Memories surged in like a rising tide.
His mother, Madam Zhang, had always loved him dearly, almost to the point of indulgence.
“Mother,” Cao Feng called out.
Madam Zhang rushed forward and pulled him tightly into her arms. Before she could speak, tears streamed down her face. “Wuwuwu… my Feng’er, you frightened me to death. I thought I would never see you again. If anything had happened to you, how could I have gone on living?”
Cao Feng was her only son.
She cherished him so much that she feared he would melt in her mouth or shatter in her hands. When he set fire to the Esteemed Scholars Pavilion and beat the Sixth Prince, committing a capital crime, and she learned he had been taken to the royal palace, she felt as if the sky had collapsed.
She hid in the residence and wept day and night.
Now, seeing him return alive and energetic, she cried tears of overwhelming joy.
Cao Feng felt the deep concern in her embrace. A warmth spread through his heart. Parents in this world truly pitied their children. No matter how wicked he seemed in others’ eyes, to his parents he would always be a treasure.
“Mother, His Majesty has already pardoned my death sentence. I will not be imprisoned or executed. I am fine now. Please stop crying.”
Cao Feng forced a smile and comforted her reddened eyes.
Hearing this, Madam Zhang wiped away her tears and finally released him. “It is good that you are safe, good that you are safe. My son survived a great calamity. Surely blessings will follow.”
Standing nearby, Cao Zhen also spoke. “Our son has returned home safely today. We should be happy. Why are you crying like this? You do not know, today in the Grand Hall at the Royal Court, he remained fearless in the face of danger. With two astonishing poems, he suppressed the civil officials and great scholars until they could not even raise their heads…”
Cao Zhen should have remained silent. The moment he opened his mouth, Madam Zhang wiped her tears and sprang to her feet.
“Idiot Cao!”
“Shut up!”
With one hand on her waist and the other pointing at Cao Zhen, she radiated dangerous fury.
She glared at him and demanded loudly, “I heard you took up a broadsword and tried to cut down Feng’er, forcing him to jump from Drunken Fragrance Tower. Is this true?”
“…I only meant to scare him.” Cao Zhen avoided her gaze, feeling guilty. “He caused a catastrophic disaster. I only intended to discipline him and make him carry a bundle of thorns to apologize. Who knew that brat would actually jump…”
Before he could finish, Madam Zhang was already enraged. “Good! Idiot Cao, you have grown bold! You dared to raise a blade against Feng’er. Why not cut me down along with him!”
She grabbed a broom and charged at him.
Facing the broom whistling through the air, Cao Zhen, the battle-hardened Marquis of Zhenbei, suddenly resembled a mouse before a cat, dodging left and right without daring to resist. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
“Idiot Cao, you still dare to dodge! Today I will enforce family law!”
Madam Zhang chased and struck him furiously. The maids and household guards, long accustomed to the scene, covered their mouths and laughed softly as they watched their marquis leap and scramble in embarrassment.
Madam Zhang was the daughter of Marquis Zhang Wenshan, a Loyal Martyr Household of the Great Qian Empire, a true tiger among generals. Even though Cao Zhen was a fearsome commander on the battlefield, before this fierce wife he was completely subdued.
Cao Feng stood to the side, watching his father being chased about by his mother, and burst into laughter. He had never expected his hot-tempered father to be so afraid of his wife.
Seeing his father’s miserable state, Cao Feng stepped in to rescue him. “Mother, is there anything to eat? I am a little hungry.”
He truly was hungry.
After a night of drunkenness and being dragged to the Royal Court early in the morning for questioning, now that midday had long passed, he had not eaten a single grain of rice. His stomach was growling.
His call finally restored some reason to Madam Zhang. She hurled the broom at Cao Zhen in the distance. “Idiot Cao, I will remember this! I will deal with you tonight!”
Only then did she stop chasing him.
Cao Zhen let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His wife was truly too fierce. A raging tigress. The women at Drunken Fragrance Tower were far more gentle and considerate.
With Cao Feng safely returned, Madam Zhang was overjoyed. As the lady of the residence, she personally entered the kitchen and prepared a full table of his favorite dishes.
Faced with such sincere concern, Cao Feng, a former university student, was deeply moved. Being reborn into a noble household of marquises was truly wonderful. He wore fine silk and ate exquisite delicacies. He was already reluctant to leave this life.
After eating until his stomach was round, he dragged his tired body back to his small courtyard.
He examined his ancient-style chamber, filled with priceless antiques and calligraphy paintings, and grinned widely.
Do you know what it feels like to become rich overnight? This was it.
He sat heavily onto the dry bedding, feeling as though everything were a dream, and soon drifted into sleep.
When he awoke in the evening, the sky outside had already grown dim.
“Young Master, you are awake?”
As Cao Feng stepped out of his room, a young servant in blue hurried over, then suddenly dropped to his knees and began slapping his own face.
“Young Master! I failed you! When the Master stormed into Drunken Fragrance Tower with a broadsword, I did not even have time to warn you. Young Master, beat me or scold me as you wish, but please do not drive me away…”
The servant struck his own cheeks loudly while begging for mercy.
“Stop, stop! Enough!”
Cao Feng rubbed his temples and remembered. This was his personal attendant, Xi Shun. For three generations, his family had served the Marquis of Zhenbei’s Residence.
When his furious father rushed into Drunken Fragrance Tower with a blade, Xi Shun had been the first to burst into the room to warn him. Then he had clung desperately to Cao Zhen’s leg to buy time for him to escape. Unfortunately, he had been kicked away, smashing into a table. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
After that, terrified, Cao Feng had jumped from the tower and then gone to the royal palace to plead guilty.
This boy was loyal to him. Having such a devoted attendant after just arriving in this world was not easy.
“Enough. Get up. It is not your fault.”
“Ah?” Xi Shun remained kneeling, his face full of astonishment.
His Young Master had always been hot-tempered. If angered, Xi Shun would be lucky not to die. He had already prepared himself to be beaten severely. What was happening today?
Seeing him still kneeling, Cao Feng raised an eyebrow. “What? Do you want me to help you up myself?”
“No… Young Master, are you not going to beat me to vent your anger?”
What the hell? There were actually people asking to be beaten?
Thinking of his former behavior, Cao Feng felt somewhat guilty. Xi Shun had been loyal, yet he had treated him as a punching bag, scolding him lightly and beating him heavily, never regarding him as a person. No wonder he was trembling and slapping himself.
“Enough! Your Young Master is turning over a new leaf and starting anew. Your good days are coming. Get up.”
Urged repeatedly, Xi Shun rose uncertainly. Perhaps the Young Master had not yet decided how to punish him. That must be it.
Looking at his attendant, Cao Feng asked with concern, “Xi Shun, when my father kicked you, were you injured?”
Xi Shun froze, staring at the Young Marquis in disbelief.
Was the Young Master… concerned about him?
He was only a servant. How could he deserve such concern? Warmth surged through his heart.
“Young Master, my skin is thick. I was not hurt.”
“Good.”
Cao Feng suddenly lifted his leg and kicked him lightly. “Come on. Accompany your Young Master for a stroll around the residence.”
The unexpected kick made Xi Shun stumble and nearly fall. The familiar feeling had returned.
He paused, then broke into a wide grin.
“Yes!”