Shen Yunzhi shoved her aside. “Are you leaving or not? If you don’t, I’ll splash you again.”
Mother Shen fell onto the ground with a thud and began wailing. “Is there no justice in this world? A daughter beating her own mother! How did I give birth to such an unfilial girl? Heaven, strike me down with lightning!”
Shen Yunzhi looked down at her. “From the day you signed that severance letter, we cut ties. What exactly are you trying to accomplish by coming here to cause trouble now?”
“You tricked me into signing it! I don’t acknowledge it.”
“It’s written clearly in black and white. You think you can just deny it? Fine. Let’s go to the county yamen and see whether the magistrate acknowledges it.”
She had no interest in further entanglement.
The village slept early. The night was quiet — making Mother Shen’s shrill voice even more piercing.
“Even if you wrote a severance letter, you still came out of my womb! Don’t you dare deny that!”
She was furious. Since when had Shen Yunzhi become so difficult — daring to defy her again and again?
“I’ve repaid everything I owed. No matter how much you make a scene, I won’t interfere anymore.” Shen Yunzhi cast her a sideways glance. “Make all the noise you want. I’m going back to sleep.”
She turned and walked straight inside.
Mother Shen felt like she had punched a lump of cotton.
By the time she followed, the door was already shut.
“Come out! Get out here!” She pounded on the door. No matter what, she had to force Shen Yunzhi to stop Su Jingci from studying.
Inside, Shen Yunzhi pulled the blanket over her head and wept silently in frustration.
“What’s wrong?” Hearing her cry, Song Yinuo hurried to check on her.
“My mother came again.”
After being reborn, Shen Yunzhi had resolved to sever ties with the Shen family. But Mother Shen was still her mother. Faced with her relentless harassment, she found herself powerless.
Song Yinuo’s heart ached.
If it were anyone else, they could simply take the matter to the yamen. But this was her birth mother.
In ancient times, filial piety was paramount. Even with a severance letter, in name, Mother Shen was still her mother.
She couldn’t go too far.
“Does she have any leverage? Any weakness?”
Shen Yunzhi shook her head. Even if she did, she couldn’t truly use it against her own mother. Her own reputation didn’t matter — she hardly had one left — but it would implicate Ci-ge.
He had just found a teacher and was about to resume his studies. If her name became notorious, Su Jingci would be dragged down with her. The teacher might even expel him.
“I have an idea. Want to hear it?”
Shen Yunzhi nodded quickly. “Tell me.”
“She likes to make a scene? Then you make an even bigger one. Fight magic with magic.”
“That won’t work. No matter how much I argue, she’s still my mother. I’ll always be in the wrong.”
“Isn’t your grandmother still alive? Use your grandmother. One move, one strike.”
Shen Yunzhi paused.
That… actually made sense.
Her mother’s status in her natal home wasn’t much different from her own. Every time they visited Grandmother, Mother Shen was treated like a servant — ordered around, gifts taken, chores done, and not even a proper meal in return.
Only in recent years, because Shen Yunhai excelled in his studies, had her grandmother’s family begun to treat Mother Shen with slightly more respect — even allowing her to sit at the table.
Shen Yunzhi opened the door.
“What exactly do you want?”
Showing up at the Su house to cause trouble at every turn — she was beyond annoyed.
“Tell Su Jingci to inform his teacher that he’s quitting school.”
Shen Yunzhi’s face turned iron-gray.
In her previous life, it had been Mother Shen’s interference that ruined Su Jingci’s chance to continue studying.
“Impossible.”
She refused outright.
“If you don’t agree, I’ll keep making a scene here. If my grandson’s future is ruined, don’t think the Su family will have peace either.”
Mother Shen had made up her mind. She would continue this chaos until Shen Yunzhi gave in.