novelhk Chapter 184 Separation
Chapter 184 Separation
Xiao Lin's actions startled everyone, especially Madam Lu, whose heart was in her throat. She screamed in terror, "No! Lin'er! If you kill him, you'll pay with your life too!"
Prince Duan is the emperor's favorite nephew. Even if his son were to injure him, let alone kill him, the emperor would still have his son executed!
Prince Duan is not someone she, a concubine's son, can afford to offend!
Prince Duan stood still, and as Xiao Lin lunged forward, he flashed forward, and the sword in Xiao Lin's hand was silently taken into his own. He flipped the blade and slashed fiercely at Xiao Lin's shoulder, causing Xiao Lin to feel a piercing pain.
Terrified, Mrs. Lu screamed shrilly, "Murder!"
Prince Duan kicked her to the ground: "Shut up! Didn't you see I was using the back of the blade?!"
Upon closer inspection, Mrs. Lu saw that her son's shoulder was indeed intact; he hadn't lost an arm. She was both surprised and delighted, and stopped exclaiming.
Prince Duan looked at her coldly: "This time it was the back of the blade, but if there is a next time, it won't be the back of the blade! This time, it's a warning to you. Next time, it will be murder, as you said! Xiao Lin committed insubordination and attempted to assassinate me. I just killed him, but that was self-defense, and I don't have to bear any responsibility!"
Madam Lu's lips trembled with fear, and she said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness, please rest assured, there will be no next time."
Xiao Lin was in so much pain that he was drenched in cold sweat, and he felt a deep fear of Prince Duan.
Although this prince's younger brother had never been close to him, he had never bullied him either. Therefore, he had always thought that this prince's younger brother was someone he could offend. Otherwise, how could he have dared to frighten Prince Duan with his sword just now?
However, at this moment he knew that this prince's younger brother was not to be trifled with. Although he showed no outward bleeding or wounds, only he knew that he was suffering from internal injuries.
This shows that the prince's brother's martial arts skills are unfathomable. He only struck him with the back of his blade, on the shoulder, yet he felt as if his internal organs were injured. Amazing! Truly incredible! It's terrifying!
Xiao Lin, originally named Xiao Xiang, disliked the name for not being imposing enough, so he managed to change it. For this, he was severely reprimanded by Lady Lu. However, the new name had not yet been recognized by the Emperor, and the imperial genealogy still listed him as Xiao Xiang.
The Emperor was in poor health, so Xiao Lin didn't dare to bother him with such a trivial matter. He only thought about finding a suitable opportunity to get closer to the Prince in charge of royal affairs and change his name from the family genealogy.
"Spring begins!" Prince Duan shouted to the sky.
Before long, Lichun knelt before Prince Duan: "Your Highness, please give your orders!"
Prince Duan: "Summon everyone from the West Courtyard!"
The east courtyard of the Prince's mansion was inhabited by Consort Qin and Prince Duan, while the west courtyard was inhabited by the Lu family. Coincidentally, today, the eldest and second sons of the Lu family were both on leave at home.
Xiao Lin's wife, Madam Tong, couldn't help but cry and rush to her husband as soon as she saw him: "Husband, are you alright?" On the way here, she had already heard that her husband had been slashed by Prince Duan.
Xiao Lin struggled to suppress the pain and forced a bitter smile: "Madam, I'm fine, don't worry!"
Lady Tong, however, did not believe it. She turned around and glared at Prince Duan: "Your Highness, although you are a prince, my husband is your elder brother. How can you treat him like this? He is, after all, the son of our father and a member of the royal family! Aren't you worried that I will go to the yamen to appeal for justice if you treat him like this?"
Prince Duan sneered, completely unconcerned, and said, "What did I do to him? Did he come at me with his sword and I couldn't even fight back? According to you, I should have just stood there obediently and let him kill me with such a sharp sword?! Besides, I didn't intend to kill him. I only tapped his shoulder with the back of my knife. There was no blood, and I didn't cut off his arm. I've been merciful enough to him! Otherwise, if he had intended to assassinate me, I would have executed him on the spot, which would have been self-defense! In that case, even if the Imperial Censor were here, he couldn't say a bad word about me!"
Madam Tong was taken aback and looked at her husband in disbelief: "Husband, is what the Prince said true?"
Xiao Lin looked at his wife, remaining silent.
If you don't answer, that means you agree.
Lady Tong said angrily, "Husband, how could you do such a foolish thing? That's a prince, a royal prince! Even if the other party was just a commoner, you can't just draw your sword like that!"
At this moment, she was heartbroken and filled with regret. She shouldn't have been so attracted to Xiao Lin's good looks and married him. All these years of marriage, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't persuade her husband to be close to the people in the East Courtyard.
My father-in-law has long passed away. My husband is fighting with his birth mother and the people in the East Courtyard. What good will that do? Absolutely nothing. You should know that if Prince Duan were determined to expel them all from the palace, the Emperor wouldn't say a word.
Lu's second son, Xiao Ming, stomped his foot and said fiercely, "Brother, please, my aunt did not offend you. Why are you treating her like this?"
Prince Duan gave him a sharp look: "I am a prince. She treated me like that, and I didn't take her life because of my father! You have no right to question me. If you had properly restrained her and not followed her in doing evil, I wouldn't have needed to spend any effort to deal with her."
From this day forward, all expenses of the West Courtyard will be borne by yourselves. Don't expect to rely on me! Starting today, the East and West Courtyards are officially separated. I will have someone build a wall between the East and West Courtyards shortly, completely separating them! From now on, the East and West Courtyards will be independent of each other. You should no longer use the name of the Royal Palace to extort money or bully men and women! If I find out, I will not let you off lightly!
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ming's face turned pale, and he retorted, "My elder brother and I are also Father's sons, and we have a share in the Prince's estate. You can't just kick us out like this!"
Prince Duan gave him a cold glance: "As a son of a concubine, you have no right to participate in the distribution of the Prince's estate. Besides, do you think I don't know? Before your father passed away, he left your family a considerable amount of shops, land, and silver! As far as I know, the estate the guards gave you back then was almost half of the entire estate of the Prince's estate! And yet you are still not satisfied; you have no conscience at all!"
The Prince's manor now boasts so many properties, all thanks to my efforts! Moreover, over the years, everything you eat, drink, and use in the West Courtyard has been provided by the East Courtyard. Even your monthly allowances haven't been reduced! If it weren't for Father's will stipulating that you must never be expelled from the manor, I would have driven you far away long ago!
The west courtyard is already a third the size of the Prince's mansion; you should be content! In this location, at this size, where could you buy it for less than 100,000 taels of silver? If you want silver, you can move out and sell the west courtyard to me! That way, even without the property left by your father, each of you would receive 50,000 taels of silver. With a little frugality, that would be enough for your sons to live on for a lifetime!
At this point, Prince Duan looked at Consort Lu and said, "Consort Lu, tell me, do you want silver or the West Courtyard? In any case, the division of the family property is a must! If you try anything funny, I can guarantee you won't get anything! Forget about the West Courtyard, you won't even get a single copper coin! With my status and power, I can make it a flawless cover-up, leaving no room for criticism!"
Xiao Lin was extremely excited; 100,000 taels of silver!
He spoke first: "Auntie, agree to separate the family! We don't want the west courtyard, we want money!"
Madam Lu glared at her son, her lips trembling as she finally managed to find her voice: "You unfilial son, I don't agree. Let's divide the family, but I want the West Courtyard!" If she didn't even want the West Courtyard, then who would remember that she was once the concubine of the old Prince Duan?
Xiao Lin walked over to his younger brother and whispered something to him.
Xiao Ming then said to Madam Lu, "Auntie, let's move out of the Prince's mansion. Once we're outside, I can call you Mother!"
These words were so pleasing to the ear that they immediately moved Lady Lu. After a moment of silence, Lady Lu finally nodded to Prince Duan and said, "Alright, give me 100,000 taels of silver, and we'll move out tomorrow!"
Anyway, before the old prince passed away, he gave her several large three-courtyard houses. Even if she moved out immediately, she wouldn't have to worry about not having a place to live.
Prince Duan: "Very well, since that's the case, then please issue a receipt stating that you have received 100,000 taels of silver from me. This 100,000 taels of silver is proof that you sold the West Courtyard! On this receipt, Consort Lu, eldest brother, and third brother, please all affix your fingerprints, signatures, and seals. Also, you certainly won't have trouble finding a place to live, so move out tomorrow!"
Xiao Lin and Xiao Ming exchanged a glance and then nodded: "Okay, no problem!"
Xiao Lin immediately had someone bring over pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and personally wrote the certificate, also preparing four copies as instructed by Prince Duan. Everyone signed, stamped, and pressed their fingerprints on the certificate. Afterwards, Prince Duan picked up two copies and said to the two brothers, "One for each of you, one for me, and this last one, I will take to the government office for filing!"
Xiao Lin and Xiao Ming nodded: "Okay, that's what we should do!"
Prince Duan carefully placed the certificate aside, then took out a money pouch, counted out ten silver notes worth ten thousand taels each, and gave five to Xiao Ming and five to Xiao Lin: "Keep these silver notes safe. I hope you will live well in the future and not cause trouble under the guise of the Prince's mansion. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Xiao Ming respectfully replied, "I wouldn't dare, I will certainly behave myself!"
Xiao Lin and Madam Lu snorted coldly and turned to leave.
Prince Duan: "Remember, you will move out tomorrow. I will have someone come and tidy up the west courtyard the day after tomorrow!"
Prince Duan returned to the East Courtyard and told Consort Qin everything.
Consort Qin immediately became angry: "What's wrong with you? You actually gave those two bastards 100,000 taels of silver. Have you taken the wrong medicine?"
Prince Duan couldn't help but rub his forehead, saying with a headache, "Mother, 100,000 taels of silver is nothing to me. Now that they have accepted 100,000 taels of silver and are willing to move out obediently, we should be burning incense in gratitude! Otherwise, we will have to let them live in the West Courtyard forever, and my children and grandchildren will have to be neighbors with such people in the future."
If the Lu family doesn't move out, they'll definitely keep coming to the east courtyard, causing trouble for Mother and Zisu every now and then. If we stubbornly refuse to let them in, their commotion outside won't be honorable. It's better to spend some money and seek peace and tranquility.
Hearing her son's words, Consort Qin finally felt a little better: "Hmm, you're right. If this family has bad intentions, it's hard to guard against them! Well, since it's already been given, I won't say anything more! From now on, the West Courtyard will be empty. So many houses will be a hassle to manage! What are your plans for this?"
The Prince Duan's Mansion covers a vast area, equivalent to seventy or eighty large houses with five courtyards. It takes half an hour to walk from one side of the east courtyard to the end of the west courtyard.
Prince Duan then said, "I plan to demolish the entire West Courtyard and turn it into an orchard and a large garden, so that Mother will have more places to take walks in the future. I wonder what Mother thinks?" Zisu would definitely like this.