I, Heng, considered it a disgrace!

Lin Zhixiao hurried forward and said with a bitter smile, "Master Heng, please wait, please wait. Let this old servant speak to the Old Madam first."

In fact, Jia Heng's resounding words, ringing like metal striking stone, had already reached everyone in Rongqing Hall.

Lady Jia's expression betrayed neither pleasure nor anger. The old woman plainly had neither failing hearing nor dimming eyes, and she had heard the startling words spoken by the youth outside.

Were the men of the Jia Family no longer even allowed to carry swords?

A livid hue rose in Jia Zhen's face, and he said urgently, "Old Madam, you heard him! He respects no one, no one at all! Daring to brandish a weapon and roar outside Rongqing Hall-does he have any regard for the Jia Family?"

Feng-jie's willow-leaf brows knitted, and her phoenix eyes darkened. "Old Ancestress, this Jia Heng really is behaving outrageously."

Lady Jia felt a headache coming on. For a moment, she almost felt transported decades into the past, facing the arrogant soldiers and fierce generals under her late husband's command. She waved a hand to stop Jia Zhen from clamoring in her ear, then waved again and said, "Yuanyang, let that wretch in."

Yuanyang hurried out of the central hall, lifted the curtain, and stepped beneath the eaves. "Master Heng, the Old Madam asks you to come in."

Jia Heng turned toward Yuanyang without a word. This senior maid in Lady Jia's household had a lovely face, and curiosity flickered in her almond-shaped eyes as she studied him.

Yuanyang said softly, "Master Heng, don't keep the Old Madam waiting."

Jia Heng glanced at Lin Zhixiao and said nothing more. With his head held high, he strode into the central hall under Yuanyang's guidance.

After rounding a screen painted with mountains, waters, clouds, and cranes, Jia Heng stopped on the Wool Carpet. He looked up and saw an old lady with silver hair and kindly features sitting on the kang beneath a hanging Pine and Crane Longevity Star painting, though her expression was somewhat displeased.

Jia Zhen and his wife, You-shi, sat on one side, while Feng-jie and Jia Lian sat on the other. Their expressions ranged from studied indifference to visible anger.

Jia Heng bowed deeply. "Jia Heng pays his respects to the Old Madam."

"Dispense with the courtesies. An old woman like me could hardly deserve such respect from you," Lady Jia said coolly, studying the blue-robed youth before her. Young as he was, he had sword-straight brows and bright eyes, and with his hand resting on his Precious Sword, he radiated martial vigor.

Jia Heng straightened without answering that remark. "What business did the Old Madam have in summoning me?"

Jia Zhen berated him. "You wretch who knows neither seniority nor rank! Before the Old Madam, why aren't you kneeling to beg forgiveness?"

At those words, Jia Heng looked coldly at Jia Zhen and sneered. "You old bastard. It seems yesterday's beating was too light."

Lady Jia slammed her cane against the floor. "Enough."

Jia Zhen's face darkened. "You see? He was born with a rebel's bone at the back of his skull. We ought to hand him over to the authorities and have him locked up, or there's no telling what lawless outrage he'll commit."

Lady Jia glanced at Jia Zhen, then turned to Jia Heng. "Brother Heng, am I entitled to discipline you or not?"

Jia Heng cupped his hands. "Among the eight branches of the Jia family in the Divine Capital, numbering several thousand people, many speak of the Old Madam's skill in managing the household and her fairness in handling affairs. I have heard and believed those words, and I was just about to ask the Old Madam to uphold justice!"

If you dealt fairly, then naturally you were entitled to discipline me.

Lady Jia's aged face stiffened for a moment. How could she fail to hear the meaning beneath this young boy's words? Her eyes flickered. "Let me ask you: why did you defy your senior and beat your elder clansman?"

Jia Heng said solemnly, "As for the rights and wrongs of this affair, Second Brother Lian is here as well. He should know how the Eastern Mansion bullied me. I wonder whether he has reported it to the Old Madam? To ruin my marriage, Jia Zhen first had Brother Rong tempt me with silver, then sent servants to threaten me. When I refused to submit, he tried last night to force me to sell my marriage for a thousand taels of silver in a den of courtesans like the Green and Red Pavilion. Never had I heard that our Jia family possessed such an elder clansman! His shameless conduct and vile methods would enrage men and gods alike! Moreover, Jia Zhen was the one who struck first last night!"

Jia Zhen shouted angrily, "Nonsense! I discussed it with you civilly, yet you insulted me!"

"If you hadn't insulted me first, why would you have received such repayment?" Jia Heng sneered, answering him in kind.

Then he suddenly noticed a gaze filled with conflicting emotions fixed upon him. Looking up, he saw the beautiful woman seated beside Jia Zhen watching him pensively.

The clamor gave Lady Jia a headache. "Brother Lian, is there truth in what Brother Heng says?"

Jia Lian glanced at Jia Heng and met those cold, fathomless eyes. He sighed and said, "To answer the Old Madam, Elder Brother Zhen did ask me to mediate. At first, the discussion was civil enough, but after a few disagreements, a quarrel broke out. Elder Brother Zhen also said that if Jia Heng agreed, he would take care over arranging his marriage."

These words recounted what had happened without siding with either party. Absolutely nothing would stick to him.

Lady Jia furrowed her brows and looked at Jia Heng. "However badly a discussion goes, how can you strike someone? Brother Zhen is, after all, the clan head and represents the dignity of our Jia Family. You belong to the Ningguo line as well. Is this how your parents taught you?"

Jia Heng said gravely, "Precisely because I belong to the Ningguo line-what a hero our ancestor, the Duke of Ning, was! However unworthy his descendants may be, should we allow some petty scoundrel to steal our marriage? Besides, I merely suggested that he divorce Sister-in-law You, and Jia Zhen, heedless of his body hollowed out by wine and women, came at me with his fists. Yet the sage taught us: do not inflict on others what you would not wish upon yourself. Now Jia Zhen seeks to steal my marriage and commit such a disgraceful deed, yet still expects me to preserve his dignity?"

"That I did not kill him was already out of regard for our shared ancestry!"

This speech both explained why he had struck Jia Zhen and declared that he followed the sage's teachings, answering Lady Jia's cutting insinuation that he had been born but never properly raised.

His reasoning made Lady Jia's brow throb, her aged face turning white and then red. How many years had it been since anyone had contradicted her like this?

Yet these arguments, with their concealed barbs and every word like a blade, rang out forcefully through Rongqing Hall, stunning everyone present.

Not only did Lady Jia fall silent, but Jia Lian also sighed repeatedly. Feng-jie merely sneered, while You-shi raised her softly mature, enchanting face, lovely as a flurry of blossoms, and bewilderment appeared in the beautiful eyes beneath her curved lashes.

To this mature woman from a modest household, why did it sound as though... even killing her husband would not have been excessive?

And what was all this about a body hollowed out by wine and women, and coming at him with fists? Was he calling her husband old?

Behind the screen, Tanchun had been peeling an orange and putting the segments into her mouth. Now the segment between her slender fingers stopped beside her red lips. Those full, lustrous lips, glistening with moisture, parted slightly. "This truly is a scourging by tongue and pen, every word a blade. Who would have thought such a figure would emerge from the eastern side?"

Although this third young lady of the Jia Family was born to a concubine, she had a frank, spirited disposition. Looking at Lin Daiyu beside her, she teased, "His tongue is even sharper than Sister Lin's."

Lin Daiyu had been cracking melon seeds and listening intently. At this, her cheeks flushed, and she looked at Tanchun in indignant embarrassment. "You third little minx! Why drag some stinking man from outside into your teasing of me?"

As she spoke, she reached over to tickle Tanchun.

Tanchun dodged, laughing softly as she begged for mercy. "Dear sister, spare me this once!"

Jia Baoyu was also listening closely. A thoughtful look appeared on his round face, and he suddenly said, "What Elder Brother Zhen did in this matter... really was undignified."

Baoyu's nature was not actually bad. Of course, whether he would smash his jade and demand to grow close to Qin if he saw her peerless beauty was another matter entirely.

Beside him, Xiren brought over a cup of fragrant tea and said with a graceful smile, "Second Master Bao, don't believe only one side of the story. These men who make their way in the outside world are cunning by nature. When they start arguing principles, the principles are always their own."

That was a remarkably discerning remark.

Tanchun smiled and glanced at Xiren, thinking, Brother Bao's senior maid really is no ordinary girl.

Jia Heng bowed once more. "Old Madam, I lost my father in childhood and had no brothers beside me. My mother swallowed bitterness and endured hardship to raise me to adulthood. She passed away before the New Year, and the marriage arranged years ago with the Qin Family had become her dying wish. Jia Zhen seeks to steal that marriage from me, using threats and temptations-why must he bully me to such an extent? As head of our Jia family, Jia Zhen neither serves the sovereign loyally and shares the burdens of state above, nor supports our clansmen and relieves their poverty and distress below. Such a base fellow presumes to lead the Jia family. I, Heng, considered it a disgrace!"

This directly accused Jia Zhen of lacking the virtue required of a clan head and failing in his duty to shelter and protect the clan.