Chapter 221: Playing with Fire
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
Princess Zhao Yang stormed into the palace to file a complaint.
That very night, the Emperor personally issued a Discipline Ruler and sent it to Prince Jing Xi’s Manor.
That night, the Little Overlord was beaten until his backside blossomed like a flower—Prince Jing Xi himself struck him twenty times with the ruler.
For the first time in his life, Xie Yu Zhou was punished.
The Princess Consort of Jing Xi was so overwhelmed that she fainted from sheer distress.
“Chao Chao, good thing you were there. The moment he arrived, he tried to snatch my Personal Sword.”
“My maternal grandfather was a general. He later perished on the battlefield. This sword was a gift from him when I was one year old. I can’t bear to part with it…” The Sixth Prince’s eyes glimmered as he looked at her.
“Yesterday, he attacked me with an inkstone, and my mother consort cried for a long time. She blamed herself for her low status, saying she couldn’t protect me.”
“Prince Jing Xi once took a blow for Father Emperor. Father favors him, so I thought I’d have to swallow my grievances.” Though his father had rewarded him with treasures yesterday as compensation, he still felt wronged.
Who could have guessed that he had kicked an iron plate with Princess Zhao Yang?
“You’re so foolish. If he bullies you, hit him back hard.”
“You’re a prince. What’s the worst he can do? Kill you? At most, you’d be confined for a few days…”
“We’re all experiencing life for the first time—why should you indulge him?”
“When dealing with a brat, you have to be even more unruly and crazier than he is.” Lu Chao Chao shook her head in exasperation.
The Sixth Prince murmured softly, “I understand now. Thank you, Chao Chao.”
After leaving the palace, Lu Chao Chao made a special detour to Prince Jing Xi’s Manor just to hear the cries.
The louder Xie Yu Zhou cried, the happier she laughed.
…
The next morning.
Before dawn, sounds of fighting and shouting echoed outside the residence.
“What’s going on?” Lu Chao Chao was about to head to school when she stopped at the doorway, listening curiously to the commotion coming from the street corner.
The servant’s face was full of uncertainty.
“Let’s go see.” Lu Chao Chao climbed onto the carriage.
As they traveled through the bustling streets, cries and wails filled the air.
From afar, Lu Chao Chao spotted Jiang Yun Jin.
Jiang Yun Jin’s face was deathly pale, and her maid struggled to hold her upright.
All around, street vendors abandoned their businesses to spectate the unfolding drama.
“Marquis Zhong Yong’s Manor—bah! That title has been stripped! What Marquis?!” A vendor spat. “Lord Lu’s eldest son, Lu Jing Huai, was caught cheating by his wife!”
“And the ones he was caught with… were three burly men! What a scandal!”
“Children shouldn’t listen to gossip.” Yu Shu covered Lu Chao Chao’s ears.
But she herself? Her ears were perked up like a rabbit’s.
“What happened? Explain in detail!” Yu Shu had completely forgotten she was covering the back of Lu Chao Chao’s head while eagerly eavesdropping.
The vendor, animated with excitement, began to recount, “Isn’t the Capital Exam happening these days?”
“Who would’ve thought that Lu Jing Huai never even went to take it?”
“His wife, Madam Jiang, spotted him in the streets and suspected he had a mistress. She sent people to follow him!”
“She barged in with a group to catch him in the act, only to find him with three large men!”
“Ugh, if you saw it, your eyes would be ruined! I wish I could erase the image from my mind!!”
The whole capital was in an uproar. This vendor had even left his shop closed in the morning just to witness the spectacle.
“This news has spread across the entire capital. Lord Lu arrived earlier and slapped him twice… He shouted that his family was doomed!”
“Lu Jing Huai is finished.”
A young assistant from the apothecary popped his head out, munching on melon seeds. “Lu Jing Huai was always a scoundrel—doesn’t care about gender, just a complete deviant! He’s bought medicine for injuries to his backside more than once…”
“Last time, he even purchased Knockout Drugs and some… well, those kinds of ‘exciting’ medicines.” Though he wore a mask, the assistant had recognized him at a glance.
Yu Shu’s eyes widened like copper bells. “He really plays with fire!”
Jiang Yun Jin’s vision alternated between black and white. She could feel Lu Jing Huai’s murderous gaze and wanted to cry but had no tears.
She never intended for things to spiral out of control.
But when the doors burst open…
A swarm of street beggars rushed in, shouting, “Caught in the act! Caught in the act!” There was no turning back.
Now, Jiang Yun Jin bit her lip hard and declared, “I want a Mutual Divorce!”
“Lu Jing Huai deceived me so bitterly!” Jiang Yun Jin had no path of return. If she went back, Lu Jing Huai would beat her to death.
Without hesitation, Jiang Yun Jin led her people back to her maiden home.
This scandal spread like wildfire.
“As the upper beam is crooked, so is the lower beam. Lord Lu kept a mistress for eighteen years, and now he suffers the backlash.”
“This is karma. He kept a mistress for eighteen years, raised a son, and now the son has grown into a brute!”
Lu Chao Chao glanced at a small beggar lurking within the crowd, narrowing her eyes slightly at them.
“Brother Biao, Brother Biao…” Scarface crouched by the carriage window, calling out to Lu Chao Chao.
“You told us to keep an eye on him, and sure enough, we found something.”
“This time, it’s not that we’re refusing to let him live. It’s just that this brat is utterly vicious.”
“This kid dares to scheme!”
“He carried knockout drugs, intending to lure Young Master Yan Shu over. He wanted to ruin Young Master Yan Shu! There’s no way we brothers could let that happen—we knocked him out and sent him back.”
“We even fed him all of his knockout drugs, along with the aphrodisiac he brought!”
Lu Chao Chao frowned.
“He really dares to think big!”
“Well done.”
Lu Chao Chao pulled out two gold ingots from her pocket. “Take these, have some tea on me. You’ve worked hard…” She carried herself without a hint of a princess’s airs, treating everyone as brothers.
Scarface accepted the money. “Thank you, Brother Biao. Rest assured, we’ll keep watching him.”
“Brother Biao’s name sounds much better than Princess Sunshine,” the members of the Beggars’ Sect chuckled. Most of them only knew Brother Biao and had never heard of Princess Sunshine.
Once Scarface had left, Yu Shu stormed in angrily.
“I was such a fool! When I saw Lu Jing Huai’s miserable state just now, I actually felt a bit sorry for him.” Yu Shu’s face turned pale with rage.
“He wanted to use such filthy tricks on the Eldest Young Master. Now, this is just his just deserts!!” The Eldest Young Master had been paralyzed for ten years and had only just regained his ability to stand.
If he suffered such humiliation, it would be a disaster beyond recovery.
“He deserves it—this is retribution!”
At this moment, Lu Yuan Ze was livid beyond measure.
With a whip clenched in his hand, he glared at Lu Jing Huai, his expression menacing. “Why didn’t you attend the Capital Exam?”
“Why didn’t you go?”
“When did you start fancying men?” Every word was like a blade to his heart, as if he had suffered a grave blow.
He gripped the whip so tightly that he could barely stand.
“I abandoned Yan Shu for you! I cast aside my legitimate son and daughter! I even forsook my lawful wife, all so you could enter this house with a proper status. And now you won’t even sit for the exam? And you entangle yourself with men?!” Lu Yuan Ze’s chest heaved violently with pain.
Lu Jing Huai’s body was weak, bruises covering him, yet his eyes flashed with hatred.
Why not Lu Yan Shu?
Why wasn’t it Lu Yan Shu!!
The whip lashed down upon him again and again, splitting his skin open and leaving wounds deep and raw.
“You swore to become the top scholar! You swore to bring honor to the family name! Did all your studies go to the dogs?!” Lu Yuan Ze roared furiously.
Madam Pei knelt on the ground, panic written all over her face. “Jing Huai must have been framed! He must have been set up!”
Lu Yuan Ze’s whip lashed across her back, making her wail in agony.
The pain sent her rolling on the floor.
“Framed? He bought wound medicine from the apothecary multiple times—is that all a setup too?” Lu Yuan Ze could hardly bear to think about it.
It was simply unimaginable.
“He secretly consorted with a bed maid and caused her death—that was bad enough. But now, he has become even more shameless!”
“That’s right! Madam Pei, you’re shameless yourself! You were nothing more than a concubine who entered without proper betrothal rites. How could your son turn out any better!”