gnovel Chapter 1124 - 1115: Sold for Money
Chapter 1124 - 1115: Sold for Money
Duke Chong is a man who does not shed tears until he sees the coffin; unless the knife is truly at his throat, he will not concede.Marquis Dongxiang wanted to threaten Marquis Dongxiang with the lives of the city’s citizens, but the soldiers disagreed.
With no chance of victory remaining, it would be better to open the city gates and surrender; perhaps there’s still a glimmer of hope.
If they stubbornly resist any longer, there is only one path—death.
Yet when the soldiers who tried to persuade surrender hadn’t spoken a few words, Duke Chong drew the sword from a guard beside him.
A flash of cold light.
With one stroke, the throat was cut.
This is the fate of those who counsel surrender!
In his place, there’s only dying in battle, no surrender!
He ordered people to seize the city’s citizens and throw them into the government office dungeons; no one dared to disobey.
Duke Chong climbed the city walls, surveying the surroundings, seeing no one.
But he knew Old Duke Chong and their troops were stationed just ten miles away.
As news from the city was sent out, Old Duke Chong learned that Prince Qi’s men were capturing people everywhere in the city, causing chaos; he was trembling with rage.
He didn’t know if this was Prince Qi’s idea or the idea of his own rebellious son.
Such cruel and ruthless people, dreaming of gaining imperial power; Old Duke Chong was so angry that his vision darkened.
The Old Prince advised him to calm down and had someone bring over pills for Old Duke Chong to take.
These were calming pills.
They were getting older, and their bodies couldn’t withstand such anger.
These pills had been specially formulated; fighting against the likes of Duke Chong and Prince Qi depended not on military strategy but on shamelessness.
Whoever cared about the people would lose.
If it were a straightforward battle, Duke Chong and Prince Qi should’ve been captured alive half a year ago.
Old Duke Chong swallowed the pill with tea, still unable to erase the anger from his face.
Prince NanAn advised, "To deal with a rogue like Prince Qi, it has to be Marquis Dongxiang."
Su Chong looked at Prince NanAn, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
Encountering someone like Prince Qi, who frequently used threats of burning grain and massacring cities, his father might not have a good solution unless an assassination was attempted.
They had tried to send people for an assassination, but Duke Chong and Prince Qi’s residences were surrounded so tightly that there was no way to get close to them.
It was infuriating for Old Duke Chong and their side to receive news a day early, but Marquis Dongxiang and the Prince a day late.
If such a person escaped, even if he died, he wouldn’t have the face to meet his brothers in the afterlife!
The three armies had formed a siege, and even if Duke Chong had wings, he couldn’t escape.
The only challenge was how to rescue the citizens within the city.
With a heartless fiend like Duke Chong, willing to murder even his elder brother and father, let alone others.
...
This standoff persisted for five days.
...
While Marquis Dongxiang was pondering a foolproof plan, the compensation from Nanliang, including money and silk, had already been transported back to the capital.
The Young Master Su and a few others received the money from selling paintings and were shopping in the streets.
Watching the carriages pass through the busy streets, they were quite curious.
Upon hearing it was Nanliang’s compensation, they were both happy and worried.
Happy, of course, that Daqi was victorious; worried because with the conclusion of border warfare, his father would probably return to the capital soon.
His father was much stricter than his mother, and their good days were about to end.
After spending almost all of the money, the Young Master Su and they returned home.
Getting out of the carriage, the Young Master Su ran quickly into the mansion, hastily searching for Mrs. Tang.
There must be a family letter from his father.
The Young Master Su ran ahead, with the Ninth Prince and others chasing behind.
After a year of training, their stamina wasn’t much worse than the Young Master Su’s.
As usual, upon nearing the main hall, they stopped, quietly walking to the window to listen for a while.
Their four heads occupied nearly all the windowspace.
They heard Mrs. Tang’s voice from inside, "Beimo didn’t take that one million taels?"
"The King of Beimo seems particularly eager to form a marriage alliance with the Marquis, unwilling to annul the engagement," Uncle Lin replied.
By the window.
The Young Master Su frowned, sensing a bad premonition in his heart.
The Ninth Prince and the others exchanged glances.
Dongxiang Marquis Mansion didn’t have many offspring; Mr. Su had already married Princess Fu Yun, so the next betrothal would be either Young Master Su or the still-in-swaddles Huwa.
In order, it should be Young Master Su’s engagement first.
Young Master Shen wanted to speak; as soon as he uttered a word, the Young Master Su signaled him to hush.
The conversation inside continued.
He learned he was sold for a hundred thousand taels and three hundred thousand dan of grain.
The Ninth Prince and the other three were stunned.
They didn’t expect Young Master Su to be so valuable.
The Young Master Su’s face turned green with anger.
He was his father’s only biological son.
How could his father sell him?!
The Young Master Su suddenly stood up, and before the Ninth Prince could reach out, the Young Master Su had already burst into the room.
He looked at Mrs. Tang and said, "Why didn’t you tell me that Father sold me?"
Mrs. Tang looked at her son’s angry little face and said, "If I told you, what could you do?"
Whoosh.
A flying knife plunged straight toward Young Master Su’s heart.
The blow was too much for Young Master Su; tears welled up in his eyes.
"I don’t care; I do not want to be a Prince Consort in Beimo," Young Master Su said.
Uncle Lin chuckled, "Young Master, rest assured, you’re not going to Beimo to be a Prince Consort; it’s Princess Beimo who’s marrying into our Marquis Mansion."
The Young Master Su was stunned.
Then he became even angrier.
"I don’t want to marry Princess Beimo!" the Young Master Su said.
"How ugly, foolish, and stupid must she be for the King of Beimo to spend so much to marry her to me."
"Mother, I am your own son."
The Young Master Su was truly heartbroken.
At least his elder brother reached eighteen or nineteen before being forced to marry by their parents.
He hadn’t even reached eight or nine yet, and his father was already planning his marriage.
This is such bullying!
In any case, he didn’t want to be a Prince Consort; his brother-in-law was a prime example—his sister was so wonderful, yet his brother-in-law lived a tough life. He could possibly fare even worse.
He couldn’t accept it.
Mrs. Tang had long known that Marquis Dongxiang used Young Master Su’s marriage as leverage.
It was a battlefield expedient; though Mrs. Tang was a bit angry, she was helpless; after all, the engagement could still be annulled, and Marquis Dongxiang wouldn’t cheat his own son.
However, Mrs. Tang didn’t expect that Beimo would be unwilling to annul the engagement.
According to the agreement, presenting money and grain, even if the engagement weren’t annulled, it should be annulled.
But now comes the difficulty: the money and grain have been transported into the capital.
Should the million taels first enter the National Treasury or be directly withheld?
If withheld, Marquis Dongxiang’s act of selling his son couldn’t be concealed; after all, a million taels isn’t a small amount, and it’s impossible to keep it entirely under wraps.
If not kept back, once it enters the National Treasury, getting it out again would be challenging.
"What about the money?" Young Master Su asked.
"On its way to the palace," Uncle Lin replied.
If Mrs. Tang wanted to stop it, it might still be in time now.
But then again, Marquis Dongxiang wasn’t in that much of a hurry.
After all, Nanliang still had four years of compensation to Daqi.
Young Master Su wasn’t going to bring the bride back in just a year or two either.
Young Master Su was so angry.
He ran out as quickly as he came in.
In his haste, he directly bumped into Princess Fu Yun as he exited the courtyard.
Luckily, he didn’t fall with the maid supporting from behind.