Especially now, this loafer was still talking as he fled, chattering without end. The fire in Steward Zhou's heart surged up and simply could not be suppressed.
Furious, he saw the loafer run near him, rose from his seat, pointed at him, and shouted, "Nonsense! You are profaning the gods and slandering an innocent woman! You deserve a beating!"
With that, he pounced forward and swung a full-arm slap across the loafer's face.
With a smack, the loafer was struck so hard he went blank for a moment. When others fought, they merely threw wild punches or kicked with their feet. No one genuinely put such feeling into slapping someone across the face!
Such hatred—could it be that this man's wife had gone to Water Cloud Shrine to pray for a child and actually conceived one?
The instant the onlookers saw this scene, such thoughts sprang to mind.
Steward Zhou paid no attention whatsoever to the looks in others' eyes. Consumed by hatred, one slap was not enough. He gave the loafer another slap, and only after those two slaps did he feel somewhat satisfied.
He had wanted to kick him a few more times, but when he looked up, he found everyone around him watching. Nor was the loafer alone. His companions had previously been cowed by the aggressive crowd, but now they had come to their senses and were rushing over. Steward Zhou reacted swiftly and barked, "Get lost! I'm letting you off easy."
As he spoke, he tossed half a string of copper coins to the waiter and turned to leave.
After leaving the teahouse and seeing that no one was pursuing him, he relaxed slightly. Yet as he looked at the people on the road, Steward Zhou felt both regret and fear.
"I shouldn't have struck