Bai Shiqi had swung back to her original perch almost as soon as the mischief was done, settling high on the tree branch to enjoy the show.
Everyone under the tree watched as Wen Tao's belt swayed and fluttered down, followed by his silk trousers drifting lightly to his ankles, revealing a pair of garish, flower-embroidered red shorts and two hairy legs...
The air fell silent for a moment.
By the time Wen Tao realized the state of his lower half and reached to grab them, it was already too late. After all, a tree is not solid ground; no matter how quick his usual reflexes, he was a beat too slow now. In his frantic scrambling, he slipped with a shu sound and slid down the tree. Though he managed to steady himself, enduring the sting of his scraped palms and avoiding a flat-on-his-back fall, he still landed squarely on his rear end.
Bai Shiqi, up in the tree, laughed so hard she rocked back and forth, making the branch she stood on tremble wildly. Zhao Wujiu couldn't help but sweat for her safety, though she herself remained blissfully unaware. "Serves you right! That's what you get for pretending to be nice just to trap me!"
Wen Tao: "..."
The two had been rivals since childhood, with victories and defeats on both sides. Bai Zhenting was long accustomed to such scenes. He personally went to help Wen Tao up. "Dear nephew, get up quickly!" Then he roared at the gleeful Bai Shiqi in the tree, "Aren't you coming down right now?"
"I'm not coming down!" Bai Shiqi hugged the tree trunk, pretending to tremble. "I shall drink the wind and sip the dew, and grow right here on this tree!" She was acting like a complete rascal.
Father and son were locked in a stalemate. Bai Zhenting put on a show of gnashing his teeth, determined to get justice for Wen Tao, while Bai Shiqi dangled her legs from the tree, refusing to come down. Wen Tao, utterly mortified, had lost all interest in the spectacle. Crestfallen, he hitched up his trousers and made a quick escape...
—How utterly humiliating!
Zhao Wujiu wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but after Wen Tao fled, the tense atmosphere in the courtyard seemed to ease slightly.
Bai Zhenting was, after all, an old fox. It hadn't been appropriate to discipline Bai Shiqi in front of Wen Tao, but once he was gone, the leader kicked one of the members lying on the ground playing dead. "Go on, get out of here and bring that Song girl to me."
The man scrambled to his feet and scurried off.
Hearing his words, Bai Shiqi immediately started hopping with rage on the branch. "Leader Bai, as the esteemed leader of the gang, bullying a young woman—aren't you afraid word will get out and people will say you have no chivalry in the martial arts world?"
Bai Zhenting snorted coldly. "I'm just an old codger with only one heir like you. If I don't discipline you now, will you be adding new members to our household every other day?"
Bai Shiqi: "How could you possibly be considered an old codger?"
Bai Zhenting sensed the sarcastic turn in her words. With a sharp glance from him, the henchmen lying on the ground scrambled up and bolted out of the courtyard. They knew a father-son showdown was coming. Sure enough, before they had even stepped past the gate, they heard the young leader's taunting voice from the tree: "Me adding members is surely better than you, leader, adding members, right? Those concubines in your rear courtyard haven't exactly been easy on my mother's eyes!"
"..."
Zhao Wujiu was truly getting an eye-opening experience!
Since birth, he had been raised strictly according to the ethical principles of ruler and subject, father and son. For the Emperor, taking concubines was a matter of state; how could a son possibly comment?
The dynamic between Bai Zhenting and his son defied Zhao Wujiu's understanding. In theory, he should condemn Bai Shiqi for being unfilial. Yet, in reality, he almost laughed out loud. Imagining himself arguing with his own father like this, he knew he'd be met with a flood of censure from the imperial censors and all sorts of ensuing punishments—a dire consequence.
Shu Changfeng whispered, "Master, should we perhaps withdraw for a while?"
Zhao Wujiu: "Let's wait a bit longer."
Indeed, the wait wasn't long. Leader Bai's patience ran out, and he could no longer maintain any pretense. Pointing at the little troublemaker in the tree, he yelled, "Like hell you will! You get your ass down here this instant, or you'll really get it later!"
"Come down so you can uphold justice for Wen Tao? You like him so much, why not just adopt him as your son? Then you wouldn't have to look for excuses to beat me every day!" Bai Shiqi wore a stubborn expression of someone who would never admit fault.
"You! You! You..." Bai Zhenting was so agitated his blood pressure seemed to spike. He pointed at the little brat in the tree, stuttering "you" for a long moment, then actually decided to stay put under the tree, playing a waiting game.
Bai Shiqi inwardly groaned—based on their past confrontations, if the enraged leader managed to catch and beat her, that would be that. If she unfortunately escaped, he would usually leave in a huff. She never expected leader Bai to break from their usual script today, displaying a spirit of stubborn determination to outlast her. This was a headache.
Before long, Fourth Miss Song and Zhen'er were hurried over by Bai Zhenting's men. Stepping into the courtyard and seeing the scene of father and son locked in confrontation, they couldn't help but feel nervous.
Zhen'er whispered, "Miss, this doesn't look good."
Fourth Miss Song approached and bowed to Bai Zhenting. Though her face was somewhat pale, she remained relatively calm. "Bai, may I ask why you have summoned me?"
Bai Zhenting looked up at the tree. "You little brat, see that? If you still refuse to come down, I'll sell this girl off right now!"
Bai Shiqi looked up at the sky in exasperation. "...Using that trick again! Can't you come up with something new besides threats?"
Bai Zhenting: "Are you coming down or not?"
Fourth Miss Song involuntarily took a step back, only to find Bai Zhenting's men blocking her retreat.
Bai Shiqi, ever the pragmatist, promptly slid down from the tree. She rushed over and threw her arms around both Bai Zhenting's arms and the long stick he held, launching into a tearful, snot-filled confession: "Dad! Dad! I was wrong! Please spare me! Your son truly knows he was wrong! I'll never dare do it again!"
Bai Zhenting was no stranger to these battles of wits with her and knew her dogged temperament well. He gave a cold, mocking laugh. "Weren't you full of backbone just now? Why come down?" He tried to kick her, and Bai Shiqi rolled on the ground in response, landing right in front of Zhao Wujiu's wheelchair.
She lay on the ground, acting shameless. "Dad, if you really sell Fourth Miss, I'll go straight to Mom and cry, telling her I found out you were trying to add to our household in Huai'an, and I stopped you, and then you got angry out of shame and even beat me with a stick..."
Bai Zhenting, at his age, found arguing with this little brat far less satisfying than a good thrashing. He brandished his stick with formidable force, aiming straight for Bai Shiqi.
Bai Shiqi let out a yelp and rolled on the spot again, scrambling in panic to hide behind Zhao Wujiu's wheelchair. "Cousin, save me!"
Zhao Wujiu, confined to his wheelchair and unable to move easily, could only helplessly spread his arms to block the way. "Leader Bai, please calm your anger! Calm down! Shiqi spoke without thinking, and besides, she has a lively nature. Please don't take it to heart." Though inwardly he thought: This fellow has no filter on their mouth. In any other family, they might have been beaten to death by the family rules long ago!
Bai Zhenting's old face burned with embarrassment. He was determined to teach the little brat a lesson. "Master Zhao, please step aside. How can an outsider interfere when I, Bai, am disciplining my own disobedient child?! If I don't teach this little rascal a lesson now, he'll be the death of me!"
Zhao Wujiu could actually understand Bai Zhenting quite well. Whether Bai Shiqi was a son or a daughter, being this much of a troublemaker was rare and probably deserved a proper lesson with the family rules. But faced with Bai Shiqi's panicked expression, he felt a pang of compassion. "Master Bai, don't be angry. Let Shiqi explain. Perhaps it's all a misunderstanding."
Bai Zhenting had already bypassed the wheelchair and charged straight towards Bai Shiqi. Bai Shiqi's feet seemed fitted with wind-fire wheels as he fled for his life around the courtyard. The Bai father and son chased one after the other, dashing and scrambling across the yard. Zhao Wujiu couldn't help but massage his temples, privately suspecting that the father and son often engaged in such pursuits at home, which was how the gang leader could move with such vigorous, swift strides without even breathing heavily.
Fourth Miss Song's eyes reddened as she thought of every detail since they had met, her heart aching terribly. Watching Bai Shiqi run while keeping an eye on Bai Zhenting behind him, he accidentally twisted his foot, stumbled, and fell to the ground. She didn't know where the courage came from, but she suddenly rushed over and threw herself on top of Bai Shiqi just before Bai Zhenting's club came down.
Bai Zhenting swung his club down, only for a beautiful young lady to dart out from the side. A pained cry was heard, but it was too late to pull back his strength. Fourth Miss Song took the blow solidly.
"Miss, are you alright?" Zhen'er cried out in alarm, rushing over to help Fourth Miss Song. She saw her mistress had gone limp, slumped over Bai Shiqi's back with her eyes closed, actually knocked unconscious by Bai Zhenting's single blow.
"Miss—"
Bai Shiqi reached back to support Fourth Miss Song, then sat cross-legged on the ground, pulling her into his arms. Seeing her teeth clenched and eyes shut tight, he broke out in a cold sweat of fright. "Fourth Miss Song?"
Bai Zhenting never held back when disciplining his own brat, but this was the first time he had struck a delicate young lady so hard as to knock her out. His rage was instantly doused as he leaned in to peer at the young lady in Bai Shiqi's arms. "Is she... is she alright?"
Bai Shiqi reached out to check Fourth Miss Song's breathing, then reproached Bai Zhenting. "Father, this is going too far! Punishing your son is one thing, but seriously injuring a young lady like this? How could you?"
Bai Zhenting, tough in speech but soft at heart, retorted, "I'll settle this score with you later!" He threw down the club and walked away, muttering as he went, "Strange, I only used thirty percent of my strength!" His own offspring was undeniably unruly, but he hadn't meant to strike a fatal blow and had held back when he swung.
—Are young ladies these days all so fragile?
His subordinates followed him out of the courtyard, cautiously explaining, "Gang Leader, this Fourth Miss Song has been kept indoors since childhood. Walking a few extra steps might make her sweat, how could she withstand a blow from you, sir?"
Bai Zhenting stopped in his tracks, utterly perplexed. "What do we do now?"
A subordinate suggested, "Send for a physician?"
The noisy courtyard finally quieted down, leaving only Zhen'er's voice: "Miss! Miss, wake up!"
Zhao Wujiu wheeled his chair over, looking down at the woman in Bai Shiqi's arms. He saw the young girl suddenly open one eye and whisper softly, "Sir, has Gang Leader Bai left?"
Bai Shiqi almost laughed out loud but immediately tightened his expression and shook his head solemnly, even exaggerating a shout: "Someone, quick, fetch a physician! Fetch a physician! Fourth Miss Song, wake up..."
Fourth Miss Song hurriedly closed her eyes again, one small hand clutching tightly at Bai Shiqi's front lapel as she "fainted" once more. Zhen'er's cry of "Miss!" got stuck in her throat.
Zhao Wujiu watched, utterly amazed. "..."
What kind of people are these?!
