Chapter 14: The Wei Family's Reputation Will Be Ruined by This Wretch

When Wei Nisheng threw down the sword, Wei Mingde finally let out a long breath. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground. Lady Cui and Wei Shouzheng sagged with relief, as if all the strength had been drained from them. Only then did the servants watching from a distance dare breathe again.

“Father,” Nisheng said calmly, “today began because Wang Rong insulted me in public. I killed him to protect myself and uphold the family rules. But you and my brother believed a servant’s lies and forced me to kill myself without finding out the truth. Is that simply to be forgotten?”

Mingde stared, his expression changing again. “What… what else do you want?”

“Nothing. I only want Father to remember that, before all these people today, you admitted Wang Rong deserved to die and that I did nothing wrong. If someone uses this against me later, saying the second young master of the Wei family broke the law by killing a man, you’ll have to testify for me.”

Mingde’s face turned livid. The boy had trapped him: not only could he never pursue the matter, he would have to protect his son. But did he dare refuse?

He gritted his teeth and nodded. “Of course I’ll testify for you.”

Nisheng turned to Shouzheng. “Elder Brother.”

Shouzheng flinched.

“You said you were wrong.”

“Y-yes…”

“Then in future, don’t send servants like Wang Rong to my courtyard. Otherwise… something like this might happen again.”

“I won’t! Never again!” Shouzheng nodded repeatedly.

Lastly, Nisheng looked at Lady Cui. She forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Nisheng, Mother…”

“You needn’t say anything, Mother.” He cut her off, and her smile froze.

Without another glance at them, he turned toward the side courtyard, Wei An close behind. Beneath the moon, the old man and the boy gradually disappeared into the night. Behind them remained Mingde and the other two, slumped on the ground, and the servants whispering fearfully in the distance.

By tomorrow, the whole residence would know what had happened. Who would still dare treat the second young master as someone to bully at will?

……

Back in the side room, Wei An lit a lamp. Candlelight flickered as Nisheng sat at his desk.

“Uncle Wei, did Wang Rong have any family?”

Wei An paused, thinking the boy felt guilty. He was about to answer when Nisheng continued, “If he has family, have them all beaten to death tonight. His mother, his children—it doesn’t matter.”

Wei An was shaken, but quickly explained. “He was alone. His parents died long ago. He was a household-born servant bound for life, and he liked to gamble, so the old master never arranged a maid for him to marry.”

“I see.” Nisheng breathed easier. “Uncle Wei, is the channel you used to spread my poem still available?”

“What would you like spread this time, Second Young Master?”

Nisheng fixed his gaze on him and spoke deliberately. “The Wei family’s second son, defending his honor and his household’s reputation, killed a wicked slave who insulted his master, thereby upholding the family rules.”

“I won’t waste this chance. I want Father to have no opportunity to strike back, and I’ll build a reputation for myself at the same time.”

Wei An nodded. “Yes.”

With everything arranged, Nisheng finally relaxed. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling slightly.

They hadn’t trembled when he killed Wang Rong, when he walked out of the hall with the sword, or when he stood below the hall confronting his family. Now that everything was arranged, now that he was safe and no one else was there, his hands began to shake.

Wei An brought a basin of warm water and set it gently before him. “Second Young Master, wash your face first.”

Nisheng nodded, bent over the basin and cupped water in his hands, washing the blood from his face. The water was warm.

“Second Young Master,” Wei An said softly, “today you…”

Nisheng was silent for a moment. “Uncle Wei, I’m older now. I don’t like kneeling in the ancestral hall.”

Wei An’s eyes grew hot. He nodded. “I know. I know.”

Outside, the moonlight was cold. In the room, the old man and the boy faced each other without speaking. Everything looked as it had before tonight, yet everything had changed.

……

Meanwhile, in the main hall, servants had carried Wang Rong’s body away and washed the blood from the floor. Several servant women came and went with buckets, scrubbing again and again.

Mingde slumped in the principal seat, his official robe rumpled and his belt hanging loose. He stared blankly toward the entrance, lost in thought. Lady Cui sat beside him, distracted. Shouzheng kept his head down, one cheek swollen, not daring to speak. The three sat in silence.

At last Lady Cui could bear it no longer. “Husband… we can’t let that wretch remain.”

Mingde frowned at her. She spoke faster and faster, as though afraid that if she stopped she would never get the words out.

“Did you see him tonight? The way he looked at us after killing Wang Rong… A ten-year-old kills a man without changing expression, then carries a sword and forces his father and brother to admit fault? Today he could kill Wang Rong. Tomorrow he might dare kill…”

She didn’t finish, but her meaning was plain.

Shouzheng raised his head, his swollen face full of grievance and hatred. “Father! Mother is right! That wretch has no regard for us at all! He made me kneel and admit fault, and I did. He made me slap myself, and I did! But you saw the way he looked at me when he left!”

He covered his cheek, his voice turning tearful. “Father, my apprenticeship is the day after tomorrow. If this gets out, how can I show my face? You must stand up for me!”

Lady Cui added, “Husband, Shouzheng is right. If this goes unpunished, the wretch will be even more lawless. How can we live in peace?”

As they spoke in turn, Mingde’s face grew darker. At last he slammed his palm on the table. A teacup jumped and fell, spilling tea across the floor.

“Enough!”

Lady Cui and Shouzheng jumped and fell silent. Mingde rose and pointed at his eldest son. “You still have the face to speak? Who started this tonight?”

Shouzheng went pale.

“Do you think I’m a fool?” Mingde advanced on him, his robe brushing the broken porcelain with a rasp. “Thinking back now, why did that wretch go mad tonight? Because he was driven too far! And don’t you know who drove him?

“Wang Rong was your man! Why did he go to the side courtyard? What did he say in public? Don’t you know? And then you sent that vile servant to slap his face and spit on him three times. Would you have endured it?”

Shouzheng lowered his head, unable to defend himself.

“The legitimate eldest son of the Wei family, deceived by a servant into spreading lies, used as someone else’s weapon!” Mingde’s anger grew, his voice echoing through the empty hall. “Now you remember your apprenticeship? The banquet is the day after tomorrow! What else do you want to stir up? Must the entire city hear that the Weis allowed a servant to insult a son and forced their own child to his death? Must Master Qin hear it before you’re satisfied?”

“I wouldn’t dare!” Shouzheng dropped to his knees, shaking.

“I think you dare plenty!” Mingde drew a deep breath. “In any case, the Wei family’s century of good repute will not be destroyed in my hands!”

Lady Cui waited until his anger had subsided a little, then ventured, “Master… what should we do now?”

Mingde was silent for a moment. He returned to his seat and rubbed his brow. “Everything… must give way to Shouzheng’s apprenticeship banquet.”

He looked up at Lady Cui and Shouzheng, his gaze dark. “Once the banquet is over and my own business is settled, we’ll deal with that wretch. Until then…” His voice went cold. “Both of you keep quiet! No one is to provoke him again. Do you hear me?”

Lady Cui and Shouzheng exchanged a glance and lowered their heads. “Yes.”

Candlelight flickered over three pale faces. The hall fell silent again. In the distance, a watchman’s clapper sounded: the third watch of the night.

Shouzheng and Lady Cui returned to their rooms. Mingde alone leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, but the image kept returning: his second son standing in the moonlight, blood on his face, sword in hand, demanding answers.

“The Wei family’s century of good repute will one day be ruined by that wretch!”