At the doorway of the residence, Xia Er’s wife yelled at Fan Hu: "You madman, Xia Gu treated our family like this, yet you still speak for him, you accomplice!"
She then patted her own son: "Elder son, take off your clothes, let these scoundrels see how Xia Gu has abused you!"
Upon hearing this, Xia Er’s son, unafraid of the cold, imdiately took off his clothes, revealing the wounds on his body for everyone to see.
Xia San’s son also took off his clothes, his body similarly had hollow wounds.
"God, these two boys also have such hollow wounds... Xia Gu, that beast, doesn’t even spare the children, truly worse than a beast." An elderly scholar cried as he spoke, after letting others see the children’s wounds, he helped them get dressed: "It’s very cold, put on your jackets well, don’t catch a cold."
Xia Er and Xia San’s sons looked up at the old man, gratefully smiled, and said: "Thank you, Grandpa."
This call of ’Grandpa’ made the elderly scholar break down in tears, how could Xia Gu bear to treat such good children like this?
His heart was already standing on the side of brothers Xia Er and Xia San, leveraging his old age, he said to the scholars present: "Everyone, stop arguing for a mont, give Xia Er and Xia San a chance to explain things clearly, arguing like this, arguing all day won’t produce a result."
"Young Master Han said it right, let’s first calm down, let Elder Xia Er and Master Xia San speak." Young Master Han said, recognizing Elder Kang.
Elder Kang is a scholar, serving as a teacher at Honghu Academy in Jinling; he has considerable influence. The scholars and sons of rich families in Jinling gave him face, taking the lead in stopping the noise.
People from both Jinning and Linhe prefectures saw this and nodded in agreent.
Xia Er saw that they had stopped making noise, then he started: "I..."
But just as he uttered the word ’I’, thinking of his past thirty years of hardship, a sense of grievance surged in his heart, and tears instantly flowed down.
A grown man kneeling on the ground, crying silently like this, shocked everyone present.
Elder Kang, seeing Xia Er in this state, guessed that the matter concerning Xia Gu was true.
It took about half a quarter of an hour for Xia Er to stop his tears, then he choked up and said to everyone: "Although the rumors outside are sowhat exaggerated, what they say is true... Xia Gu is not our biological father, to cover up his own infertility, he bought our mother as a concubine, then brought in n... after our mother was pregnant, he killed those n, and after she gave birth to us, Xia Gu, in order to silence them, killed them as well."
He added: "As for how Xia Gu ca into contact with the infertility drug, we are not very clear."
He specifically said this to avoid displeasing the Emperor of Great Chu. After all, the one who administered the infertility drug to Xia Gu was Emperor Jingtai, the biological father of the current Emperor. If he revealed the truth, none of them could survive, but concealing the truth might amuse Emperor Jingyuan.
If Emperor Jingyuan is amused, he wouldn’t dispatch people to investigate this matter deeply, so everyone could have an easier life.
Fang Wu sneered: "Xia Gu is arrogant and unruly, in his lifeti he doesn’t know how many people he has offended, it’s only normal for soone to poison him. Those who were sched by him not taking a knife to kill him is already considered rciful."
With Fang Wu’s words, those who supported Xia Gu fell silent. Madn indeed easily offend people, behind each madman, there are at least a basket of enemies.
So this infertility drug might be difficult to ascribe to a specific person.
But Fan Hu is a die-hard supporter of Xia Gu, upon hearing this he still doesn’t believe: "This is just your side of the story, what evidence do you have to prove that Master Xia cannot have children and has to resort to buying n to carry on his family line?"
Xia Er’s wife is hot-tempered, seeing her husband mistreated over the years, she cried out in distress upon hearing this: "You want evidence, right? Fine, we’ll give you evidence."
She turned around and shouted towards the inside of the residence: "Soone, bring Xu Shou’en and Chun’er out!"
Nanny Xia and her son, Xu Shou’en, hadn’t been sent away; Xu Shou’en was also ungrateful, and to ensure his survival and that of his son, he was ready to co out and testify himself, hoping they would let him and Xu Yu live.
Upon learning about this, Nanny Xia wept bitterly in the dungeons of the Xia Residence, having devoted her life to her son, now abandoned by him.
But Nanny Xia, fearing death, also pleaded with Master Hu to allow her to testify, knowing much more than Xu Shou’en, but Master Hu did not permit her to do so.
Nanny Xia knew so secrets of the Lu Family, if they let her out, and she revealed them, it would be disastrous.
Xu Shou’en and Chun’er were escorted out by Cheng Feng.
Once Xu Shou’en appeared, his legs went weak, and with a thud, he knelt down: "My na is Xu Shou’en, my mother is Nanny Xia, who serves beside Lady Xia. Years ago, Xia Gu secretly fathered through my mother outside to blackmail her, forcing my mother to deceive Lady Xia..."
He revealed everything about how Xia Gu had a doctor claim Lady Xia was infertile, how he bought a concubine, and let an outsider impregnate the concubine.
"How, how could this be?" Fan Hu still didn’t believe, pointing at Xu Shou’en and cursed: "You cunning slave must be lying, it’s fake, it must be fake!"
"It’s true..." Chun’er sobbed, "I am the Old Master’s maid, I’ve been with the Old Master for a long ti, but I have never been pregnant, and none of the Old Master’s other maids have been pregnant... No, correct, I heard that there was a maid nad Liang’er who got pregnant, but the Old Master, upon hearing this, was not pleased but flew into a rage, and that very night had Liang’er dealt with, two lives lost."
Chun’er cried inconsolably: "At that ti, I didn’t understand what was happening, I was terrified. Now I understand, the Old Master knew he couldn’t have children, seeing Sister Liang’er pregnant, he knew she had stolen soone, he was so angry he had her beaten to death, wuu wuu wuu..."
Chun’er looked delicate and her crying moved people, and so scholars knew that Xia Gu had a maid nad Liang’er who died of illness two years ago. Now on reflection, they thought Liang’er’s death was very suspicious.
Actually, it’s not suspicious at all, Liang’er did die of illness, and she wasn’t pregnant, it was Chun’er who lied to bla Xia Gu. Since Xia Gu had committed so many evils, tarnishing his reputation to save themselves was acceptable.
After hearing this, everyone began to curse Xia Gu: "Xia Gu truly is a beast, actually committing such evil deeds, we were blind before to regard him as a ntor among scholars, pah! Does he deserve it?"
"Brother Qi is right in his criticism, Xia Gu deserves death, we as n cannot stand by and watch this beast and not slay him, let’s storm into the Xia Residence, capture Xia Gu and beat that old thief thoroughly, let him know what retribution is!"
Fang Wu shouted at the top of his voice: "Let’s charge in together and seize Xia Gu, seek revenge for Elder Xia Er and uphold justice for the Heavenly Dao!"
In his heart, he also shouted: Thank God for granting this opportunity to make a renowned na for myself!
But Fan Hu, being stubborn, refused to believe it was true, he grabbed Xia Er and furiously asked: "It’s fake, you are lying, right?!"
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