Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Xie talks about the Xie Family (thanks for future monthly votes and additions)
Lady Ji touched her little head and nodded.
"For now, this matter has somewhat concluded. The Gu Insects possessed by Xie Wulang and his son have nothing to do with the rest of the Xie Family. The Lin Family has caused significant trouble for Shuntian Prefecture. Once your Seventh Uncle interrogates them and uncovers the origin of those Gu Insects, the Lin Family will likely face exile."
Huo Xing’Er and the others remained silent.
Xiaosuisui asked, "What is exile?"
Lady Ji slowly explained to her, "It means that the Government Office officials will escort her out of the Capital City to a place far, far away to live among criminals. For the rest of her life, she will never return to the Capital City."
Xiaosuisui nodded, partly understanding, and asked the question she was most concerned about.
"Did the beautiful sister succeed in having her branch removed from the clan register?"
Lady Ji’s expression darkened slightly, and she let out a cold laugh. "That Old Madam Xie is quite the schemer! She actually wants to keep control of the Fifth Room’s properties and expects me to agree to speak on her eldest daughter-in-law’s behalf before Youzhi. After her eldest daughter-in-law’s interrogation concludes, they plan to hand her over to the Xie Family. Then, they will place her in the family temple to pray for blessings for Great Han!"
"This... This Old Madam Xie is too brazen, isn’t she? How dare she make such a request in front of you?" someone exclaimed.
Lady Ji coldly snorted. "I directly brought up His Majesty. I told her that I might just return and write a petition to explain the entire incident to the Empress Dowager and His Majesty, and let them decide!"
Huo Xing’Er blinked. Could it really be done that way?
Nanny Zhang laughed. "The Xie Family has three unmarried young ladies. The Double Ninth Festival is approaching, where there will be a performance before His Majesty. If they perform well, perhaps His Majesty will grant them the title of Beauty or something similar. How could she dare to gamble with that?"
Hearing Nanny Zhang’s words, Lady Ji quickly corrected her. "Actually, now there are only two. In the end, I assured her that as long as the investigation revealed that truly no one from the Xie Family was involved, Youzhi would handle the matter impartially. I also promised that when the petition was submitted, not a single negative word about the Xie Family would be uttered! Only then did she agree to the Fifth Room’s removal from the clan register and to the return of their properties."
Speaking of this, Lady Ji laughed again. "You should have seen it! When Youze, along with Pan’Er, went to Old Madam Xie to demand the Fifth Room’s properties, Old Madam Xie nearly fainted when she saw the inventory list."
"Ah... why is that? Was there a problem with the list?"
There was no issue with the Fifth Room’s property inventory. The Fifth Room of the Xie Family, going back two generations—to Old Madam Xie’s generation—originally belonged to the Second Room.
Xie Wulang’s father had someone he loved when he was young, but he was very unhappy when his parents arranged his marriage. So, he ran away from home on the eve of his wedding.
The bride was foolish enough to insist on marrying into the family even without the groom. Consequently, Xie Wulang’s father took the woman he loved, and they started anew elsewhere, acquiring land and establishing a household. Before long, they had a son, Xie Wulang, whom they named Xie Zichen.
Not long after, Xie Zichen’s mother fell gravely ill and passed away. His father then raised Xie Zichen alone. As Xie Zichen grew up, he proved to be an excellent student, progressing all the way from Scholar to scholar. He was a rare young talent.
The elders of the Xie Family then took an interest. They persuaded his father to bring Xie Zichen back, have his name entered into the family register, and paid off the woman—who had insisted on marrying in even without a groom—with a large sum of money to send her away. Furthermore, they hired Mr. Lu, a highly respected scholar from the Capital City, to tutor Xie Zichen.
Only after Xie Zichen returned to the Xie Family did he learn that his father did not have much time left.
His father’s original intention in bringing him back to the Xie Family was to find him a reliable backer, but little did Xie Zichen know that this would be the beginning of his nightmare.