was even more rigid and bound by rules than she was. Just hearing her mention those few words had thrown him into disarray, causing him to even forget about propriety. This just went to show how seri...As soon as Yuan Xiangli stepped into the courtyard of her second son, she heard him smashing things and cursing loudly before even reaching the door.

"Get out of here, all of you! None of you are needed here."

Each and every one of you can't wait to see this young master make a fool of himself, can you Who gave you the guts to make fun of this young master

Zong Taiwu stood there with a gloomy face, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the guards who had gone out with him today.

His gaze was too piercing, several guards knelt on the ground with their heads bowed, trembling uncontrollably.

"You bunch of clowns, are you having fun watching Young Master's joke"

Let me think about how to punish you all.

Several guards, hearing this, paled instantly and scrambled to plead for mercy with Zong Taiwu.

"Second Young Master, we truly didn't watch your jokes. We wouldn't dare!"

"Young Master, please spare my life!"

"Spare my life, Young Master! Please spare my life!"

Zong Taiwu's eyes were cold and cruel, enjoying the feeling of controlling other people's lives and deaths, playing with their lives in his palm was the only way to slightly soothe his raging anger.

Hearing the clamor of pleas for mercy inside the house, Yuan Xiangli walked in with a composed face.

Zong Taiwu, upon seeing his mother, turned pale like a mouse encountering a cat. Fearing a scolding, he immediately jumped up and tried to run away.

"Sit down!"

Yuan Xiangli took three or two steps to get in front of him.

"Mother," Zong Taimu put on a fawning expression, the cruelty in his eyes vanishing instantly.

"The second son of the esteemed Imperial Minister's household, look at what you've done to your courtyard!"

"When you're bullied outside, you just know how to act tough at home!"

Zongtai Wu hung his head.

"Mom, this time I endured the grievance all for our family and Grandpa's face."

Besides, being bullied by a beauty isn't bullying; it's called romance!

Yuan Xiangli was about to be amused by her son's sophistry.

“Oh You came back with some fancy and managed to smash the yard into this mess”

Zong Taiwu snorted and said nothing. Anyway, he knew his mother doted on him, so at most she would just nag a few words and wouldn't really do anything to him.

Yuan Xiangli shook her head helplessly, then suddenly turned around and faced the guards kneeling on the ground. Her expression turned cold.

"After all, you are the second young master of the Minister's Mansion. This matter will inevitably harm your reputation if it gets out."

"These guards are incompetent! They failed to protect the young master, letting him suffer so much outside. A bunch of useless trash."

The Ministry of Rites doesn't raise useless things.

The guards' faces turned pale, their pleas for mercy becoming more urgent and frantic.

But Yuan Xiang and his son remained unmoved, their faces betraying an identical coldness.

"Bring him out and deal with him. Make sure it's clean."

Wang Ma nodded, and several people immediately came in from outside, dragging the guards away. They were dealt with so swiftly that they didn't even have a chance to scream.

Yuan Xiangli sat beside her son, her expression softening slightly.

"Are you feeling any less tense now"

"I'll get you some better guards with even stronger martial arts skills later on. They'll definitely be better than these ones."

Zong Taiwu let out another snort, but his anger seemed to have subsided somewhat.

"Now you can tell Mama, what's the matter with that widow"

When it came to the beautiful young widow, Zong Tai's anger subsided. But when he thought of her face, as beautiful as a flower, his heart still fluttered with desire.

"Mother, I wish to take her as my concubine."

Zong Taiwu's words almost scared Yuan Xiangli.

"What did you say"

She thought her son was just playing outside, but she didn't expect him to want to bring someone home.

Yuan Xiang is doting on her son, pampering him in every way. However, whenever something involves face or reputation, she becomes very cautious.

"Don't even think about it!"

She was a widow, according to Wang Ma, she also had two children dragging her down. Most importantly, wasn't she still involved with another man

"A woman like that, don't even think about her being your concubine, she wouldn't even be worthy of being a maidservant in our house!"

"Your father would never agree to this if he knew."

"You can play around outside and get away with it, but in front of your father I won't shield you anymore if you bring trouble back home! This is absolutely unacceptable!"

Zong Taiwu saw that his mother refused so readily, and even brought out his father to scare him. He was dissatisfied and curled his lips in disdain.

"Isn't it just about taking a concubine I'm not marrying her as my legal wife, is it that serious"

A concubine is nothing but a plaything. Who gets to be his main wife is no longer his decision to make. He can't even take a concubine according to his own wishes, wouldn't that just kill him with frustration

“As the second son of a high-ranking official, I haven't even been able to find a woman I like. I might as well just go wandering. This second son, you can choose whoever you want.”

"Mom is biased towards my older brother, she doesn't love me!"ple's positions are becoming increasingly unequal, and he will only become more and more anxious.Even if, hypothetically, the daughter-in-law only cared about him as a person and nothing else mattered...