DDR – Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Taking Responsibility

All credit to original author: 独步云霄

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Shen Jingya had thrown the snowball very had, using all her strength. When Shen Jingshu dodged, it was Shen Zi Qi who became the scapegoat. He was still young and after being hit so hard, it really hurt. He immediately fell to the ground and hit his head, bleeding.

Everyone was so shocked, it took them a minute to react!

“Ah!” A servant screamed, “The second young master is bleeding! Come quickly!”

“There’s so much blood!”

Shen Zi Qi was still a baby and it was important to treat him gently. Seeing him like this, everyone was terrified. Shen Jingya, who hadn’t expected this, stood there in a daze while her heart burst with panic.

What should she do, what should she do! If her mother found out she hit Qi’er and made him bled, wouldn’t she skin her alive? What should she do?!

Standing there at a loss, Shen Jingya really regretted her own carelessness. But more than that, she hated Shen Jingshu. If Jingshu hadn’t dodged, how could she have hit Qi’er and become like this?

Her body trembled a little. Seeing that everyone was paying attention to Shen Zi Qi, Shen Jingya wanted to slip away.

Shen Jingshu naturally saw it but pretended not to see: “Hurry up and call the doctor! Take Qi’er back, hurry up, it’s not good to be cold!” Seeing that everyone was in a mess, Shen Jingshu had no choice but to take charge and instruct the servants to bring Shen Zi Qi back and notify the people of the second branch. When the doctor arrived, the second branch was on his heels.

“What happened to Qi’er!” Guo Yuanshuang wailed, “Why is he bleeding, what do we do?” With her son injured, she didn’t care about anything else and had dropped everything to rush over. “Doctor, check him quickly! Don’t let there be any aftereffects!”

“Second Madam, please don’t worry. I am checking him now.” Seeing the fuss Guo Yuanshuang was making, the doctor frowned tightly. The most important thing in checking a pulse was a quiet environment. It was so noisy in here, how could he check accurately?

“My poor Qi’er! Why is the wound so big!” Guo Yuanshuang sobbed without listening. She glared at the terrified servants and cried: “Is this how you take care of your young master!” Seeing her son lying on the bed with a weak face and crying in pain, her heart was breaking. She could only find someone to vent her anger on.

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“Second Madam, please spare this servant! We were negligent!” Knowing that he would have to peel off a layer of skin even if he didn’t die today, the young servant beside Shen Zi Qi dropped to his kneels, pale and frightened.

Guo Yuanshuang was not merciful. “Go and receive thirty boards!” She ordered. “You can explain yourself after you get back!” With her son like this, how could it not be because the servants were not careful?

“Second Madam! Please forgive me, Second Madam!” The boy was terrified when he heard her order. He was not very old, if he received thirty boards, wouldn’t the rest of his life be ruined?

“You didn’t take good care of your young master and still want to beg? The second young master is like this, you can’t resolve yourself of this blame! Go! Beat him hard and beat all the people serving him today!” Guo Yuanshuang cursed. Her son was in so much pain but these people were all unharmed, how could she let them off?

“Second Aunt, though they were a little negligent, it wasn’t completely their fault!” Shen Jingshu cut in. Seeing the servants crying so pitifully, she knew that Guo Yuanshuang’s punishment was too much. Feeling bad for them, she had to at least try to plead for mercy.

However, Guo Yuanshuang didn’t appreciate her butting in. “Jingshu, even if it wasn’t their fault, it was still a dereliction of duty! Their task is to serve Qi’er and Qi’er has suffered a serious injury! They can’t escape their responsibility! Of course they must be punished!”

“Second Aunt, this matter also—” Shen Jingshu tried again but Guo Yuanshuang refused directly, ordering people to drag Qi’er’s servants away. Seeing this, Shen Jingshu naturally stopped speaking.

Anyways, the old madam would come soon and the punishment would be stopped, so this could be regarded as gaining the servants’ gratitude.

Just as she thought this, she saw Old Madam Shen rushing over with a cane. Seeing so many servants being dragged off to be beaten, her complexion became horrible. “What are you doing?! It’s almost New Years, are you doing this to make me unhappy?” Old Madam Shen was very particular about these kinds of things. The older she got, the more taboos she had. Of course she didn’t want to see blood spilled and ran over!

Guo Yuanshuang looked very unhappy. “Mother! Qi’er suffered a serious injury because of their negligence, this daughter-in-law is just punishing them!”

“Punishment! If you punish them, you must first ask what they did wrong! Why did Qi’er get hurt?” Looking at Guo Yuanshuang’s appearance, Old Madam Shen knew that she had ordered the punishment in a fit of anger and felt disappointed. “You have to pay attention to right and wrong when you do things. Even if Qi’er was injured, you still need to ask clearly! Who is the real culprit, who deserves the most punishment? You’re just beating them all equally like this!”

She sighed. “Who will serve Qi’er faithfully after this? Who will dare to serve him wholeheartedly?” Didn’t her daughter-in-law understand that she was chilling the hearts of her servants? She knew that Guo Yuanshuang doted on her children but Old Madam Shen didn’t expect that it was this serious.

“Mother, I…” Seeing that Old Madam Shen was truly angry, Guo Yuanshuang suppressed her own anger a little and realized she had indeed been too impulsive. However, she still felt that she was right! These servants hadn’t taken good care of her Qi’er and deserved to be punished. This was a warning to others, who would not serve wholeheartedly then?

It was just that Guo Yuanshuang had miscalculated people’s hearts. Instead of a warning, they were chilled by her indiscriminate punishment.

“Okay, let’s leave it and talk later. The most important thing is Qi’er!” Old Madam Shen said. She had rushed over as soon as she heard that her grandson was injured, which showed the great importance she attached to Shen Zi Qi.

“Yes! Doctor, how is Qi’er?” Thinking of her son, Guo Yuanshuang’s eyes were red with fear that his injury was permanent.

After finishing taking Shen Zi Qi’s pulse, the doctor said: “Second young master has suffered a head injury and was frightened. He should stay inside the next few days and rest, as to avoid causing complications.”

“Is it that serious?” Hearing the doctor’s prognosis, Old Madam Shen was a little nervous.

The doctor shook his head. “The child was frightened, which will affect both the mind and the body. I will prescribe him some medicine to calm the nerves and see if it has any effect.”

Old Madam Shen sighed with relief. “Thank you, doctor. I will trouble you to prescribe the medicine first.”

“It’s fine, it’s what I should do!” Quickly, the doctor prepared the medicine and instructed the wetnurse to administer it to Shen Zi Qi. After a few minutes, the medicine took affect and Shen Zi Qi stabilized. Seeing this, Old Madam Shen finally had the energy to deal with the matter in front of her.

“Alright, Qi’er is fine, don’t worry.” She told Guo Yuanshuang. “You stay with him for a few days, so he won’t be scared.”

Guo Yuanshuang nodded. “Mother, I’m still a little worried. Should we invite someone to tend to him?”

Old Madam Shen thought about it and then agreed. “That’s fine. Tomorrow, we will find someone for him. The child has been frightened, in the future he needs to be more careful!”

“I’ll arrange it immediately!” Guo Yuanshuang said quickly.

But Old Madam Shen shook her head. “There’s no rush. The most important thing is to clarify this matter first, as not to wrong anyone.” Though Shen Zi Qi had calmed down, he had now fallen asleep. He would not be much help to Old Madam Shen.

She looked at the servants. They had always been so careful and generally did not make mistakes. What had happened today?

“What mother said is true!” Guo Yuanshuang said viciously. “Qi’er was injured so badly, this daughter-in-law will not let that person be spared! I hope mother will punish them severely!” She had no idea that the culprit she was cursing was her own daughter.

Seeing this, Shen Jingshu smiled mockingly but didn’t say anything. She wanted to see how Guo Yuanshuang reacted when she found out the truth.

“Naturally.” Old Madam Shen nodded. “Alright, all of you, tell me clearly what happened just now. How did Qi’er injure his head?”

The servants shook and it was the servant that served at Qi’er’s side who spoke up. “Old Madam, this matter… this is, this is…” He wanted to tell the truth, but since it was that person, how could he dare to speak?

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Old Madam Shen was not patient. Seeing the servant hesitate, she was very irritable: “Don’t hesitate! Just say it!”

“Old Madam, this slave, this slave doesn’t dare!”

“Tell me honestly, I will uphold justice and not favor anyone!” Old Madam Shen ordered.

Knowing that he would not escape, the servant could only answer truthfully. He just hoped that Old Madam Shen would let him off. He bowed his head and shouted: “That person… that person was Second Miss!”

“Jingya?” Old Madam Shen and Guo Yuanshuang did not expect this and were completely surprised.

Guo Yuanshuang was the first to react, her attitude becoming even more intense: “That’s impossible! You’re lying!” She was absolutely partial to her own children. At this moment, her voice was high and her whole body was trembling.

Seeing this Old Madam Shen tried to smooth things over. “Alright, don’t talk just yet. Let him finish explaining, it’s not too late to judge.”

Although Guo Yuanshuang really wanted to shut the servant up, with Old Madam Shen here, Guo Yuanshuang didn’t dare to act rashly. She could only watch helplessly and give the boy a warning look. “Yes, mother.”

Old Madam Shen looked at the servant again with a stern expression. “Tell me what’s going on. Why does this matter involve the second young lady? The second young lady is the second young master’s direct sister, why would she hurt him?” This is what Old Madam Shen was puzzled by. Though their relationship couldn’t be said to be close, they were brother and sister. How could they have vicious thoughts?

“Old Madam, the eldest young lady is clear about this matter! Old Madam can ask the eldest miss to see if this slave is telling the truth!” The boy was not stupid, naturally he didn’t dare to say everything himself. Otherwise, even if he escaped today, what would he do after? So pulling the eldest miss into the water was the best thing.

“Eldest miss?” Old Madam Shen looked at Shen Jingshu, who was standing silently on the side and realized that something was wrong.

Shen Zi Qi was injured and she had heard that it was Shu’er who had sent for the doctor, so it meant that Shu’er had been there the whole time.

“Yes, Old Madam!” The boy cried. “The eldest miss was there just now and saw the snowball thrown by the second miss with her own eyes, so of course she is clear!” This was to pull Shen Jingshu into the water and make his own words more convincing. He had seen her reaction on the scene earlier and believed that she would not idly stand by!

Old Madam Shen looked at Shen Jingshu suspiciously. “Really?” The servant did not look like he was lying, so she started to believe a little bit. “Shu’er, do you know what happened just now?”

“Mother, you don’t really believe this servant, do you!” Guo Yuanshuang cried angrily. “Ya’er and Qi’er are siblings, both my children, why would Ya’er do such a thing?” She didn’t expect the servant to involve Shen Jingshu. Didn’t this make the matter more difficult to handle? She was also a bit nervous. She had spoken very vocally just now and was worried that Old Madam Shen really would punish Shen Jingya severely!

They were both her children, the palm and the back of her hand, both were her flesh. She was reluctant to hurt either of them.

“Ask the situation first, what are you in a hurry for?” Seeing her daughter-in-law’s impatient look, Old Madam Shen was a little dissatisfied. She gave Guo Yuanshuang a quelling look and began to question Shen Jingshu. “Shu’er, tell me what happened. Is what he said true?”

Shen Jingshu hesitated. “Grandmother, what he said is indeed true. It’s just that—” Before she could finish speaking, Guo Yuanshuang immediately broke in angrily.

“You’re lying! How could Ya’er hurt Qi’er?!” She was desperate to protect her child and spoke very harshly.

Old Madam Shen tapped her cane loudly: “What are you talking so angrily for? You’ll scare her! Be quiet for now, Shu’er hasn’t even finished speaking yet!” Dissatisfied with the interruption, she glared at Guo Yuanshuang again and then looked back at Shen Jingshu. “Don’t be in a hurry, speak slowly. Your aunt is just impatient, don’t take it to heart.”

Shen Jingshu nodded. “I understand! It’s not Ya’er’s fault, she didn’t do it on purpose. She had the good intention of pulling me and Qi’er to play in a snowball fight together. It’s just that she was playing with me and got a little careless. The strength behind the snowball was supposed to be for me but I didn’t expect that Qi’er was behind him. When I dodged, the snowball hit him and it was too much for him. He’s too young, so he fell and hit his head on the stones. Jingya didn’t mean it! She was really scared, she must be crying in her room right now. Don’t be angry, grandmother, she didn’t do it on purpose!”

Although everything Shen Jingshu said was true, her tone was very serious and Old Madam Shen could immediately sniff out what was wrong. “Where is Jingya. Where is she?”

Guo Yuanshuang paled. “Mother, you… Ya’er is still young, she’s not sensible…”

Old Madam Shen snorted. “You think I don’t know this? Can’t I even do this? Where is the second young lady? Where did she go?” Thinking that Shen Jingya had run off to escape responsibility after hitting someone and was nowhere to be found, Old Madam Shen was suddenly very angry.

Even if it wasn’t intentional, you still had to deal with the consequences properly! Qi’er was injured and she left without taking care of him, is that the behavior of a sister?

Shen Jingya’s servant, Qing’er dropped to her knees: “Answering Old Madam, this maid, this maid doesn’t know!” She didn’t know when Shen Jingya had disappeared, leaving her alone, and her heart shook.

“You don’t know? Is this how you serve, that you don’t even know when your young miss is gone?” Guo Yuanshuang asked angrily.

“Second Madam, the second young master was injured and this servant went to help but Second Miss disappeared in the blink of an eye. This servant doesn’t know, really doesn’t know!” She knew that Guo Yuanshuang was in a terrible mood today and that she would suffer, but what else could she do? She could only say that she was unlucky!

“You don’t know?” Hearing that Shen Jingya had disappeared, Old Madam Shen was furious. She felt that this granddaughter was too irresponsible and worrying. Quickly, she ordered someone to find Shen Jingya and after a long time, they finally found her sitting absentminded in a corner of the yard.

Shen Jingya had been very afraid of something happening to Shen Zi Qi and didn’t dare to show her face, she had hid far away hoping that no one would find her.

But even after hiding for a long time without hearing anything, she was finally found out. Seeing everyone looking at her strangely, she felt that something was wrong. “Where is Fourth Brother? Is he okay? Did the doctor come?”

The older maid had an odd expression on her face but she answered: “Second Miss, don’t worry. The doctor came already and said that the second young master is fine!”

Shen Jingya sighed with relief. “Good, that’s good! If something had really happened to Qi’er, it would have been bad.” It was okay, it was okay. Even with so much blood, everything was fine now. If she had known earlier, she would not have run off and hid.

The maid bowed: “Second Miss, please come quickly! The old madam is waiting!”

Shen Jingya froze: “Grandmother knows? Is she angry?”

“This servant doesn’t know.” The servant shook her head, unable to answer.

She really did not want to go but what could she do? “Then, what does grandmother want me for?”

By this point, the servants were getting impatient. “Second Miss will know when she goes.” The maid obviously didn’t want to talk much to Shen Jingya and she was forced to follow her nervously to Old Madam Shen.

Before she could greet her grandmother, Old Madam Shen directly said: “You kneel down for me!”

Shen Jingya dropped down subconsciously. “Grandmother!” Looking at Old Madam Shen’s face, she felt uneasy.

“Do you know what you did wrong?” Old Madam Shen asked sternly.

“Grandmother, granddaughter was wrong…”

Old Madam Shen tapped her cane again. “What did you do wrong?”

Shen Jingya bowed her head, trembling. “Granddaughter…” She didn’t know if she should admit to it. After all, not many people had seen what had happened just now, maybe she could escape punishment?

Her grandmother looked disappointed. “Is this how your grandmother taught you when you were young? Be open minded! Admit your mistakes and don’t run away, have you already forgotten?”

Shen Jingya started to cry: “Granddaughter doesn’t dare to forget!”

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“Then tell me what is going on with you! Why did you hurt Qi’er?” Old Madam When demanded.

“Granddaughter didn’t mean it!” Shen Jingya cried, “I was just playing snowball fights with Qi’er! I didn’t expect Eldest Sister to dodge when I threw my snowball and it accidentally hit Qi’er! I didn’t mean it!” Seeing that Old Madam Shen already knew everything, she had no choice but to admit it. But she definitely did not want Old Madam Shen to punish her.

The old madam sighed. “Since you didn’t do it on purpose, why did you hide? Qi’er is your younger brother. If you hurt him, don’t you need to call a doctor and take care of him? You were so afraid of punishment that you selfishly ran away! Hiding! Embarrassing our Shen family! Did I teach you to do this?”

Shen Jingya had been too scared just now and subconsciously wanted to hide. She had forgotten that the more she acted like this, the angrier her grandmother would be. “Granddaughter knows her mistakes!” She cried pitifully.

Old Madam Shen was unmoved. “Then tell me what you did wrong.”

“Granddaughter shouldn’t have hurt Qi’er and she shouldn’t have run away to hide!”

She admitted it but Old Madam Shen was not satisfied. “Is that your only wrong?”

Shen Jingya paused, confused. “Grandmother?” She didn’t understand.

Old Madam Shen waved a hand at Shen Jingshu. “You have to be carefully when you play with your siblings! If you hadn’t used so much force, how would Qi’er have been injured? As a sister, don’t you have any awareness of this? And think, if you had hit your elder sister, what would she do if she had a scar? What would she do in the future as a woman?”

“Grandmother, I…” Filled with anger, Shen Jingya had wanted to punish Shen Jingshu. She hadn’t expected Shen Jingshu’s luck to be so good. Nothing had happened at all! Shen Jingya had thrown so many snowballs and yet she was the one kneeling to be punished.

Above her, the old madam shook her head. “This time you were lucky and didn’t make any big mistakes but you need to keep this in mind. The next few days you can stay in your room and copy the feminine rules and virtues. When you’re finished, you can come and show them to me!”

“Mother, this…” Wasn’t this punishment too heavy? It was almost the New Year and there would be a lot of visitors coming to the manor. If her daughter was grounded, she wouldn’t be able to meet people! How would those families get to know her and come to propose marriage in the future?

Old Madam Shen ignored Guo Yuanshuang’s plea. “Okay, this matter is settled. You take good care of Qi’er, don’t be negligent!” Old Madam Shen’s mind could not be changed by anyone and she didn’t stop to discuss it. She gave a few orders and left. “I will go first, come tell me if you need anything. Shu’er, you come with me.”

“Yes, grandma!” Shen Jingshu followed the old madam outside. When they left the yard, Old Madam Shen looked at Shen Jingshu and asked: “Is Shu’er injured?” Shen Jingya was obviously jealous of Shen Jingshu and dissatisfied. Old Madam Shen was not ignorant and knew that Shen Jingya had been spoiled by her mother since she was a child. The matter just now was clearly her venting the anger that had accumulated over the last few days.

Shen Jingshu shook her head: “Don’t worry, grandma! I’m fine!”

Old Madam Shen sighed. “It’s good that you are okay. Jingya is still young and ignorant, it’s inevitable that she will be a little careless when doing things. As the older sister, you should be more tolerant. You should spend a little more time with her, alright?” Shen Jingya was still her granddaughter, so Old Madam Shen said this in the hope that Shen Jingshu would understand.

“Grandmother, don’t worry, I understand!” Although her efforts had been fruitful so far, Shen Jingshu knew that the old madam still favored the second branch. She had to work slowly to destroy their reputation in the old madam’s heart, little by little. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about the old madam’s partiality.

“It’s good that you understand!” Old Madam Shen smiled. “I know you are the most sensible. Older sisters should take care of their younger siblings. After all, you can’t write a strong character in one stroke. In the future, you will support each other. If she is doing well, you will be doing well too.”

Shen Jingshu smiled and nodded but in her heart, she sneered. “Hehe, she will do well if Shen Jingya was doing well? This was really a joke! In her previous life, Shen Jingya had sunk her into an icy lake to steal her marriage, how could she care about her? It was only if she died quickly that her cousin could justifiably marry Qi Shaodong, right?

It was just a pity that in this life, Qi Shaodong no longer had the glory of his previous life. Who knew how much he was suffering right now! But she wanted to see what else Shen Jingya would try to steal from her now.