Chapter 208 Retreating to Advance
Bishi Qiang was confused again, and Lao Xie slammed the table and cursed:
“Who else???”

Bishi Qiang was almost scared to death:

“Also, there is Dayong!!”

Old Xie sneered:
“Oh, very good. If what you say later is different from Dayong, you will go to your father and get ten lashes!”

Bi Qiang burst into tears immediately. As a child, how could he stand the questioning of adults?

Finally, as if spilling the beans from a bamboo tube, he told everything in detail, even the process of how everyone discussed countermeasures afterwards, but he also repeatedly emphasized that he did not break Gong Tianwu’s hand.

But how could anyone believe this at this point?
The four or five of you rushed over and beat the Seventh Young Master into a pig’s head. Children are not gentle when they hit others. Now you say it wasn’t you who broke his hand?
This is kind of insulting to one’s intelligence.
To be honest, at this time even Zhou’s wife thought that this was an excuse made by a child to escape punishment, but she never expected that all this was part of Gong Tianwu’s plan.

After hearing these things, Chen Yunsheng’s face suddenly turned pale, and he looked like he was about to explode at any moment! !

Zhou’s wife felt as if her entire body was chilled, as if a basin of ice water had been poured down on her head.

She was quite knowledgeable, and killing the big black dog had already caused the two children to be labeled as “cruel”.

The four children at the back surrounded and beat up the young master of the main family – even though that was the seventh young master who was usually unpopular, they even broke his arm.

This is called rebellion and using a slave to bully his master. If you take it seriously, it could be fatal!

Therefore, Zhou’s wife knelt down hurriedly, and then slapped her eldest son Zhou Hu’s head hard, and said in a crying voice:
“You!! How dare you do such a thing? Are you possessed by a ghost?”

Zhou Hutou stammered, and Zhou’s wife twisted his ears fiercely and cried:
“Just say whatever you want to say. Do you really want to kill me?!”

Zhou Hutou knew something was wrong and could only cry and say:
“It was the Fifth Young Master. It was the Fifth Young Master who asked us to do this!”

When the other children saw someone taking the lead, they also hurriedly cried out:
“Yeah yeah.”

“Seventh Young Master performed well last time and won the prize, but Fifth Young Master put in a lot of effort and was determined to win.”

“The Fifth Young Master felt that the Seventh Young Master had stolen his limelight, so he asked us to make sure to deal with him.”

“The Fifth Young Master also gave us a bead. It’s right here.”

“Without the Fifth Young Master’s order, how dare we do that?”

“.”

After hearing these words, Old Xie’s mouth twisted, and he could only turn his head to look at the Marquis. After all, the fifth child’s identity was different, he was the second legitimate son, which involved the Madam.

Chen Yunsheng’s face turned pale, and he said word by word:
“Call that beast Lao Wu over here right now!!”

After a long while, the fifth young master finally came to the study room, but he was accompanied by his biological mother, Chen Yunsheng’s original wife, the Marquis’s wife Wang at this time.
After everyone gathered, no one spoke, but they could feel the smell of gunpowder in the air getting stronger and stronger. Lord Chen Yunsheng’s face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip out.

However, the Marquis’ wife, Wang, had a calm expression on her face. Her gaze only lingered on Gong Tianwu and the second son of the Zhou family, as if she had anticipated the situation.

The fifth young master Chen Feiqing is one year older than Gong Tianwu, but because he had a serious illness in his childhood that damaged his foundation, he looks short and thin. When standing together, he is even half a head shorter than Gong Tianwu.

At this moment, he stood beside his mother pretending to be calm, but his wandering eyes exposed his guilty nature.

But Wang looked like she was protecting her child. She glanced coldly at the people present and finally set her eyes on Chen Yunsheng.

“Master, what’s going on? Lao Wu is studying, why did you call him here?”

The Marquis’s wife spoke calmly, but there was a hint of questioning in her words.

Chen Yunsheng snorted coldly and did not answer her directly. Instead, he turned to Chen Feiqing and asked sternly, “Old Five, do you admit your guilt?”

Being asked in this way by his strict father, Chen Feiqing trembled all over, then swallowed his saliva and said:

“Father, I don’t know.”

Chen Yunsheng slammed the table and shouted angrily:
“You still dare to play dumb? Lao Wu, let me tell you, it’s no big deal to make a mistake.”

“But if you lie to me and tell lies, then the nature of the matter has changed. Think carefully before you answer me.”

Mrs. Wang responded immediately with a sharp look in her almond-shaped eyes:
“Master! Why are you being so mean to such a little kid?!”

Chen Yunsheng said nothing, but just looked at his son coldly. Under the pressure of his strict father, Lao Wu’s psychological defenses collapsed instantly, and he said with a pale face:

“Father! It is true that I asked the Zhou brothers to find trouble with the Seventh Old Man because he stole my limelight, but I never thought that the matter would become so serious!”

Chen Yunsheng shouted angrily:
“You are still avoiding the main issue! The Zhou brothers have already confessed that you ordered them to beat up the seventh brother and broke his hand! As a brother, you are so cruel and lawless!”

Lao Wu burst into tears, but he still tried to defend himself:
“Father, I am innocent! The Zhou brothers are talking nonsense. I really want to disgust Old Seven, but breaking his hand is too much. They are framing me! How could I do such a thing?”

The Zhou brothers, Bisiqiang and the other two were stunned and started crying and complaining.

Seeing that her own people had begun to quarrel among themselves, and that the situation was clearly disadvantageous to her son, the Marquis’ wife Wang became anxious:
“Master, Lao Wu has always been well-behaved and sensible. How could he do such a thing? Someone must have deliberately framed him.”

Chen Yunsheng sneered, and his eyes swept across the wife of the Marquis Mansion like a knife:
“Framed? Then tell me, who would frame him? Old Seven? His hand was broken, and he’s still lying there!”

Mrs. Wang was speechless for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure and continued to argue:
“Master, the matter has not been investigated clearly yet. You can’t just listen to one side of the story. After all, the Fifth Young Master is your legitimate son. How can you doubt him just because of the words of a few servants?”

Chen Yunsheng’s expression became even uglier, and he said coldly:
“Okay, since you don’t believe it, let Lao Qi speak for himself.”

At this moment, everyone’s attention was focused on Gong Tianwu, and he remained silent as usual.

Just when others thought he would remain silent as before, Gong Tianwu suddenly said in a hoarse voice:
“Okay, since my father wants me to say it, I will say a few words.”

Gong Tianwu was silent for a few seconds and said:

“Fifth brother is usually a little impatient, but he is actually very kind to others. He wants to make me suffer, but I don’t believe him if he wants someone to break my hands.”

After hearing what Gong Tianwu said, Mrs. Wang immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and her eyes softened when she looked at Gong Tianwu.

Even Chen Yunsheng felt a sense of relief. After all, he was a man of integrity, and from the perspective of his feelings, he valued his son, Lao Wu, more.

But he governs his family with military law, and also hopes to make achievements in the military affairs of his dynasty, so he cannot give people excuses or excuses.

In particular, Gong Tianwu had fallen outside the mansion gate before and had been seen by many passers-by.

Moreover, he had been lying in the ear room for quite a long time, and it was inevitable that the several guests who came to visit the Marquis’ Mansion would notice him. What’s more, there were probably spies from other forces in the Marquis’ Mansion?

If this matter is not handled properly, once it gets out and is known by political enemies, they might use it as an excuse at a critical moment: Marquis Zhenbei can’t even handle your family affairs fairly, how can we expect you to make achievements in state affairs?

One slanderous word can completely wipe out all your previous efforts!
Gong Tianwu continued:

“Even including the Zhou brothers, I also believe that this is an accident. With Uncle Xie and his wife working hard to take care of things, our family wouldn’t be in such a mess.”

Seeing that Gong Tianwu, the victim, could say this, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this child was sensible.

Only his biological mother, Chen Cui, panicked and immediately hugged Gong Tianwu and cried:

“Son, son, if you have any grievances, just tell me.”

Gong Tianwu shook his head and said:
“What’s the big deal about my little thing? Father is the head of the family. He has encountered enough hardships outside. You can’t bother him with my little thing.”

Of course, Gong Tianwu certainly said this, but what he was thinking in his heart was that he should keep the account in mind first, there is still a long way to go.

In fact, he understood the situation more clearly than anyone else. If he continued to investigate, Lao Wu would at most get a beating, and it would probably not hurt much, so it would be better for him to get some financial benefits.

After all, in Gong Tianwu’s heart, the position of Marquis Zhenbei is already in his pocket, so people like Lao Wu will be on his list of people to be dealt with and suppressed in the future, and he will repay them tenfold after this beating.

Gong Tianwu’s previous words immediately hit Chen Yunsheng’s heart, but he has always been known as a strict father, so there was no reaction on his face.

Gong Tianwu then bowed to Xie Bo and said:

“This is just a minor accident. There is no need to mobilize so many people. There is no need to bother my father and my mother to come forward. I will ask you, Uncle Xie, to handle this matter.”

Uncle Xie could hear Gong Tianwu’s intention to settle the matter peacefully. He glanced at Chen Yunsheng and Madam Hou, and found that they both nodded slightly, so he said straightforwardly:
“In that case, the Fifth Young Master has caused trouble and brought unrest to the family. He shall be punished with five lashes and confined to his home for ten days.”

“You four bastards got into a fight and caused injuries. You will receive ten lashes and be grounded for a month.”

Then Xie Bo said to Zhenbei Hou:

“What do you think of this, sir?”

Chen Yunsheng snorted coldly and said:

“Is it too light? Too cheap for them?”

Xie Bo replied sternly:
“When these little naughty monkeys in the mansion make mistakes, they are usually punished in this way.”

“Last time, the good horse of Lord Shanping came to the mansion, but it was accidentally fed croton by the brat of the Ye family, and it only received five lashes.”

Chen Yunsheng’s eyes stayed on Gong Tianwu’s broken arm, and thinking of his previous words of sympathy, a warm feeling suddenly surged in his heart, and he said:

“Old Seven’s arm is broken, so just stay at home and take good care of it. When a bone is broken, you need to take medicine, eat meat, and drink bone soup to recover quickly.”

Then Chen Yunsheng said to Xie Bo:
“Give Old Seven fifty silver treasures to heal his wounds and make sure he doesn’t get sick.”

After hearing Chen Yunsheng’s instructions, Mrs. Wang raised her eyebrows and seemed very dissatisfied. After all, men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs, so she still has a say in this matter.

But in the end, after looking at his son who looked relieved, he endured it.

You know, fifty silver treasures is a lot of money.

Although Langshan State has a large territory, there are only three silver mines in the country, and the reserves are small, so copper has always been cheap and silver has always been expensive.

The Marquis’ Mansion has always had a fixed monthly allowance. For an old man like Uncle Xie who has served for several generations, he would receive about ten silver coins every month.

A maidservant like Chen Cui usually had six children per month, while an underage heir like Gong Tianwu had three.

(There are also levels for wives and concubines: noble concubines > good concubines > maids > maidservants. If Chen Cui had not given birth to a son, she could only be a maidservant.)
Of course, the mansion is equipped with large and small kitchens, and everyone’s food and accommodation are all included, so this amount of money is already a lot for ordinary people.

However, there was a martial arts spirit in the Marquis’ Mansion at that time, and Chen Yunsheng required each of his sons to learn martial arts.

As the saying goes, the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts, so Chen Cui’s expenses on her son were not small.

In addition, after Chen Cui married into the Marquis’s Mansion, more of her family members and fellow villagers came to join her.

Under the current environment, one has to take care of and support himself no matter what, otherwise his reputation in the village will be ruined and he will be criticized by others, so life becomes more and more difficult.

Chen Cui was very happy to receive such a large sum of money suddenly, and she bowed happily.

Under normal circumstances, if Gong Tianwu needs to recover from his injuries, it is common to have ten silver treasures.

However, this time the reward was increased fivefold, which was of course due to his previous sensible actions.

***
Then Uncle Xie went to get a whip and punished the little brats with his family rules. The matter came to an end and everyone dispersed.

On the way back, Gong Tianwu suddenly stopped Zhou Hutou, who was startled and said with a bitter face:

“What do you want to do?”

Gong Tianwu said:

“Is the big black puppy still alive?”

Zhou Hutou didn’t expect him to suddenly bring this up, and stammered:
“He should be alive.”

Gong Tianwu said:

“If they are still alive, then send them here.”

Zhou Hutou heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and nodded hurriedly:
“Okay, okay, okay!”

On the way, Chen Cui felt sorry for her son and looked at him with tears in her eyes. After returning home, she felt even more distressed when she saw his broken hand.

While muttering to himself, he was preparing food such as bone soup for him.

Gong Tianwu said nothing at this time, but stared at the ceiling above with his eyes, as if he had been greatly shocked.

In fact, at this time Gong Tianwu’s mind has been immersed in the sea of ​​consciousness, and it is time to check his own attributes in this life.

(End of this chapter)