Store Manager Xu tried every maneuver to no avail. One of the men directly kicked over a wooden table, blocking the young woman’s path, and cursed, “Old thing, stop ruining your betters’ good time!”
The diners fled in panic. Cold sweat beaded on Xu Xing’s forehead. Deep down, he knew today’s affair could not end peacefully, so he immediately lowered his voice. “Patrons, this is the capital, right under the emperor’s feet! Why make such an ugly scene?”
Before he even finished speaking, a man kicked him away. The culprit sneered, “Who gives a damn about your emperor’s feet! If you don’t know what’s good for you, brothers, smash this broken shop of ours! Today, the master is determined to spend a romantic night right here!”
Manager Xu clutched his stomach, sucking in cold air as he cursed inwardly. If these scoundrels were allowed to pull any outrageous stunts in the establishment, this restaurant wouldn’t even need to stay open in the future!
When Rong Se and Lan Ying rushed over upon hearing the commotion, the diners had already fled completely. The young woman, dressed in a scholar’s robe, was being pinned to a table by two men who were tearing at her clothes amidst widespread wreckage. Rong Se felt his blood pressure skyrocket, but he managed to calm down and looked at Lan Ying. “Can you beat them?”
The original novel mentioned that all three of Rong Se’s subordinates possessed extraordinary martial arts skills, especially Lan Ying, who traveled the jianghu, and even the Yun twins combined couldn’t last thirty moves against her.
However, Rong Se had never witnessed it with his own eyes, and since Lan Ying was a young woman, he still harbored some doubts.
Lan Ying’s expression was icy cold, and she gave a slight nod.
“Do it,” Rong Se said in a deep voice.
“Understood!” Lan Ying’s hand had already grasped the long whip at her waist. She immediately flicked her wrist and lashed out. The whip was lined with dense, sharp barbs that could tear flesh away at the slightest touch. The two attackers were completely unprepared; within moments, they screamed in agony and were sent flying to the ground. Whip marks wound from the sides of their necks all the way down their backs, leaving their clothes in tatters and their skin torn open.
Lan Ying quickly stepped forward, scooped up the disheveled young woman, and pushed her behind Rong Se. Seeing this woman execute such ruthless methods, the other two men exchanged glances and hurled a bench at her. Although Lan Ying had a tall and slender figure, she appeared rather petite facing two men. Yet she did not retreat half a step, raising her leg to cleanly kick a table top to pieces. With a sweep of her long whip, she coiled it around one man’s ankle. That man reached out to grab the whip, only to end up gripping a handful of blood, and released his hold with a shrill scream.
Seeing this, the remaining man turned and tried to run. Lan Ying used force from her wrist, forcefully hoisting the man on the ground and slamming him heavily into the fleeing attacker. Watching the two roll into a heap together, Lan Ying used the tip of her foot to flip a table frame, bringing the table crashing down on top of both of them. Seeing the other two scrambling to escape on all fours, she repeated her trick and trapped two more turtles in a jar. With two tables, she had trapped four people.
Lan Ying leaped up with spirited grace, seating herself on the edge of a table while resting one foot on another, and spat fiercely toward the direction of the four men’s heads. “Shameless scoundrels! How dare you run wild on your grandmother’s turf! Master, how should we deal with them?”
No one answered.
Lan Ying felt puzzled.
After a long moment, Rong Se finally recovered from his trance. He hadn’t even reacted in time before the fight was already over.
Lan Ying was not only agile in her footwork but also possessed immense strength. A single kick could shatter a table, and a single flick of her whip could hoist a burly, full-grown man. Judging by her slender and graceful figure, Rong Se hadn’t been able to tell at all that she was capable of fighting to this extent.
What was this? A live-action version of one man can hold the pass against ten thousand?
“Wait a moment.” Rong Se managed to reclaim his voice, his tone still a bit breezy, before turning to look at the young woman who had already tidied her garments. He said softly, “Apologies for frightening you, miss.”
The young woman wiped away her tears, still somewhat shaken, and blurted out, “I’m dressed like this, are they into guys or something?”
Rong Se: “…”
So there really were people who thought disguising themselves as men meant nobody else could tell.
Lan Ying was the first to burst into laughter. Rong Se shot her a reproachful glance, causing her to rein it in. “Sorry, cough, apologies… No, but with your outfit, who couldn’t tell you’re a woman?”
The young woman suffered a heavy blow to her confidence and wilted even further.
Rong Se sighed. “The people have been caught. Since you are the aggrieved party, we will handle this according to your wishes. How should these individuals be disposed of?”
She lowered her head to ponder for a moment, quickly regaining her spirit. Pointing at them, she declared, “These ruffians should be sent to the authorities, of course! How dare they harass me? My brother is the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review! I’ll have them rot in a prison cell for the rest of their lives!”
“Alright… huh?” Rong Se found this official title somewhat familiar, and then realization suddenly struck him.
The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review seemed to be named Yu Qingzhou.
Then this must be his younger sister, Yu Qingmei?
Rong Se’s expression grew complex.
Both Yun Chu and Li Shenyu had mentioned the inside mole, who happened to be this very Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Yu Qingzhou. The confidential letter informing Li Shenyu of the upheaval in the capital had originated from his hand. In the original novel, Yu Qingzhou did not survive until the present; less than half a month after Li Shenyu entered the capital, he had been stripped of his post and thrown into the grand prison by the original host.
To save her older brother, Yu Qingmei had begged Qiu Zihan, unaware that Qiu Zihan merely treated her as a pawn to control Yu Qingzhou, and even sold her into a pleasure house to curry favor with the original host. Upon learning that her brother had suffered a miserable death in prison, Yu Qingmei hanged herself.
Rong Se knew he was no saint and lacked a Bodhisattva’s heart; when faced with malice and harm, he could even be extreme and prejudiced. Yet toward the Yu siblings, he felt unwilling to deliver a heavy blow.
Yu Qingzhou was a scholar who had passed all three imperial examinations with top honors in his youth, personally bestowed the title of Jinshi by Rong Xu, a genuinely talented individual. He had long known Qiu Zihan was not a worthy associate, but unable to withstand his younger sister’s fondness, he had been forced to seek an alternative path, which led to his secret whistleblowing in an attempt to trip up Rong Se and his faction.
When all was said and done, the original host had been indebted to those who bled for him, which was why he ultimately ended up deserted by everyone.
Ever since crossing over, Rong Se had consistently pushed this matter aside, partly because he wished to prevent Yu Qingzhou from meeting the regretful, tragic end described in the original novel. He had never expected that Yu Qingzhou’s younger sister would still nearly meet with disaster in the restaurant he opened.
Rong Se’s mood was heavy. He clenched his fists slightly and said to Lan Ying, “Do as Miss Yu says. Deliver them to the…”
Before he could finish, likely scared out of their wits by Yu Qingmei’s background, one of the four burst into tears and begged for mercy. “This humble person was blind and dared to offend the young lady! Young lady, spare my life, spare my life! It was all, it was all the manager of the Qifeng Residence! He gave this humble person three taels of silver to come to Floating Fragrance Tower and stir up some trouble! This humble person knows he was wrong!”
Rong Se paused abruptly, narrowing his eyes slightly.
This matter actually involved Qifeng Residence as well.
“What about you lot?” Rong Se asked the others. “Did Qifeng Residence send you too?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
“This humble person was blind to Mount Tai!”
“Spare my life! Young lady, spare our lives!”
The men scrambled to confess everything clearly, retaining none of their previous swaggering arrogance.
Lan Ying grew so angry that she swung her whip once more, cracking it sharply against the floor. “They really don’t know what’s good for them! They stole our dishes and now they want to splash dirty water in our shop!”
Rong Se wore a benign smile and said softly, “Miss Yu is the aggrieved party. Hand them over to the authorities.”
With a doting brother like Yu Qingzhou who was willing to take risks for his sister, as long as he learned of this incident, he would surely investigate Qifeng Residence down to its very foundations.
Lan Ying immediately hopped down. “Will do!”
Having recovered from her shock and vented her anger, Yu Qingmei calmed down and suddenly asked, “How did you know my surname is Yu?”
Rong Se was silent for a moment. “This humble person happened to know that the current Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is surnamed Yu.”
Yu Qingmei bought the explanation, nodded, and uttered an “Oh.”
Rong Se laughed inwardly. This young woman possessed quite a broad mind, and girls of his own era experiencing such an incident would likely be trembling and terrified out of their wits.
Instead, she rolled up her sleeves and immediately set about getting her revenge, a rare disposition.
Soon, however, Rong Se found himself unable to smile.
Such a bright-hearted and open-minded young woman was the very one who chose to end her own life in the original novel.