Protect Our Chief-Chapter 581 - 46 This Disciple! Not Easy to Raise (Requesting Monthly Votes)_2

At this time, the dishes and wine had already been prepared. Seeing that the two had finished their discussion, Prince Wu Dianshan ordered the servants to bring out the fine wine and dishes, inviting the two to sit and drink, and eat.

Wang Shouzhe and Taishi An Kang naturally wouldn’t refuse him face. In the end, the meal lasted for more than an hour, with both hosts and guests thoroughly enjoying themselves.

...

At the same time.

Longzuo Qian Family.

The saying goes, "Once you enter a noble mansion, it’s as deep as the sea," though the Qian Family is not a noble mansion, being a Fifth-Grade Purple Mansion Family, it has lasted for more than a thousand years, boasting a strength and heritage far surpassing that of the noble families in ancient Huaxia.

The main residence of the Qian Family, naturally much wider and deeper than the "sea-like" noble mansions, covers an extensive area, with the number of household servants exceeding ten thousand, and the household generals more than a thousand.

A family of such caliber naturally has a complete management system.

The West Garden of the main residence, due to its architectural layout, receives less sunlight all year round, with dense forests and overgrown weeds, giving the courtyard an eerie and gloomy atmosphere due to years of neglect.

This is not because the Qian Family is too poor to repair the courtyard, but because this area of the West Garden has always been used by the Qian Family to punish and exile women who have made mistakes within the family, somewhat akin to the cold palace of ancient Huaxia’s Imperial Family.

Once exiled to the West Garden, one cannot leave without permission, which essentially means being abandoned by the family. This represents an extremely severe punishment from the family.

Why are only women exiled? Naturally, because male family members who make significant mistakes are usually sent to the family mines to undertake extremely arduous labor as punishment.

At this moment.

The seldom-used West Garden was unexpectedly opened, and a richly dressed beautiful woman was pushed inside by a group of strong maidservants, who shoved her to the ground.

This beautiful woman was none other than Cao Lina, the current main wife of the Qian Family.

Even after being thrown into the courtyard, Cao Lina had not yet come to her senses.

She glared incredulously at Qiaan Qinhong, shouting angrily, "Qiaan Qinhong, where do you get the nerve to lock me in this deplorable place? I, Cao Lina, am a direct daughter of the Liaoyuan Cao Family. Aren’t you afraid my maternal family will come to hold you accountable?"

Outside the courtyard, Qiaan Qinhong stood with his hands behind his back, his face as dark as the water. "Cao Lina, even though it was the ancestor’s idea to confine you, I, as the patriarch, also think you should stay here and reflect properly. As for your maternal family coming to hold us accountable... hmph~ we Qian Family have yet to question the Liaoyuan Cao Family. What kind of family norms and rules does your Cao Family have to nurture such a malicious woman like you?"

"I’m malicious? What makes you say I’m malicious?" Cao Lina’s face turned cold, gritting her teeth and shouting, "I, a legitimate daughter of the Cao Family, married you, an old widower, to be a second wife, and our son doesn’t even have the right to inherit the family. Why does Qiaan Xuehan, that motherless bastard, inherit the direct lineage? Even if he can’t be the patriarch, his sons and grandsons will always be in line for it. In what way is our son Xue Rui’s talent, bloodline, or background inferior to his? Why should he only be an elder?!"

"The inheritance passes to the eldest and not the youngest, this is not only a tradition followed by all noble families in Daqian but also explicitly stipulated in the laws of Daqian regarding family inheritance. You, you, you..."

Qiaan Qinhong pointed at Cao Lina, almost too angry at her foolishness to speak.

After a moment, he managed to catch his breath, his face cold as he reprimanded, "Do you think the ancestors made these rules for no reason? For a family to endure for a thousand, ten thousand years, what’s most important is unity and stability! It’s precisely because of such strict, unbreachable traditions and laws that noble family legacies can endure without decline. Otherwise, if internal conflicts like fratricide and internal chaos were frequent, wouldn’t things have been in complete disarray long ago?!"

"Cao Lina, I think you’ve been poisoned by that witch Cao Youqing!" Qiaan Qinhong was furious, "That witch, as a Saint Land Celestial Pride, instead of focusing on her duties of expanding territories for humanity and resisting foreign enemies, dared to get involved in the power struggles. Her own idiocy led to her death, but she still dared to try and manipulate you to control our Qian Family, attempting to drag our Qian Family into the vortex as well! Did she really think our Qian Family was easy to bully?"

The Qian Family, after all, is Fifth-Grade powerful, with many talents within the family. After some investigation and deduction, they’d mostly figured out Cao Youqing’s intentions.

Now with the situation unclear, which noble family dares to take sides rashly? A single misstep could result in the family’s complete annihilation.

Upon hearing this, Cao Lina’s face changed dramatically as if she finally realized the seriousness of the situation: "Then, what about my Xue Rui? All of this was my doing, it has nothing to do with him! Husband, Xue Rui is your own flesh and blood, you..."

"Hmph~ you still have the face to mention him?" Qiaan Qinhong interrupted her, pointing at her and scolding angrily, "If it weren’t for you inciting him from behind, how would he have developed such improper ideas? Although he personally didn’t get involved in the fratricide and struggle for inheritance, he’s implicated because of you. The ancestor has already ordered him to be banished to the mine to oversee things, and he won’t be allowed to enter the Qian Family gates for thirty years!"

"Ah! Then, wouldn’t Xue Rui be..."

Cao Lina slumped to the ground, her face deathly pale.

She knew well that "not allowed to enter the Qian Family gates for thirty years" was just a nicer way of saying he was banished. Even if he returned in thirty years, he would only be a marginal figure, never to be trusted or heavily used by the family again.

If only... if only she had known it would come to this, she would never have...

Having been married for many years, seeing her so disheartened, Qiaan Qinhong also felt a twinge of pity. But when he thought of the foolish things she had done, his heart hardened once more.