"Waste, good-for-nothing!" the madam spat at the beaten thugs. While she was ruthless, she also had some brains. Xu Dali had previously said they weren't people she could afford to offend. Tong Bajin's display of skill reminded her that they were from the military camp outside the city.
The war had just ended, and the two countries had yet to sign a treaty. The Central Plains people in the city had all been living in Yue Country before the war, and most were timid and fearful of trouble. This gave her confidence. This was because the King of Pingnan had always been strict in his military discipline, and he had never had his court officers and soldiers seek pleasure in the brothels, causing trouble. Instead, it was the Yue Country's military rations who often came to cause trouble.
"Come on, follow me to the city walls to see your marshal!" She grabbed Tong Bajin's shirt and yelled, "I bought Feng Niang with real money, and you robbed a brothel girl and even assaulted her. Go ask your marshal to judge!"
"Let Uncle Tong go." Sanniu always hated bullies. Just as she was about to rush over, Pei Zitong pulled her back. "There's no need for you, little kid, to intervene. This princess will teach her a lesson."
Pei Zitong already knew that Tong Bajin and Qiu Fengling were a couple. She stepped forward, acting like a princess, and ordered the madam to let go. "Let him go. It's only a hundred taels. I'll take it for him."
She took off the gold locket from her neck and handed it to the madam. "Take this to General Ye's residence in Beijing and exchange it for silver in a month, or I can send someone to pick it up."
When the madam heard her mention General Ye's Mansion, she realized that she was the current emperor's sister. She felt a little scared, but she also felt that she was right. The royal family didn't care about that little money, so she made up her mind and said, "One hundred taels is Feng Niang's redemption money. This is for injuring someone..."
Before she could finish her words, Tong Bajin snatched the gold locket from her hand. "This bitch is not worth a hundred taels. I don't acknowledge this."
He returned the gold lock to Pei Zitong. The madam became anxious and slapped her legs, saying, "Forget it, forget it. One hundred taels is one hundred taels. For the sake of the Princess of Yue, I won't argue with you. Give it to me."
She reached out to grab the gold locket, but Tong Bajin refused. He glared at her and said, "Don't think I dared not hit you just because you're a woman. If you're not afraid of death, try to grab it again."
"Who asked you to admit it?" Pei Zitong took the gold lock back from him and gave it back to the madam. The madam quickly stuffed it into her arms, waved her hand and asked a few thugs to help the still wailing pimp, and walked away quickly with her big butt twisted.
"Man'er's father..."
"Shut up!"
Qiu Fengling had just called Man'er "Dad" when Tong Bajin, infuriated, picked her up and was about to punch her, but Xu Dali grabbed him and said, "No!"
"It's not worth ruining your future for this woman. Please think twice!" Xu Dali was worried that he would punch Qiu Fengling to death in a rage. "Why don't you take her back? I'll give her a divorce letter and have the adults stamp it. We'll have nothing to do with each other from now on."
Erlangzi was tongue-tied and didn't know how to persuade him, so he picked up Xu Dali's words and said, "Yes, take her back and give her a divorce letter. What's the point of having such an unclean and evil woman? Are you afraid that you can't find another woman who is a hundred times better than her?"
"Brother!" Xu Dali continued, "Brothers like you and me are as close as brothers. We still have a long way to go. If I lose your life because of this woman, it will be a real pain in my heart!"
After being persuaded by the two, Tong Bajin finally suppressed his anger and said, "I will spare your life as agreed by my two good brothers. Tell me, where is the adulterer?"
He could choose not to take her life, even though her arms were adorned by thousands of people and his head was already covered in green, but without that adulterer, his son would not have died. He did not want their lives, so beating them to death would be considered revenge for his son.
As Qiu Fengling listened to him interrogate her adulterer, she sobbed and told Tong Bajin how she had fled to the Kingdom of Yue with him, fearing he would come and kill them both. He turned out to be a lazy man who later became addicted to gambling and, after owing money to the gambling den, sold her to a brothel to pay off his debts.
Among the onlookers, someone who recognized Qiu Fengling spat at her, "Bah! You thought you and him were husband and wife, but it turns out you're just mistresses."
The man then told Tong Bajin, "She was sold to the 'Baihualou' and was using the money to support her lover. Last year, she cheated in a gambling house and was beaten up. Not long after, she vomited blood and died!"
While Qiu Fengling was explaining this, Concubine Li's maid had already taken Erniu and Sanniu aside to prevent them from hearing these dirty stories. Because of this episode, the group stopped strolling around and, instead, tied up Qiu Fengling and returned to the barracks.
"Sir." Tong Bajin reported the matter to Ding Youtian when he returned. Ding Youtian, who had taken the post of Left Assistant Army Officer and was still serving as the magistrate of Xing'an County, asked him to write a letter of divorce and ride Qiu Ge back to the county government office to ask the county magistrate to stamp it.
Jian Ning only learned about this two days later. She gave the silver to Xu Dali and asked him to take it to Baihua Tower to exchange it for Pei Zitong's gold locket. After Xu Dali left, he unexpectedly saw Qiu Fengling again. He felt that the hundred taels he had spent were really unfair. This woman was so shameless. However, he felt relieved when he thought that Tong Bajin had divorced her.
Xu Dali took the gold lock back, and Jian Ning asked him to give it to Tong Bajin, who then returned it to Pei Zitong.
"Hey, how did you get it back?" Pei Zitong took the golden lock and glanced at Tong Bajin. "If I don't say anything, don't you have to take responsibility for this?"
Tong Bajin lowered his eyelids and said, "We still want to thank you for the money our wife gave us."
He said and was about to leave.
"Stop!" Pei Zitong stopped him, looked him up and down, tilted his head and said, "You look sick, but you are quite skilled in martial arts and your moves are clean and efficient. Why don't you go and guard me? I'll give you more money. How about it?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"I'm serious. I'm not kidding. We Yue people don't have as many rules as you do in the Dayan Dynasty. Being a guard for this princess is much more comfortable than being a follower. Why don't you consider it, huh?"
"Goodbye!" Tong Bajin took a side step and left without looking back.
The day for signing the contract soon arrived. Pei Zitong was very happy in the morning. She ran out of the tent from time to time and looked forward to the official road ahead. She finally waited for the person to come, but what the national teacher Nanuoshen brought her was Pei Xiyuan's oral instructions and the letter of severance from the Ye family.
After Pei Xiyuan calmed down and thought about it carefully, he realized that the Yan Army had withdrawn thirty miles after breaking camp that day and defeated Li Shang's Xuanju Legion. They must have known about Li Shang's witchcraft early on, and Pei Zitong was the only one in the entire Yan Army camp who knew the inside story!
The war consumed a huge amount of financial and material resources of the Yue Kingdom, and also caused the loss of a lot of military forces. In order to give an explanation to his subjects, Pei Zitong had to take the blame.
Compared with the supreme imperial power, what is a younger sister?
Pei Xiyuan orally ordered that Pei Zitong's royal status be abolished, and he be demoted to a commoner, and he would never be allowed to set foot on the land of Yue Kingdom again!
Na Nuoshen waved his hand, and two eunuchs carried over a box. Inside were clothes, silver, and jewelry that the Empress Dowager had given to Pei Zitong, as well as a letter from the Empress Dowager. It contained only two sentences: "The Emperor has made up his mind, and I am powerless to change it."
Pei Zitong was struck by lightning, and her whole body seemed to be in a trance. After a while, she came to her senses and shouted, "No! I want to go find my brother, I want to find my mother!"
She stamped her feet, turned around and ran out of the tent.
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