Chapter 10: Become a Nun on the Mountain, Hand Over Household Authority

Tang Rong’s eyes widened in terror, and she shook her head frantically.
“No! I won’t choose! I don’t want either! I don’t want to marry that man, and I don’t want to become a nun on the mountain!”

She grabbed Qin-shi’s hand, pleading,
“Mother, save me! Please!”

Qin-shi was stunned. Regaining her senses, she dropped to her knees and begged the old madam,
“Mother-in-law, it’s all my fault. I failed to teach Rong’er properly. If anyone should be punished, it should be me. Rong’er has already been punished please, I beg you, don’t punish her further!”

Seeing Qin-shi still had the nerve to plead, Old Madam Tang’s anger erupted.
“You should be punished! A fine young girl of the Tang family turned this wicked because of your poor upbringing! She framed her elder sister, disrespected her elders Qin-shi, you deserve death a thousand times over!”

With a loud bang, the dragon-headed cane struck the ground again, making Qin-shi tremble all over, drenched in cold sweat.

Tang Ying immediately knelt beside Qin-shi.
“Grandmother, please calm your anger. You’ve always taught us to live in harmony and to follow the Tang family rules. What happened today must not be because of Mother’s teachings!”

Qin-shi, unable to give up on her daughter completely, added,
“Mother-in-law, Rong’er is still young and ignorant. She probably didn’t understand the severity of her actions and only thought it was a prank. Now she’s lost her innocence, she’s already suffered punishment. Please, I beg you, if someone must be punished, let it be me!”

Old Madam Tang’s face grew cold with disappointment.
“She lost her innocence, so we should let her go unpunished? She’s reaping what she sowed, who else is to blame?”

Without waiting for another word, Old Madam Tang turned to Tang Rong.
“Have you made your decision? If not, I will strike your name from the Tang family genealogy today. Do you want to remain a daughter of the Tang family or leave it? You choose.”

“Grandmother…” Qin-shi tried to plead again, but Old Madam Tang shot her a look.
“If you say one more word, I’ll hand you a letter of divorce and kick you out of the Tang family.”

The words letter of divorce instantly silenced Qin-shi.

Seeing even her mother and elder sister weren’t speaking for her anymore, Tang Rong fell into despair.

She couldn’t be disowned, she couldn’t marry that man either. He was just a coachman she hired to disgust Tang Mi. She had even chosen someone old and ugly on purpose. She could not marry him; that would ruin her life completely.

“Tang Rong!” Old Madam Tang was clearly out of patience, no longer calling her affectionately, just referring to her by her birth order.

Tang Rong shuddered and finally whispered,
“I’ll go to the mountain.”

Upon hearing her choice, both Qin-shi and Tang Ying secretly sighed in relief.

Any sane person would choose to become a nun, it was still reversible. Being disowned or marrying that disgusting man would be true ruin. If she became a nun, they might still find a way to bring her back someday.

Old Madam Tang glanced at Gui Nanny beside her.
“You’ll personally take her to Jingyue Nunnery and make sure you witness her head being shaved.”

That single sentence nearly made Tang Mi laugh out loud.

Tang Rong, on the other hand, was grinding her teeth in rage, fists clenched so tightly she wanted to strangle the old madam on the spot.

“Yes,” Gui Nanny replied, pulling Tang Rong out of the ancestral hall.

Qin-shi watched her daughter’s back disappear with great sorrow and quickly turned to Old Madam Tang.
“Mother-in-law, I don’t know when we’ll meet again. Please allow me to help her pack some clothes and prepare some silver for her.”

Old Madam Tang glared at her.
“She’s going to become a nun. The nunnery provides robes, she won’t need your clothes. As for silver, that’s even more unnecessary.”

“But…” Qin-shi was about to cry. Couldn’t she at least have a private word with her daughter?

Before she could finish, Old Madam Tang cut her off sharply.
“Failure to teach your daughter is your fault. As her mother, you’ve turned a Tang family girl into this. Now I’ll give you two choices. One: hand over control of the household. Two: from now on, you will have no say in your children’s marriages.”

“Mother-in-law!” Qin-shi was horrified. She never imagined she would be punished as well.

Tang Ying also hadn’t expected it and quickly knelt. But before she could speak, Old Madam Tang snapped,
“Don’t plead for her. She raised Tang Rong so poorly that she disgraced our family completely. Even if I handed her a divorce letter, your father wouldn’t object.”

Hearing this, Tang Ying dared not say another word.

Qin-shi knew Old Madam Tang was right, Tang Shuanghu’s heart was no longer with her. If she were given a divorce letter, he’d probably be glad to sign it.

She absolutely couldn’t let that happen. But she didn’t want to give up control of the household or her children’s marriages either.

Tang Ying, seeing her mother hesitate, gave her a secret signal.

What was there to consider? Obviously, they had to choose the first option. They could find a way to take back control later. But if the old madam got control of her marriage, there’d be no way for Tang Ying to marry Prince Yu.

The signal woke Qin-shi up, and she immediately said,
“It was my failure to teach her properly that led Rong’er to such disgrace. I am willing to hand over the household authority.”

Tang Mi wasn’t surprised at all. At this time, Tang Ying had likely already gotten involved with Ye Junyu. There was no way they’d hand control of the marriage over to the old madam.

But it didn’t matter, Tang Mi was already satisfied with today’s outcome.

There was still a long road ahead. She had plenty of time to play with them slowly.

Old Madam Tang, unsurprised, said,
“Go now and gather the account books and keys. I’ll send someone shortly to collect them.”

“Yes,” Qin-shi replied and left the ancestral hall.

Then Old Madam Tang turned to Tang Ying.
“You go help your mother organize things. Make sure she doesn’t forget anything.”

“Yes.” Tang Ying glanced briefly at Tang Mi, then followed out.

Once the others were sent away, only Tang Mi and the old madam remained in the ancestral hall.

“Kneel!” Old Madam Tang suddenly said sternly, staring at Tang Mi.