Chapter 20

Discipline...

“Sir! Sir! You cannot just barge into the General’s residence unannounced! Please stop!” the residence’s manager begged loudly as he run after the intruder. 

Weimin stops and looks at the manager, “As the current head of the Zhang clan, I did not know that there would be Zhang’s properties that I need permission to enter.” After hearing that the residence’s manager became speechless and didn’t try to stop Weimin anymore as he pushes past him to head towards the residence’s main quarters. 

“Father is really angry this time. Jie, you think Jihao ge will survive?” Meiyin whisper to Yueyin as the two of them trail slowly behind Weimin. Meiyin knew her father would be angry but didn’t expect him to be so angry that he would even use his status as clan’s head. For a man who usually hates to flaunt his status and titles to suddenly uses it, her father is out for blood and this excites Meiyin. 

Yueyin shook her head at her sister’s excitement. Her father has always been the calm and gentle type of man. Because of this type of temperament, he often just let the clan’s members do whatever they want. Yueyin knows this is not because her father is a weak man, but because he doesn’t want to be a tyrant and micromanage everyone’s lives. Her father is also not the competitive type, so he doesn’t like to unnecessarily fight over anything. But in order to protect his children, Yueyin knew he would not sit still calmly and pretend it’s just a small matter. It’s especially so because he had promised their late mother that he would do absolutely anything to protect the children. 

The three of them made their way into the main quarter’s room where Jihao and his mother was enjoying tea. Jihao’s mother looks up, surprised to see Weimin since she hadn’t seen him in a long time, “Eldest brother, what a surprise! Why are you here? It has been so long since we last met.” She stood up from her seat and gesture for him to have a seat in one of the guest chairs. 

“Sister in law, it’s good to see that you are doing well,” Weimin said but made no move to sit down. 

“Greetings auntie” the Zhang sisters said in unison as they bow to her in greeting.

She nodded at their greeting and gasp upon seeing Yueyin’s face, “Oh my, who could possibly dare to harm the face of a noble man’s daughter?”

“That, I would like to ask your son,” Weimin said and turns to look at Jihao. Jihao’s mother doesn’t know what happened but seeing how unhappy Weimin look at her son she can guess it has something to do with him. 

“Jihao, quickly greet your uncle,” she prompted her son.

“Greetings uncle,” Jihao said lazily without getting up from his seat. He glared hatefully at his two cousins, wondering what kind of things they’ve said to get him in trouble this time.  

“Sister in law, I always hold you in high praise for managing your household well while my brother is away at war. Single parenting is hard and since I know what that is like personally, I don’t blame you for your misbehaving son,” Weimin said to Jihao’s mother.

“Eldest brother, what are you talking about?” confused, she asks him. Weimin motion for Meiyin to tell Jihao’s mother what happened. 

After hearing it, Jihao’s mother turned to Weimin, “Eldest brother, I do not see why you would be so angry. Isn’t this just simple little children bickering? Admittedly, Jihao is at fault for hurting Yueyin but Meiyin also hurt Jihao last time. Little children tend to like getting even with each other and bicker over nothing. Eldest brother is such a busy man so you should not have to be involved in such matters.”

“Little children bickering? Sister in law, your son is old enough to be fighting on the battlefield. Yet, here he is picking on the innocents and wasting away his life on wine and women,” Weimin said.

“I don’t see how my child spends his time have anything to do with you, eldest brother,” Jihao’s mother clenched her fists and said defensively. “If it pleases you, I’ll have Jihao apologize to Yueyin but you don’t have the right to barge into my house and try to discipline my son!” she raises her voice at Weimin.

“I have nothing to apologize for! She humiliated me so she deserved it!” Jihao shouted out, angry to hear that his mother would want him to apologize to them.

Meiyin wants to come over and beat him up but Yueyin held her back. Weimin ignores Jihao and continue his conversation with Jihao’s mother, “You’re right about how your child spends his time have nothing to do with me, but you’re wrong if you think I have no right to discipline him!” Weimin motions for the two houseworkers that came with them to take action. They rush over to where Jihao is sitting, one on each side, and grab onto him. Jihao tried to break free but the two houseworkers grip tighter onto his arms and shoulders.

“How dare you! Let him go!” Jihao’s mother rushed over and tried to pull her son free but to no avail. “Zhang Weimin! You cannot do this! How dare you use violence in the house of a higher ranking general?!” She yells at him, still trying to pull her son free.

Weimin nodded at the two houseworkers and they pull Jihao up from his seat and drags him over to where Weimin stood. “Your husband might rank higher in court but in this clan, court ranking doesn’t mean anything. As long as he’s a Zhang and his son is a Zhang, I have every right to discipline his son as the clan’s head.”

“You’re crazy! Let go of my son! What are you going to do to him?!” Jihao’s mother screams loudly as she cries.

“What’s going on here?” Ziyuan asked as he stepped into the room. He had just returned home from training with his troops. He was surprised when no servants came out to greet him. He made his way over to the main quarter and saw the servants crowding there. Ziyuan was about to ask one of the servants when he heard his wife screaming at someone, so he pushes past the crowd and stepped into the room.

Upon seeing his father, Jihao yell out for help, “Father! Save me!”

“Ziyuan! Ziyuan! Your eldest brother is trying to kill our son!” Jihao’s mother cry to her husband.

The Zhang sisters rolls their eyes at the dramatic mother and son duo. “Greetings uncle,” they bow to Ziyuan.

Upon seeing the situation, Ziyuan ask, “Ge, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Ziyuan, your brother is being unreasonable. He barges into our house and commit violence towards our son. They have no respect for your status. You have to save Jihao!” Jihao’s mother continues to cry to her husband.

“Auntie, you keep crying about us barging into your house, but I can’t even count the amount of times your family barges into ours unannounced,” Meiyin commented annoyingly at her aunt’s dramatic one-man show.

Ziyuan looked towards the Zhang sisters upon hearing Meiyin’s comment. His eyes narrowed at Yueyin’s face then turn to ask his son, “Jihao, did you hurt your cousin?”

“She deserved it! She humiliated me over a beggar!” Jihao said loudly.

Ziyuan’s brows knitted together as he turns to Weimin, “So all of this was over a beggar? Ge, you come and cause a ruckus at my house for this reason?”

Weimin turns to look at Ziyuan in the eyes, “You can satiate your love for battle with the enemies’ blood but don’t teach your son to do the same with innocents and his own family’s blood. Since you’re too busy with war to discipline your own son, I thought as your elder brother I should help you with it,” Weimin said with obvious anger pent up from their last conversation with each other, “Your wife was not a Zhang so she didn’t grow up being taught to respect other people’s lives regardless of their status. I don’t blame her, but you seem to have forgotten that teaching, General Zhang.”

“Ge, don’t push my limits,” Ziyuan said with gritted teeth. He’s starting to become angry at this unreasonable situation. All the servants and guards are watching so he doesn’t want to lose to Weimin. The children’s bickering isn’t something new, but this is the first time his son had hurt the girls on purpose. As a father, he can understand Weimin’s anger but losing face in his own house will lower his authority and power over the servants. This is something he’s not willing to allow.

“Guards! Guards! Come and seize this man!” Ziyuan’s wife suddenly call out to the guards that had accompany Ziyuan home. She didn’t dare to call in the residence’s guards earlier but now that her husband is back, she gained more confidence thinking she’ll have his support. The residence guards and Ziyuan’s guards rush into the room upon hearing their Madame’s call. They drew their swords and pointed it at Weimin.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Ziyuan quickly spins around and furiously question his wife. She was surprised and cowers at his anger towards her.

“General Zhang, do you need this lowly brother of yours to kneel and bow to you and your family so that I can have my life spare?” Weimin asks calmly but with an edge so sharp that nobody dared to move.

Ziyuan turn back towards him and shouted at the guards that was surrounding Weimin, “Get out!” The guards immediately withdrew their swords and retreated out of the room. The servants that was crowding outside also ran off after seeing how angry their master was. Ziyuan rubs his face tiredly as he sat down in a chair facing Weimin, “What is it that you want?”

“I want your son properly disciplined for his repeated offense.”

Ziyuan grips tightly onto the envelope that he has been holding in his hand. He let out a sigh and said, “Alright, I’ll have him punished. Now that’s solved, can I have a moment of your time?”

“Father, you cannot listen to them and punish me! I did nothing wrong!” Jihao yelled out as he struggles to free himself but the two houseworkers just grip tighter.

“If you’re unable to get him to understand his rights and wrongs, I’ll be happy to discipline him for you” Weimin said. “Your son is old enough now. It wouldn’t be too unreasonable to send him to a Zhang’s distant branch as punishment.”

“You want to send my son away?!” Jihao’s mother screamed madly at Weimin. “How dare you! You heartless demon!” She grabs onto one of the teacups that has fallen from Jihao’s struggles against the houseworkers earlier and threw it at Weimin. Immediately, both Meiyin and Yueyin rushes over to block in front of Weimin. Luckily, Ziyuan quickly reacted and catch the teacup as it flew past him towards Weimin and the girls. Ziyuan turns to his wife and angrily threw the teacup on the ground next to her, smashing it into pieces. He reaches up and was about to smack her but Weimin quickly grabs onto his raised hand to stop him. Weimin shook his head when Ziyuan looks at him questioningly. He yanked his hand out of Weimin’s grasp and called in two guards to have them take his wife away and lock her up in her room. Jihao wanted to cry and plead for his mother but the glare from his father shuts him up.   

“Ge, you can punish him however you like. I have truly been lacking in the discipline of my family,” Ziyuan said to Weimin then turn to Yueyin, “I hope you forgive your cousin. I’ll send over the best medicine for your injury.”

Yueyin gave Ziyuan a polite bow then said, “It’s alright uncle, father has already called for a physician at home.”

Ziyuan nodded at her, “Just make sure you get that injury fully heal. A girl shouldn’t have injuries on the face.” He turns back to Weimin, offering to let him whips Jihao. Weimin shook his head and said to have Jihao kneel in the ancestors’ hall to think upon his actions and only allow him to get up once he had understood his wrongdoing.

Although Weimin was angry at first and wanted to punish Jihao more harshly, but after seeing Ziyuan giving in he didn’t want to push. Jihao is after all his only nephew and Weimin isn’t one that prefers violence if he have other options. After Jihao is taken away to the ancestors’ hall, the Zhang sisters was instructed to return home and Weimin followed his brother to the study room. 

---

Luhan was on his way over to Yixing’s palace when he spotted Yifan sitting in a pavilion near the imperial garden. He makes his way over and greeted Yifan.

“Greetings Crown Prince” Luhan said and Yifan looks up from the document he was reading to acknowledge him. “It’s rare to see you have any free time to enjoy tea,” Luhan makes his way over to the seat opposite of Yifan and sat down, “I’m glad I wasn't the crown prince.” He pours himself a cup of tea and was about to take a sip when Yifan’s question stops him.

Yifan slightly narrowed his eyes at Luhan and asked, “Do you truly mean that?”

“Why would you ask me that Eldest Royal Brother?” Luhan looks straight into Yifan’s eyes challengingly. Luhan knew that there’s always something between him and Yifan that prevents the two of them from ever being as close as they are with their other siblings. He’s also aware of all the gossip about his right for the throne versus Yifan’s. However, he had tried numerous times to express to Yifan since young that he fully supported Yifan to be the next emperor. He had thought that the two of them got past that at some point as they were growing up together, so the fact that Yifan was even questioning his comment this way was an insult to all the effort he had put in to improve their relationship.

Yifan stares back at Luhan for another five seconds before looking away and shook his head, “It’s nothing.” He picks up his own teacup and took a sip, “You best change your way of calling me before we both get a nagging princess after our tails.”

Now it’s Luhan’s turn to narrow his eyes suspiciously at Yifan, but it’s obvious that the first prince has no intention of explaining himself so Luhan had no choice but to let it go. “It just doesn’t feel appropriate to call you Da ge,” Luhan commented then sips on his tea.

“It’s wrong to hear about propriety coming from you,” Yifan said as he picks up the document that was lying next to his teacup. He opens it and start reading through it.

“If you are going to keep pricking me, I will get Xiaofei to ignore you for three whole months,” Luhan said, satisfied to have the last word when he saw Yifan shook his head in surrender while keeping his eyes on the document in hand. To the royal princes, having their only sister being angry with them and ignoring them is probably one of the worst punishments.

For some reason, Liufei listens to Luhan the most and always sided with him when the brothers fight. Yifan used to be jealous that his own sister from the same mother would be closer to Luhan than to him. But as he grew older and busier, he just accepts it. Yifan had come to terms with himself that they were all his siblings so as the future emperor, he had the duty to care and protect them as the eldest. He had thought that way even when the three youngest princes and their mothers plotted to harm him for the throne. But something changed. He hates that things are no longer as simple to forgive and forget like when they were children. He hates it that there had come a day when he looks at his brothers and have to question their motives, especially when it comes to Luhan. Yifan had trusted in Luhan’s support, so why he felt that he can’t continue to do so is something he hasn’t quite come to terms with yet.

“I guess you’re not as bad as Liu di,” Yifan commented after a short moment of silence.

Luhan laughed lightly, “I’ll take that as a compliment. Being a model prince like you and San di is too tiring, but being an extreme troublemaker like Liu di is even more exhausting. I’ll just stick to being my own kind of headache for Royal Father.”

At the mention of their father, Yifan tenses up a bit. Luhan didn’t noticed it, he was only interested in the document in Yifan’s hands. It didn’t look like the kind of reports that Yifan usually have in his hands. “What is that you’re reading?” Luhan asked.

Yifan handed it over to Luhan and said, “It’s the guests list for Royal Mother’s upcoming flower viewing event.”

Luhan took the list and skimmed through it, “Why were you put in charge of this? Could it be the reason Royal Mother is hosting this is so you can find a wife?”

Yifan snickered at his brother’s comment, “Don’t be too happy. It might be decided that all princes are to join the event.”

Luhan was about to close the list and toss it back to Yifan when his eyes caught on two of the names at the end of the list. “Oh, they’re also invited?”

“Who?” Yifan asked, a little surprised that his second brother would bother to remember any girl’s name.

“Zhang laoshi’s daughters.”

“Zhang laoshi have daughters?”

“It must be them. There’s no other nobles with the surname Zhang and General Zhang’s only child is a son.”

“If they’re Zhang laoshi’s daughters, why would they be invited?” Yifan questioned, more to himself than to Luhan.

“Why wouldn’t they be? This event is open to all noble ladies is it not?”

Yifan shook his head, “It might seem that way, but only those who received an invitation may attend.”

“I still don’t understand. Why are you surprised that the Zhang young misses are on the guest list?”

“It’s nothing,” Yifan replied and took back the guest list from Luhan’s hands, “Weren’t you on the way to go somewhere?

Luhan stood up from his seat, “Just heading over to San di’s place”

“Don’t get Yixing in trouble,” Yifan commented as Luhan headed out of the pavilion they were in.

Author's Notes:

My sincerest apologies for the extra long wait, but I had to do a bit of re-writing because I didn't like how it was flowing. But here it is! Double Update! Please check the next chapter out if you haven't already.