The gates of the Wang family estate in Jiangning were usually a scene of solemn majesty, so strict that even a fly entering would have its gender checked twice.
But today, the vibe had taken a sudden, sharp turn.
Before a person was even in sight, a rich, thick, sweet-and-sour aroma wafted through the cracks of the front hall doors.
"What’s that smell? Is the kitchen firing up already?" The gatekeeper sniffed the air, his stomach growling instantly. "Ooh, smells like Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish. That heat control is perfection! The sugar glaze is caramelized just right!"
"I remember the last time I had it... that taste, I’ll never forget it. Expensive stuff!"
A young man beside him, likely a newcomer to the Wang manor with a meager salary, added, "So that’s what it smells like! It’s incredible!"
As they spoke, several servants rushed in, huffing and puffing as they carried a stretcher.
"Move! Out of the way! The Young Master... the Young Master is back!"
The gatekeeper squinted. Good heavens, that wasn’t a stretcher; it looked more like a "signature dish" fresh out of the wok.
Lying on the stretcher was a person—or more accurately, a twitching "Sweet-and-Sour Man."
Wang Teng’s face, which he usually used to flirt with girls from good families, was currently unrecognizable. A bright red, glossy glaze covered his face like a thick facial mask, still steaming hot.
The surrounding servants had originally prepared faces of horror to receive their master’s tragic state, but upon seeing him, their horror twisted into something else entirely.
Several maidservants pinched their inner thighs so hard their faces turned purple, terrified that laughing out loud would get them beaten to death on the spot. The visual impact was simply too strong; if they didn't pinch themselves hard, they’d lose all their karmic merit from laughing.
Actually, they’d probably lose their lives.
"Teng’er! My Teng’er!"
A shrill scream pierced the air.
Dressed in jewels and silks, Madam Wang hurried over, flanked by a group of nannies. She had been maintaining the grace of a matriarch, but when her eyes landed on the "fish-headed human" on the stretcher, her legs went weak, and she nearly performed an accidental split.
"What sin did we commit to deserve this? Which murderous beast did this... this..." Madam Wang pointed at the fish head, stammering for a moment as she struggled to find the right words. "Who poured a side dish over my son!"
With that, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed with pinpoint accuracy into the arms of her sturdiest nanny, threatening to put the entire scene on pause.
"The doctor! Call the doctor!" the butler shouted, his voice cracking.
Moments later, the most famous physician from the Huichun Hall rolled into the courtyard with his medicine chest.
The doctor had seen it all—blade wounds, venereal diseases—but a "sweet-and-sour scald" was a first in his professional career.
He held his tweezers, his hands trembling as he faced the layer of partially solidified syrup.
"Madam... wake up, wake up. We must treat him immediately," the doctor said, swallowing hard—the smell was truly delicious—as he spoke with difficulty. "This syrup was boiling hot and extremely sticky. When it was poured on, it essentially cooked the skin instantly and bonded to it..."
Madam Wang stirred awake, but upon hearing this, she nearly fainted again.
"Just tell me, can you fix it? Can you give my son his handsome face back?"
The doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking troubled. "His life is safe. But his face... Madam, you must be prepared. When this sugar crust is peeled off, I’m afraid a layer of flesh will come with it. Once the wounds heal, the hypertrophic scars will layer upon one another, looking like..."
The doctor paused, trying to find a polite euphemism, before finally speaking honestly: "Like fish scales."
"Wealthy scars. We call them 'Wealthy Fish-Scale Scars.'"
Wang Teng, who had been playing dead on the stretcher, was either woken by the pain or the insult. Hearing the words "fish scales," he sat up like a dying man suddenly possessed.
"Fish scales?! I don't want to be a fish-man! I don't want to be a monster!"
He roared, reaching out to claw at the fish head on his face. But the moment his hand touched the sugar shell, it tugged at the raw meat beneath. He let out a blood-curdling howl and began writhing on the expensive Persian rug like a maggot out of water.
"Get out! Everyone get out! I’m going to kill that Xu brat! I’m going to kill his whole family!"
The scene descended into chaos. It was a literal frenzy of flying sweet-and-sour sauce.
Seeing her son in such pain, Madam Wang’s heart broke into pieces. Her hair was disheveled, her makeup ruined by tears, and all her usual dignity was gone. She stumbled toward a middle-aged man who had just stepped over the threshold.
"Husband! Husband, you’re finally back!"
Wang Ruhai, the head of the Jiangning Wang family, looked grim.
He had heard about the incident at the Drunken Red Pavilion while he was out. He had assumed it was just a scuffle between kids, at most a beating. But entering the house and seeing the writhing "sweet-and-sour fish" on the floor, the string of his sanity snapped with a loud "pop."
Madam Wang clung to his leg, weeping with enough force to move mountains. "Husband! We usually wouldn't even touch a hair on his head, and now someone has turned him into a dish! How can we swallow this insult?"
"That Xu family mongrel! Even if we have to burn down that damn Liu Garden, we must tear that family to pieces! Avenge Teng’er!"
Looking at his son’s unrecognizable face, Wang Ruhai’s chest heaved violently. A surge of murderous rage rushed straight to his head.
"Bullying us too far! This is bullying us too far!"
He kicked out violently, shattering a priceless red coral tree into a pile of dust with a loud "crack."
"Do they really think my Jiangning Wang family is made of clay? That they can mold us however they like?"
Wang Ruhai strode to the wall and snatched down the Imperial Sword hanging there—it was an ancestral heirloom usually kept for show, but at this moment, he truly intended to kill.
"Men! Gather the guards! Grab your weapons! Follow me to Liu Garden!"
"If I don’t hack that Xu family into mincemeat today, my name isn't Wang!"
The entire Wang estate was filled with murderous intent. The guards grabbed their clubs and poles, and it looked as though a bloody brawl was imminent.
At that critical moment, a figure came rolling in through the front gate.
"Master! Master, wait! You mustn't!"
A trusted confidant scrambled in, holding a letter high above his head with more reverence than if it were a royal pardon.
"The Xie family... a letter from Grand Secretary Xie!"
Wang Ruhai had already drawn his sword halfway, the cold steel gleaming. At the mention of the "Xie family," his movements froze in mid-air.
Gritting his teeth, he snatched the letter and tore it open.
On the paper were six characters written with such force they seemed to pierce through the page. The calligraphy was in the Thin Gold style, exuding a sense of cold calculation:
"Impatience ruins great plans."
Six simple words acted like a bucket of ice water poured over Wang Ruhai’s burning head.
He went from explosive rage to shock upon seeing the letter, and then to a state of suppressed indignation and frustration.
Xie An.
He was the brain of the Four Great Families, their backbone. Since Xie An had said to endure, it meant they could not move yet.
But...
Wang Ruhai turned back to look at his son, who was still rolling on the floor, screaming in agony.
How the hell was he supposed to endure this?! Someone was literally shitting on his head, and he was expected to smile and hand them the toilet paper?!
"Ahhh!!!"
Wang Ruhai roared at the heavens, as if trying to expel the suffocating frustration trapped in his chest.
Clang!
He slammed the sword in his hand onto the ground. It bounced twice before falling still.
Wang Ruhai closed his eyes and squeezed a command through gritted teeth: "Everyone... back down!"
Madam Wang, who had been wailing on the floor for revenge, froze when she heard this. Then, like a woman possessed, she lunged forward and tore at Wang Ruhai’s lapels.
"Back down? Are you even a man? Your son’s face has been ruined! And you want to play the coward? I won’t back down! If you won’t go, I will! Even if it costs me this old life of mine—"
Slap!
The crisp sound of a palm hitting a cheek plunged the entire hall into a deathly silence.
Madam Wang clutched her face, looking at her husband in disbelief. The blow had been heavy, splitting the corner of her mouth.
"Shut up! You stupid woman!"
Wang Ruhai panted heavily, his eyes terrifyingly bloodshot. "Kill them now? That would be handing the Emperor the very evidence he needs! Do you want our entire family buried alongside that Xu girl?!"
"Grand Secretary Xie said to endure, so we endure! Even if our teeth are shattered, we swallow them with the blood!"
"First, spend whatever gold is necessary to hire famous physicians. I have seen similar injuries healed in the past. Our son can still be cured, so there is no need for such haste."
Having said his piece, he didn't dare spare another glance at his son on the floor. He flicked his sleeves and strode toward the study, his retreating figure radiating the bleakness of helpless rage.
In the hall, only the stunned Madam Wang and the whimpering Wang Teng remained.
Madam Wang slumped on the floor, her hair disheveled and her cheek swelling rapidly. She stopped screaming, but her eyes were filled with a poisonous malice.
Late at night.
In the back courtyard of the Wang manor, the candlelight was dim.
Madam Wang sat before a bronze mirror, staring at the haggard, ghastly reflection within. She had dismissed her attendants, leaving only a trusted old nanny who had served her since childhood.
"Nanny," her voice was hoarse, sounding like sandpaper scraping across a table. "The Master is afraid. That pack of old foxes in the Xie family is afraid, too. They all want to protect the 'big picture'; they all want to 'plan for the long term.'"
"I understand the need to protect the big picture. We have come too far for anyone to be a fool."
"But my Teng'er cannot suffer for nothing."
"If we cannot strike in the light, then we shall strike from the shadows."
"County Princess Anguo? A fine match? Hehe..." Madam Wang stared at a certain object, a bone-chilling smile spreading across her face. "I want that Xu girl to beg for life and pray for death. I want her to claw her own face to pieces, inch by inch..."
"Go. Take this to the 'Nunnery' in the south of the city. Tell them Madam Wang is seeking a 'marriage blessing.'"
