"You brought this upon yourself, you deserve it!" Shen Minghui said expressionlessly, glaring fiercely at Lei Shi.
Lei was furious. She glared at Shen Minghui and roared, "Shen Minghui, I have only myself to blame, but you're not exactly innocent either. Back then, how many dirty things did you do with your conscience, and how many people did you harm..."
"You bitch!" Shen Minghui roared, raising his hand and slapping Lei's other cheek hard.
Lei leaned back abruptly, dodging Shen Minghui's slap, and deftly snatched the rattan cane from his hand, lashing it out at him fiercely.
Caught off guard, Shen Minghui was whipped several times with a rattan cane, his thin clothes torn and bloody welts exposed. His anger flared up instantly. Enduring the pain, he grabbed the rattan cane and kicked Lei Shi hard, yelling, "You bitch!"
"Shen Minghui!" Lei shouted angrily, gripping the rattan cane tightly, kicking and hitting Shen Minghui like a shrew.
Shen Minghui grabbed a rattan cane with one hand and used the gaps in the room with the other to slap Lei Shi repeatedly. The tables and chairs were knocked aside by the two of them and scattered in all directions, turning the entire inner room into a mess in an instant.
"What are you doing?" With a stern and angry shout, Grand Commandant Lei strode in, followed by Madam Lei, who looked anxious, and Granny Mi.
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow. Lei Hong was clever; knowing he couldn't stop Shen Minghui, he sent Granny Mi back to the mansion to fetch Grand Commandant Lei as reinforcements.
Grand Commandant Lei exuded an imposing aura, his authority palpable even without anger. Looking at Shen Minghui and Lei Shi, their hair disheveled and clothes tattered, his gaze was terrifyingly gloomy: "The dignified Prime Minister Qingyan, and his wife, fighting so utterly without any decorum—what kind of decorum is this? You two have completely disgraced the Grand Commandant's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion!"
"Your daughter brought this shame upon herself!" Shen Minghui sneered, released the cane, grabbed the naked man, and slammed him in front of Commander Lei: "Look at the mess your good daughter has made!"
A white object rushed towards him, and Commander Lei subconsciously took a step back. He saw that the person lying on the ground was a severely injured, naked man with dazed eyes, and his heart tightened suddenly: "What happened?"
"Lei Yarong committed adultery with him right in front of me while I was in the Prime Minister's residence." Shen Minghui looked at Grand Commandant Lei, his tone both mocking and sarcastic: "Grand Commandant Lei, what do you think should be done about this?"
Commander Lei's face was terribly gloomy, and his sharp gaze stared directly at Lei Yarong: "Is what Minghui said true?"
Lei's mind raced, and she said arrogantly, "Shen Minghui has concubines and has not entered my room for a long time. I summoned this man here only to provoke him and get his attention!"
The man trembled, his face turned down, his head bowed, and he remained silent.
Grand Commandant Lei glared at Lei Yarong: "Everything has its limits. You could have provoked Minghui in other ways, but how could you pretend to be having an affair? If this gets out, not only will you lose face, but the Grand Commandant's Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion will also be disgraced!"
Shen Lixue raised the corners of her mouth. Caught cheating, Lei Yarong was not ashamed but proud. With her sharp tongue, she could argue and distort the truth. Under normal circumstances, Shen Minghui might be fooled, but faced with irrefutable evidence, he would no longer believe her.
"Pretending to commit adultery? Trying to provoke me and get my attention? That sounds nice!" Shen Minghui sneered disdainfully, grabbed Shen Yelei by the collar, and slammed him in front of the naked man, angrily saying, "You provoked me so much that you gave birth to a bastard child for me to raise. Take a good look at their faces."
Shen Yelei's small body was hurt from the fall, and he held his face and cried loudly, looking at Lei Shi with a wronged look. His father didn't love him, and why did his mother ignore him?
Lei was shocked and was about to pull Shen Yelei behind him when Lei Taiwei raised his and the man's heads in confusion. The two faces, one large and one small, had similar outlines and looked very similar. This was the real father and son.
"Ya Rong!" Grand Commandant Lei roared in anger, glaring fiercely at Lei Ya Rong. His large hands trembled slightly as he expressed his disappointment and frustration. Back then, she had become pregnant out of wedlock. The man was a lowly commoner, but for her lifelong happiness, he had rejected him without hesitation and betrothed her to Shen Minghui, who had become the top scholar in the imperial examination.
I thought she would settle down after getting married, be a good wife and mother, and be a good wife to the prime minister. I never expected that she would still have an affair with that lowly commoner and have a son. If it weren't for their strikingly similar appearances, Shen Minghui would not have noticed anything amiss, and things would not have escalated to this point. How foolish, how foolish!
Lei's eyes flickered as he argued defiantly, "You can't conclude that they're father and son just because they look alike. There are plenty of people in this world who look alike; does that mean they're necessarily family?"
“I have already had my blood tested, and Shen Yelei’s blood is incompatible with mine.” Shen Minghui stared at Lei Shi, two flames burning fiercely deep in his eyes: “Lei Yarong, do you dare to let Shen Yelei have his blood tested?”
Suppressing her heart pounding with fear, Lei pretended to be calm and said, "Why wouldn't I dare? Granny Mi, fetch some clean water!"
"Remember not to add cooking oil to the water, otherwise, everyone's blood will not mix!" Shen Lixue smiled sweetly, like a hundred flowers blooming, captivating everyone's heart.
Lei's expression changed instantly. Her gaze towards Shen Lixue was as cold as ice. "You wretch, it's all her fault that you ruined everything."
Granny Mi lowered her head, standing at the door, unsure whether to leave or stay. The young master was her son; if she didn't add the grease, their blood would definitely mix, and the crime of adultery would be fully confirmed…
Grand Commandant Lei sighed heavily. Seeing the reactions of Madam Lei and Granny Mi, he understood everything. Shen Yelei was Madam Lei's son with that man: "Minghui, what do you plan to do with them?"
Shen Minghui gave a cold laugh, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Men, strangle them with a white silk ribbon; women, drown them in a pig cage!"
"No way!" Grand Commandant Lei said coldly, his refusal firm and unequivocal: "I have no objection to a man being strangled with a white silk ribbon, but Ya Rong is the daughter of my Grand Commandant's mansion, and she must not be drowned in a pig cage!"
"Grand Commandant Lei, according to the laws of Qingyan, anyone caught committing adultery, regardless of their status, can be drowned in a pig cage!" Shen Minghui said each word slowly and deliberately, his sharp eyes filled with intense hatred. The child he had poured his heart and soul into and cherished for over a decade turned out to be someone else's, and had nothing to do with him. He had been completely manipulated by that vile woman Lei Yarong and her lover. What a disgrace! He was determined to get his revenge!
"Shen Minghui, Lei Yarong is my daughter, Grand Commandant Lei. She has wronged you. You can punish her, but you cannot drown her in a pig cage!" Grand Commandant Lei's face was gloomy as he reiterated that if he couldn't even protect his own daughter, what prestige would he have left in the court?
Shen Minghui's eyes flashed with overwhelming rage as he glared hatefully at Grand Commandant Lei. Lei's power in the court was deeply entrenched. Shen Minghui had only been prime minister for a little over a decade, and his power was certainly no match for Lei's. Lei was wholeheartedly protecting Lei Yarong. If Shen Minghui insisted on having Lei drowned in a pig cage, Lei would do everything in his power to scheme against him and would even distort the truth to ruin Shen Minghui's reputation.
Lei Yarong, however, would live a carefree life in the aristocratic circle as the wronged party, living happily ever after with her lover—this was not the outcome Shen Minghui desired.
"I'll let her go, but I have a few conditions!"
"What are the conditions?" Seeing that Shen Minghui had relented, Grand Commandant Lei also breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Minghui also had a certain amount of influence in the court. If he was determined to make Lei Yarong drown in a pig cage, they would definitely fight to the death.
Shen Minghui's sharp, icy gaze suddenly shot towards Lei Shi: "I want to write a letter of divorce and divorce her!"
"Alright!" Grand Commandant Lei sighed softly, shaking his head helplessly. At this point, the marriage could no longer be maintained, and severing ties would be better for both of them.
Shen Minghui's cold gaze swept over Shen Yingxue and Shen Yelei: "The two of them will leave the Prime Minister's residence with Lei Yarong. I will no longer raise sons and daughters for others!"
"Alright!" Grand Commandant Lei nodded again. Yingxue and Yelei were not Shen Minghui's children. He had raised them for more than ten years for nothing, which was more than enough. It was only right for him to send them away.
Shen Minghui pointed at the naked man, his eyes flashing with a fierce light: "Him, strangle him with a white silk ribbon!"
Stepping out of the Prime Minister's mansion, Lei Yarong, Shen Yingxue, and Shen Yelei—this despicable man is now a happy family of four. Why should the child he raised call someone else "father"? He has worked hard for over ten years to bring happiness to other families, while he lives a lonely life in the Prime Minister's mansion.
No, no, no! If he can't enjoy family happiness, no one else can either. Kill that bastard! Yingxue and Yelei will lose their father, and Lei Yarong will lose her lover. Let's see how they can be happy then!
"No!" Lei Yarong stared at Shen Minghui and said angrily, "You can make any conditions, but he absolutely cannot be strangled to death with the white silk!"
"I have no other conditions but that he be strangled to death with a white silk ribbon. If you do not agree, we shall meet in the Golden Palace!" Shen Minghui's gaze was firm, his tone resounding, leaving no room for negotiation.
Lei Yarong gritted her teeth in hatred. Unable to argue with Shen Minghui, she turned to Grand Commandant Lei for help: "Father, he is your son-in-law, your nephew, and your niece's biological father. If he is strangled to death with a white silk ribbon, how will you save face?"
"The legitimate daughter of the Grand Commandant's family, having an affair behind her husband's back and giving birth to two bastards, is that something to be proud of? If word gets out, will Grand Commandant Lei look good?" Shen Minghui's lips curled up slightly, his eyes full of mocking amusement.
Grand Commandant Lei glanced coldly at the naked man, his face growing even darker. It was all his fault; he had overestimated himself and seduced his daughter, ruining her life's happiness. Back then, he had been too soft-hearted to kill this man, which led to this situation. He didn't need to fall out with Shen Minghui over someone like this: "Do with him as you see fit!"