You asked for it.

These idle playboys have no talent of their own and can't stand seeing others stand out.

In the past century, the Xiao Kingdom has produced Hua Lingchen, a genius of unparalleled talent.

Not only was he exceptionally handsome, but he was also proficient in all six arts of a gentleman, making him a model of virtue. His martial arts skills were also unmatched.

At the age of eighteen, he mastered the secrets of the Hua family's martial arts, learned the Hua family's swordsmanship, and became the youngest head of the Hua family.

In the same year, he was defeated in a martial arts competition, his tendons were severed, his martial arts skills were ruined, and he could no longer wield a sword.

He fell from grace and into hell, abandoned by the Hua family, his villa sealed off, and left to his own devices.

All of this was orchestrated by Hua Lingteng and his group of young masters.

These bastards, what right do they have to show off here?

The mocking and insulting voices downstairs grew increasingly unrestrained, as if the sword and its master were both utterly defeated.

Gu Jinning's fiery temper suddenly flared up.

"I'll offer three thousand taels!"

As soon as she uttered her resounding voice, the teahouse fell into a deathly silence.

Who is so extravagant as to spend three thousand taels of silver to buy a broken sword?

All eyes turned to the upstairs.

Gu Jinning stood up, placed her hands on the brown wooden railing, and looked down at the ants below with a defiant air, "What, nobody can afford to pay?"

Sun Xianzhu teased, "Oh, isn't this our princess? You've just been released from prison, haven't you? Judging by your outfit, you probably haven't even gone home yet, and you've already come to support your sweetheart."

Upon hearing this, the hall erupted in uproar and laughter.

"Sun Xianzhu." Gu Jinning walked down the stairs step by step, her face terribly dark. "What did you say? Did I not hit you hard enough last time? And you still have such a foul mouth."

Sun Xianzhu touched his face guiltily and subconsciously hid behind Hua Lingteng, but he stubbornly said, "What? I'm telling the truth. You dare to do it, but you don't dare to let people talk about it."

He nudged Hua Lingteng in the lower back.

Hua Lingteng chimed in, "Exactly. Don't think I don't know you're constantly sneaking into my family's tea garden to meet him."

"Ha." Gu Jinning stood on the last step of the stairs, glancing at him sideways. "If you hadn't locked the door, why would I have bothered climbing over the wall? I could have just walked in openly."

"Look, look, look." Hua Lingteng found a way to start the conversation and publicly accused Gu Jinning of having an affair with Hua Lingchen. "Everyone heard it; she admitted it herself."

Gu Jinning scoffed, "Disgusting!"

"What did you say?"

Hua Lingteng angrily pointed at Gu Jinning. As the dignified head of the Hua family, no one had ever dared to insult him.

Gu Jinning raised her voice and pointed at the crowd, "I'm saying you, all of you, are despicable. You can't compete with others, so you only do despicable things behind their backs. Your minds are full of filthy professions."

Enraged by the scolding, Hua Lingteng slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Gu Jinning!"

Gu Jinning picked at her ear, raising an eyebrow dismissively. "What? I'm right here."

Hua Lingteng, mindful of Gu Jinning's noble status, knew he couldn't resort to violence, so he gritted his teeth and warned, "Don't go too far."

Gu Jinning blew away non-existent dust from her fingernails and pointed at the Taichung Sword.

“I’ll buy this sword for three thousand taels. If any of you dare to say another bad word about Hua Lingchen, I’ll beat him to a pulp.”

Hua Lingteng refused, word by word, "I... will... not... sell!"

"Then I'll force you to buy it."

Gu Jinning walked up to the platform and took the sword herself.

Hua Lingteng sneered, "You want to redeem it for Hua Lingchen? Ha, he's a piece of trash who can't even lift a sword. If he saw his former pride, he'd probably just run headfirst into it and slit his own throat."

Sun Xianzhu then stirred things up.

“Gu Jinning, if you feel sorry for him, why don’t you go with him to the underworld and be a loving couple? You won’t have to bother announcing the engagement.”

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The hall was filled with mocking laughter and jeers, which quickly became vulgar and obscene. Aunt Hong and Dan Niang both cast worried glances at Gu Jin Ning.

Gu Jinning slowly inspected the sword, and after confirming that it was in good condition, she gently closed the sword box, clenched her ten fingers into a fist, and slowly rubbed them together. She turned to them and said quietly, "You didn't listen to a word I said just now."

Seeing her like this, Aunt Hong knew something bad was about to happen, so she quickly nudged Qinglian, who was standing anxiously to the side, signaling her to hurry up and call for help.

On stage, Gu Jinning twisted her neck, rubbed her hands together, then raised her arm and leaped down, punching Hua Lingteng in the left cheek. Then, she turned and kicked Sun Xianzhu to the ground.

Hua Lingteng covered his face in astonishment, "You hit me!"

Gu Jinning flicked her ponytail, tilted her chin at them, and scoffed, "You asked for it."

"Gu Jinning, who gave you the audacity to hit me?"

Sun Xianzhu, who was used to being spoiled, could not bear such humiliation and got up to rush towards Gu Jinning.

Blood seeped from between Hua Lingteng's teeth as he retaliated with a punch.

Gu Jinning leaned against the table, flipped over and kicked to block Hua Lingteng's fist, then struck Sun Xianzhu with an elbow.

Hua Lingteng grabbed a nearby table and smashed it at Gu Jinning.

Gu Jinning dodged, and Sun Xianzhu seized the opportunity to pounce on her, grab her neck, and pull her to the ground.

Gu Jinning turned around and pinned Sun Xianzhu down, punching him repeatedly in the face with her left fist, without any rhyme or reason, only pure emotion.

Sun Xianzhu is also a tyrant, used to fighting, and is Gu Jinning's nemesis.

He was enraged and kicked Gu Jinning in the stomach, then grabbed a bench leg and smashed it over her shoulder.

Gu Jinning dodged quickly, but Hua Lingteng's stool came crashing down on her again.

Gu Jinning hooked a stool at her feet and bumped into him, both of them staggering back several steps.

Aunt Hong and Dan Niang pulled Gu Jin Ning back from the left and right, advising, "Princess, stop fighting, be careful not to hurt yourself."

Gu Jinning flung Aunt Hong and Dan Niang far away, shouting, "Don't anyone stop me, I'm going to teach these bastards a lesson!"

Sun Xianzhu got up, wiped the blood from his nose, and said fiercely, "Gu Jinning, we'll settle all our old and new scores today."

Having said that, he grabbed a stool in each hand and pounced on them, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws.

Gu Jinning stepped onto the table and leaped up, smashing the stool in his hand to pieces with two quick kicks, and then delivered a flying kick that sent him flying several feet away.

"Fine, come at me all at once if you dare, I'm not afraid." Gu Jinning stood on the table, sleeves rolled up in a provocative manner.

The other young masters, having suffered at Gu Jinning's hands, dared not approach her and kept their distance. Some of the more timid ones even sneaked away amidst the chaos.

Upstairs, Xiao Liao coldly observed everything, showing no intention of intervening.

He wanted to see if Gu Jinning was all show and no substance.

Downstairs, Gu Jinning mocked everyone equally, "You're all a bunch of good-for-nothings."

Sun Xianzhu roared, "Gu Jinning, you've gone too far! Hua Lingteng, hurry up and teach her a lesson!"

Hua Lingteng was also driven to desperation. He leaped into the air and unleashed a fierce palm strike at Gu Jinning. After all, he came from a family of martial arts masters and possessed martial arts skills.

Gu Jinning lightly touched the ground with her toes, landing on the stair railing below. She grabbed a teapot from the shelf and threw it. She couldn't reveal her true skills; if she really faced Hua Lingteng, she would definitely be at a disadvantage.

Taking advantage of Hua Lingteng's dodge, Gu Jinning jumped in front of Sun Xianzhu, grabbed him, and threw him at Hua Lingteng.

Hua Lingteng was forced to retract his palm, and Gu Jinning waved the square table, shouting, "Take my Invincible Palm!"

The table flew towards the two of them at high speed, and Hua Lingteng pressed Sun Xianzhu down to avoid it.

The table passed over the two people and headed straight for the teahouse entrance.

Just then, several figures stepped inside.

Gu Jinning saw someone and quickly leaped to intercept the table, but it was too late.

"Your Highness, please be careful."

With lightning speed, Song Hui leaped forward and kicked the flying table, shattering it.

Pieces of metal fell with a clatter, and Xiao Heng'an and Gu Xueshu appeared in everyone's sight, their faces serious.

Gu Jinning, who had flown in, met the eyes of the two people and hurriedly shouted, "Make way, make way!" But it was too late.

She slammed on the brakes and bumped headfirst into Xiao Heng'an's arms, crying out, "Ouch!"

The building fell silent as if it were the dead of night. Everyone stood there dumbfounded, and it took them a while to hurriedly bow and greet each other, too embarrassed to look at the chaotic scene.

Inside the hall, tables, chairs, and benches were broken and scattered all over the floor, a mess with signs of a fight.

Hua Lingteng and Sun Xian lay on the ground, covered in dirt and bruises.

Gu Xueshu was greatly shocked and steadied Gu Jinning, asking, "Sister, what's going on?"

He returned to the city from his leave at the camp today and heard that the Emperor had pardoned Gu Jinning ahead of schedule. He went to the Ministry of Justice prison early to pick her up. On the way, he met Xiao Heng'an and learned that she had come to the teahouse first, so he came with Xiao Heng'an.

Halfway there, Qinglian brought him a message saying something had happened, but he didn't believe it.

How did a fight break out in just half an hour? And it was between the son of the Minister of Revenue and the head of the Hua family.

How will he explain this when he goes back?

Gu Xueshu opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Gu Jinning said aggrievedly, "They bullied me first."

Sun Xianzhu scrambled to his feet, shouting, "You were the one who hit us first!"

Gu Jinning darted behind Xiao Heng'an and retorted, "That's because you guys have dirty mouths."

"Uncle Wang."

Xiao Liao stepped forward at the opportune moment, cupped his hands in greeting to Xiao Heng'an, and said amiably, "It's just a few young people having a little scuffle, it happens all the time, it's nothing serious."

Sun Xianzhu exclaimed, "Cousin, my nose is all swollen."

Xiao Liao stopped him with a look and scolded, "Who told you to be so ignorant and incompetent that you couldn't even withstand the punches and kicks of your cousin, the princess?"

Gu Jinning quickly held out her hand to complain, "My hand is injured too."

The knuckles of both her hands were red from hitting Sun Xianzhu.

Gu Xueshu immediately saw through the situation, but didn't dare to laugh. He cleared his throat and criticized, "Jin Ning, you're too impulsive. How can you fight so easily? It's damaging the relationship between our two families."

Looking at the injury on her hand, Xiao Heng'an said out of the blue, "You didn't hit her hard enough."

It's unclear whether they're referring to Gu Jinning or Sun Xianzu.

Xiao Jun stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Xiao Heng'an, and explained gently, "This matter is not entirely the princess's fault; both sides are at fault. The princess should not have acted impulsively, and Young Master Sun and the Hua family head should not have joked around with Young Master Hua."

Xiao Liao also said, "It's all just a momentary display of power. Once it's over, it's fine. There's no grudge that lasts overnight."

He then reprimanded Sun Xianzhu, "Remember this, keep your mouth shut from now on. What kind of person is Young Master Hua? How dare you interfere?"

Sun Xianzhu rolled his eyes at Gu Jinning, then turned his head away resentfully, clearly unconvinced.

"So, a princess can keep male lovers just because she dares to do it but not tell anyone?"

"Xianzu!"

Xiao Liao reprimanded him sternly, and Sun Xianzhu reluctantly shut his mouth.

Xiao Heng'an had already figured out the cause of the whole thing, and the key figure, "Young Master Hua".

"A male concubine?" Xiao Heng'an couldn't ignore the word and asked Gu Jinning.

Gu Xueshu cleared his throat, looking away somewhat awkwardly, pretending not to hear. After all, his younger sister's relationship with Young Master Hua was indeed extraordinary.

Gu Jinning gritted her teeth at Sun Xianzhu and began to rub her fists together, "He really didn't hit me hard enough."

Sun Xianzhu hurriedly hid behind Xiao Liao and Xiao Jun.

Gu Xueshu pulled Gu Jinning back, "Stop fooling around, your grandfather is waiting for you at home."

At this moment, Sun Xianzhu blurted out, "If it weren't for Hua Lingchen, why would she spend three thousand taels to buy a broken sword?"

Hua Lingteng seized the opportunity to say, "Your Highness Prince Jin, please be the judge. Raising the price from thirty taels to three thousand taels is far too high. The princess dares to buy, but I dare not sell. Yet she insists on forcing me to buy."

Gu Xueshu looked at Gu Jinning in disbelief.

Xiao Heng'an's gaze was fixed on the controversial item on the stage, and he asked the question that Gu Xueshu wanted to ask, "What kind of sword is worth three thousand taels?"

Gu Jinning said proudly, "If I say it's worth it, then it's worth it!"

She walked onto the stage, carrying the sword box along with her, and said to Hua Lingteng, "I will give you every penny of the silver, and the item is mine."

He then glared at Sun Xianzhu and declared, "If anyone dares to utter another word of gossip, I will cut out their tongue."

Xiao Liao shrugged helplessly at Xiao Heng'an, implying: Look, this is how she always is.

Xiao Heng'an acted as if he hadn't seen anything and spoke up to support her, "Since the princess likes it, then buy it. Patriarch Hua, I'll pay three thousand taels and deliver it to your residence later."

Hua Lingteng was surprised that Xiao Heng'an did not pursue the matter further, but instead spoke up for Gu Jinning. He was speechless for a moment, "This sword is an old sword. How dare I accept Your Highness's money? Consider it a gift to Your Highness."

Gu Jinning stubbornly said, "No. I decide what I buy, and I won't accept anyone's favor. Qinglian, go back to the manor and get the money."

Qinglian stared blankly, perplexed. Their quarters were always empty every month; where would they get three thousand taels?