"Father!" Lei cried out in alarm. He was the man she loved, he couldn't die, he couldn't die! Her knees buckled, and she prepared to kneel and beg Grand Commandant Lei, but unexpectedly, he flicked his sleeves, turned around, and strode out without looking back.
Looking at Lei Shi, whose eyes were filled with sorrow and whose body was trembling, Shen Minghui felt as if he had avenged a great enemy. He was extremely pleased and said proudly, "Guards, strangle the adulterer with white silk!"
"Shen Minghui, how dare you!" Lei Yarong shouted angrily, lunging at the man to protect him.
Shen Minghui kicked her hard to the side: "You bitch, don't push your luck. If you don't want to live, then die with him!"
The man was covered in bruises and his mind was fuzzy. He was powerless to resist. Two guards stepped forward and easily put the white silk around his neck, pulling it tight.
The man's slightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. He gripped the white silk tightly with both hands, tearing at it incessantly. He struggled to breathe, his face turning a purplish-red. His mouth was wide open, yet he couldn't inhale a single breath, like a fish on the verge of death, struggling in its final moments.
"No, no!" Lei cried out, struggling to reach out and rescue the man. Two rough-looking maids stepped forward and held her down tightly. Unable to break free, she gazed intently at the man with her beautiful eyes and cried out urgently, "A-Zhi, A-Zhi!"
"Ya... Rong!" The man's lips trembled as he uttered two words. Although they were somewhat unclear, everyone knew that he was referring to Lei Ya Rong's name.
Seeing the man's flushed face and his desperate struggle in pain, Shen Minghui burst into laughter, a maniacal, bloodthirsty laugh: His wife, right in front of him, was putting on a show of deep affection with another man, haha, what a smug provocation, so disgusting! He was even more determined to kill that man. With the adulterer dead, let's see how Lei Yarong can still commit adultery, how she can still cuckold him, how she can still have illegitimate children.
Shen Yelei stood there blankly, staring at the horrific scene, his eyes wide with astonishment, forgetting to cry.
Shen Yingxue's slender body trembled slightly as she timidly looked at her father, who was laughing maniacally. In her memory, he was kind and gentle, with a benevolent look in his eyes. Why had he suddenly become so cold and bloodthirsty? Was it because of that man?
Shen Yingxue looked at the naked man. Was this her biological father? Ignorant, cowardly, utterly worthless. How could her mother have fallen for such a person? She would never accept such a useless person as her father.
Lei Hong stood quietly, his gaze dark. Lei Yarong had only herself to blame for things getting to this point; she had no one else to blame but herself!
Shen Lixue slowly lowered her hand and quietly put away the silver needles. Shen Minghui executed the man in front of Lei Yarong to provoke her, teach her a lesson, and mock her, so that she would remember this cruel scene, like a midnight nightmare that she could never get rid of.
How ruthless!
The man's struggles weakened, his vicious, resentful gaze fixed on Lei Yarong. His eyes slowly closed, his hands and head fell limply, and his breathing gradually ceased...
The guard didn't let go, tightening his grip for a while longer. Seeing that the man didn't react, he finally released his grip, stepped forward, checked under the man's nose, and nodded: "Reporting to the Prime Minister, the man is dead!"
"Very good!" Shen Minghui's lips curled into a cruel smile. Finally dead, good riddance, good riddance!
"Shen Minghui, I'll fight you to the death!" Lei Yarong's eyes were bloodshot, and she suddenly broke free from the rough maid and pounced on Shen Minghui with unknown strength.
Shen Minghui snorted disdainfully and kicked Lei Shi hard in the stomach, sending her flying several steps away. She fell heavily to the ground, feeling as if all the bones in her body had been broken. The pain was unbearable, especially in her stomach, where a sharp pain shot through her.
Lei lay on the ground, her body limp and unable to stand. She glared fiercely at Shen Minghui, as if she wanted to devour him alive: "You despicable and shameless scoundrel! Fifteen years ago, when Lin Qingzhu was pregnant, you couldn't bear the loneliness and had an affair with me. It wouldn't have been too much for you to be strangled with a white silk ribbon!"
The man's death triggered Lei's anger, and she decided to expose all the scandals from years ago, hoping to ruin Shen Minghui's reputation as well.
Shen Minghui's eyes flickered as he looked at Shen Lixue. Seeing that she was expressionless and seemed not to have heard Lei Yarong's words, he strode forward and slapped Lei Yarong hard across the face: "Shameless prostitute! If I had known you were having an affair, I wouldn't have wanted you even if you begged me!"
"You shameless bastard, you seduced me back then!" Seizing the opportunity, Lei grabbed Shen Minghui's arm tightly and started fighting him like a shrew.
Shen Lixue raised her eyebrows slightly. Originally, she thought that Shen Minghui would marry Lei Shi after returning to the capital, and it would not be surprising if Shen Yingxue gave birth prematurely and was a few months younger than her. Now she realized that Lei Shi married Shen Minghui while pregnant. The reason why Shen Minghui did not suspect Shen Yingxue's background was because the two of them had been having an affair for a long time. They had been having an affair before Lin Qingzhu gave birth.
Lei Yarong is truly a womanizer. She's having a great time with her lover, and she doesn't forget to seduce Shen Minghui.
"Slap slap slap!" Shen Minghui was strong and knocked down the injured Lei Shi in a few moves, slapping her more than ten times.
Lei lay limply on the ground, her face swollen and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Her beautiful eyes glared defiantly at Shen Minghui, and she gritted her teeth: "Shen Minghui, even if it means we both die, I will never let you get away with this!"
"Then you try it!" Shen Minghui slapped Lei Shi several more times and kicked her hard, shouting angrily, "Guards, throw the adulterous couple and their bastard child out of the Prime Minister's residence!"
The guards stepped forward, hastily wrapped the dead man in clothes, grabbed his and Lei's feet, and dragged them out, their actions rough and showing no mercy.
"Shen Minghui, you wait, I will never let you go..." Lei Shi gripped the ground, roaring angrily, her long fingernails breaking one by one.
Shen Minghui remained expressionless and scoffed disdainfully, "I'll be sitting right here in my mansion, waiting for you to take your revenge. If you have the guts, then go ahead and do it!"
"Father, I'll stay here with you!" Shen Yingxue stepped forward, her eyes filled with tears, looking pitiful.
"Yingxue, he is not your father. He killed your father. He is your father's murderer!" Seeing Shen Yingxue recognize her enemy as her father, Lei was furious and roared at her.
"Get out of here right now!" Shen Minghui gave them a rude order to leave. He didn't want to see either of these two bastards again. If it weren't for the fact that they were Lei Taiwei's nephew and niece, he would have ordered them to be beaten to death.
"No, in this life, you are my only father!" Shen Yingxue's body trembled, but her tone was unusually firm. The Grand Commandant's Mansion was her maternal grandfather's home. She was pregnant and living there, and the servants were already pointing and whispering. However, out of respect for her status as the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's family, they were still very respectful on the surface.
If she severed her father-daughter relationship with Shen Minghui and recognized that scoundrel as her father, she would be the daughter of a commoner, of lowly status. She would no longer be the high-born daughter of the Prime Minister's mansion, but a commoner's daughter whose biological father had died and who was living in the Grand Commandant's mansion. The gossip, pointing fingers, and all kinds of open and veiled ridicule from the servants would completely overwhelm her, making her life worse than death. She did not want to live such a life.
"Yingxue, you're recognizing a thief as your father!" Lei gritted her teeth, glaring at Shen Yingxue with a look of utter disappointment.
Shen Yingxue coldly looked back at Lei Shi: "It has always been you who has been having an affair with someone else. You are sorry to Father, but Father has not wronged you. I am staying here to accompany Father and will not go back to the Grand Commandant's mansion with you!"
"Yingxue, he is your biological father!" Lei roared, reprimanding Shen Yingxue.
Shen Yingxue scoffed disdainfully: "Over the years, the only one who has cared for me and taken care of me is my father. That bastard has never even come to see me once. Why should I acknowledge him as my father!"
"Yingxue, you...you..." Lei pointed at Shen Yingxue, too angry to speak. How dare she disobey her mother and even recognize a thief as her father! Unfilial daughter, unfilial daughter!
Shen Minghui coldly glanced at the tense Lei family and Shen Yingxue: "I don't want to see your imposter daughter anymore, get out!"
When he saw Shen Yingxue, Shen Yelei would think of Lei's deception and betrayal, and his doting on the two children, which further highlighted his ignorance and incompetence. The green hat on his head was extremely glaring. He wanted to drive away everyone related to him, out of sight, out of mind.
"Father!" Shen Yingxue pleaded desperately. Returning to the Grand Commandant's mansion was like entering hell, and she didn't want to go back.
"Get out!" Shen Minghui roared mercilessly. He didn't want to see that harlot or that bastard again.
Two rough-looking maids stepped forward, grabbed Shen Yingxue's arms on either side, and pulled her away forcefully. She was heartbroken and tearful, pleading bitterly that she did not want to return to the Grand Commandant's mansion as a lowly commoner, and that she really did not want to go back.
"You stinking guard, what are you doing? Put me down right now!" Shen Minghui was furious. Shen Yelei didn't dare to go forward. He was thinking of a way to calm him down when suddenly a guard came over, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out. Shen Yelei's short legs kept struggling, and he cursed loudly.
The guard, expressionless, carried Shen Yelei forward with long strides.
Lei's roar, Shen Yingxue's weeping, and Shen Yelei's cursing gradually faded away and soon disappeared.