sjar Chapter 518 I was right! That's what my mother said!
Chapter 518 I was right! That's what my mother said!
Lu Ge'er stood at the door with a cold expression, followed by a group of children with different expressions.
The leader was none other than Wang Shuo, the chubby boy in brocade robes, whose face still held a hint of stubborn defiance.
Behind them were Meizi, who was holding Xuan-ge'er with red eyes, and several servants with ashen faces.
Xuan-ge leaned on Mei-zi's shoulder and sobbed softly.
Meizi carefully held the injured little hand in her arms, but the glaring bloodstains were still visible on it.
The laughter in the hall stopped abruptly.
All eyes were on the children, and the festive warmth in the air seemed to be instantly dispelled by this sudden spectacle.
Madam Gu's smile froze, and a sense of foreboding washed over her.
Today is her grandson's one-month celebration, how could such a thing happen!
She was about to reprimand him when she saw Lu Ge'er step in.
He walked straight through the crowd without looking to the side and stood in front of Chu Ruohan.
"Aunt." Lu Ge'er bowed respectfully, his voice not loud, but clearly carried throughout the quiet flower hall.
Chu Ruohan's gaze had already shifted from him to Xuan Ge'er, who was crying behind him.
When she saw the wound on that little hand, the gentle smile in her eyes vanished instantly, turning into a bottomless, icy pool.
She didn't speak immediately, but stood up, walked slowly to Meizi, and took the still sobbing Xuan-ge'er from her arms.
As soon as Xuan-ge saw her, he pouted and burst into tears, crying even louder.
"Mother... Waaah... It hurts so much..."
Meizi knelt down with a "plop," tears streaming down her face.
"Please forgive me, Madam! It was my fault for not keeping a close eye on Young Master Xuan!"
"It was them, it was them who pushed the young master down, and they even said, said some disgusting and vile things!"
Chu Ruohan held Xuan Ge'er in her arms, gently patting his back, and tenderly lifted his injured little hand with her other hand to examine it carefully.
Her movements were steady, without the slightest hint of panic, but the more she did so, the more oppressive a sense of impending storm became to those around her.
"Who pushed them?" Chu Ruohan raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping over the group of children like a cold lightning bolt.
Wang Shuo, the chubby boy in brocade robes, shuddered under her gaze and instinctively shrank back.
At this moment, Brother Lü spoke up. He turned around, faced the guests in the hall, and finally fixed his gaze on Wang Shuo.
"Then we'll have to ask this young master Wang."
Among the crowd, a woman dressed in fine clothes suddenly changed her expression; she was the wife of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and Wang Shuo's mother.
She quickly stood up and forced a smile: "Madam of the Duke of Zhenguo, this, this is just children playing around, bumping and bruising is common."
"Children often speak without thinking, so please be magnanimous and don't take it to heart."
As she spoke, she glared at her son and said, "Shuo-ge'er, come over here and apologize to your brother Xuan!"
"No!" Wang Shuo retorted defiantly. Being scolded by his mother in public only fueled his rebellious spirit.
“I’m right! That’s what my mother said!”
"He was adopted. Once the Duchess has a biological son, he will be kicked out!"
Children's words are innocent, but they can also be the most hurtful.
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the audience was shocked.
The wife of the Vice Minister of Personnel turned deathly pale in an instant, and she almost fainted.
Madam Gu's face was extremely grim. She never expected that this child would dare to say such hurtful things in public.
This is not only a slap in the face to Chu Ruohan and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but also a slap in the face to the entire Gu family!
"How dare you!" Chu Ruohan shouted sharply, her voice not loud, but it resounded like thunder in everyone's ears.
The baby boy in her arms trembled in fright and stopped crying.
Chu Ruohan took a deep breath, shifting her gaze from Wang Shuo to his mother, who was barely able to stand. "Madam Wang."
"Yes, yes, the Duchess is here," the wife of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel replied in a trembling voice.
"According to the laws of this dynasty, adopted children are treated as one's own children, no different from biological children, and are honored in the ancestral temple and included in the family genealogy."
Chu Ruohan spoke each word clearly and distinctly.
“Xuan-ge’er is the eldest grandson of my Zhenguo Duke’s Mansion, recorded in the family genealogy. He is my son, Chu Ruohan’s son. Who dares to say he isn’t? Who dares to say they want to kick him out?”
Her gaze slowly swept across the entire room, finally landing on Madam Wang's face, a cold smile curving her lips.
"Or does Madam Wang think that the affairs of my Duke Zhenguo Mansion are none of your business, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel? Are your family rules even more important than the laws of the Eastern Jin Dynasty?"
"No, no! I would never dare!" Madam Wang was so frightened that her legs went weak and she knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.
"It is my fault for failing to properly educate my son and for speaking nonsense. I beg the Duchess to forgive me, please forgive me!"
"You think you can get away with just saying you failed to raise your child properly?" Chu Ruohan sneered. "A child is a blank sheet of cloth; what color it is dyed depends entirely on the person in charge."
"He dared to say those words to my son today; how many times have you, as his mother, said them behind his back?"
She turned to Brother Lu: "Brother Lu, you just said that someone said some outrageous things?"
Lu Ge'er stepped forward, pointed at the trembling servants, and said in a deep voice, "Reporting to Aunt, just now when Xuan Ge'er was pushed down, Sister Mei Zi argued with them, but instead of admitting their mistake, they said... said that Xuan Ge'er is a bastard without father or mother."
With a loud "boom," the flower hall erupted into chaos.
If the previous words were merely childish ignorance, these words are an irreconcilable insult!
Chu Ruohan's expression was beyond ugly; it was an extreme calm, beneath which lay a fury powerful enough to destroy everything.
She handed the baby Xuan to the maid beside her and instructed, "Go and fetch Doctor Qian. He should bandage the wound carefully so that it doesn't become a chronic illness."
"Yes, ma'am."
After the maidservant carried Xuan-ge'er away, Chu Ruohan walked step by step to the few servants who were slumped on the ground.
"Keep your head up."
The servants trembled like leaves, not daring to raise their heads.
Chu Ruohan was not angry. She simply said to the head maid beside her, "Go and find out which family these servants belong to. Prepare invitations and send them to their respective households along with the servants."
“Tell their master that the people of my Zhenguo Duke’s Mansion are precious.”
"Even when speaking, one must consider one's own weight. If one cannot teach the servants well, I will teach them for them."
She paused, her voice growing even colder: "As for this child..."
Her gaze fell back on Wang Shuo, who was still terrified. "And you, Madam Wang."
"If you don't give my son and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion a satisfactory explanation today, then..."
"Tomorrow morning, I will personally take my imperial edict and knock on the door of the Ministry of Personnel to ask Vice Minister Wang how he has managed his household!"