Chapter Twenty-Two: Confrontation
“General Lou, please hold your hand!”
Wang Lin feigned breathlessness, a look of urgency on his fair and handsome face.
He waved repeatedly at Lou Jin, “A misunderstanding! This must be a misunderstanding!”
Calling out, Wang Lin hastened forward, pulling hard on the reins so his horse stopped steadily.
“A misunderstanding?”
Lou Jin’s deep eyes flashed with a shadowy light. “Magistrate Wang, you claim it’s a misunderstanding?”
“There are hidden circumstances in the Wang family’s affairs?”
As Lou Dalan’s father, Lou Jin naturally didn’t want to wrong his son, nor ruin his son’s reputation.
He vaguely guessed Wang Lin’s intention; he also knew Wang Lin was a consummate schemer, never acting without benefit.
Wang Lin needed Lou Jin’s support in Hedong.
All along, Lou Jin had disdained Wang Lin’s character and methods, wary of his calculations and depth. But when it concerned his son, Lou Jin could not help but nurture hope.
Without realizing it, Lou Jin spoke to Wang Lin with a hint of urgency in his tone.
Wang Lin, however, caught this acutely.
He suppressed the urge to smile: he’d made the right gamble! Lou Jin would surely owe him this favor!
“Magistrate Wang, I know you must think this boy is young and made a mistake, and you are unwilling to be harsh.”
Although Lou Jin wished to shield his son, he dared not go too far.
He deliberately aided Wang Lin’s argument, not forgetting to glare fiercely at Lou Dalan, “But there are matters of gravitas. This concerns your noble house’s bloodline, and I cannot simply let this boy off easily!”
“General Lou, please don’t be angry, hear me out first!”
“I speak of a misunderstanding not because the young master is merely a child and I wish to shield him, but because the matter has not yet been clarified.”
Wang Lin sat upright on horseback, his expression grave.
“Are you saying it wasn’t this boy acting maliciously, causing your noble lady to be startled and fall, leading to a miscarriage?”
Lou Jin knew his son’s wildness was hard to tame; in truth, Lou Dalan’s unruly behavior was mostly due to Lou Jin’s indulgence.
He simply found it hard to steel himself and truly discipline Dalan.
As head of the family, Lou Jin’s attitude shaped the entire Lou household—even Madame Cui, though deeply exasperated with Lou Dalan, dared only use praise as a weapon.
…All this Lou Jin knew.
His son bullied siblings, teased servants and guards, even galloped through the marketplace, oppressing the weak… Lou Jin had only ever scolded him lightly, never truly punished him.
But this time was different.
Lou Dalan had “teased” the Wang family’s noble lady—a pregnant woman.
Though the Wang family had declined, they were still a noble clan.
A pregnant noblewoman, harmed by Lou Dalan to the point of miscarriage—if word spread, Lou Dalan’s reputation would be ruined.
True, the Lou family could excuse him as young and ignorant.
Yet this incident would remain a stain on Lou Dalan’s life.
When he grew up, whether in marriage or in court, this matter could stir trouble.
If—Lou Jin thought—if Wang Lin, as the injured party, could take the initiative to “clarify” matters, Lou Dalan’s reputation would remain intact.
Even if it meant owing that cunning Wang Lin a favor, Lou Jin was willing!
“My lady is not pregnant!”
Wang Lin met Lou Jin’s gaze and spoke slowly. “As her husband, I never knew of such a thing.”
“Moreover, the family physician who attends our household’s women checks their pulse every few days. Three days ago, he examined Madame Cui, found her pulse normal, and I received no ‘congratulations’ from him.”
As he spoke, Wang Lin couldn’t help thinking: Cui, isn’t this shooting yourself in the foot?
Trying to conceal things, even bribing the physician.
You never anticipated I would “turn your scheme against you.”
No—what scheme?
Wang Lin insisted he knew nothing; every word he spoke was true.
He hadn’t lied, so he grew more confident.
Lou Jin was momentarily stunned. “Your noble lady isn’t pregnant? Then—then, why did my informant claim she was bleeding?”
The one who had come to the barracks to complain was a Cui family servant—a matron wailing and claiming the poor Madame Cui suffered a miscarriage at the hands of the domineering Lou family’s young tyrant.
Blood, a whole pool of it.
Though the matron’s crying was irritating and surely exaggerated, Lou Jin could tell she wasn’t lying—Cui had indeed bled because of Lou Dalan.
“Cui did bleed, but bleeding doesn’t necessarily mean miscarriage!”
Wang Lin had married two wives, as well as concubines and maids, so he understood women’s affairs.
He looked embarrassed, lowered his voice, and said, “Women, you know, have certain ‘monthly tides and cycles’—”
In ancient times, such matters as menstruation were hidden among women, rarely discussed, especially not between two men.
Lou Jin, though unmarried, had a son and was no fool.
Wang Lin spoke vaguely, yet Lou Jin understood instantly.
“Magistrate Wang, you mean your noble lady didn’t miscarry, but simply her monthly cycle arrived?” Lou Jin’s eyes suddenly brightened.
“Exactly! General Lou, though your young master didn’t commit a grave error, he did frighten my lady. No need for harsh punishment, but an apology and proper compensation are certainly due, don’t you agree?”
Wang Lin deliberately emphasized “compensation.”
He had actively cleared Lou Dalan and restored his reputation—he had his price.
Lou Jin stared at Wang Lin, their gazes meeting in midair.
Both were clever men; there was no need to spell things out. Lou Jin nodded slowly, “Of course! Thank you, Young Master Wang, for this.”
Even his address changed, so Wang Lin knew: it was settled.
…
Wang Heng crouched at the courtyard gate, blankly watching the scene.
Her father and General Lou’s conversation—she seemed to understand, but not quite.
Yet she caught a few key words: miscarriage! bleeding!
“…So Lou Dalan really did something bad!”
“He scared Madame Cui into falling, and she bled?”
Wang Heng didn’t yet grasp what a miscarriage meant, but she understood bleeding.
It was frightening.
“Fat girl, sneaking out and eavesdropping?”
Lou Dalan, somehow freed from the guards, slipped over to Wang Heng.
He pinched her chubby little face, “Did you understand anything?”
So fat, so silly, those eyes full of confusion—Lou Dalan wagered Wang Heng had no clue what those two old foxes were really scheming about.
“No! Brother, did you?”
“Of course! Unlike you, so—dull!”
Looking at Wang Heng’s exquisite round face and eyes so clear they reflected light, the words “stupid” and “dumb” rolled on his tongue, but he settled for “dull.”
“Mm! Brother is clever!” Wang Heng not only wasn’t upset, but looked at Lou Jin with admiration.
Lou Jin: …