198. Beaten to death
Chen Liqin's fingers trembled slightly under his sleeves.
The son who finally returned home was placed among a pile of miscellaneous items.
Not to mention Zhang Zhuo's anger, how could he not know that something was fishy going on? How could he not be angry? However, now that things had come to this, there was no point in spreading the news.
As the saying goes, family disgrace should not be made public; if others knew about this, it would only make the scholars laugh. As for Chen Ji, he could only find a way to make amends later, but he couldn't make it public at the moment.
Outside the gate of Tingquan Garden, Chen Liqin looked at the bricks and tiles in the yard. After thinking for a moment, he ordered the servant, "Bring the housekeeper here. I want to ask him what's going on. How could he misunderstand such a small matter? Madam clearly arranged for Chen Ji to stay at Mingquan Garden, so why did she bring him to Tingquan Garden?"
"Yes," the servant said nervously, lowered his head and walked away.
Zhang Xia felt something was amiss and hurriedly tugged at Zhang Zhuo's sleeve. He lowered his voice and said, "Dad, be careful he might leak information and collude with others to get the housekeeper to cover up this matter."
Zhang Zhuo stroked his beard and shouted, "Hey boy, come back!"
The servant said, "What are your orders, Master Zhang?"
"Wait here," Zhang Zhuo looked at Zhang Xia, "Girl, go find a servant and ask the housekeeper to come over."
Zhang Xia agreed and ran very fast.
Chen Liqin glared at him, "Master Zhang, what are you doing?"
Zhang Zhuo casually said, "Master Chen, did the housekeeper really hear wrongly? You should know the answer. Chen Ji, were you present when Madam Chen arranged your accommodation? If so, can you please tell me where she arranged it for you? Don't be afraid, I'll make the decision for you."
Chen Liqin suddenly clenched the fist in his sleeve.
Chen Ji was present when Liang arranged the accommodation.
Moreover, Liang explained the reason for the arrangement clearly: Mingquanyuan was far from where Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao lived, while Tingquanyuan was closer, so there was no way they would make a mistake.
If young Chen Ji disregards the overall situation and reveals everything, the reputation of his Chen family will be ruined.
Seeing that Chen Ji didn't respond, Zhang Zhuo pressed on, "Chen Ji, did you hear clearly? What was Madam Chen talking about?"
Chen Ji nodded slightly: "It's Mingquan Garden."
Chen Liqin felt relieved. It was commendable that a seventeen-year-old child could consider the overall situation.
When Zhang Zhuo heard what Chen Ji said, he had a tacit understanding in his heart: Chen Ji only wanted to kill the housekeeper this time and had no intention of igniting the war with Liang. Now that Chen Ji had just returned home, it was not the time to put Liang on the fire.
But Zhang Zhuo refused to give in. He stepped forward and said to Chen Ji, "Don't be afraid. Tell me if you have any grievances. I will take care of it for you. At worst, we won't return to the Chen Mansion. Don't worry, I guarantee that you will have better food, clothing, and other necessities than Zhang Zheng. I will vacate his house for you tonight!"
Chen Liqin said impatiently, "Master Zhang, don't you have a son of your own? Why are you always thinking about other people's sons? What does Zhang Zheng think when he hears these words?"
Zhang Zheng said cheerfully, "I don't mind. If Chen Ji is willing to come tonight, I'll move to another courtyard—I can even sleep on the street."
Chen Liqin's tone faltered: "You!"
At this time, Zhang Xia led the housekeeper and hurried over with their heads bent down.
The housekeeper came in front of everyone, first looked at Chen Ji, then looked at the open door of Tingquanyuan, and immediately realized that the truth had been revealed.
He lifted up his clothes and knelt down, kowtowed and said, "Master, this is all my fault. Please punish me!"
Chen Liqin was very disappointed: "If such a small thing can be wrong, how can the Chen family still be together?"
Take care of it for you? Madam made arrangements for Chen Ji.
"Wait!" Zhang Zhuo grabbed Chen Liqin's wrist, interrupting him. He looked down at the butler's back and asked with a smile, "Let me ask you, why didn't you give Chen Ji the beautiful Mingquan Garden in your Chen Mansion, but instead gave him this cluttered Tingquan Garden?"
Chen Liqin's face changed. Zhang Zhuo actually wanted to extract a confession from him in Chen's house.
He was about to say something when Zhang Zhuo's palm suddenly clenched, causing him pain.
Liang was about to speak up to remind the housekeeper, but Zhang Xia suddenly looked at her and said, "Aunt, you look so beautiful today."
Liang smiled slightly and said subconsciously: "Thank you, Miss Zhang Er—"
Before he could finish his words, the butler replied, "Your Excellency the Prefect, because Tingquan Garden is close to the eldest and second young masters, I have arranged for the third young master to stay here."
Zhang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly. He had tricked the butler into revealing the truth, but he didn't expect that the butler would take all the blame on himself without any collusion.
Chen Liqin was furious: "Zhang Zhuo, what do you want to do? Do you think my Chen Mansion is a government office? You actually tried to trick me into confessing."
Zhang Zhuo brushed his robes and sighed softly, "Master Chen, if the right and wrong of your family still have to be decided by me, the prefect, don't you feel sad?"
Chen Liqin stood there in a daze.
Zhang Zhuo ignored him and looked down at the butler: "I want to ask you, who instructed you to do this?"
The butler had already realized what was happening and gritted his teeth, "Master Zhang has misunderstood. No one instructed me to do this. I did this out of good intentions, wanting the Third Young Master to get closer to the First and Second Young Masters."
Zhang Zhuo asked again, "If that's the case, then why didn't you arrange for the servants to clean up after you brought Chen Ji here?"
The butler hesitated: "This——"
Zhang Zhuo said no more, turned around, grabbed Chen Ji's wrist and walked out the door: "Come on, follow me back to the Zhang Mansion, don't suffer any injustice here!
Even a servant in the Chen Mansion can bully his superiors. If I put you in a small courtyard today, who knows what you might do tomorrow!"
Chen Liqin hurriedly took two steps forward, trying to grab Chen Ji's other arm.
But before he could reach him, Chen Ji had already broken free from Zhang Zhu's hand: "Master Zhang, I will not go to the Zhang Mansion."
Zhang Zhuo turned back in confusion: "Huh?"
Chen Ji said calmly, "Master Zhang, it would be nice to have a place to live."
Chen Liqin slowly stopped and felt a lump in his throat.
He glanced coldly at Liang, then turned to look at the housekeeper viciously and ordered the servant beside him, "Drag the housekeeper away—beat him to death!"
Under the scorching sun at noon, the housekeeper panicked.
His body began to tremble like a sieve, and sweat soaked his back: "Master, I am innocent..."
Liang grabbed Chen Liqin and interrupted, "Master, Wang Gui's mother was your wet nurse. You said earlier that you would visit her after returning to Beijing. If you have Wang Gui beaten to death, how will you ever see her again?"
Chen Liqin remained silent.
Liang pulled Chen Liqin aside again and pleaded, "I know the master is angry, but I didn't say I'd let him off just like that. This Wang Gui can be spared the death penalty, but he can't escape punishment for his crimes. First, I'll take him down and give him twenty strokes of the cane, and then fine him three years' salary. I, as the mistress of the household, am also at fault. Later, I'll kneel in the Buddhist temple for three days and three nights, fasting before the Buddha for three days to reflect on my mistakes."
Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Xia looked at each other. This punishment was not light. Liang had torn off her own face to save the housekeeper. The housekeeper was beaten with a stick twenty times. Even if he didn't die, he would be beaten.
Layer of skin.
With Liang acting like this, the housekeeper will definitely not be able to kill her today.
However, whether the punishment is sufficient should not be decided by them.
Zhang Zhuo glanced at Chen Ji, and then saw his expression, and remembered his previous attitude, and he had an idea in his mind.
He stepped forward and grabbed Chen Liqin: "Even if Wang Gui is your servant, there is no need to shout and kill him. I think your sister-in-law's suggestion is good.
"A country has its laws, a family has its rules. With a servant like this in the family, the mistress of the house naturally needs to reflect on herself. But, after Wang Gui recovers from his injuries, will he continue to be the housekeeper?"
Chen Liqin said expressionlessly, "Of course not."
Zhang Zhuo sighed, "I originally wanted to snatch Chen Ji away, but I didn't expect him to have such strong feelings for the Chen family. Forget it, I can't be the bad guy anymore."
Chen Liqin stared at him intently: "Master Zhang caused chaos in our Chen Mansion as soon as he arrived, and now you want to be a good person?"
Zhang Zhuo laughed heartily: "Master Chen misunderstood me, ah, misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!"
At this time, Wang Gui was relieved to see that he had escaped the disaster: there are skills in caning, and those servants would not be too harsh, otherwise, with his relationship with the master and the wet nurse, he would turn the tables and deal with them sooner or later.
Wang Gui thought about this and kowtowed three times on the ground, his voice filled with tears. "I feel guilty towards you, sir. I will go down and accept my punishment."
However, just as he finished speaking, he heard footsteps coming from behind.
Chen Wenzong came running with a whistle in his hand. He came before Chen Liqin and bowed, saying, "Father, what happened here?"
Chen Liqin casually explained, "This Wang Gui has been bewildered. He placed your brother in this mess and deliberately didn't send servants to clean up the yard for him. Now that the truth has been uncovered, he's about to give him twenty strokes of the cane."
Chen Wenzong turned to look at Wang Gui, who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes becoming colder. "I'll do it."
Wang Gui's body softened.
Evening, sunset.
After Wang Gui was beaten with a stick twenty times, he was carried to his residence by a servant while dying.
Chen Wenzong used all his strength in each blow. After twenty blows, his arms, which had not been exercised for a long time, became swollen and sore.
By the eleventh blow, Chen Wenzong was exhausted and rested for a while before continuing. After the twenty blows, Wang Gui no longer had the strength to fight Ai Hao.
This was the second time he had been punished for Chen Ji in the past two months. He didn't know what had happened to him. The bastard, whom he used to control at will, was now completely out of his control.
Was today's incident a coincidence, or was it a carefully calculated plot by that bastard? Wang Gui was sweating profusely from the pain and had no energy to think.
The servants carried him across the yard and pushed open the wooden door of the residence.
A servant whispered, "Godfather, it's not that we don't want to help you, it's just that the eldest master was too ruthless and we couldn't stop him."
Wang Gui said weakly, "Shut up, put me on the bed, and get out! Don't think I don't know, you all want to see me make a fool of myself!"
The servant curled his lips and said nothing more. Everyone worked together to lay the butler on the bed.
Just as they were about to turn and leave, the butler suddenly jumped up and shouted, "Pooh, pooh, pooh! What's that on my pillow?"
The servants took a closer look and saw that the butler's face and mouth were covered with black feces, which smelled terrible.
Wang Gui screamed hysterically, "Who did this? Who of you did this? You dare not admit it? When I get better, I will deal with you one by one!"
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