Since ancient times, the common people have not dared to challenge officials.
Chen Xiaofeng’s face darkened. “Young Miss, I’m afraid we’re in trouble—that Pang Kunbai likely borrowed soldiers from the garrison to help him quietly.”
They had already acted. Would the Pang family let them go if they surrendered now?
Dou Zhao’s anger flared even hotter. She demanded, “Can you detain these men?”
Chen Xiaofeng hesitated, “We’re all civilians…”
In other words, they were capable of detaining the men but hesitated due to their official status.
“Then detain them all!” Dou Zhao interrupted decisively. “If they’re so brazen, what do we have to fear? If we can hold them all, even Wang Xingyi, the Provincial Governor of Shaanxi, won’t be able to cover up this collusion between officials and bandits!” She turned and walked out, declaring, “I want to see who dares to mobilize garrison troops for the Pang family’s private affairs.”
Seeing Dou Zhao’s confidence, Chen Xiaofeng felt somewhat reassured.
Perhaps to them, the Provincial Governor of Shaanxi seemed an unreachable official, but the Dou family didn’t even consider him worth noticing!
The young Miss Dou, despite her youth, faced challenges head-on. Her boldness alone made their fight worthwhile.
If only Miss Dou were a young master instead of a young miss, how much better it would be!
Lost in these thoughts, he followed Dou Zhao out of the main hall.
In the courtyard, Uncle Duan and the others stood looking at each other with grave expressions. Pang Kunbai and his followers lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain and utterly incapacitated.
As Dou Zhao emerged, all eyes turned to her.
“There’s no need to worry!” Dou Zhao stood straight on the steps, her demeanor calm and authoritative. She spoke coolly, “Whoever comes, colluding with bandits is a crime punishable by exile to three thousand li. I’ve said before, if anything happens, the Dou family will take responsibility. Brave men, just focus on detaining these people.”
Despite her words, many still looked hesitant, given Dou Zhao’s youth and gender. Uncle Duan, observing this, spoke up: “At this point, we have no choice but to see it through. The more we hesitate, the more fearful we’ll be when it comes to action. The more fearful we are, the less likely we’ll be able to detain these men. If that happens, our lives may be in danger. I urge you all to work together and overcome this crisis. Worst case, we can hide in the frontier for a few years.” He then joked, “Since Miss Dou has already offered such a generous reward, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind giving us a few more taels of silver as relocation fees. Isn’t that right, Miss Dou?”
This Uncle Duan seemed to hold considerable influence among them. As he finished speaking, everyone laughed, their expressions relaxing.
“Of course,” Dou Zhao smiled, observing everyone’s reactions.
Seeing that Dou Zhao valued his words, Uncle Duan volunteered to organize everyone into a defensive formation.
The sound of galloping hooves approached like a whirlwind, stopping at the gate. With a loud crash, the door fell, and several guards in blue uniforms burst in.
Dou Zhao was startled.
Weren’t these Ji Yong’s attendants?
Ji Yong’s attendants were equally surprised.
Hadn’t they been told that the Dou family’s young miss had been kidnapped?
Yet here stood the Dou family’s young miss, perfectly fine, surrounded by strong guards, with injured men groaning at her feet… This didn’t look like a kidnapping at all, but rather like she had used her power to beat someone up…
Dou Zhao quickly shouted, “Stop!”
Someone anxiously pushed through the blue-clad attendants and rushed in. “What happened? Why are you all just standing there? Where’s Fourth Sister?” The voice, though urgent, couldn’t hide its cultured tone.
It was Wu Shan’s voice. Dou Zhao suddenly felt touched.
Wu Shan, however, was thunderstruck, frozen in place. “What… what’s going on here?”
He looked up, bewildered, at the unharmed Dou Zhao, unable to understand why she was suddenly surrounded by so many unfamiliar guards, or how such a delicate young woman could have escaped danger without a scratch…
“What’s the matter?” Dou Dezhang and Ji Yong, following behind Wu Shan, squeezed in and were equally dumbfounded by the scene in the courtyard!
“At the time, I was in such a panic, thinking only of quickly finding help,” Dou Zhao explained. She sat facing Wu Shan and Ji Yong, with Suixin, Sulan, and Sujuan standing to her left, and Dou Dezhang seated to her right. Nearly half an hour had passed since the incident. The courtyard had been cleaned, and the barely alive Pang Kunbai and his followers were locked in the main hall. Chen Xiaofeng led Uncle Duan and others in patrolling the courtyard, while Ji Yong’s attendants had gone to fetch a doctor and hadn’t returned yet. Taking advantage of this moment, she recounted the events to Dou Dezhang, Wu Shan, and Ji Yong.
“Fearing that Suixin wasn’t familiar enough with our household to find help quickly, and knowing her senior brother was a guard, I sent her to find Guard Chen. I didn’t think much beyond that,” Dou Zhao continued. “I was so infuriated that I ordered Guard Chen and the others to teach those bandits a lesson… Who would have thought Pang Kunbai was acquainted with those bandits? When he shouted about who he was, I naturally didn’t believe him, thinking it was just another trick by the bandits. Who knew it was Pang Kunbai!” She sighed, “Fortunately, Twelfth Brother, Fourth Brother Wu, and Cousin Ji arrived in time. Otherwise, if Pang Kunbai had been beaten to death, things would have become much more complicated.”
Inwardly, she regretted that they hadn’t arrived a moment later. By then, even the gods couldn’t have saved Pang Kunbai. She also blamed Uncle Duan and his men for not using more force and finishing off Pang Kunbai for good.
Outside, Uncle Duan sneezed several times in succession.
He grumbled to himself: Who’s cursing me? It’s a good thing I held back when I heard Pang Kunbai shouting, or I might have killed that bastard with one punch. That would have caused real trouble now! Still, that scoundrel is covered in wounds, with every bone in his body broken. It’ll take three to five years before he can walk on his own, let alone touch a woman!
The thought made him feel somewhat smug.
At least they had been able to teach that lecherous scoundrel a lesson without restraint.
He rubbed his nose and continued his patrol with his head held high.
Inside, Dou Dezhang and Wu Shan were at a loss for words as they recalled Pang Kunbai’s disfigured state.
The two sat in stunned silence for a while.
Finally, Ji Yong spoke up, “Two of the bandits are dead, two are injured, and six of Pang Kunbai’s followers are dead. I wonder what plans Cousin Dou has?”
He gazed at Dou Zhao, his eyes gleaming.
Dou Zhao found this strange.
She had caused such a commotion, yet why did this cousin from the Ji family seem more interested in watching the drama unfold rather than helping her deal with the aftermath?
She recalled her sixth aunt’s words…
Could he be two-faced?
Dou Zhao declared firmly, “Naturally, we must hand this over to the authorities—lives have been lost!”
Ji Yong nodded repeatedly, saying seriously, “Cousin Dou is right. Such a major incident must be handled by the officials.”
“No, no!” Wu Shan jumped up as if his tail was on fire, exclaiming, “If we hand this over to the authorities, are we going to let Fourth Sister testify in court? Moreover, the Dou family is in Zhending, while the Pang family is in Lingxu. If we involve the officials, we’ll have to go to Zhending Prefecture to file a lawsuit. If this damages Fourth Sister’s reputation, it would be better to settle it privately.”
Dou Dezhang also reacted, following Wu Shan’s lead, “That’s right. What are the Pangs anyway? Mere nouveau riche! We can’t let such rats ruin Fourth Sister’s reputation!”
“It seems my two cousins lack experience in handling such disputes,” Ji Yong smiled at Dou Dezhang and Wu Shan, his tone revealing a sense of superiority born from experience. “The Dou family has been officials for generations, and Uncle Dou is a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Personnel. How could the Pang family, mere commoners, contend with us? If we report this to the authorities, the Prefect of Zhending will surely suppress the news first and decide after considering Uncle Dou’s wishes.
This way, we can extricate ourselves from the homicide case and also curry favor with the Prefect—after all, we are in his jurisdiction, and even if we don’t hold him in high regard, we should still give him face. As for Cousin Dou’s reputation, we just need to insist that we were all together at the time. How could they claim that Cousin Dou was kidnapped alone? Even if the Pang family tries to frame her, won’t we be able to refute their claims?”
It sounded reasonable, but why did it feel somewhat off?
Dou Dezhang and Wu Shan nodded, exchanging a glance. They both saw doubt in each other’s eyes and wanted to ask for more details, but Ji Yong had already waved his hand, saying, “Trust me, you won’t go wrong! I’ll testify for Fourth Sister when the time comes.”
That’s right!
Ji Yong was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations.
If Ji Yong testified, how could Prefect Lu not believe him?
The two nodded vaguely, blinded by their deference to status.
“Then it’s settled,” Ji Yong said, the corner of his mouth curling into a pleased smile as he called out to his attendant, “Wang Pu, take my name card and report this to the authorities.”
Dou Dezhang and Wu Shan suddenly realized they hadn’t consulted with the elders about this matter.
“Wait!” Dou Dezhang shouted, his face darkening, “Cousin Ji, this matter concerns the Dou family’s reputation. I think we should inform the elders before reporting to the authorities…”
“Trust me, it’ll be fine,” Ji Yong said, already waving his hand. Wang Pu respectfully bowed to Dou Dezhang and quickly retreated, giving Dou Dezhang no chance to continue. “I’ve helped my grandfather handle some family affairs before. This involves the Fourth Sister’s reputation and the Dou family’s honor. I won’t act recklessly,” he said, then joked, “If anything goes wrong, forget my grandfather—my aunt would skin me alive. You can rest easy!”
Really?
Dou Dezhang and Wu Shan looked at Ji Yong doubtfully.
Meanwhile, Dou Zhao, who had calmed down after her internal complaints, looked at Ji Yong in surprise.
What was Ji Yong up to?
Bypassing the family elders and directly exposing this incident, forcing the Dou family to clean up her mess to save face, ensuring that even if the Pang family brought in Wang Xingyi, they’d have to swallow this bitter pill—this had been her plan all along. How did Ji Yong seem to know her thoughts?
Dou Zhao scrutinized Ji Yong.
Ji Yong turned and smiled at her.
His smile was gentle, carrying the wisdom of a scholar and the mischievous cunning of a child. Like a spear and shield, it was strange yet harmonious, leaving a deep impression.