On the other side of the screen, Liao Zhou, son of the Marquis of Loyalty, was drinking with two of his good friends, and the mocking remark just now had come from him.
Yesterday, he had been hosting a banquet at home for his friends. One of them suddenly craved pastries from Wang's Bakery, so he sent someone to buy some—naturally, they came back empty-handed.
He'd had a bit to drink, and after being taunted by a few barbs, he'd sent servants to inquire at the various princesses' mansions, hoping to pay a premium for two boxes of pastries. Little did he expect that this would lead to his own father having his salary docked.
What infuriated him even more was that today his father had also been given a flogging. When he got home, he was so furious that he ordered Liao Zhou to be given twenty strokes of the board as well. Liao Zhou had only escaped by running away, and even now, he couldn't go back home.
As for the two culprits who had bought up all the pastries, everyone knew they were two children—one around seven or eight, the other about three—and it had been the Seventh Princess herself who drove them home in a mule cart.
Now, running into these two here, how could Liao Zhou not be angry? Without a second thought, he started mocking them.
Xi Qingyue saw that three youths were drinking behind the screen, and one of them was glaring at her with obvious hostility. She found it utterly baffling.
She got up and walked straight to the back of the screen, fixing Liao Zhou with a sharp stare. "Did I offend you?"
Xi Weilan saw her older sister go over, so she scurried after her, planting her left hand on her hip and pointing her right finger at Liao Zhou, scolding him in her baby voice.
"We don't even know you! Whether we have money or not is none of your business. Besides, Sister Wan said she'd pay for the things we bought—it wasn't your money!"
Liao Zhou and his two friends were thrown off by the two sisters' boldness. They came all the way over just to pick a fight with him?
He was already a bit tipsy and full of pent-up anger, so he shot back without thinking. "How is it none of my business? If you two hadn't bought up all of Wang's pastries, would I have sent people to the princesses' mansions yesterday? My father lost his salary and got flogged because of you, and here you are eating and drinking happily. The fact that I can't even go home right now is all your fault!"
After his outburst, Xi Weilan retracted her pointing finger and looked up at Xi Qingyue with a confused expression.
Xi Qingyue smiled and patted her head. "Remember this: we never admit to things we didn't do. Buying our things is our right; whatever happened afterward has nothing to do with us. What he's doing is making an unreasonable fuss and shifting his anger onto others out of incompetence."
With that, her expression turned icy as she looked at Liao Zhou. "Your father getting punished is because of you. Instead of repenting, you put the blame on two kids like us. Where's your shame? And what does you not being able to go home have to do with us?"
"How is it not your fault? My father wanting to beat me is all because of you!" Liao Zhou felt more and more wronged.
But Xi Qingyue just shot him a sly smile. "Oh, so he wanted to beat you, did he? Serves you right."
The moment she finished speaking, she stepped forward and threw a punch at Liao Zhou, scolding him with every hit.
"A good-for-nothing brat like you deserves a beating! You make mistakes and just blame others. Your father didn't finish the job, so I'll do it for him. You can't even let us enjoy a meal in peace!"
"Ow…! How dare you hit me?! My father is the Marquis of Loyalty—he won't let you get away with this!" Liao Zhou yelped, trying to dodge, but Xi Qingyue had a firm grip on his collar and wouldn't let him escape.
The two youths beside him were stunned by the scene. They'd been arguing, and now Liao Zhou was getting beaten up by a little kid—it was bizarre no matter how you looked at it.
After freezing for a moment, they quickly moved in to break it up.
But before their hands could even reach Xi Qingyue, Xi Weilan sprang into action. She leaped up and punched the young man in blue in the chest, then kicked the one in red in the shin.
"Ow…!"
Screams rang out one after another, and everyone in the tavern rushed over to see what was happening.
The guards following the two sisters were also dumbstruck. One of them quickly told the others to go check if the princess had left the palace yet.
He was glad he'd sent someone to summon extra guards from the mansion earlier—otherwise, there'd be no one to deliver the news.
These two kids were way too much trouble!
Everyone inside the tavern was in disbelief, rubbing their eyes to make sure they were seeing things right.
Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan were crouching down, while Liao Zhou and his two friends were sprawled on the floor, and the sisters' little fists were still landing blows on them.
Liao Zhou covered his face and shouted, "Stop! I'm sorry! Don't hit my face!"
The young man in blue wailed through tears, "I was just trying to break it up! I didn't say anything at all—can't you be reasonable?!"
The crowd watching was thoroughly entertained. The scene was beyond strange, but not a single person stepped forward to intervene.
For one, they were too engrossed to remember. Those who weren't forgetful were too frightened to approach—those two kids were absolutely ferocious.
At the gate of the imperial palace.
Lu Jinshuang and Lu Shiwan sat inside their carriage while Dongxue recounted everything she'd learned to the two princesses.
After hearing it all, Lu Jinshuang was curious about Xi Weilan's hidden weapons and privately impressed with her own judgment.
She'd known all along—those two girls wouldn't provoke anyone unless someone started with them first.
Regarding the fact that the sisters had bought a load of stuff and told the shopkeepers to collect the money from Princess Mingyang's mansion, she smiled at Lu Shiwan.
"Big Sister, your earlier probing must have upset them. They even insisted on paying for themselves when staying at my place, but they had no problem making you foot the bill for their shopping—they're deliberately trying to make you lose money."
Hearing this, Lu Shiwan couldn't help but chuckle. "They sure hold grudges. Fine, let them buy whatever they want until they're satisfied."
The carriage was heading toward the princess's mansion. They figured Xi Qingyue and her sister should be just about done having fun by now, and maybe they'd already gone back.
Suddenly, a guard came running frantically toward the carriage, shouting as he ran, "Seventh Princess, something terrible! They got into a fight—they've gotten into another fight!"
"Stop the carriage!" Lu Jinshuang had the carriage halted and lifted the curtain to look at the messenger. "What fight? Speak clearly."
The guard caught his breath and quickly explained, "Princess, the sisters from the Yue family have gotten into a fight again! It's at Taiping Tower, with Liao Zhou, the son of the Marquis of Loyalty!"
Upon hearing this, the carriage occupants' expressions all turned rather complicated.
Lu Jinshuang quickly ordered them to head to Taiping Tower, and the guard hopped up to sit beside the driver.
"Princess, here's what happened: the son of the Marquis of Loyalty barely escaped being flogged by his father and ran off from home. At the same time, the two sisters happened to go to Taiping Tower for a meal. They ordered a lot of dishes, and Liao Zhou mocked them with taunts…"
The guard gave her a quick summary, leaving Lu Jinshuang torn between laughter and tears.
So it was about the pastries again. And this time, it seemed partly her fault and partly Lu Shiwan's—apparently, they'd made quite a few enemies.
By the time Lu Jinshuang reached Taiping Tower, the fight had already stopped, but the whole place was still buzzing noisily.
When she walked over to Xi Qingyue's table, the two sisters were in the middle of wolfing down their dishes with gusto.
Xi Qingyue waved her over. "Sister Jinshuang, wanna join us?"
Lu Jinshuang let out a light laugh. "Sure."
With that, she sat down at the table.
Lu Shiwan walked around to the back of the screen, where three men lay on the ground, their faces beaten to a pulp. They had already passed out, yet no one had bothered to take them to a medical clinic.
Had the guards not informed her in advance, she truly would not have been able to recognize them by their appearances alone.
Lu Shiwan couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth. Was this really the work of two kids?
