Huating Tuisi Garden and Wanhe Songfeng Hall.

In the spacious main hall, eight servants of the Xu family stood in two rows.

Lord Xu's hair and beard stood on end. He slammed his walking stick heavily on the ground and shouted loudly.

"Get down on your knees, you beast!"

Xu Ying had no choice but to kneel down reluctantly.

Looking at Xu Fan standing next to his father, he suddenly remembered that wasn't this the scene when his eldest brother was beaten last month?

Isn’t this too unlucky?

"Third brother, what did your father say to you and your elder brother on the day Yuanchun wrote to you?" Xu Jie's emotions calmed down, but his eyes were still frighteningly bright.

"Father said that his sons don't need to worry about Kunshan's affairs." Xu Ying replied stiffly.

"Then why are you worried again?" Xu Jie looked at him steadily and asked calmly.

"Father..." Xu Ying swallowed her saliva and said, "I didn't."

"Haha." Xu Jie smiled, stood up with the help of a cane, and said calmly: "You always disobey your elder brother, but at least he dares to take responsibility. What about you? You don't even have the slightest responsibility, and you still want to support the Xu family?"

Xu Ying's head was buzzing, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but she still said stubbornly, "My son really didn't do anything."

"So, you know nothing about Xu Bangning's affairs?" Xu Jie said with a teasing smile.

"I really don't know what he did?" Xu Ying continued to play dumb in fear.

"San'er, you are still a little immature." Xu Jie stood in front of his youngest son, tapped his shoulder gently with his cane and said:

"Do you think that if you don't get involved, others won't blame you? If that young Master Zhao was so easy to deal with, would your eldest brother have let him do this?"

“……”Xu Ying lowered her head, her heart pounding.

"Do you look down on your elder brother?" Xu Jie lifted his chin with his crutch and looked at him coldly.

"No, my son doesn't dare." Xu Ying quickly shook his head to deny.

"When your elder brother was playing tricks on those high-ranking officials in Beijing, you were still wetting the bed." Xu Jie sneered:

"Do you know why he never lies to me? First, he knows he can't fool me. Second, as a father, I hate it most when my own flesh and blood deceives me."

As he spoke, he stroked Xu Ying's head and said, "You have been in Huating for these years, and your father has neglected to discipline you, so I will be more tolerant of you than your elder brother. Now your father will give you one last chance, tell me the truth - was it you who instigated Xu Bangning to destroy the dike?"

Xu Ying thought quickly in her mind, have I revealed any clues? But she couldn't think of anything at the moment.

But he didn't dare to be stubborn anymore. His father had said something so serious, and it was obvious that if he continued to deny it, it would only completely disgust his father.

He could only nod in humiliation, and said with red eyes: "My son said it as a joke when he was drinking with him, who knew he would take it seriously..."

Before he could finish his words, there was a whoosh and Xu Jie hit him hard on the cheek with his crutch.

Two of Xu Ying's teeth were knocked out and he fell to the ground.

"Fool! You are such a fool!" Xu Jie roared, and hit him hard on the body with his cane.

"Xu Bangning lives in your house. How can you make people believe that he would do such a thing without consulting you?!"

Xu Ying held her head, twisted her body to dodge, and explained hurriedly:

"It's useless for the kid surnamed Zhao to suspect. He has no evidence at all! I'm not afraid even if Xu Bangning confronts me!"

"You idiot, you still don't understand why I don't want to mess with him!"

After all, Xu Jie was old and weak, and he got tired after a few hits. He had someone bring a spring stool and press Xu Ying on it.

"Because Zhao Hao has connections with the emperor, His Majesty may have given him the power to report in secret with the silver seal. Do you understand?"

"Impossible!" Xu Ying was stunned and didn't even care that his pants were taken off.

The power to make secret reports with the silver seal is an authority given to officials of the fourth rank and above, and only a few trusted ministers can obtain it.

Zhao Hao is just a kid with an eighth-rank honorary title. How could he be worthy of getting a seal?

"Otherwise, why would His Majesty send him and his son to Suzhou? Wasn't it just to keep an eye on me?" Xu Jie snorted angrily, "Without His Majesty backing him up, how could your eldest brother lose to him?!"

Xu Fan, who had been enlightened and calmed down after being beaten, could not help but nod heavily when he heard this.

He was very convinced by his father's conclusion. After all, even if Zhao Hao did not have the power to report secretly with the silver seal, his relationship with the eldest princess alone was enough for it to be heard by the emperor.

~~

"Governing a family is like governing a country, rewards and punishments must be fair." Then Xu Jie shouted in a deep voice: "San'er, I beat your elder brother with a stick because he acted on his own before. This time you knowingly broke the law and pretended to obey, which is even worse than your elder brother's behavior. Do you accept my punishment?"

"I accept..." What else could Xu Ying say? Not accepting? Isn't that like looking for death?

"Okay, forty lashes, and house arrest for a month!" Xu Jie waved his hand, looked at the servants coldly and said, "I still remember how you beat me that day."

"Yes." The servants shrank their necks. In fact, they had been intimidated by the old man and knew clearly who was the real master of the Xu family.

They didn't have the ability to cheat like the professional players in the yamen, so they could only fight for real.

After forty beatings, Uncle Xu's skin was torn and there was no good flesh left on his buttocks.

But after all, he was young and in good health, so he didn't faint.

"Go back to your garden and reflect on your actions." Xu Jie waved his hand and had him carried away on a door panel. "Hurry up and drive that evildoer away. Let him go wherever he wants!"

"Yes..." Mr. Xu's face was as pale as paper and his voice was weak.

"By the way, who gave Afang Garden that crappy name? Don't you think it's not ostentatious enough?" Xu Jie said coldly, "Go back and dredge it up quickly. It's better to leave it empty than it is now!"

"Yes..." Master Xu was already confused and could only say yes.

After Xu Ying was carried out, Xu Jie's expression calmed down a little. He said to Xu Fan, "Write a letter to Mr. Zhao for me, saying that the incident had nothing to do with Xu Ying, but he and Xu Bangning were fooling around together all day, which was very hateful. I have already severely punished him and put him under house arrest."

After a pause, Xu Jie said with some distress: "Please attach another two thousand taels of silver as my donation to Kunshan for the repair of the dike."

"Yes, father." Xu Fan responded softly and helped Xu Jie to the inner bedroom to rest.

When Xu Jie lay down, he said to Xu Fan as if he was just gossiping: "You are also concerned about the family affairs. After all, you are the eldest brother, you can't just ignore it."

"Yes, father." Xu Fan's heart moved, and he suddenly understood why his father took the opportunity to beat the third child and put him under house arrest for a month.

This is clearly creating an opportunity for myself to take control of the family business again.

It’s just that as a father, I can’t say this kind of thing openly.

~~

Meanwhile, Xu Ying was taken back to Afang Garden by a carriage.

Xu Bangning saw it when the servants were busy carrying him out of the car.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I don't have time to talk to you. Zhao Hao already knows what you have done. Go back and think of a solution..." After Xu Ying finished speaking, she finally couldn't hold on any longer and fainted with her head tilted.

ps. Fifth update, please give me a monthly ticket!!