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“Take this token and report to the officials, have them send people over quickly. If you see patrol soldiers or constables on the street, you can also bring them directly.” Ordinary people are afraid of officials, and having them step in would be more effective. As soon as Ye Hui’s foot stepped into the courtyard, she heard crying from the main room across the way. The door was open, and the room was full of people. Ye’s mother sat pale-faced at the table, with a servant beside her. The Huang family members stood on the other side, with over a dozen men and women, looking as if they were about to cause a scene. Let’s say that the eldest cousin, Huang Mei, was driven out onto the street by a group of workers from the Ares Restaurant, and her remaining family members saw her, and upon inquiry, became furious. Huang Ziqi was very wary of the gold token displayed by Chu Yu, unsure of its origin and not daring to provoke it. But he could still bully an easy target. He brought a group of people to the Ye family home, arrived at their door, had someone break open the gate, rushed into the main hall, and started cursing without a word. Ye’s mother didn’t know what was happening and took a long time to understand the situation. “Big brother must have made a mistake. Hui has been away from home for over four years, and I haven’t seen her. Where did you see her?” “Where did I see her? How could I be mistaken?” Huang Ziqi roared at his sister: “Little Hui is colluding with outsiders to bully her own elder cousin. As her uncle, I failed to teach my sister properly. I just knew this child, having lost her father, would become willful. If she doesn’t understand things, so be it, but how can she not even understand the most basic principles of being human?” Huang Ziqi grew angrier, slapping the table and shouting: “Quickly call out that girl. I want to ask her, and if not, we’ll go see the officials.” His wife had already turned pale with anger, shrieking: “It’s not enough to just see the officials. Mei is getting married to Wu Dianshi from the Ministry of Personnel in a month. A perfect marriage is about to be ruined by their family. They must compensate, not a single coin less.” Ye’s mother, already in poor health, became dizzy with anger. She took the tea handed by a servant and drank a few sips to calm down: “Big brother, you must have mistaken the person. Hui has been in Pingzhou for four and a half years and hasn’t returned. How could she have done anything to harm Mei?” His wife jumped up and cursed: “Damn useless woman. Since your husband died, our Huang family has never stopped helping you. Every festival and holiday, didn’t we lend you money? Seeing you as a widow and orphan, we even let your son study at our school. After four years, even a dog would have been tamed, but you’ve lost all conscience. Ungrateful thing, you’re a daughter of the Huang family, doing something worse than an animal. Aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?” Ye’s mother was so angry she almost fell, trembling, pointing: “Big brother, tell me clearly. I’ve returned every penny borrowed from the Huang family. The school fees for Xiang were never more than necessary. Even if he studied elsewhere, it wouldn’t have been more.” Huang Ziqi slapped the table, making loud banging sounds: “As the elder brother, how dare you speak to me like this?” Ye’s mother stood up from her seat, tears falling like rain: “Don’t think I don’t know. Before father died, he gave me the rice paddy by the Jinhe River outside the city. You secretly changed the will while I wasn’t around and privately appropriated the paddy. It’s just a piece of land. If you want it, take it. The Ye family may not be as prosperous, but we still have our integrity. We won’t take things unfairly or harm our own family.” Huang Ziqi, who prided himself on the demeanor of a scholar, was publicly exposed for swallowing his sister’s paddy and couldn’t save face. He roared: “Woman, have you gone mad? We’re talking about your daughter, and you’re rambling about something else. Quickly call out Little Hui, or we’ll go see the officials.” His wife’s face darkened, cursing: “Damn short-lived wretch, what kind of cheap person, mother and daughter are both cheap goods, lowly bastards not fit for the table.” Ye’s mother nearly fainted, supported by the servant behind her. “Bastards, I’ll chop you dog-birthed bunch.” A fierce shout rang out, and a rough-looking young man burst out from the back, waving a kitchen knife at Huang Ziqi. Ye’s mother heard the sound and was terrified: “Gui’er, what are you doing? Put down the knife immediately.” The person was Zhang Gui, Ye’s mother’s stepson, who had been adopted into the Zhang family’s genealogy. Because of his mother’s relationship, he would return to the Ye family every ten days or half a month. Zhang Gui was a bit of a ruffian. Unable to succeed in studies, he joined a group of thieves who would steal chickens and dogs, extorting protection fees from vegetable vendors in the market. Though not well-behaved, he was still somewhat filial to his mother. He was sleeping in the back room and, hearing relatives causing a disturbance, immediately grabbed a knife from the kitchen and rushed to the main hall. Just hearing his aunt’s family insulting his mother, he was enraged, waving the knife to strike. The Huang family members gasped, scholars never interacting with ruffians, and were startled by his sudden appearance. Huang Ziqi, encountering such a situation, was quick-witted. Seeing the knife coming, he quickly hid behind his sister. Zhang Gui’s first strike missed, pushing his mother aside and swinging again. With Huang Ziqi next to the table and nowhere to hide, he instinctively grabbed his wife and used her as a shield. His wife trembled all over, teeth chattering, unable to speak. Ye’s mother was pushed off balance, falling to her knees, frantically hugging her son’s legs: “Gui’er, don’t do anything stupid. You’re the only son of the Zhang family, don’t mess up.” Zhang Gui was no longer the half-grown boy who had been scolded to tears by Ye Hui four years ago. After years of being a thug, fighting and killing, he had become quite tough. Over time, he understood one belief: if you’re tough, I’ll be tougher. A man can’t be a pushover. He kicked away his aunt and put the knife to his uncle’s neck, shouting: “Shut up.” He forgot that the person’s mother was his own grandmother. Ye’s mother was still clinging to her son’s legs, crying: “Gui’er, put down the knife. Killing means paying with your life.” Zhang Gui said viciously: “Then we’ll exchange lives. I’ll kill them all today. Killing one is breaking even, killing two is a profit.
Huang’s scholarly family was just shocked, and if things continued to develop, it would be disastrous. The capital’s security was strict, and if a murder occurred, even if Huang Ziqi died, these witnesses would likely face a lawsuit and be detained by the investigating officials. A beating would be inevitable, and financial loss would be hard to avoid.
Huang Ziqi’s relatives felt the situation was serious and came to mediate, saying all sorts of things.
“Zhang’s boy, don’t act recklessly. Your father was a soldier in his early years, and the Ye family’s master died young. Your mother is a widow who hasn’t had it easy. Aren’t you just causing her more trouble?”
“That’s right, be careful with your hands. Don’t really cut the blood vessels. Bleeding isn’t a joke.”
