Fu Ping had piercing eyes and thick eyebrows. At eighteen or nineteen years old, he was already 1.95 meters tall. He looked robust and powerful in his brocade robe. He reached out his huge hand and grabbed Zheng Ya's collar, but he couldn't lift Zheng Ya at all.
Zheng Ya stood there with a faint smile, ignoring Fu Ping's desperate efforts to budge the mountain-like weight of the spatial power that possessed him. Fu An, who had approached Fu Ping's right side, asked in surprise, "Brother, what's wrong with you? You're covered in sweat..."
The two brothers were of similar stature, both with robust builds, round faces, and thick eyebrows, making them the kind of powerful warriors in the making.
The collateral descendants of the Fu family have always been led by these two brothers, who follow behind the four generations of legitimate sons of the Duke's mansion, cheering them on and running errands for them.
In a society where filial piety and clan rules outweigh national laws, and with the support of their parents' wealth, power, and family influence, legitimate sons are born noble.
Sons of concubines and those from collateral branches are slaves in the presence of legitimate sons.
At best, they are slightly more noble than servants in a large family, but that depends on the attitude of the head of the household and the legitimate son. If the legitimate son and the head of the household do not approve of them, the status of illegitimate sons and collateral relatives is even lower than that of favored servants. Their lives and deaths are entirely controlled by the head of the household, the head of the household, and the legitimate son.
They did not indiscriminately kill illegitimate sons or collateral relatives; they merely upheld the principle of governing the family with kindness and filial piety, treating others with goodwill, expanding the family, serving the dynasty, and avoiding infamy or affecting their careers.
Fu Ya didn't understand, but Zheng Ya, who had lived four lifetimes, immediately understood and laughed, "Fu Ping, you seem so weak. Did Fu Zhen, the fourth-generation direct descendant of the Duke of Yong and the head of the Fu clan, take you to a brothel and have too much fun?"
"Fu Ya, are you looking for death?" Fu Ping angrily grabbed Zheng Ya's collar with his left hand and clenched his right fist to strike, aiming straight for his face.
If that punch landed on the face, it might not blow someone's head off, but it could easily break their face or even kill them.
Fu An knew his elder brother's punch had the force of a thousand pounds and could kill Fu Ya with a single blow. Startled, he stretched out his hands to stop him: "Bang! Brother, killing a clansman will get you into legal trouble. Let's just confront him directly and make him hand over the marriage contract..."
"A marriage contract?" In the instant that Fu An stopped Fu Ping from punching him in the face, Zheng Ya instantly searched for Fu Ya's memories of a marriage contract.
Two years ago, Fu Ya's parents arranged for him to marry Dai Yu, the eldest daughter of Dai Xiang, a third-rank official in the Jiangnan Salt Administration, which shocked the court and the public.
The couple was not of equal social standing, and the entire court was filled with doubts.
Since this matter concerned the national system, civil and military officials launched a wave of impeachments, and Emperor Zheng Yuan and Emperor Chengping issued decrees to inquire about the matter.
Dai Xiang submitted a memorial to the emperor, reporting that Fu Ya's grandfather had once saved his life, and that they had made a marriage agreement to repay the debt of gratitude.
Due to the busy military affairs during the suppression of bandits, the two parties did not have time to write a marriage certificate. It was not until Dai Xiang stabilized the salt administration in Jiangnan that he contacted Fu Ya's family and learned that Fu Ya's grandfather had died in the bandit suppression. Dai Xiang felt extremely guilty and insisted on fulfilling his promise to repay the debt by marrying his daughter off.
Emperor Chengping Zheng Yuan publicly displayed Dai Xiang's memorial to the throne, and all the civil and military officials hid their impeachment memorials against Dai Xiang, instead praising Dai Xiang as a virtuous and upright man.
Is someone stirring up trouble behind the scenes, trying to break off the engagement?
Zheng Ya couldn't figure out the reason, so Fu An pulled his brother away and turned to scold Fu Ya: "You little duckling, you're just a collateral descendant of the Fu family, a good-for-nothing who can't do anything, do you really deserve to marry the legitimate daughter of the Dai family..."
"Oh, so according to you, who is worthy of the eldest daughter of the Dai family?" Zheng Ya asked casually. Fu Ping sneered and raised his fist in a show of force: "Of course, only the clan chief Fu Zhen is qualified to marry the eldest daughter of the Dai family..."
“Brother, the clan chief didn’t say he would marry the eldest daughter of the Dai family. He only warned us that Fu Ya was not worthy of the eldest daughter of the Dai family. Only by breaking off the engagement could we quell the ridicule of the officials and civil servants…” Fu An interjected, revealing the truth.
In reality, Fu Ya's marriage to the eldest daughter of the Dai family, the daughter of Earl Dai Xiang, was tantamount to slapping the face of the two Dukes of the Fu family.
Currently, the four generations of direct descendants of the two dukes, who have been demoted to viscounts, are not qualified to marry the daughters of the earl's family. If a collateral descendant were to marry a daughter of the Dai family, it would be tantamount to disrupting the established order.
Outsiders' ridicule was inevitable, but the Duke, as the head of the family, couldn't allow Fu Ya to rise above his station and become a serf, singing and riding on his head and running wild.
Zheng Ya understood the key point and smiled: "You were ordered to target and scheme against me in order to force me to break off the engagement and preserve the dignity of the Fu family?"
"Little duck, do you think you're worthy of the clan chief's schemes? The entire clan has long been fed up with dealing with someone as arrogant and ignorant as you who doesn't respect elders and the law!"
If you know what's good for you, you should break off the engagement yourself; that's your duty as a member of the Fu family!
Otherwise, you would be a traitor who betrays his ancestors, a crook of power, and a liar who deceives his master, deserving of death.” Fu Ping glared angrily and rebuked him.
It was a roar that came out of nowhere, and the neighbors all ran away in a panic!
Fu An glanced at the surrounding neighbors who were all giving way and laughed, "Little duck, do you see? The Duke's power is still there, and all the civil and military officials in the court are showing him deference. As a member of the Fu clan, who would dare to disobey?"
"That's right, little duckling. You're so down on your luck that you can't even afford to eat, yet you're still thinking about climbing the social ladder and marrying the eldest daughter of the Dai family. Are you sure you're going to die?" Fu Yi sneered in her thin, monkey-like voice.
The others looked down on Fu Ya, but Zheng Ya didn't take it seriously and calmly smiled, "Not to mention that you have plotted against me on your own several times, you have now exposed your shameful deeds in public, committing the crime of killing your own kind. According to reason, you should be severely punished."
Even if we take you to the authorities, you'll still be charged with disturbing the peace, and you'll be punished with a beating and a heavy fine.
Moreover, you few collateral relatives dared to decide to murder for money, force someone to annul the engagement, and give the entire Fu family a pretext for gossip, causing them to lose face and dignity. You deserve to be beaten to death for your crimes.
"In my opinion, you must have been ordered to do this, and afterwards you took the blame and committed suicide to save face for your masters..."
“No, impossible…” Fu Ping panicked, while Zheng Ya sneered: “Get out of here.”
Remember, whatever amount of money or property you've taken from me, return it tenfold, and the matter will be considered closed.
Furthermore, you should go back and inform your masters that there's no need to target and scheme against me like this. Just remove me from the Fu family genealogy. This way, both sides can live in peace, which is the right path for the Fu family to develop.
Do not be a cold-hearted person, lest you chill the hearts of the Manchu people.
Duke Wei Yu is still alive, but how many years did he live?
"Take this to the Fu clan chief as I instructed, and get out of here."
"You, you're going to die!" Fu Ping fled in terror with his men, while the remaining neighbors hid in their homes, marveling at the situation. Had Fu Ya changed his ways?
Zheng Ya was starving and had no time to listen to the neighbors' gossip. Following the route he remembered, which was no more than three meters wide, he admired the wooden courtyard buildings, red walls and green tiles, and pedestrians dressed in robes and skirts, and headed straight for Guiyuanfang Pharmacy.
Guiyuan Pharmacy, located on Guiyuanfang Main Street, diagonally opposite the Fu family's East and West Duke Mansion, is one of Kyoto's top-ranking businesses.
The entire pharmacy, covering an area of four or five hundred square meters, was a three-story wooden building in the style of a courtyard house, with carved beams and painted pillars, presented itself before Zheng Ya. Before Xin could even step forward, the shopkeeper at the door stopped him with a hand gesture: "Where did this troublemaker come from? How dare you enter Guiyuan Pharmacy? Get out of the way..."
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