No one knew which young nobleman he was – the people on the street didn’t recognize him, but from his clothing and the arrogant behavior of his servants, they could tell he definitely wasn’t ordinary.

Qi Yue paced anxiously in circles.

“Never seen him, really never seen him,” the shops they questioned all gave the same answer.

Seeing Qi Yue about to offer another reward, several shop owners quickly stopped her.

“Really haven’t seen him. From his accent, he’s not from our Yongqing Prefecture,” an elderly one said.

Qi Yue calmed down.

“It’s the first month now – there are many visiting relatives. So he must be someone’s visiting relative,” she said.

If they had to investigate that, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

“A’Ru, go home and call for people,” she waved her hand, then instructed the disciples. “We’ll ask along the way – wherever these people went, we should be able to find out.”

Huang Ziqiao rushed down from the tavern, surprising the group of young masters who were still toasting heartily. Thinking something serious had happened, they all followed him down, only to see Huang Ziqiao standing at the tavern entrance looking at the sky.

What was so interesting in the sky?

The group looked up too.

That woman was approaching. Should he take the initiative to greet her or pretend he didn’t see her?

Huang Ziqiao’s heart was about to jump out of his throat from anxiety. Taking the initiative to greet her would be too undignified…

Of course, if she took the initiative to call out and greet him, this young master would reluctantly respond with a few words.

Having made up his mind, Huang Ziqiao straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and stepped out the door, then stopped again.

Should he walk toward her head-on or walk in the same direction?

“Young Master, what exactly are you trying to do?” someone finally couldn’t help asking.

Others quietly asked Huang Ziqiao’s attendant if their young master’s brain was okay, aside from having his belly cut open once.

“Get lost,” Huang Ziqiao glared at them irritably. “I’m going to buy something.”

Having said this, he ignored them and walked out.

He strolled leisurely. Apart from the chattering nonsense from his friends behind him, no female voice called out to stop him.

“Go away, step aside a bit, you’re blocking,” Huang Ziqiao waved back at them.

His friends looked down at themselves.

“Blocking what?” they asked in confusion, turning to look around.

“Blocking the road!” Huang Ziqiao glared, his gaze catching that woman stopping and talking anxiously to several passersby…

After asking a few questions, she hurriedly came this way.

Huang Ziqiao suddenly turned his head and continued walking.

That woman swept past him like a gust of wind…

Hey…

Huang Ziqiao stared with wide eyes, seeing the woman stop a few steps away and call to a shop clerk.

“Have you seen several people dragging someone – Hu San from Qianjin Hall – pass by?” Qi Yue asked, gesturing to describe Hu San’s height and appearance.

Qianjin Hall was quite famous now. The shop clerk shook his head, then quickly called others to ask.

“With so many people on the street, we really didn’t notice,” was the disappointing final result.

Qi Yue exhaled with some worry. After chasing to this point, perhaps because there were too many people on the street, or perhaps those people had already bound Hu San securely without struggle or noise, no one had noticed this group passing by.

Had they taken the wrong route? Or did this group live nearby?

She turned her head and suddenly her eyes lit up.

“Xiao Qiao,” she called out.

With this shout, his friends discovered that Huang Ziqiao, whom they were about to carry off to find a doctor, finally moved.

Huang Ziqiao’s whole body stiffened, looking at the woman who had walked up to him in a few steps, feeling his ears burn.

He made “um” and “ah” sounds, with an expression that said ‘who is this woman, I don’t know you.’

Qi Yue ignored the little brat’s awkward expression.

“Do you know if any family recently had relatives visit from out of town – a young nobleman?” she asked urgently, gesturing to describe the nobleman’s height and appearance as described by the onlookers.

Huang Ziqiao set aside his awkwardness and listened seriously to what she said.

“Many people came for New Year,” he frowned.

“They just arrested Hu San,” Qi Yue said. “Because he treated an emergency on the street, Hu San gave him artificial respiration and cardiac resuscitation, but it might have been misunderstood.”

Hu San? Huang Ziqiao still remembered him – that sleazy man. With his thieving appearance, this day was bound to come sooner or later.

“You all think quickly – which families have had relatives visit these past few days?” he quickly turned to ask his group of friends.

The result was a group of people talking over each other without coming up with anything coherent.

“Forget asking randomly – I’ll go back and have the magistrate send people to search house by house!” Huang Ziqiao waved his hand. “This is outrageous! The lesson about beating doctors was only a few days ago, and now they dare kidnap doctors again! Find this bastard and throw him out of Yongqing Prefecture!”

When the prefect’s son spoke, this was even more effective than his father. The other young masters naturally wouldn’t miss this chance to show brotherly loyalty while currying favor with the divine doctor, so they each summoned their men.

Groups of household guards carrying clubs kept running past on the street.

The common people, being well-experienced, could tell from this group’s manner that some young master was going to fight again. There had been fights before, but they were all small affairs. They’d never seen so many people running back and forth, and almost all the famous major families had sent people out. Good heavens, this was going to be a massive group brawl!

Who were the opposing sides? What was it about? They hadn’t heard of any new beauties arriving at the brothels recently.

But regardless of the reason, fights had always been scenes the people loved to see, especially during the first month when there were more idle people. Soon enough, crowds of spectators squeezed in, following these people running from east to west and west to east. More and more people joined until it looked like a popular uprising.

Both county magistrates heard the commotion and sent officers to disperse the crowds, but when they saw their own masters’ sons among them, not only did they fail to disperse the crowds, they were also scolded into joining in.

The reason given was that madmen had come to the city, and they should quickly investigate to ensure public safety and property. How dare they serve as officials? How dare they wear these uniforms? They might as well go home and sell tofu!

For a time, shops closed their doors and pedestrians avoided the area. Yongqing Prefecture during the first month suddenly became tense.

Fan Yilin would never have imagined that a clearly poor wretch his servants had casually grabbed would cause such a commotion.

Hu San woke up when he was thrown into the woodshed.

When he was first seized by the servants on the street, he too was very angry.

How long had it been since he, Hu San, had received such treatment!

Since the last time he defeated Wang Qingchun, Qianjin Hall had become famous overnight. With the backing of Marquis Dingxi’s mansion, he could practically walk sideways in Yongqing Prefecture. Not to mention the disciples being beaten or bullied – they didn’t even encounter cold words. Especially him, Hu San, who was responsible for the equipment ordered by his master, was regarded as a god of wealth by blacksmiths, carpenters, and other craftsmen. This New Year he couldn’t finish all the banquet invitations.

Hu San argued angrily with these blind servants for a few sentences, but was met with even more fierce punches. Having neglected exercise while busy with work, Hu San was knocked unconscious, so he was dragged along the whole way without a chance to cry for help.

“I’m a doctor!” He threw himself at the door, shouting to the servants who were about to leave. “I was treating your young master – emergency treatment!”

A servant turned back and spat.

“You pervert, wait until our young master recovers from his shock, then we’ll castrate you,” they said viciously.

Hu San instinctively felt a chill between his legs and couldn’t help but clamp them together, breaking out in cold sweat.

“Tell your young master I’m from Qianjin Hall, I’m the first disciple of Marquis Dingxi’s Young Madam. If you dare touch me, my master won’t let you off!” he shouted. Knowing that nice words wouldn’t work now, he simply resorted to threats.

“Bah, not only a pervert but also a madman.”

The servants laughed mockingly, no longer sparing him a glance, and walked away chatting and laughing.

Here, Hu San grabbed the woodshed door, no longer showing any trace of his earlier bravado, with snot and tears flowing together.

“Master, please come save me quickly…”

Then he thought that when he was captured he had been unconscious, so probably no one knew to report it. He often went to craftsmen’s shops, so if he didn’t return for a while, the disciples at Qianjin Hall wouldn’t pay attention. Even if they really noticed something wrong, it would probably be tomorrow, and by then he might already be castrated…

If he was castrated, even if his master later avenged him, it would be too late!

Heavens, was this where Hu San’s life would end?

Hu San collapsed in the woodshed, still gripping the door.

Master…

At this time, Fan Yilin was also complaining bitterly.

“…And they say Yongqing Prefecture has outstanding people and beautiful scenery – what kind of people does it raise? Right on the street there was such…” He spat here and stopped talking.

“…Brother-in-law, what was there on the street?” a young master about his age asked curiously.

“Street robbery,” Fan Yilin said with a dark face.

He knew he was romantic, elegant, handsome, and extraordinary – beloved by all, flowers blooming wherever he went – but that was only for pretty young ladies. Being pressed down by a man on the street was not worth bragging about at all!

Such shameful things, he was determined to keep buried in his stomach and never speak of again.

Of course, all those servants had also been ordered to keep silent.

“Damn it, I’m in so much pain,” Fan Yilin rubbed his chest. After the shame passed, he felt pain all over. It couldn’t be from being pressed by that pervert…

Bah! Fan Yilin shook his head violently, driving away this terrible thought.

“What mischief were you up to again?” came an elderly, authoritative voice from outside.

Seeing his father-in-law Wang Tongye enter, everyone in the room quickly stood up, all with respectful expressions.

Former Minister of Personnel Wang Tongye had moved away from the capital after retirement, returning to his hometown of Yongqing Prefecture. He kept a low profile, spending his days enjoying flowers and fishing, living in his old country estate most of the time. Only for New Year was he invited back. Having grown accustomed to country life, he increasingly resembled a farmer, but no one dared truly treat him as one. Wang Tongye had been an official for many years with disciples everywhere, and there were important positions among the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers.

“Father-in-law, it was nothing… just encountered a small thief on the road and was almost robbed,” Fan Yilin said respectfully, no longer showing any trace of his earlier casual attitude.

Wang Tongye glanced at this young son-in-law with some dissatisfaction.

“You’re already this old – haven’t you thought about what you want to do?” he said.

Here we go again…

Fan Yilin cried out inwardly. This father-in-law was really like his own grandfather – similar age, similar words.

“I…” he opened his mouth to speak when he heard someone rushing in from outside.

“Master, something’s wrong! Many people have surrounded the gate outside, and the steward has been beaten,” a servant said with a panicked expression.

This startled Wang Tongye.

“What did you say?” he asked, thinking he had misheard.