“Don’t be such a bully!” Wen Zeming’s face turned red. In the end, he didn’t yet have the patience that Wen Tian had witnessed in his previous life. After being spurred by the words, Wen Zeming couldn’t maintain his gentlemanly face, and his eyes blazed with anger. Full of jealousy, he said, “Weren’t you just born into good circumstances? In terms of talent, learning and conduct, how can you compare to me?!
“You’re just an idiot who can’t even write a poem. Without the Wen family, you’re nothing!”
He only cared about venting his anger, and didn’t notice that the faces of the young men around him who were watching the show changed after he uttered these words. Most of the people who could sit there were the second-generation masters who relied on their families. His words were equivalent to scolding everyone. Even Zheng Bosheng, who had hesitantly tried to coax him earlier, didn’t look too good.
Unexpectedly, he turned out to be so easily provoked that he lost his composure. Wen Tian lamented that at this time, Wen Zeming had not yet mastered cultivation. When they met in the previous life, Wen Zeming’s expression would not change even if Wen Tian scolded his mother.
He was still too young.
Instead, his appearance actually made Wen Tian want to laugh. He picked up the wine bottle with a wanton attitude and took a sip from the spout. Glancing at the red-faced Wen Zeming from the corner of his eyes, he said, “So what if I just bullied you?
“So what if I just got born into fortune? I can get anything I want just by sitting here and lifting my finger, unlike you, who still has to shamelessly curry favor from an idiot like me. It must be very hard to endure, right?”
Wen Zeming’s chest heaved violently. His eyes were like swords; he wanted to use his eyes to tear this smug face to pieces. He had seen such an expression many times, but never before had it made him so embarrassed and resentful.
They were both seeds from the Wen family, why should he be inferior? ! Why should he be bullied like a dog? With his hands clenched into fists at his side, Wen Zeming used all his strength to control himself from taking action, and said, word by word: “Don’t. Bully. The. Young. And. Poor.”
“Pfft!” Wen Tian laughed out loud, tossed the wine bottle aside casually, stood up for the first time, and looked at him coldly, “What do you mean by that sentence? Do you want me to pull up the weeds by their roots1?”
There was real murderous intent in his eyes. Wen Zeming looked into those dark eyes and saw clear hatred in them. This was completely different from what he knew about Wen Tian. The information he had gotten said that Wen Tian was just a good-looking, delicate young master, innocent and not very street-smart: a far cry from the cold-hearted young man in front of him.
Could it be that he was also pretending? But Wen Zeming couldn’t figure out why Wen Tian was targeting him. He also wondered about whether he should get out while he still could and take a moment to calm down. If he annoyed the other party, he might really kill him.
Deep in his heart, he was already feeling a little afraid. He clenched his teeth and looked at Wen Tian tensely.
However, Wen Tian was just trying to scare him. He had been a good citizen for two lifetimes. Even though he wanted to eat Wen Zeming alive, he wouldn’t actually kill anyone himself. It was not worth getting involved in a life-threatening lawsuit for such a person.
Seeing how scared he was, Wen Tian waved his hand in disinterest and asked his servants to drive him out.
Li Qingnian reacted the fastest and said to the servant-in-charge: “Drag him out. Remember, next time the Li family holds a banquet, don’t let him sneak in.”
Wen Zeming straightened his spine and wanted to walk out in a dignified manner, but he was caught off guard by two burly servants who grabbed his arms and roughly pulled him out.
Zheng Bosheng’s expression changed several times, but in the end he said nothing. The Zheng family was just a small merchant family, not as high-ranking as the Li family and far lower than the Wen family. Although he wanted to win over Wen Zeming, Wen Zeming had obviously caused offense now. He was not willing to drag down his family for an ordinary friend.
After this incident, the atmosphere became a little dull. Although these foppish boys were hanging out together, their internal hierarchies were also very clear. They were divided into hierarchies based on their family’s power, and the Wen family behind Wen Tian was the one who should not be messed with the most.
Moreover, Wen Tian had seemed very gentle in the past, but today, he was more vicious and unreasonable than the other young men. These people were momentarily shocked.
Li Qingnian, on the other hand, was not affected at all and asked cheerfully, “I have never seen you lose your temper so much. Has this Wen Zeming offended you?”
Without his enemy in front of him, Wen Tian was like a small animal that had recovered from its manic state, putting away its teeth and claws and becoming harmless again. However, Li Qingnian’s question was a bit difficult to answer. He thought about it and said casually: “No, it’s just that I just hate him when I see him.”
Everyone: “…”
This reasoning was a very domineering one, but there didn’t seem to be a problem with it. After all, they used to deal with anyone they didn’t like, but they never liked to give justifications. When they thought of it this way, these newly-shocked young masters felt a feeling of kindred spirit towards Wen Tian.
On the other hand, Zhou Chuanqing, who had been quietly watching the situation from the side, glanced at him in surprise. Wen Tian’s performance today was really an eye-opener. He originally thought that Wen Tian was going to be bullied, and he figured that he should step in to stop him, but in the end he unexpectedly turned the tables. He closed his fan and tapped it in his palm. Zhou Chuanqing felt that the boss would be very interested if he knew about this.
Wen Tian had no idea about their mental recalculations. Although he was able to take a breath today, seeing Wen Zeming today made him think of Wen Boli, and his mood became not only bad but even worse.
The flower viewing feast wouldn’t end until the evening. After the sky got dark, it would be time to light the flower lanterns. Wen Tian thought that Wen Shuyue ought to be coming back to find him by now, so he walked out with Li Qingnian and Zhou Chuanqing.
Dots of lights were already lighting up in the Peach Blossom Forest. When Wen Tian and others arrived at the official road, they saw a huge flower lamp lit up at the highest point of the Flower Temple. The peony-shaped flower lantern was in full bloom, with a statue of a noble concubine placed in the center of the flower. After the candles on the petals lit up one after another, the entire flower lantern began to rotate slowly.
As the main lights lit up, the scattered lights spread out like fireflies. From a distance, the Flower Temple was a dazzling sight.
Wen Shuyue and the maid each held a small lamp in their hands as they walked slowly towards the carriage. She originally made an appointment with her friend to set off the flower lantern together. But it occurred to her that she hadn’t seen Wen Tian for a long time, and so she decided that it was better to part ways with her friend and come back to find Wen Tian first.
Wen Tian was also happy to see her. He ran over to take the lantern from her hand and asked her why she came back so soon.
“I can’t help but worry about you.” Wen Shuyue walked beside him, keenly caught the smell of alcohol on his body, and frowned. “Have you been drinking?”
“There was a flower viewing party in the afternoon, so I drank a little.” Wen Tian scratched his face, feeling a little guilty.
Wen Shuyue didn’t suspect anything and walked with him to the carriage. As she got closer, she realized that there were two people next to the carriage. She hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly towards Li Qingnian and Zhou Chuanqing.
Li Qingnian’s eyes widened when he saw Wen Shuyue. He was stunned for a moment before pulling Wen Tian and whispering: “Why does your sister look like the daughter of fairies?”
Wen Tian shot him a slanting glance, ignored him, got into the carriage, took out the flower lamp, and asked Wen Shuyue where to place it.
Taking the lamp, Wen Shuyue thought for a while then suggested that they might as well go for a walk by the river.
A little further from the peach blossom forest was the Sihu River. That night, the trees by the river were also full of flower lanterns, and many vendors were yelling and selling their goods.
Wen Shuyue, a lamp in her hand, walked with Wen Tian. Zhou Chuanqing and Li Qingnian were one step behind. Li Qingnian’s personality was naturally friendly, pulling at Zhou Chuanqing and whispering that Wen Shuyue was prettier than the Flower Goddess, and that whoever married her must have accumulated virtue in his previous life.
Zhou Chuanqing had no time to pay attention to him and secretly looked at Wen Shuyue. Wen Shuyue was indeed a beauty. She and Wen Tian were twins. Both of them were beauties with exquisite facial features, but Wen Tian’s features were more bright and striking, while Wen Shuyue’s were softer. Compared with her appearance, her unique temperament appeared even more outstanding, making people forget what others they had seen.
Thinking once more of the flower cakes and wine brought by Wen Tian, Zhou Chuanqing sighed in his heart. Li Qingnian was indeed right. Whoever could marry her must have accumulated good deeds in his previous life, and Jiao Changxian, who went to brothels instead of cherishing such a fiancée, really was blind.
The four of them walked slowly along the river embankment, surrounded by crowds of people. There were many stalls for guessing lantern riddles and matching pairs on the roadside. The stall owners shouted loudly for prizes. Wen Shuyue stopped at the most-crowded stall.
In front of the stall owner was a cage containing a palm-sized rabbit. The rabbit was different from ordinary rabbits: the ears were slightly smaller, and there was a circle of black fluff around the tips of the ears and eyes. It looked particularly cute.
Many young men who wanted to win back the rabbit and please the girls gathered around the stall to guess lantern riddles.
Wen Shuyue stood outside and looked around, but she did not feel comfortable leaning over, and was about to leave with a hesitant expression.
Zhou Chuanqing, who was behind, stepped forward and said with a smile, “I think the lantern riddles here are pretty good, why don’t you let me try them.”
Wen Shuyue looked at him in surprise, smiled slightly, and gave her position to him.
The lantern riddles on the stall were not simple, but they were simply amusing for Zhou Chuanqing. He guessed them all the way through and was stumped only by the last few.
“Go boating on the Mid-Autumn Lake.” Wen Shuyue, who was standing next to him, saw that he was unsure and reminded him aloud.
Zhou Chuanqing was slightly stunned. He wrote a poem, “Looking at Dongting in August, thousands of sails pass by my eyes.” It was exactly right.
He cupped his hand and wrote down the answer. With a common topic of conversation, the two became familiar with each other, so they continued to guess together.
Wen Tian scratched his face and felt a little strange as he looked at the two people’s backs, but he couldn’t tell what was wrong. Plus he couldn’t guess lantern riddles, so he just wandered over to the river embankment.
He didn’t know if Chu Xiangtian had caught anyone. He squatted by the river in a daze, stroking his fingers in the cool river water.
Chu Xiangtian followed the mark left by Zhou Chuanqing and saw the young master squatting by the river.
The young master put his chin on his knees, waving his fingers in the river water, his thick eyelashes drooped downward like a fan, looking a little unhappy.
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===Author’s Notes===
Tiantian: I’m going to hit you, why do I have to choose a date?
The bandit leader who finally showed his face can take the opportunity to gain favor√#
Although this chapter is only a little longer, I still want a lot of comments and nutrient solution qvq
Sending you little hearts and red envelopes~
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===Translator’s Notes===
- 斩草除根, i.e., to eliminate something completely, to address/destroy something from its source, thereby leaving no chance of coming up again. ↩︎
Thank you for the chapterss!!!!♥️♥️
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