Chapter 14 Beating

Before Guan Suyi entered the main courtyard, she heard the sound of ghost crying and wolf howling, especially Zhao Wangshu was the most noisy, yelling dad and mom non-stop, the sounds seemed very angry.

“Mother, you are here, please help intercede for my brother! Daddy is going to kill him!” Zhao Chunxi stood in the corridor waiting anxiously, and seeing the late master and servant group, she hurriedly greeted and pulled her over. Although she blocked the mouths of her servants and told them not to betray her, but her exasperated brother was so brainless that he went straight to the study to file a complaint with their father, saying that he want him to divorce Guan shi, and asked him to hold off the Guan family’s father and son’s official position. What do you mean by this? No wonder Daddy is furious.

“Don’t be in a hurry, let’s talk about what’s going on first. There must be a reason to move the family law, right?” Guan Suyi walked into the main hall and saw Zhao Wangshu kneeling on the ground under the pressure of two guards, while Zhao Luli held a rattan cane and drew it on his back, his expression very annoyed. The old madam couldn’t persuade him, she could only sit aside and wipe her tears.

Where did Zhao Chunxi dare to tell the truth, she was stammering, and Guan Suyi smiled lightly, “Without you telling I also know, it’s nothing more than telling your father to divorce me, and to take down my grandfather and father’s official positions.”

“How do you know? “” Zhao Chunxi was still young, so she was easily swindled out of the truth.

“He dared to say this in front of me yesterday, how can I not guess?” Guan Suyi walked to the old madam and stood still.

When Sun shi saw her daughter-in-law coming, she couldn’t help but overjoyed, and said hurriedly, “Go and stop lord marquis, hurry! Any more hits will hurt Wangshu’s body!”

“Mother don’t be anxious, I still haven’t figured out what happened yet.” Guan Suyi pressed the old madam’s thin shoulders.

Sun shi was also stubborn, not daring to tell the truth, and only scolded, “I told you to stop him, why do you asked so much? You are now the mistress of marquis mansion, and it’s your duty to take care of your stepson. Seeing lord marquis beating your child, you don’t try to persuade him, instead you stand aside and watch the show. Do you want lord marquis to beat your stepson to death so can make way for your own child? Is this the upbringing of your Guan family? Don’t you afraid to end up with the reputation of being selfish and vicious, ruining the reputation your grandfather worked so hard to build.”

As long as it involved Zhao Wangshu, the old madam would become harsh and sharp. Guan Suyi had heard similar accusations countless times in her previous life. Carrying the infamy of treating her stepson harshly, she tried her best to train Zhao Wangshu to become a talent. In exchange, there was no gratitude, only misunderstandings. However, she never explained, because she thought one day, when Zhao Wangshu won top marks in the imperial examinations, everyone would understand her painstaking efforts. However, that day was never realized after all, because even Zhao Wangshu could not understand her, even secretly hated her in his heart.

Well, she didn’t care about anything in this life. Thinking of this, Guan Suyi sat down directly next to the old madam, and slowly said, “I heard some news before I came. This one beating is something he deserve , and I won’t persuade it.”

The old madam was furious. Pointing to her daughter-in-law, and to her more ruthless son, she shouted, “Come here, quickly pull lord marquis away, quickly pull away!” But the servants in the front yard who executed the family law only listened to Zhao Luli. How could they dare to act rashly if one order the other.

Zhao Wangshu cried out of breath, and sobbed, “Mom, this son will go down to accompany you, and ask you to take a good look at how cruel Zhao Luli is! They said that if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepdad, it’s true. He shed tears at your portrait yesterday, and today he is able to beat his son to death for the new wife. Mom, if you know it under the spring, please reincarnate as soon as possible. Don’t wait for this wolf-hearted person!”

They deserves to be a pair of sons and daughters raised under by Zhao Luli’s extreme pamper, really understood where his weakness lies. These words pierced into his heart like a needle. He raised his hand high, but finally failed to hit it. After a few breaths, he suddenly threw the cane away and said dumbly, “Bring the young master back and take my card to ask for imperial physician.”

A group of servants hurriedly carried Zhao Wangshu down. Zhao Chunxi breathed a sigh of relief, rolling her eyes, and suddenly said with a sobbing voice, “Mother, you don’t say anything when my brother is beaten, you really want to see dad beat him to dead? I, I really misunderstood you at the beginning, you are so cruel!” After she finished she also glared at Zhao Luli, then lift her skirt and chased out.

Zhao Luli was already broken by his son’s wailing accusation, and now his daughter’s eyes that was full of resentment has cut him deeply, causing pain for a while. He staggeredly sat in the chair, and saw Guan Suyi who was sitting on the sideline with indifferent expression, he felt a sense of disgust for no reason. If he had known that this person was so cold-hearted and cold-lung, he wouldn’t have agreed with the crying of his children at the beginning. In this world how could there be a stepmother who would truly consider her stepchildren? He hated himself for being muddle-headed and vented the humiliation he experienced in the Guan family on his son. It shouldn’t be! Really shouldn’t be! If Zhen’er know, she will definitely blame him even more, right?

The more Zhao Luli thought about it, the harder it was to calmed his mind. Originally, developed a little bit of dislike towards Guan Suyi, but later actually saw her as an enemy. He looked straight at her, his face twisted with anger, looking extremely terrible.

Although the old madam was anxious to see her grandson, she didn’t want to let go of Guan shi so easily, and hissed, “Return the account books, keys, and the matching cards that I gave to you a few days ago. I dare not let you take care of this house. It’s unknown whether Wangshu will be killed by you one day.”

This was really damning. Minglan and Mingfang’s expressions changed drastically, but Guan Suyi was still sitting still like a mountain, then spoke word by word. “Do you two think that this beating is wrong? Not afraid to let people laugh, my grandfather stuttered when he was young. To correct it, he chanted the scriptures while sucking stones every day, so his lips and tongue ulcerated to the point that even eating and drinking was difficult, but he refused to give up and became a literary giant like today. My father traveled with him to preach Confucianism since he was a child. He encountered numerous difficulties and went through life and death dangers, and eventually became a Confucian scholar. Not only them, but I didn’t suffer less when I was young. Take a look at my hand, how thick the calluses from the grinding when practicing calligraphy. Because I am a woman, I may not have enough strength when writing with the brush, so my father tied a sandbag to my wrist to practice. From half a cattyOne catty = 500 gr at the age of five, slowly increased to four catties now. The knot worn through my skin layer by layer, and there are still scars that are difficult to eliminate, which finally made me practice a good calligraphy that is three points into the woodsdescribe the vigor and power of calligraphy brush and iron painting, silver hooksdescribes the brush strokes as iron-like strength and silver-like softness. In those year, our family traveled to Mohe to spread Confucianism. To prevent me from dying prematurely because of the severe cold, my mother would take off my robe every day and let me run in the heavy snow with only a single coat, and forced me to into the icy river and dive, the feeling of freezing into the bone marrow, can any of you imagine? It’s true that she is my biological mother connected by blood, but why did she treat me like this, you say? Was she trying to kill me?”

There was silence in the hall, and even the old madam was dumbfounded. Never expected the Guan family’s learning was so strict.

Guan Suyi put down her sleeves, concealed the scars and thick calluses on her wrists and knuckles, and said slowly, “Because they good to me, they could especially very strict. I can recite the ‘Warring States Policy’ when I was three years old, write essay sat the age of six, and at the age of ten, assisted my grandfather in teaching disciples older than myself. We in Guan family know what benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, faithfulness, filial piety and fraternal duties, even more knowledgeable of how to restrain ourselves and return to the rites, also distinguish right from wrong. On the other hand, Wangshu, at the age of ten, how many characters does he know? How many essay can he write? How proficient he is at Six Arts of Nobleman? Does he understand the political situation?”

In the early years, Zhao Luli was fighting outside and had no time to educate his children. The old madam always blindly indulged and pampered. He was now around ten years old, don’t say writing essay, even the simplest characters couldn’t recognized all. If Guan Suyi didn’t ask, they wouldn’t even notice that something was wrong. With this questions, they really wished to drill themselves to the ground.

Wangshu was not even a good tool! The two overbearing people were now ashamed and depressed, and there was a faint feeling of anxiety in their hearts.

However, Guan Suyi’s next words were like a wake up call, which made them awakened and empowered, “His Majesty wants to use the imperial examination to select officials. After a long time, it will replace the nine-rank Zhongzheng system. If there is no solid learning, it will be difficult for Wang Shu to be put in a high position in the future. And you don’t have to hold on to your face, anyone can see that now Marquis Zhenbei has no friendship with His Majesty, on the contrary, there is quite a disagreement. Therefore, Wangshu’s situation is even more embarrassing. Without knowledge, if he is honest, responsible, and respectable, perhaps still be able to stand up to the title of Marquis Zhenbei and grow old safely. But look at him now, arrogant, stubborn, blabbing his mouth, unfaithful, unfilial, rebellious, and even dare saying to take off the emperor’s teacher and chief minister of ceremonies position so easily. Who gave him the confidence? Does he thought you, Zhao Luli, can replace the emperor? Perhaps most people will not care about a child, but are you sure that Marquis Zhenbei Mansion don’t have any enemy outside? Don’t have any scout placed by others? They will not using this as pretext to impeach the Zhao family? As the saying goes, the heavenly power is unpredictable, the emperor can tolerate you for a while, not necessarily for the rest of your life. With some discord, maybe someday it will become a thorn in his heart, impossible not to be pull out. Since you are in a grave situation, shouldn’t you be low-key and humble? Now that Wangshu is still young, he can use the excuse of ‘young and ignorant’ to be careless. But wait for him to grow up, if he cause trouble again, I’m afraid it will become a disaster.”

Zhao Luli and the old madam felt overwhelmed by these words, their hearts and souls were lost. Wangshu was the son of Ye Zhen and Zhao Luli. The emperor doted on her so much, but could he have a good opinion on Wangshu? When Ye Zhen gave birth to a prince, in order to maintain the royal lineage and face, it was not be impossible for him to find excuses to harm Wangshu. Now he blabbered his mouth everywhere and didn’t understand everything. Wasn’t it like he had braids all over his head and asked people to yank it?

Thinking of this, the two were already sweating profusely.

Guan Suyi smiled and continued, “You say I am cruel, but I don’t know if I am really cruel. I should have stopped lord marquis early on, so Wangshu can’t remember this lesson, and can’t remember what it means to be cautious in words and deeds. I will spoil him blindly, indulge him, give him the most money, the most beautiful maid, the most slick servant, and the greatest freedom. He doesn’t like to read, so I will help him skip school. If you want to teach him, I will stand up and defend him. If he spend his time drinking and seeking pleasure outside, not only I will not discourage him, but I will also help conceal it. Sooner or later I will train him into an ignorant and arrogant dude. Wait until he cause disaster, wouldn’t it be great if I stab him to the end? Don’t think I’m unpleasant, my family’s education is like this. If have something to say then say it, if have something to do then work on it, always straightforward. I am sincere to Wangshu and the marquis mansion, and I consider all of you have trust in me, if you don’t appreciate it, then forget it. But I still have one more thing to say, ten years old is not young, it is time to be properly educated.” After the words fell she bowed and walked away.

Zhao Luli and the old madam thought for a long time, and they both sighed. They now were not thinking that Guan shi was selfish and vicious, on the contrary felt that the beating had a strong start but weak finish, and Wang Shu might not be able to bear the lesson, so they inevitably felt anxious.

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