The rebellious grandson of Emperor Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty: Please, Your Majesty, be called Cro

A group of women listened intently, and Aunt Pang was the first to speak up: "Oh my! What kind of gentleman is this!"

"To tarnish the family's reputation... what are they after?"

"What's the point...? The old man at home falls for their act." Li Xiang shook his head, looking helpless.

"The more they acted this way, the more upright the old man felt they were, and the more he felt they cared about educating my father. They became even more enthusiastic in urging the old man on..."

Whispers arose. Aunt Pang spat and said, "I think this old man has lost his mind!"

"What kind of person runs a household like that!"

"Of course!" Li Xiang nodded so hard his head almost broke, thinking to himself, "That's absolutely right! Li Er is a muddle-headed, incompetent ruler! He's been scolded like that and he still doesn't know to cut himself off." "Please, gentlemen, think it over again."

He lowered his voice slightly, which aroused everyone's curiosity even more, yet was just enough for everyone to hear clearly:

"The old man was already somewhat dissatisfied with my father's temperament. With these gentlemen constantly talking about him, speaking ill of him and spreading rumors about his shameful deeds, how could he not feel disgusted and disappointed over time?"

"What's even more infuriating is that my father has several younger brothers. Seeing that my father's reputation has been ruined and the old master doesn't like them anymore, they try to curry favor with the old master and spread rumors every day."

"They are blatantly trying to seize my father's inheritance rights, hoping that the old master will leave all the family property to them."

"My father was not good with words and could not argue. He was scolded by his teachers and was also bullied by his younger brothers."

"The old master doesn't respect him either. Now, he's about to lose his position as heir. He might even be kicked out by his brothers and won't even have a meal."

After Li Xiang finished speaking, he sighed with feigned helplessness and looked at the women in front of him:

"Aunties, tell me, isn't my father in a difficult situation? Those teachers came to help him, but instead they ruined his reputation and made him disliked by the old master. Sigh, what a mess this is."

After hearing such a sensational story about a wealthy family fighting over their inheritance, the women were immediately abuzz with excitement.

"Oh dear! This won't do! It's only right that the eldest son inherits the family fortune!"

Li Xiang nodded in agreement.

"That old man has really lost his mind, doing something so foolish. He's getting senile; he should have given up his position to the younger generation long ago. It's a real shame he's hogging it!"

"That's right, that's right! Who can argue with that!" Li Xiang nodded frantically.

"Those younger brothers are no better; they're taking advantage of the situation! That's why wealthy families are often chaotic. Look at this—they're not brothers at all, fighting tooth and nail over the inheritance..."

"Exactly! That's exactly right!" Li Xiang wholeheartedly agreed.

"If you ask me, it's still those gentlemen's fault!" Aunt Pang slapped the locust tree trunk, her greasy, chubby face filled with righteous indignation.

"How can they have such a bad reputation? They received the old man's reward, but what have they done to Young Master Li and his father?"

"They've caused chaos in people's homes and even taken lives! I really don't know what they've learned from their Confucian classics!"

"Then what do you think should be done about this, Auntie?" Li Xiang asked.

"What should we do? Let's deal with these gentlemen first!" Aunt Pang waved her plump hand, displaying an air of command and authority.

"When assessing a situation, you must first understand its root cause! The source of your family's troubles lies precisely with these few teachers."

"If they hadn't been spreading rumors about your father, he wouldn't have this bad reputation."

"If it weren't for this bad reputation, how would his brothers dare to covet his inheritance as the eldest son?"

"And that old man, how could he dare to depose the eldest son and then install the youngest son as his successor? After doing such a thing, how could he face his ancestors in the afterlife?"

"That's right!" Li Xiang almost wanted to applaud Aunt Pang.

As expected, the people are wise! In no time at all, they pointed out the root cause of their father's failure.

If it weren't for those scoundrels like Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining constantly ruining his father's reputation, even if Li Er really wanted to depose the eldest son and establish the younger one, he wouldn't be able to bypass the constraints of ancestral laws!

Although... Li Er probably didn't care much about ancestral laws. After all, Li Yuan had no eldest son, and Li Shimin had no elder brother.

But ultimately, it would cause a great uproar, instead of remaining as it is now, without causing any significant disturbance.

"Then, in your opinion, how should this matter be resolved?" Li Xiang pressed.

"Easy!" Aunt Pang slapped her thigh, her voice clear and bright. The confidence on her face was even more dazzling than the sacred fire burning in the Zoroastrian temple in the West Market.

"These pedantic scholars spout nonsense about benevolence and morality; they're just trying to fool people. You can't win an argument with them about benevolence and morality. Young master, there's no need to bother with any moral principles or rules when dealing with them!"

As she spoke, she leaned forward, her tone both sharp and righteous:

"Tell me, auntie, which neighborhood and alley do those wicked gentlemen who only make things worse live in?"

"Auntie, I'm taking these sisters. Tomorrow morning, we'll sit in front of their house, gather all the neighbors, and have a good talk with everyone—let everyone hear how they use the guise of 'teaching' to do such despicable things that ruin people's reputations!"

Aunt Pang became more and more excited as she spoke, her eyebrows dancing with enthusiasm:

"Let's expose their dirty secrets thoroughly and ruin their reputations! Then, who will believe their previous lies?"

Finally, she patted her chest, her tone very confident:

"Once their reputation is completely ruined and no one believes their lies anymore, your father's tarnished reputation will naturally be restored! At that time, your old man will naturally see the truth and will no longer despise him!"

Li Xiang... Li Xiang was completely stunned!

I want to give it a million likes!

I want to present Aunt Pang with ten thousand banners!

Yes! That makes so much sense!

Didn't I do that before? How come I never thought of that?

Why were Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining, those old dogs, able to smear the Crown Prince? Because they were great Confucian scholars!

They naturally occupy the moral high ground! What they say from that moral high ground is seen as something to be followed by others!

But what if we pull them down?

After dragging a great Confucian scholar down from his moral high ground... there are plenty of people who will kick him while he's down!

They are corrupt and their own actions are baseless. They can't explain themselves clearly. In the end, everyone will want to kill them, and who will believe what they said before?

Once their reputation plummets, their past opinions of their cheap father will also vanish like an avalanche, along with their reputation!

At that point, the image of the cheap father can instantly be reversed to that of the victim.

Regardless of whether Li Er will change his mind or not, there will definitely be plenty of people who sympathize with his cheap father!

The banner of primogeniture that he himself wanted to raise would also regain the moral high ground of the patriarchal system!

When the time comes, if you start cursing Li Er yourself, won't that be twice as effective with half the effort, and won't it have its own echo?

Then wouldn't you curse him until he can't take care of himself, and you wouldn't be satisfied until you kill him?