Chapter 176: Brawl (1)

Chapter 176: Brawl (1)

Le Wuya, unaware of the discord between the two, quickly grabbed the best seat and sat down, loving every bit of the drama: "Fight another round, fight another round! Let me see how much you two have grown over the years."

Xiang Zhi loosened his hold: "If we wreck the furniture of the merchants under your watch, how's the Prefect planning to pay for that?"

Le Wuya fanned himself and chuckled, "Naturally, whoever breaks them pays for them."

Xiang Zhi refused to give him the satisfaction.

He withdrew his hand and plopped down beside Le Wuya, sizing him up from the corner of his eye.

Judging by his appearance, he had slept well the night before, and with his good mood, his eyes and lips were both tinged with smiles, giving him a rosy, radiant look.

The small golden peanut pendant on his chest was already half gone, lighter than usual, but Xiang Zhi did not feel disappointed because of it.

It wasn't until yesterday that he truly felt the past and present become one, and even his words came out lighter and more natural: "Shameless!"

Le Wuya laughed, "Come up with a new word. Every time you see me, it's the same old song and dance. Even if you're not sick of hearing it, I'm sick of it."

Xiang Zhi crossed his arms and nodded: "You want me to get creative with insults? You really are shameless. Not doing it."

"Not doing it?"

"Not doing it."

Le Wuya imitated his nod: "You're so desperately in love with me, aren't you?"

Xiang Zhi blushed, and reached out to pinch him, but before his hand even touched his sleeve, both of them, chairs and all, instinctively scooted back half a foot, leaving a big gap between them.

The one who pulled Xiang Zhi away was Xiang Zhijie.

He smoothly inserted his armchair between the two, gave his troublemaking little brother a pat on the forehead as both a warning and a soothing gesture, then naturally settled himself between them.

The one who pulled Le Wuya away, Wen Renyue, smiled at him: "Would you like some water shield and tofu soup? Light and soothing?"

The four settled around a round table, and cold and hot dishes came out one after another.

During the meal, Le Wuya asked Xiang Zhi about all sorts of things regarding sea shipping, and Xiang Zhi caught wind of something.

He looked at Le Wuya and fired off three consecutive questions: "You've barely gotten comfortable in your seat, and already you're itching for trouble, wanting to poke the bear? What's the crime for officials and merchants colluding? Is that hot money really so easy to pocket?"

"When it comes to officials and merchants colluding, your Xi family is the best in all the land," Le Wuya retorted while scooping up his tofu soup. "I provide the people and the official permits, only take a cut, and haven't taken a single cent for myself. In my view, if all officials and merchants colluded like me, the world would be spotless and the realm at peace."

Xiang Zhi was so mad he almost laughed: "Fine, fine. I'd love to hear who's worth all this collusion. My Xi family is right under your nose, and you don't come to us. Who's worth you running to with your money?"

Xiang Zhijie, who knew the inside story, said coolly from the side, "You don't want to know."

Xiang Zhi clenched his chopsticks and let out a scoff: "What kind of game are you playing?"

The next moment, his smile froze completely, the little dimple on his cheek appearing and disappearing as he trembled slightly.

Soon, Xiang Zhi was fuming behind a fake smile: "Great, her again!"

Le Wuya said lightly, "She's the best fit."

Xiang Zhi was at a loss for words for a moment.

He had to admit that Qi Hongzhuang was indeed the most fitting person to handle this.

Although Qi Hongzhuang had been demoted a rank, she still carried the title of imperial clan member.

Not to mention, her reputation in the outside world was excellent.

Back then, she went from a common flower girl to being written into the imperial family tree, and many commoners took pride in this "folk commandery princess," often using her deeds to teach their descendants.

Even after she fell from the position of commandery princess, because of her heroic deed of chopping down her enemy with an axe, the people still held her in great respect.

Since Qi Hongzhuang started her business, she had made her name through honesty and trustworthiness, turning her small business in the little town of Tonglu into a thriving success.

Working with her, even if others wanted to attack him with the charge of "official-merchant collusion," they'd have to think twice about the emperor's regard for her—she's Le Wuya's widow, after all, with the closest ties to him. By all rights, when Le Wuya was taken down back then, even if the Le family was spared, she shouldn't have been.

Yet the emperor deliberately skipped over her.

The emperor must really treasure this adopted daughter to only knock her down one rank.

Moreover, Le Wuya was familiar with her.

Partnering with her in business was far more convenient than starting from scratch and winning over a new faction.

But even with a million benefits, Xiang Zhi was a thousand times unwilling!

...

Back then, when the campaign to bring down Le Wuya suddenly erupted in the court and caused an uproar, Xiang Zhi, in a panic, went to the palace to see his mother as was his custom.

He sat in his seat, chatting and laughing, but his mind kept drifting off.

His mother cracked a couple of jokes, and he didn't catch any of them.

Consort Xi saw that he was listless, with faint shadows under his eyes, and her heart went out to him, wanting to get her son to open up and talk more: "That favorite teacher of yours..."

Xiang Zhi turned his head instantly, but his eyes showed confusion: "Who?"

Consort Xi quickly corrected herself: "That teacher you hate the most—I heard his situation hasn't been good lately?"

Xiang Zhi looked puzzled: "How did news from outside the palace reach you here?"

Consort Xi wasn't all that bright, but she knew her own limits, so she never spoke much in front of others, only daring to play the fool openly in front of her own son.

She said mysteriously, "Did it start around the twentieth of August?"

Xiang Zhi's expression stiffened.

The memorials impeaching Le Wuya had indeed begun to spring up like bamboo shoots after rain from the end of August.

Seeing her son silent, Consort Xi kept murmuring on in a low voice: "Consort Zhuang fell ill after the Mid-Autumn feast, and we took turns nursing her..."

Xiang Zhi: "...Do you want to nurse her? You clearly want to—"

"Oh dear!" Consort Xi said in annoyance, "Don't butt in, or I'll forget what I was about to say!"

Xiang Zhi huffed and shut his mouth.

"On the twentieth of August, it was my turn. When I returned, it was already when the palace was handing out rations, so I figured I'd swing by Shouren Hall to check on your father. If he was free, maybe I could score some points and soak up some favor."

Xiang Zhi turned his face away, acting like he hadn't heard.

His mother said everything so plainly and directly, as if all those embarrassing things just rolled right off her.

Fortunately, that little flaw was passed on completely to Xiaoliu.

"But just then, I saw Xue Jie taking Lady Qi to Shouren Hall," Consort Xi said, sounding a bit regretful. "I knew it wasn't going to work out that day, so I headed back the way I came."

"But at that moment, I had a suspicion: why would she pick such a weird time, right as the palace gates were about to close, to go see the Emperor at Shouren Hall?"

Xiang Zhi went quiet.

The side of his neck went stiff, and his face slowly turned an iron-blue, a mix of anger and numbness.

Yeah, what a coincidence.

After that, Le Wuya's situation got worse day by day, until he was cornered from all sides.

The Emperor even called the two of them in and asked if they knew about Le Wuya's crimes.

To this day, Xiang Zhi still remembers his father's gentle but terrifying smile: "Go on, tell me—you two were so close."

Xiang Zhi kept his head down, gritted his teeth, and in the end, didn't say a word.

But his dear sixth brother, after an unusually long silence, suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, he once picked tangerines from behind Zhaoming Hall. Does that count?"

God knows how badly Xiang Zhi wanted to bite his sixth brother to death at that moment.

The teacher had been so good to Little Stutterer—if he could speak fluently now, Le Wuya deserved most of the credit.

And yet he stabbed him in the back at a moment like this!

Xiang Zheng couldn't help chuckling, asking with keen interest: "When did this happen?"

Xiang Zhijie thought for a moment, then replied, "Your Majesty, I can't say exactly. I'll write a memorial on it."

Xiang Zhi resented his stuttering sixth brother for years over this, until later, he discovered that when people in teahouses talked about Le Wuya, the court's traitorous official, they'd avoid the great crimes against the state and, as if by unspoken agreement, focus on that seemingly trivial matter:

"What kind of crime is stealing tangerines, anyway?"

"Exactly, what's the big deal? I've pulled kumquats from a neighbor's tree and picked persimmons from that old tree outside the capital—why hasn't anyone locked me up?"

"Well, the Dayu Law mentions it: damaging imperial trees is indeed a death penalty offense!"

"But what harm does picking a tangerine do? It's not like it's going to kill the tree."

"Exactly, it's too much like making up a crime..."

"Shh, shh, you wanna lose your life?!"

After figuring out why Xiang Zhijie had singled out that one charge against Le Wuya, Xiang Zhi calmed down a bit.

But toward Qi Hongzhuang, his resentment never faded!

Especially when he watched her escape punishment, just demoted from princess to countess and sent off to live a cushy life in another county—he gnashed his teeth in fury!

...

But Le Wuya clearly couldn't understand his burning indignation and even went so far as to provoke him with a straight face.

"Her title of princess was stripped because of me," Le Wuya said softly. "I should give it back to her."

Xiang Zhi sneered: "Truly, one night together breeds a hundred days of affection."

Seeing through his thoughts, Le Wuya crossed his arms and said, "Oh, then you'd better do the math—how many years were we married? The affection would be a hundred, two hundred, a thousand..."

Xiang Zhi was so furious he staggered backward: "Get lost!"

Xiang Zhijie, seeing him going too far in front of Wen Renyue, tried to intervene: "Seventh brother, stop arguing..."

But Xiang Zhi abruptly turned his attack on him: "You get lost too!"

He fumed: "Don't play the saint here! You hypocrite! On his wedding day, you gave him a pair of exquisite twin jades, originally inlaid with agate, said to have been blessed by a Taoist master for fertility and good fortune—but when you gave them, you secretly pried the agate out! You cursed them to have no kids!"

Xiang Zhijie's mouth twitched involuntarily: "..."

Xiang Zhi continued: "That jade—my mother went with Imperial Consort Zhuang to pick it out and told me what it looked like when she came back. Don't play dumb!"

Le Wuya had low tastes and loved nothing more than watching people argue, so he listened with rapt attention, bowl in hand.

Seeing the two of them locked in verbal combat with no time for their meal, Wen Renyue took the chance to pick a piece of the fish belly from the steamed fish with a fresh pair of chopsticks and put it in Le Wuya's bowl: "Don't just watch—eat up."

"Hey, Ming Xiangzhao." Xiang Zhi couldn't stand this man seizing every chance, so he turned his fierce gaze on Wen Renyue: "Since he takes you everywhere, you must know some things. He had a wife before—did you know that?!"

Wen Renyue answered simply: "Yeah."

"He had a wife, and he has you all." Wen Renyue thought for a moment, then added, "That doesn't stop me from being good to him."

Xiang Zhi was left staring at him, dumbfounded, as if he were looking at some alien creature.

Xiang Zhijie smiled gently: "Well said."

He raised his teacup: "Brother Ming, I toast to those words."

For some reason, Wen Renyue wasn't keen on clinking cups with him, so he merely nodded politely with a smile.

Xiang Zhijie, having hit a soft wall, didn't change his expression, naturally took a small sip of tea, then picked up the public chopsticks Wen Renyue had just set down, placed a bite into Le Wuya's bowl, and explained patiently: "...He likes the fish cheek meat."

Wen Renyue nodded politely, lowered his head, and sincerely hoped they would leave soon.

Author's note:

Yaya: The chaos is just right.