In the Fourth Branch, Zhao Shutong watched as her father, with a huff, came out of her mother’s room and walked away, flinging his sleeves angrily. Only then did she quietly walk over.

Si Taitai was crying loudly in the room. When she saw her daughter, she hugged her and cried even harder.

After she finally calmed down, Zhao Shutong said softly, “Mom, how many times have I told you not to meddle in the affairs of the First and Fifth Branch?? Why won’t you listen? Every time you interfere in the First Branch’s matters, Zufu scolds Dad, and when Dad comes back, he scolds you. What’s the point of all this?”

“What’s the point? Isn’t it all for the sake of you and your brothers’ future?” Si Taitai glared, “Your father is a shu son, and he’s not accomplished. Although I am ambitious, my family’s support is useless. Your two older brothers’ futures, your marriage, if not relying on the Fifth Branch, then who should we rely on? It’s obvious that Xu Ge’er is more promising than Xi Ge’er. Even if this matter doesn’t work out,” Si Taitai lowered her voice, “Your Zufu is a military commander, half his life spent in battles. Who knows, one day he might end up like your Wu Shufu… Then when it comes to dividing the family’s asset, won’t it all depend on your Zumu? Zumu is the Fifth Branch’s biological grandmother. Being close to the Fifth Branch, you won’t suffer any losses.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shutong hesitated. Since childhood, under her mother’s instruction, she had become close to Zhao Shuxian from the Fifth Branch. They were of similar age, and in terms of looks, Zhao Shutong felt she was even more beautiful than Zhao Shuxian. However, just because Zhao Shuxian was the legitimate daughter of a legitimate son, their grandfather arranged such a good marriage for her, while her own marriage has yet to be settled. Zhao Shuxian always talks in front of her about how talented and handsome the Lu Family’s Gongzi is….

“I’m telling you again, your Zumu will soon come out of the Buddha Hall. How long do you think the First Branch can still jump around?” Thinking of her plans with Wu Taiatai, Si Taitai became excited again, looking Zhao Shuxian up and down, nodding, and saying, “My daughter is so beautiful, she should be matched with a young man with a boundless future.”

At this point, she became annoyed again, “Da Taitai only manages the preparations for her son’s marriage. Why the summer clothes has not been made yet? If not, it should have been sent down long ago! It’s really ridiculous!” She was worried that if the He Family came to see Zhao Shutong, she wouldn’t have new clothes to wear.

Zhao Shutong was about to speak when a maid came in to report that Wu Taitai had arrived. Si Taitai then said to her, “You go back first. I’ll talk with your Wu Shenshen.”

Zhao Shutong nodded, went out to greet Wu Taitai, and then returned to her own room.

When Wu Taitai entered, she saw Si Taitai’s red eyes and couldn’t help but comfort her again before discussing the main issue.

“What? Zhao Huanxi has only been at the Imperial Academy for two days, and he beat Cheng Guogong’s son so badly that he was covered in blood, and instead of punishing him, Guogogng Yé let him stay for dinner at Dunyi Hall?” Si Taitai was so surprised that she forgot her manners.

“Yes ah! Huanxu was so angry that he smashed a bowl. I scolded him for losing his temper.”

Si Taitai casually said, “But you can’t blame Xu Ge’er. Even Xu Ge’er, I’m afraid, has only had dinner with Lao Yézi after passing the Tongshi Examination…” Feeling something was wrong halfway through, she quickly changed the subject, “What I mean is, Xu Ge’er relies on his true abilities. What does Zhao Huanxi rely on? Just because he made someone bleed? It’s ridiculous!”

Wu Taitai couldn’t be bothered to argue with her and frowned, “All these things make me feel that since Xu Shi entered the door, Lao Yézi’s attitude towards Zhao Huanxi seems to have really changed from before.”

“Don’t just talk about Lao Yézi changing, hasn’t Zhao Huanxi himself changed as if he’s become a different person? In the past, studying? Fighting? Which of these things seemed like something he could do? I think the main problem lies with that Xu Shi. If Da Taitai could change her precious son, it would have been done long ago. Why wait until now?” Si Taitai said.

“This Xu Shi is indeed formidable. If she wholeheartedly supports Huanxi Ge, she might truly become his virtuous and capable wife, taking advantage of being the daughter of Lao Yézi’s old friend…”

“Hai, in my opinion, you don’t need to worry so much. This matter of Zhao Huanxi beating Cheng Guogong’s only son, if Lao Yézi does not look into it, can the other party not pursue it? Who is Cheng Guogong? He’s the younger brother of Consort Zhen, and the Gongzi beaten is Consort Zhen’s nephew. If the Zhu family were so easy to provoke, could Zhu Gongzi have been so arrogant in the capital for so long? This matter is far from over! Let’s quietly spread the word again. Let’s say that Zhao Huanxi’s beating of Zhu Gongzi was incited by Xu Shi. Once this matter gets bigger, the First Branch might give up a pawn to save a chariot, divorcing Xu Shi to protect Zhao Huanxi!” Si Taitai laughed.

Wu Taitai pondered and said, “That’s not a bad idea.”

✦

The next day, Zhao Huanxi did not go to the Imperial Academy, but stayed at home “recovering from his injuries” following his grandfather’s orders.

As Si Taitai expected, yesterday when Cheng Guogong went to Jing Guogong Residence to seek justice for his son, not only did he not get justice, but he also suffered humiliation from Jing Guogong. How could he swallow this insult? The next day, he submitted a report accusing Jing Guogong’s grandson of assaulting and injuring his son.

What a coincidence, Jing Guogong also had a report accusing Cheng Guogong of allowing his son to assault and injure his grandson.

Both sides argued their points in court, and their respective supporters were numerous. However, because Cheng Guogong’s family practice of favouring merit over the elder ones had offended many people, even those who were just bystanders tended to lean towards Jing Guogong’s side in their words and attitudes. Furthermore, Jing Guogong was a founding duke, while Cheng Guogong only received his title because his ancestors had saved the emperor during a trip, so the status was different. As a result, Cheng Guogong had no chance of winning the argument against Jing Guogong.

Even though he couldn’t win the argument, the dispute wasn’t over, so they continued arguing on the next day.

On the third day, there were many more reports accusing Jing Guogong, but there were even more reports accusing Cheng Guogong. The details of the incident between Zhao Huanxi and Zhu Zhifu were clarified, showing that Zhu Zhifu had thrown the eggs first and had been the first to use physical force (with Qingshou Junzhu’s eldest son, Qian Ming, as a witness). Furthermore, Zhu Zhifu had a notorious reputation, while Zhao Huanxi, although not well-regarded, did not have a bad reputation either. The Emperor’s heart was already leaning towards Jing Guogong’s side, but to save Consort Zhen’s face, he hoped that both sides could reconcile.

Cheng Guogong was actually dissatisfied with the Emperor’s mediation and wanted to continue the argument on the fourth day. Some people insinuated that Jing Guogong’s actions were to protect his granddaughter-in-law, suggesting that Zhao Huanxi’s attack on Zhu Zhifu was actually incited by his granddaughter-in-law, Xu Shi, due to an old grudge between Xu Family and the Zhu Family. However, they didn’t clarify what the old grudge was, leaving it vague and mysterious.

He didn’t clarify, but Jing Guogong clarified it for him. Jing Guogong submitted a document accusing Zhu Zhifu, the son of Cheng Guogong, of unleashing his servants to assault Xu Moxiu, the son of the late Wujing Boshi, Xu Zhensheng, and breaking Xu Moxiu’s arm in the market two years ago.

There were already many people in the court who didn’t like Cheng Guogong, and even more who had suffered losses at the hands of Zhu Zhifu. With Jing Guogong setting this example, reports accusing Zhu Zhifu flew towards the Emperor’s desk like snowflakes. The intensity of the public sentiment was so strong that even the Emperor didn’t dare openly show favouritism.

After five days of uproar in court, Cheng Guogong was finally ordered by the Emperor to take his son to Jing Guogong Residence to apologize.

Qian Ming, being petty, learned from his father that Cheng Guogong was going to take Zhu Zhifu to the Jing Guogong Residence to apologize, so he specifically took a day off to go to the Jing Guogong Residence to watch.

Zhu Zhifu’s head was still bandaged, and he had to apologize to Zhao Huanxi, whom he despised, and be watched by his archenemy Qian Ming. He almost cried out in frustration.

After returning home, Zhu Zhifu stubbornly refused to go to the Imperial Academy. Cheng Guogong had to use his connections to transfer him to the Wenjun Academy. But of course this is the story for later time.

This Wenjun Academy is where Zhao Huanxu was studying.

In Zhilan Garden, Qian Ming and Zhao Huanxi laughed heartily when they talked about Zhu Zhifu’s expression earlier, which was like he had eaten shit. After this incident, their relationship improved quite a bit, and Zhao Huanxi reluctantly considered Qian Ming a friend.

“Zhao Laodi, the Imperial Academy will be on a ten-day break. Will you come out to play? My treat.” Qian Ming, who had just celebrated his coming-of-age ceremony two months ago, referred to Zhao Huanxi as “Laodi”.

“Play? Where do you want to go?” Zhao Huanxi asked.

“Anywhere, wherever you want to go. He Lun, Huo Qingzhe, Ge Jingxuan, and I have been close since childhood. If you go out with these few people, your family won’t nag. If you come, it’ll be the five of us. You’re famous now for beating Zhu Zhifu until he begged for mercy. They’ll surely welcome you to join us.” Qian Ming said, fanning himself.

Zhao Huanxi was somewhat tempted. He had never gone out to play alone with people of similar age before. However… when he thought of Xu Nian’an, he hesitated. He had planned to stay at home with her during the break.

Qian Ming, seeing his hesitation, suddenly remembered and laughed, “Oh, I forgot you just got married. My bad, my bad. If you want to stay home with Di Mei, that’s only right. I understand, I understand.”

It's normal for a close friend to call their friend's wife "sister-in-law" (Di Mei/SaoZi).

Zhao Huanxi blushed but didn’t deny it, only saying, “I’ll give you an answer tomorrow.”

Qian Ming agreed readily, “Sure!”

In the evening, while the young couple having dinner with Yin Furen, Zhao Huanxi glanced at Xu Nian’an and then at Yin Furen before setting down his chopsticks and saying, “Mother, Qian Wuhui invited me to go out and play the day after tomorrow.”

“Qian Wuhui?”

“That’s Qian Ming’s courtesy name, Wuhui,” Zhao Huanxi explained.

Yin Furen immediately said, “That won’t do. Although Qian Ming helped us this time, his reputation outside is not much better than Zhu Zhifu’s. He is also one of the notorious playboys in the capital, always idling about and frequenting brothels, keeping actresses and concubines. I don’t want him to corrupt you. I will personally repay the favour we owe him. You don’t need to go out and socialize with him.”

Zhao Huanxi didn’t say anything, but his expression showed that he was somewhat unhappy. Yin Furen noticed this but chose not to acknowledge it.

After the meal, Yin Furen said to Zhao Huanxi, “You go back first. I’ll talk to your wife for a while.”

“Oh,” Zhao Huanxi replied obediently and left first.

Yin Furen dismissed the servants in the room and looked kindly at Xu Nian’an, but what she said next could make people choke on tea.

She said: “Nian’an, you’ve been married for some time now. Why haven’t you and Huanxi consummated your marriage yet?”

⟡ Aewoo’s Ramble ⟡

Here comes the legendary question!