The Young Marquis is Ruining the Court! - Chapter 8

Chi Zhou stood by the table, his head bowed.

He Lingzhen sat in a chair, one foot propped up on a stool she had knocked over, taking large bites of the leftover pig’s trotters from lunch.

She was probably hungry, Chi Zhou thought, especially since the red welts swelling on his arms and back were clear evidence of just how much strength she had put into hitting him.

It was quite incredible, had the original owner lived like this since childhood?

And even more incredible, how could someone develop such a personality under this kind of education? Exactly how thick was the original owner’s skin?

While Chi Zhou was lost in thought, he saw Chi Tong return with a bottle of medicine. She walked to his side, handing it to him with the same gentle, tender smile she had worn when handing the tree branch to He Lingzhen. “Brother, remember to apply the medicine when you get back.”

She was exceptionally considerate, gentle, and kind, perfectly matching the original novel’s description of this third young lady who seemed untainted by the mortal world.

However, Chi Zhou didn’t move for a long time, he didn’t even dare to reach out and take it.

Was it simply because he wasn’t the protagonist? Why was the treatment Xie Mingjing received from Chi Tong completely different from his own?

In the three million words of the novel “Mingjing”, he had never seen the male lead suffer even the slightest grievance from Chi Tong. Was this the sheer power of having the protagonist’s name as the book title?

Chi Zhou felt a bit dazed. Meeting Chi Tong’s smiling eyes in his confusion, he gradually came to terms with it.

How could he forget? The scene where Chi Tong was hailed as a “Goddess Descended to Earth” happened precisely during the early stages when Xie Mingjing was laying low in the Marquis Mansion and the original owner had humiliated him in front of all the guests.

As the Sixth Prince of the Great Jin Dynasty, marrying into the Marquis Mansion was already an absurdity. Yet, the original owner actually wanted him to wear a woman’s wedding dress and a bridal veil, bowing to heaven and earth together.

The family had vetoed that idea, but on the wedding day, he had courted death by hiding a red bridal veil in his robes.

The veil itself was bad enough, but the style was incredibly vulgar, with red strings at the four corners and mandarin ducks embroidered in the middle. Rather than a veil, it looked more like a bellyband. It was the kind of thing one might swipe from a girl’s bedroom.

The original owner had brought the person into the mansion, and while Xie Mingjing was bowing his head to step out of the carriage, he simply raised his hand and draped it over him.

The scene instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The original owner, completely oblivious and acting like an idiot, laughed like a maniac.

That was when Chi Tong appeared. Ignoring the stunned gazes of the crowd, she walked over to her brother and “sister in law.” With a gentle push, she sent the laughing original owner stumbling, then raised her hand and directly removed the veil blocking Xie Mingjing’s sight.

From beginning to end, the smile on Chi Tong’s face never wavered. She calmly took the mysterious veil, folded it over and over, and then said with a smile, “Brother is simply overjoyed, to the point of bringing his private hobbies out into the open.”

She didn’t specify what those private hobbies were, leaving it open to interpretation.

There were only two real possibilities: either the Marquis of Ningping was vulgar and despicable with a hobby of collecting women’s undergarments, or he had a cognitive disorder and liked wearing those things himself.

In the original owner’s social circle, this wouldn’t have been a huge deal, perhaps just something to joke about after a few drinks. But the wedding was a grand affair, and the guests outside were all high ranking officials and famous scholars of the capital. Chi Tong’s casual remark, which couldn’t be proven true or false and which no one would dare question, undoubtedly slapped the original owner’s face.

Consequently, the person meant to be ridiculed changed from Xie Mingjing to the original owner. The perpetrator reaped what he sowed.

Chi Zhou’s thoughts drifted, realizing that this sister of the original owner likely disliked him intensely.

But that was normal, who could possibly like the original owner?

“Brother?” Noticing his lack of movement for a while, Chi Tong called out in confusion.

Only then did Chi Zhou take the medicine bottle, nodding in thanks with a polite, distant manner. “Thank you.”

Chi Tong gave him a strange look but said nothing, going over to sit beside He Lingzhen.

After finishing the pig’s trotter, He Lingzhen wiped her hands and mouth. She looked up and asked, “I heard that these days, when you aren’t out fooling around at brothels and pleasure boats, you’re staying in your courtyard acting like a young girl, not even stepping out the front gate?”

Chi Zhou thought that this description was actually quite accurate, but he wondered if agreeing would result in more welts on his body. After all, his mother looked like she had eaten her fill now, so her punches would probably hurt even more.

After a moment’s thought, Chi Zhou said respectfully, “Your son realized his past absurdities and has turned over a new leaf. I have been reflecting on my mistakes behind closed doors these past few days.”

“Pfft,” Chi Tong let out a laugh. Chi Zhou looked over in surprise to see that her perpetual, gentle smile had distorted into an expression of utter disbelief and mockery.

“Heh,” He Lingzhen also let out a laugh. Chi Zhou turned his head to find his mother’s eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

Chi Zhou: “…”

Wait? The original owner is sabotaging me!

He realized that with the original owner’s “shining” reputation, even if he claimed he had been possessed and wanted to be a better person, no one would believe him.

Chi Zhou was suddenly enveloped in a deep sense of powerlessness, feeling tempted to just give up.

However, He Lingzhen asked him, “So, you haven’t gone to pay your respects to Grandmother these past few days?”

Chi Zhou froze, looking down at the mud on the tips of his shoes, unsure of what to say.

Not only had he not seen the Old Madam, but he hadn’t gone anywhere except for the original owner’s bedroom and study. Whether you called it avoidance or pessimism, he was resistant to forming connections with the original owner’s life.

Just as he was unwilling to see Xie Jiu again.

At the end of the day, he was just an ordinary person without a system or any special abilities. Having transmigrated into this book, Chi Zhou seriously doubted whether he would also be swept up by the plot, moving step by step toward an inevitable death.

If it were just him, he might accept it.

But it wasn’t.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chi Zhou caught sight of He Lingzhen’s trouser legs tucked into leather boots. She sat there with a commanding presence, looking as if she had just dismounted a galloping horse, the wind still carrying the dust from her journey. She looked more heroic and spirited than most men in this world.

It was hard to imagine she was actually in her fifties.

And at such an age, in the book, she took up arms and went to the battlefield under immense pressure just to save her worthless son’s life.

The battle was won, but He Lingzhen died.

The Old Madam of the Marquis Mansion already had poor health and had been recuperating quietly for years. She first heard that “Chi Zhou” had been thrown into prison, and then she heard her daughter in law had died on the battlefield. The shock was too much, and she died in her bed with her eyes wide open.

The Ningping Marquis Mansion had long since lost anyone who could take charge, and it was eventually devoured completely by the male lead. The once great mansion became as desolate as an overgrown graveyard.

In the end, it was Chi Tong who rushed back from the nunnery. She handled her grandmother’s funeral first, then went to the front lines to bring back her mother’s body.

On the day she returned, it was snowing in the capital. The snow fell beautifully and intensely, as if trying to cover all the old stories of the capital and usher in a prosperous New Year.

Chi Tong stood at the ancestral tomb on the southern mountain for a long time before turning to leave the capital. She returned to the nunnery where she grew up, asked the abbess to shave her head, and fully converted to Buddhism. She spent the rest of her life accompanied by the green lamp and ancient Buddha, never again concerning herself with worldly affairs.

Even though Chi Zhou, as a reader, hated the original owner as a cannon fodder villain, he couldn’t deny that the Ningping Marquis Mansion was full of loyal and heroic people who had served their country for generations.

To have a family of such integrity end in ruin simply because they raised a useless son was enough to make anyone sigh with regret.

So, Chi Zhou was resistant. Resistant to becoming the original owner, resistant to following his fate, and resistant to bearing his consequences.

He admitted this was a bit of an ostrich mentality, but he couldn’t find a better solution for the time being. Except for running away.

Seeing him silent, He Lingzhen understood. Her hand moved at her side as if she wanted to hit him, but she eventually let it go, saying only, “Since Tongtong is back, go with her to visit your grandmother.”

Chi Tong had reached the age of fifteen, but since she grew up in a nunnery with a simple and detached lifestyle, her coming of age ceremony hadn’t been a grand affair. Now that the Marquis Mansion was about to have a celebration, He Lingzhen had personally gone to the outskirts of the capital to bring her back, as she hadn’t been in the capital recently.

Women of the Great Jin Dynasty could start looking for suitors after the age of fifteen. Although Chi Tong was technically under the protection of Guanyin, she was still a lay disciple. He Lingzhen bringing her back this time was likely with the intention of giving her some presence among the various noble families in the capital. Whether she actually wanted her to get married was unknown, the original novel didn’t say.

With He Lingzhen personally giving the order, Chi Zhou couldn’t refuse even if he wanted to. He nodded in agreement and walked out with Chi Tong.

Ming Xi, that heartless brat, had disappeared to who knows where. Fortunately, Chi Tong had brought many things for the Old Madam, and He Lingzhen sent two maidservants carrying gifts to lead the way, so Chi Zhou wouldn’t get lost in the mansion.

The rain had long since stopped. Droplets of water occasionally fell from the bushes along the path, hitting the bluestone slabs and splashing in all directions.

Chi Zhou tried his best to walk along the edge, leaving a large space in the middle for Chi Tong.

Seeing this, Chi Tong gave a light laugh. “Brother, you acting like this makes me feel like my behavior of kicking you while you were down was quite wicked.”

Chi Zhou froze, taking only a fraction of a second to realize what she meant by “kicking him while he was down.”

The red welts on his arm began to throb again. The young Marquis looked at Chi Tong with a blank face. “Well, thank you.”

“Pfft,” Chi Tong laughed again, looking incredibly innocent and lively. She didn’t look like a compassionate “goddess,” but just a girl of fifteen or sixteen.

Chi Zhou was slightly stunned, his blank expression faltering as he turned his head away awkwardly. In that moment, he felt a soft spot in his heart being gently touched. It was strange, but not unpleasant.

Chi Zhou unilaterally forgave Chi Tong for handing the tree branch to He Lingzhen. He was a modern adult with a high level of mental development, so he wouldn’t hold a grudge against this ancient little girl, hmph.

After the spring rain, the air had become much fresher, carrying the unique scent of plants, which was very relaxing. Chi Zhou walked forward step by step, and the unease and inexplicable fear he had felt when facing He Lingzhen mostly dissipated.

He hadn’t thought of a topic to discuss with Chi Tong, but fortunately, she didn’t seem to have any intention of talking to him either.

The two walked in silence until they passed through another moon gate. Chi Tong looked through a window at the apricot trees in the courtyard and suddenly asked out of the blue, “Brother, I heard you found me a male sister in law?”

Chi Zhou was completely startled, feeling panicked and a bit embarrassed. No matter how mature Chi Tong seemed, she was only fifteen, and he felt like he was corrupting a child. Even if the cause was technically sown by the original owner.

“Ah… yes,” Chi Zhou replied hesitantly, hoping she would drop the subject.

But the fact that he had transmigrated into this book probably proved that Chi Zhou’s luck was truly terrible.

Upon hearing this, Chi Tong nodded and spoke again, her tone so flat and calm that for a moment Chi Zhou couldn’t believe what he had heard.

“Then which of you will be the one to give birth? After all, his family has a throne, and ours has a peerage.”

“It would be a pity to lose both,” Chi Tong said very pragmatically.

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