Let's Sever Ties
A person who only knows how to cry when things go wrong, how dare they cause trouble for others? Did they eat a bear's gall before they left home?
The housekeeper from the third wife's family came along.
However, since this was a quarrel between women, and he was a grown man and a servant, it was not appropriate for him to intervene. So he lagged far behind the group of maids and servants, and was now on the outskirts of the crowd.
Hearing that Madam Lady Su could only cry, the steward himself couldn't come up with any good solutions and was so anxious he was jumping up and down outside.
"Third Aunt, don't cry. Since you feel that we have dragged you down, why don't we write a letter of severance, cutting all ties between our eldest branch and your third branch? From now on, we'll go our separate ways and not interfere with each other. What do you think?" Lady Zhu asked.
Thinking about Zhao Yuankun's ambition and hatred as analyzed by Zhao Ruxi, Lady Zhu felt that this was a problem.
Now that the third wife's family is causing trouble, it's better to take this opportunity to sever all ties with them completely.
"This, this..." Lady Su was dumbfounded.
She never expected things to escalate to this point.
When the master wakes up... he won't blame her, will he?
Her gaze swept past the crowd, looking pleadingly at the housekeeper.
"You don't need to be in a difficult position. After all, you can't make the decision yourself. I'll go back and report to our lord, and he can talk to Third Uncle," said Lady Zhu.
Lady Su breathed a sigh of relief.
Lady Zhu didn't want to argue with her anymore, so she pulled Zhao Ruxi aside and said, "Daughter, does your face hurt? Hurry home and let the nanny put some compress on your face."
The slap mark on Lady Su Lady Zhu very obvious. Zhao Ruxi's skin was much fairer and more delicate, so if she had a slap mark, it would naturally be more obvious than Lady Su's.
So Zhao Ruxi kept her face covered and didn't dare to lower her hands. Holding her hands up like that for so long was tiring, and she wanted to leave a long time ago.
Hearing her mother's words, she nodded her head vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice. "It hurts, it hurts so much. Mother, let's go home quickly. I want the nanny to bring me cold water to put on my face."
She looks incredibly well-behaved.
Those around them increasingly felt that Lady Su's claim of "provoking" was a complete distortion of the truth.
How could such a well-behaved and pretty girl possibly provoke anyone? If anyone were to provoke someone, it would be someone else provoking her.
Lady Zhu decisively pulled her daughter away, leaving Lady Su standing there, stunned and motionless.
"Madam, let's go back." A maid whispered in Lady Su's ear.
Lady Su came to her senses and said, "Let's go."
She came to cause trouble, but instead of venting her anger, she was bullied by the Lady Zhu mother and daughter. In the end, Lady Zhu even threw out the bombshell of "severing ties." Lady Su couldn't care less about being ashamed or angry; all she felt now was apprehensive.
If the master knew what happened today, he'd probably give her a good dressing down.
"No one is allowed to speak of what happened today. No one is allowed to discuss it in the mansion, no one is allowed to tell your family members, and especially no one is allowed to mention it in front of the master," said Lady Su. "If I find out anyone dares to speak out of turn, I will certainly not let them off."
The servants repeatedly assured them that they would never tell.
Lady Su harbored a glimmer of hope, but Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu had no intention of letting them off the hook.
No sooner had Lady Zhu returned to the Earl's residence than Zhao Yuanxun went to the clan headquarters and spoke with the clan head and several elders about the matter.
"Now that he's an official, he's always saying our family is dragging him down. If it were just talk, that would be one thing, but he actually had his wife block the alleyway, deliberately trying to ruin my daughter's reputation, and had the maids and servants beat her up. I will never acknowledge a brother like that again."
He looked at the clan chief and said, "Seventh Grandfather, don't blame me for not warning you. My younger brother is extremely ambitious. He went to great lengths to get into the Office of the Grand Steward, all for the sake of gaining merit in the succession. Even though he's been expelled now, once he recovers, he'll surely try to find other places to scheme for."
"Even those in our clan who want to become officials are honest and upright, and they don't dare to get close to the princes. You know, although officials can rise quickly, the risks are high, and it's easy to implicate the clan. Yuankun, on the other hand, is someone who is unwilling to do things properly..." Zhao Yuanxun shook his head.
He asked for paper and pen, wrote out the severance document to the clan chief, signed it, pressed his fingerprint on it, and handed it to the clan chief. "I trouble Seventh Grandfather and the other elders to bear witness."
The government would naturally not recognize the severance document he wrote. Unless Zhao Yuankun was expelled from the Zhao Family family clan and his branch of the family was removed from the genealogy.
Zhao Yuankun hadn't committed any major mistakes and was quite capable. After the family split, he used his connections to not only get himself into the Office of the Grand Steward but also help Zhao Yuanliang find a job. This made some people in the clan restless and eager to flatter Zhao Yuankun.
That's why Zhao Yuankun was willing to pay extra to get Zhao Yuanliang a job.
His move not only made some people in the clan want to curry favor with him, but the clan chief and elders might also think that he was more promising than the Earl of Suiping's Residence.
Such a promising junior is someone the clan should be on good terms with; how could they possibly expel him from the clan?
Zhao Yuanxun wrote the severance document simply to express his stance to his clan and the government.
"This..." The clan chief looked at the document handed to him, his face showing difficulty. "Yuanxun, even teeth and tongue sometimes quarrel. Even if you're angry, there's no need to go this far, is there? No matter what, you're still brothers. Blood is thicker than water. You can't push things to the extreme."
Seeing that the other clan elders were also nodding frequently, none of them willing to sign their names as witnesses, Zhao Yuanxun calmly took back the document, folded it, and put it in his pocket.
He stood up, smiled, and said, "Since this matter has put Seventh Grandfather and all the uncles and grand-uncles in a difficult position, then let it be. I'll submit this document to the yamen for record-keeping; that's my stance. As for the clan, you all know my position. In the future, if anything happens, don't drag me into this. I will no longer acknowledge him as my brother."
With that, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, then turned and left.
"Hey, you..." The clan chief wanted to call him back, but seeing that Zhao Yuanxun didn't turn around, he could only sigh and turn to ask the clan elders, "What do you think about this matter?"
"The Yuanxun is just angry. He might calm down in a couple of days," said one of the clan elders, Zhao Xingyun.
There was no way they would sign it. The moment they did, Zhao Yuankun would hold a grudge against them. If he ever became successful, they might not only benefit from his success, but they might also face his revenge. Why bother?
In any case, Zhao Yuanxun only has a title and will never amount to anything in his life. He has already been demoted to Earl, so it wouldn't make much difference if his son inherited the title by being demoted as well.
I heard that the daughter he adopted is quite successful, but she'll get married in two years and belong to someone else's family. What good is her ability then?
Zhao Xingyun stood up. "Alright, since there's nothing else, I'll head back." With that, he leisurely walked out the door.
After leaving the house, he didn't go home. Seeing that no one was following him, he went straight to Zhao Yuankun's courtyard.