He Shengtao was doing errands outside, but was told by the steward that something had happened at home. He hurriedly returned home. Before he could ask, his third brother He Shenghua hugged him and started crying.
In the He family ancestral hall, all the men of the He family were standing according to their seniority. He Wanming stood in front with a very serious look on his face.
He Shengtao didn't know why, so he stood in the first row, feeling a little panicked. It was very rare for the whole family to gather in the ancestral hall. What happened to make him take it so seriously?
He Wanming was obviously waiting for him, so after he took his seat, he took down a thick genealogy from the altar, and then said word by word:
"He Mengyou, the eldest son of the second wife He Shengtao, has committed murder. In order to avoid bringing harm to the He family, He will be expelled from the He family from now on.
From then on, he was no longer a member of the He family in life, nor a ghost of the He family in death, nor was he allowed to be buried in the ancestral grave of the He family. The He family completely severed ties with him and no longer recognized his identity as a member of the He family."
As soon as these words came out, the few people who knew about it fell into silence. Those who didn't know about it, such as He Shengtao, suspected that they had heard wrongly, "Father, what do you mean by this? What does it mean to commit murder and what does it mean to be expelled?"
Genealogy? What happened to Meng'er?"
He Wanming took out a vermilion writing brush, crossed out He Mengyou's name on the genealogy, and then said: "He Mengyou's family will move to another courtyard in the countryside from now on. From now on, they are not allowed to step into the door of He's family."
He Mengyou's youngest son, only four years old, was playing with his uncle's clothes in a daze, not knowing at all that he would no longer be the young master of the He family.
He Shengtao couldn't help being angry and shouted: "Is there anyone alive who can tell me what happened?"
"Second brother." He Shenghua shouted reproachfully, then sighed and explained concisely:
"Half a year ago, your son brought back a girl from Chunmanlou and settled her in Jiuquli.
As a result, within a month, he beat the girl to death, and she was pregnant with another child, who also died. Today, the matter was brought to court, with both witnesses and material evidence. Wei Pingxiao has already been sentenced to death.
Ask and behead him in three days."
He Shengtao looked at him in shock, "The girl from Chunmanlou? This is impossible, when will he..."
Before he could finish his words, a loud slap fell on his face. He Shengtao looked at the owner of the slap in astonishment, his resentment evident.
He Wanming used all his strength in that slap. At this moment, he lost strength and staggered to support the altar, knocking over several oil lamps at hand.
He didn't care, but shouted angrily: "Your own son not only raised a prostitute outside, but also beat him to death. You, the father, don't even know what kind of job you are."
father."
He Shengtao was also so angry that he blushed and yelled back, "Yes, I am incompetent, but what about you, you are his grandfather, and you just watch your grandson being sentenced to be beheaded?
Is there such a cruel grandpa as you in the world? I don’t know how to be a father, that’s because there is no one who knows how to be a father to teach me. You know how to be a father again, you have the ability, why don’t your precious eldest son also leave home?
He ran away; if you have the ability, my son would still be sentenced to be beheaded today."
"You still dare to talk back." He Wanming pointed at He Shengtao, breathing heavily with anger, "Do you believe it or not that I will expel you from the He family as well?"
"Okay, I don't get what I asked for." He Shengtao laughed angrily, "I'm done with this piece of shit, the second master of the He family." As he said this, he swept the tablets on the altar to the ground like crazy.
This move frightened everyone present. The juniors who had been silent and dared not move at first all stepped back in horror. Brothers He Shenghua and He Shengji held He Shengtao on the left and right.
He Shengji angrily cursed: "Second brother, you are crazy. This is the memorial tablet of our ancestors. You are treasonous."
He Shenghua also advised: "Second brother, we all know that Meng'er's incident has hit you hard, but if you lift the ancestral tablet, this is a huge act of unfilial piety. Please calm down."
After He Shengtao was pulled back, he became even more furious, "Calm down, calm down, how can I be calm?"
You two are just standing and talking without hurting your back. The person who died was my child, my son. I raised him for twenty years and beheaded him when he was told. How can you tell me to calm down?"
He Shenghua was also angry, "Second brother, after we heard the news, we were also very sad. What you said, do you think we are just stone-hearted? How can I feel better that he is also my nephew?"
He Shengtao pushed He Shenghua angrily and said angrily: "Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking, you wish I was kicked out of the He family so that you can take over the business at hand.
It's a pity that you are too naive. The old man only has his precious eldest son in his heart. Who do you think you are? You are just like me, just an errand boy."
He Wanming was so angry that he flew into a rage. He picked up a fallen tablet and smashed it at He Shengtao's head, "I'll beat you to death, you unfilial son."
Naturally, a tablet could not kill anyone, and it did not even hit anyone, but this still made He Shengtao furious. He yelled hoarsely at the top of his voice:
"The eldest son is a son, the second son, the third son and the fourth son are outsiders. Your precious eldest son has abandoned you long ago, but you still keep his room for more than ten years.
What about us? We were treated like dogs, but in the end you personally sent my son to the guillotine. He Wanming, the thing I regret most in my life is that I was born into the He family with a father like you.
What kind of person raises what kind of son? If you don’t look at your own virtues, we are here today only because of your gift.”
He Shenghua and He Shengji were also angered by these words. They both looked at He Wanming, and He Shenghua asked: "Father, even if you are partial, you must have some restraint.
Regarding Meng'er, given our family's ability, it is obviously possible to save her, but we just beat a prostitute to death, so what can we do?"
He Shengji also criticized: "What the hell is Wei Pingxiao? Doesn't our He family give the government too little money every year? We can't even buy a child's life."
Not only that, you also want to give away tens of thousands of taels of silver. Do you want to thank him for killing Meng'er, are you afraid that he will be tired?"
"You...you..." He Wanming was pointed at and scolded by his three sons. He was so angry that he gasped repeatedly. Before he could take his last breath, he tilted his body and fell heavily to the ground.
The He family ancestral hall suddenly became chaotic.
...
When He Wanming woke up, only Mrs. He was sitting next to him.
He stared blankly at the curtain above his head for a long time before murmuring weakly, "Did I really do something wrong? Should I go and beg Wei Pingxiao, beg Zhou Mu, and get all the officials I can?"
Please ask again?"
Mrs. He lowered her head and shed tears. After a long time, she choked and said: "There is no reason for the separation between father and son. I have become accustomed to your temper over the years, but the tempers of my sons are...
what ever."
He Wanming was stunned for a long time, gritted his teeth and burst into tears: "Ji'er is right, the He family has given so much money to the government over the years, but in the end, not even a single life can be exchanged for it.
Wei Pingxiao, he must be laughing at me fiercely at this time, hahaha, there is no one stupider than me in the world. My grandson has been sentenced to be beheaded, but I still willingly give him money, hahaha, God, God!