Chapter 99: Inexplicable Guilt
Chapter 99
When Mrs. Wang told her that Old Mrs. Wen was coming over, she had already kept it in mind.
There was no other way. She didn't want to harm others, but she also didn't want to be harmed.
Wen Shi Lan and Zuo Ran's cases still had no result. She was also unfamiliar with Old Mrs. Wen of the Wen family. Why would she come to see her at this time?
So she gave her phone to Mrs. Wang and asked Mrs. Wang to pay attention to the angle and record what was happening in the living room.
If the old lady of the Wen family really just came to visit, she could delete it afterwards.
If she came to find fault, then this recording would be evidence.
She knew the harm of gossip, especially when the younger generation faced the accusations of an elder, people tend to be prejudiced and help accuse the real victim.
She had suffered losses from Wen Shi Lan several times. If she was still so unguarded, then it would really be her own fault.
"Why didn't I think of it earlier? I knew that old lady was up to no good. Sister-in-law, you really kept your cool."
Huo Mei Shu hadn't thought that deeply. She stood behind Dai as the sisters-in-law watched the video together.
The video was recorded very clearly. They could see and hear everything that was said clearly, as well as the old lady's expressions.
Just in case, Huo Mei Shu took the initiative to make two backup copies.
"Actually, they were recording too. Do you still remember why I asked the lawyer about his suit?" The decorations on the chest pocket of his suit looked a bit strange."
After turning off her phone, Dai asked Huo Mei Shu. She didn't want the young sister-in-law to think of her as a scheming villainess.
Alright, although she was crafty, she was doing this to protect herself.
Although it wasn't like the palace struggles in her previous life where the consorts fought viciously, danger still lurked around at all times here.
The slightest carelessness could make her the target of public criticism, with no defense at all.
She liked liveliness, but she didn't like people coming to teach and slander her. That would greatly affect her mood.
Only with a cheerful mood could she be healthy in body and mind, and live a long life.
In her previous life, she only lived a few decades with her short life. She didn't want to die so early again in this life.
"Sister-in-law, are you saying that they didn't come today to ask for your forgiveness, but to set you up?"
Huo Mei Shu suddenly stared with wide eyes, feeling extremely shocked and incredulous!
She couldn't have imagined that an old lady whose own granddaughter was trying to kill someone, could still plot against others so viciously!
If the sister-in-law hadn't been so cautious today, then what happened in the living room just now would definitely have been edited after they went back, and then posted online.
At that time, the sister-in-law would have no defense at all!
How sinister! It was too sinister!
"We have to take preemptive action and post the video online first. We must not give that old hag a chance to slander you!"
Huo Mei Shu was so angry she wanted to strangle someone. She had never seen such a vicious person!
But Dai just smiled at her and advised her to calm down.
"Don't be impatient. Taking preemptive action is good, but it depends on the situation."
Huo Mei Shu was puzzled and tilted her head to listen to her explanation.
"Do you know what 'to praise in order to kill' means? In ancient times, the more an emperor feared a minister, the more rewards he would give him, waiting for him to be complacent and unaware, and then strike him down at once so that he could never rise again. This is called 'praise to kill'."
Dai explained to her. Wasn't this the trick the emperor used in her previous life to destroy the Rong family completely?
"If we post the video now, it will make us look bad. Knowing that the other party came to find fault, we still spoke so impolitely. Even if Old Mrs. Wen of the Wen family was wrong, people will definitely not side with us."
Huo Mei Shu's eyes lit up as she listened. She even looked at Dai admiringly.
Dai felt awkward inwardly. The little sister-in-law must not learn from her, otherwise she would really become tainted from the ink.
She had been an imperial consort for thirty years. Adding the time as a concubine, it was almost thirty-five years.
She married the Emperor when she was sixteen. Of her fifty-one years of life, only twenty-one years before entering the palace were truly carefree.
In the following twenty years, she learned to stay calm in times of trouble, and also to retaliate by underhanded means.
Those days eroded away bit by bit the innocence of her youth, until the last ten years living in cold palace, where she finally found brief tranquility.
It was the years of her previous life that taught her these things. Although women in this era didn't have to live so hard, danger still lurked around.
Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.
One should not have the heart to harm others, but must not lack the heart to guard against others - this timeless wisdom she dared not forget a single word.
"Rather than doing this, we might as well wait until they are complacent and think they have the upper hand, then release the video to pull the rug out from under them. Even if they plot against us afterwards, netizens will not side with them."
Dai said softly.
If Wen Shi Lan hadn't acted so extremely, trying to take her life, she wouldn't have used such means either.
She just wanted to live a clean and carefree life.
Basking in the sun at leisure, reading books, practicing calligraphy, tending to her plants, or cooking delicious food to satisfy her appetite.
Such a life would be wonderful.
But she still lived among the aristocratic families in this life. These things were unavoidable to guard against.
"Sister-in-law, I give you a thumbs up for this!"
Huo Mei Shu approved greatly of her idea.
But Dai felt bitter inside. She actually disliked having to be on high alert all the time.
However, the world was like this. If she wanted to live freely as she wished, she would need some means to protect herself.
"Actually, if they didn't try to harm me, I wouldn't do this either. I just don't want any more trouble." She said helplessly.
Seeing her like this, Huo Mei Shu couldn't experience that feeling of being controlled, but she could understand.
She straightened her expression and gave her a sincere hug.
"No matter what, sister-in-law, I believe in you. We are family. When there is difficulty, we will stand up and protect you."
Because she had seen the most ruthless relatives, she would protect without reservation those she considered as family.
Dai was startled, feeling warm inside, but also strangely guilty.
If the little sister-in-law knew that her marriage to Huo Shaoting would only last a year, would she still say this?
After all, she was not the original owner. Huo Shaoting only doted on and cared for her so much because of the body she possessed.
In Huo Shaoting's world, she was still that Rong Dai, still the wife he first married, not the soul from another world that she was.