Chapter 32: Stirring Up Trouble

Around the corner of the alley, Jiang He stood with one hand behind his back, the other gently stroking the warm jade at his waist, watching the scene that had just unfolded.

Zhuang Xiaoyu hadn’t been to Qingfeng Pavilion for a while. She had heard that she was teaching her younger siblings at home and thought she should visit them soon.

She hadn’t expected Zhuang Xun, who seemed delicate and weak, to have such extraordinary perseverance when practicing martial arts.

“Come, both of you, take a rest. In the beginning, don’t push yourselves too hard. You need to get used to it, or your bodies won’t be able to handle it.”

“Sister, have you gone through all this in the past?”

“I wasn’t that lucky. I had to chop firewood, hunt, wash clothes, and cook. If I didn’t do it myself, I’d have to eat my master’s disastrous cooking. It was terrible.”

“Was your master not kind to you?”

“He wasn’t that great. Over the years, I’ve been taking care of him. This body of mine, I trained it to take care of him.”

“So, Sister, you’ve had it tough.”

The two siblings sympathized with Zhuang Xiaoyu’s past and swore to treat her well in the future, so she could live a better life.

Zhuang Xiaoyu suddenly found herself reminiscing about her time on the mountain. She focused on her martial arts training, occasionally bickering with the old man. The days were simple but happy. She wondered where the old man had gone and how he was doing now.

The siblings thought Zhuang Xiaoyu was thinking about sad memories and comforted her, vowing not to let her live a difficult life again.

At this moment, the servant came to report that Young Master Jiang He from Qingfeng Pavilion had come to visit.

“What does he want with me? Does my father know?” Zhuang Xiaoyu thought to herself. If Old Zhuang found out, she’d be lectured again.

“Miss, I didn’t tell the master.”

“Good, make sure you don’t. Tell Jiang He to wait in the front hall. I’ll be there shortly.”

This kid must have encountered some trouble. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be coming to her.

After arranging the younger siblings’ training, Zhuang Xiaoyu headed to the front hall.

Jiang He was dressed in white, looking like an ethereal immortal, but Zhuang Xiaoyu was no ordinary person.

“Young Master Jiang, it’s so cold outside, aren’t you afraid of catching a cold in such light clothing?”

Jiang He: “……”

“You young people shouldn’t risk your health just to look good. It’s not worth it.”

“……”

“Is there something you need from me?”

“I… I just missed you, so I came to see you. You haven’t visited me in a while.”

“So, you’re saying there’s nothing else, right?”

If there’s nothing, hurry up and leave, or Old Zhuang will find out, and there’ll be trouble.

“Sister, don’t you want to see me?”

Every time she saw him, her eyes would fixate on his face.

“It’s not that. I have an old stickler at home. If he finds out I went to Qingfeng Pavilion, he might use his shoe sole to hit me.”

Though she had never actually been hit.

Jiang He lowered his head in disappointment: “I’m causing trouble for you. I’ll leave now.”

“Next time, wear more clothes when you go out. I told you, if you’re in trouble, you can come find me, but if there’s nothing, don’t come.”

“Thank you for your concern, I understand.”

Feeling awkward, Jiang He clenched his fists tightly in his sleeves. Just as he was about to leave, Murong Xuan walked in.

“What are you doing here?” Murong Xuan’s tone clearly carried hostility.

“Seems like you’re in a hurry to get rid of me, and now you’re meeting with the prince.”

“Mind your own business, don’t think about things you shouldn’t.”

“Since Sister likes my face, it’s my good fortune.”

Jiang He said this and, ignoring Murong Xuan’s murderous glare, left gracefully.

Murong Xuan, fuming with anger, entered the hall and immediately switched to a gentle smile.

“Xiaoyu, I’m here. I brought some date cakes from Li Ji, they’re still warm.”

He took a paper bag from his chest and handed it to Zhuang Xiaoyu.

“Good, you’re so considerate.”

She opened the paper bag, took a piece, and popped it into her mouth. She looked at his charming face, then took another piece and fed it to Murong Xuan.

They took turns, piece by piece, finishing the entire bag of date cakes. Afterward, she crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the trash.

“Alright, you can go now.”

“Xiaoyu, what did Jiang He come for?”

“Nothing. He’s dressed so lightly, I suspect he’s trying to seduce me.”

“Xiaoyu, you mustn’t let him seduce you!”

Murong Xuan grabbed her hand, looking very worried.

“Ah haha… No, no, if anyone’s going to be seduced, it won’t be me by him. Let’s go, let’s go, I still have things to do.”

If she didn’t hurry and get rid of him, this guy would probably try to seduce her. He kept bringing food every few days—she was starting to get weak in the knees.

“That Jiang He isn’t as simple as he looks. He’s secretly being protected by skilled martial artists. The fact that he’s staying at Qingfeng Pavilion must have another purpose.”

“Really? Then I’ll stop seeing him.”

From the first time she met Jiang He, she had felt that he was not as simple as he appeared. Maybe he had some other hidden motives, but as long as he didn’t mean any harm to her, she could treat him as just a friend. It was no big deal.

The death of Sun Yulan had caused no ripples in the Sun family. She heard that someone had reported it to the authorities, and the Sun family sent someone to collect the body from the yamen and hastily buried it. They didn’t even investigate how she ended up in the dilapidated temple outside the city.

Zhuang Xiaoyu couldn’t help but sigh at the coldness of the Sun family. Their own daughter had died, and they were completely indifferent.

Or perhaps, there was another possibility—maybe the Sun family knew that Sun Yulan had hired someone to kill, and they didn’t want to get involved because it was too troublesome.

Zhuang Xiaoyu didn’t want to speculate too much about their true intentions—it was too tiring. In this life, all she wanted to do was live a peaceful life like a salted fish, occasionally teaching her younger siblings. If it weren’t for how kind the Zhuang family had been to her, she wouldn’t even want to bother with those two burdens.

The New Year quickly arrived, but the investigation into the government’s corruption had not been completed. It had to be temporarily suspended. The imperial edict had been sealed, and the investigation would continue after the New Year.

Zhuang Xun returned to the capital and would occasionally go out to play with his companions. Zhuang Xian wasn’t as strict with his son; as long as his studies were up to par, he was allowed to go out. After all, he was a young man and needed to make some friends. Especially now that it was the New Year, he didn’t mind where the children went.

The boys and girls didn’t play together. Zhuang Xiaowan was always clinging to her sister, hardly leaving her side. During gatherings, no one dared to treat Zhuang Xiaoyu with disrespect. Many noble girls deliberately tried to get closer to her, hoping to form a relationship.

Zhuang Xiaoyu heard about Zhuang Xun’s incident while she was in the flower hall, drinking with a group of young ladies. She didn’t like tea, but a bit of sweet wine was fine.

“Xiaoyu, your brother’s in trouble.”

One of the noble girls hurriedly came to tell her.

“What happened to Ah Xun?”

“You should go take a look. Zhuang Xun is drunk…”

Zhuang Xiaoyu quickly stood up and followed the girl to the west courtyard.

Today, the Xia family had invited guests and hosted a large gathering of young masters and young ladies from prominent families. The three siblings came together, with the male guests arranged in the west courtyard and the female guests in the east courtyard.

In the west courtyard room, a group of people surrounded Zhuang Xun and a young lady, pointing and whispering. The young lady was sobbing quietly, while Zhuang Xun was blushing and clearly at a loss.

“Zhuang Xun, so young yet so frivolous. Truly shameful.”

“Zhuang Xun has always been of good character and conduct. Who would have thought his son would behave in such a scandalous manner?”

…

Everyone was pointing fingers, all accusing Zhuang Xun.

“I didn’t do anything! I don’t know what happened…”

Zhuang Xun tried to explain, but he didn’t know where to begin. He had drunk a cup of wine and then became dizzy. When he woke up, he found himself lying in the young lady’s bed. If he couldn’t explain clearly, would his eldest sister scold him? She had a short temper, and if he did something wrong, she would definitely beat him.

“Zhuang Xun, you’re not trying to deny it, are you?”

“I didn’t do anything! I swear, I didn’t do anything!”

“You ruined this girl’s innocence, and now you’re trying to deny it?”

“I told you, I didn’t do anything! Stop slandering me!”

When Zhuang Xiaoyu arrived, Zhuang Xun’s eyes were red. He was only sixteen, and if news of this scandal spread, how could he show his face?

“Who has the guts to slander my brother?”

Zhuang Xiaoyu shouted angrily, interrupting the gossip. The crowd automatically parted, making way for her.

“Miss Zhuang, what should we do? Zhuang Xun drank too much and ended up in bed with this young lady. Shouldn’t he be responsible for her?”

Seeing her arrive, Zhuang Xun became even more aggrieved, and tears started to fall. Zhuang Xiaowan pulled him aside, whispering, “Don’t worry, Sister will take care of it.” Zhuang Xun couldn’t hold back anymore and began sobbing. With so many people accusing him and mocking him, the only two people who unconditionally believed in him were his two sisters.

“Did you see everything that happened?”

The person who spoke shook his head. “No, I didn’t.”

“Then don’t bark nonsense here. You deserve a slap!”

With that, Zhuang Xiaoyu raised her hand and slapped the person so hard that they fell to the ground. The person spat out blood, two teeth falling out.

“Miss Zhuang, why did you hit me? It’s clearly your brother’s fault…”

“Still talking nonsense?”

Zhuang Xiaoyu stepped on the person’s leg, and the painful cries echoed through the room.

“Ah… my leg…”

Everyone was stunned. They had expected her to ask about the details of what had happened, but instead, she came in without saying a word and started hitting people.