Chapter 202: Inciting Public Outrage
"Leaving the clan is too extreme. I know you’re worried about me being mistreated, Father, but I’m not a weak person. I can handle most things; I’m just a bit lazy and can’t be bothered to deal with them."
"I know you are... It’s just..."
"Then let me handle it, Father. I’m not afraid of the Old Madam, and I can keep her in check. As for leaving the clan, let’s wait and see. If things truly don’t work out after a while, it won’t be too late for us to leave then. All right, Father?"
Xiang Minghou fell silent for a moment before nodding. "We’ll do as you say. No matter how you choose to handle this, I will stand by you."
"Good." Unless it was the absolute last resort, Ye Qianning didn’t want him to take the step of leaving the clan.
’A lot had happened since her arrival. But even though the Old Madam treated her father poorly, if she hadn’t come, the family would have just continued to muddle through as before.’
’No matter how wary the Old Madam and the second branch were, they still had to greet her father with a smile whenever he returned home.’
’But she had come, and many things that shouldn’t have happened, had. She felt a little guilty about that.’
’Sometimes, it’s better to live in blissful ignorance than to understand the truth...’
A new day dawned with a spring breeze and a light rain.
A light rain was falling over the Capital City, but it did nothing to deter the crowds. Soon, rumors began to spread like wildfire through the streets. The two most prominent tales were about the attack on the Prime Minister’s residence and about Old Madam Xiang attempting to murder her own son.
"Did you hear? General Xiang was stabbed by his own mother! They say he’s on the verge of death."
"Oh? Is that so? Old Madam Xiang wanted to kill our Great General?"
"Pretty much. I heard the second branch and the Old Madam took the Eldest Miss’s reward items to pay off gambling debts. When the Great General found out, the Old Madam was so desperate to protect the second branch that she just stabbed him."
"Good heavens, what a terribly partial mother."
"Tell me about it. The casualties in the northern war are devastating. The Emperor was supposed to appoint General Xiang as the commander and send him off today. But who would’ve thought he’d get injured so badly? Without General Xiang in command, the northern cities might fall."
"Is the war in the north that serious?"
"Sigh... With no one to take command now, the border is sure to fall."
The crowd had initially treated it as a piece of household gossip, something to laugh about. But they never expected it to be linked to matters of state. With the cities themselves at risk, anyone with a bit of patriotic fire in them couldn’t stand it any longer.
"Damn that old hag from the Xiang family! How many people at the border will have to die because of what she’s done?"
"That venomous old crone has had it too easy here in the Capital City! General Xiang has spent years on the battlefield protecting our home and country, yet she injures our Great General for some good-for-nothing gambler from the second branch! This is unacceptable! I’m going to the General’s residence and I’m going to curse that old woman to death!"
"That’s right! The venomous old crone! What right does she have to stay in the Capital City? Send her to the border to be a refugee!"
"Let’s go, let’s go! We’re going to the General’s residence to demand justice for our Great General!"
The crowd, which had just been enjoying the commotion, was suddenly galvanized. United in their anger, they rose to their feet and stormed toward the General’s residence.
At the same time, several clean-cut young men dressed as commoners headed to the next street, freely spreading the tale. Before long, everyone in the entire Capital City knew—from eighty-year-olds down to young children.
Thinking of the people on the border, the crowd felt a burning hatred, wishing they could eat the Old Madam alive.
She was unworthy of being a citizen of Beili, and even more unworthy of being a mother.
A noisy, chaotic sea of people swarmed the main gate of the General’s residence. The loudest shouts were those demanding justice for Xiang Minghou, and many were also screaming death threats and curses at the second branch and the old matriarch.
Even toddlers, perched on their fathers’ shoulders, were raising their little fists and shouting insults at the Old Madam.
The scene was both grand and unified.
The butler, waking early, was thoroughly frightened by the scene at the main gate. He immediately turned and rushed to Yuehua Small Building.