The Old Madam lifted her teacup and gently blew away the foam, her tone as calm as if she were discussing the weather: "Wan'er, that singer, Xiao Taohong, I've already had someone give her five hundred taels to open a cloth shop in Jiangnan. She won't appear before Beichen again."
Su Wan's mouth twitched. "Mother... you're letting her off just like that?"
"Letting her off?" The Old Madam gave a cold laugh and pulled a yellowed booklet from her sleeve. "This is proof that Beichen wet his pants at school when he was seven. This is proof that he broke his leg sneaking a look at the neighbor's daughter bathing when he was ten. And this is a record of his first visit to a brothel at fifteen, where the girls laughed at him for being all show and no substance because he was so nervous."
Su Wan's eyes widened. "Mother, you're..."
"We'll divide the work between us." The Old Madam patted her hand, her gaze sharp as a blade. "You spread the rumors, and I'll cut off his sources of money. I want him disgraced and ruined in this circle, then on his knees begging you to let him come home and sleep!"
Su Wan was so moved that tears welled in her eyes. What kind of heavenly mother-in-law was this! She wasn't a wicked mother-in-law at all; she was the Goddess of Fertility herself!
