IDWBE -Chapter 127 Face

But the moment he arrived and saw the guards and constables stationed all around to maintain order, his courage instantly failed him.

He had practiced martial arts on the school grounds before. Although he was still miles away from achieving Huajin, at least his sense of danger was much sharper than before.

He now knew clearly who he could afford to offend—and who he absolutely could not.

These days, even when selling pork, he didn’t dare shout loudly anymore.

Ignorance really had been bliss.

Now he felt less happy than before; his little heart had nowhere to settle.

Looking at the ring of soldiers and constables before him, any one of them could beat him senseless.

Strangely, the righteous indignation he had felt earlier vanished in an instant.

The knife hidden in his chest suddenly felt like a hot potato.

What if they discovered it? Would he be sent to labor reform?

How could he act natural?

Suddenly, a constable glanced in his direction. He immediately lowered his head, hunched his back, blended into the crowd, and quietly retreated.

He didn’t dare walk too fast, afraid the knife might fall out.

Only after reaching a deserted corner did he press his hand against his chest and run home in large strides.

Once home, he put down the knife, gulped down a whole pot of tangerine peel water, and finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Pacing back and forth in his spacious house with his hands behind his back, he gritted his teeth and returned to the square.

After looking around, he squeezed into a group of elderly and women, relying on his strong build to push to the front.

On the field, students—regardless of gender or age—fought in pairs. Those eliminated continued fighting among themselves.

Squinting, he spotted his petite daughter.

She was fighting a boy half a head taller than her. If he remembered correctly, that was Liu Kan, the son of Liu Duo, the silk shop owner.

That little bastard had to be sixteen already!

Shameless!

His daughter was only fourteen!

Wasn’t this bullying the young?

The boy flipped like a hawk, circling and striking with punches and palms. His daughter was steadily retreating.

He regretted having left the knife at home.

Eyes wide, he watched as the shameless brat even used “Black Tiger Steals the Heart.” Just as he worried about his daughter’s small frame, she suddenly leapt back and spun into a lotus kick.

The boy was caught off guard and kicked out of the chalk circle.

“Jiang Zhen wins!” shouted referee Chen Xinluo.

“Hahaha—
That’s my daughter!
That’s my daughter!”

Butcher Jiang couldn’t hold back his laughter, boasting to those around him, only to meet the dark expression of Liu Duo beside him.

“What’s the matter?”

“Hmph!”

Liu Duo ground his teeth and left in a huff.

Seeing Liu Duo so furious, Butcher Jiang laughed even louder.

So what if you’re rich?

Your son still lost to my daughter!

“Congratulations!”

“Your daughter’s already Third Rank…”

“So young—her cultivation will be limitless…”

Baiyun City wasn’t large; most longtime residents knew each other. Many cupped their hands in congratulations.

“Haha, just luck, just luck!”

His laughter rang exceptionally loud.

Soon only sixteen remained on the field.

Then eight.

Then four.

Finally, just two.

One was a boy, Han Jin.

The other was Butcher Jiang’s daughter, Jiang Zhen.

“I could beat both of them myself!” Yu Xiaoshi grumbled, depressed that he couldn’t compete.

“So could I,” A-Dai added angrily.

Cui Gengren gnawed on sugarcane and said, “We’re not students anymore. Of course we can’t go up.”

He vaguely regretted leaving school.

He shouldn’t have begged the prince to let him withdraw.

Now he could only watch Han Jin show off on the field.

He himself had also reached Third Rank.

It was noon.

The sun hung high.

The competition continued.

But to everyone’s surprise, the final victor was a delicate little girl.

“Champion—

Jiang Zhen!”

After announcing it, Xie Zan couldn’t help marveling.

How could such a young girl break through to Third Rank so easily?

Her talent was almost on par with Hong An’s!

And Hong An had a Grandmaster as her master!

The girl—barely 1.6 meters tall—wore a large red flower, leapt onto a tall horse under everyone’s gaze, and paraded through the streets accompanied by gongs and drums.

Butcher Jiang clutched the twenty taels of silver he had just received from Xie Zan, grinning from ear to ear.

He hadn’t saved that much money in his entire life.

Amid the congratulations, he finally understood what real “face” meant.

This—

This was true honor.

He, Butcher Jiang, had become famous in Baiyun City.

Because he had a champion daughter.

When Lin Yi learned that the champion was a girl, he was grading papers while scolding Fang Pi and the others:

“Look at you all—can’t even measure up to a girl.”

Fang Pi said, “If I were still in school, I’d have won too.”

Lin Yi snorted. “Want me to bring her here so you can try? If you lose, your entire year’s salary goes to her.”

Fang Pi immediately shrank back and said nothing.

Losing wasn’t scary.

Losing his salary was.

He ate three meals a day at Prince He’s residence, so he wouldn’t starve.

But what was a man without spending money?

He’d even learned to drink now.

That required funds.

Yu Xiaoshi suddenly shouted, “Your Highness, I’ll fight her!”

Lin Yi waved impatiently. “Go play somewhere else. All you know is bullying others. You’re a grown man—have some shame.”

Yu Xiaoshi didn’t dare speak again.

In the courtyard were more than twenty bamboo birdcages, now empty.

At first, they had held over a hundred birds. Lin Yi fed them daily. But after a while, he grew impatient. The constant chirping was deafening.

In a fit of irritation, he opened all the cages.

He thought: those who want to leave can leave; those who don’t can stay. He could afford to keep them.

In the end, only one crimson-breasted parrot remained.

The parrot refused to stay in the cage, roaming the courtyard all day. Occasionally it would tease Dahei and Xiaohuang while they slept.

The two dogs would angrily chase it, but once the parrot flew up, they were helpless, barking below with bared teeth.

When the ruler has a hobby, many will try to please him.

Only a few days after he released the birds, people began sending him rare and valuable birds—along with cages made of red sandalwood and ironwood.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and quickly forbade it.

Then others noticed he liked polishing beads, so they sent him various hand-polished trinkets.

“How exactly do you polish this thing?”

Lin Yi looked at the pair of smooth ivory beads in front of him and felt a headache coming on.