Chapter 167: Offer Yourself as a Concubine
Just as Shen Ning, Xiao Nanchen and Shen Qingbai were sitting in the yard drinking and talking, in the study in the main courtyard of the Xie family, Xie Fengting raised his hand and threw the teacup at Xie Lianyu.
Xie Lianyu didn't dare to dodge and took the blow. His forehead was hit and the corners of his eyebrows immediately became red and swollen.
Xie Fengting pointed at his legitimate son, practically shaking with anger. "You didn't even write a single word... How dare you hand the inquiry booklet back without writing a single word!"
After saying that, he became even more angry: "No, it's not that you didn't write a single word, you even wrote your name on it in a show of strength!"
Xie Fengting felt that if this idiot in front of him was not his own son, he would have wanted to draw his knife and chop him to death.
"Your Majesty gave our Xie family a chance, sending the inquiry form home for you to fill in... and yet you dared to return it blank! Do you still have respect for the law, or for Your Majesty?"
"Stupid, extremely stupid, arrogant, and conceited!"
Xie Fengting pointed at Xie Lianyu and said, "How could I have given birth to a fool like you?"
Xie Lianyu's lips trembled, and he tried to defend himself: "It was Chen Ning who sent the inquiry booklet. She...she deliberately wanted to see me bow my head, I..."
"How about you? Your head is made of gold, and you can't lower it?"
Xie Fengting gritted his teeth. "First, you failed to perform your duties properly and caused dozens of lives. Then you broke your promise and caused a public disturbance and broke off the engagement. What's your reason? Why won't you bow your head? Huh? Tell me, why can't you bow your head? Is your head that precious?"
Xie Lianyu was speechless.
He also knew that he had done something stupid in his anger, but...
"Chen Ning herself agreed to break off the engagement, but now she's using chicken feathers as a token of authority, even disregarding you, father, and openly trying to embarrass our Xie family."
Xie Lianyu gritted his teeth and said coldly: "She did it on purpose!"
"Idiot! How could I give birth to an idiot like you? You take everything from your mother and nothing from me. You're short-sighted, narrow-minded, and self-righteous!"
Xie Fengting pointed at Xie Lianyu and cursed, "If it was someone else, the inquiry would have been sent to the Ministry of Justice and presented to the emperor. It was Ningning. She tried to change the situation and gave the things to His Highness the Seventh Prince, who then gave them back to me... You are still here judging others by your own standards. You are nothing but a piece of shit, a stupid piece of shit!"
Xie Lianyu was so scolded that he was speechless. He could only say bitterly, "Fortunately, the Seventh Prince has a good relationship with you, father, and won't make things difficult for us."
"Shut up, idiot! The Seventh Prince is a prince. Who said he has a good relationship with me? How can you say such a thing? You're crazy."
Xie Fengting cursed for a long time and was tired of it. He had kicked Xie Lianyu the day before yesterday. Xie Lianyu was still taking medicine these two days, so he couldn't beat him. He could only be angry with himself.
Otherwise, why do they say that giving birth to a stupid son will lead to a short life? It's all because of anger.
After a long while, Xie Fengting finally heaved a long sigh, "Fortunately, His Majesty has not intended to withdraw the imperial grace. The security of the Mingli Division is still the responsibility of our Xie family. Otherwise, you, a fool, would be blamed for your death. Even if I beat you to death, I would be doing an injustice to the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Xie family army."
Nowadays, all armies are scrambling for a share of thunder bombs. After all, whoever is equipped with them first and whoever is equipped with more will have stronger combat power and suffer fewer casualties on the battlefield.
A good job was almost ruined by his stupid son, and Xie Fengting was so angry that his chest hurt.
Xie Lianyu heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and forced a smile as he said, "That's good, father, please calm down. I know I was wrong, and I will pay more attention to it in the future. Okay..."
"Shut up, I won't need you anymore."
Xie Fengting glanced at his foolish son, feeling helpless, and then said, "From now on, Yuncheng will be in charge of the Mingli Division's mission."
This bastard is good in every way: he has brains and courage, but the only pity is that he comes from a poor family...
Xie Yuncheng stepped forward, clasped his fists and said respectfully, "My son will never let my father down."
Xie Lianyu was already frozen there.
After a while, the two brothers walked out of the study one after the other. Xie Lianyu stopped at the corridor, turned around and looked at his half-brother expressionlessly.
Xie Yuncheng, on the other hand, curled his lips and smiled, bowing to him, adding fuel to the fire without thinking: "Thank you, brother, for giving me this good job. I will definitely work hard to do it well."
Xie Lianyu's eyebrows twitched a few times, and he gritted his teeth: "I want to see how long you can be so proud."
Xie Yuncheng nodded: "Then please watch carefully, brother..."
After saying that, he curled his lips and smiled at Xie Lianyu, then turned and walked away.
Xie Yuncheng was very satisfied with this stupid but arrogant brother.
After all, if his legitimate brother wasn't stupid, he, a bastard's son, wouldn't have had so many opportunities over the years to climb up step by step to a place where no one could ignore him.
Time passed quickly, and another ten days passed. After the three of them met again, Xiao Nanchen sent Shen Ning back to the Shen residence in Shunchengfang, while Shen Qingbai stayed at home in Yongxingfang to watch the servants clean up after dinner.
Apart from Siyue, who served as a personal servant, there were originally quite a few servants in the house. However, Shen Qingbai was not used to it, and he did not need so many people by himself, so he sent some away and only left a few to do the rough work, so the yard seemed a little deserted.
Not long after Shen Ning and Xiao Nanchen left, there was another knock on the courtyard door. The gatekeeper went to inquire and replied to Shen Qingbai, who was sitting under a tree drinking hangover soup, "Sir, the person who came here calls himself Xu Shuo and says he's your classmate."
Xu Shuo?
Shen Qingbai stood up: "Please ask him to come in."
The Pingning Xu family was defeated, leaving only Xu Shuo, his sister Xu Ying, and his half-sister Xu Ya. The three siblings were brought back to the capital by the Xu family because of their influence. Xu Shuo was arranged to study at the Imperial College, while Xu Ying and Xu Ya became Xu Wanqing's playmates in the Xu family mansion.
A moment later, Xu Shuo entered the courtyard and saw Shen Qingbai. He immediately bowed and said, "Brother Qingbai, I'm sorry to bother you."
When Xu Shuo was studying in Pingning County, although his qualifications were mediocre, he always had a very high status because of his status. His classmates also flattered him and called Shen Qingbai "good brother" all the time.
Now, although he and Shen Qingbai are studying in the Imperial College together, Shen Qingbai is more talented and is even more valued by the teachers than Pei Yuanzhou, while Xu Shuo's academic performance is at the bottom.
Shen Qingbai had such a large "sunken house" in a location like Yongxingfang, while Xu Shuo was placed in a separate courtyard by the Xu family and other relatives of the Xu family who came to seek refuge. To put it nicely, it was seeking refuge, but in fact it was nothing more than living under someone else's roof.
In addition, some people knew about the Xu family in Pingning, and the gossipers would pull Xu Shuo aside to ask him how those rebellious slaves committed murder and arson in the Xu family... This was not Pingning, and Xu Shuo could not afford to offend anyone who could enter the Imperial College and dared to ask such questions. He quickly learned to endure and flatter others.
That is why, when he sees his former "good brother" Shen Qingbai, Xu Shuo calls him "Brother Qingbai".
Shen Qingbai knew that Xu Shuo was not a bad person. He had defended him in Pingning County School. He was as gentle and polite to Xu Shuo as always: "Brother Xu, you are too polite. Please sit down."
After Xu Shuo sat down, the maid brought tea. Xu Shuo picked up the teacup with a very uneasy and embarrassed expression.
Seeing that he might have something to say, Shen Qingbai asked him to speak frankly. Xu Shuo no longer pretended, but sighed and explained the whole story.
It turned out that Xu Shuo came to borrow money.
After entering the Imperial College, in order to integrate quickly, Xu Shuo imitated others and treated his classmates to drinks and meals. Although the Xu family would also give some monthly wages to these relatives who came to seek refuge, it was not much money at all.
All the money from the sale of Pingning's house was in Xu Ying's hands. Xu Shuo couldn't get it, but he couldn't bring himself to have a falling out with his sister over the money, so he thought of Shen Qingbai.
After hearing this, Shen Qingbai immediately asked Siyue to bring thirty taels of silver to Xu Shuo. Xu Shuo blushed, feeling both grateful and embarrassed. He repeatedly promised that he would try to repay the money as soon as possible, and he was almost swearing an oath.
Shen Qingbai comforted him gently, "Brother Xu took good care of me in Pingning. This silver is nothing."
This was the only person whose attitude towards him had not changed since the incident in the Xu family. Xu Shuo felt so sad that he was about to cry. He didn't care about anything else and asked Shen Qingbai for a drink with a choked voice.
There was still half a jar of wine that Xiao Nanchen brought just now. His Royal Highness Prince Ding would bring other good wine next time, so Shen Qingbai gave that half jar of wine to Xu Shuo.
After a few drinks, Xu Shuo pulled Shen Qingbai and tears streamed down his face. "It's like a dream, Qingbai. Even now, I still feel like I'm dreaming. A good family, just gone without a trace... A family, overturned like this, the living have a hard time living... The dead died in embarrassment..."
Shen Qingbai knew that he was not good at comforting people, so he simply kept silent and just poured him some wine.
Not long after, Xu Shuo fell drunk.
There were guest rooms in the Shen residence, and Shen Qingbai was not the kind of person who would not even let a friend stay for a night when he was in trouble. He was about to ask the servants to help Xu Shuo downstairs and put him there, but the doorman came to report that Mr. Xu's sister had come to pick up her brother.
The person brought in by the servants was Xu Ying.
Xu Ying no longer had the arrogance she once had. She had become much thinner, and she looked timid and a little gloomy.
Shen Qingbai knew about the Xu family. He also knew that Xu Ying, her second uncle who had committed countless evil deeds, and her grandmother were the most resentful people among the slaves. She had suffered at the time, but fortunately she survived, unlike her second uncle who was tortured and died in an extremely ugly way.
"Miss Xu." Shen Qingbai said calmly, "Brother Xu is over there. I'll have someone take you back."
At this moment, only Xu Ying and Shen Qingbai were closer to this place, except for Siyue who was next to them. In the distance, the servants were about to bring Xu Shuo out again.
Without warning, Xu Ying suddenly bowed to Shen Qingbai and said, "I was ignorant at the beginning and offended Mr. Shen with my words. I hope Mr. Shen will not bear a grudge against me."
Shen Qingbai said politely, "I have long forgotten the past, and there is no need to mention it again, Miss Xu."
Hearing Shen Qingbai's words, Xu Ying's eyes showed some hope. Thinking of something, she bit her lip, and forced herself to suppress the embarrassment and mustered up the courage: "I know that I am not worthy of Master Shen now. If you don't mind, I am willing to be your concubine and serve you..."
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