The banquet soon concluded, and Zhao Wujiu and the others followed the Bai family servants to their quarters for rest. However, before the hour of Xu had even passed, Qiu Yunping was outside frantically pounding on the door: "Young Master Zhao, I beg you, please save our young master!"
Shu Changfeng, startled from his sleep, opened the door. Qiu Yunping nearly stumbled headlong inside, scrambling to his feet and rushing in: "Young Master Zhao, the master is going to break the young master's legs!"
Zhao Wujiu rose, throwing on his robes. Shu Changfeng lit the lamps and candles. His face was composed and stern, which, without a word, somewhat eased Qiu Yunping's agitation.
"Speak slowly, what has happened?"
Qiu Yunping cursed vehemently: "That damned Yu the Fourth, with his loose tongue, told the master about the young master taking a concubine. The master is now wielding a stick to settle accounts with the young master. I've counted everyone, Wen Tao harbors ill intentions, Young Master Zhao Ziheng's words carry no weight, so only you can save our young master now!"
Zhao Ziheng was frivolous and unreliable, truly not suitable material for a peacemaker.
Seeing Qiu Yunping's panicked expression and pitiable plea, Zhao Wujiu dressed swiftly and, with Shu Changfeng's support, sat in his wheelchair, heading for the main courtyard.
When they arrived, the main courtyard was brightly lit. Bai Zhenting, leaning on a stick, was hopping with rage under a tall tree in the yard: "Get down here this instant, you little brat! Or I'll break your legs!" Several strong young men lay groaning in disarray below, having apparently fallen from the tree.
Bai Shiqi, dressed only in her underclothes, stood on a branch as thick as a man's arm. With every word she spoke, the branch trembled, as if she might fall at any moment: "I won't come down! I'll get my legs broken anyway if I do. Might as well break them falling from the tree—quicker that way!"
Bai Zhenting was furious, his face purple and lips parched. Pointing at Bai Shiqi, he roared: "I haven't beaten you enough, have I? You dare take a concubine on your own outside! Treating my words like wind past your ears, is that it?"
Wen Tao stood beside him, pretending to mediate: "Uncle, don't be angry. It's all my fault! I thought since Shiqi liked Fourth Miss Song, I wouldn't compete with her. I never imagined you wouldn't allow it." Thus cleverly absolving himself.
"You bastard surnamed Wen, stop your hypocritical act over there! Think I don't know what you're scheming? Just trying to stir up my father to beat me, aren't you? Happy now?" Bai Shiqi broke off a twig from the tree and aimed it at Wen Tao. A sudden gust of wind sent the leafy twig wavering down to land squarely on Bai Zhenting's head...
Bai Shiqi's eyes went wide: "Father! Father, I didn't mean it! I really didn't!"
"If you didn't mean it, then get down here!"
"Absolutely not!"
When Zhao Wujiu arrived at the scene in his wheelchair, he witnessed Bai Zhenting brushing the twig from his head, removing his outer robe, and preparing to climb the tree: "I don't believe I can't catch you tonight!"
Wen Tao feigned restraint: "Uncle, it's dangerous for you to climb up!"
Bai Shiqi taunted from above: "You there, surnamed Wen, since you're so filial to my father, why don't you climb up in his place?" Just you wait, I'll finish you off!
Serves you right for causing trouble!
Bai Zhenting was already beside himself with rage. Ever since this whelp gained financial independence, her wings had grown harder. She even treated his warnings as empty wind. If he hadn't interrogated Yu the Fourth tonight, she might have gotten away with it.
He grabbed Wen Tao's arm: "Nephew, my men have all been kicked down by her. How about you climb up for your uncle and drag her down?"
The gang members lying at the base of the tree, unable to get up for a while, had personally experienced the young master's prowess. Half were play-acting, afraid the master would press them to try again; the other half... had genuinely been kicked off the tree by Bai Shiqi and were truly hurting.
Wen Tao: "..."
Bai Shiqi jeered from above: "Wen Tao, if you have the guts, come up here..."
Bai Zhenting looked at him with hopeful expectation: "Nephew, please drag this unfilial child down for me!" Under the old man's earnest gaze, Wen Tao couldn't bring himself to refuse. Tucking the hem of his robe into his belt, he gritted his teeth and began climbing the trunk.
Zhao Wujiu wheeled closer and looked up at Bai Shiqi in the tree. Although he thought this fellow had a rebellious streak, daring to defy her own father—if born in the palace, she'd be locked up learning rules until death; if a soldier under his command, her backside would be beaten to a pulp—somehow, because it was Bai Shiqi, all this felt strangely forgivable.
"Master Bai, Shiqi is just being mischievous. She can be taught gradually. There's no need for such great fury, lest you harm your health."
Bai Zhenting turned and saw Zhao Wujiu, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air, with the cowering Qiu Yunping not far behind. Instantly embarrassed by this domestic scandal being witnessed, he coughed twice, his old face burning: "My disgraceful son is being disobedient and has disturbed your rest, Young Master Zhao. My apologies." Over the years, this rough man had learned many polite phrases and could handle social occasions quite well. Only when disciplining Bai Shiqi did the crude, savage nature long buried within him erupt, turning him into an irascible old father.
Zhao Wujiu, raised under the palace's meticulous etiquette and living by military rules since joining the army at sixteen, found Bai Shiqi utterly eye-opening. Beyond astonishment, he also found it amusing. He soothed: "You are too severe, Master Bai. Although Shiqi took a concubine, she is not a lecher. Nothing happened. On the wedding night, she was dead drunk from toasts led by Young Master Wen and did nothing improper."
Bai Zhenting's mind raced: "How do you know she was drunk and didn't do anything improper?" The situation was sudden; the room where Fourth Miss Song resided was already surrounded by his men to prevent any news from leaking.
Could this little brat have babbled something while drunk?
Zhao Wujiu stated bluntly: "On the wedding night, Shiqi slept in my bed. She never even returned to the bridal chamber."
"Slept... in your bed?" Bai Zhenting wondered if his ears were failing, his voice trembling as he sought confirmation.
Zhao Wujiu did not miss Bai Zhenting's odd reaction. His own speculation gained further confirmation, and his mind synced with the gang master's for a moment, going blank briefly—two men sharing a bed for conversation was nothing, but if it were a man and a woman, even sleeping purely under the same quilt, who would believe nothing at all had happened?
The quick reflexes honed from years on the battlefield instantly took over. He offered the most sincere smile of his life: "What does it matter if two drunk men sleep in the same bed?" Skillfully sidestepping the fact that he himself had been sober all night, he condescended to offer understanding words: "Since you disapprove of Shiqi taking a concubine, Master Bai, and she hasn't touched Fourth Miss Song anyway, why not just send the girl back home?"
Bai Zhenting seemed persuaded by his reasoning, but his suspicious gaze swept over Zhao Wujiu's face: "Is that true?"
"Zhao never lies!"
In war, all is deception. Hence, when able, feign inability; when deploying troops, feign inactivity; when near, feign distance; when far, feign proximity.
Zhao Wujiu thought to himself: "He is merely skilled in military strategy, how can that be lumped together and equated with lying?!"
During the moment the two men locked eyes, Wen Tao had already gritted his teeth and climbed to the middle of the tree. Looking up, he tried to coax the person down with sweet talk first: "Shiqi, don't stay up there anymore. Come down and apologize to your uncle. I'll put in a good word for you, and he's sure to forgive you."
Bai Shiqi broke off a branch and measured its length; it still couldn't reach Wen Tao. So she encouraged him: "Climb up a bit more, and we can have a proper discussion."
The courtyard was brightly lit, but Bai Shiqi stood too high up. Wen Tao couldn't see the sly, mischievous grin in her eyes. He truly continued climbing up the trunk, using kind words to try and extricate himself: "To tell the truth, I really wasn't the one who leaked this secret. I just heard rumors outside that you fancied Fourth Miss Song, so I thought of ransoming her to make you happy. I truly never meant for your father to find out and get you a beating. You have to believe me!"
He looked up. Bai Shiqi's robe fluttered in the wind, and she stood on the branch with an indescribable air of grace. Her voice was extremely calm: "Brother Wen, I believe you. Hurry up and climb higher."
Wen Tao scrambled up using both hands and feet, quickening his pace. However, being tall and sturdy, he wasn't as nimble and agile as Bai Shiqi. He looked quite strained. Just as he climbed to a spot about half a person's height below Bai Shiqi, she lashed him with the branch.
Taken by surprise, Wen Tao nearly lost his grip and fell: "Shiqi—"
Bai Shiqi lightly swung down from the branch she was standing on, closing the distance between them. She continuously whipped the branch fiercely at Wen Tao: "Young Master Wen, did you think a few sweet words would make me dizzy with delight and follow you down obediently? Weren't you the instigator?! Still trying to wash your hands of the matter, huh?"
The gang members lying at the foot of the tree, who had been about to get up, were so frightened by this sight that they flopped back down—being whipped by that supple, damp branch was no joke.
Below the tree, Bai Zhenting brandished his stick and roared angrily: "You brat, stop that right now! If you hurt A'Tao, how am I supposed to explain it to your Uncle Wen? Get down here this instant!"
If not for the considerable commotion Bai Shiqi was making in the tree, he might still have been sizing up Zhao Wujiu.
Zhao Wujiu watched as Wen Tao was whipped by Bai Shiqi with no ability to fight back, his two hands clinging tightly to the trunk—a stark contrast to Bai Shiqi's relaxed expression as she swung from the branch like it was a playground. If the situation weren't so inappropriate, he might have laughed out loud.
Bai Zhenting was fuming and cursing up a storm, but it was all thunder and no rain. The mischievous lad up the tree was clearly not a submissive, obedient child. A thought flashed through Zhao Wujiu's mind—when Bai Zhenting urged Wen Tao to climb up and drag the kid down, was he actually sending him up there for Shiqi to deal with?
Father and son knew each other's temperaments all too well. How could he not know that Bai Shiqi had a natural, extraordinary talent for climbing trees and poles, born a mischievous monkey, able to traverse precarious places as if walking on flat ground with an air of utter leisure?
Anyone with a brain could figure out that as long as they were in the tree, Wen Tao was definitely no match for Shiqi.
As these thoughts raced through Zhao Wujiu's mind, watching Bai Zhenting's furious hopping about and shouting up at Bai Shiqi at the top of his lungs, he detected a hint of bluster and favoritism.
He pretended to be oblivious and said, "Guild Master Bai, Shiqi knows his limits. Besides, Young Master Wen teased him earlier. He probably has some pent-up anger. Once he vents it, he'll come down!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Bai Shiqi, up in the tree, yanked open Wen Tao's belt and pulled off his outer robe.
Wen Tao, clinging to the trunk and caught in a dilemma, could only resort to the gentle tone he used to coax young ladies: "Shiqi, all the fault is mine, big brother's. Consider these few hits as letting off your steam. From now on, I'll never tease you again, okay?"
Bai Shiqi responded with a beaming smile: "Okay! Of course, okay!" And with that, she casually pulled open his trouser belt...
