TSWRLM -Chapter 269 So What If He’s Punished?

With a shout from Chun Xi, the Xiao family attendants all charged forward. Wei Lingze had no chance to explain and could only endure the punches and kicks from everyone.

Xiao Qingyue and Xiao Qingyang rushed to Xiao Qinghe’s side, checking her carefully. Only when they confirmed she was unharmed did they finally exhale in relief.

Xiao Qingyue, still shaken, glared at the people who had tried to abduct Xiao Qinghe. Gritting her teeth, she exclaimed, “Who dares to be so reckless as to deliberately cause trouble and abduct my sister? I’ll tear him to pieces!”

Xiao Qingyang also wore a dark scowl, preparing to punish the culprit, when he heard Xiao Qinghe say, “Yue’er, Second Brother, it wasn’t anyone else who took me—it was Wei Lingze.”

“……???”

Xiao Qingyang ordered the attendants to step back and lifted the curled-up Wei Lingze from the ground. Xiao Qingyue held up a lantern, illuminating his face.

Though bruised and battered, his features still clearly identified him as Wei Lingze.

“So it really is our nephew-in-law,” Chun Xi exclaimed dramatically. “Nephew-in-law, why didn’t you speak earlier? It was so dark in the alley, I thought you were an assassin. Luckily, nothing serious happened to you, right?”

Her tone was full of schadenfreude; she practically wished he’d been beaten to death in the chaos.

Xiao Qingyue was also furious. She yelled at Wei Lingze: “Wei Lingze, are you insane? Why did you sneakily abduct my sister? Just because she won’t forgive you, you resort to such filthy methods to harm her?”

Wei Lingze’s whole body ached, and his chest burned with frustration. But with so many people around, he couldn’t lash out. He could only feign innocence: “You’ve misunderstood me. I only saw He’er leaving and followed at a distance to catch a glimpse of her. I didn’t expect the commotion. When I noticed she had no protection nearby, I acted to rescue her.”

“The Xiao family sent so many attendants with her—how could she possibly be unprotected? Nephew-in-law, your eyesight must be failing,” Chun Xi countered. Before Wei Lingze could reply, she continued, “And wasn’t the earlier chaos caused by your own personal attendant? Everyone has already been caught by the Night Patrol. Nephew-in-law, are you really going to keep lying now?”

“Xingzhou was caught?”

Wei Lingze clenched his fists and turned sharply toward Chun Xi.

During such chaos, logically, they should have been overwhelmed. Even if they managed the crowd, discovering Xiao Qinghe missing should have prompted them to search for her first. How could they have caught Xingzhou so quickly?

Wei Lingze couldn’t tell if Chun Xi was tricking him, or if coming to the temple fair was a trap she had set to make him err.

His gaze grew frightening. Chun Xi met his stare calmly: “Nephew-in-law, why are you staring at me like that? You haven’t forgotten the past three years—you surely remember what just happened, right?”

Wei Lingze pressed his lips and remained silent. Soon, the Night Patrol arrived.

The inspecting officer hurried over, seeing so many people crowded into this unremarkable narrow alley. He shivered.

It was already the twelfth lunar month. He had hoped for a peaceful New Year—how did trouble arise again?

Outside wasn’t a place to talk, so everyone followed the inspecting officer back to the Night Patrol headquarters.

Xingzhou and several Wei family attendants had indeed been caught. Witnesses confirmed that they had knocked over the lantern, causing the commotion.

Naturally, Xingzhou didn’t dare blame Wei Lingze, taking all responsibility himself. But as Wei Lingze’s personal attendant, both Xiao Qingyun and Xiao Qingyang didn’t believe he was unaware, and demanded strict punishment.

The inspecting officer dared not make a hasty decision and could only send word to the Wei and Xiao families.

Soon, Madam Yun and Wei Lingze’s father arrived first.

Seeing Wei Lingze beaten and bruised, with sword cuts on his arms, Madam Yun exclaimed, “Ze’er, what happened? Who did this to you?”

The inspecting officer recounted the situation: “It was very dark in the alley. The Xiao family attendants, in a rush to find Miss Xiao, mistook Master Wei for an assassin and acted hastily.”

The relations between the families looked tense. The officer even addressed Xiao Qinghe as Miss Xiao instead of Lady Wei.

Madam Yun’s anger flared. Pointing at Wei Lingze’s arm injuries, she demanded, “My son is hurt like this! You call that a mistake? Even if they were kidnappers, the Xiao family has no right to handle him like that!”

Madam Yun’s fury was so intimidating that the inspecting officer dared not offend her. He looked to the Xiao family for help. Xiao Qingyuan stepped forward: “Wei Lingze ordered his personal attendant to create chaos and take He’er. If we hadn’t arrived in time, who knows what could have happened? He acted in secret first—why shouldn’t the Xiao family punish him?”

Xiao Qingyuan was just two years younger than Shen Qingyuan. Already an official in the Hanlin Academy, he carried himself with composure and dignity. Though not as commanding as Xiao Qinghe’s father, he could hold his ground.

He wasn’t afraid to clash with the Wei family. His tone was firm: Wei Lingze brought the beating upon himself.

Previously, the younger Xiao family members were very deferential toward Madam Yun. Now, hearing Xiao Qingyun speak like this, she was furious, but before she could retort, Xiao Qingyang’s calm voice cut in:

“Tonight, many innocent citizens were injured in the chaos. Several were poor students coming to take the imperial exams. His Majesty and the Crown Prince cherish talent. We and He’er were merely frightened. If they had been harmed, it would be disastrous.”

Xiao Qingyang’s final phrase, “pillars of the state,” changed Wei Lingze’s father’s expression.

Because of Wei Lingze, the emperor had already warned him multiple times to strictly educate his sons, clearly thinking he was too lenient.

If this had been just a couple’s quarrel, it wouldn’t matter. But these poor students often wrote essays criticizing the wealthy. If handled poorly, the Wei family could be accused of treating lives lightly, and the emperor would hear of it—it would be terrible.

Wei Lingze’s father quickly weighed the situation and scolded Madam Yun sternly: “I’ve long said that indulgent mothers spoil their children. You blindly defend this ungrateful son without understanding the full situation. Who knows how much shame he will bring upon us in the future?”

His tone was harsh and authoritative. Madam Yun shuddered and lost her composure, unable to argue, grinding her teeth in anger.

The Xiao family now truly disregarded any notion of maintaining relations with the Wei family.

Wei Lingze’s father didn’t care about clearing his son’s name yet. First, he asked the inspecting officer about the number of injured students and civilians, and the severity of their injuries.

The officer replied, “Rest assured, Lord Wei. The Xiao family has sent the injured citizens and students to the Huichun Clinic. All costs will be borne by them. The doctors will do their utmost to treat the wounded—there will be no fatalities.”

Wei Lingze’s father fell silent.

With the doctors at Huichun Clinic attending to the injured, no lives would be lost. But the Xiao family had seized the initiative—he feared they would not let the matter rest.