Chapter 1524: Extortion

Taishu Huan'er, meanwhile, kept chattering away. Between the lines, what she really wanted was to see the look on her brothers' and sisters' faces when their jaws dropped.

Now that she seemed to be living very happily, and because Taishu Xiong felt guilty toward her, he naturally favored her somewhat. Her brothers were one thing, but her sisters were another. They looked down on her quite a bit. It was the nature of rivalry among women; their remarks were often barbed and insinuating. Taishu Huan'er understood perfectly well that if they had not feared angering Taishu Xiong by bringing up her old disgrace, those sisters of hers would never have spared her with their tongues.

She was still young, not even twenty. She had not yet reached the point where favor and humiliation left her unmoved. She cared about face too and did not want those sisters laughing at her embarrassment.

Seeing her almost too pleased with herself, Shao Pingbo had to remind her, "We'll keep part of those properties, but most of them are going to other people."

"..."

Taishu Huan'er stared at him speechlessly. "Most of them?"

"Choose one of the better mansions for Liuer. Give her two shops as well, and set aside five hundred mu of fertile land for her."

Hearing that it was for Shao Liuer, Taishu Huan'er's expression turned more serious. She knew her sister-in-law was in an awkward position at present and had no objection to this, nor would she have objected. She nodded. "That's only right. But you said most of it?"

What he had just allocated could hardly be called most.

"As for the rest, you can't really call it giving things away. My students need to live too. They'll all have families of their own eventually. We'll help remove some of their worries so they can work with peace of mind. We'll keep one thousand mu of that fertile land for ourselves. Giving the rest to them outright would be inappropriate, so sell it to them at the same price I paid back then. I was already thinking of them when I bought it in the first place. Set aside ten of the shops too. Old Shao will decide who gets what and how it's divided."

Taishu Huan'er felt as though all her excitement had been for nothing. So he really did intend to hand most of it over to other people. In fact, if he had not been thinking about those people, her husband might not even have made those purchases early in the first place. Selling at the original price was practically the same as having bought it for them in advance.

There was not much she could say. She had grown up in the imperial family and understood that her husband would need his own people around him to accomplish things in the future. Arrangements like these were appropriate enough.

Still, it felt like cutting flesh from her own body, like having a basin of cold water dumped over her just as she was celebrating.

As they drew closer to their destination, that feeling gradually gave way to another, because of the person they were about to meet.

Shao Liuer, the fallen Empress of Qi, had been brought to the Jin capital in advance by Blackwater Terrace. Since her arrival, Shao Pingbo had not gone to see her.

Hao Zhen had been escorted here as well, and the court had already decided how to deal with him. He certainly could no longer be emperor. He had been reduced to Prince Anle and placed under house arrest in a residence in the capital. Shao Liuer, in turn, had gone from empress back to Princess Consort.

Taishu Huan'er knew her own reputation had suffered because of what happened in the past, and that many ordinary respectable households would have found it unacceptable. She did not know what attitude this sister-in-law would have toward her, or whether Shao Liuer would accept her at all. This was the first member of her husband's family she was about to meet, and she could tell that her husband truly cared about this younger sister. Inevitably, she felt somewhat nervous...

At the Prince Anle Residence, the deep courtyards looked peaceful from outside, but inside they were anything but. Troublemakers had come to the door.

Hao Qi, the former Prince Jin of Qi, and Hao Yunsheng, Prince of the Western Court, had arrived with men in tow to extort money and valuables.

Faced with Hao Qi's brazen demands, Hao Zhen's face was rigid. For the sake of his family, he had no choice but to swallow his anger.

Nearby lay two old personal servants who had been knocked to the ground. They had come with him from Qi and were now groaning in pain. Their only offense had been saying a few extra words while trying to protect their master.

Hao Zhen's two sons trembled with fury, fists clenched tight, but Shao Liuer held them back with all her strength.

A phoenix fallen from its perch is worse off than a chicken. That was exactly their situation. The circumstances of husband and wife were truly awkward. It was no exaggeration to say they had lost their freedom.

In fact, their situation was now worse than Hao Qi's and Hao Yunsheng's.

Partly to win hearts, and partly to show the people of the other states what surrender could bring so that future enemies would have examples to follow, Jin had allowed both men to retain their princely titles.

For the moment, Jin's powerful and wealthy did not dare do anything openly to Hao Zhen and his wife, and the Jin court could hardly break its word so soon after accepting their surrender. Yet perversely, it was their own relatives who refused to let them go, coming again and again to make things difficult and extort money from them in one form after another.

Hao Qi and Hao Yunsheng now lived on little more than stipends and a few rewards. They had originally thought they could muddle along that way. But life did not go as one wished. Petty underlings were the hardest to deal with. The two men had lost the background and power they once relied on. If they wanted any peace, they needed money to placate certain people.

And behind those troublesome underlings, someone was naturally turning a blind eye.

Coming here to extort Hao Zhen and his wife was partly about money and partly about proving their loyalty. Making life difficult for Hao Zhen and his wife was itself a way of demonstrating where they stood.

When Hao Zhen and his wife came here, they had indeed brought some valuables from Qi. But after these past few rounds, Hao Qi and Hao Yunsheng had already extorted more than half of it away.

Complaining to the authorities was useless. Hao Qi and Hao Yunsheng simply said it was a private family matter, a dispute among relatives over dividing family property. Even an upright official finds family affairs hard to judge. Each side had its own story, and the whole thing could be made endlessly murky.

Behind the affair, others were likewise watching coldly.

The men they had brought had already turned the residence upside down but found very little. They even dug out Shao Liuer's jewelry, and all of it together filled only a small box.

One subordinate hurried over and whispered in Hao Qi's and Hao Yunsheng's ears, telling them nothing else had been found.

Hao Qi's eyes hardened. He strode up to Hao Zhen and demanded, "Where have you hidden everything?"

Hao Zhen said angrily, "Don't be so greedy. You've already robbed us clean. What more do you want?"

They had indeed hidden some valuables. What else could they do? No amount of wealth could endure this kind of repeated plundering. It was a bottomless pit that could never be filled, and Hao Zhen still had a household to support.

Nor had he been allowed to bring much wealth here in the first place. He was the ruler of a fallen state. Naturally, the property in the imperial palace had been confiscated by Jin. How could they have let him take it all away?

Hao Qi grew angry as well. He stepped forward, seized Hao Zhen by the arm, and immediately started rummaging through his sleeves to see whether anything was hidden there.

He truly did resent Hao Zhen. This man had actually become Emperor of Qi. Why him? He had run Qi into destruction and still wanted to enjoy Qi's wealth?

Hao Zhen lost his temper too. The two men nearly came to blows, grappling with each other.

Hao Yunsheng raised an eyebrow and immediately stepped forward to help Hao Qi. He had been a military commander in the past. How could Hao Zhen possibly withstand the two of them together?

"Stop! Stop!" Shao Liuer cried anxiously, all while holding the two furious youths back with all her strength. She feared the other side might strike viciously at the children.

Hao Qi and Hao Yunsheng still held sinecure offices and had warriors assigned to them. They had brought far more people than Hao Zhen's side possessed, while Hao Zhen had only a few servants to look after daily life.

The warriors they had brought were now watching coldly.

The Jin cultivators guarding the residence likewise stood nearby and watched with cold eyes. Hao Zhen had surrendered to Jin, yes, but if his own brothers beat him to death while fighting over family property, that could hardly be blamed on Jin.

"What's going on here?" came a calm voice.

Everyone turned.

A group was approaching at an unhurried pace. At its head came Shao Pingbo, elegant as ever, his face completely expressionless.

Taishu Huan'er walked beside him, followed by a group of guards.

Someone hurriedly pulled Hao Qi and Hao Yunsheng apart and urgently whispered, "Superintendent Shao is here."

The two men heard that, looked back, and quickly released Hao Zhen before retreating a few steps. They were somewhat embarrassed as they came over to salute. "Greetings, Princess. Greetings, Lord Shao."

They were uneasy. When they had first begun causing trouble here, they had worried this man might intervene. Later, seeing no reaction from him, they guessed he wanted to avoid suspicion and would probably stay out of it. After several visits passed without any response, they had grown bolder.

Who would have thought he would appear today? Both men were somewhat afraid.

Taishu Huan'er gave a slight nod. Shao Pingbo, however, showed no response at all to their greetings. His gaze settled first on Hao Zhen, whose clothes had been pulled into disarray and whose face was swollen and bruised from the struggle. Then his eyes shifted to Shao Liuer.

Seeing his younger sister with tears in her eyes, fighting to hold them back and looking as though she might cry at any moment, Shao Pingbo felt something wrench violently inside his chest.

Nothing showed on his face.

At the sight of Shao Liuer, Shao Sansheng's eyes reddened as well. When he had first learned how things were going here, he had wanted to come help, but Shao Pingbo had stopped him.

After studying his sister for a moment, Shao Pingbo called calmly, "Liuer."

Shao Liuer opened her mouth, then stopped. She looked at the situation around her. In the end, she yielded and called, "Brother."

At last hearing that form of address, Shao Pingbo gave a slight nod. His cold gaze swept over everyone present as he said blandly, "Can someone tell me what's going on here?"

Naturally, he knew exactly what was happening.

He had been waiting for Shao Liuer to come find him, but she never had. It seemed his younger sister was still holding on to that resentment in her heart.

So he had continued waiting.

Waiting until she was driven into desperate straits. Waiting until she longed for him and needed him. Only when the heat had reached about the right point had he finally appeared.

No one at the scene spoke.

Shao Pingbo raised a hand and beckoned to the two boys Shao Liuer was shielding behind her. He had already seen that the two children were willing to tell the truth.

The boys understood that the newcomer was someone who could suppress everyone present. They had also heard that their stepmother had an elder brother who held a high office here. The household servants had mentioned him before when they encountered difficulties.

The two immediately broke free of Shao Liuer's hold and came forward to salute. This time, Shao Liuer did not desperately try to stop them.

Shao Pingbo gave the bowing boys a slight nod. "Don't be afraid. Tell me what happened."

"They came here to steal our things..." One of the boys immediately pointed at Hao Qi and Hao Yunsheng and angrily denounced how the two had repeatedly come to extort money and valuables.

Shao Pingbo looked coldly askance at the pair. He did not even ask whether the accusation was true.

"Lawless. Men, break both their arms and legs and throw them out. Anyone who dares interfere gets the same treatment!"

The guards behind him immediately rushed forward and forced both men to the ground.

Struggling in terror, the two shouted, "Superintendent Shao, this is a family matter! It's a family matter!"

Two figures flashed over and barked for the guards to stop. They were the cultivators responsible for watching over this princely residence.

One of them cupped his hands and said, "Superintendent Shao, whatever else may be true, they still hold princely titles in Jin. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to do this, would it? If something happens, it will be difficult for us to explain. That's enough."

[End of Chapter 1524]