spoiled brat

Chapter 163, Section 162: Useless (Part Two)

Li Qingwen composed himself, cupped his hands, and said calmly, "Your Highness, Young Master Xie's account is quite detailed, but he didn't mention at all that I ate and lived with the refugees, and that our food and lodging were exactly the same."

The clerk following behind him chimed in, "Our Lord Li is the most compassionate and merciful! It is true that some of the grain in the granary is moldy, but whenever a pot of porridge is cooked, Lord Li scoops the grayish rice into his own bowl. Everyone knows this. If Your Highness does not believe it, you can send someone to inquire!"

Another person chimed in, "Exactly! If Lord Li had truly committed a heinous act, feeding the refugees moldy grain that could kill people, why would he risk his own life? Young Master Xie, you spout nonsense with the slightest hint of it; aren't you afraid of retribution?"

Xie Xiaoqing was speechless. He looked around and realized that Xiao Duo hadn't come with him. He didn't even have a witness!

His gaze fell on the eunuch at his feet, and in a flash of inspiration, he said to Xiu Yi and Zhao Zhao, "Young Master! Putting everything else aside, Lord Li bought a girl a few days ago and gave her to Wu Da Dang, but Wu Da Dang didn't dare to accept her and gave her to his subordinates!" He grabbed one of the eunuchs, "That's her! She's in his residence right now!"

The eunuch's face was as white as paper, and he trembled like a dog with broken bones: "Young Master Xie, you can't just spout slanderous words! I paid for my own meal with him, what business is it of anyone else's?"

Zhao Zhao stepped forward with her arms crossed: "In that case, why don't you tell me your private address and invite that girl over to ask her?"

Li Qingwen clenched his fists at his sides, using his eyes to force the eunuch to shut his mouth.

The eunuch was startled by the cold gaze and tried to hide in fear, but before he could lower his head, a cold dagger lifted his chin, forcing him to look up.

"Why are you so afraid of Lord Li?" Zhao Zhao asked. "With the young master here, would he dare to eat you?"

The tone was extremely gentle, soft and penetrating to the ear; listening to it sent chills down one's spine.

The knife tip pressed against his chin was gentle, yet it slowly sank into his flesh, blood seeping into his clothes, a deep, dark red.

The eunuch was drenched in cold sweat, terrified beyond measure. His pale lips uttered incoherent words: "My...my home is in Xinghua Hutong in the west of the city..."

Zhao Zhao remembered this, wiped the dagger on the eunuch's face, sheathed it and put it in her sleeve, and at the same time took out a signal arrow.

Shortly after the launch, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance, then rushed closer like the wind.

A group of attendants arrived. He dismounted and nodded to Xiu Yi: "Master."

Xiu Yi glanced at the moon obscured by dark clouds and said indifferently, "Bad luck. We ran into thieves as soon as we left the city. We won't be able to see the stars." He pointed to the eunuch with a wound on his neck and said, "Hurry into the city and bring his family to us for questioning."

Zhao Zhao gave his address; there was no need for him to answer yes.

Why bother riding back in half an hour?

Zhao Zhao didn't see the girl she was led to at first, until a timid face peeked out, and then she lowered her gaze—this was a pitifully small girl.

The girl, unwittingly caught in the storm, was terrified by the scene. Zhao Zhao helped her down from her horse, gently comforted her, and pointed to the eunuch, saying, "Are you his lover?"

The term "eating together" is really offensive. Who would want to share a bed with a stinking eunuch?

Tears welled in the girl's eyes as she sobbed, "...When I sold myself to bury my mother, I didn't know I was going to marry a eunuch. The man who bought me said he would arrange a good marriage for me; my husband's family is old and has no wife. After I marry him, I won't have to be filial to my parents-in-law, or be jealous. I'll live alone in this huge house, enjoying a life of peace and happiness..."

"Who would have thought that the official would give me to an old eunuch, who then passed me on to a young eunuch... They were both scoundrels, each more despicable than the last. Once they lost their manhood, they found all sorts of ways to..."

“The one who bought your master,” Zhao Zhao interrupted, pointing at Li Qingwen, whose face was gloomy, and asked, “Is it him?”

The girl recognized Li Qingwen, her gaze trembling, tears welling up with intense hatred.

She suddenly lunged forward, clutching Li Qingwen's collar like a vengeful ghost, and cried out in a hoarse voice, "You buried my mother properly! I thought you were a kind and benevolent official, but you gave me to two beasts! These past two weeks have been a living hell for me!"

Driven to the extreme of hatred, the girl disregarded everything, ripped open her clothes, revealing her back covered in bruises and welts, with not a single piece of unblemished flesh.

Everyone was moved, but Li Qingwen still spoke in a calm and even tone: "Your Highness, I do not recognize this woman. As for what Young Master Xie just said, I have never done it."

Despite the overwhelming evidence and witness testimonies, he remained unfazed and continued to argue his case.

Zhao Zhao sneered, about to make a sarcastic remark, when Xiu Yi spoke calmly: "Lord Li, there's no need to say more to me. Just explain to Minister Jiang."

-

The torrential rain poured down, and the cold water droplets slapped Li Qingwen's face.

He knelt for more than ten hours, his back still straight, his eyes fixed on the tightly closed door.

——Squeak.

The door opened, and a man who looked like a butler appeared. He straightened his sleeves on the steps and said condescendingly, "The master won't see you. You can go back now, and you don't need to come again!" With that, he slammed the door shut.

Thump. Li Qingwen stared at the crack in the door, as if trying to pry it open with his gaze. Had all his planning and hard work of the past ten years really come to nothing?

Perhaps he never achieved anything. He merely passed the imperial examination as the second-highest scorer, gained Minister Jiang's appreciation which did nothing to advance his career, and hooked up with a rich young lady who treated him like a toy... It was all fake, all of it was fake.

From beginning to end, all he painstakingly and unscrupulously obtained was this inconspicuous, pale green official robe.

A shadow brushed against the door, and Li Qingwen's heart, which had been sinking, froze in mid-air. But the voice inside was still that of the steward: "If you keep lingering, we'll kick you out! The master values ​​you highly, yet you do such a vile thing! What are you doing kneeling shamelessly in the Jiang mansion? Go and be a grandson to your eunuch grandfather!"

Li Qingwen's heart shattered into pieces, the sound louder than the rain hitting his face.

He opened his pale lips, wanting to argue with Minister Jiang through the door, but his throat, parched all day, could not utter a loud sound.

Left with no other choice, Li Qingwen waded through the rain and crawled forward for a while, then used all his strength to say, "...Teacher, you have always been feared by the palace, and your situation is already very difficult! If you offend the eunuchs again, His Majesty, influenced by them, may become even more suspicious of you! My behavior may have been inappropriate, but it was all for your sake!"

A shadow appeared on the door paper. Li Qingwen's eyes lit up with joy, thinking that his sophistry had worked. But then he heard Minister Jiang say in a deep voice, "Throw him out."

"Yes!"

The door was pushed open again, and the butler led two servants out, dragging Li Qingwen out in the rain without even using an umbrella.

He was always very particular about his appearance and rarely looked so disheveled, but now his fingers were gripping the stone bricks tightly, leaving fleeting streaks of blood, as he cried out hoarsely:
"...Teacher! I know I was wrong! You once said you would treat me like a son-in-law and promised to marry A-Ying to me as soon as the war ended! Please forgive me this time...I would never dare to do it again!"

Through the thick rain curtain, Li Qingwen could not see what Minister Jiang's expression was on the steps—disappointment, disgust, or resentment.

"teacher……"

He gripped the floor tile tightly, and despite the three of them pulling hard, he didn't budge!

He even crawled forward desperately, trying to kneel down at Minister Jiang's feet and beg for mercy.

The steward cursed, "You're supposed to be an official, how can you be so shameless? Don't you even know how to respect yourself!"

Minister Jiang closed his pale eyes, ashamed to see the person he had personally promoted. He tossed something with a flick of his sleeve, and it rolled right in front of Li Qingwen.

It was a blank silk scroll, stamped with the official seal of the Ministry of Personnel, its color turning a glaring red after being soaked in rainwater.

"With your temperament, the officialdom of the Great Zhou Dynasty will not tolerate you."

Jiang Shangshu's expression was cold and gaunt. "I will leave you with some dignity. You may request to retire and return to your hometown."

Li Qingwen stared blankly up, his vision blurred, his ears ringing, so muffled that he couldn't even hear the rain.

Seeing that he was heartbroken and no longer struggled, the steward quickly tucked the scroll into the back of his collar, and several people together threw him out the back door.

One of the servants, who had long disliked Li Qingwen's affected manner, spat at him in front of the door:

"Bah! You peasant from a poor mountain village, you think you're all that now that you've gained power! You even dare to dream of marrying our young lady, you've completely lost your mind!"

The man was about to kick him when the steward stopped him with a shout: "He used to be a minor official who could be smashed to pieces if he fell to the ground, but now he's not even an official anymore. There are more green turtles in the river than this kind of person. Don't you think you'll get your feet dirty if you kick him?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingwen, who was lying in the sewage, raised his head and wiped the phlegm off his face with his blood-soaked hands.

He had lost his previous humble, pleading demeanor and now stared blankly at the three of them.

The three of them trembled at the stare, feeling as if they were seeing a ghost in human skin. They fell silent and took two steps back.

"Wait!" the butler waved his hand. "What are you afraid of? He's a stray dog! Keeping him outside is bad luck. Take a cane and chase him out!"

The other two, as expected, turned around and grabbed their canes, intending to drive Li Qingwen away.

Having knelt all day, and with his lower body soaked in the cold rain for too long, Li Qingwen was too weak to walk. He couldn't even stand up.

The two servants were happy to do so, whipping and kicking Li Qingwen like a dog and herding him toward the alley entrance.

It's really interesting to kick a man who was once the second-place scholar in the imperial examination, a man who was once in the limelight, and who almost became the master's son-in-law.

The two servants stared at Li Qingwen, who was crawling on his knees, and chuckled, "Lord Li, why are you crawling on the ground? Are you some kind of son of a bitch who walks on all fours in private?"

Li Qingwen suddenly stopped moving, lying frozen and soaking wet in the downpour. A servant, annoyed by his refusal to lower his head, tried to stomp on him, but before he could even lift his foot, Li Qingwen pounced on him!