Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Chapter 108 He Provoked Me

Zhao Jian couldn't stand it any longer and shouted angrily, "You bastard, shut up right there."

Zhao Liangsi excitedly pointed at Zhao Liangchen and shouted, "Father, he's pretending, he's pretending."

Zhao Jian looked at Zhao Liangchen. At this time, Zhao Liangchen had raised his head. The wound on his forehead was soaked with bandages and blood was flowing down from the corners of his eyes. He looked embarrassed and helpless.

Zhao Jian suppressed his anger and asked Zhao Liangsi: "Why did you hit your elder brother?"

Zhao Liangsi roared, "He's not my elder brother, he's a bastard."

Zhao Jian couldn't bear it any longer, so he raised his hand and slapped Zhao Liangsi hard. Zhao Jian, a military general, had great strength in his hands, and the slap made blood seep out of the corner of Zhao Liangsi's mouth. His ears were buzzing, and it took him a long time to recover. He covered his face and looked at Zhao Jian in disbelief: "Father, you hit me?"

Zhao Jian's hands were shaking with anger. "Look at you yelling and shouting, you don't behave like a young master of the Zhao family. You've read so much that you've lost everything."

Zhao Liangsi collapsed and shouted as if he had been stimulated: "What I said was wrong. Why did you hit me? You are just partial to this bastard."

"you......"

Zhao Jian was so angry that he wanted to raise his hand to hit him again, but suddenly a sharp shout rang out: "Master."

Zhao Jian paused and looked towards the courtyard gate. Madam Zhao was hurriedly walked in, supported by someone. "Master, please tell me what our son did wrong. I will discipline him. Please don't hit him."

When Zhao Liangsi came, he was followed by a servant. When Zhao Liangsi started to beat Zhao Liangchen, the servant knew something was going to happen, so he hurried to find Madam Zhao.

Zhao Jian saw that although Madam Zhao had put down her hand, her expression was still grim. He snorted coldly, "You disciplined me? Look at what you've done. The eldest son of the Zhao family is full of foul language. Do you even look like a scholar?"

Mrs. Zhao first cast her gaze towards Zhao Liangsi, who looked aggrieved and indignant, then looked at Zhao Liangchen, who had already stood up and was standing nearby with his head in his hands. She then said slowly, "There may be some misunderstanding here. Let's first clarify the situation before making a decision."

At this time, Zhao Jian's face was as gloomy as a dark cloud. He said nothing and agreed.

Madam Zhao walked over to Zhao Liangsi, pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve, and gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. She asked in a gentle voice, "Si'er, tell me why you hit your eldest brother?"

Zhao Liangsi wanted to blurt out, "He's not my eldest brother!" However, when he saw the warning in Mrs. Zhao's eyes, he could only mutter in grievance, "It was...he who provoked me."

Mrs. Zhao then asked, "What did he say?"

This question put Zhao Liangsi in a dilemma, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer. If he told the truth about what Zhao Liangchen had said, then everyone present would know about the shameful incident of him being beaten in the ancestral hall. Wouldn't that make him lose face? Thinking of this, Zhao Liangsi couldn't help but stutter, hesitating for a long time and couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

Zhao Jian, who had been watching coldly from the side, became more and more angry when he saw him hesitating.

"If you don't explain yourself clearly today, you'll have to kneel down in the ancestral hall."

Zhao Liangsi was ashamed and angry when the ancestral hall was mentioned. He shouted, "He told me to avoid him if I saw him next time, or else he would beat me every time he saw me."

Zhao Jian and Madam Zhao looked at Zhao Liangchen at the same time. Zhao Jian asked coldly, "Is what your brother said true?"

Zhao Liangchen lowered his head, his tone filled with sadness and helplessness: "Father, when has this son ever hit my second brother since he was a child? Every time, I avoided him. I know that my second brother has always disliked my existence. Not only my second brother, but no one in this mansion likes me. I don't want to be born to be disliked, but since I have been born, I have to want to live. For so many years, I have been cautious and endured humiliation to live secretly, just because I want my second brother to give me a way out because I don't fight or compete.

"Second brother, my father only gave me five hundred taels of silver. If you're unhappy, I won't take it. There's no need for you to make a scene in front of father. I've already said I won't take a single needle or thread from this mansion. When...when I get married, I'll move out and live on my own. Please bear with me for two more years."

What Zhao Liangchen said was all true. Over the years, he had indeed been tolerant of Zhao Liangsi in every aspect of the mansion. Seeing the blood still on his face and his helpless and lonely look, Zhao Jian finally felt a trace of sympathy: "Why should you divide the mansion while your father is still alive? You are the eldest young master of this mansion, so naturally you have a share of everything in this mansion."

Zhao Liangsi got furious again when he heard this. He was about to retort, but Mrs. Zhao held his hand tightly and glanced at him. He could only swallow his anger.

Zhao Jian looked at Zhao Liangsi again and rebuked him unhappily, "I'm not dead yet, and it's not your turn to make decisions about the affairs of this mansion. Don't even mention that I gave your elder brother 500 taels, even if I gave him 5,000 taels, you still wouldn't have a say.

If you don't go back to study at the Imperial College, what are you coming back for?"

Zhao Liangsi was filled with rage but had nowhere to vent it, yet he suppressed his anger and replied, "I'll come back to get the silver."

Zhao Jian frowned and questioned, "You took the silver? Didn't you take the silver a few days ago? Why are you coming back to take it again? Didn't I tell you to be frugal and spend less recently?"

Zhao Liangsi's frustration boiled over when he brought this up. "They only give me five taels of silver a time! This amount isn't even enough to treat my classmates to a meal! How can I hold my head up in front of them?"

Hearing this, Zhao Jian instantly became furious. His eyes widened, veins popping out on his forehead, and he roared furiously, "I worked so hard to send you to the Imperial College so that you could study hard, not just eat, drink, and have fun all day long! You useless thing!"

Zhao Liangsi was a little frightened by his father's outburst, but he still stiffened his neck and defended himself, "Dad, how can you say that? I'm not just eating, drinking, and having fun. I'm clearly making connections and expanding my network! Think about it, when I pass the imperial examination and become an official, these classmates will be my support. Maybe they can even help me out then!"

Zhao Jian scoffed, "High school? You should pass the provincial examination first. If you're not good at studying, you're good at devious ways."

Zhao Liangsi's eyes instantly turned red. "You look down on me. Why do you give Zhao Liangchen five hundred taels of silver when he wants to treat us to a meal to smooth things over, and you accuse me of being a wicked person?"

Zhao Jian laughed angrily and pointed at Zhao Liangchen, saying, "He could buy a position as deputy commander of the Imperial Guards with five hundred taels, a third-rank official, the same rank as mine. What can you get in return? If you can get a third-rank official position in return, I'll give you fifty thousand taels."

Zhao Liangsi's arrogance had subsided a lot, but he still grumbled sarcastically, "Who knows if that deputy commander is his? I heard that the emperor kicked him out of the palace today."

Zhao Jian was so angry that he didn't want to pay any attention to this fool. He scolded him, "Go back to your Imperial College. Don't come back unless you have something important to do. Your mission is to study and take part in the provincial examination next year. It's not about spending money to make connections. If you study well, naturally there will be many people who will fawn over you."

Zhao Liangsi was not convinced and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Mrs. Zhao and dragged out of the yard.

After they all left, Zhao Jian looked at Zhao Liangchen and said in a softer tone, "We've hired a doctor from the mansion. Let's go get him to rebandage the wound."

Zhao Liangchen: "Yes, I won't take the five hundred taels from father, so as not to upset my second brother."

Zhao Jian's face darkened. "Just take it if I tell you to. It's not his turn to make the decision in this house."

Zhao Liangchen: "Yes."

He left the yard and went to the court doctor to treat his wound before going to the accounting office to get the money.

On the other side, Madam Zhao dragged Zhao Liangsi back to her own courtyard and asked gloomily, "What happened just now?"