Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 34 Kneeling in the Ancestral Hall
Cai Qiaozhu hit Wu Chengjian in a rage. After the slap, she seemed to have used up all her strength and ran back in a hurry. Along the way felt heartbroken, regretful, and angry. She was heartbroken that she had fallen out with Wu Chengjian today, she regretted that she had hurt Wu Chengjian, and she was angry that even at this point, Wu Chengjian still refused to give way to Guang'er.
She ran all the way to Lirongyuan, and felt that this courtyard was extremely unfamiliar - it was not the place she was used to living in. No matter how gorgeous the decoration was, her husband was gone, her parents-in-law were gone, her uncle had changed, and only her son was left to maintain this broken home.
She ran back to the house, where Cai's mother was waiting. Seeing Cai Qiaozhu's appearance, she was horrified: "Qiaozhu, this is... this is..."
Cai Qiaozhu was in no mood to answer.
Mother Cai turned to the maids and said, "Bi Tao, what's going on?"
Bi Tao said, "Just now, the eldest young lady..." Before she could even start, Cai Qiaozhu yelled at her, "Shut up!" She turned to Cai's mother and said, "Mother, you should go back first."
Cai's mother said: "But you..."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "The following are all Wu family affairs. It is inappropriate for you to interfere. Wu Liu, send my mother back."
Wu Liu agreed and asked the helpless mother Cai to leave.
After her mother left, Cai Qiaozhu saw Wu Chengjian's blood on her hands. Although it was only a tiny amount of blood, the pain was extremely deep. The tears that had just dried up welled up again and she lay on the table and cried.
Lian Qiao waited beside them, it was not right to persuade them, nor was it right not to persuade them. At this time, everyone missed Wu Guoying. If Wu Guoying was still alive, this kind of thing would never happen.
“Mother, mother…” Guang’er’s cry brought Cai Qiaozhu back to her senses. She saw Guang’er already in the house, angrily saying, “Did Third Uncle bully you? I’ll go find him!”
Cai Qiaozhu turned from sadness to anger and shouted, "Come back!"
Guang'er turned around in shock and said, "Mom, Wu Chengjian doesn't want us anymore, so we'll move out. Although I'm young, I can still serve you..."
Before she could finish her words, Cai Qiaozhui was slapped in the face with a loud slap - she had always had a good temper and never spoke loudly in front of others, but today she hit two people in a row, first her brother-in-law and now her son.
But after beating Wu Chengjian, she was already in a state of confusion. After beating Guang'er, she was furious: "I was arguing with your Third Uncle, why did you butt in on the conversation like a kid! Who taught you to say such nonsense as your Third Uncle doesn't want you? Did you call Wu Chengjian?"
After Cai Qiaozhu finished beating Guang'er, she looked around coldly and shouted, "Who brought Guang'er here? Who is gossiping in front of him?"
The servants inside and outside the house were so frightened that they all lowered their heads.
Cai Qiaozhu shouted to Guang'er, "Who?"
Guang'er said hesitantly: "Yes...wet nurse..."
Cai Qiaozhu pointed at the nurse and said, "I asked you to come here to take care of Guang'er, not to teach my son how to disobey his uncle! Get out of here! Pack your bags and leave me now."!”
The nurse was so scared that she knelt down and begged for mercy. Guang'er was reluctant to leave the nurse who had raised him since he was a child, and cried out bitterly, "Mom."
"Shut up!" Cai Qiaozhu said to Wu Liu, "Take her away now! Double her wages! We in the Wu family don't dare to keep such a nagging old woman!"
Wu Liu had already sent Cai's mother back and happened to see this scene. He was also afraid that the gossipy nanny would teach Guang Shao bad things, so he rushed forward and dragged her out.
Cai Qiaozhu turned to Guang'er and cursed, "This is the Wu family. You are the eldest son and grandson of the Wu family. Where do you want to move to? I had a quarrel with your third uncle, so naturally I didn't say anything nice. I will go to the small ancestral hall to apologize to my parents-in-law! But Haoguan is your uncle. Your father is gone, so he is your father! If you dare to disobey him, you are unfilial! Go kneel down under the pear tree! Lianqiao, go and ask Mr. Zheng to come and teach this unfilial son what filial piety is!"
As Guang'er knelt under the pear tree and recited the "Book of Filial Piety" with Mr. Zheng, Cai Qiaozhu entered the small ancestral hall to repent, and Wu Chengjian knelt outside the ancestral hall, the Wu family home became quiet.
But the silence was only on the surface. In fact, the servants of the entire Wu family were secretly shocked. The people who followed from the old house were fine. For the new servants, this was the first time they saw the majesty of the mistress of Li Rongyuan. They saw the head of the family who was so arrogant that he dared not say a word when Cai Qiaozhu scolded him. Wu Chengjian slapped himself four times and was slapped by Cai Qiaozhu again. Both sides of his face were bruised and swollen. He knelt outside the ancestral hall and dared not enter the ancestral hall. Everyone was secretly afraid. Some were glad that they had not offended Li Rongyuan, and some regretted that they had not respected this eldest mistress enough.
Cai Qiaozhu confessed to her husband and her parents-in-law in the small ancestral hall all night, while Wu Chengjian knelt outside all night. Ye Youyu was supposed to kneel with them, but Wu Chengjian sent her back at night. But she came back to kneel with Wu Chengjian the next morning.
Not long after dawn, Wu Erliang, who had been living in the old house, came by boat across the river. As soon as he entered the house, he beat Wu Liu severely. Then he went outside the ancestral hall and talked to Wu Chengjian. Then he went into the small ancestral hall to persuade Cai Qiaozhu to calm down.
Cai Qiaozhu said: "Why should I calm down? This is all my fault. Second Uncle, you don't have to persuade me. Third Uncle knows how to make this family harmonious!"
After saying this, he kowtowed in front of the spirit tablet and then helped Lian Qiao back home. When he left, he looked at Wu Chengjian's swollen face and felt really bad. However, he stared at Wu Chengjian for a long time, but Wu Chengjian's eyes were just looking at the ancestral hall without saying anything. Cai Qiaozhu knew that he still refused to let go, so she stamped her feet in anger and ran back to Lirongyuan.
After Cai Qiaozhu left, Wu Chengjian stood up. Everyone thought he was going back, but he walked into the small ancestral hall and knelt in front of the spirit tablet.
Ye Youyu was about to come in, but Wu Chengjian said without even turning his head, "Don't follow me. Let's go back to Ritianju. This house can't be left unattended."
Ye Youyu was stunned for a moment, then he sighed, looked at Wu Qi in a commanding manner, indicating that he should take good care of Wu Chengjian, and then he left.
Wu Erliang came to Wu Chengjian and advised: "Hao Guan..."
Wu Chengjian interrupted, "Uncle Erliang, I know what you are going to say, but you don't have to persuade me. If this matter could be resolved by talking, it wouldn't have turned out like this."
"But..." Wu Erliang sighed, "It hasn't been long since the old master passed away, and you uncle and sister-in-law have made such a fuss. How can the old master and the eldest young master rest in peace in the afterlife?"
Wu Chengjian said: "Others may not know what I think, but my father and my elder brother know it. I was not nice to my elder sister-in-law and said things I shouldn't have said. I was wrong. But I have a clear conscience about what I did to Guang'er!"
He said to the tablets of Wu Guoying and Wu Chengjun: "If I lied, let the heavens thunder and take me, Wu Chengjian, back!"
The Wu family had such a big incident that no matter how much Ye Youyu ordered to cover it up, it could not be covered up. In less than half a day, not only the Wu family but also the people outside knew about it. After the nanny was driven away, she was resentful and told everyone she met outside, not to mention that the Thirteen Hongs Insurance Merchants were all concerned about the Wu family's affairs. Therefore, there were many people who were willing to secretly pay money to buy news about the Wu family. After buying the news, some people were happy to spread it. Therefore , within that day, the news about the discord between the two branches of the Wu family and the quarrel between the uncle and the sister-in-law spread throughout Xiguan.
Shenxianzhou is a gathering place for this kind of gossip. Wu Chengjian has not been here for a long time, and his control over Shenxianzhou has weakened a lot. Without him on the scene to provide direct deterrence, the patron Hua Niang talked about this matter without restraint, saying all kinds of things.
It was not until that day when Mr. Liu San arrived that some people saw him and realized that he was on good terms with Hao Guan that they began to restrain themselves.
Master Liu went straight into Chun Yuanzhi. As soon as he came in, he sent the maid away. Only Qiu Ling was left in the room with Foshan Chen, and Yu Lian'er served tea to Master Liu.
Yu Lian'er's current demeanor is different from what she was a year or two ago. After all, she has been the most beautiful courtesan for two terms and already has the demeanor of a wealthy family in the brothel. However, she still doesn't dare to show off in front of Mr. Liu Sanye.
"What's going on with Lord Hao?" Uncle Liu shook his head after taking off his coat.
"I'm not sure either. This is his family affair, and I can't ask him." Chen from Foshan said, "There are all kinds of rumors here in Shenxianzhou. Some of them are too ugly and definitely not reliable, but all in all, there are still a few things that should be true."
Mr. Liu asked, "Which ones?"
Chen Dao from Foshan said, "There should have been a quarrel between the uncle and his sister-in-law, and the reason for the quarrel was related to Hao Guan's nephew Guang Shao's appointment to an official position. Guang Shao probably got the official position inexplicably, and Hao Guan had no idea beforehand. Shenxianzhou guessed that it must have been the eldest wife's way through the Cai family in Daxing Street. After Hao Guan found out, he asked Guang Shao to resign. The eldest young lady Wu was furious, so there was a quarrel. It is said that Hao Guan was forced to slap himself three or four times, and the eldest young lady Wu slapped him again."
In the rumors, the analysis of various key points is secondary, but the fact that the powerful Thirteen Hongs' big security merchant was forced by his sister-in-law to slap himself in the face because of his "mean nephew" is the detail that the onlookers talk about .
Foshan Chen glanced at Qiu Ling, who leisurely recounted the details of the various rumors. At the end, she giggled and said, "Third Master, do you think the first and third branches of the Wu family are really going to fight? Hao Guan should be able to win, right?"
Master Liu glared at her and said, "It's fine if others spread these things, but you are also someone who has been taken care of by Hao Guan, and Master Chen is Hao Guan's sworn brother. Why are you following others to make trouble?"
Qiu Ling stuck out her tongue and dared not say anything more.
Foshan Chen patted her cheek lightly and scolded, "I told you not to gossip." He tried to cover up the punishment for her, and then said, "Others may not know what kind of character Hao Guan has, but don't we know it? Besides, he treats his sister-in-law better than his own sister. Anyone who dares to make fun of his sister-in-law will have their mouths beaten. I really don't believe that he is mean to his nephew. He is not that shallow. There must be other reasons for this."
Mr. Liu hesitated for a moment before saying, "I know a little about this matter. Cai's gang leader Guang Shao got the official position. I heard that he got it through Heshen's connections."
Chen from Foshan said "Oh" and seemed to understand something.
Mr. Liu San said, "We are his friends and brothers. If we can help him deal with the external affairs, we will naturally help. But this involves his family affairs. If he doesn't say anything, we can only watch."
Foshan Chen nodded, and then the two of them talked about other things.
