Chapter 26 Murder with a Fake Knife

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Xie Wulu, as usual, went to the academy with his pageboy Moyan.

He sensed something was off as soon as he entered the academy today.

His cousins, who usually greeted him warmly when he came in, only glanced at him today.

Xie Wulu's smile remained unchanged as he cupped his hands and said, "Good morning, everyone."

"Oh, isn't this our talented Xie? You've arrived early today."

The one who spoke was Wang Hongye, the eldest son of his maternal uncle Wang Mingyuan and his cousin.

"Good morning, cousin." Xie Wulu maintained his smile and walked to his seat.

"Good morning? I wouldn't dare call you 'cousin'!"

Wang Hongye suddenly stood up and walked a few steps to Xie Wulu.

"Xie Wulu! What a mess your mother has made! Your mother is so powerful! For her measly power in managing the household, she forced my father and the clan elders to sell off ancestral property and estates! She even took my mother's dowry shops! She forced our Wang family to scrape together 120,000 taels of silver to cover her losses!"

Xie Wulu's smile finally froze, and his mind went blank, as if he had been hit hard by a heavy hammer.

120,000 taels?

Sell ​​off ancestral property?

They even sold his aunt's dowry?

"Your mother is truly cunning! So ruthless!" Wang Hongye spat almost onto Xie Wulu's face. "She keeps talking about doing this for the Wang family, bah! I think it's just for her vanity as the matriarch! To hold onto that little bit of power! What is Wang Zhen anyway?"

“My father said! From now on, the Wang family has no aunt named Wang Zhen! Nor does it have any relation to you, Xie Wulu! You second branch of the family, go die wherever you want! Don’t get involved with our Wang family!”

Wang Hongye became more and more agitated as he spoke, his finger almost poking Xie Wulu's nose: "Xie Wulu, let me tell you, from now on, in the academy, in Jinling City, if you see me, Wang Hongye, you'd better take a detour! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

The snickers around them could no longer be suppressed and began to rise.

"Tsk tsk, so that's how it is. No wonder the Wang family made such a commotion yesterday..."

"120,000 taels! The Wang family is probably bankrupt this time."

"That's ruthless. She'd even abandon her own family for the sake of managing the household?"

It’s over!

The break with the Wang family severed his most important escape route!

Although the Wang family was not of high social standing, they had done well in business over the years by leveraging the influence of the General's Mansion, accumulating considerable wealth and connections.

Xie Wulu's long-standing plan was to secretly take advantage of his mother's position in charge of the household, allowing the General's Mansion's wealth to nourish the Wang family like a steady stream, making the Wang family his private treasury and escape route.

If things don't go smoothly at the General's Mansion, or if he needs more help after his successful adoption, the Wang family will be his solid support!

He could even use the wealth accumulated by the Wang family to secure a more respectable background or future for himself.

But what about now?

In order to keep that damned power of housekeeping, the mother actually undermined the Wang family, completely offending them!

Not only did it cut off their source of income, it also severed their network of connections!

“Cousin…” Xie Wulu began with difficulty, trying to salvage something, his voice dry and hoarse.

"Shut up! Who's your cousin! Stop pretending!"

After saying that, Wang Hongye spat angrily, turned around and left.

Xie Wulu stood frozen in place, his face turning from red to white, and then from white to green.

"Moyan!" Xie Wulu suddenly shouted, "Return to the manor!"

He didn't even ask the teacher for leave, nor did he care about maintaining any decorum. The pageboy, Mo Yan, was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he hurriedly followed.

"Utterly foolish!"

As soon as the carriage came to a stop at the side gate of the General's Mansion, Xie Wulu, with a gloomy face, headed straight for the east courtyard where the second branch of the family lived.

"Bang!"

The door was kicked open violently by Xie Wulu, and the loud noise startled Wang Shi, who was checking the accounts inside, so much so that she trembled.

"Wu Lu? You... why are you back at this hour?"

Looking at her son's ashen face, Madam Wang asked, "But what happened at the academy? Who made you suffer?"

"Make me feel bad?"

Xie Wulu felt as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, and he slammed the door shut behind him.

"Mother! Tell me, who made me suffer?!"

"You've already forgotten the mess you made at the Wang family's house yesterday?!"

Wang's lips trembled as she said, "I...I had no choice! Wulu, you have no idea how hard that little bitch Xie Sangning was pushing me! She only gave me three days to produce the account books and make up for every penny of the deficit! Otherwise, she threatened to take back my management rights and kick us out of the General's Mansion!"

"Three days? She gave you three days and you believed her?!"

Xie Wulu suddenly raised his voice, grabbed the account book in front of Wang Shi, and slammed it to the ground!

"For this piece of junk! You're going to offend the Wang family to the death?! You're completely blocking our second branch's only way out?!"

"An escape route?"

Wang was stunned by her son's outburst and questioning, then became anxious: "What way out? Wulu, what are you talking about?"

"Do you think that just because Xie Sangning is no longer in charge of the household, she can immediately kick us out of the house?"

Xie Wulu was so angry he almost laughed. He pointed at the account books on the ground, then at Wang Shi, his fingers trembling. "Foolish! You are utterly foolish!"

"Do you know what the rules are in the Qing Kingdom?!"

"The power to manage the household! That is the power of the mistress of the inner quarters! Grandmother entrusted the power to you because she is an elder. My eldest uncle is far away on the border, and Madam Lin passed away early! There is no mistress of the household!"

"What is Xie Sangning's status? No matter how capable she is, no matter how she is the eldest daughter of the legitimate wife, she is still an unmarried girl!"

"According to the rules of the Qing Kingdom, an unmarried daughter, even if she is a princess, is not qualified to manage the household affairs! This is the law! It is an ironclad rule!"

"No matter how arrogant Xie Sangning is, or how much she wants to seize power, can she cross this ironclad rule? Unless Grandmother herself wants to take back the power of managing the household and manage it herself, or my good elder brother Xie Sangyu gets married immediately and brings his new wife into the family! Only when a new mistress enters the family can the power of managing the household be rightfully transferred from your hands!"

"Besides, as long as Grandmother doesn't manage affairs, as long as Xie Sangyu remains unmarried, and as long as you don't commit any heinous crimes, this power to manage the household will forever remain yours! Even if Xie Sangning hates you to the core, she can't take it away!"

"boom!"

Xie Wulu's words were like a thunderclap, exploding above Wang's head!

She was completely stunned, frozen in place, her eyes wide open, her mind blank.

Daqing actually has such rules?

Daughters shouldn't manage the household! Unmarried girls aren't qualified to handle household affairs!

No matter how powerful Xie Sangning is, she cannot openly defy the social norms and rules!

Her so-called reclaiming of the housekeeping power is nothing but an empty shell!

A vicious scheme to force her into chaos and dig her own grave!

And she actually fell for it!

Like a fool, Xie Sangning used a fake knife that couldn't even reach her neck to cut off her own tail!

"Thump!"

Wang's legs went weak, and she collapsed heavily onto the cold ground.