Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 45 Ancestral Hall
On the night when Zhao Zhilong and Wang Duo were convicted, a property-raiding team composed of coolies, runners from various departments, and soldiers from the army entered the Xincheng Earl's Mansion under the order of Zhu Cilang.

After a sleepless night, these people could only barely count the floating wealth accounts.

As for real estate deeds, collectibles, jewellery and rare objects, they can only be classified and stored in the study, with their values ​​calculated one by one by several clerks of the Ministry of Revenue.

In this way, there was no need to keep the Xincheng Earl's Mansion sealed off. Apart from a few courtyards allocated to the Zhao family for temporary residence, the rest of the area was used by Zhu Cilang as a logistics center for servants "borrowed" from various families to prepare daily meals for the camp in the north of the city.

The reason I mentioned this is because of the competition that took place during the day.

Xu and Xiang both got what they wanted and became famous, but the third son of the Xu family, who was the instigator of the incident, was exiled here by Zhu Cilang, who even gave him the pretext that "a general must first be familiar with military supplies and logistics."

Although the third son of the Xu family is reckless, he never slacks off on the work assigned to him.

Although he felt bored during this half day, he still waited until the servants prepared the materials for the next day before returning home.

"Uncle San, I heard that you are in charge of the kitchen?"

The third son of the Xu family heard a crisp female voice mocking him before he even stepped into the mansion.

Let alone the Duke of Wei's Mansion, even in the entire Yingtian City, there are few people who dare to make fun of the third son of the Xu family.

But when he heard this, Xu Laosan just turned his head and walked in, without any intention of pursuing the matter.

"Uncle San, are you tired in the kitchen?"

"Why are you in the front yard again? Be careful or I'll tell your father!"

Seeing that the voice was relentless, the third son of the Xu family used his trump card.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, a girl about fourteen or fifteen years old in a beige jacket jumped out from behind the door and hung on his arm.

"Uncle San~~~~, you really don't know how to appreciate a good person. I waited for you here for half a night."

Although Xu Yinjue had few opinions on major issues, he was quite strict in managing his household.

But there was only one girl in their family, so most of the strictness fell on the two younger brothers.

Even so, is it in vain to not go out of the front door or the back door?

What's more, this girl is almost old enough to get married. If Xu Yinjue knew that she not only ran to the front yard, but also squatted in the gatehouse for half the night, even if the Duke's only daughter is so favored, she would definitely be punished.

"Just come and see the joke."

The third son of the Xu family was having a very bad day today, and his voice was muffled when he was arguing with his niece.

"Uncle San, what's wrong with you?"

The girl realized that her uncle seemed different from usual, so she stopped looking provocative and playful and followed him obediently.

In fact, the gathering with the children of various families and the scabbard fight were nothing.

He was often beaten anyway, and it would be troublesome to discuss the defense of the city with those guys. Why would Mr. Xu San look depressed because of these things?

After all, he still couldn't accept the fact that he was tricked by his second brother who was always calm and reliable.

"The second son..." The third son of the Xu family felt aggrieved by this sentence, but when he opened his mouth, he found that the person he was talking to was his niece who was a few years younger than him. As a result, he completely lost the interest to say another word on the matter.

"Second uncle, what..."

"Xu Shaoyue!"

Just as the girl was about to ask more questions, a shout came from inside.

The two looked up and saw Xu Yinjue standing under the corridor.

"Big brother."

"Dad." The Duke didn't know whether it was because his two brothers had done such a big thing without telling him, or because his daughter, who was about to grow up, was not well behaved, but in any case, his face was not looking good.

"Dad~~~~~, why are you here?"

In the end, Mr. Xu's expression had no effect on his only daughter.

As soon as the voice fell, Xu Shaoyue jumped to his father, then grabbed his arms with both hands and shook them.

"If I hadn't come, would you still want to go out for a walk?"

"Dad~~~~~, look at what you said. I am a lady from a wealthy family. How could I do such a thing?"

"Hmph! Go back and copy "Jing Shun" again. I'll check it tomorrow."

This "Respect and Obedience" is a chapter in "Female Commandments", with only a hundred or so words in total. This kind of punishment is naturally nothing to Xu Shaoyue, but before she had time to rejoice for her safe passage, she heard her father, who had already turned around, gently utter a few words: "You come."

Xu Laosan responded and followed. Xu Shaoyue stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Xu Yinjue has been gloomy since he returned home today. Although she doesn't know why her father is like this, she can guess from just a few words that it is her two uncles who have caused the disaster.

That's why she had been waiting at the gatehouse, hoping that they could make preparations in advance or just go outside to avoid the limelight.

But now they were caught red-handed by their father. Seeing that her father, contrary to his usual behavior, did not deal with the matter directly, it seemed that the matter was quite serious. If she did not think of a solution, Third Uncle would probably have to stay in bed for a few days before he could get out of bed.

Thinking of this, Xu Shaoyue didn't care about copying "Jing Shun" anymore. He waited until they walked a little further away and then quietly followed them.

The further Xu Shaoyue walked, the more puzzled he became.

Normally, when my third uncle made mistakes, my father would punish him in the study. Why did he go straight to the ancestral hall tonight?

With this thought in mind, Xu Shaoyue became more and more uneasy.

If it were any other time, she would naturally rely on her family's favor to get back something for her uncle.

But in this situation, her father was obviously very angry. How could she, who had just made a mistake, dare to bring bad luck upon herself?

"I don't know where my second uncle has gone." She couldn't help but think of Xu Renjue, who was usually the most reliable.

After another stick of incense had passed, the two of them arrived at the ancestral hall as Xu Shaoyue had expected.

Along the way, Xu Laosan was no longer as indifferent as he was at the beginning, and a feeling of uneasiness filled his heart mostly.

With a creaking sound, the door of the ancestral hall, which was only opened a few times a year, was opened as Xu Yinjue pushed it on this unconventional day.

Seeing this, Xu Laosan, who was already an expert at the job, knelt on the ground. But before he could even lift up his collar, he saw Xu Yinjue kneeling at the door of the ancestral hall with a thud.

Then, without waiting for the uncle and nephew to react, he knocked his head to the ground and cried:

"Ancestors, I am the unworthy descendant of Xu Yinjue. I have failed to protect the country and the people, and I have failed to continue the family business. I am here to apologize!"

"Big brother!"

"father!"

The uncle and nephew each shouted and wanted to help Xu Yinjue, but although he was past his prime, the body he had built up in his youth was not something that two kids could lift up.

"Brother, why is it so? Why is it so?!"

"Dad, give Uncle San a beating, but don't let it get him sick."

The two tried to persuade him, but Xu Yinjue remained unmoved and just lay on the ground sobbing.

(End of this chapter)