Crossing the Crowd to Chase Love

Chapter 93

Wei Jia had been viciously attacked by the two Ruan sister’s words and was so angered steam came out of his ears. After he had been deceived by Ruan Ju and sold to a human broker, he had then ended up as the magistrate’s daughter’s bedwarmer after changing some more hands. Who knew how many tricks he had used to fight his way into the position of a secondary husband? Now that he had received such a perfect opportunity for revenge, how could he easily give it up?

“Madam, look at how they are spitting blood on and humiliating this slave. Is this not the same as shaming you?” Wei Jia widened his bewitching eyes as he complained towards the magistrate’s daughter.

“You can be assured; I will surely retrieve your face for you. Not only will they have to kneel in apology, they will also be thrown into the yamen for a beating.”

“All of you dare to be so courageous. Our family’s Eldest Miss is the Princess of Qi, so if you know how to be discreet, hurry and scram!” The Ruan clan’s coachman was worried his masters would suffer and quickly revealed her status.

The magistrate’s daughter was startled and looked towards Wei Jia in inquiry. The three bailiffs also stopped their actions. Under the foot of the Son of Heaven, what sort of people could they not meet? If she was truly the Princess of Qi, then they certainly could not dare to offend her.

“Truly a joke that makes one laugh to death. I have grown up in her family since small so could there be anything regarding the ins and outs of that family that I am unclear about?” Wei Jia burst into laughter and taunted: “I can say I am the Jade Emperor, but will there be anyone who believes that, ah!”

Ruan Yu spat out: “You shameless thing, to actually still have the face to bring out that you were raised in our home. Absolutely shameless.”

Wei Jia bristled with anger and turned his head to look at the magistrate’s daughter, his large eyes seemingly layered with misty tears: “Madam, look at them……”

“Xiao Jia, don’t be upset. Wait for me to vent your anger by killing these two untouchables.”

After the magistrate’s daughter finished speaking to Wei Jia, she suddenly turned and charged over.

Her soul had really been hooked by this new man of hers, and she rushed forward with the intention of delivering a slap to Ruan Zhu’s face. How could Ruan Yu allow the other to touch her older sister? Relying on the few martial arts moves she had learned before, she lifted a leg and kicked the other far away. That one kick was truly not light, and the magistrate’s daughter knocked against the bridge’s railing, her face black, though who knew whether it was from anger or pain. She cursed at the three bailiffs: “Fucking useless things. Still standing there? Don’t know to come over and help, ah?!”

The three bailiffs had not dared to casually move without first ascertaining Ruan Zhu’s identity, and they all pretended as if they had not heard her.

Ruan Zhu was not too worried. The main workings of Tian Wang Embassy were already in full swing and though they did not have as much information of other places, the agency at least had a very good foothold in the city of Lan Zhou with her husband’s informers placed on all the streets. It was even possible for the small peddler on the side of the road selling candied hawthorn to actually be receiving a good salary from Tian Wang Embassy. Since her coachman had already publicized her identity, it would not be long before reinforcements appeared.

Seeing that the magistrate’s daughter was prompting the bailiffs, she gave a cold smile: “You wish to use Lan Zhou as your own home and believe everyone will listen to your orders? Who do you think you are?”

The magistrate’s daughter was currently in a rage. Her complexion changed and she abruptly charged at Ruan Zhu again.

“Again with wanting to hit someone.” Ruan Zhu didn’t wait for Ruan Yu to come over and moved first. Fights between women did not stray behind a few moves–grabbing their hair, scratching them with their nails; she grabbed her opponent’s long hair and forcefully tugged.

The magistrate’s daughter was also not benevolent and similarly grabbed (S) at Ruan Zhu’s long hair, raising a leg to kick at the latter’s calf.

Having been kicked, Ruan Zhu’s center was unstable and she fell to the ground. Her hand tenaciously kept its hold on the hair of the magistrate’s daughter so the both of them fell over like joined candied hawthorns. Ruan Zhu’s head spun from the fall and she saw a shadow throwing itself at the magistrate’s daughter.

It was Ruan Yu! “Dare to hit my sister, I’ll take your life!” Ruan Yu held down the magistrate’s daughter and pummeled her. She was a bold child that had been as wild as a boy when young. She knew a few martial arts moves, so in a fight with an ordinary girl, she was able to firmly restrain the other with just one hand, causing the magistrate’s daughter to be beaten in just a few moves until she repeatedly howled.

“This beating is not enough.” Ruan Zhu was of the mindset that she shouldn’t have started the fight, but since she did, she had better not stop, and reached out to tear off the magistrate’s daughter’s fox fur cloak. This mother!! This was the first time that she had gotten in a fight with anyone since she could remember and some excitement actually showed through on her face.

The magistrate’s driver crawled up from the ground, wanting to help his master. The Ruan family’s coachman pressed him down by sitting atop him like he was a horse and thrashed him again.

The several bailiffs were at a loss for what was best to do. One was the honorable daughter of Shun Tian Hall’s magistrate; the other was possibly the Princess of Qi. No matter who it was, they could not afford to offend either. They repeatedly called for them all to stop, stop, but it would be a wonder if anyone listened to them.

The magistrate’s daughter had eaten a huge loss and abused Wei Jia roundly: “You fucking shitty cunt that only knows to how scream with pleasure in bed, what the hell are you looking for?! Do you want me to die?! You fucking idiot!!”

Wei Jia had long been scared silly. He had been raised since he was a child in the Ruan clan and there would inevitably be some inferiority in his subconscious. That shout cleared his mind and he understood that if he did not go over, his status as a secondary husband could be considered gone.

Ruan Zhu was still removing the magistrate’s daughter’s fox fur cloack when Wei Jia abruptly grabbed her arm. In his haste, he had grabbed the wrong area and one of his hands touched her soft chest. With a forceful tear, her top was torn open, revealing a slice of snow-white skin. Fortunately, there was still a low-cut undergarment.

Wei Jia was also trembling. Everything he had learned from his father was on bedroom matters, and he had studied how to make a woman happy. On matters of fighting, he had never studied this and didn’t know where to place his hands.

Ruan Zhu was stupefied and there was only one thought in her mind–she must kill this bastard!! Standing up, she aimed a kick at his family jewels and then kicked again. She considered in her heart of how it just so happened that Qu Gao wanted a little errand eunuch to hold the account books, so let’s just have this bastard turn into a palace eunuch starting now! Those two kicks of hers were indeed spot-on.

As it was winter, she wore thick, cowhide-soled shoes and even sturdy men would not be able to withstand her two kicks. After her boots had hit their mark on Wei Jia, he immediately kneeled on the ground, his tears already flowing as he wailed in pain. It was only much later that Ruan Zhu discovered this guy hadn’t been broken by her kicks and really regretted it. If she had known, she would have put on wooden clogs and kicked the son of a bitch to death! The wooden clogs here were actually sandals and the people here also called them slabs as the soles were extremely thick and sturdy.

The number of people on the bridge watching the commotion became more and more, with layers upon layers of bystanders forming.

Ones shouldering poles, hawkers pushing small carts–none of them did their work and instead, circled around them, gesturing and saying all sorts of things.

Ruan Zhu heard such-and-such about this man, such-and-such about those women!! Damn, the originally small matter of a carriage crash had actually turned into gossip on the relationship between a man and woman.

The three patrolling bailiffs were still repeatedly calling for them to ‘stop hitting, doing so will only result in their deaths.’ It didn’t matter if the ones winning were actually the Prince of Qi’s people or not, as they would be in deep water if the magistrate’s daughter were to die by any chance. They were merely a few nobodies that absolutely could not assume the responsibility.

One bailiff went over to stop the two coachmen. The Ruan family’s coachman had actually won and got up happily after hearing his words.

Ruan Yu was still fighting with that magistrate’s daughter and had cause the other’s face to swell up like two suddenly-risen white steamed buns. The magistrate’s tigress temper had been stirred up and she snatched at Ruan Yu’s hair, randomly dealing blows, and was actually able to seize a lock of her long hair as loud screeches came from her mouth for who knows what reason.

However, there was no way Ruan Yu would be the one at the disadvantage as she returned all the kicks and punches back. She saw that her own family’s coachman meant to come over and help and snapped: “You are forbidden from coming over. I will personally beat this shameless person to death.”

The Ruan clan’s coachman could only halt.

Ruan Zhu straightened the cloth at her chest. Her hatred not having yet subsided, she aimed another kick at the man on the ground.

Wei Jia had just began to suffer and ominous glint flashed in his eyes at this time. The new animosity added with his old hatreds–all of it–surged out in the form of a fierce howl as he threw himself over.

The Ruan family’s coachman ran over to block him and pressed Wei Jia to the ground before pelting him with blows.

It has to be said that everything was so coincidental.

Ruan Zhu had thought she could wait until her husbands had arrived, but she was wrong. They had yet to turn up when the magistrate of Shun Tian Hall first came over in his carriage after morning court. Crossing the stone bridge was necessary for him to return home, so as soon as he saw that the way was blocked, he sent some subordinates to chase away the crowd.

Once his subordinate saw that his family’s young Miss was on the ground being trounced into an unrecognizable state, he became extremely scared and hastily reported back to the magistrate. As soon as the magistrate heard that his daughter was taking a beating, his temper immediately flared and he got off the carriage. Three steps merged into two as he strode across the stone bridge.

The crowd had broken off and retreated to the furthest reaches to continuing watching the show, opening up the middle of the bridge. The two Ruan sisters saw that something wasn’t right and they both stopped their hands.

The magistrate’s daughter saw her own father, and like she had seen her most beloved person in the world, she crawled over and burst into tears.

“Such outrageous commoners that no longer wish to live.” An ominous glint was in the magistrate’s eyes and he shouted at the three patrolling bailiffs: “Push these two wicked people to the ground and break their legs before throwing them inside Shun Tian Hall’s prison.”

The Ruan family’s coachman yelled: “My family’s Eldest Miss is the Princess of Qi and is the current Emperor’s daughter-in-law. You are too daring!”

Those bailiffs saw the magistrate heading over and was just about to do as he had instructed when those words made them not dare move another step. This world that was under the Son of Heaven’s foot was unlike others; it was possible that a random person one met on the streets was a prince of this family or a relative of that prime minister. Because this matter was over their heads , they did not dare to do anything without instruction.

The Princess of Qi? The magistrate was shocked, then heard his daughter cry out: “He’s lying, they are a merchant family. If you don’t believe me, Pa, listen to Wei Jia. Wei Jia knows about them.”

Wei Jia hastily added: “May Master hear all the facts; I have been raised in their home so all of the people and matters in their home, I understand thoroughly. They really are of a merchant family origin.”

The magistrate was now at ease and smiled grimly: “Break the legs of these two wicked commoners along with those of their family’s servant.”

The subordinates of Shun Tian Hall’s magistrate had received their order and ruthlessly lunged over.

Ruan Yu rushed over to protect her older sister, but unfortunately, her jack-of-all-trades martial arts skill was no match for them. She was able to avoid an attack but couldn’t dodge the other few……

Right at this moment, a man in a blue gown appeared out of nowhere and made two consecutive slashes with the sword in his hand. The clubs in his opponents’ hands suddenly flew out in a large arc, falling into the flowing river underneath the bridge.

A cold smile emerged from the eyes of the man dressed in blue. With another stroke of his sword, the back of his blade hit the third assailant’s wrist; the latter couldn’t keep his hold and the club flew out and under the bridge.

The onlookers standing by far away saw that weapons had been drawn and the clubs were flying about randomly and retreated even more in cowardice that they would be affected.

The subordinates of the magistrate had all lost their weapons and looked at each other. One of them directed towards the man in the blue gown: “What good can come out of coming to blows with government officials? If I may offer you advice, I suggest you hurry and move aside or else we will have to regard you as a fugitive and take you to prison.”

It was like the man dressed in blue hadn’t heard him at all as he looked towards Ruan Zhu, staring at her with glittering eyes.

Ruan Zhu did not recognize this man at all. She was clear on how bad her memory was and specifically searched through it yet didn’t find any recollection.

“Bastards, useless things, so many of you yet you can’t beat one.” The magistrate roared out a few sentences: “Xiao Yang Zi, go to Shun Tian Hall and have the constable send over all the men. If this constable doesn’t punish these wicked commoners according to the law today, this magistrate’s position and authority would be in vain.”

“This prince sees that your magistrate’s position and authority is truly in vain.”

A clear voice sounded out from thin air, and a lofty, handsome man strode onto the stone bridge. A black cloak was draped over his back while his entire body was covered in a set of gleaming silver armor. His solid facial features were sharply handsome as if they had been carved by a knife, and the entire person radiated with a princely air of awe.

Following behind him was the Prince of Yong, Xuananyuan Min Zhi, that similarly exuded a cold and indomitable aura.

“Lord Husband, you’ve arrived.” Ruan Zhu walked over. At this moment, her hairpin was crooked while her hair was in disarray. There were several scratches on her cheek and the cloth at her chest had also been ripped–she looked battered and exhausted.

“How did this appearance come to be?” Zong Zhi’s eyes were slightly gloomy, and his hand stroked her face: “Does it hurt?”

“I’m fine.” Ruan Zhu shook her head and smiled.

It was only at this time that the magistrate realized he had incited a calamity. He panicked and pulled his daughter along with him as he kneeled and kowtowed, saying ‘Your Highness, please spare this one’s life.’ The magistrate’s daughter was probably used to being brash and her anger had yet to cool as she continued to say things like ‘It was your family’s Madam that first hit me.’ She only angrily lowered her head after the magistrate roundly yelled at her.

Wei Jia had long become so frightened his soul had left his body, and he foolishly stood by the side in a daze. After he had been sold, he had remained as a servant of the magistrate’s family. Others have said ‘a noble’s residence is as deep as an ocean’[a] and the magistrate’s residence was pretty much the same. During his free time, he had listened to people gossip about how the Prince of Qi had taken a commoner princess and the Prince of Yong’s princess was also an ordinary person. But which family the commoner was from was not what the gossipers were interested in and he had been unable to figure out the princess’s clan name. From this, he understood that a sparrow flying onto a branch and becoming a phoenix was not an illusion, and he had strove even harder to curry favor and received the magistrate’s daughter’s love, which is why he had been accorded the status of a secondary husband.

Min Zhi saw that there were injuries on his wife’s body and pushed the responsibility of dealing with the aftermath to Zong Zhi. Zong Zhi was a devoted military generalissimo and was in charge of the most elite Fei Sheng army; he held enormous power in his hands and there were not many officers in court that were dismissive of him.

Min Zhi carried his wife inside the carriage. Ruan Zhu eyes took in the man in blue with a desolate expression as if he was utterly lonely.

Ruan Yu also made to enter but was stopped by Min Zhi who hurriedly said: “You should just return home on another carriage!” He had finally received an opportunity to be alone with his wife. If he let this go, he’d be an idiot.

Ruan Yu was so angry her eyebrows creased and scolded: “A rotten man who goes into heat as soon as he sees a woman.”

“Big Brother Lu, we’ll wait for you at Tian Yi Pavilion. Come quickly, ah!” Seeing Zong Zhi’s agreement, Ruan Zhu moved her head back when her gaze landed on the man in blue again. That man had been staring at her without blinking since the very start.

After the carriage door had been closed, the vehicle unhurriedly moved along the black slate pavement.

“Who is he, Min Zhi, do you recognize him?”

“He is Prime Minister Wang’s concubine-born son. Because his biological father is the prime minister’s biological younger brother, he is valued in the clan. Two months ago, Prime Minster Wang gave him the position as a fourth-ranked second-class imperial bodyguard with the responsibility of guarding the front of the imperial palace. I saw him when I visited Emperor-Father’s palace.”

The bastard son of Prime Minister Wang! Ruan Zhu recalled how last night, Xong Zhi had mentioned Prime Minister Wang had requested to send over his son. How could there be such a coincidence? The topic had only been raised last night yet today……

[a] 侯门深似海 is a saying that is literally translated above. It basically refers to status disparity. A noble’s home is very large so its gates are tightly guarded, preventing the average person from entering.