Chapter 90: Ultimate Revenge

"That may not be as Second Brother wishes."

Chu Renjie tensed, his expression changing at once. Could it be that Third Brother intended to protect that poisonous woman?

"Third Brother, are you protecting her?" Chu Renjie asked, pointing at the Dowager Madam.

"Second Brother, you have misunderstood me. What I mean is that you will not be able to make the Dowager Madam and that adulterous man kneel before the memorial tablet of the principal wife."

Chu Mu understood the meaning behind Shen Zhao's words, and the fist hidden in his sleeve clenched tighter and tighter.

By now, the tablet of his mother was probably no longer truly his mother's tablet.

Chu Renjie let the knot in his heart ease a little. So long as Third Brother was not shielding that poisonous woman, that was enough. "Why?"

Shen Zhao looked at the Dowager Madam and said, word by word, "Because the memorial tablet of the principal wife was long ago smashed to pieces by the Dowager Madam. The nameless tablet now enshrined in that remote little courtyard should have belonged to the principal wife.

"Every year on the principal wife's death anniversary, the Dowager Madam takes out that tablet to vent her anger. It has already been replaced who knows how many times. Can it still be called the principal wife's tablet?"

Chu Mu's heart was bitter beyond words.

Yes, how could that still count as his mother's tablet?

"What!" Chu Renjie raised his voice sharply, his outcry piercing and furious. Fire blazed in his eyes.

How dare that poisonous woman, how dare she treat his mother like this?

And Third Brother—had he known the truth all along? Had he known everything that poisonous woman had done, while keeping him in the dark?

At the thought, Chu Renjie looked at Shen Zhao with suspicion as well.

"Third Brother, why do you know all this so clearly? Have you known everything already and kept it from me, your elder brother? You bear the blood of the Chu family. You cannot imitate that poisonous woman's ways! Tell your brother—what else are you hiding from me?"

Shen Zhao pursed his lips. There was plenty I am hiding from you, and I simply refuse to tell you.

He hurried forward to placate him. "Do not be angry, Second Brother. I only learned of it in the last two days." His tone turned slightly mournful. "Second Brother also knows the Dowager Madam has never liked Madam Shen, and she often punished and beat her.

"She would often have her kneel in the little shrine in the side courtyard..."

Shen Zhao presented all of his speculations as though they were established fact.

Chu Renjie's face turned red with rage.

He looked at the Dowager Madam with killing intent.

Chu Mu's face was also burning with fury. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill that poisonous woman.

Not only had she caused his mother's death, she had also tormented Zhao for so long.

But he could not take that dog's life just yet. Zhao clearly had other plans.

Chu Renjie stared straight at the Dowager Madam. How could she be so vicious? She would not even spare the dead.

He wanted nothing more than to kill her on the spot, yet he could not, and dared not.

After all, the poisonous woman was Third Brother's birth mother, and he still had to rely on Third Brother. How could Third Brother simply watch his own mother die?

It was all his own filial failure, his own uselessness. He knew full well who had killed his mother, yet he could only stand by and watch, unable to avenge her.

One day, he would personally take that poisonous woman's life!

The Dowager Madam was stunned speechless by Chu Renjie's words and the murderous look in his eyes.

That beast not only dared to insult her with reckless words, he had also developed murderous intent toward her. Had she raised a wolf all these years?

Did he not remember her kindness at all?

Chu Shanjun and Chu Shanan also harbored deep resentment toward the Dowager Madam.

Though they had never met their deceased grandmother, in their hearts, if their rightful grandmother were still alive, their father would not still be idling away at the manor like some wealthy gentleman.

Nor would they have had to read every face at the academy, fearing that Third Uncle, because of that poisonous woman, would refuse to make the truth of those years public.

They were the legitimate blood of the late madam. That poisonous woman now was nothing but a second wife. If their identities were made public, even Third Uncle would have to lower himself before them.

"Third Uncle, my father has already suffered enough from being kept in the dark all these years. Please, Third Uncle, uphold justice for him. You are the fairest of men. Even if it is not for Father, should you not also think of Grandfather? If Grandfather knew of this in the underworld, he would surely do as Father said and punish the Dowager Madam. He would never shield her. Third Uncle, I beg you, do justice for Father, do justice for our rightful grandmother!"

The Dowager Madam nearly fainted in fury at those words. The old and the young alike were all heartless wolves.

Did they all wish for her to die?

Had all those years of benevolence and righteousness and all those books of the sages gone straight into a dog's stomach?

Shen Zhao was almost laughing aloud inside, yet his face remained troubled. "Very well, let us do as Second Brother says. After all, the fault lies with the Dowager Madam. You are all my family, and I cannot favor any one of you."

The Dowager Madam, already too furious to speak, suddenly reddened at the eyes at those words.

Even when Chu Renjie had just spoken in rebellion against her, she had not felt this heartbroken.

But Mu'er saying he would not favor her left her chest tight and stifled.

Mu'er had always been the most filial and the one who trusted her most.

The Dowager Madam called out plaintively, "Mu'er..."

"Do you not trust your mother as well?" She looked at Shen Zhao with utter grief. How could Mu'er doubt her? Even if she had been in the wrong, he should have sided with her as he always had.

The look in the Dowager Madam's eyes made Shen Zhao shudder with disgust, but he still had to play his part.

He cast her a sorrowful glance. "How could I not trust you? But the facts are right before us. How am I to believe you?

"The matter from that year cannot withstand scrutiny, Dowager Madam. If Second Brother insists on involving the authorities and pursuing the investigation, the truth from back then will be exposed before everyone.

"I am thinking of your welfare as well. I hope you can understand my good intentions."

The Dowager Madam's heart lurched.

Yes. Although so many years had passed, if one truly wanted to investigate, the truth could still be uncovered.

Chu Renjie's eyes suddenly lit up. Third Brother was right.

The truth from those years was not hard to uncover. Once the authorities investigated thoroughly, not only could his mother be vindicated, but their branch of the family could also regain its rightful status.

It would also drag that poisonous woman and her adulterous lover through the mud.

He made up his mind then and there to report the matter to the authorities.

"Third Brother, I will not make things difficult for you. Second Brother has his own way to restore the principal wife's honor and see those evildoers receive their due punishment."

With that, he turned to Madam Liu and Chu Shanjun and Chu Shanan. "I am worn out. The three of you, come back to the courtyard with me. Leave the rest to Third Brother."

It was still early in the day; he still had time to send someone to the authorities.

Of course, the best people to do that were naturally the masters of their second branch. He could not trust anyone else.

Watching Chu Renjie hurry off in such a flustered state, Shen Zhao let a cold smile curve his lips.

He had deliberately said those words earlier.

His sole purpose was to make Chu Renjie report the matter to the authorities.

Now that the Du family was involved, it would not be so easy to bring the truth of those years into the open.

The Du family would never allow such a disgraceful affair to be exposed.

For the sake of the late madam's legitimate son's identity, Chu Renjie would spare no effort in spreading the matter far and wide, driving it to a fever pitch.

By then, if anything were truly uncovered, it would no longer be laid at her feet.

By then, the disgraced Du Kang would become the shame of the Du family. When that day came, she would have plenty of ways to take his life.

She only wondered whether Chu Renjie would be able to withstand the blow.

Whether he would go mad.

After all, this situation had been created by his own hand.

The best way to exact revenge on someone had never been to kill them in one swift stroke.

"Dowager Madam, to avoid unnecessary trouble in the days ahead, I must ask you to endure some grievance. It would be best if you remained indoors, took no part in the household's petty affairs, and did not lightly provoke the second branch."

The Dowager Madam's sense of suffocation only deepened.

Mu'er was placing her under house arrest!