The Wei family ancestral hall was very large. Both sides were lined with shelves full of classic books and historical records, while the ancestral tablets stood in the center.
Li Zhenchun and Wei Nancheng were kneeling on the right side, copying Buddhist scriptures, when they watched Wei Xinian being dragged in by two female guards and forced to kneel before the ancestral tablets.
Behind him stood Second Madam Wei and Yue Jingque.
Li Zhenchun blinked in surprise.
Who would have thought someone would deliver entertainment right to my door?
“Let me go!”
Wei Xinian cried loudly,
“Mother! They’re hurting me!”
From what Li Zhenchun knew, although Second Madam always acted strictly toward Wei Xinian, she spoiled him terribly. Otherwise, he would never have grown into such an incompetent young master.
Hearing her son’s cries, Second Madam glanced at Yue Jingque, felt a little guilty, and quietly stepped behind her.
Her actions clearly showed she was standing on Yue Jingque’s side.
“Second Brother,” she said, “let me make this clear. From now on, I won’t interfere in your affairs anymore. If you have any problems, go to your wife.”
Wei Xinian stared at her in disbelief.
“Mother… Don’t you love me anymore?”
“I’m old,” she replied. “Don’t talk to me about love. It’s too embarrassing.”
She completely ignored his question.
Turning to Yue Jingque, she smiled.
“Jingque, I’ll leave him in your hands from now on. Beat him or scold him however you like. I’m going back to rest.”
She took a few steps, then suddenly turned back.
Wei Xinian’s eyes immediately lit up with hope.
“Mother! Did you change your mind?”
She looked at him with disgust before speaking to Yue Jingque again.
“He’s been far too outrageous these past few days. I’m afraid you’ll be too soft-hearted. Why don’t you give him ten strokes first, lock him up for the night, and tomorrow, when he’s too weak to resist, you can beat or scold him again.”
Li Zhenchun looked at Wei Xinian with a complicated expression.
She had thought Second Madam was a kind person.
Apparently, Wei Xinian thought the same.
He shouted in disbelief,
“Fang Rushi! I’m your own son! Your only son!”
The Second Madam Fang Rushi acted as though she hadn’t heard him.
She took Yue Jingque’s hand.
“That’s settled then. Let your guards do it. Tell them not to hold back. He’s delicate. He’ll scream terribly later, so we’d better leave first.”
Yue Jingque glanced at Wei Xinian, who was pinned to the floor, then silently followed Second Madam out.
Before leaving, Second Madam turned back and instructed the guards,
“Don’t go easy on him. After you’re done, keep an eye on him. He’s restless. Don’t let him run away while injured.”
Li Zhenchun twitched her lips.
Cruel. Truly cruel.
…
When Wei Xinian was forced onto the punishment bench, he noticed Li Zhenchun happily watching the show while Wei Nancheng calmly continued copying his scriptures.
He pointed at Li Zhenchun.
“You’re not allowed to watch!”
She pointed at herself.
“Me?”
She timidly answered,
“Oh.”
Then she obediently lowered her head.
Just as Wei Xinian relaxed, she raised her head again with a mischievous grin.
“I’m going to watch anyway. What can you do about it?”
Resting her chin on one hand, she stared at him with wide eyes.
Her actions clearly said:
Not only will I watch—I will watch very carefully.
Wei Xinian nearly fainted from anger.
This hateful woman!
And Yue Jingque too!
That terrifying woman!
And Fang Rushi!
That cold-hearted tigress!
Perhaps because Li Zhenchun was staring at him, Wei Xinian endured all ten blows.
His face turned pale from pain, yet he stubbornly refused to make a sound.
Watching him, Li Zhenchun understood why Second Madam had punished him herself first.
Only by taking action personally could she show Yue Jingque where she stood. It also made Wei Xinian understand that not only would she not protect him anymore, she would discipline him even more strictly.
If he wanted to blame someone later, he would blame her before blaming Yue Jingque.
After the punishment, Wei Xinian slowly climbed off the bench, holding his sore backside.
He had barely taken one step toward Li Zhenchun when one of the female guards blocked his path.
“Second Young Master, Second Madam ordered you to kneel here and reflect.”
“Move aside.”
He pushed the guard away and continued limping toward Li Zhenchun.
“Second Young Master, forgive me.”
Seeing the guard about to use force again, Li Zhenchun eagerly watched the drama unfold.
Wei Xinian’s eyes widened.
“W-Wait! Let me say a few words to her first! I’ll come right back! It won’t delay my punishment!”
Finally reaching Li Zhenchun’s desk, he pointed at her with one hand while holding his aching backside with the other.
“Was it you who told those two tigresses I went to the brothel?”
Li Zhenchun shook her head like a rattle drum.
“No.”
“I don’t believe you! I only told you!”
She looked at him as if he were the biggest fool in the world.
“With your reputation, anyone looking for you knows to check Drunken Red House first.”
After all, that was exactly where she had found him before.
“You…”
Wei Xinian’s face turned red with anger.
His eyes suddenly landed on the Buddhist scriptures and writing paper on her desk.
The moment he moved, Li Zhenchun reacted faster than she ever had before.
She grabbed her finished pages.
But he grabbed them too.
Each of them ended up holding half.
The scripture tore cleanly in two.
Li Zhenchun stared at the ripped pages.
Her pupils shrank.
For one terrifying moment, she almost slammed this idiot face-first into the stone floor.
Wei Xinian waved his torn half proudly.
“Tsk, tsk. Looks like you’ll have to stay here with me all night.”
Li Zhenchun’s chest rose and fell with anger as she glared at him.
You miserable idiot!
Holding his injured backside, Wei Xinian limped over to Wei Nancheng.
“Brother, why are you copying scriptures too?”
He picked up one completed page.
“As expected of my big brother. The youngest Third-Ranked Scholar in Great Jin. The pillar of the Wei family. Your handwriting is bold and powerful—it practically jumps off the page. It’s much prettier than that silly girl’s.”
His praise was exaggerated, but every word was true.
That was exactly why Li Zhenchun became even angrier.
This idiot is praising one person while insulting another right in front of me!
Even if she was an ordinary merchant’s daughter with no great ambitions, she still had her pride.
She grabbed her brush, pulled over a fresh sheet of paper, and began writing furiously.
She looked full of confidence while writing.
But after finishing, even she was stunned by how ugly her handwriting looked.
Forget it.
A useless person lives a useless life.
How could someone like me compare to outstanding people like them?
Still copying his scriptures, Wei Nancheng calmly said,
“This is the ancestral hall. Keep quiet.”
He finished another page, neatly stacked the copied scriptures, and looked at Wei Xinian.
“I’m leaving now. Reflect properly, and don’t upset Second Aunt again.”
Li Zhenchun froze.
Her brush stabbed straight through the paper.
She turned toward him.
Three copies… already finished?
That fast?
Wei Xinian was equally shocked.
“Brother! I just got here and you’re leaving already? Don’t you like me?”
If this weren’t the ancestral hall, Li Zhenchun would have believed the same thing.
No one liked an annoying fool.
Wei Nancheng stood, smoothed the wrinkles in his sleeves, and prepared to leave.
He seemed extremely busy.
He stepped around the desks, passed Wei Xinian, and headed toward the door.
Ignoring the pain in his backside, Wei Xinian hurried after him.
Perhaps his injuries hurt too much, or perhaps his legs had gone weak.
Li Zhenchun watched as his knees hit the floor with a loud thud.
He hugged Wei Nancheng’s leg.
“Brother, don’t go! What am I supposed to do if you leave?”
Li Zhenchun tilted her head in confusion.
Wei Xinian looked up pitifully.
“If you leave, who’s going to speak up for me tomorrow?”
In the entire Wei family, only Wei Nancheng, the eldest grandson, had enough authority to help him.
If Wei Nancheng spoke, Yue Jingque and Fang Rushi would surely give him a face.
“And her!”
He stretched out his arm and pointed at Li Zhenchun.
She instinctively straightened her back.
He thinks I can help him too?
Does he have that much faith in me?
But then he continued,
“What kind of arrangement is this? Locking an unmarried man and his sister-in-law together in the ancestral hall! What if she ignores proper behavior and deliberately seduces me?”
Li Zhenchun’s face froze.
Wei Xinian, you dead man!
Nothing good ever comes out of your mouth!
Thinking quickly, she immediately stood up.
“He has a point. It doesn’t sound proper for a sister-in-law and younger brother-in-law to stay here alone. Why don’t you ask Mother to let me go back and copy the scriptures in my own room?”
Her knees were already numb.
She really didn’t want to kneel here anymore.
Wei Xinian’s eyes widened like bells.
This woman actually used my words to escape!
If she left too, he’d be all alone in the ancestral hall.
That would be even more miserable.
He hurriedly looked at Wei Nancheng, about to speak.
But Wei Nancheng simply looked down at him once.
Wei Xinian immediately fell silent.
Even he was afraid of his older brother.
“It’s already late,” Wei Nancheng said.
“Mother has gone to bed.”
Then he turned to Li Zhenchun.
“I’ll wait until you finish copying. I’ll walk you back afterward.”
Li Zhenchun: …
She wasn’t touched.
She was terrified.
…
Wei Nancheng shook Wei Xinian off and walked over to her desk.
He had only intended to see how much she had left.
But when he looked down, he discovered that the page on her desk still contained the very first sentence of the scripture.
There was also a huge blot of ink in the middle.
Feeling deeply embarrassed, Li Zhenchun lowered her head.
“I… I’ll start over.”
She quickly knelt down again, replaced the paper with a fresh sheet, and silently cursed herself.
I should have practiced my handwriting when I was younger.
These chicken-scratch characters are so ugly.
Even I can’t stand looking at them, let alone Wei Nancheng.
Fortunately, unlike Wei Xinian, Wei Nancheng didn’t mock her.
He simply acknowledged her words with a quiet “Mm,” returned to his own desk, picked up a book she had never seen before, and began reading.
…
Wei Xinian’s backside hurt too much to kneel.
He piled all the prayer cushions together into a makeshift bed and lazily lay on them.
The female guard beside him watched coldly but couldn’t really do anything about it.
Looking at Li Zhenchun, who was still copying,
“You don’t have to write so fast. Slow down. Handwriting only looks nice when it’s written slowly.”
He paused before adding,
“What you wrote earlier was so ugly. Even if you showed it to Aunt, it would hurt her eyes.”
Li Zhenchun lowered her head and continued writing.
She clenched her teeth in anger.
That idiot!
If he hadn’t torn up the scriptures I’d already finished, I wouldn’t still be sitting here copying everything again—from the very first page.