Guanqi stood silently in the corridor, letting the blood from his forehead drip down his cheeks. His loyalty to the prince seemed to collapse at this moment.
At this moment, hurried footsteps were heard in the distance, breaking the tranquility of Lanyue Pavilion.
"The old lady is here--" With Hanqiao's loud shout, Hong Yingrong came quickly accompanied by Madam Zhao and several maids.
Guan Qi was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and hurried forward, but when he saw Hong Yingrong's majestic and deep eyes, his heart trembled and he subconsciously lowered his head.
"Madam, why are you here?" He tried to make his voice sound calm, but he could not hide the panic in it.
Hong Yingrong immediately noticed the blood on Guanqi's forehead and asked, "What happened to you?"
Guan Qi lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly, "Madam, it was the young master... He got angry and accidentally hit it with the wine glass he threw."
"Take him downstairs and bandage him." Hong Yingrong said in a commanding tone, and the maid behind her quickly took action.
Even though Guanqi was just a servant in the mansion, she could not abuse him at will. She knew that Xue Yuanchu's temperament was becoming increasingly violent, but she did not expect that he would actually attack the servants around him. Such behavior was completely out of the rules and decency that a prince of a marquisate should have.
Even standing in the yard, Hong Yingrong could smell the strong smell of alcohol, and even Madam Zhao couldn't help but cover her nose.
The servants that Hanqiao had summoned just now came rushing over with wooden sticks and ropes. They originally thought that something big had happened in the inner courtyard, but they didn't expect that the top maidservant beside the old lady led them to Lanyue Pavilion.
Nanny Zhao walked forward and pushed the door open, only to find that it had been tightly closed at some point. However, sounds of laughter and clinking glasses could be heard from behind the door.
Hong Yingrong frowned, "Knock the door open!" she ordered decisively.
The four servants looked at each other. They all knew the old lady's status and majesty in the mansion, so they did as they were told without saying a word, picked up wooden sticks and started banging on the door.
Following a few deafening collisions, the door was finally opened with a loud bang.
The servant kicked the door open with a bang, and the door opened wide, revealing the chaotic scene inside the house.
Xue Yuanchu sat on the couch with drunken eyes, a wine glass in his hand, while Xiangqin leaned against him in disheveled clothes. The smile on her face froze the moment she saw Hong Yingrong.
"Why are you here?" Xue Yuanchu asked stutteringly, obviously frightened by this sudden change.
Hong Yingrong glanced at him coldly, then turned her gaze to Xiangqin, with a hint of obvious displeasure in her eyes. She remained silent, while Madam Zhao winked at the servants who followed closely behind her.
Everyone stepped forward, ignoring Xiangqin's resistance and screams, and forcibly dragged her up from the couch and took her out of the inner room.
"Mother! What are you doing?!" Xue Yuanchu was shocked when he saw this. He struggled to stand up and stop it. In the past, with his skills, he would have been able to easily snatch Xiangqin back, but at this moment his right leg had not yet healed, and he seemed shaky even when standing.
Nanny Zhao cleverly asked everyone else to leave, leaving only Hong Yingrong and Xue Yuanchu in the room.
Hong Yingrong took a deep breath and finally said what she had been holding in her heart for a long time.
"The entire Xingyuan Marquisate is not a place where you can do whatever you want. Your father is gone. Besides you, there are still your four younger siblings. Chun'er and Qiu'er are already of marriageable age. Ji Yan will also be an official in the court in the future. They cannot be destroyed in your hands, nor can they be delayed in my hands!"
Hong Yingrong's words were calm and firm, and every word was like a cold raindrop hitting Xue Yuanchu's heart.
"If you have to, you should know what it means to sacrifice the rook to save the king."
When Xue Yuanchu heard his mother's straightforward words, a sense of desolation welled up in his heart, and he smiled sadly.
"Mother, do you think my second brother can shoulder the heavy responsibility of being the Crown Prince? In fact, he is a coward and a loser. If he really could take on the responsibility, my second brother and his wife wouldn't..."
With a "slap", Hong Yingrong's slap interrupted Xue Yuanchu's words and stunned him.
"Mother, are you punishing me on behalf of father?" Xue Yuanchu's tone was filled with resentment and grievance. "Are you going to teach me a lesson with family rules again? Are you going to break my other leg again?"
"Back then, I wanted to follow my father to the battlefield to gain experience, but you stopped me by saying that swords have no eyes, and forced my father to give up martial arts and pursue literature. Now, do you think I'm not qualified to be the Crown Prince?"
His voice gradually rose, accusingly: "Those princes and nobles in the capital, which one of them isn't indulging in a life of debauchery and extravagance?"
A trace of heartache flashed in Hong Yingrong's eyes. She looked at her eldest son quietly, as if waiting for him to calm down his anger and regain his sanity.
"Mother was confused before, thinking that by pretending everything was fine, she could rest easy. But after your father passed away, I discovered that this was not the case. Many things were already fraught with danger. If we weren't careful, the entire Xingyuan Marquisate would be doomed."
Hong Yingrong expressed her hidden worries. If Xue Yuanchu could understand, there would still be a glimmer of hope. If he still refused to repent, she would have no choice but to endure the pain of amputating her wrist to avoid harm.
As Xue Yuanchu listened to his mother's words, the anger in his heart gradually subsided, replaced by a deep sense of confusion and powerlessness.
"Mother, I..." He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He wanted to say that he knew he was wrong and that he would change, but when the words came to his lips, he felt that all the words seemed so pale and powerless.
"You should take good care of your injuries. His Majesty originally said that you should be confined to the palace, but now the situation has changed. Whether you continue to be muddle-headed or reform yourself is entirely up to you."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
