Kua Dai constantly argues with Lao Tzu; he learned his bad habits from Orondai.
Tong Guogang glared at him: "Get lost, go away."
Kua Dai shrugged, rolled to the side, and sat down with his mother, waiting to see the show.
Tong Fujin playfully patted Kua Dai on the shoulder, then got up and sat down next to Tong Guogang.
If a son bullies his father, she, as the mother, has to mediate.
Besides, it's ultimately a matter of the backyard, and it's really not good for Tong Guogang to play the villain.
Consort Tong, suppressing the throbbing pain in Tong Guogang's head, said to Fahai, "The person you met should indeed be your birth mother's brother. In your opinion, do you want to acknowledge him?"
Fahai bowed respectfully and replied, "My son's maternal family is the Gioro clan."
Tong Fujin nodded: "I'm not heartless, I don't want you to sever ties with your birth mother's family. You spent time with your birth mother when you were little, so you know her temperament. Her family is even worse than her. In previous years, the Tian family did come, but they were all turned away by Orondai."
When Tong Fujin mentioned Orondai, Fahai instinctively flinched.
Tong Fujin sighed inwardly. The sins committed by the previous generation were beyond their ability to distinguish right from wrong.
As her own son, Consort Tong would naturally not blame him for being an illegitimate child.
"He must have come to the capital to find you this time because something has happened at home," said Consort Tong.
Fahai recalled the way Tian Zhonghou stopped him on the street: his face was rosy and his cheeks were fleshy, and his clothes looked to be of good quality.
“My son suspects that his request to borrow land from me was a pretense; he probably got into trouble and wanted the Duke’s mansion to handle it for him,” Fahai said.
Tong Fujin nodded; that was exactly what she meant. Fahai understood immediately, saving her the trouble of embarrassing him.
Tong Guogang slammed his fist on the table beside him with a loud bang, his anger flaring.
The teacups on the table were knocked to the ground by his shock, shattering into pieces.
Tong Fujin's face turned cold: "This is a tea set that my elder brother sent the other day."
A tea set that caught the eye of a Grand Secretary of the court and was even sent to a relative's door must have been a fine item. Now that one piece is broken, the entire tea set must be put into storage and can no longer be used.
Looking at the shards scattered on the ground, Tong Guogang's heart was bleeding.
He was even angrier, not at himself for being impulsive, but at Tian Zhonghou for doing something outrageous that made him furious and smash the teacup.
“The Tian family is full of scoundrels and scoundrels. They’ve always been despicable and shameless, like leeches that burrow into anyone’s flesh and blood, desperately demanding money and power. For them to run all the way to the capital, unafraid of their boss’s threats, they must have gotten into serious trouble. Fahai, you stay home for the next few days. I want to see if this mess will cost him his life!” Tong Guogang said with a dark face.
Fahai obediently listened to Tong Guogang's words and expressed his willingness to study at home until the imperial examination.
After returning to his room, he even had someone send his treasured tea set to Tong Guogang as an apology.
In any case, it was a sin that was related to him.
After receiving Fahai's apology, Tong Guogang and Tong Fujin exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with mixed emotions.
Finally, Tong Guogang accepted the tea set, then had someone send a good inkstone to Fahai, and the matter was considered closed.
With Emperor Kangxi's help, and given that Tian Zhonghou wasn't someone with extraordinary connections, his wrongdoing was quickly investigated and clarified.
Despite his name being "Zhonghou" (meaning loyal and honest), Tian Zhonghou had absolutely no connection to the word.
He embodies all the worst traits of a petty person, and his actions are utterly beastly.
This time, the trouble started because he forced a young woman from the countryside to become his concubine. The woman refused and jumped into the river and died, making the murder case known to everyone in the area. The local magistrate was newly appointed, upright, and had no connection with the Tian family, so naturally he wanted to arrest him.
The Tian family had gained some influence in the local area over the years, and they were able to secretly send Tian Zhonghou to the capital overnight to seek protection, without the knowledge of the county magistrate.
With the Duke of Tong's mansion involved, the Tian family firmly believed that whether it was the life of one person or the life of an entire family, the Tong family could suppress it.
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