Chapter 198: Death by Beating

Chen Liqin's robe sleeves trembled slightly under his fingers.

His son, whom he had finally managed to bring home, was being relegated to a pile of miscellaneous items. It wasn't surprising that Zhang Zhuo was angry; how could Chen Liqin not see the trickery involved? How could he not be angry himself? However, things had reached this point, and spreading the matter would only be detrimental.

As the saying goes, family ugliness should not be aired. If others knew about this, it would only increase the ridicule of the Confucian forest. As for Chen Ji, Chen Liqin could only think of ways to compensate him later; for now, he couldn't speak out.

Listening to the sounds outside Tingchunyuan, Chen Liqin looked at the broken tiles scattered throughout the courtyard. After a moment's thought, he instructed the young servant: "Bring the steward here. I want to ask him what's going on. How could he get such a simple matter wrong? Madam clearly arranged for Chen Ji to stay in Mingchunyuan, so how did Chen Ji end up in Tingchunyuan?"

"Yes," the young servant's expression was nervous. He lowered his head and left.

Zhang Xia felt something was off. She quickly pulled Zhang Zhuo's sleeve and whispered, "Father, be careful he tips them off and they collude to cover up this matter."

Zhang Zhuo stroked his beard and said loudly, "That young servant, come back!"

The young servant was slightly startled. "Zhang Daren, do you have any instructions?"

"You wait here," Zhang Zhuo looked at Zhang Xia. "Daughter, go find a young servant casually and ask the steward to come over." Zhang Xia agreed and ran off quickly.

Chen Liqin's eyes were angry. "Zhang Daren, what are you doing?"

Zhang Zhuo said casually, "Chen Daren, did the steward really mishear? You should know the truth in your heart. Chen Ji, were you present when Chen Furen arranged your residence? If you were, then tell me, where did she say she would arrange for you? Don't be afraid, I will make the decision for you."

The fist in Chen Liqin's sleeve suddenly tightened.

At that time, Liang Shi might have been present when the residence was arranged for Chen Ji. Moreover, Liang Shi had clearly explained the reason for the arrangement: Mingchunyuan was far from Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao's residences, while Tingchunyuan was close. There was no way to mistake it.

If Chen Ji, being young, didn't consider the bigger picture and revealed everything, the reputation of the Chen family might be ruined.

At this moment, Zhang Zhuo saw that Chen Ji didn't answer and urged him again, "Chen Ji, did you hear clearly at that time? Where did Chen Furen say it was?"

Chen Ji was slightly startled. "It was Mingchunyuan."

Chen Liqin relaxed inwardly. At seventeen years old, the child already knew to consider the bigger picture, which was rare and commendable. Zhang Zhuo heard Chen Ji's words and understood tacitly: Chen Ji only wanted to punish the steward this time, and didn't plan to escalate the matter to Liang Shi. Now that Chen Ji had just returned home, it wasn't the time to put Liang Shi on the spot.

But Zhang Zhuo didn't let up. He stepped forward and said to Chen Ji, "Don't be afraid. If you have any grievances, just speak out. This official will make the decision for you. At most, we won't return to this Chen residence later. Don't worry, I guarantee that you'll eat, wear, and use things better than Zhang Zheng. The residence he's living in now, he'll vacate it tonight for you!"

Chen Liqin said impatiently, "Zhang Daren, don't you have a son yourself? Why are you always thinking about someone else's son? How will Zhang Zheng feel if he hears these words?" Zhang Zheng said happily, "I don't mind. If Chen Ji is willing to come tonight, I'll move to another courtyard tonight... even sleeping on the street is fine."

Chen Liqin's tone froze. "You!"

At this moment, Zhang Xia led the steward, who was bending at the waist with his head lowered, hurrying over.

The steward came before the crowd, first glancing at Chen Ji, then looking at the wide-open door of Tingchunyuan. He immediately understood that the matter had been exposed. He pulled up his clothes and knelt down, kowtowing as he said, "Master, it's all the fault of this humble one. Please punish me!"

Chen Liqin was exasperated. "How can you mess up such a small matter? How can the Chen residence still be handed over to you to manage? Madam clearly arranged for Chen Ji..."

"Wait!" Zhang Zhuo grabbed Chen Liqin's wrist, interrupting his speech. He looked down at the steward's back and asked with a smile, "This official wants to ask you, why didn't your Chen residence give Chen Ji the perfectly good Mingchunyuan to live in, and instead arranged for him to stay in this Tingchunyuan where miscellaneous items are stored?"

Chen Liqin's face changed. Zhang Zhuo actually wanted to extract a confession in his Chen residence.

Just as he was about to say something, Zhang Zhuo's hand suddenly tightened, making him feel pain.

Liang Shi, who was standing nearby, wanted to open her mouth to remind the steward, but Zhang Xia suddenly looked at her and said, "Aunt, you are very beautiful today."

Liang Shi was slightly startled and subconsciously said, "Thank you, Zhang second miss..."

Before she could finish speaking, the steward had already answered, "Replying to the Prefect Daren, because this Tingchunyuan is close to the Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master, this humble one arranged the Third Young Master at this place."

Zhang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly. The bluff worked, but he didn't expect the steward to take all the blame upon himself without any collusion.

Chen Liqin suddenly became angry. "Zhang Zhuo, what do you want to do? Are you treating my Chen residence like the prefectural yamen? You're actually doing this kind of confession extraction."

Zhang Zhuo dusted off his clothes and sighed slightly. "Chen Daren, if the right and wrong in your home still need to be judged by this official, the prefect, don't you feel sad?"

Chen Liqin was stunned in place.

Zhang Zhuo didn't pay attention to him. He lowered his head and looked at the steward. "This official asks you, who instructed you to do this?"

The steward had already reacted. He gritted his teeth and said, "Zhang Daren is mistaken. No one instructed this humble one to do this. This humble one also did it out of good intentions, wanting to let the Third Young Master be closer to the Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master."

Zhang Zhuo asked again, "Since that's the case, why didn't you arrange for servants to clean the place after you brought Chen Ji here?"

The steward hesitated. "This..."

Zhang Zhuo didn't say anything more. He turned around, grabbed Chen Ji's wrist, and walked towards the door. "Let's go, follow me back to the Zhang residence. You won't suffer any grievances here! Even a servant in his Chen residence can cover the sky with one hand and bully those above. Today they arranged a miscellaneous courtyard for you, who knows what they'll do tomorrow!"

Chen Liqin hurried forward two steps, wanting to pull Chen Ji's other arm.

But before he could reach him, Chen Ji had already struggled free from Zhang Zhuo's hand. "Zhang Daren, I'm not going to the Zhang residence."

Zhang Zhuo turned his head in doubt. "Hmm?"

Chen Ji said calmly, "Zhang Daren, having a residence is quite good."

Chen Liqin slowly stopped his steps, his nose feeling a bit sore.

He coldly glanced at Liang Shi, then turned to look fiercely at the steward. He instructed a young servant beside him, "Drag the steward away... cane him to death!"

Under the blazing midday sun, the steward panicked.

His body trembled like chaff, and sweat soaked his back. "Master, this humble one has been wronged...!"

Liang Shi pulled Chen Liqin and quickly said, "Master, this Wang Gui's mother is your wet nurse. You said earlier that you would visit her after returning to the capital. If you cane Wang Gui to death, how will you see her later?"

Chen Liqin remained silent.

Liang Shi pulled Chen Liqin again and pleaded, "Concubine knows Master is angry, and concubine isn't saying to just forgive him. This Wang Gui can be exempted from death, but his living crime is difficult to escape. First, drag him down and give him twenty strokes of the cane, then fine him three years' salary. Concubine, as the mistress, also has fault. Concubine will go to the Buddhist hall to kneel for three days and three nights shortly after, and fast for three days before the Buddha, reflecting on my own mistakes."

Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Xia exchanged glances. This punishment wasn't light. Liang Shi was essentially tearing down her own reputation to protect the steward. The steward would be caned twenty times; even if he didn't die, he would lose a layer of skin.

Given Liang Shi's attitude, the steward was guaranteed not to die today.

However, whether this punishment was enough or not wasn't for them to decide.

Zhang Zhuo glanced at Chen Ji out of the corner of his eye, then observed his expression, and thought about his earlier attitude, getting a sense of the situation.

He stepped forward and held Chen Liqin. "Even if this Wang Gui is a servant in your home, there's no need to yell about beating and killing, is there? I think sister-in-law's suggestion is quite good. The country has its laws, and the home has its rules. When such a servant appears in the home, the mistress naturally needs to reflect properly. However, after this Wang Gui's injuries heal, he won't continue to be the steward, will he?"

Chen Liqin was expressionless. "Naturally not."

Zhang Zhuo sighed. "Originally, I wanted to snatch Chen Ji away, but I didn't expect him to have such deep feelings for this Chen family. Forget it, forget it, I shouldn't continue to be this villain."

Chen Liqin stared straight at him. "Zhang Daren came here and immediately threw my Chen residence into chaos. Now you still want to be a good person?"

Zhang Zhuo laughed heartily. "Chen Daren has misunderstood me, ah, misunderstood, all misunderstood!"

At this time, Wang Gui saw that he had escaped a calamity and breathed a slight sigh of relief. There were techniques to caning, and those young servants presumably wouldn't be too heavy-handed. Otherwise, with his connection to the master's wet nurse, he would settle accounts with them sooner or later.

Thinking of this, Wang Gui kowtowed three times on the ground again, the sound echoing loudly. With tears, he said, "This humble one has disappointed the Master. I will go down and receive my punishment now."

However, just as the words fell, he heard footsteps behind him.

Only Chen Wenzong was seen holding a cane rod. He came before Chen Liqin and bowed. "Father, what happened again?"

Chen Liqin casually explained, "This Wang Gui was muddled and arranged your younger brother in this miscellaneous courtyard, and even deliberately didn't send servants to clean the courtyard for him. The truth has been investigated, and I was just about to cane him twenty times."

Chen Wenzong turned his head to look at Wang Gui kneeling on the ground, his gaze growing colder. "I will do it."

Wang Gui's body went limp.

Evening, sunset.

After being caned twenty times, Wang Gui was carried towards his residence by young servants, on the verge of death.

Chen Wenzong used his full strength with every stroke. After twenty strokes, his arm, which hadn't been exercised in a long time, was swollen and aching.

When he reached the eleventh stroke, Chen Wenzong was so tired that he lost some strength, then he rested for a while before continuing to hit. After finishing the twenty strokes, Wang Gui didn't even have the strength to wail.

In the past two months, this was the second time he had been punished because of Chen Ji. He didn't know what bad luck he had. The illegitimate son whom he used to manipulate casually was now somehow impossible to manipulate.

Was this matter today a coincidence, or was that illegitimate son carefully calculating? Wang Gui was in so much pain that cold sweat streamed down, and he had no energy to think.

The young servants carried him through the courtyard and pushed open the wooden door of his residence.

A young servant whispered, "Godfather, it's not that we didn't want to help you, it's just that the Eldest Young Master was too ruthless. We couldn't stop him."

Wang Gui said weakly, "Shut up, put me on the bed, and all of you get out! Don't think I don't know, you all want to watch me make a fool of myself!"

The young servants curled their lips and stopped talking. They all worked together to lay the steward on the bed.

Just as they were about to turn and leave, they saw the steward suddenly bounce up and shout, "Peh! Peh! Peh! What's on my pillow?"

The young servants looked closely, only to see the steward's face covered in a layer of black, foul-smelling feces.

Wang Gui went mad, tearing at his throat, hysterical. "Who did this? Which of you did this? Dare you not admit it? Wait until I recover, I'll settle accounts with all of you one by one!"