Chapter 781 - 783: Offering a Humble Apology
Chapter 781: Chapter 783: Offering a Humble Apology
Wu Hao cried, "Dad, please think of a way to save your son! Now that they have been taken away by Lord Liang, he might send someone to our home to arrest me any minute."
Old Sir Wu leaned back in his Taishi Chair. "Why didn’t you ask me before you caused such a disaster? Don’t you know that the Wu family has survived here for hundreds of years not by catering to those in power or clinging to any particular clan? Our ancestors built everything we have bit by bit, and now it might all be destroyed just because of your selfish desires. How do you expect me to explain this to our clansmen? How am I supposed to face our ancestors?"
Old Sir Wu grew angrier the more he thought about it. He pointed at his eldest son. "You really have a lot of nerve! Since you know you’ve messed up, I will tie you up myself and take you to Lord Liang’s residence to confess. Our family cannot be ruined just because of you."
"Dad!" Hearing that his father was planning to offer him up, Wu Hao hastily shuffled forward on his knees and hugged Old Sir Wu’s thighs. "I really just wanted to find a new path for our family. Although we are known as a century-old aristocratic family, we haven’t produced any capable talents in a long time. Here in Yi Province, even though a few families are banded together, we are actually just restricting each other. The other party is a noble from Shangjing. If we could just latch onto them, we might be able to leave this impoverished place."
On the surface, they looked glamorous, but outside of Yi Province, who actually knew them? They had neither power nor influence; to put it bluntly, they were just merchants. In the eyes of the powerful, they were undoubtedly a piece of fat meat. If they hadn’t banded together, they would have been carved up and devoured long ago, or completely suppressed. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have remained in this remote corner—they would have moved to a more prosperous area a long time ago.
"Alas." Old Sir Wu truly had not known that his eldest son harbored such great ambitions. His own father’s generation had similar thoughts, but they had to face reality. "For so many years, our family has always supported our youths to strive for success, while also sponsoring those Scholars and scholars. However, our youths have been disappointing. In all these years, not a single one has managed to enter officialdom."
Speaking of this, Old Sir Wu also felt somewhat discouraged. Over the years, the amount of Silver they had invested in scholars had been immeasurable. They had formed some good ties, but once those people left this place, how many actually remembered the favor? There were a few who valued loyalty and acknowledged they owed a debt, but unless absolutely necessary, the Wu family wouldn’t dare call in those favors.
"You really were too reckless this time," Old Sir Wu scolded. "When you first noticed their unusual behavior, even if you had just placated them and then gone to Lord Liang to claim credit—since this territory is under his jurisdiction—do you think he would have mistreated our Wu family? What’s more, you didn’t even know their background! You followed them into making trouble without even figuring out which noble from Shangjing they were. It was utterly foolish! It’s useless for you to kneel before me now. Hurry up and get ready. I am taking you to the governor’s mansion to offer a humble apology."
Old Sir Wu was truly disappointed in his eldest son. He had originally thought that seeing him act so steadily all these years meant he could eventually pass the family down into his hands. But now it seemed he had misjudged him. He wasn’t even sure if the Wu family’s meager reputation would be enough to smooth over the current mess.
"Dad, why don’t we ask the other aristocratic families for help?" Wu Hao pleaded. "We’ve always had a pact. Even if Lord Liang is the chief official here, he couldn’t possibly clash with the major families all at once."
"You are utterly muddled! Is this just Lord Liang’s business? Have you forgotten that everything you did was targeting Mr. Gu? You even thought you were being clever by pinning the blame on Lady Liang. Do you think these officials have good tempers? That they would let you scheme against them like this and not settle the score? If you had told me the whole story earlier, it wouldn’t be so hard to clean up this mess now."
Given the Wu family’s many years of operation here, they could have at least made the plan foolproof. Even if they had done it, they would have had ways to ensure it couldn’t be traced back to them. But now, it was too late. The suspects had been taken directly from Tianle Restaurant; it was impossible for the Wu family to clear their name.
Just as the father and son were about to head out, Wu Kun rushed in. Completely ignoring the rules of respect between elder and younger, he delivered a vicious kick to his own blood brother.
"You’re trying to get me killed!" Earlier today, upon hearing the Shopkeeper’s report, Wu Kun had immediately investigated the matter but couldn’t make sense of it. After calling in some favors, he had finally managed to find out that his eldest brother had colluded with others to target Governor Liang and Mr. Gu. What terrified him the most was that Wu Hao had brought those people to eat and stay at Tianle Restaurant, delivering a fatal blow to his already struggling business. Furthermore, he didn’t even know if he would be implicated. It wouldn’t just be the restaurant going under—he himself would be doomed.
"Enough! Beating your brother won’t help anything now," Old Sir Wu said, stopping Wu Kun’s raised fist. "The most urgent task is to hurry to the governor’s mansion. Seeing as we are confessing voluntarily, the Lord might handle the matter more leniently."
Although Wu Kun was furious, he still cared slightly about their brotherly bond. "Dad, is there no other way?"
"Hurry up and follow me!" Old Sir Wu didn’t answer him, instead taking the lead and walking out. If there were another way, would he really be willing to sacrifice his eldest son?
The group had just arrived outside the governor’s mansion when they saw several Lords walk out with sabers at their waists. As soon as the officers saw them, they stopped in their tracks.
"Well, brothers, we’ve saved ourselves a trip today. Look who delivered themselves to our door."
Old Sir Wu hurriedly put on a fawning smile. "Brother Officers, please inform Lord Liang that I have brought my unfilial son to offer our humble apologies."
"Wait here a moment, Old Sir Wu. We will go and report to the Lord." Considering the Wu family’s status in Yongchang County, the government officials still gave them some face, and someone immediately went inside to report.
They weren’t kept waiting for long. The government official who had gone in quickly came back out. "The Lord said to bring Eldest Young Master Wu in for questioning. Unrelated personnel are to leave immediately."
The old man stuffed a purse into the officer’s arms, smiling apologetically. "That is only proper. If this brat doesn’t tell the truth, please, Brother Officer, have someone send word to our home so I can teach him a lesson."
The government officials exchanged glances. Seeing their leader give a slight nod, the official who had received the purse finally gripped it tightly in his hand. "When there’s news, we will have someone notify your family."
In Yongchang County, many people worked under the various aristocratic families, making it inevitable that they shared some ties of kinship or friendship. For them, passing on a message was merely a small effort, and it would save their relatives and friends from losing their jobs.
Before entering the governor’s mansion, Wu Hao looked at his father and brother pleadingly, hoping that his family could pull some strings to help him.
Old Sir Wu waved him off. "Go on in. You haven’t taken anyone’s life; the Governor will handle the matter impartially."