Chapter 35 — TVF Chapter 35

A Poor Family’s Hereditary Scumbag (7) After meeting Qin Jingzhou, the Tenth Prince designed a “special operation” targeting Prince Li’s children. In his previous life, he had been utterly disgusted by how Prince Li’s faction lingered on like a centipede that refused to die.

Whether he liked it or not, the facts were plain to see: Prince Li had money—and to a certain extent, he also possessed “righteous legitimacy.”

In the eyes of those old die-hards obsessed with “orthodoxy,” the Emperor should abdicate in favor of Prince Li. And looking at it now, the deposed Crown Prince really did seem to have been wronged. As a result, there were plenty of imperial clansmen and aristocratic families who sympathized with Prince Li.

Before the Tenth Prince realized he had been poisoned with the secret “Weakening” drug, he had been quite courteous toward Prince Li’s faction.

But now that he knew Prince Li’s “residual poison” had not only harmed his wife and son, but had also plunged Great Liang into warfare—nearly causing the nation’s collapse…

This time, he would show no mercy whatsoever. Executing Prince Li’s pair of illegitimate children on the spot wasn’t appropriate, but letting his two cousins “die of illness”? That, he could do.

The Tenth Prince sat in a soft sedan chair, propping his chin with one hand as he looked at Yu Depei’s deathly pale face. “If you didn’t look so much like him, I’d really suspect you weren’t your father’s son.”

Hearing this, Yu Depei began to tremble uncontrollably.

Qin Jingzhou finished resetting his arm and walked over. “When I speak, he shivers once. When Your Highness speaks, he won’t stop shaking. Looks like he’s seriously overdue for a beating.”

The Tenth Prince’s impression of the civil-and-military-all-rounded Qin Jingzhou improved by the minute. “If you ask me, shove your son into the secret intelligence camp. In five years, he’ll definitely be reformed.”

Qin Jingzhou laughed. “And if he doesn’t reform, we just collect his corpse?”

The two exchanged a look and burst out laughing.

Yu Depei was so frightened he was on the verge of fainting. Before this, he had believed that since he was his father’s only son, if he cried and admitted his mistakes, his father would surely soften up… Even breaking his legs would just be hatred born of disappointment—he wouldn’t really take his life.

But just now, he had truly felt it from his father…

Killing intent.

Thinking again, his father was only a bit over thirty. He himself was his father’s greatest stain. Why wouldn’t his father harden his heart and have another child? His mother was gone. Because he had wanted to sell his little sister, his maternal grandparents would never speak a word in his favor…

Yu Depei finally understood his true predicament. His entire body went cold. On top of that, he hadn’t eaten much all day. Unable to hold on any longer, he passed out.

Seeing this, Qin Jingzhou shook his head. “Already fainted.” He sighed. “This child’s heart is crooked. I’ll teach him properly first, then toss him into the army camp to toughen up.”

The Tenth Prince smiled. “Good.”

The Young Prince also walked over, looking from the Tenth Prince to Qin Jingzhou. “Since when did you two get so close?”

The Tenth Prince replied solemnly, “Instant soulmates?”

Qin Jingzhou just smiled without saying anything.

The system couldn’t hold back anymore. “This guy’s thinking is a bit dangerous.” Qin Jingzhou thought for a moment. “I want to help him reclaim the protagonist halo.” The system displayed a whole line of exclamation marks.

Qin Jingzhou said seriously, “The Tenth Prince has breadth of mind and acts decisively. Aside from his short lifespan, I don’t see any real flaws.” The system hesitated. “…So basically, you like him too.” After a pause, it added proactively, “Brother Zhou, back when Rui Li was still the female lead, the male supporting characters were those who had emotional entanglements with her or gave her significant help. I can guarantee the protagonist halo never transferred to them. We’ve participated in the Tenth Prince’s special operation as well, and I haven’t detected anyone acquiring the halo.” Qin Jingzhou wasn’t surprised at all. “I believe you. If you knew where the protagonist halo was, you couldn’t possibly not tell me. Let’s just focus on our own work. We’ll run into it sooner or later.” The system replied, “Exactly.” After chatting a bit more, Qin Jingzhou exchanged farewells with the Tenth Prince and the Young Prince, then grabbed his unfilial son and headed home.

Once his back had completely disappeared from view, the Young Prince finally asked the Tenth Prince, “Tenth Brother, how about introducing Mr. Yu to Fifth Sister?”

The Tenth Prince immediately changed expression. “Don’t mess around.”

Seeing this, the Young Prince quickly explained, “I’m not trying to set Mr. Yu up. I just think… one thing restrains another. What if…?”

The Tenth Prince grew even more serious. “Don’t stick your nose into this. When it blows up, you’ll offend everyone.”

The Young Prince thought it over and nodded. “True.”

…

Yu Depei wasn’t some delicate flower. He wouldn’t be broken that easily.

Qin Jingzhou brought the unfilial son back to their residence, woke him up without the slightest bit of pity, and forced him to write another divorce agreement. Then he left him with homework, ordering him to copy scriptures behind closed doors—if more than three characters were wrong per hundred, it would be a beating.

After giving the instructions, Qin Jingzhou also told his nephew and little sister to keep watch together. “If he slacks off,” he said, pulling out the ruler he had specially bought and handing it to both of them, “hit him. Don’t hold back. If he tries to scare you by saying he’ll retaliate later, hit him even harder.”

The nephew and little sister smiled and agreed.

Two days earlier, Qin Jingzhou had given the old master four thousand taels of silver. Three thousand were for renovating the estate and buying farmland; the remaining thousand was for the old master to spend however he liked.

The old master was deeply moved. After accepting the money, he convened a simple “family meeting” while Qin Jingzhou was away, calling together his sons, youngest daughter, eldest daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. He told them how his third son, after making his rise, had filled in the family’s gaps—

Wang-shi and Second Sister-in-law Yu were still locked in the side rooms. The old master refused to let either of them out.

As a result, the cheap nephews who studied at home worked all the more diligently for their Third Uncle.

As for Little Sister Yu, it went without saying. The young girl spent all day talking about Third Brother this and Third Brother that. In her eyes, no one else in the family carried as much authority as Third Brother.

That day, Qin Jingzhou took the divorce papers and the unfilial son’s indenture to the government office for registration. Because the Tenth Prince had spoken to the county magistrate in advance, not only did everything proceed extremely smoothly, Qin Jingzhou also learned from the magistrate that the registered marriage documents for Little Sister and Tianniu had been destroyed as well—something the Young Prince could be trusted to handle properly.

After leaving the county office, he stopped by to visit his father-in-law and mother-in-law. When he returned home, he found the unfilial son hunched over the desk copying scriptures…

…with a huge swollen bump on his forehead.

Little Sister complained angrily, “He insisted on dodging, and ended up smashing into the cabinet.”

Qin Jingzhou frowned slightly and called his nephews into the study as well. Holding Tianniu in one hand and rubbing Little Sister’s head with the other, he said, “You need to use your brains when doing things. If he dared to dodge, why didn’t you dare tie him to the chair?”

Yu Depei threw down his brush and burst into loud sobs. “Are you really my father?!”

Qin Jingzhou maintained his gentle smile. “If I weren’t your real father, based on what you’ve done, I’d have made you adorably headless a long time ago.”

Yu Depei: ……

Qin Jingzhou turned to educate Little Sister and the nephews. “You all know what’s happened to Pei-ge. But after being deceived and cheated, his first thought wasn’t to tell the family so we could think of solutions together. He didn’t even want to go to the prefectural city to complain to me. Instead, he thought that if he couldn’t live well, then no one else should either… Truly both bad and stupid.”

Little Sister instantly understood. “Third Brother, you don’t really care whether Pei-ge is good or bad. You’re angry that he’s too stupid?”

Qin Jingzhou rubbed the delicate velvet flower on her head askew. “You really do understand Third Brother.” He looked at his three thoughtful nephews. “A true man knows what he should do and what he should not do. Think carefully about those words.”

The nephews all nodded.

Giving his nephews and Little Sister some time to digest this, Qin Jingzhou finally said, “Now I’ll test you.”

The nephews immediately tensed up, as if facing a great enemy.

Because the original owner had bled the family dry for over twenty years, his elder brother and nephews had only learned to recognize some characters—barely enough not to be considered illiterate by the standards of the time.

Qin Jingzhou had given the old master several times the amount the original owner had squandered, and had also hired a teacher for the nephews and Little Sister. Any lingering resentment the nephews once had had long since dissipated, replaced by a small complaint:

Third Uncle… if only the exams weren’t so strict.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and the Tenth Prince and the Young Prince set off to return to the capital.

During that month, the relationship between the Tenth Prince and Rui Li—now divorced—advanced by leaps and bounds. When the Tenth Prince returned to the capital, no matter what, he refused to be separated from Rui Li, and simply packed up the entire Rui family and took them along.

Before leaving, the Tenth Prince even specifically told Qin Jingzhou, “Come find me in the capital later.”

Rui Li smiled radiantly as she looked at the Tenth Prince.

Qin Jingzhou waved. “Definitely.”

Watching the group disappear into the distance, he turned to Prince Jin’s heir, who had stayed behind to clean up the aftermath. “His Highness really is glowing with joy.”

Prince Jin’s heir said, “I never imagined Old Ten was this kind of person.”

After the Tenth Prince returned to the capital, Qin Jingzhou spent more than two months at home enjoying peaceful days: teasing his daughter and Little Sister, teaching his nephews and grand-nephews, coaxing his father and elder brother, beating his unfilial son—altogether, a very fulfilling life.

By the next Lunar New Year, the old residence still hadn’t finished renovations, so the whole family celebrated in the county town home.

Taking advantage of the holiday gathering and the visits from clan members, Qin Jingzhou discussed future arrangements with both his immediate family and the clan, laying out plans for after he went to the capital to sit for the examinations.

The old master and his two elder brothers were clear-headed, and Eldest Sister-in-law was a sensible person as well. Qin Jingzhou merely reminded the family and clan members to act cautiously, not to get carried away or reckless. Wang-shi and Second Sister-in-law Yu were to be sent to the Buddhist hall to properly cultivate their character, and only released once they truly recognized their mistakes.

Second Sister-in-law Yu was an accessory; three to five years of confinement would be about right.

But Wang-shi…

Qin Jingzhou would not soften his heart. Wang-shi had to squat in the Buddhist hall for a full ten years, and only if she sincerely repented without resentment. Otherwise, she would continue squatting.

He wasn’t afraid of anyone making a fuss over filial piety. With the old master around, Wang-shi couldn’t stir up even a ripple.

And the old master himself was blessed with longevity. After Qin Jingzhou passed the provincial exam and brought silver home, the old master had no more worries. He spent his days drinking tea, playing chess, and reading storybooks, living quite leisurely.

In early spring of the second month, Qin Jingzhou took his eldest nephew, the clan uncle who had proactively come to seek refuge, and a group of attendants and servants, boarding a boat bound for the capital.

Upon arriving, Qin Jingzhou saw the Young Prince and the Tenth Prince’s cousin waiting at the docks to receive him.

At the time, the cousin had been seriously injured and had returned to the capital early to recuperate. After several months, he could now walk briskly again.

The cousin smiled and said, “Originally, Cousin wanted to come too, but he wanted to ask to marry Miss Rui… and got scolded badly by Consort De.”

Leaving aside the previous dynasty, even within Great Liang there had been remarried empresses and empress dowagers. So Consort De’s disdain wasn’t purely because Rui Li was a divorced woman—it was because of her background.

Even so, now that they were former male and female leads, Qin Jingzhou was confident the two of them would eventually end up together.

The cousin’s tone made him ask the system, “Original male supporting character?” The system answered instantly, “Yes.” Laughing and chatting, the group got into the carriage and headed for the residence they had booked in advance.

After setting down their luggage and settling in briefly, Qin Jingzhou went with the Young Prince and the cousin to a restaurant to talk business—the Tenth Prince hadn’t come to receive him personally, but was waiting for him in a private room.

By coincidence, just as Qin Jingzhou took his seat, an “unwelcome guest” arrived.

They heard Prince Li’s second son speaking in a sarcastic tone outside the door. “Your Highness the Princess, listen to me—Yu Depei’s father is even better…”

The private room door flew open, and the Tenth Prince said urgently, “Fifth Sister, Mr. Yu is my man!”

Qin Jingzhou looked at the dazzlingly beautiful princess with her radiant smile—and the small golden ball hovering above her head—and said to the Tenth Prince, “I… am not entirely opposed.”

Ling Jing, who had transmigrated into Princess Zhaoming—also known as the “Fifth Sister” in the Tenth Prince’s words—looked at him as well. “Tenth Brother, didn’t you want to marry Miss Rui? How about I ask Father Emperor to bestow the marriage?”

The Tenth Prince wavered instantly. “That doesn’t seem very appropriate…”

Everyone: ……

Only Prince Li’s second son was completely dumbfounded. “You—!”