Chapter 593: Ruthless
Editor: Atlas Studios
Because of this, Qi Feng felt that his eldest son was simply too ruthless. The little bit of father-son relationship he had had with him quickly diminished.
In addition, the Zhu family and Madam Xia had something on Qi Feng because of this matter, causing him to lose face in front of the two families. He had no choice but to let the Fan family raise his youngest son. He took out his anger on Qi Xiuyuan, who had caused this matter to blow up, so Qi Xiuyuan’s life became even worse.
The discomfort was not physical, but mental.
From then on, although the Qi family did not mistreat Qi Xiuyuan in regards to material needs, they isolated him mentally.
His father was cold. Qi Shaosheng, who was about the same age as him, brought his servants to humiliate him. The servants also treated him as invisible. Even his teacher felt that he was too vicious and reckoned he would not amount to anything. The merely six-year-old Qi Xiuyuan practically survived those catastrophic days in solitude.
Fortunately Qi Haoran was getting healthier and stronger day by day, and Qi Xiuyuan would see him crawling around energetically every time he went to the Fan Residence. If it weren’t for that, plus the fact that Qi Xiuyuan’s mind was strong enough, he would have long collapsed from the Qi family’s mental torture and gone astray.
It was not that the Zhu family did not want to bring back the two children to raise them, but Qi Feng was their father. Back then, the wet nurse was left behind by Madam Zhu. Even if they knew that the person was instigated by Madam Wu, they could not produce any concrete evidence under the premise that Qi Xiuyuan had already killed her. It was already the best outcome for them to let Madam Xia raise Qi Haoran.
Therefore, the Zhu family could only care about Qi Xiuyuan indirectly. They would get someone to deliver things to Qi Xiuyuan every few days and ask Madam Xia to bring him to the Fan Residence to take care of him from time to time.
It wasn’t until Qi Xiuyuan was eight years old that he realized that his father was suppressing him. Only then did he resolutely abandon literature and pursue martial arts. He wrote to Zhu Qing and asked him to hire a martial arts master for him.
After that, Qi Xiuyuan stopped studying and focused on practicing martial arts with the martial arts master. Eventually, the Zhu family couldn’t stand it anymore and hired a xiucai to teach him. That was why he didn’t become just a martial artist completely.
Too young and mature at the time, Qi Haoran did not know about these disputes. No one knew if it was because he had been abused when he was young, but he could not even speak properly at the age of three. In comparison, at that same age, Fan Zijin could already recognize 1,000 words, and Qi Xiuyuan could also recognize 100 words.
When Qi Haoran grew up, even though he appeared mad at his father on the surface, he had been trying his best to get his father’s approval. Seeing this, Qi Xiuyuan didn’t have the heart to tell him those matters of the past.
Therefore, other than the two uncles of the Zhu family and Madam Xia, no one else knew about Qi Xiuyuan’s hatred for the Qi family.
He hated Qi Feng, but Qi Feng was already dead. He hated Madam Wu, and she was still alive.
Now that he had supreme power, he had plenty of time to take revenge on her and make her repay what she had done to his mother, to him, and to his younger brother.
Looking at Qi Haoran and the old Hanlin arguing below, Qi Xiuyuan was extremely glad that he had stopped the Zhu family from writing the acknowledgement letter back then. Because of this, even if Madam Wu’s name was on the genealogical tree, she was still not considered a legitimate wife.
Coldness flashed across Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes. He waved his hand to interrupt their argument and turned to the Minister of Official Personnel Affairs. “Do we still have the documents from the previous dynasty?”
The Minister of Official Personnel Affairs understood and bowed. “Your
Majesty, they’re still around. We can investigate.”
“Then go and investigate.” The Emperor said casually, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can go to the Qi Residence to ask Madam Wu.” As he spoke, he casually pointed at a few officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs and two Hanlins. A total of four people were ordered to head to the Qi Residence. Qi Xiuyuan said, “Go and ask Madam Wu if she’s a wife or concubine. Show me all the evidence.”
He continued with a smile, “As I was still young when my late mother passed away back then, I can’t remember many things from that time. However, I do remember Uncle Zhu repeatedly saying that Madam Wu is a concubine and not a wife. I also want to see if the Zhu family wrote a letter of approval back then.”
This was equivalent to stripping Madam Wu naked under the sun. It was also the first time Qi Xiuyuan openly expressed his doubts and disgust for Madam Wu.
The old Hanlin’s heart trembled, knowing that things were going in an unfavorable direction. He was one of the two Hanlins appointed by the Emperor. He regretted it a little. He had originally wanted to use Madam Wu and her sons’ influence to advance his career and become a fourth-grade official before retiring, but now, it seemed that he had taken the wrong path.
Because the Emperor had to wait for the four of them to reply, the morning court assembly was delayed.
The morning court assembly had always been held very early, starting before dawn. As everyone had come after simply filling their stomachs, they could not help but feel hungry at this moment.
When Qi Xiuyuan saw this, he asked the imperial kitchen to send some snacks to the side hall so that the ministers could eat while they rested for a while.
Everyone could not help but thank the Emperor for his kindness.
Qi Xiuyuan waved at Qi Haoran and said, “Haoran, follow me.”
No one expected Qi Xiuyuan to dote on Qi Haoran so much. Instead of letting the emissary summon him, he personally called him to the back. Those with sharp ears even noticed that Qi Xiuyuan used “me” instead of “meO” to Qi Haoran. They all sighed at seeing how much Qi Haoran was favored.
In comparison, Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai, who were both also the Emperor’s younger brothers but had yet to be conferred titles, appeared too insignificant.
The moment Qi Haoran followed Qi Xiuyuan into the rear hall, he no longer hid his emotions. He said angrily, “That old Hanlin was clearly bribed by Madam Wu. If they dare to interfere in the Imperial Court matters now, what will happen in the future? Big Brother, we can’t let them be.”
Qi Xiuyuan said with a smile, “Alright, after this incident, even if they want to interfere in the Imperial Court matters, no one will listen to them. Why do you think I suppressed this matter again and again? It’s to suppress their arrogance. Madam Wu is the least qualified person to have a say in Great Qi’s matters.” At this point, Qi Xiuyuan’s expression couldn’t help but turn icy.
During this period of time, Madam Wu and her sons had been too smug.
Everyone was aware that Qi Haoran and Madam Wu were not on good terms, and they also knew that Qi Xiuyuan wasn’t on the best of terms with his father. However, they did not know what the relationship was like between Qi Xiuyuan and Madam Wu.
This was because Qi Xiuyuan had been away from the capital for too long. Other than those who cared about him, who would remember his relationship with his step-mother and step-brothers before he was 14 years old?
Even though Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Feng were on bad terms, that didn’t stop him from rebelling to take revenge for his father, did it? Though, it must be said that no one truly believed it.
Moreover, even if Qi Xiuyuan disliked his stepmother, Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai were his brothers from the same father. They were related by blood. Now that the Qi family owned this world, that would make those two royalty.
Since they had no way of currying favor with the important figures, they could only turn their sights to those two.
They had no choice. Li Jinghua had already moved into the palace, and Madam Li was far away in Jingzhao Prefecture. Mu Yangling wasn’t one to socialize, and Qi Haoran was incredibly busy. One possibility was to curry favor with Fan Zijin, but Fan Zijin was even busier than those mentioned.
As for Qi Xiuyuan’s legitimate mother’s clan, the Zhu family, they were still guarding the border and had yet to return. At this moment, their only option was to suck up to Madam Wu and her sons.
The royal family always enjoyed a certain level of respect. As such, many people did not consider if the Emperor and Madam Wu actually got along. In their opinion, Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai were the Emperor’s biological younger brothers, and Madam Wu was the Emperor’s stepmother. Just their identities alone was worth currying favor with.
Therefore, although Madam Wu kept a low profile during that period of time, there were many people who sent them gifts. Qi Xiuyuan did not know if they had given any promises, but he knew that just their identities alone were a symbol.
Take for instance, a county magistrate who was seeking promotion could suck up to Qi Shaosheng and let the prefecture magistrate know that he was Qi Shaosheng’s guest. Even if that prefecture magistrate knew that Qi Shaosheng didn’t hold any real power and wasn’t chummy with the Emperor, he would probably make things easier for the county magistrate because of Qi Shaosheng’s royal status.
This was the reason why Qi Xiuyuan simply left them be. He only allowed them to enjoy an undeserved reputation and did not even allow them to obtain the benefits that came from said undeserved reputation.
Chapter end
