Chapter 22: Defending His Own

Chapter 22: Shielding Her Own

By the time Cheng Yi returned to the Marquis's residence, night had fully fallen.

It wasn't until he met his mother's delighted gaze that Cheng Yi felt a pang of regret for his mistake.

Perhaps he'd gotten too used to being on his own in his past life—he'd forgotten there were people at home waiting for him to come back for dinner.

"Sorry, Mother. I'm late," Cheng Yi said, looking apologetic.

"What's kept you so busy?"

Ever since she realized Cheng Yi had grown up and had his own schemes and affairs to handle, Wen Wanning no longer treated him like the wild little monkey he once was.

However, given the precedent of him falling into the water at Drunken Tower, she couldn't help but worry.

Seeing Cheng Yi return safe and sound, without even a hint of alcohol on him, the worry in her heart finally settled.

"If you go drinking again, I'll punish you by banning you from meals."

Wen Wanning chided playfully as she nudged Cheng Yi's arm.

Both of her sons had grown tall and strapping—especially this younger one. He seemed to have grown a whole head taller since she last saw him a year ago. She had to stand on her tiptoes just to poke his forehead.

Cheng Yi found this amusing. If he'd really been out drinking this late, how could withholding dinner possibly punish him?

"Don't worry, Mother. I just had some things to take care of."

"As long as you're sensible about it."

Wen Wanning didn't ask more, just told the servants to bring out the food that had been kept warm.

Cheng Yi had already eaten dinner, but he still let his mother fuss over him.

He saw that the table was full of his favorite dishes. His mother, afraid he wouldn't get enough to eat, muttered about having Nanny Zhang prepare more next time while automatically piling food into his bowl.

Cheng Yi felt a warmth surge through his chest, and the chill that had clung to him vanished without a trace in an instant.

"In the blink of an eye, you're already getting married, but your elder brother still isn't back," Wen Wanning said, a worried expression creeping onto her face. "He's been away from the capital too long this time."

"I wonder what case he's on that's so difficult."

Cheng Yi lowered his gaze slightly, concealing the flash of murderous intent that flickered in his eyes.

He knew exactly what case his brother was on, but he couldn't tell his mother much about it.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

After his brother left, he'd immediately asked Grandfather for men and sent them to Liaozhou, but the men he sent still hadn't come back.

Based on his memories from his past life, nothing should have gone wrong at this point.

"Don't worry, Mother. You know what kind of man Brother is. You should trust in Brother's abilities. Besides, the Court of Judicial Review always handles cases this way—if it were a simple case, why would Brother need to go himself?"

Cheng Yi reassured her in a gentle voice, and sure enough, Wen Wanning's expression softened.

The Court of Judicial Review handled only major and important cases—she knew that.

Perhaps because Cheng Yi's wedding was approaching, and she had no experience and no one to consult, she couldn't help but feel anxious.

"I know your brother is sensible. It's just that your wedding was suddenly moved up, and I don't know if he can make it back in time."

Although Cheng Lang was young, the whole Marquis's household had depended on him for years. Even if he did nothing but just be at home, Wen Wanning felt she had someone to rely on, someone to talk things over with, and didn't feel so panicked.

Besides, for such a big event as the Marquis's household wedding, if there was no one in charge, people would look down on the household, and would make the world look down on Shen Yichen even more.

"Your wedding is such a big deal—the whole Marquis's residence needs him, inside and out. Especially on the wedding day, receiving the guests—how could any of that be done without him?"

Cheng Yi sighed inwardly.

His mother hadn't even thought of his father once.

It was clear that over the years, he had badly failed in both his roles as husband and father.

Wen Wanning suddenly slapped her forehead and muttered to herself in frustration.

"Oh, I'm being silly. If your elder brother isn't here, there's still your grandfather. He dotes on you so much—he'll surely come to back you up."

As long as the Old Duke sat there, no matter what status the guests had, they'd all have to behave and show proper respect.

Cheng Yi saw that his mother seemed especially anxious—even more nervous than he was, and he was the one getting married—so he smiled and reassured her:

"Mother, if you're truly too busy to manage, you can go to the Duke's residence and ask Uncle to come help."

"Uncle is a reliable person, and he's more experienced. He can share a thing or two with you as well."

His eldest uncle and his husband had four sons together. The eldest was a gē'er who had been married for several years.

The second son, Cheng Feng, had also gotten married last year, but he was currently with Uncle in the northern frontier.

The third son, Cheng Ge, was still single and worked in the palace.

The youngest was also a gē'er, two years younger than Cheng Yi.

But unexpectedly, Wen Wanning said, "Your uncle came by today, and he brought your eldest cousin along. He's already here to help."

Cheng Yi was briefly taken aback, then relaxed.

His uncle-in-law had always been a great person.

His eldest uncle was stationed at the northern frontier year-round, so the entire Duke Zhenguo residence was managed by his uncle-in-law alone. Whenever the Marquis Zhongyong residence had problems, he'd always come to help right away.

Even though his uncle-in-law was a gē'er, he was exceptionally open-minded. His vision and way of thinking far surpassed the typical person stuck in the inner quarters.

Not to mention that their second branch had set up their own household and moved out of the Duke's residence, or even if Cheng Jimo weren't the Marquis Zhongyong, with his uncle-in-law's generous nature, he'd never hold any grudge against their branch.

Unfortunately, in his past life, when news of Uncle and the eldest cousin's deaths reached the capital, his uncle-in-law couldn't take it and fell seriously ill.

Not long after, the second cousin also lost his job in the palace because of the fallout, the eldest cousin's husband's family cast him out to distance themselves, and even the youngest cousin had his engagement called off.

His uncle-in-law, overcome with grief and anger, followed Uncle in death just two days later.

At that time, their already elderly grandfather was dealt a tremendous blow, and the entire Duke Zhenguo residence fell apart overnight.

And his mother, driven insane by his elder brother's death, had long since lost her mind.

By this point, the entire Cheng family had fallen apart—everyone except Cheng Yi.

Overnight, Cheng Yi was forced to grow up. Even though he was suffering more than he could bear, he could only grit his teeth and shoulder everything.

If he didn't step up, the Cheng family would be completely finished.

No one knew the trials and tribulations he endured—going from being a ridiculed hanger-on to commanding over two hundred thousand troops of the Zhenyuan Army.

Cheng Yi lowered his gaze, hiding the turmoil in his eyes from his mother.

Luckily, Wen Wanning was now completely wrapped up in his marriage plans. Before she even finished eating, she suddenly thought of something and rushed off with Nanny Zhang.

Cheng Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of the entire marquis estate, he—the prospective groom—was the most idle person of all.

The next day,

Fuzi was, as usual, startled by his young master's night-owl habits.

"Young master, where did you go again? Don't you ever sleep at night?"

Cheng Yi couldn't be bothered to answer.

But then he saw Wei Xiao stroll into Yuxiu Pavilion with a flatbread in his mouth and two more in his hands.

Seeing Cheng Yi was already up, Wei Xiao hastily wolfed down his food.

Fuzi rushed over and, after a huge struggle, managed to pry half a piece out of his mouth.

Not one to let it go, he sarcastically accused Wei Xiao of hogging the food and not bringing any for the young master.

Wei Xiao protested, saying the young master didn't even like flatbreads, and besides, the lady had already prepared more breakfast than the young master could finish.

Cheng Yi watched the two of them bicker until Wei Xiao swallowed his last bite, then got down to business.

After Cheng Yi left yesterday, Wei Xiao had stayed at the tavern.

Young Master Shen and his servant happily cleaned up all the dishes, then asked the waiter to pack up some food to take back to the Minister's residence.

After all that, Wei Xiao actually gained a newfound respect for this future lord.

Young Master Shen was straightforward, not at all coy, and carried no airs whatsoever—nothing like the harsh, difficult reputation the rumors suggested.

However, before he escorted the two back to the Minister's residence, Young Master Shen asked him to do something that left him completely baffled.

Cheng Yi was suddenly intrigued.

"What did he have you do?"

"He told me to anonymously send a message to the Yong'an Marquis Estate, saying that the third young master of the Minister's residence, Shen Qinglan, seemed to have caught some strange illness and lost all his hair overnight."

Wei Xiao scratched his head, confused.

He thought to himself that this strange illness was terrifying—if all his own hair fell out, it would be scarier than seeing a ghost, and Lu Zhun would probably laugh himself to death at the sight.

Fuzi also instinctively touched his head, feeling a cold breeze at the back of his skull, and scurried over to Cheng Yi in fright.

"What kind of strange illness makes your hair fall out? Isn't the third young master a gē'er? How's he supposed to get married now?"

Hearing this, Cheng Yi couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.

If he remembered correctly, in his past life, Minister Shen had formed a marriage alliance with the Marquis of Yong'an.

Presumably, the two families were currently discussing the match, or had perhaps already settled on an engagement.

But now that the third young master of the Shen family had caught a strange illness and lost all his hair, who knew whether this marriage could still go through.

Tsk, tsk.

His little future husband.

He really was one to hold a grudge.

Today, the Minister's residence was sure to be quite lively.

With that thought, Cheng Yi suddenly had an idea and turned to Wei Xiao.

"Go to the Minister's residence again today."

"Huh?"

Hadn't he just gotten back?

"On the day of the betrothal proposal, didn't Lord Shen promise me an explanation?" Cheng Yi sneered. "Today, you go and demand that explanation from him."

Cheng Yi specifically instructed:

"Remember, wait half an incense stick's time after the people from the Yong'an Marquis Estate enter the residence before you go in. If Lord Shen doesn't give you an explanation, don't leave the Minister's residence."

Wei Xiao and Fuzi were both stunned.

"This... isn't this going too far?"

Everyone knew that the incident that day was clearly a deliberate setup, and Minister Shen had no intention of investigating it thoroughly—that explanation was obviously just a token excuse.

Besides...

"Young master, Lord Shen is your future father-in-law! Going to demand an explanation while he has guests over, that's..."

This seemed a bit too sneaky.

And wasn't the young master afraid of offending his future father-in-law? Was that even right?

But Cheng Yi was insistent, and there was even a hint of glee in his expression.

The two exchanged glances and figured that the young master was sticking up for Young Master Shen.

Hey, their young master was just as protective as ever.

He was already looking out for the future lord before he'd even married in.

Just as Wei Xiao left, Lu Zhun came back.

He brought news about the scholar from the night before.

His name was Jiang Wangsheng.

Cheng Yi frowned slightly, having no memory of such a person at all, but then he heard Fuzi exclaim in surprise:

"Isn't this the huiyuan from two years ago?"

Huiyuan, Jiang Wangsheng?

Cheng Yi's memory was suddenly jolted back more than a decade.

Ah, yes, there did seem to be such a celebrated scholar from a humble background.

It was said he topped the provincial exam and then the metropolitan exam.

At the time, many speculated he might achieve the triple first, and many aristocratic families had even prepared to snatch him up as a son-in-law, waiting only for the palace exam results.

But in that year's palace exam, he not only missed the top tier but also scraped into the bottom of the second tier.

For a moment, sighs of disappointment and jeers arose all around.

Jiang Wangsheng had real backbone; it was said he refused to take up an official post and planned to try again in three years.

But from then on, he vanished from the scene.

At least in the following ten years, Cheng Yi never heard that name again.

Yet his remarks yesterday were a clear display of brilliance; even if Xie Yulin had stolen his idea of "putting the people first," he shouldn't have stayed so obscure for so many years, right?

==========Author's Note:==========

Mwah mwah, love you all!

Because of the shelf placement tomorrow, the update will be later, but that's okay, because tomorrow I'll add an extra chapter (yeah, right, trust me!).