"Are you awake? Do you even know who you are? You disgraceful and degenerate person. This is the Shen family's secluded back court. Is it appropriate for you to barge in and cause a scene? Have you swallowed all the sacred and wise books? Do you have any hint of scholarly integrity left in you?"

Tao Peiyuan felt a chill run down his spine, and his arrogance diminished:

"Shen Anqing, your Shen family is untrustworthy, climbing up to the powerful, what qualifications do you have to talk to me about scholarly integrity? Your eldest brother spent seven years studying for the imperial examinations and used ninety thousand silver taels to purchase the position of the magistrate of Jiangzhou. What scholarly integrity are you talking about? The Shen family appears clean and pure on the surface, but they are filled with gold and silver behind the scenes. Where does their integrity come from?"

Seeing Tao Peiyuan become increasingly outspoken, the main mistress, who had been watching the excitement from the sidelines, couldn't sit still any longer. With a command, the servants carried Tao Peiyuan and threw him out of the door.

"I've raised you for so long, yet I never knew you were so scheming. It was my underestimation of you in the past that gave you an opportunity, but it won't happen again in the future. Don't think that by climbing up to Xue Huaiyi, you can soar to great heights. I won't let go, and this courtyard will forever be your cage."

The main mistress's threats no longer fazed me, but since I was still under her roof, I could only respond to her with a few nonchalant words:

"The main mistress will always be the master of this courtyard. I can't fly out, but these filthy people found their way in. Your door doesn't seem to be tightly closed enough!"

I turned and went back into the house, but my thoughts lingered on Tao Peiyuan's drunken words. Was my eldest brother's official position really purchased? Could it be that the Shen family was really involved in shady business behind the scenes? It seemed necessary to talk to my father about it.

I recounted Tao Peiyuan's ranting in the courtyard to my father and noticed a distinct change in his expression, from relaxed to tense:

"Nonsensical rambling and malicious jokes. If you don't marry into their family, you have no scholarly integrity. Barking wildly and tarnishing my reputation, I will take him to the main hall and accuse him..."

My father's animated expression made it clear that Tao Peiyuan's drunken words were not mere fabrications.

Moreover, not long after, another incident further proved that Tao Peiyuan was telling the truth.

My cruel mother-in-law from my past life, upon seeing her son being thrown out of the Shen family, lost her composure and went around spreading rumors about me and the Shen family, including a similar drunken rant to Tao Peiyuan's.

With the mouths of the Tao family unable to be shut, my father had no choice but to publicly accuse the assistant minister of borrowing money for gambling and consorting with prostitutes and concubines, bringing disgrace to his official position. As the saying goes, "a broken drum invites a thousand blows", the Tao family was already in decline, and naturally, no one pleaded for leniency.

As a result, three months later, the Tao family sold their property to pay off their debts and then quietly moved out of the capital.

The capital is like a stage. Those with real talent take the leading roles and receive applause from the audience, while those with inferior skills can only leave the stage in loneliness.

In my revenge drama, the Tao family was the first to leave the stage, and it was the best possible outcome.