“My standing here is the evidence.” Hua Zhi raised her voice. “Since the master of the house is unwilling to come out, I’ll carry these coffins in and go invite him myself.”

With that, she stepped forward a few paces. The Hua family servants lifted the coffins in unison, every one of them looking ready to surge through the gate at a moment’s notice.

The steward was at a loss. A hard approach could be answered with a harder one; a harder approach, with one that had nothing to lose. Hua Zhi had settled into this posture of mutual ruin, and he had no response. Yet if he simply allowed them to march in and drag someone out, that was too great a humiliation to swallow. He was still caught between the two when a voice came from inside and a figure walked out. “Don’t go too far.”

It was the Wei family’s Dowager Madam — a senior woman leaning on an imposing walking staff, her bearing stern without any need for anger. “First Young Miss has such nerve. Are you trying to force my Wei family into owning something that has nothing to do with us?”

“I would first like to ask — if I were to speak back even once, would the Dowager Madam accuse me of disrespecting my elders? And if I say nothing at all, would the Dowager Madam then conclude that I have been making false accusations?”

The Dowager Madam, having been read so precisely, stiffened slightly. “I would do no such thing.”

“That’s good to know. I have not come to pay my respects to the Dowager Madam — I have come to resolve a problem.” Hua Zhi gave a cold smile. “It is very simple for the Wei family to clear their name. Have the Wei family’s eldest young master come out and show himself, and all grievances will be settled at once.”

“Hmph. You dictate everything — what does that leave for the dignity of my Wei family?”

“Then I ask the Dowager Madam to say loudly and clearly: the Wei family’s eldest young master is at home right now and has gone nowhere.”

The Dowager Madam opened her mouth to say exactly that. Hua Zhi raised her voice to caution her. “The Dowager Madam would do well to think carefully. The gods watch over us from above — if the Dowager Madam speaks a lie, the Wei family’s eldest young master will face divine retribution.”

“You—”

“I am listening most attentively!”

“A girl raised to be so sharp-tongued — the Hua family is nothing more than that!”

“I may be sharp-tongued, Dowager Madam — you’d best take care, lest I bite a piece out of you.” Hua Zhi pressed forward step by step. “So long as my Third Sister is unharmed, we shall leave it at that. But should she have suffered even the slightest injury, I will see this to the end with your Wei family — one of us will not survive it!”

“Laughable — on the strength of a convicted criminal’s daughter?”

“Yes — on the strength of a convicted criminal’s daughter!” Hua Zhi stepped forward again, and the coffins advanced with her. The older one grew, the less one could bear the sight of coffins — the Dowager Madam’s feet took an involuntary step back, and the greater part of her commanding presence instantly dissolved.

“If the Wei family refuses to produce Wei Chengxi, I will go in and find him myself!”

“Young niece — that is enough.” With those words, a middle-aged man walked out: Wei Chengxi’s father, Wei Chenzi, wearing a short trimmed beard and carrying an air of refinement.

The Wei family had pursued the same path as the Hua family — only what they had learned on the surface was quite far removed from what lay underneath.

Hua Zhi gave a shallow bow, then looked up at the man whose posture of superiority no manner of composure could entirely conceal. “The guards who were protecting my Third Sister witnessed it with their own eyes — your eldest son forcibly took my Third Sister away. By every measure of reason and feeling, I have every right to come to the Wei family and demand her return.”

“We do not have the person you are looking for.”

“Please ask Young Master Wei to come out.”

Wei Chenzi’s brow creased. “Young niece is truly making unreasonable demands. If I were to do as you say, where would that leave my face — or the Wei family’s?”

“Your face is not worth more than my Third Sister.”

“Young niece need not put it so harshly.” Even as he said those words, there was an unmistakable note of satisfaction in his tone — the satisfaction of someone who had pushed another to the very end of their rope. The Hua family, which had held the Wei family in check for so many years, was now before him with nowhere left to go — no better than a cornered dog.

Hua Zhi suddenly smiled. “Does Master Wei think I should be at home quietly waiting for news?”

“It may well be that the young lady simply took a wrong turn, and has already returned home by now.”

“If this had happened to the Wei family, would the Wei family act as you suggest I should?”

“Something that has not happened need not be discussed.”

“It has already happened to my Hua family — and this is how I handle it.” Hua Zhi smoothed back her hair, and then, just as suddenly, withdrew that relentless, pressing force. She turned and pointed to the twenty-four coffins, then pointed to the twenty-four children. “Every child in the Hua family over the age of six and under ten is standing here. If anything happens to my Third Sister, I will bring them, lie down in these coffins, and take up residence at your Wei family’s gate — day after day. If you make it so my Hua family knows no peace, I will make certain your Wei family knows no peace either. And I will let the world see exactly how the Wei family treats the descendants of their former colleagues.”

Simply put: mutual ruin. Neither side would come out well.

This way of carrying on could already be called reckless — but Hua Zhi didn’t care. Whatever Hua Ling had or hadn’t endured, as long as the Wei family still valued their reputation, they would be forced to put on a show — after the girl was found, they would have to pretend, if nothing else, that she had not been touched at all. That was the outcome she needed.

Without a sharp-edged rumor to cut her, Hua Ling could live quietly in the Hua family.

This was the only way she could think of to keep the damage as small as possible. It wasn’t enough for the Hua family to simply cover it up — whatever Wei Chengxi might choose to boast about, it was better to make the whole thing a spectacle, to drag everyone into the mud together.

Wei Chenzi had already cursed his eldest son to the bone in his mind, but outwardly he still had to keep his composure. “There is no need for such haste, young niece. Xi’er truly is not home — I sent him to call on an old friend this morning. This matter truly has nothing to do with him…”

Thud!

Whether bystander or target of the spectacle, everyone’s heads turned toward the source of the sound — someone had been thrown into the last coffin, head-down, legs kicking wildly in the air, letting out a stream of muffled shouts.

Others might not recognize the person, but Wei Chenzi knew his own son — and the Dowager Madam, who spoiled her eldest grandson without restraint, needed no telling at all. Already supported by her attendant, she was half-running toward him, calling out with anxious tenderness for her darling grandson with every step.

Zhu Ziwen sat high on his horse and exchanged a look with his cousin, giving her a small, quiet nod.

Hua Zhi felt her heart drop back into place. It beat so fast she had to take several long, deep breaths before it finally slowed. As long as she’s safe — as long as she’s safe.

A carriage rolled slowly into view. The servants carrying the coffins recognized the Hua family carriage and stepped aside to make way.

The carriage stopped. The curtain lifted, revealing the face within.

Hua Zhi was about to step forward — when she saw that Hua Ling had come out on her own, supported only by her personal maidservant. She could see the strain in it. She could also see the courage. And so she held her ground. In moments like this, standing up on one’s own was worth more than ten thousand words of reassurance.

“This humble one is Hua Ling. I greet Master Wei.”

Wei Chenzi attempted a smile — what came out was closer to a grimace. “Young niece, this is…”

“Had I not once caught a glimpse of Young Master Wei while by my mother’s side, I might have thought that bandits had sprung up at the foot of the Son of Heaven’s own city. Regardless of whether anyone agreed, men were knocked from their horses to extend a most unwelcome ‘invitation’ to view flowers. Had my cousin from the Zhu family not arrived in time, I fear my reputation would have been ruined at Young Master Wei’s hands. If this is the way of the Wei family’s household, everyone would do well to give them a wide berth going forward.”

Wei Chenzi’s expression shifted sharply. If those words spread — the Wei family’s younger generation would be finished.

“Young niece has certainly misunderstood. Xi’er has long admired you — though looking at it now, his feelings were clearly kept within the bounds of propriety. I will apologize on his behalf — please forgive him this once.”

P.S.: Did you all guess it? This is the scene hinted at in the synopsis.