Jiapingguan Chronicle

"He ran away as soon as he saw you?" Chu Han shook his head slightly. "He's probably not only worried that you'll whip him, but also that if he's foolish enough to come and provoke you again, someone will deal with him!"

"Huh?" Shen Cha was taken aback. "Wasn't everything cleaned up? Didn't Gongsun Yu get beaten up several times?"

"But you only remember the food and not the punishment, didn't you go out of your way to cause trouble outside the city?" Chu Han smiled and said, "Speaking of which, this Marquis of Xibo is also a bit dim-witted. His son was bothering you, and not only did he not stop him, he even fueled the flames. The beatings his son received, both openly and secretly, were in part a way of taking the blame for him. After all, we can't let them bully our children. It's just that I wasn't in the capital at the time. If I had been, they wouldn't have escaped the beating I gave them." He looked at Shen Cha, "It's impossible to just let it go after beating them up. We'll definitely send people to keep an eye on them until you leave Xijing City in twos and threes."

"Are you worried that he'll bother you again?"

"Yes, they were probably worried that the Marquis of Xibo might use this to do something, but it turns out that their worries weren't unfounded." Chu Han shrugged. "The day you left, weren't you stuck on the official road outside the city?"

"To be honest, I don't quite understand what the Marquis of Xibo is doing." Xia Jiu looked at Chu Han, then at the others. "He knows very well what kind of person he is, so why does he keep pestering him? Although the Marquis of Xibo's family isn't deeply involved with the court, shouldn't he have some basic awareness? How could he..."

"The bold get rich, the timid starve; they're always thinking of taking a gamble." Chu Han sneered. "There are quite a few like that in the capital, but the Marquis of Xibo is the most daring."

"His son gave him the courage, after all, the person he flirted with before Xiaocha was Her Highness the Princess." Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes dramatically. "If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have known this family was so bizarre."

"Is this what you call weird?" Third Grandfather glanced at Jin Miaomiao and laughed. "This father and son are just morally corrupt and have impure thoughts. The real weirdos are not like them. The father of the Marquis of Xibo and the grandfather of Gongsun Yu are the real weirdos."

"Is this the Gongsun Yue that my uncle just mentioned?"

"Hmm!" Third Grandfather nodded. "This Gongsun Yue is quite an accomplished charlatan. He might not be an absolute sage, but he's close." He looked at Jin Miaomiao. "He has a very good relationship with your master, they're closer than brothers. According to my master, his only flaw is that he's not very good at judging people. Back then, everyone favored his eldest son, who was more capable of managing the Marquis of Xibo's mansion, but he favored his second son, who is now the Marquis of Xibo, and didn't care as much about his eldest son and his youngest son, who were favored by everyone."

"But where did the eldest and youngest sons go?"

“The eldest son also knew that his father didn’t care about him and his younger brother, so when he came of age, he took his younger brother to open an ancestral hall, separated from the Xibo Marquis’s mansion, and went to establish his own mansion.” The third master looked at Shen Cha and then at Jin Miaomiao. “He later participated in the imperial examination as a commoner and became the third-ranked scholar that year. However, he did not stay in the capital and went to Jiangnan. As for what he is doing now, we don’t know.”

"He is now the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture."

“Songjiang Prefecture?” Shen Cha frowned. “Lord Tan? He…” She looked at Chu Han. “His mother’s surname was Tan, but she changed it after the family split up.”

"So that's how it is." Shen Cha sighed helplessly. "Doesn't Gongsun Yue regret it at all?"

“He doesn’t regret it. He must have figured it out. He has a very weak bond with his eldest and youngest sons, so he didn’t try to dissuade them at all and did everything according to his eldest son’s wishes.” The third grandfather sighed and said, “It’s a pity that his second son and eldest grandson have gone astray. They didn’t inherit his charlatan skills but instead indulged in debauchery, completely disappointing his expectations.”

"I've heard that Lord Tan is quite skilled at observing the stars," Shen Cha said, stroking her chin. "That must be due to his family's scholarly tradition, right?"

“That’s right.” Chu Han nodded. “Xiao Tan has learned all of Gongsun Yue’s skills, but unfortunately, she still can’t win his heart. As for this Marquis of Xibo, he’s too stupid. He can’t see the tricks of the trade at all and is still gloating over his own little scheme.” Chu Han stroked his chin. “So,” he looked at Shen Cha, “his son wanted to ambush you in the suburbs. He disagreed on the surface, but secretly he let him go and even hoped that his son would bring you back.”

"Grand Uncle, please wait a moment." Xia Jiu interrupted Chu Han. "Even the most idle nobles in the capital wouldn't be unaware of the Shen family army or the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, let alone dare to have expectations of his son."

"Whether he knew or not, I'm not sure, but I did see him trying to stage an accident," Chu Han smiled. "However, I heard..."

"what?"

“I vaguely heard Old Wu mention that the Marquis of Xibo had his son ambush you, thinking he had gotten away with it, but actually everyone saw through it.” Chu Han sighed. “After Gongsun Yu returned from the suburbs, His Majesty, the Empress Dowager, and the Prince of Dai’s and Xuanyuan’s mansions sent people to invite them to the palace and their residences under various pretexts. On the surface, they were inviting them for tea, but what they actually did, only heaven, earth, and the two of them know.” He looked at Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao. “If you’re curious, go ask Haolin and Yaojia; they should know some inside information. However, after leaving the palace and their residences, the Marquis of Xibo and Gongsun Yu secluded themselves for a while, refusing all invitations to banquets and even avoiding any debauchery. They won’t reappear in public for another six months.”

"Is this supposed to be a period of self-reflection? This Marquis of Xibo," Xia Jiu stroked his chin, "Although we haven't had much contact before, he's managed to maintain a foothold in the capital, so he shouldn't be stupid. How could he do something so foolish? My uncle said he wasn't smart, and he really is. Doesn't he realize that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has fallen so low that he dares to associate with a family like the Marquis of Xibo? He's far too ignorant!"

"I suppose the tea they drank those times didn't taste very good and gave them stomach upsets, which is why they became more careful with their words and actions afterward."

“That’s not enough,” Xia Jiu sneered. “In my opinion, we should have given them a good talking-to when we got back that day, and we should have found an opportunity to punish them. That would have been the right thing to do.”

"Isn't this just bullying others by abusing one's power?" Xiao Fengqi shook his head helplessly. "Speaking of which, the Xiao family has encountered something similar before. My aunt was almost kidnapped by the son of a tribal chief." (End of this chapter)