Rumors spread, reputation takes shape

On the eighteenth day of the second month, no snow fell, and dawn was just breaking.

In a side room, Wei Nisheng had woken early.

Or rather, he had barely slept at all...

Everything that had happened yesterday felt like a dream.

Just then, a faint sound came from the outer room.

"Second Young Master, breakfast is here."

Wei An pushed the door open and entered with a tray.

On it were four small dishes, a basket of steamed buns, a bowl of shredded chicken congee, and two pastries.

Wei Nisheng paused and looked at Wei An.

Wei An set the tray on the table, a rare trace of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Second Young Master, the kitchen sent this over.

They said this was 'the allowance a master should receive.'"

"The allowance a master should receive..." Wei Nisheng smiled.

It seemed yesterday's sword strike had cowed not only those three members of the Wei Family, but every servant in the Wei Residence.

From the gatekeepers to the kitchen staff, from the stewards to the menial servants, everyone knew he was not someone to provoke.

At that thought, Wei Nisheng sat down at the table and picked up his chopsticks.

He picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and put it in his mouth.

He chewed slowly, reading the book beside his hand as he ate.

That sword strike had bought him more than respect. It had also bought him... time.

From today onward, no one would keep coming to bother him every few days.

He could read in peace.

After breakfast, Wei Nisheng remained in his room, reading.

Meanwhile, Wei An had changed into clean clothes and slipped out through the side gate of the Side Courtyard.

He took the small paths, avoiding the people in the Main Courtyard and the servants coming and going.

In a gray cotton-padded robe and an old felt hat, his back bent and his head lowered, he looked like an inconspicuous old servant. No one spared him a second glance.

He soon passed through two alleys and arrived at an unassuming teahouse.

It was small, with a worn cloth banner hanging outside and seven or eight square tables within.

At this hour, there were few customers, sitting in twos and threes, drinking tea and chatting.

Wei An went inside and sat at a table in the corner.

When a waiter came over, he ordered a pot of tea and a dish of peanuts, then leaned back in his chair as though resting his feet.

His eyes, however, swept the room.

Before long, several people arrived one after another and sat at the table beside him.

Among them were a down-and-out scholar, a teahouse storyteller, and a man who sold calligraphy on the street.

They came from every walk of life, old acquaintances Wei An had made while helping Wei Zheng handle his affairs years ago.

Wei An wasted no words, of course. Once he had made the arrangements, he left.

Meanwhile, the words being spread had already been scattered like seeds through the Capital's streets and alleys.

Soon, stories were circulating in teahouses and small establishments throughout the Capital...

"Have you heard? That Wei Family Son..."

"Which Wei Family?"

"The family of Official Wei, the bureau secretary in the Ministry of Works' Construction and Repairs Office..."

"Yesterday, I heard a wicked servant cursed him in public, calling him a cursed star and saying he shouldn't be alive. Guess what happened?"

"What?"

"The Second Young Master drew his sword on the spot and killed that wicked servant!"

"Killed him?!"

"That wasn't all! The lad carried his sword straight into the Central Hall and said,

'A wicked servant insulted his master. What's wrong with putting my household in order?' Even his father had nothing to say!"

Those beside him drew in sharp breaths.

"Whew... that boy has spirit!"

"Doesn't he just?"

"I hear his mother was a Chaste Widow honored by the court, and his grandfather was Duke Wenduan.

That boy truly lives up to being Duke Wenduan's grandson!"

"Exactly! A wicked servant insulted his master. He deserved to die! That's the backbone of a family of pure nobility!"

For a time, everyone nodded and joined in the discussion.

Meanwhile, in the Main Courtyard of the Wei Residence,

Cui Shi sat in her room, her expression shifting between gloom and uncertainty.

What had happened last night had badly frightened her.

She had barely slept.

And Wei Nisheng had also gone out the day before yesterday with her natal family's concubine-born younger brother.

So, at first light, she had sent someone to summon Cui Fu.

Cui Fu had been in a good mood that day, eating and drinking as usual.

When he was summoned to the Main Courtyard, he still had no idea what had happened.

Only when he saw Cui Shi sitting on the couch with a grim expression did he approach in trembling fear, forcing a smile.

"Older Sister, you wanted to see me?"

Cui Shi stared at him and demanded without preamble,

"Where exactly did you take that bastard yesterday?"

At those words, Cui Fu's heart gave a sudden thump, but he still stubbornly insisted,

"O-Older Sister! I-I did what you told me to!"

I took him to a gambling house! Really! I didn't take him anywhere else!"

Cui Shi frowned and murmured, "A gambling house... could one visit to a gambling house turn someone into that?"

Then she asked, "How did he enjoy himself at the Gambling House?"

Cui Fu froze.

"How did he enjoy himself..."

"Why are you standing there dumbstruck? I asked you a question!"

At Cui Shi's words, Cui Fu nodded repeatedly. "He enjoyed himself! He had a wonderful time!"

"It was that little brat's first visit to a place like that. Everything was new to him-he couldn't take it all in!

I even bought him candied hawthorn skewers. He was delighted eating them!"

Cui Fu embellished his account, speaking with animated delight, as though he really had spent all of yesterday taking Wei Nisheng out to have fun.

As Cui Shi listened, her brow furrowed even more tightly.

"Could gambling really change someone's temperament so drastically?

Or... was he always like this, only hiding it well before?"

Still unable to make sense of it, Cui Shi rubbed between her brows, then looked at her concubine-born brother from her natal family.

"Do you know Wang Rong?"

Cui Fu paused. "Wang Rong? That household-born servant who attends the Eldest Young Master?"

"Yes."

Cui Fu laughed. "Of course! Older Sister, when I took that little brat out the day before yesterday,

he was rewarded with two slaps. His face swelled up like a pig's head!"

"You didn't see it, Older Sister—the force that little brat had behind him!"

He swung his hand, and smack! Wang Rong fell face-first like a dog eating dirt!

He lay on the ground and couldn't get up for ages. All five finger marks showed clearly on his face."

Cui Fu spoke with lively enthusiasm, utterly failing to notice that Cui Shi's face was growing paler.

"Then do you know what happened afterward?" Cui Shi abruptly interrupted him.

Cui Fu shook his head. "I left after that, so I don't know.

What, did that household-born servant go tattling? Did the little brat get punished?"

"No." Cui Shi took a deep breath and spoke each word distinctly.

"Yesterday afternoon, Wang Rong was... killed by that bastard."

"Right before our eyes. One sword stroke through his throat, blood splashing across the Central Hall."

Cui Fu's smile froze on his face. His mouth opened, but for a long while, no words came out.

"K-Killed?!"

"J-Just because of those two slaps?!"

"Not just that." Cui Shi shook her head. "Wang Rong cursed him in public, then went to Shouzheng to complain. Shouzheng brought him to the Central Hall to make his complaint...

Your brother-in-law flew into a rage, threw a sword in front of that bastard, and told him to kill himself..."

Cui Shi gave him a brief account of what had happened the previous night...

After hearing it, Cui Fu's face also turned deathly pale.

Especially when he recalled that scene on the street the day before yesterday.

At the time, he had thought Wei Nisheng was merely clever.

He had never imagined that it was ruthlessness.

The kind of ruthlessness that could kill.

"O-Older Sister..." Cui Fu stammered. "That little brat... no, the Second Young Master... h-he hasn't been possessed, has he?"

Cui Shi did not answer. She merely tightened her grip on the handkerchief in her hand.