Cultivation Begins with Caring for Sister-in-law-Chapter 553: Domestic Violence

Although the previous announcement from the Court stated that it was Xu Guozhong who conspired to usurp the throne and initiated the rebellion, and that Lu Sheng killed him to stop his treachery,

anyone who knew the details understood that Xu Guozhong and Lu Sheng were at odds, fighting amongst themselves, and the former lost by a margin, ending with his death.

The saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" holds true here. Prince Huai previously sent troops to support the King to overthrow Xu Guozhong, and now with Lu Sheng having killed Xu Guozhong and taken power, coupled with the current situation, cooperation is entirely possible.

King Chong said, "That may be true, but can Lu Sheng trust us? After all, we did besiege to contend with him."

"Prince, as the saying goes, acquaintance follows conflict, and the enmity between us and Lu Sheng isn’t a blood feud. The prior grudge was because Lu Sheng killed Princess Consort Huai...Xiao Yunxi’s brother..." Gongsun Yan hurriedly corrected himself, then glanced at Prince Huai, noticing his face darkened, quickly finishing his words:

"But now Xiao Yunxi has separated from Prince Huai, even the Xiao Family has aligned with Chen Mo, Prince Huai has already severed ties with the Xiao Family, and the vendetta involved has actually shifted to Chen Mo."

"General Gongsun is right. Now that Xiao Yunxi has become Chen Mo’s concubine, Xiao Yunxi’s brother is effectively his brother, so Lu Sheng and Chen Mo can never align, thereby making us have a common enemy and making it entirely possible to form an alliance," Liang Song said.

The scars were reopened, causing Prince Huai to feel a slight sting in his heart, wanting to reprimand Gongsun Yan, but as he was under their roof, he had no choice but to endure, swallowing his humiliation.

...

At Prince Huai’s residence.

In the annex at the back courtyard, Madam Hui was dressed in splendid attire, her hair adorned with a shimmering golden hairpin. She sat before the dressing table, gazing at the elegant, magnificent face in the copper mirror, couldn’t help but raise her hand to touch her mouth corner, where there was a purplish-blue mark, like a flaw on a beautiful painting.

This purplish-blue mark was left by Prince Huai’s hand.

Since Madam Xiao’s betrayal, whenever Prince Huai was in a bad mood, he would beat Madam Hui and Madam Gan to vent his anger and resentment.

The last time, Madam Hui was slapped by Prince Huai.

Seeing the purplish-blue mark at the corner of her mouth, Madam Hui frowned, taking out makeup to cover it up.

Only after several layers had been applied, making it hard to notice, did Madam Hui stand up and leave the room.

In Chongzhou, Madam Hui still had some lady friends. At this moment, she was invited by friends to go out for leisure.

Just as she was about to leave, she ran into Prince Huai returning.

Madam Hui paused, noticing Prince Huai’s face wasn’t right, seemingly in a bad mood. She felt a chill in her heart: "Prince... Prince, you’re... you’re back?"

Her fearful demeanor was immediately taken by Prince Huai as a sign of a guilty conscience, and he coldly asked, "You’re going out?"

After arriving at Chongzhou, in order to prevent gossip, Prince Huai hadn’t confined Madam Hui, but this only caused the repeatedly betrayed Prince Huai to become more suspicious and mentally twisted.

"Mm, Madam Song invited me to go spring walking." The Madam Song Madam Hui mentioned is one of King Chong’s consorts.

"Madam Song." Prince Huai snorted coldly, saying with a chilly tone, "Dressing so elaborately, I see you’re not going to accompany Madam Song, but to meet some fancy man, are you planning to betray me too..."

"Prince, I have not." Madam Hui’s face shifted dramatically.

"Haven’t you? You’re not going." Prince Huai grabbed Madam Hui’s wrist and headed inside.

"Prince, slow down, you’re hurting me..." Prince Huai, an Upper-Grade Martial Artist, had a grip Madam Hui could not break free from. As he dragged her inside, she nearly tripped due to his brisk pace.

The household servants, seeing this scene, all lowered their heads, daring not to breathe loudly, clearly not witnessing it for the first time.

Prince Huai pulled Madam Hui into a room, and as the door closed, her face went white as she quickly pleaded, "Prince, please don’t... don’t..."

Before she finished speaking, Prince Huai slapped her across the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Wretch, shameless wretch, without my permission, you dare not even think of betraying me..." Prince Huai hauled her up, delivering another slap.

"I didn’t, I didn’t..." Madam Hui continued to defend herself vehemently.

However, Prince Huai paid no heed because the betrayal by the Li Family was already an undeniable fact.

Afterward, Prince Huai stripped off all the jewelry, including Madam Hui’s golden hairpin and trinkets, throwing them on the ground, commanding, "Without my permission, you shall not wear adornments, nor shall you go out; dress more conservatively, and if you dare try again, I will not spare you..."

Giving a glare at the disheveled, blood-mouthed, constantly weeping Madam Hui on the floor, Prince Huai left with a stern face.

At this moment, sunlight poured in from the doorway, illuminating the purplish-blue mark on Madam Hui’s mouth clearly. As the door closed, the room became dimmer, shadows indistinctly intertwining like the sorrowful, numbed heart of Madam Hui at this moment.

...

Early April.

Chen Mo and Yue Ruyan, leading five thousand newly recruited Xianzhen Guard Soldiers from Huai State, set out from Yi County, beginning to take over Fengzhou.

Prince Huai had long left Fengzhou with troops, so initially, the takeover by Chen Mo went smoothly. In each county they arrived at, the local County Magistrate would come out with clerks and gentry to welcome them.

At this pace, it seemed Chen Mo could take control of the whole Fengzhou within a month.

But merely entering a city to take over wasn’t such a simple thing for Chen Mo to personally come to Fengzhou.

In each city, Chen Mo set up a public tribunal to judge the local officials, clerks, and landlords.

Who should die, who is innocent, was to be decided by the townspeople.

And each time a tribunal was built, Chen Mo would personally stand up and speak.

"I am Duke An, like you, born into poverty. For many years, I wandered through all places and saw the rich having vast lands, while the poor lacked a place to stand. You toil endlessly, just wishing for a meal to keep your family alive, yet you’re burdened with endless taxes and debts. So much so that after laboring a year, you can’t even eat the rice you grew.

Helplessly, we had to sell our lands at low prices to the wealthy and landlords, even becoming their slaves for that... To prevent indiscriminate killing, I, Chen Mo, set up this public tribunal so that those who should die, those who don’t deserve death or are innocent, can be decided by all of you present."

However, there were no truly innocent among those judged.

Chen Mo, going along with the people’s wishes, executed those found guilty.

This move maintained local order and stability. After slaying the landlords, their lands were distributed to the people, winning Chen Mo popular support.