After Transmigrating As The Second Male Lead In Qn Old-School Angsty Romance - Chapter 14

Steward Song had been beaten to death with the rod.

Steward Sun, who served by the heir’s side, had personally brought people to the old madam’s courtyard to seize him. Song Ming had been tied up tightly, his mouth stuffed with a cloth strip, and dragged to the heir’s courtyard like a dead dog. Then he had been beaten to death alive.

When Sun Hong went to seize him, the entire residence saw it. Over the past few years, Song Ming had relied on the old madam’s trust to throw his weight around in front of everyone. Thus, although everyone was afraid, they also felt deeply satisfied. Some of the bolder ones even ran outside the heir’s courtyard to watch the excitement. However, seeing servant after servant beaten with the rod, sent to the authorities, and even Song Ming beaten to death, the scene was far too frightening. A few timid people fainted on the spot.

That entire day, from errand-running young servants to Steward Song by the old madam’s side, the heir dealt with quite a number of people in one breath. No one knew what madness had seized the heir this time. For a while, the people in every courtyard were anxious and unsettled. Those who had guilty consciences were especially silent with fear. The more timid ones were directly frightened into confessing to their own masters, admitting to things like petty theft or gossiping behind people’s backs.

Unsurprisingly, for a long time afterward, the servants of the marquis residence would all hide far away whenever they saw Sun Zibai.

This was not the heir. This was a living King of Hell.

Many uneasy servants knelt and begged their own masters for protection. But Heaven knew that their masters were equally uneasy.

Not only were the various courtyards inside the marquis residence panicking, even the first and third branches in the side residences were panicking even more. After all, even the masters had little status before Sun Zibai, let alone their servants. They feared that no matter the reason, one word from the heir could decide their life or death.

The low pressure hanging over the marquis residence lasted for three days.

Only on the third day did the truth about what happened in the heir’s courtyard slowly reach everyone’s ears. It turned out that all the people beaten had bullied the fourth young master and his mother. Withholding silver, stealing cotton cloth, stealing the masters’ food and using spoiled meals to mistreat them, offending their superiors, humiliating and harming their masters… Not a single one of them was innocent.

Especially that Song Ming who had been beaten to death. Abusing his power for personal gain was only the least of his crimes. Using his position to accept bribes, oppressing masters, using the title of steward of the marquis residence outside to forcibly seize common women, suppressing farmers, and even ordering his subordinates to beat several small merchants to death…

Every single thing revealed was enough to leave people shocked and speechless.

But aside from shock, what surprised everyone even more was that the heir had actually stood up for the fourth young master. Did the heir not hate his concubine-born younger brothers? Especially this fourth young master, who was only ten years old. It was said that he had brought misfortune upon his father.

But very soon, people began spreading word that the heir had said the claim of “bringing misfortune upon his father” was pure nonsense. If he heard such talk again, he would cut out the speaker’s tongue.

Among the servants who had been beaten, several had been punished precisely because they had gossiped and spread rumors. Once everyone heard this, they quickly shut their mouths. No one dared say the words “brought misfortune upon his father” again.

The ones who reacted most strongly were probably the mothers of the other two young masters.

The heir had changed. He was willing to stand up for the fourth young master. Did that mean he no longer hated his concubine-born younger brothers so much?

If that was the case, then their sons had to seize this opportunity. Thus, Sun Ziheng, who had just been frightened by the heir beating people, had only just lain down after an exhausting day when his mother forced him to crawl back up in the middle of the night to practice martial arts.

His mother’s reasoning was simple. “If your heir elder brother tells you to train, then train with all your might. Train as if your life depends on it.”

Sun Ziheng: Eldest Brother really does want to harm me.

As for the third young master’s mother, she was so worried her head hurt. Everyone else’s sons had shown their faces in front of the heir. Only that sinful wretch of hers had yet to return.

Truly, he could not even catch up to a hot mouthful of shit.

Then she heard that the heir had arranged martial arts masters for the second and fourth young masters. Originally, the third young master also had one, but he had gone to Mount Huaqing to seek a peace talisman.

“What sin, what sin! He might as well die outside!”

The third young master’s mother was so angry she nearly fainted. Her father had been a military general by the old marquis’s side, and she had learned a bit of martial arts since childhood. She was bold and straightforward by nature. She could not understand how she had raised such a sinful wretch.

Far away at Qinghua Temple, Sun Ziqian only felt that his ears were especially hot tonight. Could it be that the person he longed for was also missing him?

Thinking this, Sun Ziqian immediately became delighted and sweetly happy. If he persisted for five more days, he would soon obtain the peace talisman personally drawn by Master Kongxiang. When the time came, that person would definitely like it.

In fact, when Sun Zibai had first learned of Song Ming’s matter, he had also been surprised for an instant. However, after only a brief hesitation, he had Sun Hong explain it clearly to Qian Momo. Fortunately, the old madam was someone who understood priorities. Moreover, as long as it was something Sun Zibai wanted to do, the old madam likely had no reason to stop him.

The old madam had not expected the matter to be this serious, but what angered her even more was that she had misjudged someone and been deceived by a servant. Thus, she told Qian Momo to fully cooperate with Sun Zibai.

After that day, Sun Zibai had people completely renovate the fourth young master’s courtyard. He also replaced all the servants attending him. In front of the old madam and Sun Ziyue, he had the stewards make up everything the fourth young master and Qiao-shi should have received over the years. Not a single wen of their monthly allowance was missing, and everything they should have had was made up for. He also arranged a doctor for Qiao-shi.

These were things Sun Ziyue should have had as the fourth young master of the marquis residence. But Sun Zibai would not give him anything extra, unless the fourth young master fought for it himself in the future.

Sun Ziyue’s hatred toward the marquis residence was essentially caused by the original owner’s disgust and oppression, as well as the residence’s neglect of him. This hatred was deeply rooted, and it had probably long since left serious trauma in little Sun Ziyue’s heart. Therefore, this was not something that could be changed overnight. If Sun Zibai wanted to rewrite his ending, he first had to resolve the hatred in his heart.

Punishing the evil servants was only the first step. In truth, Sun Zibai knew very well that the main root of Sun Ziyue’s hatred toward the marquis residence was not these evil servants, but the series of tragedies caused by the residence’s long-term disregard for him and his mother. Of course, in the original plot, the original owner’s later madness, distortion, and various evil deeds were the fundamental reason Sun Ziyue eventually pushed the marquis residence into the abyss. Fortunately, none of those things had happened yet.

Practical action was always more useful than verbal apologies. Besides, asking such an arrogant heir to lower his head and apologize was truly nonsense. Not only would it be useless, it would also collapse his character setting.

Qiao-shi appeared in the old madam’s Xinlan Courtyard for the first time in many years. She had never dared hope that her grievances would be taken seriously, so she remained dazed, feeling that everything she saw and heard was unreal.

Sun Zibai did not forcefully defend the old madam. It was true that after her youngest son’s death, the old madam had been so grief-stricken that she neglected them. It was also true that she had never placed much importance on her concubine-born grandson. And it was true that because of her negligence, she had failed to notice the tragedy Song Ming had caused Sun Ziyue and his mother.

In short, the old madam had never cared much about her concubine-born grandsons. So when she saw Sun Zibai bring the small, thin Sun Ziyue before her, the old madam felt guilty and annoyed that she had been blind and deceived by servants. But she could not pretend to have affection for Sun Ziyue either. She merely instructed Qian Momo to give the mother and son more compensation. Aside from that, there was nothing much more.

This was caused by the era. Sun Zibai had no reason to force the old madam to love this grandson. In truth, Sun Zibai would instead find it even harder to accept if the old madam treated Sun Ziyue with false affection.

As for Sun Ziyue, Sun Zibai did not forcefully defend the old madam, nor did he defend himself.

He did not demand that Sun Ziyue respect and love the old madam, or forgive her. Sun Ziyue absolutely had the right and reason to hate her, just as he had the right to hate Sun Zibai himself.

But through this method, he still told him that over the years, it had not been the old madam who made Song Ming humiliate him and his mother that way. The old madam had also never withheld anything from them.

The pain had already been caused. It could only be handled slowly.

After arranging all this, Sun Zibai turned and asked Sun Ziyue, “Aside from learning martial arts, are you willing to study as well?”

This time, even Sun Ziyue’s calm eyes revealed some surprise. Qiao-shi, who was at the side, was so grateful that she directly knelt before Sun Zibai and thanked him repeatedly.

“Many thanks, heir! Many thanks, heir!”

She did not care what happened to herself, but she cared about her son.

At this moment, Sun Zibai felt with absolute clarity the gap in status between legitimate and concubine-born children in this era. Sun Zibai suddenly thought of Qin Mo. Although the original owner had married him into the residence with a grand bridal sedan, in reality, Qin Mo had no official status, because this had been the price of the old madam’s compromise.

At the time, the original owner had only thought of placating the old madam first. Once Qin Mo was married into the residence, would how things were handled not be up to him, the future Pingnan Marquis?

So strictly speaking, Qin Mo could not even be counted as a concubine. In the original text, Xiao Yiyan later relied on precisely this point to completely erase the relationship between Qin Mo and Sun Zibai. Only then did Qin Mo appear in the capital with a brand-new identity.

A trace of confusion appeared on Sun Ziyue’s small face. But seeing Sun Zibai’s serious expression, he finally nodded. In truth, no one knew that he had always been secretly teaching himself.

“From now on, you will have to learn martial arts and study. Little Fourth, if you remain this thin and weak, your body will not be able to endure it.”

Sun Ziyue’s small body froze. He understood. He had to eat more.

Sun Zibai suddenly thought of the fact that he also had a concubine-born younger sister. She could not be another extreme case too, could she?

But after sorting through the plot, he discovered she was not any kind of extreme case. In fact, this person had so few scenes that she could practically be ignored. After all, this was a world centered around two male protagonists.

Unexpectedly, when he casually asked, he learned that his concubine-born younger sister, who was only fourteen, was already engaged.

Fourteen…

Sun Zibai thought of his niece from his previous life, who at fourteen still did not dare sleep alone at night and would act spoiled, asking her father to carry her upstairs.

Sun Zibai thought for a moment. “Go ask her what she wants to learn, and have her study as well. Whether she likes literature or martial arts, either is fine.”

If a woman in ancient times was too weak, a miserable life would probably become even more miserable. In any case, fourteen was still young. It was not too late to learn anything.

This time, the old madam was truly surprised. She stared at Sun Zibai several times before smiling in satisfaction without stopping. Then she took this matter upon herself. It would be more convenient for Qian Momo to handle it than Sun Hong.

Sun Zibai was naturally happy. Only after eating did he bring Sun Ziyue out of Xinlan Courtyard.

The little fellow remained silent the entire time, and Sun Zibai did not force conversation. Only when they were about to part did Sun Ziyue suddenly open his mouth with difficulty and spit out three unclear words.

“Why… why?”

Sun Zibai lowered his head, just in time to meet Sun Ziyue’s black, bright eyes staring straight at him. In those eyes was stubbornness beyond his age, while his face rarely revealed a little childlike curiosity. He probably truly could not understand why Sun Zibai had suddenly treated him this way.

Sun Zibai thought for a moment, then said, “Because I am your eldest brother.”

The confusion on the child’s face deepened instead. He did not understand. Had the fact that Sun Zibai was his eldest brother not been decided before he was even born? If that was the reason, then why wait until today?

But the child did not ask. He only thoughtfully watched Sun Zibai’s departing back. He believed that sooner or later, he would understand the reason.

On the other side, as Sun Zibai walked, he listened to Sun Hong tell him about recent fresh gossip.

“Master, I heard that the two legitimate young masters of the Xiao family have been fighting fiercely recently. They have caused quite a few jokes.”

“Young Master Zhang of the Zhang residence has invited you several times already. He asked when you will go to Cuixiang Tower. He has kept a seat for you.”

“Master, you haven’t gone out recently. I heard that several young masters of the Qin family have been acting rather arrogant lately. They even call themselves your brothers-in-law. Tsk, tsk. What things.”

“Also, Master, a new place called Misty Rain Tower recently opened and has become especially popular. I heard there are many novel things there, and all kinds of beauties perform on stage. They’re all things we haven’t seen before.” As Sun Hong spoke, his face was full of excitement. Recently, for some unknown reason, his master had not taken him out to play for a long time. “It’s said that young masters from every family run there every day. Master, do you want to go take a look too?”

Sun Zibai was amused inwardly. Xiao Yiyan was worthy of being the protagonist. Sun Zibai had merely given him a few thousand taels, then given him a direction and some suggestions. Unexpectedly, Xiao Yiyan had managed to produce such results in such a short time. It could be seen that this person had indeed been hiding his abilities before. In private, he was definitely not as honest as he appeared on the surface. Unfortunately, he was in an old-school angsty romance novel. After meeting Qin Mo, only his love-brain remained to ferment endlessly.

“Go. Why wouldn’t we go?”

Sun Zibai snapped his folding fan shut.

“We’ll go now.”

“Very good! This lowly one will go arrange it right away!”

Sun Hong immediately followed him excitedly.