard sat at the easternmost corner of the Shen family estate, utterly remote. Ever since her difficult labor with Shen Fuyu, the doctor had declared she could never bear children again, and she had lost all favor. In the past, Shen Shucheng used to visit her occasionally, but after Shen Qianyu grew up to be a good-for-nothing, Shen Shucheng became disappointed and never bothered to visit Aunt Wen again.

Shen Fuyu yawned lazily, strolling along the increasingly deserted path. The place was so quiet that even servants seldom passed by, and many of the paving stones had long since disappeared. Suddenly, someone came walking straight toward her.

Ha! It was the family fool!

“Hmph.” Shen Qianyu stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw her, sneering coldly. “So you remember Aunt Wen after all? I thought, with your high status, you’d have long forgotten us!”

Shen Fuyu… walked right past him without a glance.

“Wretch! Are you blind?” Ignored and enraged, Shen Qianyu reached out to block Shen Fuyu’s path.

With nimble fingers, she swiftly plucked a gold bead from the tassel dangling by her ear and flicked it over her shoulder, striking Shen Qianyu squarely on the forehead. A sharp yelp sounded behind her. Only then did she turn, smiling at him as he clutched his brow in pain. “My apologies—I didn’t see you. I thought it was a pig blocking the road. If you hadn’t spoken, I’d never have noticed it was a fool, not a pig.”

“You!” Shen Qianyu, his forehead throbbing, hurried to block her path once more, pointing at his now red and swollen brow. “You’ve grown bold, haven’t you? How dare you talk to your brother like that? Look at what you did! What are you going to do about it?”

“It does look a little odd—just that one red patch. Quite off-putting.” Shen Fuyu nodded gravely, then swung her left fist and landed a blow. “Let me even it out for you. No need to thank me; we’re family after all.”

A flurry of punches rained down on Shen Qianyu’s face. He had never been much to look at, and his piggish figure did him no favors. At first, he tried to talk back and fight, but in moments he was on the ground, rolling and howling in pain.

“Idiot,” Shen Fuyu dusted off her hands. “A pathetic wretch who can’t even beat a woman, yet struts around like a peacock. Annoy me again and I’ll have you made a eunuch.”

“…You! Just you wait!” Shen Qianyu spat out a threat, but at Shen Fuyu’s glance, he nearly wet himself and fled in panic, stumbling and crawling away.

Once he was gone, Lucha finally came over. “Hmph! Daring to insult Her Highness—doesn’t even know what he is!”

“He’s nothing, yet you once tried to climb into his bed? What does that make you?” Shen Fuyu eyed Lucha with disdain. “You’re disgusting.”

Lucha’s face flushed with shame and anger, but she could only lower her head and grit her teeth, secretly sulking.

Ahead lay Aunt Wen’s courtyard. Shen Qianyu must have just left from here. Entering, Shen Fuyu saw the maid beside Aunt Wen sporting a fresh slap mark on her face, the room itself in disarray. Aunt Wen sat on the bed weeping as if she had just suffered some grievous injustice. Scenes like this had become all too familiar to Shen Fuyu—so frequent that even the old Shen Fuyu had long stopped believing them.