Chapter 90: The Dragon Has Its Reverse Scale
“The third part is your acting righteously. If you happen to encounter ruffians bullying the weak, you must act righteously and help the weak. I fully support you.
But you cannot sit in a carriage every day going everywhere to look for such things. You must remember your identity. How can you deal with these ruffians all day long? Your nickname Purple Immortal Demoness came this way, little demoness. You need to quit the martial world, got it?”
Xiao Qiao lowered her head and muttered softly: “I got it.”
“The fourth part is what I cannot tolerate, with extremely bad influence….”
Before Gan Ning could say it, Xiao Qiao turned and ran, shouting from afar: “I guarantee I won’t go to the county yamen again!”
Gan Ning was amused and exasperated. This little girl dared to do but not to admit it. She also knew she had caused trouble.
“Husband, what is the fourth part?” Da Qiao asked curiously.
“She ran to the county yamen and roared in the court, accusing County Magistrate Zhang of unfair judgments. Luckily, County Magistrate Zhang knew who she was and didn’t dare provoke her. If it were someone else, they would be arrested on the spot and beaten with fifty strokes of the rod.”
“Sigh! This damn girl, I must keep her in check and not let her run around wildly.”
Gan Ning shook his head. “You can’t control her. Her personality is outgoing and unrestrained, and at this age, she is at her most rebellious. The only way is to find something for her to do. What does she like?”
“She likes shopping. She used to often make appointments with a few little girls to run out of the city to climb mountains. They surprisingly didn’t encounter any danger. It was truly their luck.”
“I’m not asking her to stay home all day. I know she can’t stay put. I just want to find something she’s interested in to focus her attention.”
Da Qiao thought for a moment, her eyes suddenly lighting up. “She really likes small animals, especially raising cats. She used to raise a yellow cat, serving it like an ancestor every day. Later, when the yellow cat died, she cried for a month.”
At this moment, Gan Ning’s stomach rumbled loudly. Da Qiao covered her mouth and snickered, then quickly pulled her husband to the dining hall.
A short parting is better than a new marriage. That night, the young couple was infinitely affectionate, lingering until midnight before sleeping.
The next morning, Gan Ning arrived at the official residence and sent someone to fetch the shopkeeper of the Chaisang Restaurant.
Soon, Shopkeeper Xie was brought in. He knelt and kowtowed: “This humble one Xie Ping pays respects to the Marquis!”
Gan Ning stood with hands behind his back by the window and said coldly: “Ten days ago, my wife was insulted at the restaurant. Do you know?”
“This humble one knows. This humble one brought the waiters to rescue Madam, but we were blocked by their evil slaves. We shouted that it was General Gan’s wife, but they didn’t listen.”
“Why didn’t you report to the officials?”
“Madam told me not to report to the officials. She was fine, Miss Xiao Qiao was fine too. This subordinate saw them beaten and lying all over the ground.
“You should know who these eight people are, right?”
“This humble one knows!”
“Write them down for me!”
The personal guard gave him paper and pen. Shopkeeper Xie tremblingly wrote down the eight names. Gan Ning glanced at the list and asked: “Who is the leader Qi Sheng, son of which family?”
“He is the son of the great merchant Qi Huaiyi. Qi Huaiyi has three sons, and he is the third. He has always been arrogant and overbearing.”
“I thought he was from a noble family! Turns out he’s a merchant’s son.”
“Among them, there are three from noble families and five merchants’ sons.”
Gan Ning nodded. “You may go!”
The shopkeeper left. Gan Ning immediately ordered: “Have Wang Xiaoman come see me!”
Soon, Wang Xiaoman hurried over, bowed and saluted: “Greetings, my lord!”
“Do you know the merchant Qi Huaiyi?”
“This subordinate general knows. He does grain business.”
“Correct, it’s this Qi family. Lead five hundred subordinates to his manor, behead his son Qi Sheng on the spot, confiscate all Qi family property, and send the whole family, high and low, to Luling Commandery as military slaves.”
“This subordinate obeys the order!”
The Qi family was one of the three great grain merchants in Yuzhang Commandery. Qi Huaiyi had struggled his whole life to build a considerable family property, preparing to hand the grain business to his eldest son and enjoy his old age free of burdens.
But he never imagined that his most beloved youngest son would bring utter disaster upon his family.
Five hundred soldiers rushed to the Qi family, began ransacking the house, and at the same time bound up Qi Huaiyi’s third son Qi Sheng, pushing him to kneel in the front courtyard, preparing to execute him.
Qi Sheng cried out in fear: “Father, save my life!”
Qi Huaiyi shouted in grief and fury: “What crime has my Qi family committed to have our property confiscated? What crime has my son committed to be killed?”
Wang Xiaoman said coldly: “Ask your son!”
Qi Huaiyi walked to his youngest son, only to see him bowing his head guiltily, trembling all over in fright.
“You beast, what did you do?”
Qi Sheng suddenly shouted: “I was drunk that day, I didn’t know she was his woman, but I didn’t touch her, I really didn’t touch her!”
Wang Xiaoman glared at him through gritted teeth: “That wasn’t just some woman, that was our lord’s wife. You dared to flirt and harass Madam, and even injured her.”
Qi Huaiyi’s face turned deathly pale. His son had actually dared to touch Gan Ning’s wife.
It was over. His lifelong efforts were gone, his descendants were finished, reduced to military slaves, never to rise again.
Qi Huaiyi looked up in despair and shouted: “Heavens! How did I give birth to such a beast?”
Wang Xiaoman ordered: “Execute!”
A flash of cold light, and Qi Sheng’s head fell to the ground. The Qi family property was entirely confiscated, the whole clan reduced to military slaves and escorted to Luling Commandery for penal labor.
News of the Qi family’s ransacking and execution spread rapidly. Soon, seven blood-stained posts were also delivered to the homes of the other seven families.
An hour later, the fathers of the seven families all brought their troublemaking sons, bare-chested, to kneel before the prefectural office and beg forgiveness.
Lu Su and Jiang Wan were greatly shocked and came together to see Gan Ning.
“My lord, what is the reason for this?”
Gan Ning said coldly: “I could tolerate them calling me a cuckold, but they dared to flirt with and insult my wife, even injuring her. Do you two know? Even a dragon has a reverse scale; touch it and you die. My family is my reverse scale.”
Lu Su sighed: “But the main culprit Qi Sheng has already been beheaded by my lord, implicating his family. The other seven are guilty, but not to the point of death. They explained that upon hearing it was General Gan’s wife, they didn’t dare act out then. Only Qi Sheng was drunk and wouldn’t stop; they even tried to dissuade him but couldn’t hold him back.”
“The strategist knows too?”
“I just asked them. My lord, I have no objection to killing Qi Sheng and confiscating the Qi family—killing one to warn a hundred is enough. But killing the other seven more would give my lord a reputation for wanton killing. This subordinate is considering my lord’s reputation. Our venture is not easy; please think thrice, my lord.”
Jiang Wan also advised: “My lord, this case actually had no serious consequences. Punishing minor offenses harshly would spread rumors harmful to Madam’s reputation.”
Gan Ning didn’t listen to Lu Su’s reasoning, but Jiang Wan’s words hit home. Punishing too harshly would indeed make people think they had done something heinous, affecting Da Qiao’s reputation.
Gan Ning nodded and ordered: “Pass my command: the seven outside are guilty of insulting a superior, each to receive one hundred heavy strokes, fined one hundred strings of cash, and confined for one year.”
Lu Su and Jiang Wan exchanged a glance and both let out a long sigh of relief.
The seven young men outside were each beaten until their skin split and flesh burst. Their fathers expressed endless gratitude, paid the hundred strings of cash fine, and carried their sons home.
Xiao Qiao was grounded for three days. She sat in her room sulking when suddenly she heard a faint meow from the courtyard. Her eyes lit up, and she hurried out following the sound.
In the courtyard was a wooden box, and the meowing came from inside it. She ran up quickly, and sure enough, inside were two little tabby kittens, very small, seemingly just weaned, one yellow and one black, with big round eyes, utterly adorable.
Xiao Qiao jumped up happily. Raising her head, she saw Gan Lang standing at the door smiling at her. She pounced excitedly, hugged Gan Lang’s neck, and planted two hard kisses on his face before happily running back to see her treasures.
