Jinling City,
the most prosperous South Market Street, the Xue Family's Silk Shop.
The entrance, usually bustling with traffic and shimmering with fine silks, was currently packed shoulder-to-shoulder.
It wasn't for buying cloth, but for watching the spectacle.
"Damn the Xue Family! Black-hearted merchants!"
A raggedly dressed woman collapsed at the shop entrance, clutching a child, weeping heartbrokenly.
As she cried, she pulled open the child's clothes.
Indeed, the child's body was covered in large patches of red rash, a shocking sight.
"Everyone, come look! My son only wore their new cloth, and after just one day, he ended up like this! Are they trying to kill my child!"
A collective gasp swept through the crowd.
"Oh dear, that serious?"
"I was just thinking of getting some fabric for my grandson the other day, good thing I didn't buy it!"
"The Xue Family is an Imperial Merchant, how could they sell something so harmful?"
The Shopkeeper, sweating profusely, tried to pull the woman up with two Shop assistants, but she clung tightly to the door sill.
"Don't touch me! Your Xue Family bullies people, you harmed my child by selling poisonous cloth, and now you want to hit me?"
"Nonsense!" the Shopkeeper cried, his face turning pale. "Our Xue Family's cloth is the finest silkworm silk, dyed with Imperial tribute dyes, how could there be a problem!"
Just then, a man in similarly poor attire squeezed through the edge of the crowd.
Without a word, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly toward the Silk Shop's plaque.
"Heavens above! Please open your eyes and give us poor folk a way to live!"
As he shouted, he also opened his own shirt, revealing a similarly horrifying red rash on his chest.
"I wore the Xue Family's cloth, and now my whole body itches and is rotting like this! How am I supposed to work and support my family now!"
At this, the crowd completely erupted.
One wasn't enough, now there was another.
This matter might actually be true.
The Shopkeeper's heart sank to the bottom; he knew this business was completely ruined for the day.
He knew even better that if this news spread, the Xue Family's century-old reputation, even if not shattered, would certainly crack wide open.
"Quick... quickly report to the magistrate! No, first report to the Master!"
Xue Residence.
The fat and large Xue Pan was flushed red from drinking, listening to a light tune.
The Silk Shop's Shopkeeper came rushing in, rolling and crawling,
just as he kicked over a Table.
"Useless trash! Can't you see I'm enjoying myself? Has the sky fallen?"
The Shopkeeper knelt on the ground, unable to speak clearly.
"Master... something terrible has happened... the shop... the shop entrance is blocked!"
He tremblingly recounted the entire incident.
Upon hearing this, Xue Pan's drunkenness instantly receded by more than half, and he became furious.
"They've rebelled! A bunch of poor peasants dare to cause trouble under the nose of the great powers!"
He grabbed the horsewhip from the Table.
"Gather the estate guards, follow me! If I don't break their legs today, my surname isn't Xue!"
"Stop!"
A gentle yet authoritative voice came from the inner room.
Aunt Xue leaned against the doorframe, her face pale as she walked out, followed by a Young Lady who looked like a Fairy stepped out of a painting.
Her nose bridge was straight and delicate, giving her features a more three-dimensional look, appearing spirited and handsome. Her lips were red without rouge, as alluring as ripe cherries, and the slightly upturned corners of her mouth held a hint of reserved smiles. When she smiled, it seemed to sweeten the very air around her. That smile conveyed the reserve and modesty of a well-bred lady—not showy or excessive, yet possessing an irresistible charm.
As she walked, the ribbons on her clothes swayed gently in the breeze, enhancing her elegant posture. It was as if every step carried a rhythm, involuntarily drawing people's gazes to her—truly "graceful in demeanor," exuding an innate noble temperament.
"At a time like this, you're still only thinking of fighting and killing!" Aunt Xue's lips trembled with anger. "This matter is clearly suspicious! How could so many people suddenly appear at once?"
"Mother! They've bullied us right to our doorstep, who cares if it's suspicious? Beat them up first!" Xue Pan retorted, sticking his neck out.
"Brother."
The graceful Young Lady Xue Baochai spoke softly. Her voice was not loud, but it made Xue Pan freeze his actions.
"Don't rush, Brother."
She walked up to the Shopkeeper and asked gently, "Shopkeeper Zhang, please rise and speak. Have you seen any of those troublemakers before?"
"Replying to the Young Lady, they were complete strangers, not familiar faces from the south side of the city."
"Did they ask for money?"
"No." Shopkeeper Zhang shook his head. "I tried to settle it privately with a few Silver Taels at first, but they refused. They just kept crying and making a scene, saying our Xue Family must give them justice."
"Did the officials go?"
"They did, but those people ran away as soon as they saw the constables. Once the constables left, they came back to cause trouble. Like flies, they can't be driven away."
Xue Baochai listened, lowering her eyelids, her slender fingers gently fiddling with the silk cord of her sleeve.
Silence filled the room.
Aunt Xue anxiously said, "Baochai, hurry up and say something! What exactly is going on?"
Xue Baochai raised her eyes; they were clear as water, yet held a trace of coldness.
"Mother, Brother, this is not an accident."
"If it's not an accident, then what is it?" Xue Pan asked.
"It is aimed at our Xue Family," Xue Baochai said slowly. "And, they are not seeking wealth, they are seeking a reputation."
"What reputation?"
"They seek to give our Xue Family the infamous reputation of 'selling poisonous cloth and causing deaths'."
Aunt Xue gasped sharply.
Xue Pan was also stunned; even he could grasp the weight of those words.
"Who? Who dares to be so bold?"
Xue Baochai's gaze drifted toward the window, her voice as light as a breeze.
"Recently in Jinling City, whose business has been most severely suppressed by us, and whose business has benefited the most from our losses?"
Aunt Xue and Xue Pan exchanged a look, and simultaneously uttered a surname.
"The Zhen Family!"
Xue Pan slapped his thigh. "I get it! It must be those bastards from the Zhen Family. Since they can't beat us in open competition, they resort to these Lowlifes' dirty tricks!"
He grabbed his horsewhip and started to rush out again: "I'll take men and smash their Zhen Family's shops right now!"
"Come back!" Xue Baochai's voice suddenly rose slightly. "Brother, if you rush over without evidence, won't you just fall right into their trap?"
"Then what do you suggest we do? Just stand by and watch them smear us with filth?"
"We cannot accept this filth," Xue Baochai walked up to him, looking him in the eye. "Not only can we not accept it, but we must wash it clean, and let everyone in Jinling City see exactly who is stirring up trouble behind the scenes."
She paused, her tone revealing a decisiveness beyond her years.
"Shopkeeper Zhang, return to the shop immediately and post a notice. State that the Xue Family is willing to invite the best Physician in the city to treat those who 'claim' to be ill from wearing our fabric, free of charge. If it is truly caused by our fabric, we will compensate tenfold for every instance and cover all costs for the Decoction. If it is not..."
A cold smile touched the corner of her mouth.
"Our Xue Family is not a soft persimmon to be squeezed at will."
Night.
In Feng Yuan's small Courtyard, everything was silent.
The wounds inflicted by Zhou Wu's Wooden Staff during the day stung fiercely under the application of medicinal wine.
The stack of Policy Theses regarding the pros and cons of the Southern Grain Transport Route, left by Han Anmeng, still lay spread out on the desk.
Feng Yuan was not reading them.
He sat under the lamp, holding a copy of the *Doctrine of the Mean*.
He read it word by word, his voice deep and steady.
During the day, Zhou Wu taught him how to kill.
Han Anmeng taught him strategy.
But at night, he forced himself to read the classics of the Sages.
He knew that fists and schemes could help him take revenge and establish himself.
But to climb higher, to reach that Dragon Throne, he needed a legitimate status.
The Imperial Examination was his only path.
This path was long, arduous, and full of uncertainty.
But he had to walk it.
Every inch of muscle in his body screamed with fatigue, and the pain from his wounds felt like needles pricking him.
His eyelids felt as heavy as lead.
But he could not sleep.
He recalled Xue Pan's arrogant and domineering face, and his own helplessness lying like a dog in the dust.
Those humiliations, like the strongest liquor, burned his nerves, keeping him awake.
He turned a page.
"If a gentleman is not serious, he will not be respected; if he studies, his learning will not be firm. He should uphold loyalty and trustworthiness. He should not associate with those inferior to himself. If he makes a mistake, he should not be afraid to correct it."
He recited softly, his finger tracing the page.
Outside the window, the moonlight was like water, sprinkling over the Green Bamboo in the Courtyard, casting mottled shadows.
This Jinling City was destined not to be peaceful tonight.
The conflict between the Xue Family and the Zhen Family, because of the small stone he had thrown, had already stirred up a greater wave.
And he, the originator, hid in this small Courtyard like an outsider, quietly reading the books of the Sages.
He knew that Xue Baochai was not the fool Xue Pan was.
She would soon sense that something was wrong.
She might even suspect the Zhen Family.
This was exactly what he wanted.
Let them fight.
The fiercer the fight, the better.
Dogs biting dogs, all covered in fur.
He only needed to add fuel to the fire at the most crucial moment.
Feng Yuan closed the book and blew out the oil lamp.