The gatekeeper, who had long despised the arrogant, overbearing, and vicious Sheng Li, was overjoyed at the news, as if a great revenge had been exacted. "Butler, rest assured, I will certainly not let Sheng Li in."
"The Sheng family is not a place where just anyone can casually enter, nor is it a place for any disreputable person to cling to."
The butler cast an appreciative glance at him. "Do a good job, and I'll mention it to Madam. Your monthly allowance will be increased next month."
The gatekeeper rubbed his hands in delight and thanked him profusely, only to hear Sheng Li's arrogant roar.
"You two vile slaves are truly something else, daring to treat me like this. Today, I will not rest until I kill you."
Neither the butler nor the gatekeeper paid any attention to Sheng Li, letting her rant alone.
The butler cautioned the gatekeeper a few more times before turning to go inside. He then heard Sheng Li's shouting.
"Butler, stop for me, stop for me, do you hear me?"
Sheng Li, furious, tried to chase after the butler but was blocked by the gatekeeper and several servants, who absolutely refused to let her enter.
"You damned, vile slaves, get out of my way. If you don't move, I'll take your lives!"
The servants looked at her with disdain and contempt.
"Oh, Sheng Li, you still think you're a young lady of the Sheng family? You've already been expelled from the Sheng family and have nothing to do with them anymore."
"Look at her ugly appearance. If it weren't for her wicked deeds, how could the Master have been dismissed by His Majesty? Yet she shows no remorse and even dared to poison her Master and Madam. She's worse than an animal."
Sheng Li, accustomed to a life of luxury, was no match for the servants. In a short while, she was pushed to the ground, looking utterly disheveled.
However, Sheng Li showed no remorse; instead, her resentment towards her parents grew.
Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared intently at the Sheng residence, her fingernails piercing her palms without her noticing. She vowed that for the humiliation today, she would repay it a hundredfold in the future.
She would make her parents realize how wrong their decision was to expel her from the family.
With this thought, she stopped trying to force her way into the Sheng residence. Instead, she walked to a courtyard under her name, preparing to deal with her parents and Tao Lengshuang slowly.
Little did she know that the news of her expulsion from the Sheng family and her complete estrangement from General Sheng and his wife had already spread like wildfire.
Thus, when Tao Lengshuang and Mo Lingxi emerged from the Sheng residence and were on their way back to the village by carriage, they heard someone on a street in the Eastern Capital shouting, "Come beat Sheng Li!"
Tao Lengshuang had the coachman stop and pulled aside a portion of the carriage curtain. She saw Sheng Li being beaten by seven or eight servants.
Sheng Li lay on the ground, her face bruised and swollen, her outer garment torn to shreds, her hair disheveled, with strands of hair scattered on the ground and scratches on her face.
A crowd of onlookers, including many young masters and ladies, had gathered around. Some of these young masters and ladies were instructing their servants to beat Sheng Li severely.
"Look at Sheng Li's ugly appearance. It's truly difficult for Cheng Han. To have faced such an ugly monster all those years, I lost my appetite after just one glance."
"Sister, you still dared to look. I, your sister, didn't dare to look even once, for fear of having nightmares at night. If she hadn't had the Sheng family as her backing before, which young master would have fancied such an ugly thing?"
"You're absolutely right. Sheng Li dared to be so arrogant and overbearing, wantonly harming others in secret, all because she relied on the Sheng family. Now that she's been expelled from the Sheng family, she'll have a hard time ahead."
"Hey, hey, hey, do you know how vicious Sheng Li is? She actually poisoned her own parents, intending to poison them, which is why she was expelled from the family."
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd let out a collective gasp and looked at Sheng Li as if she were an animal. "She's simply too vicious. Those were the parents who gave birth to her. She caused General Sheng to be dismissed from office, and now she wants to poison General Sheng and his wife. She deserves to be beaten to death."
Sheng Li's face contorted in rage as she roared, "Shut up, all of you! You low-class wretches, shut up!"
"The entire Sheng family belongs to me. I can do whatever I want, and it's not for you to comment. Get lost!"
The more she acted like this, the more she aroused the hatred of the onlookers, and the more people joined in the beating and scolding.
Seeing this scene, Tao Lengshuang's gaze towards Sheng Li became increasingly unfriendly. She watched Sheng Li being beaten and scolded with cold eyes.
If Sheng Li were not General Sheng and his wife's daughter, she would not have faced mere torment but eternal damnation.
"Don't think too much about it. It will be clarified."
As if sensing her thoughts, Mo Lingxi gently comforted her. "Sheng Li is being watched. Her future days will not be easy."
Tao Lengshuang lowered the carriage curtain and asked the coachman to continue forward. She said to Mo Lingxi, "General Sheng and his wife will be soft-hearted."
Mo Lingxi shook his head in disagreement and explained, "General Sheng and his wife are well aware that Sheng Li is capable of poisoning them this time, and she could do it again next time."
"For their own sake and for the family, General Sheng and his wife will at most help Sheng Li from the shadows, ensuring she doesn't lose her life. They will not take her back into the Sheng family."
Tao Lengshuang felt considerably more at ease upon hearing this, a smug smile of schadenfreude appearing on her lips. "I'm waiting to see Sheng Li beg General Sheng and his wife."
Mo Lingxi replied, "You should wait for Sheng Li to seek out the mastermind. Only then can we track her and find out who the mastermind is."
Tao Lengshuang understood this, but she was more certain that Sheng Li would go to General Sheng and his wife. "If Sheng Li goes to General Sheng and his wife, it will be easier for the mastermind to continue plotting against them, won't it?"
Mo Lingxi nodded and gently reassured her, telling her not to worry too much, that everything had been arranged, and they were just waiting for the mastermind to reveal themselves.
His kindness towards her weighed heavily on Tao Lengshuang's heart. The more Mo Lingxi treated her well, the more clearly she realized that the two of them could never truly be together.
Sometimes she wondered if Mo Lingxi's interest in her was merely temporary, because her behavior and demeanor were different from many women here.
Suddenly feeling a bit stifled, she lifted the carriage window slightly to get some air. Mo Lingxi's instructions reached her ears.
His deep, magnetic, and pleasant voice flowed into her heart like a trickling stream, then spread to every limb and bone.
Yet, for a moment, a chill ran through her.
She dared not dwell on Mo Lingxi's true thoughts, nor did she wish to waste more time on it.
For now, she only wanted to overcome this difficult period, raise Xiao Feng well, and in the future, own some land and live a leisurely and prosperous life.
One person occasionally spoke a few words, with most of his attention on the falling snow outside the carriage, while the other person continued to instruct her, never quite at ease.
As they reached a pavilion just outside the city, a dark guard arrived.
"Master, His Majesty has bestowed upon you... three beauties, stating they are your wives and concubines. He also demands that you consummate your marriage with these three beauties as soon as possible and have two children within a year, or you will be dealt with as a traitor."