Qi Yue wasn’t finished yet, her gaze sweeping over the Wang family members in the room.

“Master, don’t speak so loftily. You’re just bullying people with your power, aren’t you? If you were a common family, would you dare act this way?” she said with a smile. “Put it another way—if I were a commoner, you could arrest people for nothing and beat them for nothing, but who told you to be unlucky enough to run into me? You can bully people with your power, so why can’t I? You say I hit my own face? You being surrounded and attacked by me—that’s hitting your own face!”

I’ve already transmigrated, which is unlucky enough. Don’t try to pressure me with official authority and status. It’s just one life, one breath—what’s the big deal? Who are you trying to scare? What do I have to fear!

Wang Tongye’s face turned iron-blue, his body trembling. It had been a long time since he’d seen anyone dare speak to him this way. The only time he remembered seeing such an attitude was in childhood when he was ignorant and fooling around with peers.

Young people were just too arrogant! This wasn’t a good thing! And she was a woman! Looking at the man standing beside her, he showed no sense of impropriety whatsoever, taking it all for granted!

“Grandfather,” Young Master Wang suddenly spoke up. “I’m afraid there really is a misunderstanding here.”

“What misunderstanding?” Wang Tongye’s voice was stiff, clearly extremely angry.

“Young Madam, you mean your face was struck by us first?” Young Master Wang looked at Qi Yue and asked. “Not that you were hit while striking us?”

“If you hadn’t hit me first, would I have hit you? Am I such an unreasonable person?” Qi Yue snorted, looking at him with some contempt.

Am I that stupid? To strike first and give others ammunition? Even if I were in the right, it would become wrong!

Young Master Wang’s expression stiffened slightly at her question. Though this was their first meeting, she did indeed seem a bit unreasonable…

“Grandfather, let’s call the steward to ask,” he said to Wang Tongye in a low voice.

From Qi Yue’s words, Wang Tongye also gleaned something. He took several deep breaths to suppress his anger and waved his hand.

Only then did everyone realize the steward was missing.

After much bustle, they finally found the steward sleeping in a corner of the gatehouse. After taking a few punches and being dragged to the gatehouse, when everyone went to fight, no one paid attention to him, so the old man had slept soundly in the gatehouse.

“It’s him!” Que Zhi immediately shouted upon seeing this wretched old man. “He’s the one who hit our young madam! And me too!”

Looking at the steward being carried in, reeking of alcohol and still not waking up when thrown on the ground, Wang Tongye already understood roughly what had happened.

This time it was truly… utterly unlucky!

It showed how unworthy descendants and subordinates could implicate the entire family.

“Splash him awake,” Wang Tongye ordered.

A bucket of winter’s cold water was poured over him, and the steward jumped up with a shriek.

“What happened? Who?” he shouted. “Little girl, little wretch, I’ll beat you to death…”

Que Zhi very timely stood in front of him, and the steward very cooperatively shouted these words.

“Lord…” Like a frightened little rabbit, she rushed toward Chang Yuncheng.

A’Hao reached out to stop her.

“Don’t be afraid. We’re all here. Let’s see if he dares to hit you again,” she snorted, very considerately taking Que Zhi into her arms.

All the Wang family members sighed inwardly.

“Wretch!” Wang Tongye shouted. “You got drunk and didn’t go home, what are you still doing in the house? Causing such trouble! Kneel down!”

The bucket of water had sobered the steward halfway, and combined with his master’s shout, as he knelt down he glanced around the room, seeing several familiar-looking women. His heart immediately jumped with alarm, and hazy post-drinking memories made him break out in cold sweat.

“Old Master, this servant was confused and shouldn’t have been greedy for drink,” he said, immediately slapping himself repeatedly.

“Do you recognize who this is? Why didn’t you come report when people arrived?” Wang Tongye shouted, pointing to Qi Yue and the others.

The steward looked at Qi Yue in panic.

“This servant saw them at the gate, but was drunk and confused, didn’t hear clearly and couldn’t remember which madam…” he said tremblingly, while kowtowing to Qi Yue. “This servant deserves death for offending Madam. This servant should die, was drunk and confused and failed to announce…”

Qi Yue frowned slightly. Could she really be so unlucky? Had her announcement of her name not reached the Wang family master’s ears but only reached this drunken steward? And then…

Was this real or fake?

“If we had known it was Young Madam of Marquis Dingxi visiting, how could we have ignored it?” Young Master Wang spoke from the side. “Young Madam, you’re not an unreasonable person, and we’re not unreasonable people either.”

He said this while looking meaningfully at Qi Yue.

The meaning was: you’re not stupid, and we’re not stupid either, to be caught in such matters.

That was indeed true. It seemed this time was truly… unlucky.

“Then this time it’s really misunderstanding upon misunderstanding upon misunderstanding,” she said with a bitter smile, spreading her hands.

This smile made her swollen face look even uglier.

Chang Yuncheng felt the irritation in his heart hard to calm.

“Misunderstanding? Misunderstanding or not, the hitting still happened,” he said coldly.

Wang Tongye’s expression, which had been about to soften, immediately darkened again.

“Then what does Lord want?” he asked flatly.

“Whichever hand did the hitting must pay,” Chang Yuncheng replied equally flatly.

At these words, everyone in the room’s expressions changed slightly.

Qi Yue was also startled.

The steward’s face turned even paler, but having lived to this age and risen from feeding horses to become today’s outer courtyard steward wasn’t due to dog-shit luck.

“Old Master, this servant caused all the trouble. Never mind the hand—even this life, this servant is too ashamed to want,” he said chokingly while kowtowing. “This servant will go make it quick and clean right now…”

Since this was all a misunderstanding, Qi Yue planned to let it go. After all, neither side really gained advantage—she had been inexplicably beaten, and the Wang family had greatly lost face. It was even.

“Forget it, since it’s a misunderstanding…” Qi Yue hurriedly pulled Chang Yuncheng and said quietly.

Wang Tongye had already stood up, first stopping the steward who was rising to cover his face and rush out, then looking coldly at Chang Yuncheng.

“Since Lord wants to resolve this misunderstanding this way, then how do you plan to resolve the misunderstanding of inciting crowds to surround and attack my Wang family’s gate?” he said slowly. “My family’s gate may not compare to your Marquis Dingxi estate’s entrance, but those two characters ‘Wang Residence’ were personally bestowed by the Emperor when I returned to my hometown in Rongyang…”

Bestowed by the Emperor! Qi Yue was greatly shocked. In ancient times, this was extraordinary—if brought up, never mind just two characters, even the greatest official would have to kneel when told to!

This was bad—this time it was a hard collision…

The steward knelt to the side covering his face, his seemingly weeping face carrying a trace of fortunate smile. Anyone serving as a family’s old master would necessarily protect family members. No matter how wrong they were, punishing them internally was fine, but if others wanted to punish them, that wouldn’t be a matter of punishing this person but a matter of the entire Wang family’s dignity.

How could someone of Wang Tongye’s status allow a junior to slap his face like this?

If Marquis Dingxi himself came, that might be different, but unfortunately…

The steward’s smile grew thicker. What kind of person Marquis Dingxi was, the entire Yongqing Prefecture and even the entire court knew all too clearly…

A heir was just a heir—there was still a father above. No matter how fierce you were, what could you do? If your own father wouldn’t help you, why should others be polite to you?

Chang Yuncheng’s expression remained unchanged, still looking coldly at Wang Tongye. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone shouting outside.

“Marquis Dingxi… has arrived…”

The announcement was only half-finished when seven or eight guards surrounded Marquis Dingxi as he strode in, with Wang family servants following behind in embarrassment, trying to intercept.

Marquis Dingxi had actually come too! Everyone in the room was again surprised, and even the steward forgot to cry in his amazement.

“How to resolve it?” Marquis Dingxi arrived and didn’t even look at Chang Yuncheng and Qi Yue, going directly toward Wang Tongye and almost standing right in front of him. “How to resolve it?”

He shouted loudly, his voice trembling, whether from excitement or something else.

“Surnamed Wang, your family’s gate plaque was bestowed by the Emperor, so it can’t be smashed or charged? My family’s daughter-in-law was also married by imperial decree, but you beat and cursed her?”

At these words, Wang Tongye’s expression also changed.

This was bad—he had truly forgotten this matter, or rather, such things had never crossed his mind.

“My lord, this matter is a misunderstanding…” he said with a softened expression.

“Misunderstanding?” Marquis Dingxi interrupted him, his face flushed red. “Easy to handle—let’s both submit memorials explaining this misunderstanding and see how the Emperor judges!”

If they really submitted memorials, never mind how the Emperor would scold them for such ridiculous affairs, when those court ministers learned of it, it would inevitably become a laughingstock.

Moreover, compared to the Wang family who relied on official careers to maintain their family’s hereditary honor, Marquis Dingxi was the kind of hereditary noble who could live comfortably just relying on ancestors as long as he didn’t rebel or disobey—he was barefoot and unafraid of those wearing shoes.

Simply put, Marquis Dingxi was shameless, while the Wang family couldn’t afford to lose such face.

“My lord, how can such children’s play be brought before His Majesty!” Wang Tongye said decisively, reaching out to grab Marquis Dingxi’s arm. “Children’s matters should be resolved by children. We elders shouldn’t join in the excitement…”

Marquis Dingxi spat.

Indeed, grandfather was right—some people were outwardly strong but inwardly weak. If you got tough, they got soft.

“Children’s matters?” he said indignantly, shaking off Wang Tongye’s hand. “Then why were you just threatening my two children? Master Wang, people say ‘old becomes young again’—are you now considering yourself a child?”

Wang Tongye wanted to spit in Marquis Dingxi’s face, while also feeling very surprised.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with Marquis Dingxi, knowing he was completely a wine sack and rice bag, the type most afraid of trouble and lazy to stand out, so under the banner of loving refinement, he was actually playing the shrinking turtle.

By logic, shouldn’t he be hiding at home pretending not to know? And when he himself went to demand an explanation afterward, pretending anger while scolding his own family members, trying to minimize major issues into minor ones and minor ones into nothing?

How was he like he’d been injected with chicken blood today, relentlessly insisting on making things bigger?

“My lord, you didn’t see—late at night my home was suddenly surrounded and attacked. We can’t just not ask anything or even get angry, can we? Such a big matter, we must have some accountability!” A junior couldn’t help but stand out and speak.

As soon as he stood out, Wang Tongye and Young Master Wang both silently cried out in alarm. Before they could speak to stop him, Marquis Dingxi had already spoken.

“Accountability?” He flung off Wang Tongye and went toward this young man, raising his hand in a slap. “What a joke! Your Wang family first arrested my people, then beat my family’s young madam, and you want accountability from me? A life for a life—what accountability? You, a mere nobody junior, speak insolently to me. This slap I give you is your accountability. Do you understand now?”

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded, including Chang Yuncheng and Qi Yue.

This… was this really still the same Marquis Dingxi who took pride in refinement, was ashamed of coarseness, hung high when affairs didn’t concern him, and hid his head when they did?

Could he have been transmigrated too?

This thought flashed through Qi Yue’s mind.