Chapter 11: Reckless Man
"Wait a minute, mother." Luo Zhaohan held her trembling hand. "Young Master Sun's aunt is Concubine Li in the palace?"
Qiu Ping nodded heavily: "She is the biological mother of the Third Prince."
Luo Zhaohan's fingertips traced the cracks on the table. In a previous life, the Sun family, leveraging Concubine Li's influence, had chosen the wrong side in the succession struggle, yet was able to survive, all thanks to their early collusion with Xie Wuqi.
Now it seems that this game of chess has been set from this moment on.
Qin Wan knocked the teacup hard, shaking the incense burner on the table. "Well done, Jin Ce! That bastard from the Sun family deserves his mouth torn apart!"
She stood up suddenly, her crimson skirt sweeping sunlight all over the ground. "Prepare the car! I want to see what good breeds the Minister of Personnel's mansion has raised!"
"Mom, wait a minute!" Luo Zhaohan blocked the door frame with his arm. "If the younger generation fights and the elders intervene, it will make us look like we're in the wrong."
Her fingertips brushed the soft sword tassel at her waist, "Daughter, go and meet those gossipers." Qin Wan frowned and looked at her daughter.
Silver wristbands bound her narrow sleeves, and her black hair was tied up in a high ponytail—though this outfit was neat, it couldn't stop the gossip. She suddenly grabbed her daughter's wrist with her backhand and said, "Chunxi, bring me that gold-threaded butterfly dress!"
When Luo Zhaohan was pressed in front of the dressing box, blood was splattering on the blue brick floor of the Imperial College.
Luo Jince wiped the blood from his nose, his jade belt having long since been flung to a corner. A gentle young man nearby chased after him, wiping it with a handkerchief. "Cousin, calm down. Even though Sun Honglei is a nasty fellow, we don't need to fight!"
"He dares to say that my sister is a she-devil!" Luo Jince kicked over the desk, startling the sparrows in the corridor and causing them to fly everywhere.
The obscene words of the storyteller in the teahouse yesterday are still ringing in my ears - "The female general of the Luo family is as fierce as a demon. I'm afraid she drinks the blood of men every night!"
In front of the diamond-shaped mirror, Luo Zhaohan watched his mother insert the golden phoenix hairpin into her hair.
Qin Wan gritted her teeth as she tied the sachet around her daughter's waist. "Those blind bastards, I'm going to make them kneel down and swallow their words today!"
"Jin Ce, let's retreat for now. A man of insight is a wise man."
Hearing this, Luo Jince immediately glared at the young man with a sharp gaze and said angrily, "Cousin, how dare you help others to gain prestige? This Sun Honglei spoke wildly and openly insulted my sister. I will not let him go no matter what!"
The cousin that Luo Jince mentioned was Ye Yiheng, the second son of the Yongchang Earl's Mansion, whom his mother Qin Wan had originally planned to marry to her adopted daughter Liu Yueli.
Faced with Luo Jince's stubbornness, Ye Yiheng's persuasion was ineffective and he could only shake his head helplessly.
Since childhood, Jin Ce has been loyal to his cousin Luo Zhaohan, obeying her orders and not tolerating any criticism from others.
Now, as he grows older, his desire to protect his sister is growing stronger.
Faced with his younger brother's persistence, Ye Yiheng sighed inwardly.
Forget it, let him be.
Ye Yiheng grabbed Luo Jince by the back of his collar and dragged him to the corner. He pressed his thumb hard on the bridge of his nose, causing Luo Jince to grimace in pain. "You have to choose the right time to be a hero. If I fight you again, just get under my uniform. Do you understand?"
"My cousin is the most loyal!" Luo Jince responded in a muffled voice with two tubes of blood hanging from his nose, and the front of his sleeves were stained with blood.
Ye Yiheng's temples were throbbing.
If it weren't for the fear of being skinned alive by his parents when he gets home, no one would care about the life or death of this young man.
There were about seventeen or eighteen people gathered under the eaves of the opposite corridor. The one wearing a brocade shirt was none other than Sun Honglei, the young ancestor of the Minister of Personnel.
"Shut up, everyone!" Xie Wuchen suddenly stumbled between the two groups. His newly changed bamboo robe was stained with ink, and the futou that had just been knocked off was still tilted on his shoulder. "I really didn't know about the broken engagement. Please don't make fun of my brother's private affairs anymore..."
"Get out of the way!" Sun Honglei kicked over the desk, and the inkstone hit the blue bricks, splashing out ink stars.
He had long disliked the illegitimate son of the Xie family. He always pretended to be noble by holding books about sages, but he also had red lips and white teeth, which made girls like him.
Seeing this, Luo Jince felt bad and clasped his fists towards Xie Wuchen: "I'm sorry, after I deal with these gossipers, I'll treat you to roast lamb from Li Ji on East Street to make amends!"
Before he finished speaking, the followers behind Sun Honglei burst into laughter.
The fat man in the crimson round-collared robe echoed in a pinched voice, "Young Master Luo is so generous. No wonder your sister was able to stay in the embroidery tower even after her engagement was broken off—I guess he had already agreed with that adopted daughter to share a husband?"
"You're fucking bullshit!" Luo Jince picked up the half-broken stool and was about to smash it, but Ye Yiheng held his wrist tightly.
Seeing this, the young men became even more excited and started to make up secrets of the Luo family.
Some people said that they saw Luo Zhaohan wearing a veil hat and going to the pharmacy to buy pregnancy-preserving medicine last month, and some people swore that Liu Yueli and Xie Wuqi had already secretly decided to spend their lives together.
Sun Honglei slumped in his armchair, legs crossed. The sunlight filtered through the latticed windows onto his densely embroidered black boots, blinding him.
He slowly peeled the grapes that had been sent as tribute from the Western Regions, juice dripping from his fingers onto his malachite ring. "If you ask me, Commander Xie is truly a kindhearted man, having endured until he was twenty to break off the engagement?"
"Bang!"
A boxwood paperweight flew past Sun Honglei's ear, smashing a hole in the painting "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" behind him. Luo Jince broke free from Ye Yiheng's grip and rained down his fists on the nearest scholar. "If you dare to tell stories about my sister again, I'll tear your mouths apart!"
The scene suddenly became chaotic.
The "Zhenguan Zhengyao" and "Zizhi Tongjian" on the rosewood shelf fell down with a loud noise. The young men in brocade robes ran away with their heads in their hands, which was a good opportunity for Xie Wuchen in the corner - he took the opportunity to pick up half a volume of "Mencius" and huddled behind the statue of Confucius to read it with great interest.
Ye Yiheng's cloud-patterned cuffs were stained with ink, having been rubbed against them while trying to stop the fight. He was about to speak again when he heard a sneer from the corridor: "Could the Luo family's daughter, Rakshasa, be a green-faced, fang-toothed demon? She actually frightened Young Marquis Xie into breaking off the engagement overnight!"
Luo Jince's forehead veins bulged as he grabbed the inkstone with his backhand. Ye Yiheng hurriedly grasped his wrist and said, "Cousin, don't be impulsive..." Before he could finish his words, the inkstone had already brushed past Sun Honglei's ear and embedded itself into the porch column with a "dong".
Sun Honglei covered his bleeding earlobe and jumped up and down, "You Luo family are really all reckless!"
Ye Yiheng stared at the cracks on the pillar and gasped. This cousin had truly inherited his uncle's true skills; with a casual throw, he could hit the wood three inches deep.
He bravely took a half step forward and said, "My fellow students, it is not gentlemanly to talk about a woman behind her back..."
"What time is it now? Why are you still showing off your knowledge?" Luo Jince pulled him away. "You bastard! Your father became the Minister of State by flattering others, and you have the nerve to call others reckless?"
Sun Honglei's folding fan clattered to the ground. He hated being reminded of this, so he immediately threw a punch.
Seeing that things were about to get worse, Ye Yiheng subconsciously closed his eyes and crossed his arms to block the attack - but the expected pain fell on the jade belt around his waist.
"Cousin!" He opened his eyes and saw Luo Jince crouching behind him, still saying confidently: "Cousin, you are as strong as three of me, you can take a beating!"
In the chaos, someone pinched Ye Yiheng's thigh, causing him to scream in pain.
At this moment, the door opened, letting in a draft, and Qiu Ping's voice cut through the noise: "The girl is here!"
The mess in the room suddenly froze.
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