Fu Tingyun had just stepped out of the inner chamber with Yue Chuan when Ah-Sen, hearing the commotion, came forward to meet them: “Sister-in-law, don’t worry, I’m here!” He stepped forward to support Fu Tingyun. “Youyou has a gentle temperament and has never even struck a kitten or puppy, let alone a person. There must be some misunderstanding. Please don’t panic; let’s clarify everything before we act!”

Wang Jingtong also hurried over, supporting Fu Tingyun’s other arm: “Sister-in-law, I’ll accompany you to take a look.”

Fu Tingyun nodded, her emotions calming somewhat. The three of them followed Yue Chuan to the main entrance.

Two groups of people stood at the entrance. On one side, several maids led by Yu Wei anxiously surrounded Youyou, who stood there crying so heartbrokenly she almost fainted, trying to console her with phrases like “Don’t cry, we didn’t mean it” and “Young Miss, be careful not to harm your eyes with all this crying.” On the other side, several married women led by Zheng San-niang surrounded a boy about seven or eight years old, dressed in a sapphire blue Hangzhou silk robe, all talking at once, saying things like “Let auntie see if it’s serious” and “Where exactly were you hit? At least let us take a look.” The boy covered half his face without speaking, his lips pressed tightly together, his expression defiant.

Fu Tingyun felt her heart ease slightly.

At least there was no blood…

Beside the boy stood another boy about two years older, dressed like a servant, who pointed at Youyou and shouted, “Don’t think you can bully us just because you have more people! Our family isn’t easy to mess with either. Our Lai Fu has already gone to call for help, and when they arrive, you’ll see!” Despite his seemingly arrogant demeanor, he couldn’t hide his underlying panic.

The scene appeared somewhat chaotic.

Fu Tingyun felt both angry and amused, loudly rebuking her servants: “What are all of you doing gathered here? Disperse immediately! Return to your duties!”

Everyone sheepishly acknowledged the order. Leaving only Yu Wei and Zheng San-niang, the rest gradually withdrew into the house.

Upon hearing her mother’s voice, Youyou immediately rushed over: “Mother, Mother, I didn’t mean to…” She clung to Fu Tingyun’s legs, crying bitterly. “San-niang said birds in the locust tree were eating the fruit, and I wanted to scare them away, so I shot a few pebbles at the tree…”

The locust tree grew in front of the south building’s entrance, and beyond the south building was the hutong. Little did she know that the pebbles had flown outside the hutong and hit someone.

Though Youyou didn’t say it, Fu Tingyun could imagine what had happened afterward.

She couldn’t help but sigh deeply, took Youyou’s hand, and said gently: “Stop crying now.”

Seeing that her mother wasn’t scolding her, Youyou stopped crying, though she continued to sniffle.

Fu Tingyun then said: “But you still hit someone, and you can’t just hide and cry after causing trouble. Come with Mother to see, apologize to them first, and then we’ll do whatever is necessary.”

Youyou was frightened and tried to hide in Yu Wei’s arms.

Fu Tingyun signaled Yu Wei to hold Youyou while she hurried to check on the injured child.

“I am this child’s mother,” Fu Tingyun pointed at Youyou and said gently. “Will you let me see where you’re hurt? We’ve already sent someone to fetch a doctor…” As she spoke, she tried to examine the child’s injury.

The child, however, twisted his body, avoiding Fu Tingyun’s hand.

The little servant behind the child immediately jumped forward, standing between Fu Tingyun and the child.

“Madam, our master is the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Jiangzhe,” he said with an outward show of fierceness that belied his inner fear. “We’re not afraid of you… Lai Fu has already gone to call for help…”

Fu Tingyun couldn’t help but admire this little servant’s courage. Her voice became even gentler: “My daughter injured your young master, and we are in the wrong. I apologize to your young master! I have no other intention but to first check your young master’s injury. The doctor will take some time to arrive, and I don’t want to delay treating your young master’s wound…” She continued, “You say your master is the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Jiangzhe. Is this child from Official Li’s family who lives in the Bensi Hutong ahead? If so, we’re not strangers. I’ll send someone to inform your family right away. When your masters arrive, we’ll handle this however appropriate. This incident is our fault from the beginning, and we won’t try to evade responsibility!”

Hearing this, the servant boy seemed to waver a bit and glanced at the young boy.

The child, however, reacted strangely. After hearing Fu Tingyun’s words, he appeared nervous and took a few steps backward until his back was against the wall.

When Youyou heard her mother humbling herself to apologize to the child, and saw that not only was the child ungrateful, but he was also giving her mother the cold shoulder, she felt terrible. She struggled out of Yu Wei’s arms, ran in front of Fu Tingyun, and positioned herself between her mother and the boy.

“I’m the one who hurt you. If you want to blame someone, blame me, but don’t give my mother attitude!” she stammered. “If you’re angry, then… then…” She thought for a moment and said, “Then you can blind my eye too, and we’ll be even!” She then emphasized, “You must not disrespect my mother!”

Upon hearing this, the child’s expression became even more peculiar.

Fu Tingyun felt both amused and annoyed. She scolded Youyou: “What nonsense are you talking? If your eye were blinded, would that make his eye better? You injured someone—have you apologized yet? Hurry up and apologize properly!”

Youyou pouted, feeling very wronged: “When I heard an ‘ouch’ outside and learned I had hurt someone, I ran out to apologize to him. But he didn’t want my apology; he wanted me to compensate with my eye…” As she spoke, thinking about how painful it would be to lose an eye, she became frightened and started crying again.

Fu Tingyun had no choice but to hug Youyou. Knowing that Zheng San-niang was friendly with Mrs. Huang from the Li family, she instructed Yu Wei: “You and Zheng San-niang go together to inform the Li family.” Then she said to the boy, “Why don’t you come inside and sit for a while? You can wait for your family to arrive.”

The child just shook his head.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the entrance of the hutong.

Everyone looked in that direction and saw several maids and married women surrounding a pale-faced Lady Li, who was hurrying toward them, followed by several strong male servants.

It seemed the child was indeed from the Li family!

Fu Tingyun pondered this as she handed Youyou to Yu Wei and went forward to greet them.

“What happened? What happened?” Lady Li rushed forward and embraced the young boy. “Thirteen, don’t scare me, are you alright?” As she spoke, she tried to remove the child’s hand from his face, tears already streaming down her cheeks.

The child turned his face away, not allowing Lady Li to see.

Fu Tingyun explained what had happened.

After listening, Lady Li merely nodded slightly, her desire to see the child’s injury growing stronger: “Thirteen, let mother take a look.”

The child stubbornly refused.

Fu Tingyun began to grow suspicious…

Unexpectedly, Ah-Sen, who had been silent the whole time, stepped forward quickly, grabbed the child’s wrist, and forcibly removed his hand from his face.

On that face, white as jade, there wasn’t the slightest mark, let alone an injury.

“Ah!” Everyone was dumbfounded.

“You lied to me!” Youyou immediately jumped up. “Mother, he lied to me!” She then rushed into Fu Tingyun’s arms, feeling wronged.

The heavy weight in Fu Tingyun’s heart finally lifted.

“Thank goodness everything’s fine! Thank goodness!” she couldn’t help exclaiming with relief.

Lady Li’s face, however, turned crimson. She quickly apologized to Fu Tingyun: “This child is the youngest in our family and has been spoiled by us.” She then hastily removed a white jade bracelet from her wrist and offered it to Youyou. “It’s entirely our Thirteen’s fault. This bracelet was blessed at Tanzhe Temple—please give it to your daughter to calm her nerves.”

Fu Tingyun naturally refused: “The children were just playing. Please don’t take it to heart. Ultimately, it was our Youyou who was wrong for carelessly shooting pebbles.” Then she said to Youyou: “Quickly apologize to the young master of the Li family!”

Youyou was very reluctant, but since her mother had spoken, she dared not disobey. She glared fiercely at Young Master Li before unwillingly saying, “I was wrong.”

Lady Li was very embarrassed and quickly said: “It’s our fault, it’s our fault!” She turned to instruct her son, “Quick, apologize to Madam Zhao and Miss Zhao!”

Young Master Li kept his lips tightly pressed together and wouldn’t make a sound.

Fu Tingyun disliked the child’s personality but didn’t want to deal further with this family. She smiled, downplaying the incident, saying “It’s good that everyone is fine,” and then said to Lady Li: “You rushed over here in such haste, you must have been frightened and worried. Why not come inside for a cup of tea?”

Lady Li was very embarrassed: “I won’t trouble Madam Zhao anymore!” As she spoke, she grabbed her son’s wrist and said in a low voice: “Apologize to Madam Zhao and Miss Zhao immediately!” Her voice contained barely suppressed anger.

Young Master Li raised his eyes and glanced at Fu Tingyun and Youyou, then suddenly jerked his hand, breaking free from Lady Li’s grasp, and ran off like the wind.

Lady Li was stunned.

The maids and servants who had accompanied Lady Li looked as if they wanted to stop the boy but didn’t dare. Seeing this, the servant boy who had been with Young Master Li also ran after him.

Lady Li was so angry that her chest heaved up and down. It took her a while to collect herself.

She curtseyed to Fu Tingyun: “It’s all my fault for failing to teach my son properly. I’ve made a spectacle of myself.”

Her face was flushed red, clearly furious.

“Children do have their tempers,” Fu Tingyun exchanged pleasantries with Lady Li for a while. Seeing that Lady Li seemed distracted, she knew she was still concerned about her child. After a few more courteous words, they parted ways.

Youyou indignantly said: “He’s a liar!”

Fu Tingyun’s face turned stern: “You carelessly shot pebbles and hit someone—is that true or not?”

Youyou immediately deflated, hanging her head as she answered, “Yes.”

“This time we were fortunate that Young Master Li wasn’t hurt. But what if you had truly hit his eye? What would you do then? Even if your eye was also injured, would that make Young Master Li better?” Fu Tingyun took the opportunity to teach Youyou a lesson. “Think about it—when your hand is pricked by a needle, you’re in terrible pain. How much worse would it be if your eye were struck? How sad and distressed would a person be if they lost their eyesight…”

Youyou didn’t dare say a word and stood properly, listening to her mother’s admonishment.

Ah-Sen felt sorry for Youyou and stepped forward to try to intercede, but Wang Jingtong pulled him outside: “Sister-in-law is disciplining the child. Don’t try to smooth things over! Youyou was indeed wrong in this matter.”

“But…” As Ah-Sen was about to argue further, he saw his third sister hurriedly walking in.

“I heard Youyou got into trouble,” she said anxiously, not even taking time to exchange greetings with Ah-Sen and Wang Jingtong. “Where is she? How is everything now?”