I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

"Wangju, slow down, wait for your older brother."

Chen Shoutian, carrying two bowls of meat, jogged to catch up with Chen Wangju ahead.

"Wangju, why are you running?"

Chen Wangju stopped and saw the two bowls of meat that Chen Shoutian was holding. He was furious and snatched them away, smashing them on the ground.

The porcelain bowl shattered, and the still-steaming meat rolled on the ground, instantly covered in dirt.

Chen Shoutian yelled, quickly picked up the meat, hugged it to his chest, vigorously patted off the dust, and couldn't help but scold:

"Wangju, what are you doing? This is real meat! We don't even waste a single grain of food, yet you're throwing meat on the ground. All those years of studying have gone to waste!"

It's no wonder Chen Shoutian reprimanded his younger brother Chen Wangju like that; Chen Wangju had really gone too far.

These people from impoverished backgrounds valued food more than their own lives.

Chen Wangju threw the meat on the ground, crossing his bottom line.

Chen Shoutian didn't directly hit Chen Wangju, probably because he was too honest by nature.

If it were anyone else from the same village, they would have beaten their younger brother half to death.

"Brother, why are you picking that up? The book says, 'I'd rather die than bow down for five pecks of rice, and I'd rather not eat food offered with contempt.' What are you doing!"

"Cao Quan is rich and powerful now, and he's humiliating us like this."

Chen Wangju said angrily, clenching his fist.

Chen Shoutian was still brushing the dust off the meat when he said, "What do you mean by charity? Cao Quan is from the same hometown as us. Now that he's rich, giving us meat is helping us. Don't be so petty."

"I know you have a conflict with Cao Quan, but that's all in the past. We're from the same hometown and are both making a living in the capital now, so we should help each other out."

"Am I petty?"

Chen Wangju pointed to himself, incredulous.

Then, he said even more angrily, "Who is being petty here? I didn't provoke him or anything, yet he spoke ill of me in front of my benefactor, making me lose face."

"Brother, to tell you the truth, I will remember what Cao Quan said about me for the rest of my life. We can never go back to the way things were before."

"From now on, he will go his way and I will go mine. We will keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other. I will not accept any charity from him."

After saying that, Chen Wangju tried to snatch the meat from Chen Shoutian's hand again, intending to throw it hard on the ground.

Even if you gave this meat to a dog, it wouldn't eat it.

Chen Shoutian certainly wouldn't give it to him. As the two brothers were fighting over it, a sound of gongs and drums suddenly came from behind them.

The two turned their heads and stopped what they were doing at the same time.

Chen Wangju stopped trying to steal the meat and instead returned the way he came, heading towards Jinguang Temple.

Chen Shoutian asked, "Wangju, where are you going?"

As Chen Wangju walked, he sneered, "Of course, I'm going to see how Cao Quan fared."

Chen Shoutian didn't say anything more, but just followed.

……

At the entrance of Jinguang Temple.

A burst of gong and drum sounds followed.

Cao Quan, who had become one of the five managers of the Song family, stood on a high place, waved his hand, and said with great pride:

"Dear fellow villagers, elder brothers, elder sisters, uncles, and aunts, today is Lunar New Year's Eve, a day for family reunion."

"I, Cao Quan, have come on the orders of the Song family head to bring you warmth. Tonight, there's plenty of meat!"

"Those who want some, line up! Everyone gets a share!"

As Cao Quan waved his hand, a row of large iron pots were immediately set up at the entrance of Jin Guang Temple, firewood was lit, and meat was cooking in the pots, the aroma instantly filling the entire street.

Jin Guang Temple could not tolerate cooking meat in front of the Buddhist temple. It was like defecating on their head or provoking the gods!

After the young monk announced his arrival at the temple, many martial monks carrying sticks emerged. The leader of them was a middle-aged man who looked fierce and menacing.

"Look, it's Master Du'e!"

Someone recognized the middle-aged monk and said.

Jin Guang Temple had twelve monks, and Master Du'e was one of them.

However, unlike other monks, he was in charge of the martial arts training hall, oversaw the temple's punishments, and was the one who stepped in to resolve any troubles that Jin Guang Temple encountered.

Master Du'e, leading a group of martial monks, arrived at the meat stall, frowned, and coldly ordered:

"Who gave you permission to cook meat here? Who's in charge? Get out here, you monk!"

Cao Quan jumped off the platform with a clean and decisive motion, swaggered up to Master Du'e, looked him up and down, and showed no fear whatsoever.

He patted his chest and said, "I'm the one who told them to cook the meat here, is there a problem?"

Master Du'e glared at him, his face contorted with rage, and said, "Of course there's a problem! Don't you know this is a Buddhist temple? Buddhist temples forbid meat. If you're going to cook meat, go somewhere else! I'll give you a quarter of an hour to clean up. If you're still like this after a quarter of an hour, I won't hesitate to overturn your stall."

Hearing this, Chen Wangju in the crowd couldn't help but say, "Cao Quan is still the same as ever, he hasn't changed at all. He likes to do disgusting things. Cooking meat in front of a Buddhist temple is tantamount to digging up someone's ancestral grave. Just watch, Cao Quan is in big trouble!"

Unlike Chen Wangju, who looked gloating, Chen Shoutian had a worried expression on his face.

They were from the same hometown, and he didn't want Cao Quan to get into big trouble.

"Yo ho!"

Cao Quan, like a thug, shook his right leg and put his hands on his hips, saying:

"A tiny Buddhist temple dares to overturn my business? Do you know who I am? I am from the Song family, the imperial merchants! Do you know who the Song family is? They were personally promoted by His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Dare to overturn my stall, and you'll be overturning His Highness the Crown Prince's stall! His Highness is distributing meat to the villagers, and you dare to stop him?"

Upon hearing this, the people queuing to receive their meat immediately echoed his sentiments.

"That's right! His Highness the Crown Prince is kindly distributing meat to us, what right do you have to stop him?"

"We can't even afford a piece of meat all year round. His Highness the Crown Prince is being kind, and you dare to obstruct him? You're going against His Highness the Crown Prince and against us!"

"Everyone, let's go together and drive them back to the temple! I knew long ago that these monks were no good. They call themselves monks, but they don't even shave their heads. What kind of monks are they? They're just wild monks!"

"Yes, you wild monk, get back to the temple right now!"

Being called a wild monk, Master Du'e's face turned extremely ugly. If he weren't afraid of the bad influence and disgrace to Jin Guang Temple, he would have liked to go on a killing spree here to deliver these ignorant people from their misery.

Seeing that the people were all on his side, Cao Quan became even more smug and waved his hand, ordering, "Make the fire bigger! There'll be plenty of meat tonight!"

"Okay, okay!"

The people repeatedly praised Cao Quan and expressed their support for him.

"Master, perhaps we should ask the abbot to come out and resolve this?" A warrior monk, seeing the situation was turning bad, whispered to Master Du'e.

Master Du'e glared at him fiercely and cursed, "Such a trivial matter doesn't need to bother the abbot; I can handle it myself!"

After rebuking the monk, Master Du'e turned to Cao Quan again: "Boy, don't push your luck! Our Golden Light Temple is no ordinary Buddhist temple; it is a temple of the Buddhist Kingdom, where His Majesty and nobles frequently come to worship!"

He thought that mentioning the Xuan Emperor would make Cao Quan back down, but Cao Quan only sneered and said, "A Buddhist temple in the Buddhist Kingdom? Then I'm even less afraid. This is the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty. You are not even a temple of our own country. What gives you the right to be so arrogant here!"

"My people, citizens of the Great Zhou, can do whatever they want in our own capital. Who are you, a foreign monk, to tell me what to do? You dare to touch my place? I'll tear your Golden Light Temple down tonight!"

Master Du'e was furious; his eyes bulged like a bull's.

"Since you're so ungrateful, don't blame this master for being impolite!"

Having said that, Master Du'e concentrated his palm and slammed it down on Cao Quan's chest...