webnovelfull Chapter 469 Why should I work like a slave for the tribe?
Chapter 469 Why should I work like a slave for the tribe?
Master Bai stepped forward and shouted loudly:
“They were even holding slingshots and aiming at Wanwan!
If Si Nian hadn’t been quick to step in and protect us, someone would have died in the clan school today!
Tell me, is this what you call innocence?"
Master Bai was really furious and almost scared to death.
Master Bai looked at the messy courtyard, his eyes reddened, and his voice trembled slightly:
"If you still care about your bloodline, you should know that tolerating these evildoers is to undermine the foundation of the Bai family!
Back then, our ancestors tightened their belts, willingly eating coarse food to support their children's education. Why? Wasn't it because they hoped that the descendants of the Bai family would learn etiquette and morality?
Look at their current behavior! They are cunning and disrespectful to their elders. What's the point of keeping such people around?
If they don't punish us severely today, the Bai family's reputation will be smashed to pieces by their own hands one day!"
Bai Wenju pushed aside the broken wooden stool in front of him, and stood up with a burst of wood chips flying. A sneer of contempt played on the corner of his mouth: "Bah! You talk so high and mighty, but you just want to kick our family out?"
He deliberately brushed off the non-existent dust on his body and glanced at Master Bai with a provocative look in his eyes: "What kind of person is the Bai family? Are you still living in the beautiful dream of the past?"
He shouted at the surrounding clan members at the top of his voice:
"What's the point of reading these crap books every day?
It's so suffocating here, and I have to endure the wrath of these old guys!"
He grabbed Bai Wuyao's arm with such force that his brother stumbled a few steps. "Let's go! Let's get out of this rotten place! I want to see what the Bai family can do without us!"
Bai Wuyao staggered after being dragged, but he still followed his brother out with his neck stiff, and before leaving, he turned back and spat.
After the Bai Wenju brothers left, the head of the Bai family wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said in a trembling voice: "Grandfather, their great uncle is Bai Guanqing, a sixth-rank official in the capital..."
Master Bai snorted coldly and said:
"Bai Guanqing? He seems so majestic now! But have you ever thought about who provided him with writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone when he was studying so hard?
Who sought medical treatment for him? Now that you are a minor official, you dare to turn a deaf ear to the affairs of your clan?"
The patriarch smiled bitterly and shook his head:
"That's right! Ever since you retired and returned home, your family has stopped communicating with you.
Two years ago, our clan suffered a hailstorm. I went to their house to ask for help with generous gifts, but was blocked at the door by the servants.
Bai Guanqing said through the crack in the door, "Don't bring this up again..."
"Ridiculous! Absurd indeed!" Master Bai was so angry that he trembled all over.
"His name is still recorded in the genealogy of the Bai family ancestral hall!
He grew up eating the rice of the clan, entered the officialdom on the basis of the reputation of the Bai family, but now he wants to draw a clear line with the clan?
How can you be so ungrateful! Just beat the drums and tell Bai Guanqing.
Since he is unwilling to contribute to the clan, he should be expelled from the clan."
The patriarch tried to stop her with tears in his eyes:
"Grandfather, absolutely not! Bai Guanqing is currently working in the Ministry of Personnel.
If we really expel him from the family tree, won’t outsiders laugh at the Bai family for cutting off their own arms? Our reputation…”
Master Bai's silver beard trembled with anger:
"Reputation? The Bai family's reputation was earned through the virtues of our ancestors and the hard work of our descendants. When will it be the turn of an ungrateful person to protect it?"
If we don't clean up our mess today, the whole world will point fingers at the Bai family and curse them!"
The clan leader's Adam's apple rolled, and he didn't dare to persuade him anymore. He could only tremble and ordered: "Go, beat the gongs and drums, and bring up the clan rules and genealogy!"
In an instant, the sound of the gong startled the crows on the branches and flew away.
More than twenty descendants of the Bai family walked through the bluestone streets, holding yellow silk with ancestral teachings written on it.
Bai Guanqing's three-story mansion was originally the property of the Bai clan, but at this moment it was buzzing with the loud gongs and drums.
With a loud shout of "Open the ancestral hall and announce the clan rules", the genealogy box slammed heavily on the steps. The moment the sandalwood lid popped open, dust rose up in the yard.
"Listen, Mr. Bai Guan!" The elder's voice, holding the parchment scroll, resounded throughout the street:
"You have been supported by the clan since you were young, eating the Bai family's rice and wearing the Bai family's clothes. Even this house was a gift from the clan!
Now you are wearing an official robe, yet you don't care about the life and death of your clan members. You are so ungrateful and treacherous. The Bai family will not tolerate such a scum as you!"
First there was the sound of porcelain breaking, followed by a creaking sound.
Bai Guanqing leaned halfway out of his body with a sullen face, his python-patterned robe still unfastened: "Are you crazy? You're causing trouble in the street, aren't you afraid of me..."
Master Bai stared coldly at Bai Guanqing's suddenly pale face, his eyes sharp with ice. "Go on, why don't you show off your prestige?"
Bai Guanqing's voice softened unconsciously: "Granduncle..."
"Great Uncle?" Master Bai sneered, pointing his finger at the man's chest, shaking the peacock pattern on his python-patterned robe. "I thought Lord Bai had become an official in the capital and had forgotten his last name!"
Bai Guanqing's face turned purple, and the veins on his neck bulged:
"I have worked hard in the court and have reached this point today entirely on my own.
Why should I be a slave to the tribe? "
"You are so sharp-tongued!" Master Bai turned around and gestured. The accountant came forward quickly with a thick stack of account books in his arms. The height of the stacked account books almost blocked his face.
The Bai family accountant said loudly:
"From the year you started learning, you need writing brushes, inkstone, tuition, and the ability to marry and have children.
And this mansion that should have been confiscated, including the money you pay every year, all came from the Bai family."
The accountant suddenly opened the account book:
"Bai Guanqing entered the clan school at the age of six and passed the imperial examination at the age of thirty-eight. The Bai family spent a total of 18,655 taels of silver!
This includes the three thousand taels of tuition from the famous Jiangnan teacher, as well as the cost of repairing this house..."
He unfolded a land deed. "This three-story house was originally family property, and was specially approved for him to live in. The glazed tiles renovated last year alone cost a full five hundred taels!"
Bai Guanqing staggered back half a step. He looked at the densely packed accounts, cold sweat oozing from his forehead: "It's just some silver... I am!"
"Money?" Master Bai suddenly laughed, his laughter tinged with a piercing sadness. "The Bai family has lost more than just money by raising someone like you."
He raised his hand to signal the elders to bring out the family tree. The moment the dark red silk cloth was opened, the whole courtyard fell silent.
"Today, in front of our ancestors, we must settle our financial accounts.
I will also cross you out of the family tree, lest someone like you ruin the Bai family's feng shui."
Bai Guanqing sneered, his eyes filled with disdain: "Still talking about the Bai family's Feng Shui? I'm the only one in my family who has served in the imperial court. How dare you talk about the future?"
He glanced at Master Bai's pale face and the sullen expressions of the elders, his lips curled up in a mocking arc: "The clan has been declining over the years. If I hadn't drawn a clear line between us early on, I'm afraid we would have been dragged down and unable to recover!"
He raised his hand and adjusted his official hat and said:
"Leaving you is the best decision I have ever made in my life!
This will save my clan members from constantly trying to establish connections and seek favors, which would only ruin my reputation."
As he spoke, he winked at the servant at the door: "From now on, no one from the Bai family is allowed to step through this door!"