Chapter 213: I

Chen Hao's face looked unpleasant.

Xiao Ran frowned: "Sun Dingbang, do you have to pick a fight with Chen Hao every time you meet him? Your sister's matter happened so long ago, why are you still so resentful?"

Sun Dingbang suppressed the sarcasm on his face, bowed: "I have seen Ninth Prince."

He straightened his back, looked at Chen Hao: "I will say it the moment I see him once!"

"They were short‑sighted back then; although both families had already exchanged betrothal gifts, they still called off my sister's marriage, causing my sister to be ridiculed by the Jingcheng aristocrats."

"Now my aunt is a favored consort, my Sun family is soaring, yet he is like a bereaved dog—this is karma!"

"The Chen Wang's Mansion broke its word, so it's fitting that you, the legitimate eldest son, were abandoned in Jingcheng by your father!"

Xiao Ran snapped: "Shut up!"

Chen Hao's expression darkened, and he said nothing.

Tuan Tuan looked at Sun Dingbang and shouted: "Hey! My sister told me that marriage is a parental decree, we can't decide for ourselves, so what are you saying!"

"If you're angry, you should go find his father!"

Sun Dingbang looked at her: "Who are you again? What does this concern you?"

Tuan Tuan lifted her chin: "I am Princess Jiayou!"

Sun Dingbang was slightly startled; this little girl was actually Princess Jiayou?

He bowed: "I have seen the Princess. Your words are reasonable, but the Chen Wang is far in the Southern Frontier, so I can only discuss it with his legitimate eldest son."

Tuan Tuan was puzzled: "He wasn't the one at fault; you argue with him, his father can't even hear, are you bored?"

Sun Dingbang snapped: "You!"

Xiao Ran smiled faintly: "Tuan Tuan is right!"

Sun Dingbang glared at Chen Hao with hatred, unwilling to stop: "As the legitimate eldest son, the Chen Wang neither granted you the title of heir nor left you alone in Jingcheng for so many years."

"They say it's a pleasant title of being Ninth Prince's companion reader, but in reality it's just a hostage!"

He smiled: "Your half‑brother is now formidable; rumors say the Chen Wang loves him as his life, accompanying him daily."

"I think your Mother Consort will be deposed sooner or later, and you, the legitimate eldest son, will become a half‑brother then!"

Chen Hao, unable to bear it, sprang up: "Sun Dingbang! Shut up! You may say I can, but you must not speak of my Mother Consort that way!"

Sun Dingbang wore a smug smile: "What? Did I hit a sore spot?"

Tuan Tuan frowned and asked: "Who is your aunt?"

Sun Dingbang was taken aback: "She is Consort Hui."

Tuan Tuan recalled, it's that wicked consort that the big wolf uncovered!

"Your aunt wasn't demoted to a salted fish by Imperial Uncle and locked in her palace?"

Xiao Ran smiled: "Tuan Tuan, that's a Jieyu."

Tuan Tuan glared: "How can I remember! Imperial Uncle has so many consorts!"

Sun Dingbang's face turned sour: "Changes in harem ranks are ordinary, and besides she has given birth to a prince."

Tuan Tuan stared at him: "See, I said your aunt makes you unhappy, so what about Chen Hao's mother? Of course she's unhappy too."

"You say Chen Hao is inferior to his brother, what about you? Aren't you also inferior to your brother at home?"

Sun Dingbang's expression changed drastically: "You're talking nonsense!"

Tuan Tuan kept talking: "A few days ago on your birthday, your family gave you nothing, but on your brother's birthday they all gave him gifts; you yourself act like that, why criticize Chen Hao!"

Sun Dingbang's face turned ashen; how could she know so much about my family!

Xiao Ran and Chen Hao exchanged glances, both shocked: So that's how the Sun family is!

From outside the door came an elder's voice: "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire; Tuan Tuan is right."

Everyone looked toward the voice, and it was Song Jingxian!

Tuan Tuan slipped down from the brocade stool, leapt over Sun Dingbang and ran to his front: "Grandpa Song!"

Everyone hurriedly bowed, Xiao Ran included: "I have seen Lord Song!"

Song Jingxian looked at Sun Dingbang: "Young man, letting grievances show on your face is not the way to conduct oneself."

The Imperial Teacher's words carried great weight; Sun Dingbang's face showed remorse, he bowed: "Thank you, Lord Song, for your instruction." He dared not act rashly again, turned and left.

Xiao Ran hurried: "Lord Song, please take a seat." He personally poured him a cup of tea.

Song Jingxian took Tuan Tuan's hand and walked in slowly, then sat down.

He stared at the dejected Chen Hao: "So you are the son of Chen Wang?"

"Yes."

Song Jingxian looked at him deeply: "A sword kept in its scabbard is not dulled, but waiting for its time."

"Though you are a thousand li from home, appearing trapped, it is actually a furnace to temper your heart. One day, after a hundred refinements into steel, you will have your own realm."

Chen Hao shivered all over, and brilliance instantly lit his face.

Tuan Tuan asked: "Grandpa Song, why are you here? Are you also here to listen to the reading?"

Song Jingxian smiled faintly: "Yes! I heard a superb new teahouse opened in Jingcheng, and having nothing to do, I thought I'd come and listen."

"I didn't expect to hear your lofty discourse."

Tuan Tuan shyly giggled: "Grandpa Song, what you say is the most pleasant; see, everyone listens to you. Mine is a low argument, yours is the high one!"

Everyone in the room burst into laughter.

A few people drank tea together, chatted merrily, listened to the reading for a while, then left the teahouse.

As they were about to leave, Chen Hao ruffled Tuan Tuan's hair: "Thank you for today, Tuan Tuan."

Tuan Tuan gave him a sweet smile: "You helped me yesterday too! Brother Chen Hao, you must heed Grandpa Song's words!"

Chen Hao nodded, and together with Xiao Ran turned and left.

Tuan Tuan grabbed Xiao Er's hand: "Come, Uncle Xiao Er, let's go for a stroll!"

"Good!" The two walked together on the busiest street in Jingcheng, strolling and playing.

Suddenly, a clamor of wailing and lamentation came from ahead.

"My son! How miserable you are!"

"The quack doctor of Benefactor Hall! Return my husband's life!"

"What's happened up ahead?"

"Uncle Second, let's go take a look!"

Xiao Er scooped her up in one arm and pushed into the gathering crowd.

Before the clinic whose doorbeam bore a Benefactor Hall sign, all was in chaos.

A white-haired couple sat slumped on the ground, beating their chests and crying loudly; next to them, a young woman cradled an infant, only a few months old, who was sleeping peacefully, and she wept with tears flowing.

Before them lay a middle-aged man with an ashen complexion, his face covered in bluish-black spots, his chest rising and falling faintly, his breath weak.

The old woman screamed hoarsely: "Just yesterday my son was only weak all over; after taking their two doses of medicine, today he's become like this! Heaven-damned quacks! They're the ones who killed my son!"

The old man lifted a packet of medicine dregs and shook it onto the ground: "Everyone come look! This is the prescription they gave! My son is only in his twenties!"

"This is making us old folks send off the young!"

The clinic's shopkeeper stood to the side, sweating profusely from anxiety: "This prescription is merely a ordinary qi-tonic, absolutely no problem! You must have eaten something else by mistake!"

Upon hearing that, the young woman set down the baby in her arms and, like a madwoman, rushed at the shopkeeper: "I'll fight you to the death! You killed my husband—how are we, the whole family, supposed to live?"