Chapter 301: Invoking Family Discipline
Moreover, with everyone watching today, they have to give a plausible explanation no matter what.
Grand Tutor Shen took a deep breath, opened the scroll and looked at it for a long time, but he was so angry that he couldn't speak.
Someone cautiously probed, "May I ask, Grand Tutor, what is the Yuan family's intention in doing this?"
"It was probably just children playing around."
Forced by the situation, Grand Tutor Shen had no choice but to unfurl the scroll for everyone to see.
It's not exactly a rare treasure; it's just an ordinary painting, with a somewhat hasty brushstroke.
"This... looks like some kind of strange beast?"
"It seems so." Someone noticed the seal on the side and immediately pointed to it and read it aloud.
"Isn't this a mouthless sheep?"
Someone blurted out the answer, making the atmosphere even more awkward.
"Go and invite the young master here!"
Grand Tutor Shen sat back in his armchair, his beard bristling with anger.
Anyone with a modicum of interest knows pretty much about the incident of the Yuan family's young master causing a ruckus at the school, and seeing this situation, they should understand that the Yuan family is dissatisfied.
Although Yuan Jin is far away on the frontier and there is no one in charge of the Yuan family, Yuan Siyin is not someone to be trifled with, and neither is the Empress Dowager.
Regardless of the circumstances, the Yuan family made the first move, and now they're coming to our door demanding an explanation—it's completely unreasonable.
Ultimately, it was a private matter, and outsiders shouldn't interfere or ask too many questions. So, after only a couple of sips of tea, the scholars tactfully got up and took their leave.
Shen Ruozhu was playing with crickets in the courtyard when he suddenly heard his father send someone to invite him. He thought his father knew that he had been beaten by Yuan Fuqing, so he immediately threw down the cricket grass in his hand and went to the study.
"Young master, the master is not in the study, but in the ancestral hall."
The servant swallowed hard, wanting to tip off the young master, but the master had warned him beforehand that no one was allowed to leak the news. If the young master escaped halfway or sent someone, he would be in big trouble.
Shen Ruozhu ran fast and arrived at the ancestral hall in no time.
He lifted his robe and happily stepped over the threshold of the ancestral hall, still thinking about how to make his appearance even more pitiful. But as soon as he entered, he saw the steward standing in front of the hall, holding a stripped willow branch with glistening water, clearly soaked in salt water.
Shen Ruozhu stopped in her tracks, her face instantly turning deathly pale: "What...what are you doing? Where is Father?"
"Please wait a moment, young master. Master will come over immediately after changing his clothes."
Shen Ruozhu immediately turned and ran, but the servant had already bolted the door shut from the outside: "Young master, please don't blame me. We servants dare not disobey the master's orders!"
"You heartless wretch, am I no longer your master?!"
Chen Ruozhu pounded on the door with all his might, but to no avail.
The Shen family never takes willow branches lightly; once they are used, it's a sign that they're about to be punished by the family.
Shen Ruozhu wasn't stupid; she knew the Yuan family must have done something. Seeing her father change into casual clothes and come out of the side room, she immediately knelt down with a "plop": "Father, I'm innocent! It was clearly Yuan Fuqing who did it. Why don't you protect me and instead protect the Yuan family?"
Shen Mingde was already in a bad mood, and after being given such a few words of sophistry, his anger flared up even more. He immediately snorted coldly, "You wretched child! What have you done! You'd better tell me the truth!"
"I did nothing!"
"Stubborn and obstinate".
Suppressing his anger, Shen Mingde flicked his sleeve and tossed the scroll in front of him: "Take a good look!"
"What...what kind of bizarre monster is this?"
Shen Ruozhu picked it up and examined it for a long time, but couldn't figure out what it was.
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