My Evil Wife Is a Nine-Tailed Fox

The car finally arrived at the Shen residence. Shen Minyao had just entered the living room when she heard a heated argument inside. She narrowed her eyes when she saw Shen Qing in distress, seated at the couch with both of her parents on her sides; while Cheng Lifan was on the opposite couch, with a furious expression on her face. 

The fox woman hummed and glanced at Elder Shen's face, seeing his same stoic disposition and cold countenance as he listened to his son and his daughters-in-law's arguments. 

It seemed that the only person who truly cared about Shen Minyao inside this room was none other than her stepmother. Shen Xin didn't even bother to make an appearance to show support towards his daughter; not that the fox woman expected to see him today, anyway. 

"I see you are here." Elder Shen was the first one to regard her. "Take a seat next to your mother, Xiao Yao." 

"Grandpa," she greeted the old man. 

Shen Minyao didn't need to be told twice and took a seat next to Cheng Lifan who held her hand the moment she sat down. 

"Mom." She then gave Cheng Lifan a slight smile, but she wasn't really in the mood to play as a filial and kind daughter today. Not when Shen Qing's arrogant gaze was set on her at that moment. 

"Yaoyao, are you alright?" Cheng Lifan asked, checking if Shen Minyao was hurt anywhere. However, there were no pains to speak of. 

"I'm fine, Mama, but why would you think that I'm not okay?" The fox woman asked, feigning innocence as to why she was suddenly summoned home by the old man.

"Qing'er claimed that you hit Second Young Master Su when he was only trying to protect her." Cheng Lifan wasn't sure if she should believe Shen Qing's claim, considering that this wasn't the first time the girl tried to slander Xiao Yao's reputation. 

"I did," Shen Minyao admitted without batting an eyelid, which made Elder Shen frown at her assent. "That's because Qing Jie and Su Yin were making a fool of me at school." 

"You lie!" Shen Qing exclaimed. "You just kicked him because you wanted to hit me!" 

"You shameless girl!" Meng Ling, Shen Qing's mother, sneered at the fox woman. "You wanted to bully our Xiao Qing? If Su Yin wasn't there to protect her, you would have beaten up your cousin!" 

"So what if I beat her? Didn't the Shen family take pride in their words and would never back down from their promises?" Shen Minyao glanced at her grandfather, gauging his reaction. However, he showed nothing.

At this point, there was no reason for her to care about what others think of her. Shen Qing's parents might have known that their excessive doting towards their daughter drove the real Shen Minyao to lose her life in Shen Qing's hands. 

Shen Qing's hands were already tainted with blood, and the fox woman was certain that she would be able to do it again. After all, Shen Qing felt neither remorse nor guilt when she killed her cousin out of jealousy. 

"Qing Jie shouldn't have made that bet with me if she isn't planning to honor her words. As for me being shameless, isn't the person who flirted and slept with her cousin's fiance more shameless than me?" 

How could the fox woman not exploit Elder Shen's prideful stand when it came to morals? The fact that Shen Qing had already slept with Su Yin was the very reason why he agreed to Shen Minyao's request, to preserve her pride and reputation. 

  Shen Minyao then recounted another fact to be revealed. "Also, you have lots to gain upon winning that bet with me, forcing me to annul my engagement with him." 

"Xiao Qing! Is this true?!" Elder Shen glared at his other granddaughter. He knew that Shen Qing could be overbearing and excessive sometimes, but he never thought that she could be as outrageous as forcing Shen Minyao into this. 

Slapping Shen Qing in return might be Shen Minyao's failed attempt to dissuade her cousin from forcing the bet between them. After all, Shen Qing was quite proud of her physical appearance.

"But Grandpa…"

"Why can't you understand that it's not your place to force such arrangements, Xiao Qing?" The old man glared at his granddaughter, forcing Shen Qing to bite down whatever retort she was about to say. 

"Do you even know the kind of losses that your involvement with Su Yin has brought to us?" He added. 

Elder Shen didn't think that this selfish granddaughter of his understood the gravity of her actions. Why couldn't Shen Qing be as kind and sensible as their Xiao Yao? 

Shen Qing lowered her head. After all, she didn't care about their losses at all. If the Su family truly wanted to be related to their family, then it's no different if Su Yin married her instead of Shen Minyao, anyway. Or so she thought. 

The reason behind Shen Minyao's betrothal to Su Yin was to make sure that they would gain the financial support of the Su family, while the Su family would get their influence in the society. 

The fox woman wasn't surprised at all, finding out about this from her host's memories. She didn't think that humans still used their unmarried daughters as a bargaining chip to strengthen their ties with other families. She supposed it was hard, even for humans, to shed old habits that stayed for decades. 

"Anyway, since it already happened, we could only comply with Xiao Yao's request to dissolve their betrothal," Elder Shen announced, which brightened up Shen Qing's mood. 

"Does this mean that I would be marrying Brother Su instead?" She asked excitedly. 

Shen Minyao crossed her legs and watched the other girl make a fool out of herself. Shen Qing must be ecstatic, knowing that Shen Minyao wasn't engaged to Su Yin anymore. They wouldn't have to be worried about what other people would say when she was seen with Su Yin in the future. 

"Don't be ridiculous, Xiao Qing. The Su family never made such an announcement nor voiced out their intention of having you replace Xiao Yao as Su Yin's future wife." The old man didn't bother to sugarcoat his words as he scowled at the younger Shen. 

Shen Qing's smile faltered at that, and it was replaced with confusion. She expected that Su Yin would push for the notion of being engaged to her instead. Didn't he claim that he loved her and felt nothing towards her useless cousin? 

"Y-you're lying!" She blurted out, much to her parents' shock. 

"You are calling your elder a liar?" Elder Shen had enough of Shen Qing's impertinence as it only proved hopeless even for him to dream that she would change for the better. 

All these years, his son and his daughter-in-law tried to close their eyes to Shen Qing's outrageous actions. They kept on claiming that they were nothing but harmless accidents. However, they would never believe it if someone claimed that their precious daughter had already experienced killing a person. 

In the end, the real Shen Minyao wouldn't be able to have the justice she deserved after getting killed by her cousin. It would be so unless Shen Qing came clean about what she had done herself, which was seemingly impossible at the moment. 

"Enough." Cheng Lifan's firm tone caught everyone's attention. "Wasn't it enough for you to slander and malign my daughter's name in front of me?" 

She told Shen Qing's parents, "My husband and I tried to be reasonable. We tried our best to meet Dad's requests even though we aren't happy with it, but you all are pushing our limits!" 

Elder Shen slightly nodded his head, agreeing with her. He also felt that his second son's family was getting unreasonable these days, not to mention Shen Qing tried to humiliate Shen Minyao in public. This would only put their family name to shame. 

He glanced at Shen Minyao and saw that she had a sorry expression on her face. It also must have been hard for their Xiao Yao, trying to understand her cousin over the years. 

"If you want to ask Su Yin to take responsibility for Xiao Qing, then you are on your own. I will not give them their blessing for what they have done to Xiao Yao," he decided. 

If it appeared that he was letting Shen Qing off this time, he would never be able to face Shen Xin's family. Also, Shen Minyao had persisted for so long. Moreover, he was not that blind to know that Shen Minyao's disappearance was caused by his other granddaughter.

Shen Qing's face blanched. She didn't expect that her grandfather would disregard her like this.. This only meant that her marriage with Su Yin in the future wouldn't be acknowledged by the Shen family, and she wouldn't receive her inheritance in the process.