From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 162 Clan Rules
With Xu Zhongche's skills, even the slightest toxin in the pastry would have nowhere to hide.

"Fourth Uncle, this pastry contains a slow-acting poison that damages the lungs and internal organs. Long-term consumption can lead to symptoms similar to lung disease..."

His words drew sidelong glances from Ma Erjue and others.

Does the Xu family have such a talented person?

Even Xu Zhongchao looked surprised, because he didn't know his cousin well.

Xu Zhongche displayed his talent at the age of nine, studied alchemy with a pharmacist for ten years, and then broke through the innate level and obtained the "Nine Flames Spirit Fire Technique".

From then on, Xu Zhongche rarely appeared in public, immersing himself in researching pills and studying medicine-making techniques.

In addition, due to the Xu family's need for secrecy, Xu Zhongchao did not know that Zhongche was a cultivator and an alchemist.

Xu Xiaoyun glanced coldly at the trembling Liu Yun. It was confirmed that Liu Yun had poisoned Ma Shujie. The next thing to know was whether Xu Zhongchao knew about it.

Did they know but condone it?

Or something even more serious: that the two of them conspired together?
"Ah Chao, tell me the truth, do you know?"

The coldness in his eyes sent chills down Xu Zhongchao's spine.

Xu Zhongchao realized the gravity of the situation and knelt down with a thud: "Father, I didn't know, I really didn't know! I swear to God, if I had known beforehand that Liu Yun had poisoned Shujie, may I be struck by lightning..."

He raised his right hand and swore a solemn oath to heaven.

His words were so certain that they did not seem like lies.

"Hmph, I can't control you. Just wait for your grandpa to come."

Xu Xiaoyun knew that things had escalated to this point, and it was time for Xu Fugui to step in and discipline them.

Xu Zhongche whispered a few words in his ear, and he ordered his servants to bring Li Zhikang over.

Soon, the elderly Li Zhikang was brought in by his servants.

Under Xu Xiaoyun's questioning, he initially denied it, but Xu Zhongche didn't believe that an elderly doctor could misdiagnose a patient. After some persistent questioning, Li Zhikang finally admitted to accepting one hundred taels of silver from Liu Yun.

One hundred taels of silver almost cost Ma Shujie her life and killed the baby in her womb!

Ma Erjue wished he could slap Li Zhikang to death, but the Xu family was there, and he was waiting for their explanation.

How will the Xu family handle this situation to give him a satisfactory explanation?

In fact, the fact that the Xu family did not protect their own or defend Xu Zhongchao was something that pleased him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Xu Zhongchao knelt on the ground.

Liu Yun slumped to the ground, clutching her swollen belly, her only chance to survive.

Li Zhikang kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Almost the entire Xu family arrived, and Jiazhen also rushed to the scene.

The Ma family, numbering twenty or thirty, were puzzled, wondering who the Xu family was waiting for.

After a while, Xu Fugui arrived late, accompanied by Xu Xiaoan.

He was still dressed like an old farmer, walking with a brisk pace. His appearance immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the Xu family.

"That's... the patriarch of the Xu family?"

Ma Erjue still remembered Xu Fugui; he had met him once seven years ago when Xu Zhongchao and Ma Shujie got married, and he had an impression of him.

Seven years have passed, and Xu Fugui still looks the same, with no trace of the years on his body.

What Ma Erjue found hard to understand was that Xu Fugui's status seemed to be even higher than Xu Xiaoniu's.

Although Xu Fugui is the father, in general, the most successful person is respected in a family.

Given Xu Xiaoniu's status and position, he should be the one to call the shots in the Xu family, even if on the surface Xu Fugui is his father and has a higher status.

"Greetings, Master Xu."

Ma Erjue quickly bowed, as Xu Fugui was his father-in-law's father, a generation higher than him according to seniority. Reminded by Ma Erjue, the other members of the Ma family also bowed to Xu Fugui.

Xu Fugui, with a kind face and a somewhat simple and honest smile, returned the greetings to the Ma family. Afterwards, with Xu Xiaoyun's explanation, the whole story became clear.

His originally kind expression turned cold, and his eyes remained calm and still.

At his age, having experienced the pain of losing his son and the uncertainty of his granddaughter's fate and whereabouts, he has witnessed far too many things.

So many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren running around everywhere.

Compared to his experience, this was nothing. He even anticipated that the Xu family would produce such an offspring sooner or later.

“Zhongchao, look into your grandfather’s eyes and answer truthfully. Do you know about the poisoning by your concubine?”

Xu Fugui's gaze seemed to penetrate Xu Zhongchao's eyes and see his soul.

His late-stage Qi Refining spiritual power was exerting an invisible effect.

For the first time, Xu Zhongchao felt that his grandfather, who usually looked like a farmer, had such a powerful presence, ten times greater than the pressure his father exerted on him.

"Grandpa, I really didn't know, I..."

"No need to explain, Grandpa believes it."

Xu Fugui fell silent, and no one dared to speak; the scene was completely silent.

After a moment, he spoke and pronounced the fate of the group: "Li Zhikang and Liu Yun, death sentence."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun trembled all over: "No, I'm carrying the Xu family's child! The blood of the Xu family is in my belly!..."

"Shut up, drag it away."

Xu Fugui waved his hand, and immediately servants at the Innate Realm took Li Zhikang and Liu Yun away to carry out the "clan law".

In fact, their fates were already sealed. The fact that Liu Yun was pregnant did make Xu Fugui hesitate for a moment: he was wondering whether to kill Liu Yun immediately or wait until she gave birth to an heir for the Xu family before killing her.

The Xu family's precious lineage needs descendants.

However, Xu Fugui did not want Liu Yun to live a few more months, and at the same time, he did not want the unborn descendant of the Xu family to have such a background.

What Xu Fugui pondered most was how to deal with Xu Zhongchao.

“Build him a study here, three zhang long and wide, where he shall eat, drink, and relieve himself, and shall not leave for even a moment! Send someone to deliver his meals every day, all vegetarian, with no meat allowed!”
Give him a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and punish him by making him write the Xu family's "Hundred Character Classic" 100,000 times. His handwriting must be neat and legible, and I will check it myself!
You can only leave after writing it 100,000 times.

The "study" that was three zhang long and wide was actually a prison.

[The Hundred-Character Classic] Ten thousand times!

Xu Zhongchao did some mental calculations. If he wrote 10,000 words a day, it would take him 1,000 days, almost three years!
This means he'll spend three years in prison and be forced to eat only vegetarian food every day.

But he dared not utter a single complaint: "I am willing to accept the punishment."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"My dear in-law, are you satisfied with how I handled this?"

Xu Fugui looked at Ma Erjue.

Ma Erjue quickly said, "I admire Old Master Xu's handling of the situation. Your Xu family has a good family tradition, but with so many members, it's inevitable that there will be areas where discipline is not adequate. Actually, my son-in-law was also misled by wicked people, but he is not a bad person at heart."

He's giving the Xu family a way out.

The Xu family had already achieved this much; they were quite satisfied. The two people who harmed Ma Shujie were both executed.

As for Xu Zhongchao, the punishment was not light, considering he was unaware of it.

"As long as you're satisfied. It's my fault for not disciplining you properly."

Afterwards, Ma Erjue felt embarrassed to bring so many martial arts experts to stay, so he politely declined the Xu family's invitation to stay for a banquet and took his leave.

After giving instructions to the Ma family, Xu Fugui was to deal with internal issues to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

(End of this chapter)