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Chapter 96: Conflict

  Chapter 96: Conflict

  Zhao Xuan was stunned, and turned her head to look at the young man who was said to be Zhao Ze. Just now, because he had been following behind Master Rui, his appearance was still delicate, but he gave people a gloomy feeling, with his head down and not speaking, looking like a humble and oppressed person. The clothes on him were not made of high-quality materials, and he even chose a dull gray-blue color that didn't stand out. She had thought he was just a young servant by Master Rui's side, but it turned out that Master Rui said, "This is the eldest grandson of the main house, the eldest son of the Jiang family, Zhao Ze?"

  Zhao Ze slightly raised his head, took a quick glance at her, and then lowered his head again with an expressionless face.

  Zhao Xuan put away her smile and turned to look at Grandfather Rui: "What do you mean by this?"

  "What does it mean?" Yu Daliye smiled, "What can I mean? He is a person from your second house, although the two houses have separated, but this is the old mansion of the second house. If you allow Xia Er to live in the second house, why not let Xiao Chang live in the long house? They are all descendants of the Duke's family, and they naturally have the qualifications to move in. You are young and don't understand things, so hurry up and let your family's manager come out, and let them bring the servants to clean up the yard." It seemed like he suddenly remembered something: "Right, since Xia Chang is the long house, Ze Geer's father is the eldest son of the legitimate child, he should live in the main courtyard of the main house. However, that courtyard has not been inhabited for many years, and your family's old lady usually handles affairs there, but lives in the backyard. Hurry up and let people clean up the east wing of the main courtyard first, and forget about the other small courtyards, it doesn't follow the rules."

  What rules? Zhao Yu lost power in the ancestral hall, and now he's relying on filial piety to bully his son and daughter-in-law. Now he's come to the second house to lecture about rules? Not to mention that Zhao Ze killed his younger brother at a young age and is himself a guilty person, his own mother was a serious offender in the Dali Temple, how dare he return to the old mansion pretending to be the eldest son? And wants to live in the main courtyard? The small house is probably not even part of the Zhao family anymore, she must be foolish to let someone clean up the house.

  Zhao Xuan let out a cold hum, staring at Zhao Ze without saying a word. She also ignored Zhao Yu's words. Zhao Ze kept his head down and didn't speak, and after a while, Zhao Yu also sensed that something was off. He frowned at Zhao Xuan and said, "Xuan sister, what's going on? Why didn't you have someone clean up the house?"

  Zhao Xuan raised an eyebrow: "What's the hurry, Uncle Rui? I just paid my respects to you. But there are still people who haven't given me a proper greeting, and the etiquette is not complete. What right do they have to order me around? Who are they to me?"

  Zhao Yu reacted and said, "Although Zhao Xuan is young, in terms of seniority, she is Zhao Ze's aunt. Even if Zhao Ze is the eldest son, he should still show respect to Zhao Xuan." It's not clear what's wrong with Zhao Ze. After entering the house, he has been keeping a straight face and not speaking, as if he deliberately didn't want to pay respects to Zhao Xuan. Although there have always been grievances between the two families, they must at least pretend to get along on the surface; otherwise, whether it's their own family members or outsiders who find out, they will only say that Zhao Ze is in the wrong.

  He called out to Zhao Ze and said in a low voice, "Hurry up, you've seen your aunt."

  Zhao Ze continued to lower his head and remain silent, Zhao Yu furrowed her brow and reached out to grab his arm. He dodged back, not speaking. Zhao Xuan let out a soft giggle, Zhao Yu's face was somewhat embarrassed, she glared at Zhao Ze: "What's wrong with you?! I told you to pay respects to your aunt, are you deaf?!"

  "Never mind. Someone as ill-mannered and disrespectful to their elders as you, what's the point of taking the imperial exam? Even if you pass, you'll just bring shame to your ancestors and tarnish the family name. You're better off staying at home and eating idle rations for the rest of your life."

  "Are you done yet?! How despicable are you second-borns?! You falsely accused my mother, got her imprisoned, and that wasn't enough. When I was just six years old, you said I killed my younger brother, wanting to push our whole family to death! Even if Grandfather wronged your people, he paid with his life. What more do you want?! Now I'm going back to the house left by Great-Grandfather for the eldest son of the main branch, and you still won't let me, instead pouring dirty water on me. You're simply heartless and mad!"

  Zhao Yu's face changed: "What nonsense are you talking about? Shut up!"

  But he was too late, Zhao Xuan's face had already changed, and she coldly said: "We slandered you? What a big white lotus flower! My parents lost their lives, and the servants also lost more than 20 lives. How stupid are you to think we're slandering you?! Even if one life is exchanged for another, your grandfather only had one life! And don't say it's unjust, how did your grandfather die? Don't you know that your mother poisoned your grandfather in this old mansion?! It's just that your grandfather was lucky, the servants who attended to him were poisoned first and died instead of him. Your grandfather was so angry he almost vomited blood at the time! Don't say these are all made up by us, the imperial envoy from the palace saw everything clearly from start to finish. If you have the ability, go to the imperial court and say it's us who bribed the people around the emperor to lie! And another thing, you killed your younger brother at the age of six, this is a fact, don't pretend like nothing happened. There are witnesses, even your mother admitted it!"

  "What witnesses? Bring her out! Pointing to a dead girl and saying she's a witness, who would believe it?! My mother was forced into confessing! I was young at the time, but I still remember everything. How could I not remember if I had done something to my brother? He was weak and couldn't stand up for himself, that was his fate, why should it be blamed on me?! If you hadn't been spreading rumors all these years, how would I have suffered so much?!

  Thinking of all these years, he had no mother by his side to care for him, his father was far away at the border, his grandmother didn't like him, his aunt openly and secretly bullied him, several younger siblings from concubines treated him as an enemy, only one younger sister was on his side, but she was raised by his grandmother and couldn't meet with him every day. He had a belly full of bitter water with no place to pour it out, the resentment in his heart grew deeper."

  "Are you pretending to have forgotten? You'd better remember, or else you'll be the one who's forgotten! If it weren't for your crime, our families wouldn't have any conflict. Why did you have to take such drastic measures against us? Wasn't it just to silence witnesses? Your mother has sacrificed everything for you, and now she's locked up in the temple. You're erasing all her efforts, making them worthless. Your mother is not a good person, but you're even worse! For the sake of your so-called reputation, you've abandoned filial piety. Get out of here quickly, don't sully my family's doorstep!"

  Zhao Ze was about to rush forward, but Zhao Xuan had been practicing boxing for many years and was agile with her hands and feet. How could she easily suffer a loss? She dodged his attack with a quick movement and cleverly tripped him up with her foot. He lost his balance and fell flat on his face.

  "Zhao Xuan glared at him and said, 'What's wrong with you? You can't even defend yourself and want to resort to violence. What kind of upbringing did you have? It's no wonder you're the son of a murderer, and your mother is also a murderer! You're a murderer yourself!' Then he called out to the servants in the front yard, 'Quickly tie him up and send him to the ancestral temple immediately. This good-for-nothing who disrespects his elders and commits crimes against those below him must be punished. If I don't punish him, it will be hard for me to get rid of this hatred in my heart!'"

  The servants in the front yard had been stunned for a long time, and after hearing Zhao Xiu's words, they finally came to their senses and rushed up to bind Zhao Ze.

  Zhao Yu saw the situation and hastily stepped forward to stop it. He scolded those servants who had taken action: "Are you blind? This is your young master, how dare you be disobedient! Do you have any brains? Quickly let him go!"

  Zhao Xun immediately retorted, "Don't let him off! This kid laid a poisonous hand on his aunt. He's the one who committed a crime against a superior and caused trouble at the government office, so who should be afraid of whom?!"

  Zhao Yu's temper flared up: "You're being unreasonable, girl! Let alone the two families having a long-standing feud, it's normal for him to be cold towards you. Even if he was rude first, to bind your nephew and take him to the government office over such a small matter is going too far! He's taking the imperial examination next year, and with this binding, aren't you ruining his future prospects?"

  Zhao Xuan sneered, "What kind of future does he want? He's a fratricide. Just because the witness is dead and he's young, he managed to escape punishment and live a life of luxury as a rich young master. What's the point of taking the imperial exam? Will he become an official just to kill even more people?"

  Zhao Ze was pinned to the ground by the bailiffs, still struggling and shouting loudly: "You're talking nonsense! I didn't kill anyone! You're slandering me! You don't even have any witnesses to prove that I did such a thing!"

  Zhao Xuan glanced at him disdainfully: "Are you so sure? Do you think all the witnesses are dead?" Pearl Aunt was revived, and she was the first person to inform after witnessing the murder, which can be considered as half a witness. To say that Zhao Xuan himself is also half a witness, but it's not good to say it out loud. In fact, what witnesses does this case need? Back then, Jiang Shi admitted it in front of the imperial envoy sent by the palace. The Dali Temple didn't pursue Zhao Ze, probably because he was too young and thought he couldn't have intentionally committed murder.

  Zhao Ze was stunned for a moment, but immediately struggled again: "I didn't do it just because I didn't do it!" Zhao Xiu just coldly smiled and remained silent.

  Zhao Yu saw that things were not going well and felt that his face was not looking good. Before leaving the capital, he had promised Cow's family that he would definitely help Zhao Ze stand firm in the second house. Now, let alone achieving the goal, Zhang Shi and Zhao Wei had not even passed the gate, but he had already lost out to Zhao Xiu's little girl. He could only put on a serious face and say sternly: "Xiu sister, what are you doing? I brought Ze brother back, and as soon as we met, you scolded and tied him up. Do you even take me seriously?"

  Zhao Xun remained unmoved, only casting a sideways glance at him: "I also want to ask you, Elder Bo, what are you doing? Don't you know that we have a deep grudge against Xiaochangfang? Do you not know whether Zhao Ze killed his brother or not? What did the Jiang family say in this mansion back then, do you really not know anything about it? Even if he was young and couldn't remember at the time, or pretended to forget on purpose, you're still allowing him to cause trouble in our household and want us to arrange for him to move into the main courtyard. Are you putting my grandmother in your eyes or are you planning to tear off your face with our Xia'erfang?!"

  Zhaoyu was taken aback by her sudden question, and his tone turned somewhat sinister: "Wh...what are you talking about? What do I mean? Regardless of whether he did that thing back then, the government didn't pursue it, and neither his grandmother nor father said anything. We're just relatives, why get involved in so much? As long as he's still a descendant of the second house, he has the qualifications to live in this mansion." By this point, he was shaking with rage: "You insist on blocking him, are you trying to let Xiao Er Fang monopolize all of the second house's property? I'm afraid that the grudge against Xiao Chang Fang is just an excuse?"

  Zhao Xun looked at his expression, feeling only ugly, and she didn't bother to argue with him. She directly ordered the servants: "Take Zhao Ze, we're going to the ancestral temple!" Then she turned back to smile at Zhao Yu: "Uncle Yu might as well come along too, today is the clan meeting after all. However, you may be returning a bit late, I'm afraid the votes have already been cast. Brother Jing has been in charge of clan affairs for several months and has been very diligent with the sacrifices and relief efforts for disaster-stricken clansmen, earning praise from everyone in the clan. It seems that Uncle Yu can rest assured to hand over family and clan matters to Brother Jing's hands, and won't have to worry about it again."

  Zhao Yu looked at Zhao Xuan's expression and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine for no reason.

  ps:

  Happy Dragon Boat Festival!!! Has everyone eaten zongzi?

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