Chapter 28: I Know I Have No Right
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“Young Miss, Young Master, Su Hanwei of the Su family is kneeling at the gate. She has fainted.”
A servant entered the ancestral hall to report.
Xu Mu and Xu Shuangyi each offered incense before Madam Xu Zhou’s memorial tablet.
Xu Mu said nothing. Xu Shuangyi replied, “Throw her somewhere far away.”
“Yes.”
“Su Tong was arrested by Zhao Mingshan. Liang Shucheng framed him.” Xu Shuangyi stated it simply.
Xu Mu showed no reaction whatsoever.
Who, in the end, was the one regretting everything? Who was the one kneeling in repentance?
“Su Tong is your former grandfather-in-law, after all. You do not intend to save him?” Xu Shuangyi asked.
Su Tong had been an upright man all his life. He was not a bad person.
Xu Shuangyi thought Xu Mu might still have a conscience and lend Su Tong a hand.
“This is a matter for the official world. It is beyond our reach for now. The waters of Liangzhou conceal countless ancient, cunning monsters. Every one of them has cultivated for centuries and possesses profound skill,” Xu Mu said in a solemn voice.
Even if Xu Mu intervened, let alone Xu Shuangyi personally, Zhao Mingshan would never release Su Tong simply because of a word from her.
Unless that old master came in person, or Xu Mu’s elder brother arrived.
Of course, neither possibility was likely.
“Su Tong was ruined by that fool Su Hanwei. He bears responsibility for failing to discipline her. Besides, when he took an interest in me back then, it was only because he had learned something about my identity and allowed selfish motives to sway him.”
Xu Mu looked at Xu Shuangyi and gave a faint smile.
“Do you think the granddaughter of a mere prefect is worthy of this young master?”
In the past, Xu Shuangyi had thought it was Xu Mu who was marrying above his station.
But now that she knew Xu Mu was a hidden dragon, the matter was entirely different.
“Since Su Tong could not even discipline his granddaughter, then he brought this upon himself through greed and folly. He should suffer a little. Prepare my medicinal bath.”
Xu Mu could not summon the slightest sympathy for the Su family.
Even now, Xu Mu still treated Xu Shuangyi like a servant.
But ever since he had given her a Heaven-grade cultivation technique, she had not voiced the slightest complaint about his orders.
When she needed to serve him, she served him. When she needed to bring tea and water, she brought tea and water.
After all, she was the only person Xu Mu could trust at present.
And how far she could go in the future would also depend on Xu Mu.
The following day, Xu Mu rose early. In the courtyard, he performed several sets of tai chi to loosen his muscles and bones.
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Although he had already entered the martial realm and soaked in a medicinal bath at ten times the usual dosage every other day, his physical strength was still far from adequate.
This frail body was not yet suited to powerful martial arts that demanded broad, forceful movements.
For now, he could only supplement the medicinal baths with gentler foundational techniques and gradually strengthen his body.
Xu Shuangyi stood in the courtyard, watching Xu Mu practice.
His movements were slow, yet they flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water.
For an instant, she seemed to glimpse the bearing of an earthly immortal in him.
“Your mother’s funeral is over. When will you take control of the other businesses?” Xu Shuangyi asked.
“Now that we have capital, why bother taking over those rotten accounts? It would be too troublesome to hunt down and deal with every treacherous fool. It is better to start afresh and wait for them to come knocking at our door and seek their own deaths,” Xu Mu replied.
“You mean we are abandoning the other businesses?” Xu Shuangyi asked, astonished.
Xu Mu did not answer. He felt he had made himself perfectly clear, and there was no need to repeat himself.
The Xu family still owned other enterprises. A restaurant and a distillery were the more valuable among them.
But even Splendid Pavilion had become a pile of bad debts, so the other businesses were hardly worth mentioning.
They bore the Xu name on the surface, but in reality they had long since become the property of the local powerful clans.
“By the way, Su Hanwei is still kneeling outside.”
Xu Mu merely gave a soft acknowledgment, changed his clothes, and walked out through the estate’s main gate.
Su Hanwei was kneeling in the middle of the entrance. The servants kicked and struck her, but she refused to leave.
The moment she saw Xu Mu come out, she repeatedly knocked her head against the ground before him.
“Xu Mu, for the sake of the marriage we once shared, please save Grandfather! He was framed. He never embezzled anything!”
“You still have the nerve to speak of the marriage we shared? I, Xu Mu, am nothing but a useless coward. Go ask your dear Brother Shucheng to save your grandfather.”
“Grandfather was framed by Liang Shucheng! I—I know I have no right to beg you, but apart from you, I can no longer find anyone who can help me! Please, show some mercy. If you are willing to save Grandfather, I will serve you like an ox or a horse for the rest of my life and repay your kindness!”
Su Hanwei kept kowtowing as she spoke.
Her hair was already disheveled, and after striking her head against the ground until her face was covered in blood, she looked like a madwoman.
Retribution had come swiftly. In the blink of an eye, Su Hanwei had lost her family and everything else.
Xu Mu walked up to her and sneered contemptuously. “Serve this young master like an ox or a horse? You are not worthy.”
“Yes, I know I am not worthy. So long as you save Grandfather, I would gladly die if you ordered me to!”
Xu Mu was no saint. He would never show mercy merely because Su Hanwei had kowtowed a few times.
He did not even consider himself a good person.
Seeing Su Hanwei reduced to this wretched, inhuman state, Xu Mu felt a wave of secret satisfaction.
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“If you want me to save your grandfather, it is not impossible. Do one thing for me, and I may consider it,” Xu Mu said.
Su Hanwei hurriedly raised her head and reached out to grab Xu Mu by the trouser leg, only for him to kick her away with disdain.
He drew a short sword and tossed it onto the ground before her.
“Go kill Liang Shucheng’s entire family. Then I may consider saving your grandfather,” Xu Mu said with a mocking smile.
Su Hanwei snatched up the short sword and clutched its hilt tightly.
Liang Shucheng—the man she had once loved with all her heart—had ruined her life and brought her to this state.
He had trampled her sincerity into the dirt. Of everyone in the world, Liang Shucheng was the one who most deserved to die!
She ought to kill Liang Shucheng with her own hands and avenge her grandfather!
“I’ll do it!”
Su Hanwei agreed without the slightest hesitation.
“If I kill Liang Shucheng’s entire family, will you really save Grandfather?” Su Hanwei stared at him with bloodshot eyes, a mad, rabid gleam flickering within them.
“Only after you kill Liang Shucheng’s entire family will you have the right to bargain with me. Do you understand?”
“I understand. I’ll go now!”
With that, Su Hanwei rose and left.
At that moment, Xu Shuangyi came out.
“I thought you were going to have me kill Liang Shucheng’s entire family. I never expected you to send her instead.”
Xu Mu turned toward Xu Shuangyi, his gaze playfully lingering on her ample figure.
Then he sighed.
He did not need to say anything. Xu Shuangyi immediately understood what he meant.
He was calling her thunderous and brainless.
Xu Shuangyi suddenly felt the urge to beat Xu Mu senseless.
“Su Hanwei is utterly useless. She would not even dare kill a chicken, much less a person,” Xu Mu said.
“Then why did you—”
“Of course, I wanted to torment and humiliate her, to make her understand just how utterly incapable she is.”
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