Chapter 6: No One Dares to Bully

Shen Yishu nodded in agreement. The bird’s nest soup might have been ruined, but it was still enough to fill his stomach. His Liu Niang was as thoughtful as ever.

Shen Yuhang frowned, casting a suspicious glance at Dou Hongyan. Just moments ago, they had disparaged his mother’s bird’s nest soup, and now they were asking for it?

Dou Hongyan saw through his thoughts and shook her head, signaling him to ignore them, as the two were clearly not in their right minds. Shen Yuhang nodded, deeply convinced.

Seeing them exchanging silent glances and ignoring him entirely, Shen Yishu was so infuriated that his nose wrinkled in vexation. *I must divorce her! I absolutely must divorce her!*

Just then, the sound of a carriage arrived at the entrance. Old Madam Shen had returned.

Shen Yishu stood up, trembling with excitement. However, having been taught a lesson by Nanny Zhang earlier, he did not immediately rush forward to claim his mother. Instead, he scrutinized the arrivals carefully, his gaze settling on the woman who entered last.

His face was etched with disbelief. Old Madam Shen was nearly fifty, yet thanks to years of being pampered, she looked no older than forty. Her attire was elegant and dignified without being dull or aged, and her complexion was remarkably rosy—at a glance, one might have mistaken her for a woman in her early thirties. Shen Yishu dared not believe this was his own mother.

Old Madam Shen had been overwhelmed with emotion, but she had not expected her son to show no excitement upon seeing her. Instead, he stared at her until she felt a chill, causing her to subconsciously hide the flamboyant bracelet on her wrist.

"Mother," Shen Yishu finally recognized her by the jade hairpin she wore daily—a token of love between his father and mother.

"Oh, my dear..." Old Madam Shen’s eyes turned red in an instant. She embraced Shen Yishu, calling him her heart and soul, her beloved son, for a long while.

Finally finding a sense of home in his mother’s arms, Shen Yishu waited until she had calmed down before blurting out impatiently, "Mother, I want to divorce my wife. Dou is not fit to be a woman of the Shen family."

Old Madam Shen thought her ears were failing her. "What did you say?"

Was he mad? Dou Hongyan was that man’s woman...

The first time she had caught them in their illicit affair, she had been terrified by the man’s sinister and pathological demeanor. That man had intentionally let her see it, merely to deliver a ruthless ultimatum: if the Marquis’s estate lost Dou Hongyan, there would be no need for the estate to exist anymore. But if Dou Hongyan lost the estate, she would still remain Dou Hongyan.

Old Madam Shen had repeatedly promised that no one in the Marquis’s estate would dare to bully Dou Hongyan. Moreover, over the years, the estate had been kept in perfect order by Dou Hongyan; hundreds of people relied on her for their livelihoods, and even the Shen clan had to act according to her wishes. Who would dare to bully her?

*Oh, wait—the one saying this is my own son.*

Old Madam Shen’s hands trembled violently as she suddenly realized the gravity of the situation. Her son was not dead, yet her daughter-in-law had been dallying with another man for years, and she herself had been an accomplice, covering for them... But she had no choice! Back then, when the estate had lost its pillar and was left destitute, even with Dou Hongyan pregnant, they were nothing but defenseless, wealthy prey for others to slaughter.

If her son was demanding a divorce the moment he returned, did he know everything? And what about the things she had done behind the scenes?

Old Madam Shen’s mind went blank. The joy of her son’s return vanished, replaced by the dread of what was to come. With a gasp, she closed her eyes and fainted.

Shen Yishu was horrified. "Mother! What is the matter?"

Before Liu Xin’er could even offer a display of concern, she looked at Dou Hongyan with feigned shock and disbelief. "Sister, what have you done to Mother? Why would she faint when she was perfectly fine?"

With just a few words, she cast the blame for harming the matriarch onto Dou Hongyan.

Shen Yishu’s eyes bulged with rage. "Dou Hongyan! You poisonous woman! Fearing I would divorce you, you’ve laid hands on my mother. I will make you pay with your life!"

Dou Hongyan was also taken aback, but her peripheral vision caught the faint movement of Old Madam Shen’s fingers.

*So... she is only pretending.*