The night watchman's drum had been struck five times, and the sky in the east was already light, but the street was still empty, with no one passing by.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves and the crunching of wheels over ruts broke the tranquility of dawn.

A total of ten covered horse-drawn carriages drove slowly along Danfeng Street, passed Guyi Lane, and headed towards Xinjiekou.

One of the carriages was driven by Gao Wu, while Wu Yu was guarding the rear of the carriage holding a seven-foot-long wooden stick.

Zhao Hao and his son Zhao Shouzheng were also sitting opposite each other, talking in low voices.

"More than 30 years ago, the old man passed the imperial examination and moved his family to Nanjing. At that time, they rented the Qian family's house. The Qian family was a wealthy family in Jiangning who started out as a small business owner. They tried to curry favor with the old man, a new noble, and the two families became close. Later, the old man went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. At the invitation of the Qian family, your grandmother and my brother moved in with him. We didn't expect that something bad would happen as a result of living there."

Zhao Hao nodded silently and listened to Zhao Shouzheng continue to narrate:

"That old man Qian actually instructed his daughter, that bitch Qian, to seduce your uncle. Your uncle was only sixteen years old at the time, and that bitch was four years older than him!" Zhao Shouzheng looked at his son indignantly and said, "As the saying goes, a man three years older than a woman four years older is like a thorn in the eye. Do you think they can have a good life together?"

"Dad, don't go off topic." Zhao Hao reminded helplessly.

"Okay, let's talk about the past." Zhao Shouzheng hurriedly returned to the main topic and said, "As a result, the old man went to Beijing and passed the imperial examination. When he visited the Ministry of Political Work, he was appreciated by the Shangshu, who wanted to marry his granddaughter to your uncle. The old man was naturally flattered and agreed immediately. The two sides even exchanged engagement letters. Then the old man immediately wrote a letter here, asking your uncle to come to Beijing as soon as possible to get married."

"As a result, that bitch Qian claimed that she was pregnant and threatened to commit suicide. Your uncle was afraid that someone might die, so he had to write back to Beijing and ask the old man to cancel the engagement." Zhao Shouzheng sighed and said, "I was only seven years old at the time, and I couldn't arrange a marriage for my brother. In the end, the old man had no choice but to bite the bullet and cancel the engagement."

"Not only did this incident make the old man lose face, it also completely offended the old minister, which greatly affected the old man's career. As a result, he worked in the position of chief for ten years, and only got promoted normally after the old minister retired... The old man has always been arrogant and thought that he could have been the minister of the Ministry of Personnel even without this incident. As a result, he was slow at every step and finally did not get to be the head of the six ministries. He only became the right vice minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. Naturally, he was angry."

"What made the old man even more upset about the Qian family was that he took leave and returned to Nanjing to hold a wedding for the couple who were pregnant. But soon after the wedding, Qian said she had a miscarriage. It turned out that the so-called pregnancy was a despicable trick used by the Qian family to trap your uncle. So the old man always looked at Qian with a frown and scolded her at every turn, and even your eldest brother and younger sister were not liked by him."

After learning about these old grudges, Zhao Hao suddenly understood why Qian took Yunjie back to her parents' home as soon as something happened to the old man.

Obviously, after knowing that Zhao Liben could not make a comeback, the resentment that she had been pent up for many years broke out completely. She began to mock and humiliate Zhao Shouye, which eventually led to the incident last night.

~~

At this time, the carriage slowly stopped and we arrived at Xinjiekou.

Zhao Hao opened the car curtain. The nights were short in summer and it was already bright outside the car.

"No matter what happens, father must not get off the car." Zhao Hao turned around and reminded Zhao Shouzheng, "The autumn examination is approaching, father must avoid trouble."

"Oh, I see..." Zhao Shouzheng nodded. He was an experienced candidate, so he knew the pros and cons. If a candidate got involved in a lawsuit, he would forget about taking the imperial examination.

Zhao Shouzheng looked at his son worriedly, grabbed his arm and said, "My son, please be careful, don't let anyone hurt you, and don't go too far. Just give him a light punishment to vent your anger."

"I know what I'm doing, don't worry, father." Zhao Hao smiled and nodded, and Zhao Shouzheng let go of his hand.

By the time he jumped out of the car, the thirty shirtless strong men had already gotten out and surrounded him with wooden sticks.

"Sir, tell me, which family?" The men asked eagerly. Now in Caijia Lane, who wouldn't want to help the richest man Zhao?

Zhao Hao thought to himself, "I don't know either," and looked at the leading carriage. Zhao Xian looked out from inside the carriage and pointed at the large family with high walls and deep courtyards across the street.

Zhao Hao looked up and saw a plaque with the words "Qian Mansion" hanging on the door lintel. He sneered and said, "Tear it down!"

Upon hearing the order, Wu Yu immediately swung the wooden stick in his hand and threw it out. The stick flew towards the lintel of Qian's mansion like a meteor, and with a bang, it smashed the plaque into two pieces and fell to the ground.

"Break the door open and get in!" Zhao Hao snorted coldly and ordered, "As long as no one is killed!"

"Understood!" The strong men trampled the plaque and ran towards the Qian family's gate.

In a blink of an eye, seven or eight big men slammed their shoulders against the two closed doors at the same time!

Then there was a loud bang, and the bolt of the gate was broken directly. The two door leaves flew open and knocked out the servants of the Qian family who came to check after hearing the noise!

"Fuck them!"

The big men rushed in, shouting and yelling, holding wooden sticks high, and smashing everything they saw!

Ping-pong, snap-crack!

In the blink of an eye, the Qian Mansion's expensive front hall was smashed to pieces...

At this time, the male servants of the Qian family finally rushed over with weapons. Old Master Qian also came from the backyard with his hair loose and wearing slippers. Seeing that his antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and furniture were all smashed to pieces, he immediately flew into a rage and pointed at the strong men who were smashing things to their heart's content and cursed: "How dare you, thugs! Catch them now!"

The Qian family had more than thirty male servants in total, and they were holding iron weapons in their hands... The Ming Dynasty did not prohibit civilians from owning weapons, so every family had swords and guns.

Seeing that the enemy was ferocious but only had a wooden stick, they plucked up their courage and rushed forward.

Little did they know that he was a carefully selected fighting expert. Moreover, the stick is the ancestor of all weapons. All the guards in Nanjing have learned Yu Dayou's 36 sticks, which can even restrain the swordsmanship of the Japanese pirates, let alone these chickens and dogs with ordinary weapons.

Almost as soon as they came into contact, the Qian family man's weapon was knocked away and he was knocked to the ground in the next moment.

The men in Caijia Lane wielded wooden sticks and beat the men's limbs and buttocks. They were used to fighting and knew where it hurt and where not to hit.

Amid the thud of blunt instruments hitting flesh, screams of various tones and accents echoed throughout the Qian Mansion.

"Oh, mother..."

"Oh, it hurts so much..."

"Have mercy, man, have mercy!"

The men in the Qian family were beaten so hard that they rolled on the ground, screaming and begging for mercy. Some were even beaten so hard that they cried and howled. It looked as miserable as it could be.

The women of the Qian family had naturally been alarmed, but who dared to come out to check? They huddled together in the backyard, their cries of fear were louder than those in the front yard.

Seeing that his children, grandchildren and servants were so vulnerable, Master Qian subconsciously wanted to escape, but his legs were trembling and he couldn't move at all.

At this time, he saw a young man with red lips and white teeth standing outside the door opposite, looking at him calmly.

He suddenly remembered that this person was Zhao Shouye's nephew, and realized what kind of evil star he had provoked. He pointed at Zhao Hao and shouted in a trembling voice: "Don't be arrogant, Zhao family boy, this is Nanjing City, I have reported to the police, none of you can escape!"

However, Zhao Hao smiled contemptuously.

Gao Wu moved a throne and placed it behind him.

Zhao Hao lifted the hem of his robe, sat down with his sword in hand and said, "Smash the main hall too!"

The strong men from Caijia Lane left the Qian family members who were beaten to the point where they could not get up and ran towards the main hall of the second courtyard.

ps. Have a nice weekend everyone, the first update is here. How many book friends are on their way home now? I hope to spend some time with you on your journey... By the way, please give me a recommendation vote!!!