Chapter 163: Nursing a Grudge

One guan of gold equals ten guan of copper coins; five hundred guan of gold equals five thousand guan of copper coins.

Just for a broken teacup, they were asking for five thousand guan of cash! This was nothing short of daylight robbery and extortion!

Li Tiexian was furious. Having served in the Zhao household for so many years, when had he ever suffered such utter humiliation?

However, looking at Zhang Anshan’s old face twisted in pain, and Liu Yitiao’s seemingly warm, elegant, and kindly smile, Li Tiexian knew they had kicked a massive iron plate today.

Moreover, their initial posture had been set far too high—so high that they could no longer afford to fall.

They had originally assumed that this was just a humble farming family. With him and old Zhang coming together, it should have been as easy as picking something up with their bare hands. Who could have imagined that there would be such a skilled martial artist hiding here, and that this person cared nothing whatsoever for the prestige of the Zhao family?

Li Tiexian bowed and scraped, repeatedly offering humble apologies in a low voice. He could neither afford to provoke nor defeat someone who could dislocate Zhang Anshan's arm in a single encounter. A wise man submits to circumstances; escaping safely right now was the best course of action.

"Esteemed sir," Zhang Anshan said after the worst of the pain had subsided. Clutching his right shoulder, his mouth twitching slightly, he pulled himself up from the ground and said to Liu Yitiao, "It was my own blindness earlier, failing to recognize Mount Tai. Please forgive us for any offense or discourtesy. I beg Liu Xiansheng to show mercy for the sake of the venerable Elder Zhao and our young master, and spare us lowly ones. I offer my apologies to you, as well as to this gentleman and young master here."

With that, Zhang Anshan also bowed deeply to Old Liu and Liu Ertiao as an apology for his earlier rudeness.

Things having reached this point, he finally saw the situation clearly. This time was unlike the past; these people simply did not care about the Zhao mansion, let alone a minor shrimp like himself. If he remained as arrogant and overbearing as he used to be, he feared even greater disaster would befall them. The sharp pulses of pain from his arm made his mind exceptionally clear.

"I am merely someone who runs errands. Forget five hundred guan of gold; even if you asked me to pay a single piece of gold, I simply couldn't afford it." Zhang Anshan bent his waist, offering a bitter smile to Liu Yitiao. "I earnestly beg Liu Xiansheng to raise your noble hand and let this lowly one off this time."

"Hmph!" Liu Yitiao gave a cold snort. Walking past Zhang Anshan, he strode straight to the chair Zhang had just occupied. He took the shards of the teacup handed over by Liu Ertiao, placed them gently on the table, and cast a cold gaze at the two men.

"Weren't you smashing things quite gleefully just a moment ago?" Liu Yitiao looked at the porcelain pieces of various sizes scattered across the table and said indifferently to Zhang Anshan, "I have a few more pieces right here. Would you like to try again?"

"This lowly one wouldn't dare! This lowly one wouldn't dare!" Hearing the softening tone in Liu Yitiao's voice, Zhang Anshan quickly bowed again to offer apologies. With his arm already dislocated, how could he possibly dare to try again?

"Yitiao," Old Liu stood up at that moment and exchanged a subtle look with Liu Yitiao, not wishing to escalate the matter too much. It was always best to spare others when one could.

"I know, Father." Liu Yitiao acknowledged. Sensing that the warning had been sufficiently established, he waved his hand at the two men and said, "Since the elder has interceded on your behalf, we'll let it go this time. However, if there is a next time, it won't be settled so easily."

Liu Yitiao leaned back in his chair, making himself as comfortable as possible. Then he asked, "Now, let's talk. What did the two of you come to our Old Liu family for?"

"No... nothing at all. We were just passing by, merely passing by," Li Tiexian rushed to answer before Zhang Anshan could, bowing respectfully.

So young, yet remarkably quick-witted.

Liu Yitiao chuckled softly, casting a meaningful glance at Li Tiexian. "I know what the two of you are thinking right now: A wise man submits to circumstances; go home, report the news, find backers, summon reinforcements, and exact a ruthless revenge. Am I right?"

Without waiting for their reply, Liu Yitiao continued, "However, regardless of anything else, I will not make things difficult for you. Since you claim nothing is the matter, you may take your leave. Go back and convey my regards to your master, and tell him that I will surely pay a visit in the near future."

"Thank you, Liu Xiansheng! This subordinate takes his leave!" Zhang Anshan and Li Tiexian exchanged a glance, bowed deeply to Liu Yitiao in unison, and then hurried out of the main hall, retrieving their horses before fleeing the Liu family gates.

"Big Brother, you were amazing! I admire you so much!" Liu Ertiao pulled out this long-buried phrase, looking at Liu Yitiao with burning enthusiasm and countless little stars in his eyes. Big Brother's performance just now had been simply too cool.

In the future, I want to be just like Big Brother! A real man in his actions, a true hero in his stance!

While filled with admiration for Liu Yitiao, Liu Ertiao clenched his fists in secret, making a silent resolve to himself.

"You brat! Isn't all this trouble caused by you? How did I instruct you beforehand? Not to act recklessly, not to stir up trouble! But now you've gone and brought this upon us anyway. I'm going to beat the life out of you, you little rascal!"

Seeing Zhang and Li depart, Old Liu's anxiety grew rather than diminished. Finding a small wooden stick from somewhere, he swung it at Liu Ertiao, driving the boy into a frantic scramble with his head in his hands, howling at the top of his lungs.

"Father," Liu Yitiao stood up to block Old Liu and asked, "Stop scolding Ertiao for a moment. Tell me what this is all about first. Why would people from the Zhao family come looking for us at our home?"

"Who else could it be but this wretched boy? Instead of studying properly at the village school, he actually beat up the young master of the Zhao family! How could they not come knocking on our door? The Zhao family—that is related by marriage to the Emperor himself, a Prince Consort's household! Is that someone ordinary folk like us can afford to provoke?" With that, Old Liu raised the stick to strike again, only to be blocked once more by Liu Yitiao.

"Father, this matter might not entirely be Ertiao's fault. Let's have Ertiao explain the whole sequence of events clearly first," Liu Yitiao said calmly. "If Ertiao is in the wrong, we will go to their door and offer a formal apology. But if Ertiao is in the right, then we have even less reason to fear them. So what if he's a Prince Consort? Even if the Emperor himself came, he would still have to reason things out, wouldn't he?"

Liu Yitiao detested Old Liu's timid, cowardly nature—how he would strike his son without distinguishing right from wrong, completely devoid of any concept of justice. Just because Ertiao hit someone, did it necessarily mean Ertiao was at fault?

"Father, take a seat first." Liu Yitiao took the wooden stick from Old Liu's hand and tossed it aside. Then he turned to Liu Ertiao and said, "Ertiao, come sit down too. Tell Big Brother and Father what this is all about. How did you end up clashing with the Zhao family's young master?"

"Big Brother," Liu Ertiao sat down close to Liu Yitiao, casting a timid glance at Old Liu before speaking, "It was all because of that Zhao Ying. He envied that my academic talent surpassed his and constantly made trouble for me at the school for no reason. Especially this past month, almost every day after class, he would bring a bunch of people to harass me."

"I told Father about it before, but Father just kept urging me to endure it, to yield, and by all means not to offend them. However, the more I tolerated them, the more insufferable their behavior became—insults, spitting, pinching my fingers, and even physical beatings. It just kept getting worse."

Glancing at Liu Yitiao, Liu Ertiao continued, "That's why I thought about learning martial arts from Big Brother yesterday, so I wouldn't be bullied by them in the future. So today after class, when Zhao Ying and his gang came again, I used the two moves Big Brother taught me to give him and his lackeys a thrashing. It finally vented a breath of pent-up anger."

As expected, Liu Ertiao had been bullied. It seemed that teaching him those two moves this morning had not been a mistake at all.

Liu Yitiao turned his head toward Old Liu and asked, "Father, you knew about this all along, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Having his brother bullied like this left a very sour taste in Liu Yitiao's heart. And to think he had previously been planning to help the whole family lead a prosperous life!

"Father just didn't want you guys stirring up trouble," Old Liu said timidly. "The Zhao family is powerful, and Zhao's eldest son is the Emperor's brother-in-law. If we offend them, what kind of good days will we have in the future? Leaving aside the family, Ertiao's future would surely be affected—he might not even be able to become an official. The losses would far outweigh the gains."

The losses outweigh the gains? Liu Yitiao was utterly speechless, unable to help but recall the scene after he was beaten to a pulp by Wang Shuai around the New Year. Back then, Old Liu had said the exact same thing: "The Wang family is powerful, we can't afford to provoke them."

*Sigh!* Liu Yitiao gave a soft sigh. Having such an honest-to-a-fault father—he didn't know whether to consider it a blessing or a curse.

"Leave this matter to me." Liu Yitiao took responsibility for the situation, saying to Old Liu and Ertiao, "Tomorrow I will make a trip to the Zhao mansion, pay a visit to Elder Zhao, and check on Zhao Ying's injuries. Oh, and Ertiao will come with me."

"Yes, Big Brother." Liu Ertiao nodded in assent. With Big Brother around, he wasn't particularly worried.

"Yitiao, won't something go wrong this way?" Old Liu remained deeply uneasy. After all, Liu Yitiao had just beaten the family's servants; there was no guarantee the Zhao family wouldn't seek retaliation.

"It'll be fine, Father. I know what I'm doing." Liu Yitiao tried his best to appear confident, lest Old Liu and Madam Liu worry blindly at home. He told Old Liu, "Before going to the Zhao mansion, I'll take Ertiao to Uncle Yang's place first. I imagine with Uncle Yang around, the Zhao family won't dare to go too far."

"Younger Brother Yang? Ah," Old Liu nodded slightly, his heart settling somewhat. He did know a thing or two about Yang Bofang's capabilities. Leaving everything else aside, simply based on the fact that he was one of Yang Su's direct descendants, not many people would dare to make things difficult for him.

---

Liu Yitiao called Li Dechen over, handed him a bundle of monthly coupons, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Old Li, our fields are growing monthly coupons this year. If next year's yield doesn't double, you'd better watch out for your monthly bonuses, year-end bonuses, and all the rest."