Over on his side, Wei Chengxi had been helped out of the coffin by his servants. With his greatest backer — his grandmother — right there, he didn’t even bother to lift his head before he started shouting, “I never admired her. Isn’t she just a household in decline? To be taken in as my concubine — she should be grateful I’m even considering it.”

The whole scene fell silent.

A household in decline? He was talking about the Hua family?

The people who had dared to come and watch were either servants sent by various households, or people bold enough — or well-connected enough — to be there on their own. Among them were quite a few scholars, and once someone pointed out Hua Zhi, more had followed. Now they were all furious beyond words. How had the Hua family become a household in decline?

Before any of them could do anything, Hua Zhi smiled. Only the smile, however one looked at it, was thoroughly cold. “Even a household in decline has its dignity. Young Master Wei may rest assured — even if the Hua family doesn’t have a single grain of rice left, we will never come begging at your Wei family’s door. And please take note, Young Master Wei: when the Hua family selects a son-in-law, he must either have a mind full of learning, or character of the highest order. At the very least, he must come from a respectable family. May I ask, Young Master Wei — by which of these measures do you qualify?”

“Pfft—” Someone laughed. It was as though a switch had been flipped, and laughter broke out one after another in quick succession.

Backed into a corner and burning with fury, Wei Chengxi threw off his grandmother’s restraining hand and lunged at Hua Zhi. The distance between them was only a few paces, and the Hua family guards all had their hands occupied with the coffins — by the time they could move to intercept, it would be too late. Zhu Ziwen leapt down from his horse but wouldn’t reach in time either. Just as everyone braced for Hua Zhi to come off poorly — twenty-three children dropped into fighting stances they had learned from their martial arts instructor, baring their teeth at Wei Chengxi like protective young animals guarding their den. Even Zeng Han puffed out his small chest and stepped forward, while Hua Zhi, who had been standing at the front, found herself now standing at the very back — shielded by a wall of younger brothers.

The sight of it struck the heart.

The Hua family — once so prosperous and illustrious — had come to this: even its small children understood that they had to protect themselves, and had already taken on the responsibility of shielding their sisters.

To call the Hua family a household in decline — on this point alone, the Hua family would never truly fall. Whether a family can go far does not depend on its elders. It depends on its young.

Wei Chenzi, who had been standing by, spoke up at just the right moment. “Stop this foolishness — go kneel in the ancestral hall!”

Hua Zhi pushed down the bitterness in her chest and glanced once at Wei Chengxi — who was clearly itching to push forward even now, though he could not — before turning back and speaking. “The Wei family’s household discipline is truly admirable. This humble one has seen it firsthand.”

Wei Chenzi could have wished for the ground to swallow him up. He shot a fierce glare at his son and was about to smooth things over — when Hua Zhi straightened, gave a proper bow, and the relentless force she had been pressing with was suddenly, smoothly withdrawn. “My grandfather taught me: when things go wrong, do not only think of acting on a moment’s heat — stepping back may yet open up a broader sky. I’ll leave these coffins out of this.”

“…” Zhu Ziwen, standing to the side, twitched the corner of his mouth. If not for Elder Master Hua’s teachings, had she been planning to leave the coffins planted at their gate?

Wei Chenzi understood the message perfectly — and yet, the Wei family was in the wrong first, and Hua Zhi was a young woman who had somehow managed, on sheer force of bearing alone, to hold him in check. He genuinely believed she was capable of it — leaving all twenty-four coffins at his family’s gate was not beneath her.

If she had done that, the Wei family would have become the laughingstock of the entire capital. A quarrel between juniors could still be explained away — but having one’s gate blockaded with coffins was a slap to the Wei family’s face, and at this particular moment in time, they absolutely could not afford that.

He softened his tone, and his expression came around into something almost warm. “It was my son who made a mess of things. I apologize to you on his behalf.”

And with that, Wei Chenzi actually bent at the waist.

Hua Zhi inwardly sneered. If she accepted this bow, she would have no leg to stand on — right or wrong alike. He had thought well of himself.

She stepped aside to dodge it, then returned the bow in kind. “Master Wei also has a daughter. Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto yourself. Please forgive this humble one for having been too hasty — and for not knowing when to hold back. I hope there will be no next time. If there is, I don’t know what I might do.”

She gave one more bow, then gestured for her maids to help Hua Ling into the carriage, and followed her in. Standing on the footboard, she gave the final order. “Take the coffins to the Hua family’s ancestral burial ground. Baiyu — keep the brothers close to the carriage. We’re going home.”

The boy whose name had been called, Baiyu, gave a start and answered briskly.

“My father asked me to send his regards to Master Wei, and says he looks forward to calling on you another day.” Zhu Ziwen cupped his hands toward Wei Chenzi, swung back into the saddle, and rode off as escort alongside the carriage.

This was the Zhu family’s stance — Wei Chenzi understood it clearly. The Zhu family’s support for the Hua family had never been concealed from the start. By rights, the Emperor ought to have taken issue with that — yet strangely, His Majesty had lately been looking on Zhu Bowen with particular favor, and had just recently promoted him one rank: from the second rank lower to the second rank upper, a step some men spent ten years trying to cross.

Wei Chenzi shot a fierce glare at his son and turned back into the house. Wei Chengxi paid it no mind — his father had always been a paper tiger where he was concerned. With grandmother on his side, he wasn’t afraid of anything.

At this moment, he was still seething with wounded pride, turning over in his mind how to get back what he had lost today — he was absolutely going to make the Hua family pay for this.

The front gate swung shut with a heavy bang behind him. Wei Chengxi looked up by chance — and a slap seemed to materialize out of nowhere, landing hard against his face with a crack. He cried out and stared at his father in disbelief. The Dowager Madam heard the sound and turned back from ahead, her expression instantly hardening as she marched back with her walking staff, rapping it sharply against her son’s shin. “So you hit my grandson — I’ll hit you right back!”

Wei Chenzi tried once. He tried twice. The third time, he couldn’t hold back. “Mother — are you aware that the Wei family has been planning to hold a scholarly salon?”

The Dowager Madam might not have her head on straight when it came to her grandson, but she understood everything else she was supposed to. Her formidable bearing crumpled at once. Wei Chengxi, sensing the tide was turning against him, turned on the tears for his grandmother immediately. “Grandmother, what did I do wrong? The Wei family hosting a salon is meant to embarrass the Hua family — isn’t what I did today also meant to make trouble for them? I was trying to help the family!”

The Dowager Madam thought about it and decided he had a point. Back came the fire, and she rounded on her son. “The boy is right — his way was a bit ruthless, but the goal was the same as yours! How can it be fine for you to do it, but not for my grandson?”

“Did he accomplish it? Did he embarrass the Hua family? He didn’t — he embarrassed the Wei family!” Whatever remained of Wei Chenzi’s refined manner had vanished completely. He jabbed a finger at his eldest son’s nose. “Do you know what time it is? It’s the season when scholars have gathered in the capital from everywhere! The Hua family sat on their pedestal for so many years — did you think one sentence of exile knocked them off? I’m telling you — it didn’t. When the Hua family’s Dowager Madam died, every scholar in the city came to see her off. They still believe in the Hua family. For the Wei family to take the Hua family’s place cannot be accomplished in a year or two — it must be done slowly, step by careful step. And you were stupid enough to go and stomp on the Hua family at a time like this. What does that look like to everyone else? It looks like kicking a man while he’s down — like preying on a family that has no one left to stand up for it. With that kind of name, how do you expect scholars to follow you? Dream on!”

Wei Chengxi was a reckless fool, but he was not entirely without a brain. His father’s dressing-down shook him clear — he forgot the sting on his face entirely, and quickly pointed upward. “Didn’t you say you have that person’s backing?”

“And that depends on whether the Wei family can hold up under it. Now go kneel in the ancestral hall!” Wei Chenzi snapped his sleeve and strode toward his study. He needed to sit down with his father and think through a response.