****
“…I told you last time that I have a friend whose family runs a wine shop in the East Second Alley of Nanhuifang,” Luo Fengming said as he walked, explaining the ins and outs of today’s events in detail. “Gao Zhan often buys wine from her shop, and I also come here from time to time.”
This wasn't the first time he'd run into Gao Zhan. The two young men, roughly the same age, had "coincidentally" met here several times in a row, so it was only natural that they'd exchange a few words.
Afterwards, they came out of East Second Alley together, only to run into Zhang Wenping, who was drunk and acting crazy, harassing a little girl selling fruit with a small basket at the alley entrance.
"...That little girl looked even younger than Luo Cuizhen. She scared him so much that he huddled in the corner and cried so hard he couldn't even utter a coherent sentence. It made Gao Zhan and me furious!" Luo Fengming recalled the scene and couldn't help but get angry again, his eyes turning red.
"Sis, I'm not kidding, but if you were there, you'd probably want to beat him to death too!"
"I knew it, he must have done something indecent to get beaten by you." Luo Cuiwei was wiping the wine stains off his clothes when she heard this and her handkerchief crumpled.
After a moment's pause, seeing that his sister didn't seem to blame him for hitting someone, Luo Fengming immediately smiled broadly, "That's just how good my sister is, she can always tell right from wrong..."
"Get out of here, you're so pathetic," Luo Cuiwei slapped the crumpled handkerchief against his chest. "You and Gao Zhan both got involved?"
Luo Fengming was rather weak-willed, and Gao Zhan didn't seem like a fighter either. Even if the two of them fought, Luo Cuiwei didn't believe that Zhang Wenping could be seriously injured.
She couldn't help but grit her teeth and spit inwardly, "That scumbag got off easy; he didn't hit him hard enough."
Luo Fengming obediently took the towel and continued wiping the wine stains off his clothes. "Yes, we both got involved. Later, the Jingzhao Prefecture fined us both, which I paid together. He said he was afraid that if the matter got back home, he would be punished by his father-in-law, so he asked me to go to Lingyin Tower with him to drink some wine to bolster his courage..."
"You're good at making excuses for yourself. If you really were just accompanying him, why didn't you dare send your attendant home to tell him to go back first?" Luo Cuiwei rolled her eyes at him and scoffed knowingly.
That little rascal Luo Fengming even specifically instructed his attendant not to tell his family that he was hiding in the Listening Pavilion!
"Gao Zhan is the young master of the Duke's mansion. Getting arrested for assaulting someone in the street is a disgrace to the Duke's family, and it's no small matter for him. But why are you blindly following along and hiding?!"
Although the Luo family is known as the richest family in the capital, they are really just a business family. They are rich but not noble, and they have a lot of dealings with all sorts of people. They don't have the grandeur and refinement of a noble family.
The saying "those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose" simply means that the Luo family members were caught red-handed fighting by the Jingzhao Prefecture. Even if the news spread like wildfire throughout the city, people would at most laugh at them behind their backs for a few days, and that would be the end of it. It wouldn't bring much shame to the Luo family.
Luo Fengming scratched his head sheepishly: "I was just worried that my second aunt would definitely come to our house and make a scene, so I got scared and hid... I will never hide again!"
“It was Zhang Wenping who did nothing wrong, so you were in the right to hit him,” Luo Cuiwei tapped his head hard with her index finger. “If you had first pretended to apologize to your second aunt and then explained the matter frankly, she wouldn’t have had the face to cause trouble, no matter how protective she was. But you hid like that, as if you were guilty, which gave her a ladder to climb on the roof and tear off the tiles.”
Luo Fengming nodded repeatedly, finding his elder sister's words increasingly true. He wasn't usually arrogant, but this impulsive act was something he'd never done before, and he couldn't help but panic.
If he had understood this earlier, things wouldn't have escalated to such a huge degree today.
The two siblings walked side by side home in the winter twilight, their shadows stretched long and thin by the newly lit streetlights.
Luo Cuiwei looked seriously ahead and called out softly, "Luo Fengming."
Luo Fengming jolted awake, straightened his back, and turned to look at her.
"Although you acted impulsively and recklessly beforehand, and failed to take responsibility for the aftermath in a timely manner," she said without looking back, smiling as she walked away, "it's good that you stepped in to help those in need."
Luo Fengming stood there, stunned, a faint glimmer of tears welling up in his eyes.
A moment later, he laughed and caught up with her, bringing his face close to hers as if to claim credit: "So, are you still my sister? And do you still have a good-for-nothing brother like me?"
“Our ancestors are above us,” Luo Cui smiled and reached out to pinch his cheek, “My brother, Luo Cuiwei’s brother, is not broken at all.”
****
When the siblings returned home, it was already dark. Xiahou Ling, who had gone to the Zhang family to express her gratitude, had already returned.
After Luo Fengming had a proper bath and freshened up, and had dinner, the three of them talked over hot sweet soup in Luo Cuiwei's study.
Xiahou Ling pursed her lips and smiled, "When I arrived, the young master of the Zhang family was lying there groaning. I could tell from his voice that he was quite strong. It seems that young master Fengming went too far."
She had already heard the whole story during dinner and felt no sympathy for Zhang Wenping whatsoever.
Luo Fengming stirred the sweet soup in the bowl with a small silver spoon for a while, then looked up at his elder sister, then at Xiahou Ling, and cleared his throat awkwardly, "How about I go to the Zhang family again tomorrow?"
He had caused trouble himself, but it had dragged the innocent Xiahou Ling to come and apologize. Thinking about it now, he realized that he had indeed failed to take responsibility earlier.
Luo Cuiwei sipped her sweet soup and scoffed at his idea. "A-Ling has already gone. Even if I went there myself, what are you going to do there? Zhang Wenping is a scumbag. He doesn't deserve our family's respect."
Xiahou Ling also said, "Cuiwei is only being considerate of Aunt Zhuo's maternal feelings today, and also to avoid making things difficult for Madam in front of her family. I went to apologize and listen to a few complaints, which was to give Aunt Zhuo face, but I did not admit that our family did anything wrong in front of Zhang Wenping."
It must be said that Xiahou Ling truly understands Luo Cuiwei's thoughts.
Luo Fengming suddenly understood. He happily picked up the soup bowl, took a big gulp, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and asked, "Sister, tell me quickly, how can we teach him a lesson without giving him any ammunition? How can we pay someone to secretly beat him up?"
"A beating?" Luo Cuiwei chuckled. "I'll have people beat him up for three months straight! Not to kill him, not to cripple him, but to relentlessly pursue and beat him. As long as he dares to show his face, we won't rest until we've completely destroyed his vital energy."
She's always been protective of her own, and besides, if you trace the matter back to its source, Luo Fengming is right.
Today, she was arrested and punished by the Jingzhao Prefecture, and she also had to apologize to Aunt Zhuo out of consideration for their relationship. The Luo family suffered a small loss in silence. If she didn't make amends and swallow this humiliation, she wouldn't be Luo Cuiwei.
Luo Fengming laughed so hard he slammed his hand on the table: "The way you're talking, it sounds like you're some kind of petty thug! Where are you going to find thugs?"
If we use people from the Luo family themselves, wouldn't that still leave us with something to hide?
“That’s true. It has to be someone trustworthy and reliable, someone who knows when to strike, someone who won’t expose our family if caught by the Jingzhao Prefecture,” Luo Cuiwei said, pursing her lips with a hint of distress. She put down the sweet soup and rested her chin on her hand. “Fortunately, this matter isn’t urgent. You just clashed with him during the day. If someone else causes him trouble right afterward, anyone would know what’s going on.”
The three of them discussed it for a long time, but couldn't come up with the most suitable thug, so they had to put the matter aside for the time being.
Before they all went back to their rooms to rest, Xiahou Ling carefully reminded her, "Cuiwei, aren't you going to take the head chef to Prince Zhao's residence tomorrow? Have you already told the kitchen staff?"
Luo Cuiwei slapped her forehead in frustration and hurriedly turned to the kitchen.
What is Zhang Wenping compared to that scum? Right now, the Luo family's top priority is to cultivate a good relationship with the Prince Zhao's mansion.
****