Chapter 184: The Ruthless Scholar

"Whoosh—"

The cold wind was like a knife, and the sky was already a vast expanse of white.

It hadn't even reached the Winter Solstice, yet it was already snowing.

Luo Zijun, covered in wind and snow, entered Chujian Bookstore.

Xiao Lan was selecting books for two customers. Upon seeing him, she said intentionally, "Young Master, these two young ladies are asking when Jun Chujian will release a new book. Do you know?"

Luo Zijun glanced at the two young ladies and said, "How would I know?"

Having said that, he went upstairs.

Seeing his handsome face, the two young ladies kept staring blankly at his back as he went upstairs. One of them hurriedly asked in a low voice with a blushing face, "Is that Young Master the owner of your shop? Is he married?"

Xiao Lan smiled and said, "He is my master's husband; he has long since married my young lady."

"Ah..."

Upon hearing this, the two were immediately filled with disappointment.

Just as Luo Zijun went upstairs, Bi'er saw his two bruised eye sockets and immediately laughed until she squatted on the ground.

Seeing this, Liu Chujian also covered her mouth and laughed.

Luo Zijun walked straight over, picked her up, spun her around a few times, and then bit her ear, whispering, "Senior Sister agreed."

Liu Chujian was stunned and looked at him with some suspicion: "How is that possible? How could Sister Su agree?"

Luo Zijun looked triumphant: "I knew you wouldn't believe it."

He then carried her to a chair to sit down, squatted beside her, held her small hand, and said, "My marrying into the family is just an expedient measure, a last resort. In a year, I will be able to regain my freedom, and by then..."

At this moment, Xiao Lan suddenly shouted from downstairs, "You cannot go up!"

Following this, with a "slap," a loud sound of a palm strike rang out, and then a woman's sharp voice rose: "What kind of lowly thing are you, daring to block my young lady's path!"

Luo Zijun's expression tightened, and he stood up immediately.

Hearing the commotion, Bi'er had already run down a step ahead.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

The sound of footsteps coming upstairs rang out.

Bi'er blocked the stairs and said, "What are you doing? My young lady..."

"Slap!"

Before she could finish, the woman walking in front suddenly slapped her hard across the face, her expression full of ferocity as she said, "Get lost! Don't block my young lady's path!"

Behind the woman was a young lady in a purple dress with a cold expression on her face.

Following behind were several maidservants and a few nannies.

Having been slapped, Bi'er still did not move aside and said angrily, "What right do you have to hit me? This is our shop, you..."

"Slap!"

The woman suddenly slapped her again, then grabbed her hair, sneering, "What right? Just because you are a lowly little slut! Your master is a big slut, and you are a little slut!"

Having said that, she raised her palm, preparing to strike again.

Luo Zijun suddenly walked down carrying a kettle and shouted, "Stop!"

The woman looked up at him and sneered, "What kind of thing are you? Are you the pretty boy kept by that slut?"

As she was speaking, Luo Zijun pulled Bi'er away, and then, from his high vantage point, he poured the kettle in his hand directly onto the woman.

The boiling water that had just been on the stove poured down instantly from the spout, splashing onto the woman's head and her upturned, ugly face.

"Ah—"

A scream instantly rang through the entire shop!

The woman was caught off guard and had never expected that someone would suddenly dare to splash boiling water on her face. She screamed in pain, scrambled backward, and stepped directly onto the foot of the young lady behind her.

That young lady was the Young Lady of the Bowang Marquis Mansion, Wan Qianzi.

Seeing this scene, Wan Qianzi's expression changed, and she also hurriedly retreated. However, the stairs were too narrow, and she was crowded by a group of maidservants and nannies behind her. A few drops of the spilled boiling water splashed onto them as well, and the whole group immediately fell into chaos, screaming and tumbling down the stairs in a heap.

Luo Zijun did not stop; the kettle in his hand remained tilted, continuously pouring the scalding water onto the woman's head, face, and body.

The woman screamed shrilly while struggling on the ground to escape, jostling with the people behind her, but she could not get away.

Luo Zijun, standing high above, held the kettle and followed her step by step, continuing to pour the scalding water on her.

"Ah! Ah—"

The series of extremely shrill screams not only frightened the young lady and the maidservants and nannies behind her until they were pale as ghosts, but Bi'er, who had been slapped twice behind Luo Zijun, and Xiao Lan, who had been slapped once downstairs, were also frightened, their eyes wide and their faces pale.

Liu Chujian stood at the top of the stairs, equally terrified.

When Luo Zijun had poured all the boiling water from the kettle, Wan Qianzi and those maidservants and nannies finally fled down the stairs in a panic, all of them with their clothes soaked, faces full of terror, and in a state of extreme disarray.

As for the woman who had struck the blow, she had already been scalded to the point of raw flesh and blood by the boiling water and had fainted on the stairs.

Luo Zijun walked up and kicked the woman down the stairs.

As the woman rolled and collided on the stairs, the skin on her face and the hair on her head suddenly fell off in large patches, looking terrifying.

The few maidservants behind Wan Qianzi were so frightened that their legs went weak, and they collapsed to the ground.

One of the maidservants fainted from fright on the spot.

Wan Qianzi's lips were also trembling, her face deathly pale, and she was too scared to speak. The ferocity and arrogance she had when she first went upstairs had vanished in an instant.

Luo Zijun stood on the stairs holding the kettle, looking down at them. Although he wore a Confucian robe and looked graceful and refined, like a weak scholar, in their eyes at this moment, he was as terrifying as a demon crawled out of hell. A nanny behind Wan Qianzi trembled and said, "You... you are so bold! You..."

"It is you who are bold!"

Luo Zijun looked at them coldly and shouted sternly, "According to the laws of Daliang, those who trespass into a private residence without a warrant may be defended against and expelled without limit! Those of slave status who insult an official or an official's family may be beaten to death on the spot! Those who trespass into another's home and strike first may be killed or injured without guilt! As people of the Marquis Mansion, and this old thing being a slave of an official, you should have set an example and followed the law, yet you knowingly broke the law and ignored the laws of Daliang. What crime should you be guilty of?"

These words were sharp and forceful, ringing out like a thunderclap, instantly stunning the old nanny and the others into silence, frozen in place.

Luo Zijun looked at the old nanny, staring directly into her pupils, using the Soul-Shocking Technique, and suddenly shouted again: "Now that the period of national mourning has just ended, and the Liu family has just been reinstated by the new King and the Empress Dowager, your Bowang Marquis Mansion dares to bully us like this? Under the bright sky, you directly broke in to insult and beat people. Are you dissatisfied with the laws of Daliang? Or are you dissatisfied with the new King and the Empress Dowager? Are you trying to rebel?"

This voice landed in the old nanny's ears like a terrifying thunderclap, suddenly exploding in her ears and mind, scaring her so much that she trembled all over, lost control of her bowels, and collapsed to the ground.

The others were also trembling all over, their faces drained of color.

"Get out!"

Luo Zijun shouted angrily again.

Wan Qianzi looked at him with resentment, clenched her fists, and her lips trembled a few times, but she said nothing, turned around, and left.

Those maidservants and nannies also scrambled up from the ground, dragging the woman who had been scalded unconscious, and left stumbling like stray dogs.

!

The small building suddenly fell silent.

The two young women who had been choosing books remained frozen in front of the bookshelf downstairs, motionless, looking quite frightened as well.

Luo Zijun looked at them, and the murderous look on his face immediately turned into a kind and amiable smile: "You two young ladies, please continue choosing your books; there is no need to be afraid."

He then shouted at Xiao Lan, who was staying downstairs, and Bi'er, who was on the stairs: "What are you standing there for? Why don't you hurry up and mop and sweep the floor!"

"Oh, oh, oh..."

Xiao Lan reacted and hurriedly went to get a rag.

Bi'er also lowered her head and silently went downstairs past him, not daring to look at him.

Luo Zijun shoved the kettle in his hand into her hands and said, "Go fetch a fresh pot of water."

As he spoke, he casually rubbed her little head.

Bi'er's body trembled, but she dared not resist; she gave a low "oh" and obediently went to fetch water.

Luo Zijun turned around, stepped on the water stains, went upstairs, took the slightly trembling little hand of the young girl on the stairs, and said, "Did they come here before?"

Liu Chujian whispered, "Yes."

Luo Zijun said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Liu Chujian said softly, "It was nothing major, they just came to... talk, that's all."

Luo Zijun's gaze turned cold, and he said, "I'm afraid it wasn't just talking, was it? Humiliation, verbal abuse, what else?"

Liu Chujian shook her head: "Nothing else."

Luo Zijun sighed, rubbed her head, and said, "Silly girl, are you afraid of implicating me? You should have told me the first time something like this happened. Dealing with people like that, blind tolerance will only fuel their arrogance. You are now the Young Lady of a Vice Minister's household, and it was the New King and the Empress Dowager who helped clear your names. As long as you are firm, no one will dare to provoke you. Besides, this shop also carries the name of that County Princess."

Liu Chujian kept her head down like a child who had done something wrong, and did not speak.

Luo Zijun did not dare to say more, held her in his arms, and comforted her softly: "It's okay, I'm here; having me protect you is enough. After all, I am the son-in-law of the prestigious Bai Family, the head of the Four Great Families! With me here, who would dare to act recklessly?"

Liu Chujian giggled and said, "You are clearly just a lowly Matrilocal Son-in-law."

Luo Zijun said, "So what if I am a lowly Matrilocal Son-in-law? Wearing the tiger skin of the Bai Family, I can still borrow the tiger's might to scare off some worthless curs."

Liu Chujian smiled and leaned gently into his arms.

Smelling the faint, youthful fragrance on her, Luo Zijun couldn't help but scoop her delicate body up horizontally, then leaned into her ear and said, "Let's go to your room, shall we?"

A flush immediately stained Liu Chujian's fair cheeks, and she looked at him with shimmering eyes, saying, "Why go to my room?"

Luo Zijun gently bit her ear, exhaling hot breath, and whispered, "Guess."

Liu Chujian's body trembled, her face flushed, and she said shyly, "It's... it's not dark yet."

Luo Zijun said, "Is it okay once it's dark?"

Liu Chujian buried her burning, shy face into his chest, bit her lip lightly, and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's hum, "Yes..."

She had promised that after the national mourning period ended, it would be okay...

"No, I want it now!"

Luo Zijun didn't take no for an answer and walked directly toward the inner room while carrying her.

Liu Chujian struggled shyly for a few moments, then stopped moving. Her body felt soft and limp, and she lay obediently in his arms, her burning cheeks buried in his chest, biting her pink lips, her heart racing—a picture of submissive, yielding compliance.

"Lock... lock the door..."

Luo Zijun carried her into the room, and she hurriedly reminded him shyly.

Luo Zijun asked in confusion, "Why lock the door?"

Liu Chujian said with a red face, "Don't... don't let Bi'er and the others see..."

Luo Zijun rudely threw her onto the bed and said, "It's fine, if they see, they see. Those two little maids will have to see eventually anyway; when the time comes, the four of us can just play together."

Liu Chujian immediately covered her blushing little face and hummed softly: "Brother Zijun, you... you are so lecherous, to actually think of..."

"What do you mean lecherous? It's just playing with a treasure, what does that have to do with being lecherous?"

Luo Zijun looked puzzled, then took the Copper Mirror out from his robes, lay on the bed, leaned close to her, and said, "Why are you closing your eyes? Hurry and look, I'll show you something fun. Not only is there a narcissistic woman inside who fancies herself a fairy from the Jade Pool, but it can also show pictures. I haven't even told my Senior Sister about this treasure."

"Ah?"

Liu Chujian was stunned upon hearing this and slowly opened her eyes.

(End of chapter)