Chapter 125: Absolutely not
After his trusted aide left, Xiao Yuanshi looked at the woman.
He instructed, “You should tag along soon.”
Even though they let the old Xiao family mingle with the outside world, they still had to keep a watchful eye when they went out or were at home.
In particular, they had to prevent them from hooking up with that evil daughter-in-law again.
The woman thought for a moment and could not help but ask, “What about my younger brother?”
At this moment, Ge Chunru said, “We have already arranged for your younger brother to be a manager in my shop. You can go and take a look before you leave.”
The woman was hand-picked by Ge Chunru.
She had taken a fancy of her and her younger brother who depended on each other for survival. Her brother was her soft spot, so it was easy for Ge Chunru to handle her.
The key was that she had previously been forced to secretly be a prostitute in order to earn a living.
Because of that, she had even contracted an infectious disease.
Ge Chunru hated the old Xiao family to the core.
Since they had ruined his brother’s future, then let’s make Eldest Grandson Xiao unable to have any children in his entire life and even forget about having a wife in the future.
May he die without any descendants.
When the woman heard this, she heaved a sigh of relief. “Yes, I will tag alone.”
She had contracted an unclean disease and would not be able to live for long.
She only hoped that she could help her brother gain a foothold before her death.
At this moment, another trusted aide of Xiao Yuanshi walked in.
Xiao Yuanshi waved his hand at this woman. “You may leave.”
She immediately left.
The trusted aide respectfully reported, “Master, we have some findings. That cement formula was indeed given by your son through that duke in the Mo family.”
Xiao Yuanshi had previously been very annoyed by the troublemakers in the old residence and did not pay much attention to the happenings in the imperial court.
Not long ago, he chanced to hear that the emperor valued the contributions by that small county town very much and let the workers build a large workshop to produce cement.
He had not paid much attention to it at first, but after hearing that it was Nanxi county, he decided to delve deeper.
Only then did he know that the person who had shared the recipe was an elementary scholar with the family name Xiao.
The emperor had rewarded him with a mountain.
He had the feeling that this elementary scholar with the family name Xiao was his eldest son, but he did not ask further as he was afraid that others would notice something fishy about him.
Thus, he sent someone to Nanxi county to investigate.
He discovered it before knowing the old Xiao family had been liaising with Xiao Hanzheng’s wife, and hence, his trusted aide had just returned from investigating it.
He asked curiously, “How did he get the cement formula?”
His trusted aide replied, “His newly married wife shared it with him.”
Then, he told him everything about how Shi Qingluo was the disciple of an old immortal and the items she had invented.
Xiao Yuanshi was stunned. Clearly, he did not expect that evil daughter-in-law to have such abilities.
He did not believe that old immortals existed.
Of course, he did not doubt that Shi Qingluo had learnt them from an old Taoist.
After all, what could a village girl know?
He frowned slightly. “How’s Zheng’er then?”
He had previously focused all his energy on the old Xiao family’s pestering and had not been paying attention to his eldest son recently.
His trusted aide continued honestly, “Eldest Young Master met Mr Hou, who went to Nanxi county to give a few lessons as he was unoccupied and had nothing better to do. He invited him to be his disciple.
“Eldest Young Master is also very close to Young Master Mo, who went to Nanxi county to be its county magistrate.”
He paused for a moment and updated him with more new discoveries. “Fei Yuzhe, from the Fei family, brought his nephew and Liang Youxiao, from the Liang family, to stay with them temporarily.”
Xiao Yuanshi was shocked. “Why would they stay at Zheng’er’s house temporarily?”
How long had it been since he had paid attention to the matters in Nanxi county? Why had there been so many changes?
What was even more unexpected was that his son had actually been accepted as a student of a first-grade official who had resigned voluntarily.
Although he had resigned, he still had quite significant influences at the imperial court. His other three students all held important positions in the imperial court.
Mr Hou was lucky in his career to have some encounters with the emperor.
Xiao Hanzheng was mature and intelligent, but it didn’t seem like he was so outstanding that Mr Hou would make an exception and accept him as his disciple, right?
Also, how did his son manage to network with that young master in the Mo Family?
Not only did he have a strong background, but he was also becoming more and more powerful.
This time, he suddenly went to Nanxi county to become the county magistrate.
Everyone felt that it wasn’t that simple.
His trusted aide replied, “I found out that they went to look for your eldest young master for medical consultation.”
“Pfft!” Xiao Yuanshi could not help but spit out the tea that he had just sipped in.
“What? Medical consultation?” He didn’t understand. “When did Zheng’er know how to provide medical consulation? Isn’t this nonsense?”
His trusted aide replied, “A famous divine doctor in Daliang had accepted your eldest young master as his disciple. He has been secretly honing his medical skills.
“Fei Yuzhe went to look for the divine doctor to treat his nephew, only to find out that he had already passed away. Then, he discovered that your eldest young master was his successor.
“Hence, he brought his nephew to the Xiao family for treatment.”
Xiao Yuanshi was shocked once again. “When did Zheng’er become the divine doctor’s disciple?”
Why did he not know this at all?
Fei Yuzhe of the Fei family was not just a rich duke who only knew how to eat and drink.
Since he personally brought his nephew to Xiaxi village, this meant that this matter was definitely true.
His trusted aide replied, “We haven’t figured this out yet. He must have secretly accepted him as a disciple and taught him.”
Xiao Yuanshi realised that many things were not within his control.
He cursed those people from his hometown silently in his heart.
If not for them, he would not have been so agitated.
The emperor definitely remembered Xiao Hanzheng when he presented the ice-making and cement-making recipes.
He rubbed his teacup and suddenly thought about whether he should nurture his son by bringing him back to the capital.
Ge Chunru’s hands, which were in her sleeves, had been tightly clenched.
She didn’t expected that after not keeping an eye on Xiaxi village for a period of time, that son of a b * tch would cause so much trouble.
Offering the recipes, befriending Mo Qingling and so on were definitely events she did not wish had happened.
Especially after her brother’s future was ruined, she did not want Xiao Hanzheng to rise up the rank.
She hated him so much that when she raised her head and saw Xiao Yuanshi thinking, her heart skipped a beat.
To the man she loved so much, she naturally knew his thoughts.
Was he considering bringing Xiao Hanzheng into the capital to nurture him?
No, absolutely not.
Hence, she pretended to be nonchalant and said, “I wonder if Hanzheng is aware that Shi Qingluo instigated the old Xiao family to come to the capital to cause trouble.”
She sighed again. “Sigh, I wonder if he still holds a grudge against us.”
Xiao Yuanshi was stunned. “He must be aware of it.”
However, he immediately dispelled these thoughts in his mind.
Although that was his son, he had already broken off ties with his family.
Xiao Hanzheng probably had a grudge against the Xiao family.
At the very least, he should have a grudge against him.
Xiao Yuanshi couldn’t use filial piety to suppress him.
If he brought him back to the capital to nurture him, he might suffer a backlash if he was not careful.
Since that was the case, he might as well nip the bud and prevent it from growing further.
In fact, he was also hesitating.
After all, Xiao Hanzheng’s appearance would uncover the past episodes that he did not want to talk about.
Others would also know that he demoted his wife to a mistress and that he had broken off his kinship with them.
Some might shoot him down by saying that he relied on his father-in-law to ascend the throne but still wanted to cut off his kinship with them.
This was the part he hated others from bringing up the most.
In the past, some people in the village had already said that his success was inseparable from Mdm Kong’s father.
If he had not learnt martial arts from him and wasn’t under his care and concern, he would still be a bumpkin today.
This made him very unhappy and unwilling to accept such comments.
He managed to get this far solely because of his own efforts.