“They said that because I attacked Qiao Ni so cruelly, they will expunge me from the Qiao Clan’s genealogical record!”
“It’s not like I care!” Qiao Mu stubbornly blurted out with reddened eyes. “I’m having my dad establish his own clan and erect his own ancestral hall! Hereafter, I will be the Qiao Clan’s genuine eldest miss. What do you think, Lian?”
Qiao Mu had buried her face in his chest, so her voice was naturally muffled.
“It’s good!”
A ruthless glint flitted across Mo Lian’s eyes, and when he looked up at Qiao Dongbo and company, he shouted, “Where are the crown prince’s personal guards!”
As Qiao Mu leaned against him, she hugged his waist and snuggled her small head into his chest. She could distinctly sense the man’s breathing getting labored, due to the fact that his blood, ignited by his rage, flared up by degrees.
Rumble! Over a hundred personal guards stepped forward, raising their swords as they bellowed in unison, “Here!”
“The capital’s Qiao Family captured the marchioness without cause or reason! And thus committing a crime of gross disrespect to the crown prince consort! Arrest all of the capital’s Qiao Family! They will be prosecuted by the Highest Judiciary.”
What?
At this statement, Qiao Dongbo shuddered all over, and just as he was about to resist, he heard the crown prince’s icy voice ringing out. “If anyone should resist, it doesn’t matter if they are male or female, old or young! Execute them on the spot!”
Immediately, the Qiao Clan disciples cried out mournfully.
Qiao Dongbo’s shoulders stooped instantly, and he released his grip. As a royal guard cuffed him with a pair of handcuffs that could lock away mystic energy, he hollered with bloodshot eyes, “Your Highness! You can’t do this! Your Highness!”
“If you don’t want the nearly 300 people in the entire Qiao Clan to be exterminated! Then immediately shut up!” Mo Lian coldly swept Qiao Dongbo a glance as he left them with these words, scaring all the people in the Qiao Clan witless. “You are no longer Our wife’s clansmen. We, do not need to be courteous with you all!”
At once, Qiao Zhongde collapsed to the floor, and the curses and abuse that he had hurled out earlier now seemed so low and ridiculous.
Without question, a mere Qiao Clan wanting to oppose the powerful royal court would be like striking a stone with an egg—they would die without intact corpses.
Hence, in a split second, the sound of soldiers arresting people mixed in with the sound of shouting and scolding.
“I merely wanted to let my mom live more comfortably,” Qiao Mu said faintly as she leaned against Mo Lian in low spirits.
“Don’t worry, they won’t have a chance to harm your mom again.”
As Mo Lian escorted the mother and daughter pair back to the Marquis of Jiayuan’s Estate, Wei Ziqin whispered with her daughter in the carriage.
“When I saw Old Sixth Qiao and Sister-in-Law earlier, I was also greatly shocked.” Wei Ziqin held her daughter’s small hand as she retold in detail what she had experienced after being captured and taken to the Qiao Clan.
“Qiao Dongbo didn’t make things difficult for me. He even had a doctor treat my injuries.” Wei Ziqin shook her head and said, “Even he himself couldn’t have expected that you would have such a big reaction, practically overturning the entire Qiao Estate.”
“They said they wanted me to stay and live in the main family for a period of time. So they especially found Sixth Sister-in-Law to keep me company. When I saw Old Sixth and his family, I was also truly happy. Sigh, yet I didn’t expect that he and his wife would be helping Qiao Dongbo talk me into staying. They even wanted me to convince you to return to the main family.” Wei Ziqin shook her head, unable to judge them for their actions.
So many years had passed, after all. People’s hearts were capricious to begin with, so if Old Sixth Qiao and Sixth Aunt had changed because of the transformed ways of the world, there wouldn’t be anything strange about that.
Earlier, she had asked the couple how they had endured through the years, as well as how they had come to the main family.
Yet both people were silent, not intending to tell her at all.
Seeing that the couple had gotten unfamiliar with her, not treating her as one of them at all, Wei Ziqin didn’t ask them anymore after that.