Protect Our Patriarch - Chapter 20: Teaching the Younger Generation a Lesson

Any Xuanwu clan may have diligent family members and descendants contributing to the family, but it’s also possible for some black sheep to emerge. Fortunately, the Wang clan of Ping’an had strict clan rules, a sense of ancestral pride, and the pressure of ensuring the family’s survival. Most of the family members abide by their duties.

However, from the eighth generation, the ‘Zong’ generation, there emerged a good-for-nothing who had no ambition.

“Fourth Brother, you are now the head of the family; it’s not appropriate for you to get involved,” Wang Shouyi said with a stern face. “Wait here for a moment, I’ll be right back.”

With that, he strode out angrily.

Not long after, Wang Shouyi dragged in a twenty-year-old youth. The young man’s face was bruised and swollen, and he was crying miserably. “Second Uncle, I was wrong! I truly realize my mistake. Please spare me this one time, and please don’t tell my father!”

“You rascal!” Wang Shouyi hollored furiously. He kicked the young man as he lay on the ground, sending him rolling several times. “You’ve already fallen this low, and you refuse to reflect on your actions. You have the audacity to ask for leniency? You want me to cover for you?”

“Ow! Ow!” After a couple of howls, the young man was about to plead again when he suddenly raised his head and saw a dignified young man sitting there, staring at him expressionlessly.

The young man’s body shook violently, as if he had been struck by lightning, and his eyes showed apocalyptic fear. “Fo-Fourth Uncle! You… You… You… You…” He nearly fainted. At this time, he would rather face his father than his Fourth Uncle.

His father would at most give him a severe beating and lock him up for a few months, after which he would be free again, pretending to be a changed man.

But this person…

“How much did you lose?” Wang Shouzhe asked indifferently.

“This idiot, in just over a month, has racked up a debt of twenty gold coins at the gambling house. Including the private money his mother gave him and the Small Nourishing Pill he sold off without permission, he has lost a total of forty gold coins!” Wang Shouyi’s anger was blazing. The clan’s fish stall, where twenty or thirty workers toil away all year, only earns two hundred gold coins at most.

And this idiot managed to lose forty gold coins through gambling in less amount of time. With that much money, you could buy at least four ‘Small Nourishing Pills’!

“Fourth Uncle, I was wrong, I really was wrong,” the youth collapsed on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to Wang Shouzhe. “Please give me another chance.”

“Chance?! You’ve already been given too many chances!” Wang Shouyi shouted angrily. “Initially, the clan had you work at Xinmao Silkworm Farm under your eldest brother to learn some skills. Instead of doing that, you spent your days with bad company and even dared to harass married women! Then, after your grandfather and your mother pleaded for you, you were given work in Uncle Sixth’s ship. But you found it too hard and ran off to my place. I was wrong, I should not have taken you in! The flashy world of Changning has blinded you.”

Wang Shouzhe pondered for a moment before saying, “Zongwei, as the eldest of the ‘Zong’ generation, you should be setting an example for your younger siblings. However, you’ve turned out to be disgraceful. Originally, your education should have been overseen by the eldest brother himself. However, as a direct descendant and the head of the clan, I also have the right and obligation to discipline a good-for-nothing.”

“Fourth Uncle!” Wang Zongwei, his eyes brimming with tears, pleaded, “For my father’s sake, for, for my great-grandfather’s sake…”

“Here’s what we’ll do, since you like gambling, I’ll gamble with you,” Wang Shouzhe said expressionlessly, taking out a gold coin and squeezing it in his palm, “Guess which hand the gold coin is in? If you guess right, we’ll pretend today’s incident never happened. If you guess wrong, I won’t make it too hard for you; I’ll only take one of your hands, and you can live as a freeloader in the family out of respect for your great-grandfather.”

“What?!” Wang Zongwei was so frightened that his tears stopped. “Fourth Uncle, I won’t gamble anymore, I swear!”

“Brother…” Wang Shouyi’s expression changed. Just when he was about to say something, he was stopped by Wang Shouzhe with a wave of his hand. Wang Shouzhe spoke coldly, “Even if your great-grandfather Wang Xiaohui, your grandfather Wang Dingchuan, and your father Wang Shouxin were here, it would be useless.”

Wang Shouyi flinched and instinctively shut his mouth, not daring to speak on behalf of the kid any further.

Although they were both brothers from the ‘Shou’ generation, Wang Shouzhe was a direct descendant of the Wang clan and now held the position of family head. Having been favored by Ancestor Longyan since childhood, how could they be treated the same? 

For the Wang clan, even ten Wang Zongwei tied together would not be as important as a single finger of Wang Shouzhe.

After deterring Wang Shouyi, Wang Shouzhe continued to stare at Wang Zongwei and said in a icy tone, “If you won’t take the gamble, I’ll take it as your admission of defeat. Stretch out your hand.”

“No, no, no, I’ll gamble, I’ll gamble,” Wang Zongwei cried agitatedly. “I bet the gold coin is in Fourth Uncle’s right hand!”

“Hehe~” A flash of coldness flickered in Wang Shouzhe’s eyes as he slowly opened his empty right palm. “Zongwei, you’ve lost.”

“No, please, Fourth Uncle, give me another chance, just one more chance!” Wang Zongwei began to scream hysterically. “It’s in your left hand, Fourth Uncle, the gold coin is in your left hand.”

“Are you sure?” Wang Shouzhi asked.

“I’m sure, I’m sure!”

Wang Shouzhe slowly opened his left palm, which was also empty. He stared at Wang Zongwei with a gaze sharp as a blade. “Zongwei, one must honor their commitments. You agreed to the bet; now you must accept the loss. Wang Zhong, Wang Yong!”

“Yes, Patriarch.”

The two family guards stepped forward, lifting Wang Zongwei, who had collapsed into a mess. He was trembling, his face ashen, only being able to plead, “Fourth uncle, spare me, please spare me.”

Clang!

Wang Shouzhi unsheathed his sword, its cold light flashing.

Wang Shouyi couldn’t bear to watch and turned his head away.

Whoosh!

Wang Shouzhe’s sword slashed down, the blade flashing, and in an instant, the sword was back in its sheath.

“ARGH!!!” Wang Zongwei screamed miserably. “My hand, it’s gone, it’s gone…” A foul smell of urine spread through the air.

Wang Zhong and Wang Yong disdainfully dropped him, their faces full of contempt. How could there be such a vast difference between this Young Master Zongwei and the Patriarch? It was incredible that Wang Zongwei, who was already twenty years old, was two years older than the Patriarch!

Plap! Wang Shouyi rushed forward and silenced his howling with a slap, speaking angrily and with disgust, “Enough, stop howling, you disgraceful dog, now thank your Fourth Uncle.”

“My hand… it’s still here, still here…” Wang Zongwei was a mess of tears and snot, crying out in surprise and joy. He then repeatedly kowtowed in thanks to Wang Shouzhe. “Thank you, Fourth Uncle, thank you. I will truly reform and become a better person.”

“Remember, you owe me a hand, and I reserve the right to collect it at any time. Additionally, all of your cultivation resources and salary are hereby revoked and will be transferred to, um… they will be handed over for Wang Luotong’s use.” Not wanting to see him any longer, he turned and left, with the two family guards quickly following behind him.

“Thank you, Fourth Uncle, thank you,” Wang Zongwei didn’t dare to argue and kept kowtowing.

Wang Shouyi gave Wang Zongwei a harsh glare and hurriedly caught up with Wang Shouzhe, sighing, “Fourth Brother, I understand that you want to teach that rascal Zongwei a lesson, but…”

“But what?” Wang Shouzhe said with a cold laugh. “Are you afraid that his grandfather or his big brother will come to fight for him?”

“It’s not that I’m worried about them,” Wang Shouyi said with a helpless look. “You know, sister-in-law Xu is from the direct line of the Changning Xu clan, and she has a strong character. It’s just that… You’ve stripped Zongwei of his resources, which he deserved, and she might not find any fault in that. But if you transfer the resources to Luotong, I’m afraid sister-in-law might raise objections.”

“It doesn’t matter whether Sister-in-law comes from the Xu or the Liu clan; she is now part of our Wang family,” Wang Shouzhe said calmly. “I trust that Sister-in-law, coming from a great family, must be an educated and sensible person and will eventually understand the good intentions behind my action.”

Wang Shouyi opened his mouth as if to say something but then stopped. He understood that although Sister-in-law Xu might be fierce, she probably wouldn’t dare to confront Shouzhe directly. Thinking this way, he felt somewhat relieved.