Transmigrated as the Villain: Punching the Protagonist Group and Stepping on the Domestic Abuser - Chapter 15

The rolling wave of flattery made Qiu Zihan’s expression look a bit better. He raised a hand, and after things quieted down, he put on airs and said, “Since His Highness is unwilling to grace us with his presence, then so be it. There will always be time to cross paths in the imperial court in the future.”

His words were immensely arrogant, even carrying a hint of absolute certainty.

Even before the Prince Regent had risen to power, Qiu Zihan had been completely infatuated with that appearance. Naturally, it was not out of any deep-rooted affection; rather, Qiu Zihan simply favored that kind of alluring and brilliant beauty, which even the most glamorous courtesans of the pleasure quarters could not match by thirty or forty percent.

It was only a pity that before he could get his hands on the man, the Ninth Prince had undergone a complete transformation, attaining a noble status and overwhelming authority. Yet the more it was like this, the more unwilling he felt.

When all was said and done, Qiu Zihan was wary of Rong Se’s power, but he also looked down on him. After all, he was merely the son of a low-status prostitute.

Cups were passed around at the banquet, and by the time things were wrapping up, Qiu Zihan’s personal servant arrived to pick him up. Once drunk, Qiu Zihan’s true nature was fully exposed, and he began to spout wild nonsense near the private pavilion: “What is he acting so noble for? Heh, his mother’s pillow was shared by ten thousand men; how noble could he possibly be?” With nightfall approaching and Fusheng Restaurant still bustling with activity, his voice was so loud that the accompanying drinkers who had not yet left were scared out of their wits, not daring to make a single sound. The servant hurriedly lowered his voice and said, “Young Master, we are still outside! You really mustn’t speak recklessly!”

Stumbling and unable to stand steadily, Qiu Zihan let out a hazy, drunken scoff. “What is there to fear? The Prince Regent. So what if he is the Prince Regent? The son of a prostitute is born for no more than servicing others!”

This direct naming of names, aimed squarely at the Prince Regent, caused everyone dining on the first floor to fall silent in unison, turning their gazes toward the second floor.

The entire Fusheng Restaurant became as silent as a falling needle in an instant.

The servant was terribly frightened, and even the scholars who had been carousing with Qiu Zihan, though they might gossip behind closed doors, never dared to voice such words in public. Doing so meant casting away their own official futures!

Exchanging looks of dismay, the group hurriedly worked together with the servant to drag and haul Qiu Zihan away, preventing him from continuing his unbridled speech.

At the restaurant’s serving counter, Lan Ying clenched her fists, slammed a hand against the door frame, turned her head to glare at Yun Chu, who kept holding her back, and said coldly, “Are we just going to watch him slander the master like this?”

Yun Chu sighed helplessly. “Little ancestor, what do you want to do? Rush up and beat him up? He is the son of the Minister of the Court of the Guard. If you beat him up, the master will have to go rescue you from prison tomorrow, and then the entire city of Jinjing will know that the true owner behind Fusheng Restaurant is the master!”

Feeling stifled with anger, Lan Ying slammed a hand against the door frame once more.

“Alright, don’t break it,” Yun Chu said. “There are plenty of ways to deal with him, just not in public.”

“Oh,” Lan Ying obediently acknowledged. She treated the Yun brothers like elder brothers; Yun Zhi always pampered her, while Yun Chu was much stricter, so naturally, she feared Yun Chu more. Subduing her frustration, she asked sullenly, “Why did you come here?”

Yun Chu smiled. “The master sent me to tell you to come back to the manor for dinner.”

Lan Ying’s eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go. What is the master making today?”

The two turned toward the kitchen, heading back to the manor through the back door. Yun Chu said gently, “The master said he was tired today, so he only made scrambled eggs, stuffed chili peppers with meat, and a few cold dishes. They’ve all been saved for you.”

Deep into the night, Rong Se was burning the midnight oil to write recipes, making sure that if he wanted to make a certain dish in the future, he wouldn’t forget the ingredient list due to the passage of time. As he wrote, he pondered his next steps.

He had become a food live-streamer precisely because he didn’t want to work a regular job, yet the morning court sessions of the past month were quite literally the dregs of the feudal dynasty! Getting up before dawn to go to work, heading over to work at Fusheng Restaurant after finishing, and then returning to the manor after that to handle official duties, the only remaining joy in his life was soaking in the Canglan Warm Pavilion before crawling back to bed to sleep.

Rong Se felt as though he were a spinning top that never stopped, turning continuously.

Ask him how he felt, and the answer was sheer exhaustion.

The urge to slack off echoed repeatedly in his mind, ultimately fading away beneath the weight of the original owner’s mess. With a long sigh of relief, Rong Se paused his pen just as he reached the recipe for Boiled Fish.

Having previously produced numerous videos replicating ancient delicacies, he naturally knew that the ancients lacked chili peppers. Consequently, many spicy dishes relied on black pepper and Sichuan peppercorns for heat. However, perhaps because the timeline in this fictional book differed from reality, he had discovered green chili peppers here, which proved that genuine spicy chili peppers might exist as well.

If Rong Se wanted to completely replace the old dishes at Fusheng Restaurant, he needed to constantly update his culinary offerings. He could even return to his old profession and put on a live performance of complex, exquisite dishes to draw in eyeballs. With this thought in mind, he added a few more national banquet-level dishes to his thick recipe notebook, dishes that were not quite everyday fare, but were complex, exquisite, and very expensive.

Satisfied, he nodded, tidied up his desk, and set up a small low table in his bedroom so he wouldn’t have to trek back from the Yuncong Study in the middle of the night. Once finished, he climbed straight onto the carved wooden bed to sleep.

Meanwhile, deep in the night within the West Market of Jinjing, the pleasure district lined with extravagant pavilions and hazy neon lights, three figures glided silently and lightly across the rooftops before diving into a narrow alleyway.

Standing in a row, Yun Chu asked in a low voice, “Are you sure he’s here?”

Lan Ying nodded. “Can’t you trust my informants? He’s right here. But what if he doesn’t come out all night?”

Yun Zhi chimed in, “He still has to hurry to the morning court session.”

Yun Chu nodded. “Makes sense.”

Looking at Yun Zhi, Lan Ying fell silent for a brief moment before asking, “So is this why you came out wearing your official robes?”

Yun Zhi nodded with dignified restraint, smoothing down the crimson lapels of his official tunic.

The preparation was thoroughly comprehensive.

Qiu Zihan had spent half the night carousing with an alluring young courtesan, only to be shaken awake by his servant before dawn to attend the morning court. Having achieved the top rank in the palace examinations three years ago, he had spent the past three years serving as a compiler in the Jiying Hall, not a position of heavy responsibility, but an ideal stepping stone for quick promotion.

Once sober, Qiu Zihan had no recollection whatsoever of his arrogance at Fusheng Restaurant. Dazed with sleepiness, he boarded his carriage. However, not long after they set off, a figure darted through the dim shadows of the quiet, deserted street. With a flick of a long whip, the carriage driver was hooked right off the vehicle, and catching only a fleeting glimpse of a lithe, indistinct female figure, he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Lan Ying vaulted onto the carriage, reined in the horses to a sudden stop, and then hauled open the carriage door with a cloth sack in hand. Before the dozing Qiu Zihan could even open his eyes, a sack was pulled straight over his head, and a heavy punch immediately landed squarely on his face.

“Agh! Who are you? What do you want?”

Qiu Zihan shrieked in terror, but his assailant offered no reply. Instead, dragging him by the collar, she hauled him right out of the carriage. Overcome by panic and imagining he had run into kidnappers or his father’s political enemies, Qiu Zihan’s mind raced as he screamed, “Audacious! I am a court official! Release this official at once!”

In the middle of the dark street, Lan Ying single-handedly hoisted a shouting, struggling adult male and carried him into a narrow alley, dragging him the entire way with effortless ease. The Yun brothers, who found it inconvenient to show their faces and had been waiting in the alley, cracked their knuckles. The three exchanged glances in silence, none of them speaking a word.

Then, with perfect coordination, they swung their fists, and shrill cries instantly pierced the night sky.