Scumbag Chapter 178 The Reformed White-Eyed Wolf General (END)

Since Fengtian was paying attention to the movements of Prince of Chen's Mansion, Mingting had long known that Shi Zhenghui had abandoned Ji

Since Fengtian was paying attention to the movements of Prince of Chen's Mansion, Mingting had long known that Shi Zhenghui had abandoned Jin Yuping and fled on his own.

How was this behavior any different from Shi Jing abandoning his wife right after childbirth? All he can say is that they are indeed father and son!

Shi Zhenghui waited until the afternoon before finally catching sight of Mingting.

That day, Mingting had taken the children out horseback riding. On their return, Maomao and his younger sister, Mingzhu, rode in a carriage while Mingting sat tall on his steed.

"Dad, when can I ride a horse through the streets too?"

Maomao, who is now a young boy about ten, had a round face and dimples when he smiled, bearing a seventy percent resemblance to Huiniang.

In contrast, Mingzhu had inherited the best features of both parents, growing into a sweet-looking little girl.

"When your riding skills improve. The streets are crowded, and poor horsemanship could harm the people."

"Father, I understand! I’ll practice hard!"

Maomao quickly promised. Mingzhu beside him also chimed in, "I want to practice riding too! And I want to go to sea with Uncle!"

"There are many things to learn when you go to the sea. Did you finish the assignments I gave you yesterday?"

Mingting leaned over from his horse and tapped the little girl’s nose, "When your uncle returns, you can learn swimming from your aunt. No landlubbers allowed on the high seas!"

"Okay, Daddy is the best!"

Mingzhu was very happy.

Watching Mingting interact so warmly with Maomao and Mingzhu, Shi Zhenghui burned with jealousy.

‘All of this should have been mine!’

In his past life, Wei Mingting had personally taught him archery and horsemanship, taken him fishing at sea, taught him to swim, hired renowned scholars as his tutors...

Those things that Shi Zhenghui had forgotten all of a sudden flooded into his mind.

Mingting spotted Shi Zhenghui immediately, and noticing the envy in his gaze as he stared at Maomao and Mingzhu, Mingting instructed the children to go inside the Marquis’s Mansion first.

"Dad!"

Seeing Mingting about to leave, Shi Zhenghui rushed forward.

He raised his head and looked at Mingting eagerly, "Dad, Hui'er misses you so much! Dad doesn't want Hui'er anymore? Hui'er went through so much hardship to find you..."

Shi Zhenghui was a year and a half younger than Maomao but significantly shorter and thinner, likely due to his premature birth.

In the original timeline, Shi Zhenghui had grown tall and sturdy, well-nourished under Huiniang’s care.

On the contrary, Huiniang’s own daughter was not in good health due to premature birth, and she suffered a lot in the Shi Family. Not only is she short, but she is also often sick.

This time, the tables had turned!

"Shi Zhenghui?" Mingting looked down at this hypocritical boy coldly from his horse, "Your father is Shi Jing, your mother is Jin Yuping. You are not my son."

Hearing Mingting's words, Shi Zhenghui's heart skipped a beat and he knelt down quickly.

"Dad, please let me explain! I had no choice. Shi Jing threatened to expose my identity and strip me of my title if I didn’t return to the Shi Family."

"The title of Count of Dingyuan was earned by you, Dad. How could I let your hard work go to waste?"

Shi Zhenghui shifted all the blame onto Shi Jing and Jin Yuping.

All he wanted now was to be acknowledged as Mingting’s son. Even if he couldn’t inherit the Marquis’s Mansion, as long as he was Mingting’s child, a life of wealth and privilege would be guaranteed.

Seeing Shi Zhenghui’s act, Mingting shook his head.’

‘Shi Jing and Jin Yuping were truly unlucky. It would have been better to raise a pig than to give birth to such a white-eyed wolf.’

‘At least a pig could be slaughtered for meat, but raising a white-eyed wolf would only bring endless frustration!’

"Do you think this Marquis so foolish that he would recognize a white-eyed wolf like you?" Mingting snorted coldly, "A heartless, ungrateful thing like you isn’t worthy of being my son!"

Shi Zhenghui had long anticipated that Mingting would not recognize him. Though he had harbored some hope earlier, the way Mingting now looked at him like he was an insect made it clear his plan had failed.

However, he had already prepared a second plan.

"If Father won’t acknowledge me as his son, then he must acknowledge me as his son-in-law!" Shi Zhenghui stood up, his tone turning shameless, "The girl I saw earlier must be Suisui, right?"

"Father, Suisui is my wife in our past life!"

Suisui is the daughter of the original owner in the original timeline. She was named by Wei Mingting.

In this life, Mingting had changed her name.

Seeing Shi Zhenghui’s delusional audacity, Mingting lashed out with his whip, "What kind of trash dares to covet my daughter?!"

The whip struck Shi Zhenghui’s face, but instead of cowering, he grinned, as if he had touched Mingting's sore spot, "Father, Suisui and I were husband and wife. I know where her birthmarks are, where her moles are. If you let me marry her again, I’ll treat her well and serve you dutifully."

‘This white-eyed wolf is actually trying to blackmail me?’

Mingting had never seen someone so utterly lacking in self-awareness.

With a clap of his hands, guards seized Shi Zhenghui and gagged him with a filthy rag.

"Break his limbs and send him to Prince of Chen." Mingting was happy to do Prince Chen a favor. As for Shi Zhenghui’s threats… well, Mingting happened to have a special medicine that would render him mute.

When Prince of Chen received this ‘gift’ from Mingting, he was very grateful to him and sent lavish gifts in return.

Shi Zhenghui’s escape had infuriated Prince of Chen. Even with his limbs broken, Prince of Chen ordered him beaten again before charging him with theft and handing him over to the authorities.

Thus, Jin Yuping and Shi Zhenghui were reunited in the prison.

"Hui'er, Hui'er, what happened to you?" Jin Yuping cried out in distress when she saw her son in the neighboring cell.

Originally, she had been relieved when Shi Zhenghui escaped, thinking he’d at least gotten away. But who knew that he was caught again and suffered such an injury.

When she realized he’d lost his voice and couldn’t speak anymore, she wailed in anguish, heartbroken.

Miraculously, the two survived long enough to be exiled to the mines.

Staring at the mining area, Jin Yuping felt numb. She had once escaped this place, only to return to where she started.

Shi Zhenghui's hands were severely injured, leaving him unable to do heavy labor. To scrape by, Jin Yuping carried a basket every day, picking up leftover coal scraps.

Later, to secure a slightly better life, she married a miner after the Emperor’s birthday amnesty.

The miner thought spending his hard-earned money on a wife would finally give him a child of his own. Little did he know Jin Yuping had hidden her infertility.

When he found out, he flew into a rage.

After breaking his back in the mines for blood-stained wages, only to end up raising another man’s son… who would accept that?

The miner began beating and berating Shi Zhenghui, calling him a useless burden who ate his food and contributed nothing.

Jin Yuping initially tried to protect her son, but she was already in the wrong for hiding her condition, and she was no match for the miner’s strength.

At fourteen, Shi Zhenghui was kicked out and forced to fend for himself.

With crippled hands and no strength for hard labor, what could he do? He then resorted to begging on the streets.

However, even beggars had their own groups.

A mute weakling like Shi Zhenghui stood no chance against them. If not for Jin Yuping secretly helping him, he would have starved long ago.

When the miner discovered his wife sneaking food to Shi Zhenghui, he cursed her as a disloyal woman and threw her out too.

After that, Fengtian stopped paying them any attention.

Mingting spent this lifetime in Yaozhou, where the people revered him as their guardian deity. They believed that as long as Marquis of Dingyuan remained, Eastern Sea pirates and other pirates would never dare attack.

When Mingzhu grew up, she married the youngest son of Empress Zhou, who was born at her advanced age, and became a princess consort.

The young prince shared her love for travel, so the couple traveled all over Zheng State and surrounding countries. The two also co-authored a travelogue and drew detailed maps.

Maomao, as the heir to the Marquis’s Mansion, couldn’t roam as freely as his sister. He stayed by his father’s side in Yaozhou, inheriting Mingting’s legacy.

Liu Cheng fell in love with sailing and spent half his life at sea, even venturing to the distant lands.

Liu Yongshan and Liu Huangshi lived in the Southern Sea for decades. When they were over 70, they returned to Yaozhou and spent their remaining years with their daughter and son-in-law.

Huiniang lived to ninety-three. When she died, she told Mingting that she was very happy in her life.

After sending Huiniang away, Mingting also left this small world.