Chapter 60: House of Benevolence and Kindness

Jiang Luan returned to the Laundry House with red-rimmed eyes, though Qi Shaolin was no longer following by his side.

Zuo Lang got up as usual to pack his things.

After respectfully thanking Jiang Luan, Mother Zuo asked curiously, "Young Master Jiang, have you been crying?"

"It's nothing," Jiang Luan replied gloomily. "I got bitten by a dog."

Mother Zuo: "..."

She recalled that the Prince's Estate did not seem to keep any dogs.

Jiang Luan said, "Auntie, Zuo Lang should have already explained things to you, right? We'll need to put on a show later, and it might wrong you a bit."

Mother Zuo hurriedly said, "It is no wrong at all, no wrong at all. I will follow your arrangements entirely, benefactor."

...

The banquet in the main hall of the Prince of Beiding's Estate was drawing to a close.

The Prince and the head of the Qi family, flushed with wine and emboldened, had slightly reddened cheeks and dreamy smiles on their faces.

Knowing that the Prince cared deeply about his reputation, Qi Yuheng tailored his words to please him, offering profuse praises. From the countless acres of fertile land belonging to the Prince's Estate that he had seen on his way, down to the various decorations, furnishings, and meals throughout the mansion—omitting no detail—he flattered the Prince until the latter grinned from ear to ear.

The female relatives sitting around had grown somewhat weary.

Finally, someone remembered the couple who had left long ago and asked, "Has Young Master Jiang still not returned from chasing him?"

At that moment, the festive sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out from outside.

The sound of the gongs was extremely loud, and drawing closer by the minute, making it impossible to ignore.

Everyone at the table stopped talking. Concubine Wang asked in astonishment, "I haven't heard of anyone celebrating a joyful occasion lately, have I?"

While everyone was wondering, a pageboy ran in and knelt in the middle of the main hall:

"Your Highness, there is good news! Great news!"

"What good news could there be?" The Prince of Beiding asked, looking at the reporting pageboy in surprise.

Consort Zhu, who had long been ignored by everyone and was feeling quite displeased, seized the opportunity to put on the airs of a mistress of the house. With an unhappy expression, she said, "Why can't you even speak clearly?"

With unconcealed joy on his face, the pageboy repeatedly said, "Your Excellencies will understand once you go outside and see for yourselves!"

Thus, the entire household of the Prince of Beiding's Estate, along with the Qi family members, went outside to investigate.

A gong and drum troupe was playing incessantly outside the gates of the Prince of Beiding's Estate, attracting a crowd of passing citizens to stop and watch.

Standing at the front of the boisterous gong and drum troupe was a leading youth.

He wore plain, washed-out cloth garments with a calm expression on his face, holding an object in his hands covered with a red silk cloth.

As the Prince of Beiding led his people out of the mansion, the youth stepped forward and paid his respects to the Prince, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Seeing that the youth looked completely unfamiliar, the Prince asked, "Who are you?"

"This humble person is named Li San, from Li Family Village," the youth replied.

Li Family Village happened to be located within the Prince of Beiding's fiefdom.

Although he had no idea what connection there could be between them, the Prince still nodded and said, "Li San, you are making a racket with gongs and drums all the way down the street—what brings you to the gates of my estate?"

The youth smiled and said, "Please do not take offense, Your Highness. I have come to present a gift to you."

He spoke as he lifted the red silk cloth, revealing the object underneath.

It was a handicraft carved from ancient tree roots, shaped like a miniature estate, complete with a small golden plaque neatly inscribed with the four characters: "A Household of Benevolence and Virtue."

The Prince of Beiding stared in bewilderment. "What is this..."

"This humble person once received Your Highness's grace," the youth said. "When the capital suffered a severe drought, it was entirely thanks to Your Highness opening the gates and distributing grain that my life was spared."

The Prince's Estate did not distribute grain very often, and after a brief moment of thought, the Prince remembered, "That seems to have been several years ago."

Whenever the harvest was bad and refugees were numerous, the nobles in the capital indeed had a custom of opening their estates to distribute grain.

Many people provided disaster relief out of kindness, but more often, they acted like the Prince of Beiding, responding to the imperial court's call to appease the starving populace and keep them from causing trouble.

"That is correct," the youth replied. "At that time, I was still young. After returning home, I pondered over and over how to repay Your Highness for saving my life. Later, I happened to find the root of this millennium-old ancient tree. Hearing that millennium-old divine wood naturally possesses spiritual energy, I spent a full three years carving the divine wood root into this item to present to Your Highness, praying that the heavens would bless the Prince of Beiding's Estate and grant Your Highness a smooth and prosperous life."

Hearing that this was carved from the root of a millennium-old divine wood, the gazes of the surrounding crowd instantly changed.

The Prince of Beiding was momentarily stunned, his slightly intoxicated face blooming with a trace of joy. He said to the youth, "Relieving disaster victims is merely my duty as a prince. Why would you hold onto it so dearly?"

"Your Highness, you are kind-hearted and have saved countless lives. I am merely one of the insignificant people," the youth said earnestly, "but to me, it was a matter that affected my entire life. You saved my life!"

In truth, how could the Prince of Beiding possibly recognize who this youth was? Back when the imperial court ordered all estates to provide disaster relief and distribute grain, he had been most reluctant. Throwing money away for nothing, he had thrown a massive fit of aristocratic fury at home.

Hearing these words now, the flush on the inebriated Prince's face deepened even further as he muttered softly, "Not at all, not at all."

Standing nearby, Qi Yuheng chimed in with repeated praises, "Your Highness, this is the karmic reward for your many good deeds, which is why you have acquired this millennium-old divine wood. This old woman should also learn more from you."

Prompted by Qi Yuheng's flattery, the rest of the Qi family immediately followed suit. Consort Zhu, the various concubines, and the two ladies all offered their congratulations to the Prince.

Prince Suping simply stepped right up to the Prince of Beiding to offer his felicitations, "Your child congratulates Father!"

The Prince of Beiding was instantly carried away by the flattery.

Pressing his advantage, the youth continued, "Your esteemed reputation is already known far and wide. Which of the neighboring commoners has not received your protection? Am I right, everyone?"

The onlookers all exchanged blank glances.

Although the Prince of Beiding was not the sort of powerful noble who preyed upon the common folk, he had never done any monumental acts of great kindness either.

Yet, there happened to be a few men in the crowd who responded, "That's right, that's right."

"Indeed so!"

"A household of benevolence and virtue, well said!"

With that, the Prince was even more intoxicated by the praise and said to the youth, "In that case, this Prince will accept it."

However, just as he reached out to take the wooden carving, a loud, reprimanding voice echoed from the entrance inside the mansion.

"You wretched dog, how dare you say I deliberately bullied you? You're asking for a beating, aren't you?"

Because it was very close to the door, the voice was heard with exceptional clarity. The Prince of Beiding frowned upon hearing it, and the onlookers craned their necks to peer inside even more frequently.

The Prince originally intended to ignore it and accept the divine wood first.

But just as he extended his hand, that voice angrily shouted again:

"You still dare to talk back? Do you know what kind of place this is? This is the Prince of Beiding's Estate! His Highness's territory—since when is it your turn for low-level servants to speak?"

These words could be considered utterly malicious.

Upon hearing this, the onlookers instantly began to whisper among themselves.

The youth who had brought the wooden carving also pulled back his gifting hands, gave a light cough, and said, "Your Highness, perhaps you should attend to your family matters first?"

With so many people watching, the Prince of Beiding's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He shouted angrily, "Who is so bold as to ruin my household reputation? Get out here!"

The scolding and beating sounds inside the gates instantly ceased.

A handsome youth supported an elderly woman as they walked out. In front of everyone, the two of them trembled and knelt before the Prince of Beiding.

The Prince did not recognize who these two people were; only the old woman looked somewhat familiar, as if she were a servant of the household.

Prince Suping was standing close by and immediately recognized the youth.

"Zuo Lang, why is it you?" Prince Suping looked at Zuo Lang, a thoughtful look on his face as he asked, "If you were the one being scolded, then who was the person scolding you just now?"

"Your Grace, I have truly been wronged," Zuo Lang said with red eyes. "Please let me return to serve by your side!"

As soon as Zuo Lang finished speaking, Jiang Luan stormed out in a fit of rage, pointing at his nose and demanding, "What do you mean by that, you wretched slave? Make yourself clear right now!"

"You're overthinking it, Master. It doesn't mean anything," Zuo Lang sniffled. "It's simply that I am truly unable to serve you anymore."

"Shut your mouth!"

Jiang Luan reached out as if to discipline Zuo Lang, only to be sharply rebuked by Qi Yuheng, "Young man Jiang, what are you trying to do!"

Prince Suping said coldly, "Indeed. If you're going to discipline a servant, at least look at the time and place."

Looking around, Jiang Luan seemed to notice the massive crowd of onlookers for the first time. With a look of utter "astonishment," he said, "How can there be so many people here?"

Normally, the Prince of Beiding would not have cared to meddle in the Qi family's domestic affairs; besides, what was the big deal about beating or scolding a servant? Even if these bonded slaves were beaten to death, no one would say much.

Yet at this exact moment, colliding with the youth presenting a wooden carving while townsfolk looked on, the Prince of Beiding's Estate had just been lavishly praised as a "Household of Benevolence and Virtue." But the words Jiang Luan had shouted inside the door—calling people "low-level folk" over and over while dragging the Prince of Beiding's Estate into it—made the citizens' gazes toward him turn rather strange.

As a noble, he could usually afford to disdain the opinions of these mud-legged peasants, but who asked the Prince of Beiding to care so much about his face? Years ago, because of Prince Suping having a child out of wedlock, he had been willing to sever ties with his own son, let alone now... he could not afford to ignore this.

The Prince of Beiding gave a light cough and asked Jiang Luan, "Grandson-in-law, what has happened?"

Facing the Prince of Beiding, Jiang Luan instantly turned respectful. "Your Highness, you wouldn't know, but earlier inside the mansion, as I was looking for Brother Lin, I bumped into this old woman carrying a bucket of water, and she spilled it all over me. This was a new robe I had made specifically to pay my respects to you. Take a look, just take look!"

"Visibly furious," Jiang Luan shook out his garment—the very same out-of-season swirling cloud-patterned robe that Prince Suping had mocked earlier—which was indeed soaked halfway through.

Prince Suping glanced at the trembling pair kneeling on the ground and unusually spoke up on behalf of the servant, "This old woman is getting up in years. It's only natural that she might not hold the water steady. Why must you fly into such a terrible rage, Luan'er?"

"That's not all," Jiang Luan sneered. "I merely scolded this old woman a few times without even laying a hand on her, yet this brat Zuo Lang rushed out and shoved me to the ground. He has completely rebelled!"

Hearing this, Zuo Lang immediately looked up, turning to Prince Suping to voice his grievance, "Young Master Jiang clearly raised his hands against my mother, which is why I rushed out and pushed him in a moment of panic. The young master is lying!"

"What did you say?" Jiang Luan scolded. "You thieving brat, full of lies! You already tried to frame me once before. I was magnanimous enough to take you in, and not only are you ungrateful, but you're also intentionally seeking revenge. How could I possibly tolerate you now?"

The master and servant each had their own version of the story, and since there had been no witnesses when the incident occurred, they fell into a stalemate of mutual accusation.

Under normal circumstances, regardless of who was right or wrong, the Prince of Beiding would have simply dealt with the servant on the spot.

A servant was a servant; how dare they argue rhetoric with their master?

But with so many commoners watching now, the Prince of Beiding frowned in deep thought, not daring to make a rash judgment.

Prince Suping, however, piped up, "You can discipline your servants all you like, but why must you drag the Prince of Beiding's Estate into it?"