Meng Anci and Meng Anzhi went pale. Madam Shi cursed, "Your mother this" and "your mother that," her words grating on their ears.
The words rattled out of her mouth like beans spilling from a jar, clattering on without end. She pointed at Shiyan's head and shouted at Jin Shanyao.
"Look... look, his head was bleeding. The physician said he nearly injured his brain. If he's left with some lasting ailment, your family couldn't afford to compensate us even if you sold everything you owned."
Jin Shanyao understood now: beat the little one, and the old one came running. That little fatty was at least seven or eight. For someone so big to lose to a four-year-old child, she rolled her eyes inwardly.
If Meng Anci couldn't beat someone younger than himself, she would only make his training harder, not bring him to confront the other party. There was always a losing side in a battle.
He couldn't go crying to heaven and earth for someone to back him up just because he was incapable. What if one day there was no one to back him up? Was he supposed to wait to get beaten?
She looked at Meng Anci and saw him glaring at Madam Shi in fury, like a little beast on the verge of going mad. Approval flickered in her eyes. "Did you hit him?"
Meng Anci said aggrievedly, "No. He tried to hit me, missed, and ran into the wall himself. It had nothing to do with me."
Jin Shanyao raised an eyebrow and said to Madam Shi, "Did you hear that? It had nothing to do with him."
"Bullshit! Would my son have run into the wall if he hadn't dodged?" Madam Shi said aggressively. "I've already gotten to the bottom of it. He cheated on the exam to take first place, and my son ended up like this because he wanted to expose him. Tell me, how are we going to settle this?"
Meng Anci's small body trembled with anger. "I didn't cheat! You're slandering me!"
"I'm slandering you? How old are you? How many days have you been in school? You say you didn't cheat, so you didn't cheat? Ask everyone here who believes you."
It was the first time Meng Anci had been falsely accused. He instinctively looked at Jin Shanyao. He wasn't afraid of outsiders pointing fingers; he was afraid his aunt wouldn't believe him.
"Auntie, I didn't cheat. Do you believe me?"
"Of course." The necklace around Meng Anci's neck wasn't there for nothing. As long as Jin Shanyao wanted to know, nothing could escape her eyes.
Otherwise, how would she know whether the children she raised turned out good or bad? If they relied on her to run wild outside, then she might as well leave that debt of gratitude unpaid.
A Shi Household servant scoffed. "Our young master began his studies at three and entered the academy at five. He's seven now, and you claim you didn't cheat when you beat him?"
Seeing that Jin Shanyao believed him, Meng Anci's confidence instantly soared.
A sneer on his lips, he abandoned his usual well-behaved courtesy and said in a clear voice, "It's because he's a pig. The master can explain the same thing twice and he still doesn't understand, and he spends all day bullying his classmates. He began his studies at three, but he still won't be able to leave the Enlightenment Academy at thirty."
"You..." Madam Shi gritted her teeth in anger. "Just as I thought, a child raised by the riffraff of the three teachings and nine schools. There isn't a presentable person in your whole family."
Jin Shanyao, who had been watching from the side, took offense. Talk about the matter at hand if you want to talk. Why make personal attacks?
Before she could speak, a Shi Household servant chimed in. "A thing born to a mother but raised without a father-what upbringing could you have? Today I'll teach you a lesson in your father's place."
As he spoke, he raised his fist and walked toward Meng Anci.
Meng Anci sat astride Black Grand Marshal, his gaze sharp as a knife. He drew a feathered arrow, turned his hand to nock it, and shot at the Shi Household servant's heart.
Whoosh...
Well, he'd missed again.
His childish attempt had the onlookers roaring with laughter. They weren't mocking his ignorance or incompetence; they found it hilarious that he faced the challenge like a little adult.
Only a few steps away, the servant reached Meng Anci's horse. He was just about to grab the boy's collar when someone stepped in front of him.
Jin Shanyao said coldly, "Isn't it going too far for an adult to bully a child?"
The servant paid Jin Shanyao no mind. "Get lost, or I'll beat you too-" Before he finished, there was a crack, followed by a scream.
The servant dropped to his knees with a thud. Jin Shanyao had kicked him in the knee.
Seeing one of her people get hit, Madam Shi shouted, "What are you standing there for? Get her! Kill this little bitch!"
The men Madam Shi had brought rolled up their sleeves and charged at Jin Shanyao like fierce gods and evil spirits. The onlookers' hearts rose into their throats, and some even looked away, unable to watch.
The girl was too impulsive. Facing more than a dozen men, she shouldn't have insisted on proving her mettle. This was bad, very bad.
While they were still debating whether to step forward and stop the fight, Jin Shanyao had already dealt with more than half of them. In the blink of an eye, the Shi Household men had been beaten to the ground and were howling all over the place.
Madam Shi backed away in fright. "Don't come any closer! I'm telling you, it's against the law to hit people."
Jin Shanyao went past her and found the servant who had cursed Meng Anci. She grabbed his hair and forced his head back. Didn't he want to be Meng Anci's father? She would see just how he intended to do that.
"Anci, come hit him."
Meng Anci swung down from the horse and ran over, fuming. He slammed a fist into the servant's eye.
"Ah..." The servant screamed, and the skin around his eye instantly reddened and swelled.
Still not satisfied, Meng Anci slammed two more punches into his mouth. "That's for cursing my mother! That's for taking advantage of me! I'll beat you to death!"
Blood trickled from the corner of the servant's mouth. He hadn't expected a child to be so strong.
He begged for mercy through his swollen mouth. "I was wrong. I won't ever curse you again."
Jin Shanyao let him go and walked step by step toward Madam Shi, who fearfully shielded Shiyan behind her.
"What are you doing? Are you going to hit me too? I'm telling you, there are more than a hundred people in the Shi Household. If you so much as touch me, I'll make you pay dearly."
Jin Shanyao grabbed the squawking Madam Shi, lifted her with a heave, and casually pressed her down to one side, leaving Shiyan exposed.
Like a fat quail, Shiyan trembled as he looked at Jin Shanyao.
Jin Shanyao said calmly, "Go fight Meng Anci. As long as you can beat him, I'll let your mother go."
Shiyan's eyes lit up at once. He had wanted to hit Meng Anci for a long time. "Do you really mean it?"
"I certainly do."
Shiyan was eager to try. Hearing her words, Madam Shi looked smug. She wasn't boasting, but her son had been a martial arts prodigy since childhood, and riding and archery were no trouble for him either.
Meng Anci is dead today.
Shiyan thought the same. He glared resentfully at Meng Anci and shot toward him like a little cannonball. His vision blurred, and Meng Anci was gone.
The next moment, someone kicked him hard in the backside, and he fell to the ground with a thud.
Madam Shi grew anxious as she watched. "Get up! Hurry, get up! Grab his head and beat him to death!"
Shiyan wiped the dirt off his face and turned to grab Meng Anci. The boy was right within reach, but he couldn't catch him, and instead took several kicks himself.
Madam Shi realized what was happening. Tugging at Jin Shanyao's arm, she shouted at Meng Anci, "Is that any way to fight? If you've got the guts, stand there and don't move!"
Jin Shanyao couldn't help laughing. Stand still in a fight? Was he a wooden stake?
She considerately reassured Madam Shi. "Don't meddle in the children's affairs. I haven't even complained about your son bullying my child, yet you're the one getting worked up first."
Madam Shi was furious. Your child is winning. What would you be worked up about?
Shiyan was panting from being led around. He had no strength left and dropped to the ground with a thud. Who would have thought that even after he stopped fighting, Meng Anci would grab him by the collar?
Meng Anci yanked the white cloth off his forehead and slammed two punches into the wound. His head, which had only just stopped bleeding, instantly blossomed red.
Madam Shi shouted angrily, "You have no martial virtue! He's already stopped. Why are you still hitting him?"
Meng Anci chuckled and slammed another punch into Shiyan's head.
"Ah..." With a scream, Shiyan clutched his head and burst into tears. "Mother, Mother, I'm going to die! Meng Anci is going to beat me to death! Hurry and save me!"
Madam Shi's eyes reddened with anxiety. "Meng family's aunt, is that any way to teach a child? Let me go. We can talk this over."
"Yes, yes, yes, let's talk this over. Put her down first." At that moment, Master Zhao came running out of the academy, panting.
Out of consideration for Master Zhao, Jin Shanyao released her.