Chapter 204: The Xiao Family Token
Xiao Ye looked at Liu Loulan, his face impassive. "You schemed to be with Xiao Ling and got this position, yet you still expect love?"
"You want far too much. Life isn't that kind."
'If it were me, and a woman used such dishonorable means to get me, I would never fall in love with her either.'
'The fact that Xiao Ling married her at all was an act of kindness.'
'Anyone else would have adamantly denied it and refused to marry her, and what could she have done about it?'
'Could the Liu Family, a first-rate family, really go head-to-head with the Xiao Family?'
'If Xiao Ling knew his moment of kindness back then would lead to this, he'd probably be filled with regret!'
Xiao Ye didn't want to waste any more words on her. She was just a dead woman walking.
He clapped his hands.
A member of the Xiao Family entered the room and respectfully placed a box in Xiao Ye's hands.
"This is the Xiao Family's token."
Token?
Hearing that word.
Liu Loulan, who had been lost in her anguish, suddenly snapped back to her senses. "That's my token! Give it back to me!"
"This is the Xiao Family's token, not yours."
"You're nothing but a thief, and now it's time for it to be returned to its rightful owner!"
It was a piece of black jade, black on the surface.
But under the light, it revealed a stunningly beautiful green hue.
The black jade token was two-sided. One side was inscribed with a large character for "Xiao."
The other was engraved with a dragon.
This dragon was different from the usual Five-Clawed Golden Dragon; it was a hornless dragon with only three claws.
'If I'm not mistaken, this is something that would belong to a Prince or the Crown Prince.'
'Only those of these two ranks were permitted to use a Three-Clawed Golden Dragon as their symbol.'
'For a commoner to dare use such an object would be high treason. If discovered, the lightest punishment would be the execution of three generations of their family!'
The Xiao Family member at his side spoke in a low voice, "This is the Xiao Family's shadow token."
"The Xiao Family has two tokens in total, one black and one white. The white one is the light token, which is our Xiao Family's Patriarch's Order and the symbol of office for every Patriarch."
"As for this shadow token, it is also a symbol of the Patriarch. It can be given to a trusted confidant to command the Xiao Family's forces in the shadows."
'One is like the Imperial Jade Seal, and the other is a Tiger Talisman.'
'One for civil matters, one for military. Not bad.'
Xiao Ye raised the token in his hand. "Summon them."
"Yes!"
「Three minutes later.」
Two men in black appeared silently inside the room.
They were the Death Warriors Liu Loulan had always been so proud of—her greatest trump card!
But they didn't recognize people, only the token.
Even though Liu Loulan was their former master, without the token, she would be treated as an enemy!
Xiao Ye said coolly, "Seize Liu Loulan. She is a criminal of the Xiao Family, and more than that, a traitor!"
The two Death Warriors said nothing, seizing Liu Loulan at once.
"Let me go! Let go of me!"
Liu Loulan struggled like a madwoman, and the dragon-headed cane she was holding clattered to the floor.
Xiao Ye picked it up and examined it closely.
'This thing is extraordinary. Not only was it handcrafted by a master, but more importantly, it has a talisman carved into it.'
'And there's even a śarīra embedded within. This is a true Dharma Artifact!'
'Using it in daily life can keep one safe. It's definitely a fine item!'
Liu Loulan quickly ran out of strength. Like a dead dog, she was hauled up by the two men and brought before Xiao Ye.
"Ghk... ghk..." A strange sound came from her throat, and she immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
Xiao Ye stepped aside in disgust. "Liu Loulan, since you married Xiao Ling, by rights, you are a member of the Xiao Family."
"Therefore, even though you have done wrong, you should be dealt with according to the Xiao Family's laws."
"You will be sentenced to death by hanging. Your body will then be tossed into a mass grave, and you will not be worthy of burial in the Xiao Family's ancestral tomb!"
This was a family law from the time of the Xiao Family's founding; naturally, it was no longer applied in the present day.
As a result, this extremely severe punishment had not been carried out for many years.
Liu Loulan would be the first, but she would not be the last.
"Pah!" Liu Loulan spat out a mouthful of blood and suddenly burst out laughing. In her current state, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a fiend.
"Xiao Ye, do you think the Xiao Family is such an easy place to be? Let me tell you, this place will eat you alive and not even spit out the bones!"
"Even without me, you won't last long! I curse you! I curse you to die a miserable death!"
Xiao Ye paid her curse no mind. 'If a few simple words could truly curse someone, the world would have descended into chaos long ago.'
He looked over at Xiao Ming, who was cowering in the corner. 'What a useless coward.'
'Seeing that Liu Loulan was finished, he was too scared to even make a peep.'
'He grovels before his enemies but comes down hard on his own mother!'
Xiao Ye said coldly, "Seize Xiao Ming! It has been verified that he does not have the blood of the Xiao Family. He's a bastard."
"He has made no contribution to the Xiao Family and has wasted all the years the family invested in raising him."
"Therefore, I have decided to expel him from the Xiao Family and confiscate all his assets. From this day forward, every cent he earns for the rest of his life,"
"aside from what's needed for a minimum standard of living, will be used to repay the debt he owes the Xiao Family!"
Xiao Ming looked up in disbelief. "That's impossible! I'm Xiao Ling's son!"
"How could I not have Xiao Family blood in me? This is a lie! You're just making this up to get rid of me!"
"I really am part of the Xiao Family! Are you all just going to stand there and watch him kick me out?"
The Xiao Family elders, who had once been so pleasant toward him, now regarded him with utter indifference.
"You are indeed not of the Xiao Family. We have already conducted the tests."
"No... That's impossible! You're all in on it, helping him lie!"
Xiao Ming refused to believe it, assuming it was all part of Xiao Ye's scheme.
Xiao Ye said bluntly, "Why don't you ask your mother? She doesn't have many days left, anyway. If she dies, you'll really never know who your biological father is!"
Xiao Ming instinctively looked toward Liu Loulan.
She didn't deny it.
'That's not right!'
'How could she just let Xiao Ye frame her like this? Even if she couldn't do anything else, she could at least verbally deny it!'
"Could what he said be true? Am I really not of Xiao Ling's bloodline?"
There's an old saying: it's not the godlike opponent you should fear, but the idiotic teammate.
Liu Loulan no longer wanted to speak to this useless son of hers.
She was tired.
But the more she acted this way, the more certain Xiao Ming became that it was true!
He understood Liu Loulan; he knew her personality all too well!
"Liu Loulan, I'm asking you, whose son am I? Tell me!"
Liu Loulan let out a sneer, her voice laced with endless exhaustion. "I have spent my entire life toiling for you, scheming for you."
"The things I have done to make you the Patriarch of the Xiao Family are countless."
"But I never imagined that the person I so carefully cultivated would turn out to be such an imbecile!"
"All it took was a few words from him to make you question your own bloodline! How could I, Liu Loulan, have given birth to such useless trash like you!"