Chapter 1750 – Family Law
“Lady, it’s bad! Master suddenly said he wants to prepare family law—”
The Old Steward rushed in to find Wan Xiuer for help while she was in the middle of her skincare routine, nearly missing his urgency.
“Prepare family law?”
Upon hearing this, Wan Xiuer furrowed her brows.
This place has something like that?
Wait—what’s more important is why family law is being invoked and who is being punished!
Wan Xiuer quickly got up from her seat, not bothering to touch up her makeup, and directly went to “rescue” the situation.
“Why did Master suddenly call for family law? Who messed up? What did they do wrong?” she asked, but as clever as she was, she already guessed the general situation. There were only three respectable masters in Feng Zhen’s household; Feng Zhen wouldn’t call for family law to punish himself, leaving only one, Feng Yi… However, this child was usually well-behaved. How could he have done something to make Feng Zhen so angry as to call for family law?
The Old Steward, having served Feng Zhen for many years, wouldn’t meddle in how he raised his children. The fact he rushed to find her for help showed that this time was different. Wan Xiuer’s brows knit tightly as she hurriedly walked, her demeanor lacking the grace usually expected.
The Old Steward, pale-faced, said, “I don’t know what happened either; I just know that the Young Master said something to the Master, and the Master suddenly exploded with rage, saying he wanted to invoke family law, even threatening to personally whip the Young Master to death, to prevent him from causing another calamity…”
Wan Xiuer was stunned.
“Causing a calamity? That accusation could fall on anyone, but Rong Li is his own son. Given his temperament, how could Feng Zhen not know? To talk like this without asking for reasons or even distinguishing right from wrong—has Feng Zhen lost his mind?”
Her reasoning struck a chord with the Old Steward.
Indeed, their Young Master grew up under everyone’s watchful eyes, and these days, he had been diligent in his studies, attending school and working hard. There were no signs of him being a spoiled brat; he kept himself clean and never mixed with those troublemakers.
While his peers were frequenting places like the brothels, their Young Master didn’t even have a maidservant by his side.
He neither gambled nor drank, where could one find such a worry-free official’s second generation?
The Old Steward felt puzzled, instinctively disregarding Wan Xiuer’s blunt remark about Feng Zhen losing his mind.
In his heart, he also thought Feng Zhen could indeed use some scolding.
As Wan Xiuer arrived, she could hear Feng Zhen’s furious reprimands from afar.
“Unfilial child, do you want to kill your father? Look at what you’ve done! You dare to commit such a thing that could bring calamity upon the whole family?” Feng Zhen, hearing the commotion, thought the Old Steward had already called for family law, “Bring it here! Let me break this unfilial child’s legs!”
Wan Xiuer stepped forward, “Break his legs? I want to see who dares!”
Feng Zhen, standing, and Feng Yi, kneeling with his head down, turned to look at her simultaneously. The latter was calm, while the former was still seething with rage.
“This isn’t your business.” Feng Zhen’s anger heightened, blood rushing to his face, “You should go back!”
“You beat my son; what do you mean ‘not my business’?” Wan Xiuer stood protectively in front of Feng Yi, not backing down from Feng Zhen’s imposing presence, “If you want to invoke family law on a child, I won’t oppose it, but casually talking about breaking legs or whipping to death is going too far. He is your son; is he not my son too? Before you hit him, shouldn’t you at least give me an explanation?”
Feng Zhen’s eyes widened in surprise, irritated that the Old Steward got Wan Xiuer involved.
However, the trouble Feng Yi caused couldn’t be made public; he could only dismiss all the servants and pointed at Feng Yi, “Unfilial child, tell me what you did wrong. Let your mother judge; is it excessive for me to invoke family law to break your legs, or is it what you deserve!”
With that, Feng Zhen suppressed his anger and turned to Wan Xiuer, “This isn’t about being cruel; it’s that this unfilial child has nearly brought calamity upon our family. If I don’t give him some lessons now and help him learn, how can I protect him in the future?”
Finally, Wan Xiuer seemed to realize she might have misunderstood something.
She turned her gaze to Feng Yi, gently asking, “Rong Li, can you tell us what happened?”
Feng Yi cleverly and succinctly recounted the incident about writing a secret letter to Jiang Pengji.
Wan Xiuer asked, “Just a secret letter?”
Feng Yi stiffened, “The contents of the secret letter involve serious matters…”
Feng Zhen interjected angrily, “Involve serious matters? Don’t you know how many people would want to tear you to shreds once your actions spread? Such serious issues with taxes, who gave you the guts to meddle with them? I thought you were mature and sensible, yet… I’d rather you had been a spoiled brat—at least that wouldn’t cause such a massive disaster!”
At first, Wan Xiuer was bewildered, but upon hearing “taxes” from Feng Zhen, the situation started to become clearer.
“How serious is the matter?”
Feng Zhen sneered, “Any family with some wealth or status would likely dream of grinding this kid to dust.”
Wan Xiuer felt a chill run down her spine, quietly asking, “Can the secret letter still be retrieved?”
Feng Zhen sighed tiredly, the levity in his demeanor long gone, replaced by deep worry. While he was angry, he was also concerned about his unruly child, yet felt powerless, “It’s too late; the letter is probably already in the Lord’s hands.”
Feng Zhen was angry that his son caused trouble, but was even more worried that Feng Yi would be sacrificed to his Lord.
Even if the Lord didn’t sacrifice this unruly child, those who were harmed by the Lord taking a piece of the pie would certainly retaliate in secret.
“Father—”
Feng Zhen snapped, “Don’t call me that. I don’t have a son like you! Now you remember I’m your father?”
Why didn’t you think during your mischief?
A son this troublesome might as well just be put down; with his wife, they might just have a chance to start anew.
Feng Yi, initially a bit anxious, calmed down upon seeing Feng Zhen’s attitude.
“Father, I think perhaps the situation isn’t as dire as you imagine—”
Feng Zhen coldly laughed, “I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve walked paths; you think you can outsmart me in front of your father? You’re still too green.”
Feng Yi responded, “I only think that the Lord is different from past wise rulers…”
“You can butter her up all you want; she can’t hear you, nor will she let you off. The Lord is indeed different, but she is also…”
At this point, Feng Zhen rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming.
Emotionally sentimental rulers can’t last long, and their Lord keeps an intimidating level of rationality at all times.
If sacrificing Feng Yi brings the maximum benefit, she won’t hold back.
Naturally, Feng Yi’s worth isn’t even sufficient for that kind of sacrifice; it’s merely a question of who will be unlucky enough to fill in for him.
