Chapter 248

Although Ye Chutang’s attention was focused on the exquisite colored-glass lamp, she still noticed the man reaching toward her.

She had just begun to move aside when Qi Yanzhou released her hand and broke the man’s arm.

A scream like a slaughtered pig nearly tore the roof off.

“Ah!”

“Guards! Kill him for this young master!”

“Doctor! Get a doctor—quickly!”

“Take this bitch to my villa!”

The moment she heard the words “my villa,” Ye Chutang knew that the screaming man was no ordinary person.

Qi Yanzhou was fairly familiar with Jizhou and immediately guessed who he was.

Zhao Sirui, Prince Yong’s heir.

Ignoring Zhao Sirui’s fury and howls of pain, he told Ye Chutang the man’s identity.

Prince Yong was the late emperor’s younger brother.

His character was as unremarkable as his title suggested. Born to a palace maid, he had never been favored and had suffered countless humiliations in his youth.

As soon as he came of age, he was granted the title of prince and sent to the small city of Jizhou.

Prince Yong had no ambitions. He stayed quietly in Jizhou, kept his distance from the officials, and lived a comfortable life on the taxes he received.

He had a large number of wives and concubines, but because he had injured himself as a child, he found it difficult to have children.

Over the years, despite countless women, he had managed to father only two daughters and one son born in his old age—Zhao Sirui.

Zhao Sirui had been spoiled rotten. He lorded over Jizhou, bullying men and taking liberties with women.

His cries brought the guards waiting outside the restaurant rushing inside.

They also summoned the manager of the Lingxiao Tower.

The guards stared at the heir’s severed hand, their faces turning deathly pale as they panicked.

They had failed to protect the heir. Prince Yong would certainly have them killed!

Although the manager was frightened as well, he remained relatively composed.

He hurriedly ordered one of the waiters, “Go and fetch Doctor Jin at once.”

After the waiter left, he turned to the guards from Prince Yong’s residence.

“Quickly, help the heir back to his private room.”

The panicked guards finally came to their senses.

One went upstairs to help Zhao Sirui, another returned to Prince Yong’s residence to report what had happened, and the rest moved to seize Qi Yanzhou and Ye Chutang.

The manager knew how much Prince Yong treasured his only son. Even though Zhao Sirui was clearly in the wrong, he did not dare speak a word in defense of Qi Yanzhou.

Otherwise, he would be the one to die!

A murderous aura radiated from Qi Yanzhou.

Before the guards could rush forward, he seized Zhao Sirui by the throat.

“If you don’t want him dead, get out of my way!”

Seeing Zhao Sirui’s face turn red from the pressure on his neck, the guards scrambled down the stairs.

“Go call Prince Yong. Since he can’t teach his son how to behave, I’ll do it for him!”

The manager turned deathly pale.

“Young Master, please release the heir. Otherwise, not only will you be in trouble, but your entire family will be dragged into this.”

Qi Yanzhou gave a cold, mocking smile and removed the mask from his face.

“My head is right here. If Prince Yong has the ability, let him come and take it!”

The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‍instant he removed his mask, many people recognized Qi Yanzhou.

Whispers spread through the restaurant.

“The young lady beside Young Master Qi must be Madam Qi. The heir is finished!”

“He’s always been walking along the riverbank. It was only a matter of time before he got his shoes wet. He deserves it!”

“He’s ruined so many good girls. He should have died long ago!”

“Jizhou belongs to Prince Yong. Does Young Master Qi really stand a chance against him?”

“Young Master Qi isn’t even afraid of the emperor. Why would he fear a mere prince?”

Those words reached Zhao Sirui’s ears, and he began trembling all over.

He had always been a bully who preyed on the weak, and he was terrified of death.

When he thought of the head Qi Yanzhou had cut off the Deposed Crown Prince, his neck felt icy cold, and his body began to shake even harder.

As he trembled, a foul-smelling liquid began dripping from his splendid silk robes.

“Oh heavens, the heir wet himself!”

“I thought he wasn’t afraid of anything!”

“Even if Young Master Qi doesn’t do anything to him, how will the heir ever have the face to leave his residence again?”

Qi Yanzhou threw Zhao Sirui down the stairs in disgust.

“Disgusting.”

Zhao Sirui landed in a daze, crushing his injured hand beneath him. He let out another agonized scream.

The guards wanted to step forward, but Qi Yanzhou’s murderous gaze froze them in place.

Just then, Doctor Jin arrived with his medicine chest.

He was a retired imperial physician from the palace and the most skilled doctor in Jizhou.

In the past, he had examined Qi Yanzhou’s pulse when Qi Yanzhou was suffering from fire poison.

Doctor Jin bowed to Qi Yanzhou.

“My greetings, Young Master Qi.”

Qi Yanzhou looked at Doctor Jin’s white hair and exchanged pleasantries with him. “Imperial Physician Jin, it’s been a long time.”

He had never paid attention to what had become of the imperial physician who had once examined his pulse.

Only now that they had met again did he recognize an old acquaintance.

“Seven years,” Doctor Jin said.

He had never expected that Qi Yanzhou, who had been afflicted with fire poison, would live this long!

After examining Qi Yanzhou’s pulse back then, he had concluded that Qi Yanzhou would not survive more than three years.

Qi Yanzhou waved a hand at him. “There’s no one here who needs your treatment, Imperial Physician Jin. You may leave.”

Doctor Jin glanced at Zhao Sirui, who was rolling around on the floor, then promptly turned and left.

What a damn heir.

What a piece of trash!

Qi Yanzhou swept Ye Chutang into his arms, avoided the puddles on the stairs, and flew down to the first floor. He sat at the square table beside Zhao Sirui.

“Manager, serve us one portion of every signature dish. No fish. Have it sent to the private room upstairs in half an hour.”

“Of course. I’ll arrange it immediately.”

The manager did not want to become entangled in the conflict between Qi Yanzhou and Prince Yong, so he personally went to the kitchen to give the instructions.

He also had one of the waiters send the couple a pot of the finest Biluochun tea.

Ye Chutang had just finished savoring a cup when Prince Yong arrived, his footsteps unsteady.

Perhaps because of his excessive indulgence in women, the man was not yet sixty, but he looked like an old man nearing the end of his life. His body was hunched, and his eyes were cloudy and dull.

Seeing Prince Yong arrive so late, Zhao Sirui angrily complained, “If you’d come any later, you would have been sending your son off with white hair!”

Before Prince Yong even reached his miserable son, he caught the smell of urine.

He covered his nose in disgust. “Who wet themselves? Throw them out at once!”

Those words left Zhao Sirui utterly humiliated, and he broke down sobbing.

“Get lost! I don’t need you to save me!”

Only when Prince Yong came closer did he see that his son’s face was swollen and bruised, his hand was broken, and his clothes were soaked.

He had never imagined that the son he cherished so dearly would be injured and humiliated so badly.

If anyone else had bullied his son, he would have cut them into a thousand pieces.

But the culprit was Qi Yanzhou.

A man he could not afford to provoke!

Prince Yong walked up to Qi Yanzhou, intending to resolve the conflict peacefully.

Ye Chutang spoke before he could say anything.

“Where is Prince Yong’s residence?”

She had not restocked her spatial inventory in a long time. This was a rare opportunity, and she could not let it pass!

Prince Yong had no idea why she was asking.

Still, he truthfully told her where his residence was located.

“Thank you.”

After thanking him with a smile, Ye Chutang looked toward Qi Yanzhou.

“You take care of things here. I’ll wait for you in the private room.”

Qi Yanzhou also did not want Ye Chutang or the child in her belly to witness anything bloody.

He nodded and handed her the colored-glass magpie lamp.

“Go ahead.”

After entering the private room, Ye Chutang climbed out through the window and headed to Prince Yong’s residence.

Prince Yong’s residence was located in the western part of Jizhou.

It had originally been a three-courtyard estate, but after Prince Yong finally had a son, he expanded it into a large four-courtyard residence.

Today was the Qiqiao Festival. The princess consort had permitted Prince Yong’s wives and concubines to leave the residence to enjoy the festivities.

More than fifty women had gone out, taking a considerable number of maids and servants with them.

After the guards returned to report that Zhao Sirui had gotten into trouble, Prince Yong had taken half of the household guards, along with the servants skilled in martial arts, with him.

At that moment, apart from the principal wife’s courtyard, the entire estate seemed unusually quiet.

Zhao Sirui had been born to a concubine, but only a legitimate son could inherit the title.

Prince Yong had his concubine executed and adopted her only son, born out of wedlock, under the name of the princess consort.

Princess Consort Yong had treated him as her own and doted on him for more than twenty years. At this moment, she was frantic.

“How could he have gotten himself involved with Qi Yanzhou?”

Her personal maid blamed everything on Qi Yanzhou and Ye Chutang.

“Your Highness, if Madam Qi hadn’t been wearing a mask, the heir wouldn’t have failed to recognize her, and he wouldn’t have harassed her.”

As she spoke, she let out a cold snort.

“She’s already married, yet she still parades herself around outside. I think she did it on purpose!”

Princess Consort Yong was so furious that she hurled her teacup to the floor.

“That slut! If anything happens to Sirui, they can forget about leaving Jizhou City in one piece!”

Her personal maid hurriedly stroked Princess Consort Yong’s back, helping to calm her.

“Your Highness, please don’t let your anger harm your health. This servant shouldn’t say this, but perhaps you should let the heir accept that he brought this on himself. After all, the Qi family doesn’t even care about the Emperor, and the Deposed Crown Prince was beheaded!”

Outside the room, Ye Chutang heard this and confirmed that the maid speaking was a spy planted in Prince Yong’s residence.

Princess Consort Yong had never suffered anyone’s displeasure since marrying into the princely residence. She was spoiled and domineering by nature.

As she grew older, she became even more self-important.

“My son is far more honorable than the Crown Prince! The entire city of Jizhou belongs to Prince Yong’s residence!”

Wasn’t the whole realm the Deposed Crown Prince’s?

Ye Chutang nearly laughed at Princess Consort Yong’s words.

Just how ignorant did someone have to be to say something like that?

With such stupidity, it would be a violation of heaven’s justice if Prince Yong’s residence did not fall!

She left the main wife’s courtyard and toured every courtyard in the princely residence.

Jizhou City was small, and Prince Yong did not receive much in annual tax revenue.

Ye Chutang did not find many valuable items.

Most of what she found were ordinary jewelry and hair ornaments belonging to the women. The banknotes totaled less than five thousand taels.

She had originally expected to find good things in the storeroom, but it was filled with little more than junk.

Zhao Sirui’s room, however, was full of treasures.

From the bed made of golden-threaded nanmu to the small lamps crafted from white jade, everything was worth a fortune.

The study was mostly for show, but it still contained quite a few treasured books and fine writing implements.

Ye Chutang nearly stripped the entire courtyard bare.

Then she went to the main wife’s courtyard.

Provoked by her personal maid, Princess Consort Yong had set out for the governor’s residence.

This made it convenient for Ye Chutang to empty the courtyard.

Although the items in the main wife’s courtyard were not as precious as those in the heir’s courtyard, they were still valuable, and there were far more of them.

Prince Yong only indulged in women; he did not care for luxury.

Moreover, he did not manage the finances, so there were not many valuable possessions in his courtyard.

“Not worth eating, but too wasteful to throw away.”

After muttering this, Ye Chutang picked through the belongings and stored some of them in her interspatial space.

She then returned the way she had come and climbed back into the private room through the window.

The entire trip had taken nearly half an hour.

The moment she sat down at the table, the waiter began serving the dishes.

There were five dishes and a soup, all fragrant, colorful, and delicious.

“Madam Qi, is there anything else you need?”

Ye Chutang was a little thirsty. “Do you have chilled sour plum soup?”

Sour plum soup was every woman’s favorite summer drink. Every restaurant stocked it, and even teahouses usually had some prepared.

“Yes. I’ll bring some right away.”

Ye Chutang stopped the waiter, who was about to leave.

“How are things downstairs?”

“Prince Yong ordered the heir to kneel and apologize to Young Master Qi, but the heir refused, so his legs were crippled.

“Young Master Qi’s actions angered Prince Yong, and Prince Yong sent his servants to summon the governor.

“Governor Kong came alone, hoping to resolve the conflict, but Princess Consort Yong interfered. They’re about to start fighting.”

“Tell Qi Yanzhou to finish this quickly. The food is going cold.”

The waiter: “…”

“Yes, Madam Qi.”

He left the private room and went downstairs, bracing himself as he relayed Ye Chutang’s words to Qi Yanzhou.

Then, under the murderous glares of Prince Yong and Princess Consort Yong, he went to the kitchen to fetch the sour plum soup.

Qi Yanzhou was still sitting at the table, one foot pressed against Zhao Sirui’s chest as he raised an eyebrow at Prince Yong.

“My wife is urging me to hurry. Your Highness, what do you suggest we do?”

Prince Yong did not dare offend Qi Yanzhou, but neither could he afford to lose face. He was caught in an impossible position.

Princess Consort Yong had eyes only for her humiliated son. She roared, “Guards, seize Qi Yanzhou!”

She refused to believe that the entire military force of Jizhou City could not deal with the exiled members of the Qi family!

But the guards of the princely residence did not move.

It was not that they were afraid of Qi Yanzhou. It was that Prince Yong had not given the order.

The princess consort only had authority over the inner household.

Prince Yong was the true head of the residence.

Thinking of Ye Chutang waiting for him upstairs, Qi Yanzhou’s expression grew increasingly impatient.

“Your Highness, speak!”

As he spoke, he pressed down harder with his foot.

Zhao Sirui cried out in agony, his words coming in broken fragments.

“Mother… I’m going to… going to die. Save… save me…”

Seeing the blood trickling from the corner of Zhao Sirui’s mouth, Princess Consort Yong’s eyes reddened with pain.

“Sirui, don’t be afraid. Mother won’t let anything happen to you.”

With that, she dropped to her knees.

“Young Master Qi, Sirui was blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai. He harassed Madam Qi and deserved his punishment.

“The fault lies with my son, but the blame lies with me as his mother. If you’re angry, take it out on me. I beg you to spare Sirui.”

Seeing that Princess Consort Yong had finally yielded, Governor Kong hurried forward to mediate.

“Young Master Qi, the heir has already been punished, and both His Highness and the princess consort have apologized. Why don’t we let this matter end here?”

Qi Yanzhou looked coldly at Princess Consort Yong, who had been forced to submit.

“This matter isn’t over yet.”

After saying this, he stood and went upstairs.

Princess Consort Yong immediately rose and hurried to Zhao Sirui’s side. She did not even know where to place her hands, afraid of causing him more pain.

“Sirui, how do you feel?”

“Mother, it hurts!”

After saying this, Zhao Sirui rolled his eyes back and fainted.

“Someone, hurry and fetch a physician!”

Prince Yong watched Qi Yanzhou’s departing back and thought about what he had just said. His face turned as pale as paper.

He had a feeling that his good days were coming to an end.

With that thought, he walked over to Princess Consort Yong and kicked her to the ground.

“You stupid woman!”

If this stupid woman had not interfered, he and Qi Yanzhou would never have reached the point of open hostility.

Princess Consort Yong scraped the skin on her arm against the floor, but she had no time to care about it.

She asked Prince Yong, “Your Highness, what did Qi Yanzhou mean just now?”

Could he really dare to destroy Prince Yong’s residence?

Prince Yong drew a deep breath and raised a hand to rub his temples.

“You stay here and watch over Sirui until the physician arrives. I have some important matters to discuss with Governor Kong.”

Qi Yanzhou had made it clear that he would not let this go, and Prince Yong could not simply sit around and wait for trouble to come.

Princess Consort Yong nodded. “Go ahead, Your Highness. I’ll take good care of Sirui.”

Governor Kong had originally wanted no part in the grudge between Prince Yong and Qi Yanzhou, afraid of displeasing both sides.

But now, he wanted to involve himself fully.

Because Qi Yanzhou was intent on bringing down Prince Yong!

At the thought, he respectfully bowed to Prince Yong.

“Your Highness, why don’t we summon Governor Liu and General Zhang as well and discuss this in detail at the governor’s residence?”

Prince Yong had been thinking the same thing.

“You send someone to notify them. We’ll go to the governor’s residence first.”