Becoming a literary master starting from the story of Minglan

Chapter 12 Punishment
Although they went through a storm, things calmed down afterwards, and there were no further setbacks. Thus, the marriage of Sheng Hualan, the eldest daughter of the Sheng family, passed by peacefully despite the perilous situation.

Although Yuan's eldest son was still dissatisfied, he couldn't bring himself to do it. After all, it was his parents' decision, and if there was any reneging on the engagement, he would be in big trouble!
That night, the entire Sheng Mansion was filled with the emptiness that followed the festivities.

After the clamor of gongs and drums subsided, only painful wails could be heard in the mansion!
Indeed, the one who let out such a shrill scream was none other than Sheng Changfeng, who had secretly wagered his elder sister's betrothal to a goose in a private gambling match.

"Father! Father!"

"Your child was wrong!"

"I truly know I was wrong! Please forgive me, Father!"

"father……"

Sheng Changfeng was pressed onto a long wooden bench, facing the Sheng family's punishment. He was beaten until he cried out in pain, snot running down his face. As the cane was passed around, he took the opportunity to beg for mercy.

"father……"

Sheng Hong and Madam Wang sat high on the main seats in the hall, their expressions as solemn and somewhat terrifying as the local deities in a temple.

"beat!"

"Hit me hard!"

In front of the two, Lin Qinshuang and her daughter knelt on the ground with tears in their eyes, watching their son and brother being punished by family law.

Among them, Lin Qinshuang even "fiercely" ordered the servants who were to carry out the family discipline to take action!
"Kill this ungrateful little beast who acted on his own initiative!"

Lin Qinshuang wiped away her tears with her hand, and occasionally, she said in a sharp voice, "Let him learn his lesson and not be so presumptuous as to use Hua Jie'er's betrothal goose as a wager. If he loses the bet, how will his elder sister face her husband's family!"

"Even if I beat him to death, I'll just consider it as if I never raised this son!"

"Little girl!"

Lin Qinshuang's daughter, Sheng Molan, said with tears in her eyes and sobs, "Brother didn't mean it, please forgive him!"

Her words were filled with a sense of bewilderment, helplessness, and even a hint of fear, as she thought that her brother was really going to be beaten to death on her mother's orders!
Sheng Molan was still a child after all. Although she had gained some understanding of human relationships under the guidance of her mother, Lin Qinshuang, she was still intimidated by Lin Qinshuang's imposing manner.

"Mo'er!"

Lin Qinshuang pulled her daughter to her side and cried bitterly, "Unless you forgive your brother, I will pretend I never raised him!"

As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Sheng Hong in the high hall!
Although Lin Qinshuang meant that she needed Madam Wang's forgiveness, it was just a pretense; what she ultimately wanted was Sheng Hong's.

After all, if she really had to beg for Madam Wang's forgiveness, then Lin Qinshuang could literally just collect her own child's corpse!

"Humph!"

Madam Wang snorted dismissively.

"If you were truly determined to kill this little beast, you wouldn't be here in the first place!"

"Instead, you should have hidden in your room and killed him!"

Although the sound was soft, everyone in the room heard it clearly.

Lin Qinshuang's face twitched involuntarily at this.

"Cough cough!"

Sheng Hong coughed softly a few times, looking rather embarrassed.

Looking at Sheng Changfeng, who was still being punished according to family rules right under his nose, and hearing the gradually diminishing cries of pain around him, Sheng Hong finally couldn't bear it.

Although he was furious at the time, after all the problems were resolved, Sheng Hong was reluctant to actually beat his son to death, after all, he was his own flesh and blood!
"All right!"

"Stop crying!"

Sheng Hong glanced furtively at Madam Wang beside him, then waved his hand and said, "Since Changfeng knows he was wrong and has learned his lesson, let's stop for now!"

Upon hearing the order, the servants immediately stopped and halted the swinging of the paddles. As servants, their primary duty was to be observant, so although they made a show of frighteningly disciplining the family by swinging the paddles with a loud whooshing sound, the punishment was actually not severe.

It's common knowledge that everyone in the Sheng family knows how favored Lin Xiaoniang is. Not to mention another Wei Xiaoniang, even the matriarch Wang Da Niangzi sometimes has to suffer at her hands.

Therefore, upon hearing the master's order, these people immediately stopped. In fact, as they were finishing off the attack, they took the opportunity to tidy up Sheng Changfeng's clothes and cover up his hideous wounds.

However, despite the fact that Sheng Changfeng was beaten so badly that his skin was torn open and blood was flowing freely, it was actually just some superficial injuries. It was only for show and the internal injuries were not serious at all. He just needed to rest and recover!

Seeing the servants stop, Sheng Hong also felt that he was somewhat biased. After all, if it were not for Sheng Minglan's intervention, and Sheng Changfeng had lost Sheng Hualan's betrothal goose, it would not only be the Sheng family's reputation, but his Hua'er's life would probably be ruined!

Such was the custom of that era: in matters of marriage, women were truly not allowed to make the slightest mistake. Once there was a flaw, a woman would be unable to hold her head high in her husband's family for the rest of her life and would lose all face.

It's hard to say whether this betrothal goose incident was orchestrated by Madam Yuan, Hua'er's future sister-in-law, all so that she could forever surpass her younger brother and sister-in-law and enjoy the Yuan family's glory alone.

“Roman! Look…”

Sheng Hong turned around, looked at his wife, and pleaded in a gentle voice, "About this matter..."

"Humph!"

Looking at his lord's appearance, Wang Ruofu felt quite smug!

"You always give me the cold shoulder, but now you still have to beg me, don't you?"

Madam Wang felt not only a sense of pride, but also a sense of satisfaction towards Lin Qinshuang!
"You shameless woman, you always treat this little beast like a treasure, but now you still took matters into your own hands and gave him a good beating, didn't you?"

Although Wang Ruofu was relatively tolerant of Sheng Changfeng, he still disliked him, after all, this kid wasn't born from his own body.

Seeing that Lin Qinshuang treated Sheng Changbai the same way she treated Sheng Changfeng, and arranged all sorts of benefits for her son Sheng Changfeng, Wang Ruofu was very unhappy. He was just a concubine's son, yet he dared to compare himself with his own legitimate son!

Wouldn't this be a breach of family rules by failing to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children?
However, despite her elation, Wang Ruofu still felt a pang of bitterness, after all, Sheng Hong had only bowed down to her for Lin Qinshuang's sake.

"That's fine!"

Madam Wang suppressed her myriad worries, glared at Sheng Hong, and said, "Since the lord has already made the decision, I need not say anything more."

Madam Wang gave Sheng Hong a thumbs-up, and then said, "I only hope that Feng-ge'er can remember this lesson and not be so self-righteous and act recklessly in the future!"

After saying something indifferent, Madam Wang was too lazy to look at the three pretentious members of the Lin family anymore, so she simply stood up and prepared to go back.

"My lord, you can handle the rest yourself. I'm tired, so I'll head back now!"

After saying that, without waiting for a response, Madam Wang left on her own.

"Ah~"

"it is good!"

Sheng Hong smiled and nodded, not taking it to heart at all.

"Honglang~"

Lin Qinshuang, who was kneeling on the ground, called out in a coquettish voice, "Honglang!"

"You'd better watch yourself!"

Sheng Hong angrily rebuked her and ignored her, following behind Madam Wang to her room.

All that remained was Lin Qinshuang, who cursed angrily from behind.

"Damn Wang Ruofu, this game isn't over yet!"

As for the other book, I plan to finish it after writing one more world. This book is mainly for me to test what type of book I'm suited for and improve my writing skills. Regarding the current situation of following the original plot, it's mainly because the main character hasn't appeared yet. The reason I've written so much so far is to give readers who haven't read the original work a background understanding of the story. This book is considered a fictional story within the "Fictional World of Minglan" genre.

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(End of this chapter)