Chapter 203 Do you want to leave?
Madam Xie was in a near-mad state, and she used all her strength when she stabbed Xie Ning'an with the hairpin. If it had actually pierced Xie Ning'an's hand, her hand would probably have been ruined.
Fortunately, he dodged, and the hairpin grazed Xie Ning'an's hand. Even so, Xie Ning'an's hand was cut deeply, and blood flowed out instantly.
Xie Ning'an was in excruciating pain, but he endured it without crying out. Instead, he looked at Madam Xie and said, "Second Aunt, you're too agitated right now. Go back and calm down first, and we can talk about this later, shall we?"
He knew that with Xie Yun's temper, if Madam Xie continued to cause trouble, she might lose her life.
At this moment, Madam Xie the Second was not listening to any of the advice. She glared angrily at Xie Yun and Master Xie, saying, "You must give me an explanation today, or I will let everyone in the capital judge this for me."
"I think you've really gone mad." Xie Yun could no longer suppress his anger and shouted towards the door again, "Someone come here!"
Two servants immediately entered. Xie Yun looked at Madam Xie with a dangerous gaze and said, "Take her to the ancestral hall and make her kneel down to reflect on her actions."
Two servants immediately rushed over and restrained Madam Xie from both sides. Madam Xie struggled fiercely, but when she couldn't break free, she started shouting. When Master Xie saw this, he quickly said, "Gag her."
Immediately, another servant came over, took a piece of rag from somewhere, rolled it up, and stuffed it into Madam Xie's mouth. Then Madam Xie was led towards the ancestral hall.
"I'll go take a look." Old Master Xie was worried, afraid that Second Madam Xie would cause trouble again.
Xie Yun waved him away, then summoned a doctor to bandage Xie Ning'an's wounds, while servants cleaned up the mess in the room. A little over a quarter of an hour later, only the grandfather and grandson remained in the study.
Xie Yun's face was terribly gloomy. Xie Ning'an looked at him and said, "Although Second Aunt was a bit too extreme just now, it's... understandable that she suddenly found out about such a thing."
Xie Yun listened to his words with displeasure in his eyes, "Those who achieve great things cannot be too merciful."
Xie Ning'an lowered her eyes, "Grandson understands."
Xie Yun gave him a deep look and said, "I thought Jiang Yu would kill Lan Mudan, but I didn't expect her to still be alive."
Xie Ning'an frowned upon hearing this. "It must have been arranged by Second Aunt that Lan Mudan met with her today. So Lan Mudan must have told her everything."
Xie Yun clenched his aged hands together, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Jiang Yu always strikes unexpectedly. What is her purpose this time?"
Xie Ning'an thought for a while and said, "Let's cause trouble for us, so that she can buy time and opportunity to investigate the illegal minting of official silver."
"Hmm, perhaps they also intend to ruin Xie Lei," Xie Yun said.
Xie Ning'an looked down at the white gauze wrapped around his hand. It seemed that he really wanted to push Xie Lei out! He suddenly felt very tired. In fact, everything they were doing now was futile. They were just struggling to survive. Why couldn't they just reveal everything to the Emperor and use the bargaining chips they had to fight for the Xie family's future?
To put it bluntly, they were too confident. They were confident that even if the illegal minting of official silver was discovered, the emperor wouldn't eradicate the Xie family completely. They were confident they could still find a way out.
“Grandfather, let’s be honest with the Emperor,” Xie Ning’an said.
"And then what?" Xie Yun asked. "Like you said, we'll retreat to a secluded corner and recuperate? But have you considered whether Jiang Yu will let us go?"
Xie Ning'an remained silent. Xie Yun continued, "If we had reached an agreement yesterday, it would have meant that the conflict between us and the Duke of Chu's mansion could still be eased. But we didn't. Do you think Jiang Yu will let us off the hook? Will he give us a chance to recuperate?"
Everyone knows the principle of "to cut weeds, you must pull them out by the roots."
Xie Ning'an remained silent. If he disregarded his own feelings, and if he and Jiang Yu were in the same situation, he felt he wouldn't give Jiang Yu a chance to recuperate either.
The room was silent for a while. After a while, Xie Yun waved his hand and said, "Let me have some peace and quiet."
Xie Ning'an stood up, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Second Aunt, she..."
"Let me have some peace and quiet," Xie Yun interrupted him.
"Yes." Xie Ning'an turned and walked out. He understood that in Xie Yun's heart, Madam Xie and Xie Lei were already dead. Once Xie Lei was pushed out and died, there was no need to spare Madam Xie's life. Besides, she had seen Lan Mudan today.
Stepping out of the courtyard, Xie Ning'an pulled her cloak tighter around herself; this winter seemed unusually cold.
“Young Master,” a maidservant approached, her gaze lingering for a moment on his bandaged hand, and said, “Madam heard that you were injured and sent me to take a look.”
"Tell Mother I'm fine," Xie Ning'an told the maid. "I have some things to attend to, I'll visit Mother later."
The maid glanced at his injured hand again, said some words of concern, and left with a worried expression. Xie Ning'an walked step by step towards his own courtyard, feeling that he might have to plan for his own future and that of the Xie family.
"Brother," Xie Lei's voice came, and Xie Ning'an snapped out of his thoughts to see Xie Lei not far ahead. He walked over and heard Xie Lei ask him, "Why did you lock my mother in the ancestral hall?"
Xie Ning'an opened her mouth, unsure of what to say, and finally said, "Come to my place."
Xie Lei's face showed anxiety, but having gone through so much, he had learned to be patient, so he nodded. The two went to the study in silence, and Xie Lei asked again, "Why did you lock my mother in the ancestral hall?"
"My second aunt went to see someone today..." Xie Ning'an recounted the events, then saw the shock on Xie Lei's face. "You...you're saying I wasn't born to my mother, but to a brothel madam?"
Xie Ning'an knew he couldn't accept it, but she still nodded and said, "But you are still the second young master of the Xie family. You and your second aunt can actually... pretend you don't know about this."
"Hehehe..." Xie Lei laughed, "And then you guys pushed him out to be a scapegoat?"
Xie Ning'an opened his mouth as if to deny it, but he knew that Xie Yun was thinking the same thing, so he didn't say anything in denial.
Xie Lei clenched his teeth, his angry face contorted with rage. After a moment, he asked, "Can I see my mother?"
"Your second aunt probably doesn't want to see you." Xie Ning'an leaned forward, closing the distance between them, and lowered her voice, saying, "Do you want to leave?"
Xie Lei was taken aback, then looked at Xie Ning'an in silence. He hadn't expected Xie Ning'an to let him go. If he left, who would he push out?
"Have you come up with a solution?" Xie Lei asked.
Xie Ning'an shook her head. "If you want to leave, I'll make arrangements for you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com