Chapter 31: Making Trouble
That year, Xie Heng and Liang Li's husband Liang Siqi went to Beijing together to take the exam. Unexpectedly, it started to rain heavily halfway and the two happened to encounter a mudslide.
The mud and rocks washed down from the hillside buried the two men, and it seemed that both of them were going to die.
However, Liang Siqi tried his best to push him out at this time, but he himself was stuck in the quagmire and could no longer recover.
Before his death, Liang Siqi asked him to help take care of his family if he could graduate from high school in the future.
He did not break his promise. After passing the exam, he immediately sent someone to look for Liang Siqi's family.
"I sent money and food to you. You said that you were an orphan and a widow and had no one to take care of you in Liangzhou. I took you to the capital."
"You guys tried desperately to force me to marry Liang, and I fulfilled your wish."
"Over the years, the Liang family has been secretly supporting the Liang family, and I just pretended not to notice."
Looking at Liang Li's greedy face, Xie Heng felt a chill in his eyes.
"Yes, Siqi saved my life, but haven't I paid you back enough over the years? My Xie family has gone bankrupt in order to clean up the mess for your Liang family!"
It was the first time that Liang Li saw Xie Heng get angry, and she shrank back subconsciously.
But the reason why the Liang family has been able to keep Xie Heng under control all these years is because they know that Xie Heng is pedantic and proud.
He immediately started to cry out, "Open your eyes, you bastard. The person you saved is repaying your kindness with hatred. He was not happy just because he gave you some money. You lost your life!"
As she howled, Old Lady Liang also joined in.
One cried "dead ghost", the other cried "son", one after another, in a rhythmic manner, as if they had practiced it many times.
In the past, Xie Heng would compromise as soon as he heard them howling, but now that their Liang family has caused such a big hole, he still has the nerve to cry?
"Since sister-in-law thinks five hundred taels of silver is too little, then forget it. Let's just send them back to Liangzhou like this."
He directly ordered his confidant to take them to the dock to board the boat today.
He didn't want to see these faces of the Liang family again for a moment.
Seeing Xie Heng being so cruel, Liang Ke, who had been silent all this time, could no longer bear it, and rushed over to hug his thighs and begged for mercy, "Uncle, uncle, I was wrong, we know we were wrong, you can't just ignore us!"
They have long been accustomed to a good life, so how could they possibly live a hard life?
The few acres of land the family originally owned had been sold long ago, leaving only two dilapidated adobe houses that were completely uninhabitable.
Sending them back home is like forcing them to die!
"Humph, now you know you're wrong? What were you doing when you were causing trouble? Do you know that if I hadn't protected you, you would have been chopped off on the head several times if you hadn't drunkenly said in the brothel that the Crown Prince was immoral and that Prince Yong should succeed to the throne!"
Xie Heng kicked him away and said, "Get out of here if you still want to live. If you don't, I will tie you up and send you to the Prince's Mansion!"
Liang Ke's face turned pale in an instant. Fearing that he would lose his life, he dared not to bother with her anymore.
But seeing that all her family members were sent away, how could Liang be willing to agree?
"Xie Heng, if you dare to send them away, I will die in front of you!"
She simply broke a teacup into pieces, took the shards and put them around her neck.
But the look in Xie Heng's eyes when he looked at her was not nervous at all, but rather a little cold.
With just one glance, the servant beside her understood what he meant, and immediately stepped forward and snatched the porcelain piece from Liang's hand.
Liang raised her head, her eyes full of madness, "Xie Heng, why are you pretending to be so noble?"
"You just said that I took everything to support the Liang family. Then let me ask you, where did you get the money to buy the famous paintings and calligraphy in your study? How could you afford the inkstone that cost thousands of gold coins per square meter and the golden rice paper that cost hundreds of taels per stack? Why didn't you ask where the blood bird's nest and tonic soup in the kitchen came from when you drank them every day?"
"With your annual salary of less than five hundred taels, do you think you can afford it?!"
Every time Marquis Zhenyang won a battle, rewards from the emperor would flow to his mansion like water.
He also married such a rich wife that her dowry filled an entire warehouse.
And what about Xie Heng?
He worked hard to climb to the position of a second-rank official, but he flaunted his noble character and was incorruptible. He refused to accept gifts from others and often offended many colleagues because of his frank advice.
He only thinks he is noble, but has he ever thought about how his family will live?
Xie Heng was stunned. "I thought it was all public expenses..."
Liang was disdainful, "How much money is there for the public treasury?"
It’s not enough to just buy a nice hairpin!
Xie Heng was stunned for a long time, then came to his senses and said, "I will sell those calligraphy and paintings right away, and return all the assets of our eldest family to my second brother's family."
"Are you crazy?" Liang was furious, the flesh on her cheeks trembling, "If you give all your property to others, what will happen to Yuan Ge'er and Wan Yin?"
Xie Heng's tone was calm but indifferent. "Mingyuan is now married and has his own official position. He will have to build his own family business in the future."
"As for Wanyin, her food, clothing and other expenses are all provided by the public. When she gets married in the future, the public will also prepare a dowry for her. You don't need to worry about these unnecessary things."
"As for you, you are greedy and foolish. I will send someone to take you to the family temple in a while. You can practice meditation there and pray for the Xie family!"
After saying that, he turned away.
Liang was left there, cursing hysterically, "Xie Heng, you are so ungrateful, you will not die well!"
…
"Xie Heng, you are ungrateful and you will not die well!"
In Fenghua Pavilion, Banxia imitated Liang's demeanor and speech perfectly, so lifelike that it seemed as if one were actually there.
Fuling shook her head and sighed, "I didn't expect the master to be so cruel. He just dealt with her as his first wife said. I thought the master was the one with the best temper in the family."
Lifting his index finger and shaking it, Xie Zhuoning said with a deep look, "Then you really don't know this uncle of mine."
How can you easily guess the temper of a person who has climbed to the position of a second-rank official?
You have to know that in the previous life, the Zhenyang Marquis Mansion was ransacked, but Xie Heng managed to save the eldest branch of the Xie family in that chaos.
She was really curious about how her uncle did it.
But now, with the help of my uncle, I have dealt with Liang Ke's family and got my own things back, which is also a big gain.
The rest, take your time.
"By the way," she glanced at the sky, "Where's Xia Ju? Hasn't she come back yet?"
Xia Ju smiled and said, "She is busy killing and setting fires right now."
…
Standing at the door, watching Liang's carriage leave, Xie Heng suddenly remembered, "By the way, what was the name of the maid who betrayed Liang?"
The housekeeper replied, "Her name is Jinxiu."
"Embroidered?" Xie Heng frowned.
He remembered that this girl had been with Liang for many years and had always been loyal to her. How could she suddenly stand up and accuse Liang?
There must be someone behind this!
"Where is she now?"
"He's locked up in the woodshed."
"Let's go and take a look!"
But when they arrived, the woodshed had already been engulfed in flames.
The servants finally put out the fire, but they only found a charred body inside.
Xie Heng's face was so gloomy that it seemed as if ice could freeze into ice.
Who is causing trouble in the Xie family?