Slap!
Within the high walls, someone was forced to kneel on the ground. A sharp slap finally cleared Zhou Chiyu’s alcohol-addled mind like a bucket of cold water poured over him. The imprint of the slap bloomed red across his handsome face as he looked up in panic and fear at the person standing before him.
Zhou Yuangui was filled with rage, yet his gaze was icy as he scrutinized his son.
For some reason, Zhou Chiyu shuddered—this unease was even more intense than when he had been dragged out of Yunyan Tower. He cried out in panic, “Father!”
Zhou Yuangui did not respond.
Zhou Chiyu’s eyes shifted. He saw his mother’s indifferent expression and his grandmother’s pained, reluctant face, though she forced herself to look away. The sense of foreboding in his heart peaked at that moment.
Instinctively, he pleaded with the person closest to him:
“Grandmother! I know I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!”
The old lady was so angry she nearly shed tears. “Yu’er, how could you be so foolish! How could you do something so disgraceful?”
Zhou Chiyu didn’t understand.
He had only visited a brothel—countless others in Yangzhou City had done the same. Li Fengqing, who came from a similarly prominent family, lingered there day after day. Why was it such an unforgivable sin when it came to him?
Feng Wenyu was also present. Logically, as a guest, she shouldn’t have been there.
But as Feng Wenyu recalled the earlier events, she couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on—
Time rewound to when Zhou Chiyu had just been dragged out of Yunyan Tower. At that moment, Feng Wenyu was still overwhelmed by her emotions, but soon, she could no longer afford to dwell on them.
She heard Gu Yushi’s cold, brief remark:
“Salt License.”
Those two simple words shattered all thoughts of romance in Feng Wenyu’s mind. She looked up in disbelief and followed Gu Yushi’s gaze to the object on Zhou Chiyu’s person.
Her face instantly turned pale.
The Zhou and Feng families were the closest of in-laws. If the Zhou family became embroiled in the salt merchant corruption scandal, the Feng family would also be implicated.
Setting that aside, the Zhou family was her birth mother’s maiden family—she could not simply stand by and do nothing.
Instinctively, she grabbed Gu Yushi’s sleeve, her voice trembling without her realizing it. “Gu Yushi…”
Her mind went blank for a moment. She had called his name, but what did she want to say?
She didn’t know.
Zhou Chiyu had disappeared for a day, and when he reappeared, he was in possession of a Salt License. Had Zhou Chiyu used the Zhou family’s influence to do something, or was he being deliberately framed?
Feng Wenyu didn’t know, and she couldn’t vouch for Zhou Chiyu.
Gu Yushi turned to look at her. Seeing her pale face, he unconsciously frowned. He steadied her shoulders but did nothing else, allowing the Zhou Residence guards to take Zhou Chiyu away. Only then did he say to Feng Wenyu, “Tomorrow, I will go to the Zhou Residence.”
Feng Wenyu remained silent.
She knew very well that this was the best outcome.
This one day was meant for the Zhou family to interrogate Zhou Chiyu about the origin of the Salt License.
When Gu Yushi looked at Zhou Chiyu again, his eyes held a trace of indifferent coldness. In his previous life, Zhou Chiyu had been even more reckless than he was now. Back then, the salt merchant corruption case had erupted later than in this life, and by that time, Zhou Chiyu had already colluded with those people, dragging the Zhou family down into an irrecoverable abyss.
Gu Yushi, habitually aloof and indifferent, held no particular feelings toward the Zhou family. In his view, failing to discipline one’s household and bringing calamity upon the clan was an entirely predictable outcome.
Yet back then, this incident had nearly implicated the Feng family as well, plunging Feng Wenyu into profound distress.
Given a second chance, regardless of how matters unfolded between him and Feng Wenyu, Gu Yushi would not allow the same mistake to repeat.
…
“Grandmother, I truly know my wrongs now!”
Feng Wenyu was jolted from her reverie by this tearful plea. Taking in the scene before her, she frowned with her delicately arched brows, realizing Zhou Chiyu still failed to grasp the severity of the situation. Even as an inner-quarter woman, she understood clearly: once entangled in the salt merchant case, the lightest punishment would be exile of the entire family.
Zhou Chiyu continued weeping, “Father, believe me! It was truly my first time visiting such a place! I did nothing, and I’ll never dare go again! Please spare me this once!”
Feng Wenyu stood beside the elderly lady, supporting her with one hand—both out of concern for her health and to prevent her from stepping forward to plead out of pity.
Seeing that no one paid him any heed after such a long time—neither his mother, father, nor elder brother showed any sympathy—Zhou Chiyu’s heart swelled with silent resentment. He resented not only his mother and father but even his grandmother, who always claimed to dote on him yet refused to speak a single word in his defense at this critical moment.
In the end, wasn’t it all because he was not the legitimate heir?
If it had been his elder brother who went to Yunyan Tower, would Mother have allowed servants to drag him out in public?
Absolutely not.
Zhou Chiyu’s seething hatred came to an abrupt halt when he saw his father produce that Salt License. His face instantly paled, and he subconsciously reached for his chest, only to find the license gone. The gravity of the situation dawned on him, draining all color from his face in an instant.
Zhou Yuangui observed his reflexive gesture, his expression growing colder. He demanded in a low voice, “Where did you obtain this Salt License?”
Salt Licenses were not particularly rare, but given the delicate timing and its sudden appearance on Zhou Chiyu, Zhou Yuangui had no choice but to treat the matter seriously.
Although Zhou Chiyu was a son born of a concubine, the household lacked nothing in his upkeep, and all procurement matters were handled by servants. When would Zhou Chiyu ever need to carry a Salt License on his person?
Zhou Chiyu stammered incoherently, “I… I…”
Seeing his refusal to explain, Zhou Yuangui’s patience snapped entirely. He roared, “Someone, bring the family discipline rod!”
Throughout it all, Lu Shi remained silent. She understood clearly that by now, this was no longer a mere inner-household affair. Even if she said nothing, Zhou Yuangui would not let Zhou Chiyu off.
She knew all too well that in Zhou Yuangui’s heart, the Zhou family would always come first.
At the mention of “family discipline,” Zhou Chiyu’s face turned deathly pale. He wept and begged, “Father! Please spare me this once!”
Zhou Yuangui let out a cold, furious laugh:
“Spare you?! So the entire Zhou family can accompany you to your death?!”
A thick rattan cane, as wide as a man’s arm, was brought forward. Feng Wenyu’s breath caught at the sight—such a heavy cane striking a person would likely take half of Zhou Chiyu’s life.
Zhou Chiyu, as expected, trembled in terror, shrinking toward his grandmother. The elderly lady covered her chest, her face etched with increasing distress. Zhou Chibai, who had appeared unnoticed at her other side, also supported her, effectively preventing any plea for mercy from her.
As Zhou Chiyu was held down by servants, the first strike landed, and he let out a piercing scream.
“Ah! Father! Stop hitting me!”
Feng Wenyu couldn’t bear to watch, slightly turning her head away.
After three strikes with the rattan cane, blood was already visible on Zhou Chiyu’s body. Zhou Yuangui cursed: “You wretched thing, are you going to talk or not!”
The old lady couldn’t bear Zhou Chiyu’s crying and began weeping herself:
“Just tell your father already! What exactly are you hiding!”
Zhou Chiyu was never one with strong resolve to begin with. After being beaten several times with the rattan cane, all his vanity, pride, and stubbornness vanished. He cried bitterly, tears streaming down his face: “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! It was Li Fengqing!”
Zhou Yuangui stopped beating him, and Zhou Chiyu could no longer hold back his wailing:
“It was Li Fengqing! Li Fengqing gave it to me yesterday at Yunyan Tower!”
Instead of relaxing upon getting this information, Zhou Yuangui grew even more tense: “Where did he get the Salt License from?”
Zhou Chiyu shook his head in panic:
“I don’t know!”
Seeing Zhou Yuangui raise the rattan cane again, he was terrified out of his wits, his crying suddenly intensifying: “I really don’t know! He only said someone offered it to him as tribute!”
Tribute?
At this word, Zhou Yuangui’s expression immediately turned grave. Not just him—everyone present felt their hearts grow heavy.
Zhou Chiyu was only sixteen, still four years away from his coming-of-age ceremony. In the Zhou family, he was merely a concubine-born son who couldn’t accomplish anything significant. Li Fengqing couldn’t possibly need favors from him unless he intentionally wanted to drag the Zhou family into the corruption scandal through this.
As Feng Wenyu was thinking this, she saw Zhou Chiyu subconsciously glance at her. Her heart sank, and she keenly realized something was wrong, directly asking: “Why would he give you a Salt License at this critical moment?” What did you promise him?”
Feng Wenyu thought of another possibility, and her heart instantly sank to the bottom.
Zhou Chiyu’s face grew even paler, but he understood that having come this far, there was no way to keep hiding the truth.
He said with resignation: “Li Fengqing said… the Imperial Envoy coming to Yangzhou City is related to cousin… If I took the Salt License, the Imperial Envoy wouldn’t investigate further…”
As soon as these words fell, the reception hall suddenly fell silent.
Feng Wenyu froze completely in place, trembling with anger all over, her fingertips turning pale from lack of blood.
At this moment, Lu Shi suddenly cried out with hatred: “You must have eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard! Hurting the Zhou family isn’t enough, you dare drag your aunt’s family into this too!”
In Lu Shi’s eyes, the Zhou family was Zhou Chibai’s foundation, while the Feng family was Zhou Chibai’s safety net.
Zhou Chiyu damaging both families at once made Lu Shi hate him to the bone.
Feng Wenyu’s face was pale. Gone was her usual gentleness as she asked Zhou Chiyu in an extremely cold voice: “Do you understand what your acceptance of the Salt License represents?”
Zhou Yuangui remained silent. Lu Shi and Zhou Chibai looked at her with concern. Seeing Feng Wenyu release her supporting hand, the old lady also completely stopped pleading for Zhou Chiyu.
“Dragging the Imperial Envoy into collusion—this is deceiving the Emperor! Once discovered, do you know how many people would die?”
Feng Wenyu couldn’t maintain her composure at all.
The Feng family enjoyed the Emperor’s favor, which also meant they had countless political enemies. Gu Yushi had just entered the court when the Emperor began valuing him, and those watching him would only increase, not decrease. If Gu Yushi were found pursuing personal gain in the Jiangnan case, both Gu Yushi and the Feng family would be completely ruined!
Li Fengqing’s scheme must have been directed by someone behind him. That person would never let go of such leverage!
Feng Wenzhou also appeared in the reception hall. He grabbed Feng Wenyu’s arm, positioning himself in front of her. The usually reserved young man now wore a chilling expression as he declared:
“I will report today’s incident truthfully to Jingcheng in my correspondence.”
Both Zhou Yuangui and Lu Shi visibly paled.
Having said this, Feng Wenzhou began leading Feng Wenyu away. As they passed Zhou Chiyu, he abruptly halted: “My younger sister has no connection whatsoever with that Imperial Envoy.”
“Your exploitation of my sister—I have taken note of it.”
His gaze frosty, he issued a warning to Zhou Chiyu directly before the Zhou family:
“You’d better pray you never set foot in Jingcheng for the rest of your life.”
Zhou Chiyu started in shock, never imagining the typically silent youth would reveal such undisguised lethal intent the moment he spoke.