Li Dage held the bench and stood beside this woman. As the focus of the scene, he naturally felt the change in atmosphere.

He couldn’t help but straighten his body again, gripping the bench tighter in his hands as he watched the guards gradually surrounding them.

He suddenly remembered listening to storytelling at the teahouse, where the book described how a certain great general single-handedly held a pass against ten thousand enemies – the scene was tragic and heroic. At that time, everyone listened with blood boiling and hearts yearning. Of course, he knew that someone like him would never have such an experience in his next life either; at most he’d grin foolishly about it in dreams.

But at this moment, seeing the opposing force’s strength while his own side had only a woman and a youth, with all the heavy burden resting on his shoulders, his heart suddenly grew hot.

One man holding a pass against ten thousand enemies, a life-and-death battle both tragic and glorious – this must be exactly that feeling!

But soon, Li Dage was stunned, because people around him began to move.

Liu Pucheng was the first to step forward, blocking in front of Qi Yue.

“Sir, please don’t harm Lady Qi,” he said with a bow to the steward and others.

“You old man, get out of the way,” the steward cursed.

Liu Pucheng didn’t move, and one after another, disciples came to stand with him. They positioned themselves in front of Liu Pucheng, and though they were timid, they still came forward.

“What are you doing?” the steward glared and shouted. “What do you want to do? Don’t you know who we are? Are you rebelling? Get out of the way!”

None of the disciples moved.

The scene reached a standoff.

The surrounding spectators began chattering.

“Fight already! What’s with all the dawdling! Are you chickening out?” the idle spectators jeered.

Chickening out! Could they be intimidated by a few skinny chickens? If word got out, they’d never live it down!

The steward pointed his finger.

“Will you move or not? If not, don’t blame us if our clubs don’t have eyes!” he shouted. “Daring to oppose our Marquis Dingxi household – are you tired of living? Show some backbone, don’t let people look down on us!”

This last sentence was directed at the Marquis Dingxi household guards.

With these words, the guards swung their clubs and let out unified battle cries.

Their imposing manner was indeed impressive. The disciple standing at the front couldn’t help but tremble, grabbing onto the nearest other disciple and closing his eyes. Though there was panic, still no one left.

“Teachers, all of you step aside. This doesn’t concern you,” Qi Yue said, gripping the door bar tightly in her hands.

Just then, noisy sounds came from the distance, along with chaotic footsteps.

“Move aside, move aside,” voices called out loudly.

Everyone turned to look at the sound, and saw a group of people surging down the street – some on horseback, some running, all holding clubs and sticks in a chaotic rush.

The crowd immediately scattered in confusion.

What was this? Who were these people? Was there a riot?

“A fight?” On the horse at the very front, Huang Ziqiao forcefully cracked his riding whip. “Everyone get out of my way!”

The whip lashed about wildly, and people around cried out as they hurriedly dodged. The path quickly cleared, and Huang Ziqiao’s people surged forward, surrounding the Marquis Dingxi household’s men.

Things seemed to be going badly…

“Young Master Huang, you’re…” The steward naturally recognized Huang Ziqiao and hurried forward to bow. “Look, this is our Marquis Dingxi household reclaiming property…”

Before he could finish speaking, Huang Ziqiao lashed him with the whip.

“Reclaim your mother’s property! Is this property you can reclaim!” Huang Ziqiao scolded, all his accumulated anger directed at the man.

The Marquis Dingxi had only been hit with two handfuls of mud, and Chang Yuncheng remained impossible to corner. At this rate, Huang Ziqiao had already been preparing to sneak over in the dark to smash the Marquis Dingxi household’s main gate to vent his anger.

“Young Master Huang!” The steward dodged the lashing, both angry and ashamed. “What do you want to do! I’m from the Marquis Dingxi household…”

The guards hurried forward to protect him, finally allowing the steward to avoid the beating.

But Huang Ziqiao’s strikes were much fiercer than Yuan Bao’s. The steward touched the corner of his mouth, saw blood on his hand, and immediately could no longer restrain himself.

So what if he was the prefect’s son! Even the prefect couldn’t be insolent before the Marquis Dingxi household!

“Young Master Huang! You’ve gone too far! Don’t blame our Marquis Dingxi household for not being polite!” the steward said angrily, waving his hand at the same time.

The guards split in half, pointing their clubs at Huang Ziqiao’s side.

“Little Qiao, don’t cause trouble,” Qi Yue called out, looking at Huang Ziqiao. “This doesn’t concern you, go home quickly.”

“Young Master Huang, you probably don’t know yet – Lady Qi is no longer part of our Marquis Dingxi household. You should think more carefully about your actions…” the steward also shouted.

His response was a curse from Huang Ziqiao.

“Think about your grandmother!” he shouted. “Whoever wants to bully Lady Qi, that’s my business.”

Huang Ziqiao’s riding whip pointed at the Marquis Dingxi household’s steward and guards.

“Lady Qi is my, Huang Ziqiao’s, life-saving benefactor. Whoever has trouble with Lady Qi has trouble with me,” he said, his young voice hoarse. “A fight? Who’s afraid of whom? Let’s fight!”

With his shout of “Let’s fight!”, the household servants he brought immediately roared, pointing their clubs at the Marquis Dingxi household’s people.

The Marquis Dingxi household guards hurriedly prepared their defenses.

The atmosphere on both sides grew tense.

“Little Qiao!” Qi Yue called out. Just as she was about to say more, more noisy sounds came from outside.

“Fight! Fight! Start fighting already!”

Footsteps and battle cries rolled over like thunder.

The watching crowd scattered with a whoosh, and large groups of people came running from both sides of the street, each competing to be first, as if rushing for a mountain of gold, afraid that being one step slow would mean getting nothing.

All four directions were blocked, and they were surrounded three or four layers deep, with clubs raised like a forest.

What was… what was happening?

The Marquis Dingxi household’s people were completely dumbfounded.

“Don’t fight, don’t fight,” Qi Yue couldn’t care about holding her door bar anymore, hurrying anxiously, afraid these little ancestors would really start fighting.

As the saying goes, a good dog can’t fight off many mangy dogs, and random punches can kill an old master. Although the Marquis Dingxi household guards were bigger and better equipped, compared to these half-grown boys, they were already at a disadvantage just in numbers.

The steward at this moment had no trace of his earlier imposing manner left. He was completely speechless.

His thoughts went much deeper than Qi Yue’s. Looking at these people surrounding them, most of the leaders were young masters in fine silk clothing. Some he recognized, others he didn’t, but he could already be certain these were all sons of major households in Yongqing Prefecture. He might not fear one prefect’s son, but so many families… Besides, if it really came to fighting, they couldn’t win either!

“Everyone stop causing trouble,” Qi Yue called out. Only then did the surrounding clamor gradually quiet down.

The dozen or so Marquis Dingxi household guards had long since put away their clubs. In the dense encirclement, they appeared particularly outnumbered and weak, heads lowered without any trace of prestige left. From a distance, they no longer looked like they were preparing to attack and break through, but rather like they were being protected by Qi Yue.

“You should go back,” Qi Yue looked at them. “Tell the Marquis that this house was bought with my dowry and has nothing to do with him, so don’t cause trouble.”

The steward kept his head down, neither speaking nor looking at her. At this moment, seeing everyone around watching with hostile eyes and eager to try, he didn’t dare say another word.

“Also, tell the Marquis that the divorce papers have been obtained, and I’ll be coming back in the next few days to get my dowry,” Qi Yue said. “If you hadn’t come to remind me today, I would have forgotten.”

After speaking, she gestured for everyone to clear a path.

After some reluctance, a path was grudgingly opened.

The steward kept his head down, gritted his teeth, and walked away without looking back. The guards naturally followed.

The watching idlers made noise, venting their regret at not seeing a melee. In these whistles and laughter, the Marquis Dingxi household group fled like birds.

The steward ran back to the mansion in one breath. The people at the gate lodge showed no surprise at seeing their condition.

“Oh my, Master Ban, what happened to your face?” someone called out loudly.

The steward kept his head down as if he hadn’t heard, dying of shame and anger inside.

He finally understood why those people had avoided this assignment!

Those old foxes!

But why? Why?

“That scene,” someone nearby said lazily with arms crossed, “was just like when we surrounded the Wang family mansion last time. Nothing unusual.”

This was a guard who allegedly had epilepsy and couldn’t go out, speaking to those dejected guards returning.

That expression of calm indifference just made people’s teeth itch with hatred!

Why! Why?

The Marquis Dingxi sat in his study, listening to the steward’s account, also looking bewildered.

Last time those people helped fight when that woman was still the Marquis Dingxi household’s young madam. But now that woman was no longer the Marquis Dingxi household’s young madam!

Why were they still helping her?

Were they blind? Couldn’t they see that woman no longer had the Marquis Dingxi household’s backing?

Were they blind?

The Marquis Dingxi grabbed the teacup in front of him and smashed it hard.

The steward withdrew with a gray face and dirt on his head. Just as he turned around, he saw Chang Yuncheng.

“Prince…” he hurried to bow.

Chang Yuncheng kicked him.

The steward fell backwards, sweating from pain, but didn’t dare speak. He knelt and kowtowed.

“Throw him out!” Chang Yuncheng said coldly, then turned and walked away.

Behind him, two servants pounced like wolves and tigers.

“It’s not my fault, it was the Marquis…” the steward managed to shout once before his mouth was stuffed with rags and he was dragged out.

When Cui Zhi arrived with the Wang family’s people, the battle had long since ended. The street had returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Qi Yue was leading people to clean up the smashed house.

“Lady Qi, you don’t need to worry about this, we’ll handle it,” the foreman said carefully.

“I’m sorry you were frightened,” Qi Yue said to him.

“My lady, you’re being too kind to us,” the foreman said hurriedly, looking fearful.

Qi Yue was never one for empty courtesy. She always believed that accepting was more comfortable for the other party than declining. She smiled and said, “Then I’ll trouble you with this,” and came out.

“Master!” A shout came from Qianjin Hall. A disciple respectfully poked his head out. “Master, there’s an emergency case. Master wants you to take a look.”

Qi Yue responded affirmatively and headed over.

Cui Zhi turned to look at the Wang family people with mutual bewilderment.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” the Wang family steward said to the servants holding weapons.

Everyone put their things away with a clatter.

The steward here noticed Li Dage still standing to the side.

“Dage,” he called out, then realized this man sitting on the bench by the wall looked very strange – his expression was very strange, as if he was very sad?

Sad? This was a word he never would have thought to use for this rough man.

“What’s wrong with you? You weren’t scared, were you?” the steward laughed.

Li Dage snorted and ignored him.

He looked at the sky and let out a heavy sigh, but couldn’t exhale the depression in his heart.

So, it was just that he didn’t have that fate…

It was all those little brats’ fault! They only let him live half his heroic dream…

Li Dage looked aggrieved, his eyes couldn’t help but sparkle with tears, giving the nearby Wang family steward goosebumps.

It seemed this Lady Qi was truly extraordinary – even honest Li Dage had become abnormal after just two days of following her!

“Let’s go, let’s go,” the steward said hurriedly, rushing away with his people.