Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

As soon as Xue Wei returned to the Yuan residence, Yuan Min rushed out and threw herself into his arms, sobbing silently as tears streamed down her face. Xue Wei sensed something was wrong and asked urgently, "What happened?"

Yuan Min finally broke down in tears, "My...my grandfather is in trouble."

"What's wrong with him?"

"He had an argument with his family, fainted, and hasn't woken up for three days."

"Why are you arguing?"

Xue Wei suddenly realized something, "Is it because of your sale of the shop?"

Before Yuan Min came to Chang'an, she sold eight shops in Luoyang in one go. Xue Wei even joked that this might cause family conflicts within the Yuan family. Little did he know that his words would come true.

Yuan Min wiped away her tears and said, "Old Xue, I have to go back!"

"Let's pack our things and leave today!"

"But what about you..."

"I'm fine now. The Huanglong case is solved, and I've killed those who deserved to die. All that's left is to write a report for the Emperor. I can't find Zhu Ling's money, but that's irrelevant to my mission!"

"Alright then! Let's pack our things now."

Xue Wei had nothing, while Yuan Min's things had already been packed. An hour later, they set off in a carriage.

This time, Uncle Tian found them a luxurious passenger ship with a value of 5,000 shi (a unit of dry measure). Learning from his previous experience, he sent a junior steward on a fast horse to Sanmenxia to book another luxurious passenger ship with a value of 5,000 shi there.

The large passenger ship slowly set sail, leaving Chang'an and returning to Luoyang.

Inside the living quarters, Yuan Min's eyes were red and swollen. She had just cried again. Xue Wei felt sorry for her. Fainting in ancient times was different from that in later generations. In later generations, people could receive various intravenous nutrient solutions, but if an elderly person fainted in ancient times, it was basically a death sentence. If they could not eat or drink, they would die within two days at most.

Moreover, judging from the description, Yuan Min's grandfather most likely suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.

"Amin, the responsibility for your grandfather's matter is not yours. Whatever you did wrong, you should deal with your own property yourself. It is immoral for your clansmen to covet your property. If you argue with your grandfather about the property, that would be murder, which is an evil act. You don't need to take their evil deeds upon yourself."

"I'm not taking responsibility, I just... feel sorry for my grandfather. How could his brothers treat their own family like this for the sake of inheritance?"

"Besides your uncles, are there any other members of your clan?"

"There are also my second and third uncles, both of whom are from large families with dozens of members. When my father was alive, they were eyeing his property. After my father passed away and left his property to me, they were the most aggressive. Now that my grandfather has gotten into trouble, they cannot escape their guilt."

Xue Wei also felt that it wouldn't be his sons arguing with their father. Generally, the sons wouldn't dare to, but it was hard to say about the brothers.

Xue Wei couldn't get involved in the internal power struggles within the Yuan family, so he could only hold Yuan Min's hand and silently offer her support.

...........

In Chang'an, inside the temporary office of the Censorate, Wan Guojun had a gloomy face. He was very dissatisfied with Wu Chongxun. Why did Wu Chongxun have to cause trouble? Why did he kill Zhu Kuan and frame Xue Wei, causing Xue Wei and Zhu Ling to become enemies? Xue Wei would definitely kill Zhu Ling to protect himself.

So at the crucial moment, Xue Wei's throwing knife completely shattered their hopes, and the eldest son Zhu Nian they captured turned out to be an idiot.

If Wu Chongxun hadn't framed Xue Wei, he wouldn't have needed to kill Zhu Ling, and they would have gotten their hands on that million strings of cash. The more Wan Guojun thought about it, the angrier he became. He couldn't help but glare fiercely at Wu Chongxun's back, 'Good for nothing, good for making things worse!'

Wu Chongxun was also in a state of frustration. He hadn't expected Xue Wei to refuse the million-string of cash and instead kill Zhu Ling directly. Now that the million-string of cash was gone, how could he explain it to the Zhang brothers?

At this moment, one of Wan Guojun's subordinates entered, bowed, and said, "Reporting to Imperial Censor Wan, we have just received news that Yu Jianxiu only found a few thousand weapons, and he did not find any wealth."

Wan Guojun sneered, "It would be strange if we found it. Zhu Ling would never hide the money in Wugong County. It's very likely in a warehouse of some money exchange in Chang'an. I'll check them one by one tomorrow!"

Wu Chongxun then asked, "Did the second son, Zhu Yang, give any instructions?"

"He revealed the location of the weapons, but he didn't know anything about the money."

Yu Jianxiu also failed to find the fortune, which made Wu Chongxun feel a little better. At least he could explain to the Zhang brothers that none of them had obtained the fortune.

"Any news about Xue Wei?" Wu Chongxun asked again.

"It seems that Young Master Xue returned to Luoyang yesterday afternoon."

"What?"

Wu Chongxun jumped to his feet, asking nervously, "Why?"

"I heard that something happened to the old master of the Yuan family."

Wan Guojun suddenly waved his hand, "You don't need to be so nervous. There's no way he could get that wealth. How could Yu Jianxiu let him have it? Besides, he wasn't deeply involved in Zhu Ling's case at all, so why would he be able to get it?"

Wu Chongxun breathed a slight sigh of relief and decisively said, "Now that Zhu Ling is dead and the trail has gone cold, we should return to Luoyang."

.........

Yuan Min rushed back to Luoyang. Her grandfather, Yuan Chen, had already woken up, but he had lost sensation in his lower body and could no longer stand up. Although this news was equally sad, compared to the worst-case scenario, this result was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

But it was this incident that shattered the false balance within the Yuan family. Yuan Chen's two brothers, Yuan Hui and Yuan Xiaowu, began to secretly negotiate with the three Yuan brothers on how to reclaim Yuan Min's more than two hundred shops.

In the main hall, the petite Yuan Hui pounded on the table, her voice particularly loud, "What kind of sons are you three brothers? You couldn't even persuade your own father! Assets that clearly belong to the family were snatched away by the married-out woman. Now look what's happened! She sold eight shops in Luoyang in just three days. Once she sells all the shops, you won't even have leftovers."

The eldest son, Yuan Yao, bowed and said, "Second Uncle, please calm down. This matter cannot be entirely blamed on Father. He was only trying to appease Fourth Brother's wife and daughters. Father only verbally agreed to give Fourth Brother's property to Yuan Min, but never actually wrote a word about it. The main reason was that the Empress intervened and sent an imperial edict, specifying that daughters should inherit their fathers' businesses and ordering Father to hand over Fourth Brother's shops to Yuan Min. There was no other way, so Father could only comply temporarily."

Yuan Xiaowu was tall and stout, and rather mild-mannered, unlike his second brother Yuan Hui who was aggressive. He suddenly interjected, asking, "What does it mean that you said Yuan Min's inheritance of Father's property is in accordance with clan rules?"

The third son, Yuan Qi, quickly replied, "Reporting to Third Uncle, the family has clear clan rules: when a clansman dies of illness, his or her private wealth belongs to his or her son. If there is no son, a daughter who is unmarried, divorced, or widowed may also inherit the family property with the family's consent."

Yuan Xiaowu nodded. "The clan rules are very clear! It requires the clan's consent. Have we consented?"

Yuan Qi whispered, "The patriarch represents the family. My father has already expressed his opinion to the emperor that Yuan Min meets the family rules and that he agrees to let her inherit my father's business."

Yuan Hui snorted heavily, "Then change the family head and amend the family rules. As long as more than 70% of the family agrees, the family rules can be amended. Moreover, if the family head is unable to perform his/her duties due to death or illness, another family head can be elected with the unanimous consent of the family members."

Yuan Yao sighed, "The key is that the Emperor's edict is like a mountain, which we cannot overcome."

The hall was very quiet. Everyone knew that the emperor's edict was an insurmountable obstacle, and they had no choice but to wait.

Yuan Hui suddenly said coldly, "The emperor doesn't have many years left. We can make preparations in advance, change the head of the family, and revise the family rules. As long as the conditions are right, we can start a meeting of all the family members to take back Yuan Min's shop and make it the family's property."

This is a good idea, and everyone agreed that we can make preparations within the family first and wait for the right opportunity.