Zhao Jiaqi stopped what she was doing and took a long breath. Zong Han had held back for days and finally remembered he wanted to see her.
"Please escort him to the front hall and entertain him well. I will be there shortly."
Steward Wang frowned slightly. "Your Highness, this Ah Shi looks rather menacing. His gloomy face carries a murderous aura. I think perhaps we should decline this visit?"
Zhao Jiaqi lifted her eyelids. "Ah Shi is Zong Sheng's man. He is here representing Zong Han. We have some past grievances, but it's not to the point where he would harm me. Just do as I say!"
They say she's vindictive, but in her eyes, Zong Han was cut from the same cloth.
She put down what she was holding, tidied her clothes, and then went to the front hall.
Ah Shi stood in the front hall, watching her walk in at her own pace. A surge of inexplicable anger welled up in his chest.
In Xikou Village, he and his master had been played for fools by this woman. She must have been laughing heartily in her heart, mocking the two of them.
Thinking of this, his expression soured further, his face as long as a shoehorn.
Seeing her, he didn't even offer a greeting. He directly tossed the invitation to her. "My master wishes to see you. The time and place are on it. Take a look and go. Goodbye!"
He flung his sleeve back fiercely, his fist, hidden within the cuff, clenching with a crackling sound. If he stayed a second longer, he feared he wouldn't be able to resist punching her in the face.
He strode out of the front hall in a few large steps and headed straight for the main gate without a moment's delay. He mounted his horse, squeezed its flanks with his legs, and the Chitu precious steed immediately reared and galloped away, the movements seamless.
Zhao Jiaqi chuckled, holding the invitation in her hand, shaking her head with a smile.
How old was he, yet still so childish.
She opened the invitation. It read: "Tomorrow at noon, meet at Tianxiang Tower. Signed, Xiao Ba."
She raised an eyebrow and her lips curled upwards. It seemed this Xiao Ba intended to meet her as an 'old acquaintance'. Good, then they wouldn't need to be so formal.
She planned to tell her husband tonight and see if he wanted to accompany her to the meeting tomorrow, or if she should go alone.
Just as she tucked the invitation into her robes, she heard crying and wailing. She could even hear her elder sister-in-law's vociferous scolding.
"What's going on?"
Zhao Jiaqi walked out of the front hall and encountered the four people returning from shopping in the street, their faces and hair disheveled.
Especially her mother-in-law, Zhang Cuihua, had scratches on her face, her hair was loose, her hairpins dangling haphazardly, and her clothes were torn in several places, revealing the cotton padding beneath.
She was better off than her elder sister-in-law, whose hair was a bit messy, and her fingernails still had traces of blood.
Her elder brother and father-in-law didn't dare to look up, their heads almost bowed to the ground. This made her even more curious!
"Go back to your rooms first. Let the household physician examine the injuries to see how serious they are. We'll talk about other matters later!"
As Zhao Jiaqi instructed them, she also told the steward to find the household physician.
After examination by the household physician, they all had superficial wounds and were not in serious danger. He prescribed some external medicine and left a bottle of scar removal cream, giving clear instructions before returning to the front courtyard.
With no outsiders in the room, Zhao Jiaqi didn't need to ask. Her elder sister-in-law poured out the story like a bamboo tube with beans, chattering incessantly.
"Sister-in-law, let me tell you, don't look at our appearance, Cao Meihua and Wang Zhenzhu are even worse off than us!" Wang Zhaodi said proudly, her back straight and her neck tilted upwards.
Fan Guangping nodded repeatedly. "Hmph, I also broke that old man Fan Fu's leg. When he left, he hobbled away, almost crawling back. It was so satisfying to see. Let's see if he's still arrogant when he sees us next time!" His eyes widened, and he spoke of the matter through gritted teeth, as if he had a blood feud.
When he looked at Zhao Jiaqi proudly and saw her expressionless face, he immediately lowered his head like a child who had done wrong.
From their fragmented words, Zhao Jiaqi vaguely grasped the general idea and asked, "You ran into Cao Meihua and them? Did you win?"
"Our men are good soldiers on the battlefield, so naturally our women wouldn't fall behind. We won, a complete victory!" Wang Zhaodi said haughtily.
Perhaps because Fan Zehao and Fan Xudong were great heroes, even fighting with their wives and mothers-in-law, she carried a fierce spirit, possessing the demeanor of a female general.
Zhao Jiaqi opened her mouth, then closed it.
Fan Fu and their family were simply incompatible. She thought they would be more settled once they reached the capital, but she never expected them to cause such trouble when they met on the street.
Well, since they won, she wouldn't dwell on it. If they had lost, she was fiercely protective and wouldn't let it go.
Such a minor matter involving the Fan family could even reach the Emperor's ears.
The next day, when Fan Zehao went to court, the Emperor kept him behind for a lecture. Although it wasn't a major issue, Fan Fu was still his grandfather. Even if their relationship was severed, the bloodline remained, and he shouldn't go too far.
Fan Zehao didn't try to explain the family feuds. He simply replied crudely and directly, "If people don't offend me, I won't offend them. If they offend me, I don't care whose father he is, I'll beat him up!"
Huangpu Jintao rubbed his aching head. He truly didn't know how to advise Fan Zehao, so he decided to let him be.
After leaving the palace, a gust of wind cooled the sweat that had broken out on his head, clearing his mind further.
The trivial matter of his family fighting yesterday had reached the Emperor's ears. Was he being monitored? Or were there many people in the imperial city who were the Emperor's informants!
Either way, this served as a reminder: do what needs to be done, and stay out of other matters.
He returned home and did not tell his wife about the events in the palace today. He knew that his wife was aware of everything and would naturally not do anything out of line.
Tianxiang Tower.
Zhao Jiaqi looked up at the gilded three characters. She didn't know if Zong Han had deliberately chosen this place, or if it was a coincidence. Regardless, neither was good for her.
Ah Shi saw her alight from the carriage and stepped forward to invite her. "My master is waiting on the fourth floor. Others need not go up!"
He glanced at Qiufen behind Zhao Jiaqi, his intention very clear.
"It's not proper for a man and a woman to be alone in a room," she replied without thinking.
Since her husband wasn't here, she wouldn't meet a strange man alone. What if this was a trap?
She had to be cautious!
Ah Shi pursed his purplish lips and secretly turned around, walking upstairs with quick steps, completely ignoring whether anyone was following.
Zhao Jiaqi held up her skirt and followed, nodding slightly to Murong Sheng, who was about to come up to greet her, and walked directly to the fourth floor.
The entire fourth floor was quiet. Besides Ah Shi, no one else was present. Zhao Jiaqi guessed that this floor had been booked.