Chapter 53 House Arrest
Lord Zheng's cheeks flushed red with a mixture of shame and anger. He suppressed his anger, said a few perfunctory words, and hurried back to his mansion.
Along the way, he felt mixed emotions. How could his wife, who had been gentle and kind at home for more than a decade, suddenly become so violent?
Perhaps, this is her nature, but she has always been blinded by the blindness of love?
Lord Zheng had long been dissatisfied with Guo, and at this moment he was even more furious. As soon as he stepped into the house, he erupted like a volcano.
"Guo Huayu! Your cruelty is beyond imagination. Even if Jiang Shi has done a thousand wrongs, she is Yan Er's after all. How can you do such a cruel thing to her in public!"
Along with this angry rebuke, Lord Zheng smashed the jade cup on the table with one palm, his eyes wide open, and roared at Guo.
Over the years, he had always turned a blind eye to the disputes in the backyard, but this time, the matter came right in front of him and he could no longer sit idly by.
"I have respected and trusted you over the years, but you are so hard-hearted that you can't even tolerate your son's concubine."
Guo was still immersed in the rumors from the outside world. Before she could react, she was caught off guard by the reprimand from Lord Zheng. She looked flustered and quickly explained, "Master, this was all because of Jiang's provocation. She ran to the front yard to pick a fight, and I was acting in self-defense and accidentally hurt her."
"Shut up!" Lord Zheng glared at me and shouted, "You have been the housekeeper for many years, don't you even know what is important and what is not? You knew that people from the Princess's Mansion were present, but you still didn't know how to restrain yourself. You are deliberately going against me!"
"Master, I really have no other choice."
The more Guo explained, the more embarrassed she looked, and Lord Zheng obviously had no intention of listening to her explanation. No matter what her original intention was, she had to take responsibility for today's crime, otherwise Lord Zheng would have no place to vent his anger.
"No way? Don't think I don't know. It's clearly been planned for a long time."
Lord Zheng snorted coldly, his frown full of disgust for Guo, "You vicious woman with a heart of a scorpion! For the sake of the children, I will not divorce you for now! If there is a next time, you can present the divorce letter yourself!"
"Master..." Guo pleaded in a low voice, her eyes blurred with tears, and she almost knelt down to beg.
Lord Zheng was unmoved and continued to roar: "From now on, stay out of the affairs of the mansion! Reflect on your behavior in the house, and do not step out of the mansion without permission!"
"Master, are you going to put me under house arrest?" Guo's voice trembled, her face was pale, and there were deep fingerprints on her clenched handkerchief.
Lord Zheng said disdainfully: "A vicious woman like you should be locked up, otherwise you will embarrass me when you go out!"
Although their relationship as husband and wife for many years was not passionate, they treated each other with respect. But now, he regarded her as an enemy.
Guo was filled with grievances, and stepped forward to grab his sleeve: "Master, this is really not my fault. If you put me under house arrest, how will people in the mansion look at me in the future?"
Lord Zheng dodged and said impatiently, "You still want to save face! It's too late!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he pushed her hard and threw her to the ground.
Guo fell to her knees, gasping in pain. She could no longer hold back her anger and despair. "Master, you are also responsible for Jiang's tragedy! If you hadn't threatened her in the front hall last time, she would have been desperate and done such a shameful thing."
"What nonsense!"
Lord Zheng shouted angrily, grabbing another teacup and smashing it hard on Guo's head. "She is a lowly person who has an affair with a man outside her family. It has nothing to do with me! But you are getting more and more presumptuous. You even dared to talk back to me!"
With a crisp "clang" sound, the teacup broke into pieces and the fragments scattered all over the ground.
Guo's forehead was suddenly hit hard, leaving a shocking deep groove and blood gushing out.
She suppressed the heart-wrenching pain, grabbed the handkerchief beside her in panic, and used all her strength to press the wound that was bleeding. Her wide-open eyes were filled with shock and disbelief as she stared at the broken porcelain pieces scattered on the ground.
"Master, you... you really hit me..."
Lord Zheng usually had a quick temper, but it was extremely rare for him to be violent towards Guo.
Having lived in this large mansion for many years, today's scene was undoubtedly the first time in her memory.
"If I don't teach you a lesson, you'll probably become lawless! As a wife, you don't fulfill your duties. As a mother, you lack love! Look at what Yan'er has become because of you! How dare you put on an arrogant attitude in front of me!"
Lord Zheng's gaze was as sharp as a knife, sweeping over her with disdain, his disgust difficult to conceal.
"We are both daughters of the Guo family, so why can't you compare to your sister?"
These words were like an invisible sword, piercing Guo's heart.
Guo's face turned from pale to blue in an instant. Lord Zheng's last words were like a spell, echoing in her mind over and over again, making her uneasy.
Not even half as good as your sister?
The noble daughter of the Guo family's principal wife was actually degraded to be inferior to a concubine's younger sister.
Anger and humiliation intertwined together, her eyes gradually became cold, and a hint of ruthlessness was revealed in the blood color.
After a moment of silence, Guo gritted her teeth and stopped making any excuses or begging. She took a deep breath, suppressed all the resentment and unwillingness in her heart, raised her hands with empty eyes, bowed deeply to Lord Zheng, and said in a desperate calm voice: "Yes... Master... I will go and accept the punishment immediately."
Seeing that she had finally given in, Lord Zheng waved his hand impatiently, his tone so cold that it seemed as if even looking at her for one more second would be a waste of time.
"Go quickly!"
Guo's body trembled slightly, her clenched fists filled with anger and unwillingness. She staggered away from this heartbreaking place.
Lord Zheng's punishment was swift and severe. Not only did he place her under house arrest in his own compound, he also drastically cut her monthly allowance and all her precious jewelry, leaving only an elderly woman to take care of her daily life.
The servants in the mansion whispered to each other, and rumors spread that the eldest lady had cruelly killed the concubine who was pregnant with the second young master's child out of jealousy, which made the Duke furious. He not only confined her to her house, but also drastically reduced her monthly allowance.
As a result, the negative rumors about Guo in the outside world seemed to be confirmed, and her status in the mansion plummeted, and her former glory was no longer there.
Once upon a time, she was praised as a model of virtue and was considered a gentle and generous mother-in-law by everyone.
Outsiders once praised her for treating her daughter-in-law Su Wanyu like her own daughter. However, things are unpredictable and the wind direction suddenly changed. Rumors began to spread that Su Wanyu was often bullied by her mother-in-law, and even the concubines in her husband's backyard were accepted only under the coercion of her mother-in-law.
At the beginning, Su Wanyu took the initiative to take a concubine for her husband and was praised by everyone for her magnanimity. But now, the ladies in various mansions began to sympathize with her. A wife of humble origin was forced to take a concubine for her husband under the high pressure of her mother-in-law. The pain and helplessness she felt could not be expressed in words.