Chapter 95: Fight
Editor: Atlas Studios
Shu Wanniang’s face turned even redder, like a ripe apple. Stunned for a moment, Mu Shi actually forgot to reprimand his daughter. Seeing Mu Shi like this, Shu Wanniang’s face turned even redder. Mu Yangling hurriedly dragged her brother out.
Outside, Little Bowen was still covering his eyes when Mu Yangling slapped his hand away. “Alright, stop covering them. Your fingers are so wide apart that I can stuff a rabbit in between. What’s the use of covering them?”
Little Bowen put down his hand and retorted, “I learned it from you. Also, you’re lying. How can one possibly stuff a rabbit between the fingers?”
“That’s an exaggeration, not a lie. Alright, stop talking nonsense. Go and see how Cousin Lang and the others are doing.” Mu Yangling pushed him and turned to look for Liu Yong and the others.
The one in the most precarious state, Liu Xuan, had already woken up and had to rest in bed. With the commotion outside, Magistrate Wu could not take out the grains for relief. The refugees surrounded the government office, and in response, Qi Xiuyuan sent soldiers to surround it layer by layer.
The tables of the squires were placed at the entrance of the government office. As long as someone brought their title deed as collateral, they could borrow grains.
This morning, more than ten people mortgaged their title deeds. It was like a floodgate had opened. The refugees who could not stand the hunger any longer took out their title deeds or signed themselves away as slaves in exchange for grains.
Even though the elders and smart people among the refugees knew that this was a trap, they had no choice but to watch helplessly.
Originally, they wanted to surround Magistrate Wu and force him to take out grains for disaster relief. However, now that the soldiers of the West Camp were surrounding outside, once a conflict broke out, they would definitely die.
Many people vented their anger on the soldiers of the West Camp.
Even the villagers of Nearhill Village felt that the West Camp was helping the wicked.
Mu Yangling could more or less guess why Qi Xiuyuan did this, but she didn’t think that Qi Xiuyuan would let others take advantage of him like this. Although she had only known Qi Xiuyuan for more than ten days and had only met him a few times, from his actions, he wasn’t someone who was willing to suffer losses. Something would most likely happen later.
Mu Yangling’s guess was right. Angry at Magistrate Wu for letting his older brother take the blame for such a severe incident, Qi Haoran went straight to beat up Magistrate Wu’s three sons, not even letting the youngest, who was eight years old, off. He pressed him to the ground and walloped him until he screamed.
Qi Xiuyuan was dragging his brother into the study room to scold him. “…If you want to beat them up, so be it. But couldn’t you have dragged them into the alley? Instead, you beat them up in front of so many people. Do you think I’m not in enough trouble already?”
Qi Haoran muttered, “A man should be open and aboveboard…”
Qi Xiuyuan kicked him, and Qi Haoran jumped up to avoid it. His foot barely touched his clothes and successfully left a blurry footprint on it. Qi Haoran chuckled. At least it didn’t touch his butt…
Fan Zijin, who was sitting at the side and watching, turned his head away and ignored Qi Xiuyuan’s weak punches. When the commotion stopped, he turned around and said, “Cousin, I was the one who asked Haoran to beat those people up in public.”
Only then did Qi Xiuyuan restrain his anger. “Why is that?”
“Cousin, everyone knows that Haoran has a short temper. It would be strange if Haoran didn’t react at all after Wu Shancai framed you for such a big matter. Isn’t it better now? Didn’t Wu Shancai not even show up at our place? Later, you can just send some medicinal herbs to the Wu family. Since Haoran didn’t go easy on them, he could just let his three sons lie in bed and rest for four to five days.”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded in satisfaction. “Zijin is the smartest.” He turned to face Qi Haoran with a straight face. “I’ll be satisfied if you’re half as smart as Zijin.”
Qi Haoran was annoyed. “No matter how much you like him, I’m the one who’s your younger brother.” With that, he pulled Fan Zijin and ran out.
The angry Qi Xiuyuan was left behind.
Qi Haoran pulled Fan Zijin out and said indignantly, “Why should everyone say that you’re smart? When we were young, didn’t I always stand up for you? I was the one who stood up for you when you were bullied in school.”
Fan Zijin looked at him pitifully and said sincerely, “I never knew that you thought that way.”
Qi Haoran choked for a moment. Unable to retort, he simply said, “Don’t talk to me in such a tone. I don’t understand. If you don’t speak properly, I’m going to be mad at you.” With that, he turned around and ran.
Fan Zijin was not anxious at all as he walked away.
Yanmo, who was following behind Fan Zijin, was even more relaxed. He had been serving the two masters since he was young and knew them very well. No matter how much the two of them quarreled, they would definitely make up in an hour.
There was once Young Master Zijin secretly took Fourth Young Master’s cricket out to play and ended up accidentally killing it. The latter had sworn that he would never speak to him for the rest of his life. It was a record four hours before Fourth Young Master acknowledged Young Master Zijin’s existence again.
The two of them had been together ever since they learned how to crawl. It had always been Young Master Zijin who came up with the mischievous idea and the Fourth Young Master who executed it. This time, their running away from home was the same.
Everyone thought that Young Master Zijin had run away from home with Fourth Young Master, but only he knew that it was Young Master Zijin who had urged Fourth Young Master to run away from home. Even the route was prepared by Young Master Zijin.
At that time, he and Xibi were almost beaten to death. They were only spared from such a fate because of a letter left behind by Young Master Zijin. Later, Young Master Xiuyuan sent someone back to report their status, so he was sent by Madam to serve Young Master Zijin.
As for the two servants serving Fourth Young Master, who cared about their lives? In any case, they were Madam Wu’s people and often snitched on them.
Just as Fan Zijin reached the door of the study, he saw Qi Haoran standing at the door angrily. He floated past him without looking sideways and said calmly, “Why aren’t you running anymore? Are you not mad anymore?”
Qi Haoran snorted and said, “I’ll be magnanimous. Tell me honestly, are you hiding something from me?”
Fan Zijin sat down in front of the desk and poured himself a cup of tea. He said, “I didn’t hide anything from you, but there’s something I didn’t have time to tell you.”
Qi Haoran pulled a stool and sat down in front of Fan Zijin. He glared at him and asked, “What does this have to do with me hitting Wu Shancai’s sons?”
Fan Zijin glanced at Yanmo, who immediately went out to guard the door for the two of them.
Only then did Fan Zijin say, “Didn’t you notice that Mo Xiong, who was with Cousin after we returned, disappeared?”
Qi Haoran stared at him in confusion.
“I knew you weren’t paying attention. Some time ago, Cousin’s messenger pigeons had been flying around. In the past few days, even Brother Rong hasn’t been around. I’m guessing that Cousin must be up to something big this time. He’s doing major stuff, so it’s inevitable that he’ll overlook small details. I could only help him fill in the gaps. At this moment, it’s only reasonable for you to beat up Wu Shancai’s three useless sons. Now, not only is Wu Shancai relieved, but I believe Xingyuan Prefecture is also relieved.”
“What does this have to do with Xingyuan Prefecture?”
“Plenty.” A cold glint flashed across Fan Zijin’s eyes as he said, “Cousin and Wu Shancai have worked together for more than four years. Although there were small conflicts in the past, things looked harmonious on the surface. Why did he suddenly lock Cousin outside the city gate? He was doing so at the risk of getting beheaded and having his assets confiscated. Other than the capital, only the people from the Xingyuan Prefecture can command him.”
“Last time, I heard from Cousin and Brother Rong that the traitor came from Xingyuan Prefecture. Since the capital is too far away from here, it definitely can’t command Wu Shancai in time.”
Qi Haoran’s eyes sparkled. “Mo Xiong went to catch the traitor?”
Fan Zijin chuckled. “This is up to Cousin and the rest to deal with. We just have to cause trouble for Wu Shancai during this period of time. Today, we beat up his useless sons. Tomorrow, we’ll go and beat up his brother-in-law. We’ll even beat up Minister He and Minister Liu as well. However, you have to know your limits. Just let them lie down for two to three days. Don’t go overboard.”
Qi Haoran clenched his fists and said smugly, “Don’t worry, I’m the best at fighting.”