175. How much do you think I could get if I tried to extort him?
Upon hearing these accusations, Dou Shichen, who was already short-tempered, immediately flew into a rage.
He turned to the crowd and shouted angrily, "What do you know? You're making baseless accusations without even knowing the truth! If your carriages suddenly broke down, would you still be so calm? Besides, what right do you have to talk about me?!"
The onlookers, not knowing who he was, and taking advantage of their numbers, naturally didn't tolerate him.
"Even if our carriage breaks down, we wouldn't bully honest people like you do!"
"That's right, you're the one being unreasonable!"
The conflict intensified.
The second brother stood aside, looking at Dou Shichen's arrogant demeanor, and couldn't help but frown. He whispered to the little dumpling, "He's gone too far. Even if there's a problem with the carriage, can't he just talk it out? Why does he have to be so fierce and argue with so many people?"
The little dumpling didn't respond; her gaze fell on Dou Shichen's carriage.
She saw the horse pulling the cart pawing restlessly, its head occasionally shaking, looking as if in great pain.
She tugged at her second brother's sleeve and whispered, "Second brother, look at that horse, it seems uncomfortable."
The second brother looked in the direction she pointed, assuming the horse was frightened by the noise, and casually said, "It's probably disturbed by the commotion over here. Let's ignore it and see how Dou Shichen handles this."
Coincidentally, the guards brought by Dou Shichen saw the crowd filled with righteous indignation and, fearing that they would be attacked by the mob, instinctively drew their swords in warning.
As soon as the sword was drawn, everyone retreated under the overwhelming killing intent.
With this step back, the little dumpling and the second brother underneath were exposed.
"Uh...should we take a few steps back?" The second brother pulled the little dumpling and tried to walk backward.
But the little girl felt something was wrong. She let go of her second brother's hand and slowly walked to the carriage.
Dou Shichen was arguing fiercely with the crowd, hands on his hips, and didn't notice the small figure.
The guards did see her, but they all knew her, so they weren't worried that she was some kind of assassin.
And so the little dumpling walked smoothly to the horse.
She carefully examined the horse's four legs and quickly noticed something unusual—several thin kite lines were wrapped around the horse's left foreleg. The lines had gotten into the gaps between the hooves and were wrapped around the leg. When the horse moved, the lines tightened even more.
No wonder it looked so painful...
The little dumpling immediately ran to Dou Shichen's side and tugged at his clothes: "Shining Bean Prince, stop making a fuss, look at your horse!"
Dou Shichen was annoyed by the argument when he was interrupted. He lowered his head impatiently and said, "It's you? Stop messing around!"
The little dumpling pulled him hard, pointing with its little finger.
Dou Shichen finally stopped talking reluctantly and followed her gaze.
He was stunned when he saw it.
The kite string tangled on the horse's hooves was exactly the same as the broken kite string in the stall owner's hand!
The little dumpling ran up to the stall owner again, looked up at him, and asked, "Uncle, did the wind blow your kite away?"
The stall owner hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Yes...yes, the wind was too strong just now and blew the kite away. I was just about to chase after it when I saw the kite get tangled in this young master's carriage, and then the carriage stopped, and the young master got out..."
The truth was revealed in an instant.
The crowd didn't immediately quiet down; instead, it split into two factions, arguing even more fiercely than before.
"Even if the kite string got tangled in the horse, his attitude just now was far too arrogant! Shouting at a small vendor like that, did he really think he was the King of Heaven?"
"You can't say that! This vendor is also at fault. Instead of finding an open space to fly kites, he sets up a stall on the roadside. If the kite string gets tangled in a passing child, the consequences could be serious!"
"Yes, it's such a thin wire. If it breaks on a child who can't speak, and the adults don't notice in time... I don't even want to think what might happen."
"Exactly! The carriage was moving perfectly fine, and suddenly the horse got tangled in a kite string. Who wouldn't be angry?"
"You can't bully others just because you have power! Look how scared you were of the vendors just now, they couldn't even speak properly!"
The two groups argued back and forth, each sticking to their own version of events, until their faces were red and their spittle was almost flying onto each other's faces.
On the other side, the stall owner, upon seeing the kite string tethered to the horse's hoof and hearing the murmurs of the crowd, turned pale with fright. He knelt down with a thud, his hands trembling like leaves, and hurriedly began to untie the string from the horse's hoof: "I'm so sorry, so sorry, young master! I wasn't watching the kite properly and have caused you trouble. Please forgive me, sir..."
After the thread was untied, he kept kowtowing, his voice trembling with sobs, and his forehead quickly turned bright red.
Seeing the vendor's pitiful state, the little dumpling ran back to Dou Shichen's side, trying to plead for him: "Shining Bean Prince, don't be angry. Uncle didn't mean it. He must be very scared. Please forgive him..."
Dou Shichen looked down at the little dumpling's round face, then glanced at the vendor kneeling on the ground trembling. He frowned and said in a still harsh tone, "Hey, you said you're doing this to earn money for your sick child's medicine, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes..." The vendor cried, tears streaming down his face, "I'm the only one earning money in my family, and they're counting on me for my child's medicine..."
Dou Shichen pursed his lips; he was thinking of his father and mother again.
I wonder if they are also busy trying to get him back right now.
He opened his purse, took out a heavy gold ingot, and threw it directly into the vendor's arms: "Stop knocking, I'll buy all your kites. Hurry up and pack your things up, set up your stall somewhere else, don't get in the way here."
The gold ingot gleamed brightly, and the vendor was stunned for a moment. After realizing what was happening, he subconsciously took a bite.
It's pure gold!
This gold ingot weighs ten taels!
With this gold ingot in hand, not only will the child's illness be covered, but the family's food supply for the next few years will also be secured.
The vendor's fear instantly turned to gratitude, and he sincerely kowtowed to Dou Shichen several more times: "Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master! I'll be leaving now, I'll be leaving now!"
He quickly packed up his stall, left the kite behind, and left.
The onlookers were astonished to see that Dou Shichen not only did not make things difficult for the vendors, but also bought all the kites... his generosity was terrifying.
The two groups that had been arguing suddenly stopped.
"It seems this young master isn't truly unreasonable; he even knows to compensate the vendors."
"Yes, this was just an accident, and it's good that it's been resolved now."
Then it shifts to another art style—
"How much do you think I could get by lying in front of the carriage and extorting money from him?"
"Shouldn't I compensate you with ten pounds of gold?"
"I'm a little tempted. Anyone want to team up? Let's lie under his carriage."
Everyone was discussing it amongst themselves, but fortunately, before they could actually do anything about it, Dou Shichen's guards chased them away.
Dou Shichen watched the vendor's departing figure, then looked at the little dumpling beside him, his lips twitched, and he said, unusually, "Thanks for earlier."
The voice wasn't loud and sounded somewhat unnatural, as if it were forced out.
The little dumpling shook its head with a smile: "You're welcome! Shiny Bean Prince, you were so amazing when you threw the gold!"
Upon hearing this, Dou Shichen raised his chin again, reverting to his arrogant demeanor: "What's the big deal? I have plenty of money. Buying a few broken kites is nothing."
He paused, then glanced at his second brother beside him with a vengeful look, his tone disdainful: "Unlike some people, who thought I went too far just now, but now that they know the truth, why are they silent?"
The second brother had initially thought Dou Shichen was a good person after seeing him compensate the vendor, but upon hearing his words, his anger flared instantly: "What do you mean by that? If it weren't for your sister finding the kite string on the horse's hoof, you would still be angry with the vendor! And now you're turning around and mocking him!"
"So what if I mocked you? Wasn't what I said true?"
Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, the little girl quickly grabbed her second brother's hand: "Okay, okay, don't fight! Second brother, let's go to the lake to feed the fish, okay? Mommy is waiting for us."
She looked at Dou Shichen again, about to ask him if he wanted to come along, when he anticipated her move and answered first—
"Hmph, that's child's plaything. I'm going to the horse farm to ride horses."
Dou Shichen turned to get into the carriage, but paused before turning around: "However, don't get involved in this kind of fun next time. If you get accidentally injured, no one will take responsibility for you."
His tone remained arrogant.
but……
This should be seen as concern, right?
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