On Ningrong Street, Jia Huan strode along briskly.
"Master!"
Caiyun ran out of a jewelry shop.
"What are you doing here?" Jia Huan asked curiously.
Her little face clouded with worry, Caiyun said:
"Master Zhen came to Rongxi Hall first thing this morning. He railed at you for disrespecting your elders and behaving recklessly, and demanded that the Old Madam punish you. Master Zheng was so angry he picked up a cudgel and said..."
"Said what?" Jia Huan asked expressionlessly.
Caiyun's voice trembled. "He said that if you don't kneel and kowtow to Master Zhen to admit your wrongdoing, he'll have his unfilial son hauled before the authorities."
Jia Huan sneered.
His wings were not yet fully grown; he had no way of breaking free from the fetters of feudal propriety. Once branded unfilial, he would find himself unable to take a single step in anything he did.
"Master, let's lie low for a few days." Caiyun tugged at his wrist.
"What is there to fear? If they won't let me live in peace and push me too far, we can all go down together!"
Jia Huan was utterly unafraid. If he ran from even such a trifling matter, he would never amount to anything.
Inside Rongxi Hall, Jia Zhen sat sighing while Jia Rong added fuel to the fire beside him. Jia Zheng stood in a corner, his face livid. The young ladies clustered around Jia Mu, while Jia Baoyu chatted and laughed with Madam Wang. Apart from Jia She and Jia Lian, who were out attending to business, almost every important figure from both mansions was present.
"Old Ancestress, Master Zheng, Master Zhen-he's back."
Steward Lai Da announced it loudly.
No sooner had he spoken than Jia Huan ignored Concubine Zhao's attempts to stop him and walked straight into Rongxi Hall.
"You vile beast!" Jia Zheng snatched up an iron rod and roared in fury:
"Kneel! Stay on your knees until your elder clansman Zhen forgives you! Defying your elders and insulting them-how did I sire such an unfilial son!"
Jia Baoyu wagged his head, looking smug.
"Brother Huan, if there's some misunderstanding, explain it quickly," Wang Xifeng said, trying to smooth things over.
"Girl Feng, is it your place to interrupt?" Jia Mu fixed her with a stare.
Wang Xifeng lowered her head. Branded unfilial, Brother Huan would have his entire future ruined.
As calm as ever, Jia Huan said evenly:
"Is this a joint hearing of the Three Judicial Offices? Do any of you know what happened?"
Bang!
Jia Zhen slammed his palm onto the table and roared:
"I knew nothing beforehand! Out of goodwill, I wanted to help Master Wu, but I didn't know what crime he'd committed, so I came to ask you. And what did you do? You shouted at me and pointed in my face! You strutted around the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office to your heart's content, leaving me humiliated and made a laughingstock!"
After a brief pause, he said coldly:
"Or does Rongguo Mansion look down on our Ningguo Mansion and use a junior to humiliate me?"
The moment he finished, Madam Wang hurried to deny it. "One stroke cannot write two different Jia surnames. This wretched boy acted entirely on his own. He was outrageously arrogant and overbearing!"
"Then why haven't you punished him?" Jia Zhen demanded, his tone growing heavier.
"You vile beast, if you still refuse to kneel..." Jia Zheng was interrupted halfway through.
Jia Huan pointed at Jia Zhen and snapped:
"You still dare plead for Old Dog Wu?"
"He poisoned his own wife and harmed his maidservants. Don't tell me you think those are all his crimes!"
"He colluded with bandits and ran amok in the countryside! I led my men to wipe out their stronghold. Twenty-seven women were locked in their cells, every one subjected to inhuman torment! What had they done wrong? Just because they were pretty, did they deserve to be abducted by Old Dog Wu?"
"He murdered tenant farmers from Wu Family Village. They worked themselves to the bone farming Old Dog Wu's fields, and merely asked for a few more mouthfuls of food. He sent bandits to kill them!"
"When other people's tea and cloth businesses prospered, Old Dog Wu grew green-eyed with envy and sent bandits to slaughter their shopkeepers!"
Rongxi Hall fell deathly silent. Everyone was as mute as cicadas in winter. Even Jia Mu felt a chill at what she heard. That man Wu was a beast utterly devoid of conscience.
Jia Huan then looked at Jia Zheng and sneered:
"Father, you pride yourself on driving out corruption and upholding righteousness. What now? Do you intend to turn black into white and swap good for evil? Fortunately, this uproar is still behind closed doors. Even if this matter reaches the Golden Throne Hall, even if it reaches the Imperial Throne itself, I, Jia Huan, am in the right!"
"If I really let Old Dog Wu go, and his crimes came to light someday, wouldn't that mean the Jia family had sheltered him?"
"Ningguo Mansion came here demanding justice for such a rotten wretch? Let them keep mingling with those beasts and bring destruction upon themselves. Just don't let their blood splatter into Rongguo Mansion!"
Jia Zheng's face burned with shame, and he covered it with his sleeve.
He had listened only to Jia Zhen's side of the story, never imagining that Master Wu had committed atrocities on such a scale!
If word spread that he, Jia Zheng, had blamed his son over this, he would have nowhere to hide his old face.
"You..." Jia Zhen looked mortified beyond measure, unable to utter another word for a long while.
He had merely coveted five thousand taels of silver. Beforehand, he had known nothing of Master Wu's true nature.
Just then-
"Third Master Huan, aren't you twisting the argument? Leaving aside the fact that Master Zhen was also kept in the dark, today's issue is your disrespectful attitude toward your elder clansman and the arrogant tone of your accusations."
The speaker was none other than Lai Er, Ningguo Mansion's steward.
In an instant-
Jia Huan's figure flashed, and he lashed out with a vicious kick.
Boom!
Lai Er had been standing at the doorway. The kick sent him flying several yards, and he collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood.
"You dog of a servant! Who are you to criticize me?"
Already seething with anger, Jia Huan drew his Embroidered Spring Saber. Under everyone's horrified gazes, he swiftly thrust it into each ankle and worked the blade back and forth, severing both tendons.
"Aaagh..." Lai Er's face contorted as he let out a hoarse, agonized howl.
"My son..."
Granny Lai and Lai Da, Rongguo Mansion's chief steward, were shattered with anguish. They rushed over, cradled Lai Er, and broke into sobs.
Everyone's hair stood on end. Jia Baoyu cowered behind Jia Mu in fright, and Lin Daiyu turned her face away.
"You can file a complaint against me at the Shenjing Prefectural Court, the Court of Judicial Review, or the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office."
Jia Huan walked over to Concubine Zhao, took her handkerchief, and gently wiped the saber's hilt. Then he tossed the bloodstained cloth onto the floor and left without looking back.
Usually so loud and domineering, Concubine Zhao was timid now. Not daring to say more, she silently followed her son out.
"Lai Er!"
"Old Ancestress, say something!"
Trembling all over with rage, Jia Zhen bellowed:
"He's served my Ningguo Mansion for thirty years, loyally and diligently!"
Looking at Granny Lai's desperate wailing, Jia Mu felt pity rise in her heart and said sorrowfully:
"Huan has been far too ruthless. Quickly, quickly-spare no expense in bringing a physician to treat him. Perhaps his legs can still be saved. If we delay, he'll be crippled."
"And how will Jia Huan be punished?" Jia Zhen demanded, his eyes nearly splitting with fury.
Jia Mu said nothing.
However highly valued a servant might be, anyone still bound to servitude remained a servant. However unfavored a concubine-born son might be, he was still a master.
Besides, if this really became public, the entire Jia family would lose face. Stirring up trouble over a conscienceless Master Wu would make them the laughingstock of the nobility.
"Discipline your son properly. Don't let him be so vicious and violent!" Jia Mu glanced at Jia Zheng, then slowly departed.
Tanchun lowered her lovely head, complicated emotions stirring in her eyes. She had never imagined her younger brother could possess such manly spirit, as though he alone could hold up the sky.
"Brother Huan rid the people of a scourge. What did he do wrong?" Zijuan whispered.
Lin Daiyu gave a soft hum of agreement and said quietly, "That Wu fellow was rotten enough to ooze pus. Master Zhen is making trouble for no reason."
Everyone had their own thoughts. Before long, only Jia Zheng, Jia Zhen, and Jia Rong remained in Rongxi Hall.
"That wayward son of mine was too rash. I'll have a hundred taels of silver brought to you shortly. Do your best to get Lai Er treated."
Leaving those words behind, Jia Zheng also departed with heavy steps.
However much he wanted to discipline Jia Huan, he had no grounds to do so. His son had worked so hard to eliminate a scourge for the court and apparently had not slept all night, yet his own family still blamed him. If word got out, Jia Zheng would truly have nowhere to hide his shame.
"Father..." Jia Rong was at a loss.
Smack!
Jia Zhen dealt him a vicious slap. "You stood there like a block of wood! If you'd spoken up, what would that beast have dared do to you? You're the one who indirectly brought this upon Lai Er!"
"We're going back! From this day onward, that little beast and I cannot live beneath the same sky!"
Back in his courtyard, Jia Huan looked as composed as ever.
When Concubine Zhao came in, he teased her:
"Usually you raise a racket over every little thing. Now you're like a quail, too frightened to make a sound."
"Making fun of me!" Concubine Zhao rolled her eyes at him, then asked with undisguised worry:
"Will it really be all right? Lai Da and Lai Er are terribly overbearing. Granny Lai used to point right in my face and berate me. This time, you severed Lai Er's leg tendons..."
Instead, Jia Huan gave a chuckle:
"Which of those servants who bully their masters has clean hands? Not one of them could withstand an investigation!"
"If they keep their heads down, so be it. But if they dare come before me demanding an explanation, they can't blame me for gathering evidence of their crimes and throwing every last one of them into the Imperial Prison!"
At that, Concubine Zhao lifted her chin, proud once more.
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