Ashes to Crown

Chapter 61: Chapter 25: Spectators

Brawls were a common sight in restaurants.

Hearing the commotion, many of the patrons even started to laugh.

”Now that’s what you call youth! They still have the energy for a fight. At our age, we can’t be bothered.” ”Such youthful vigor.” ”Feelings between youngsters are forged through fighting.” ”You can’t get to know someone without a fight, after all.”

Someone nearby quickly added, ”It’s not a boy fighting a boy. It’s a girl fighting a boy.”

The laughter died down at his words. This—it had to be a lover’s quarrel.

That wasn’t such a big deal, either. What young master wasn’t a bit of a rake in his youth? But for a woman, it was improper.

”Truly, the state of public morals is in decline,” some of the older patrons said, shaking their heads. ”These days, even young women are allowed to run around everywhere, showing their faces in public and frequenting restaurants and teahouses.”

”Perhaps she’s a courtesan.” ”That’s even worse! A courtesan’s business should stay within the brothel. To dare cause a scene outside, it’s a breach of professional conduct!”

But then new information spread: ”It’s not a lover’s quarrel. They’re family—a sister is beating her brother.”

”That’s even more of a moral decline!” The older patrons, embarrassed and enraged, slammed their hands on the table. ”She has no respect for her elders! Disrespectful, disloyal, and unfilial!”

However, not everyone was surprised. When the first shouts of a fight broke out, Deng Yi was speaking with an elderly man. He paused only for a moment before continuing their conversation. It was only when the old man couldn’t contain his curiosity and went to gossip with others that Deng Yi quietly excused himself. He moved through the chattering, gawking crowd, found the restaurant manager, and settled the old man’s bill at the counter.

”I wonder what’s going on,” the accountant at the counter couldn’t help but say, craning his neck to see. ”How can a brother and sister come to blows in such a public place?”

Deng Yi leaned against the counter, swinging a money pouch back and forth. ”There’s always a reason for a good beating,” he said.

The accountant looked at him and chuckled. ”Sir, you don’t seem the least bit surprised.”

Deng Yi smiled. ”I’ve seen it a few times before. It’s nothing new.”

...

...

”It’s not surprising at all!”

The young ladies on the third floor were also fuming with a mix of anger and resentment.

At first, they had been excited by the commotion and the prospect of watching a fight. But after their maids ran back and excitedly announced, ”The one fighting is Chu Zhao! Chu Zhao is beating her brother!” the girls’ excitement vanished. It wasn’t the first time they had seen such a thing.

”She’s addicted to hitting people! She’ll just attack anyone she sees!”

”And she has the nerve to say she won’t associate with us. As if we’d ever want to associate with her.”

The girls were seething. Qi Leyun was particularly incensed, glaring at the figure obscured by a gallery pillar across the way. ”Causing a ruckus here and ruining Third Young Master Xie’s elegant mood. She’s so detestable!”

...

...

The figure behind the pillar remained perfectly still. The people around him inquired in low voices, then said apologetically, ”We chose an elegant place, but who would have thought Yaqug Pavilion would turn into this? We’ve disturbed your peace and quiet.”

”Not at all,” Third Young Master Xie’s voice replied, tinged with a smile. ”When the mind is detached, the world recedes. With a calm mind comes tranquility.”

The young men seated around him all laughed and clapped in agreement. They turned their attention back to the poems and paintings on the table, completely ignoring the surrounding clamor.

...

...

There were those on the upper floor who paid no mind, and those on the first floor who did the same.

The people on the first floor generally preferred a livelier atmosphere. After all, it was closest to the storytellers and opera singers, and they had chosen their seats for the excitement.

When the fight first broke out, the first-floor patrons, who were just lamenting the lack of a storytelling or opera performance, all rushed to the central hall to look up at the second floor, jeering and cheering as they watched.

A few of the brocade-clad young men inside on the first floor were at an age where they loved watching a good spectacle, but they didn’t go look.

Because when one of them started to go, his companion scoffed at him.

”A woman hitting a man? What’s there to see?” he said, leaning against the railing and raising his wine pot. ”It’s not an exciting fight. No matter who wins, it’s pathetic. If you want to see a real fight, watch something exciting, like the Southern Army against the Northern Army, or Qi Duwei against Captain Jia—”

That was true. A man who could be beaten by a woman was clearly a weakling, and a man who hit a woman couldn’t be considered skilled.

The young men burst into laughter.

”You rascal, you just got back and you’re already trying to stir up a fight between the two chiefs?”

”Careful they don’t beat you up first.”

”Yanlai, I heard you and your nephew often get into fights. Next time you do, call us over to watch.”

The young men joked and laughed, ignoring the commotion on the second floor. Accompanied by the restaurant’s noisy jeers, they went back to their drinking games and dice.

...

...

Of course, Yaqug Pavilion couldn’t let the brother and sister fight indefinitely. The restaurant staff, along with a few women, managed to separate them with a mix of coaxing and pulling.

Chu Ke no longer looked like the dashing, debonair young man he was before. He was slumped on the floor, his clothes and hair a mess, his face bruised and swollen, and his nose bleeding.

He raised a hand to wipe his face and saw the blood on its back. A wave of anger, pain, and grief nearly made him faint. ”Chu Zhao, are you insane?!”

Chu Zhao’s hair was only slightly disheveled. She tucked the loose strands back into place and stood over him, saying coldly, ”What did I tell you before? If you dare say another bad word about my father, if you dare disrespect him, I will beat you to death!”

Chu Ke kicked a table, sending it clattering with a loud BANG. He was a mixture of grief and indignation. ”Am I saying bad things? I’m telling the truth!” He pointed at the surrounding crowd. ”Go on, ask them! Ask if anything I said was wrong!”

Chu Zhao glanced around. Some of the young people in the crowd looked fearful, but most looked disdainful. A few were even sneering.

”Miss Chu,” a young man said, leaning against the railing. He had been the one sitting calmly, hooting and hollering for a good show when the fight started. Now, with a smirk, he said, ”You may not want to hear it, but what’s done is done. We outsiders can keep quiet, but when Young Master Ao Ke, as a family member, recalls it, it’s only natural for him to feel upset and vent a little. You can hit outsiders, like my younger sister for example, but you probably shouldn’t hit your own family, right? After all, back when your father broke his family’s heart, they didn’t hit him.”

’Younger sister... So this must be the Mr. Liang that Ah Le was talking about. Look at him, fanning the flames. Chu Ke really has lost his mind, still associating with the Liang Family. In my past life, it was probably this very Mr. Liang who incited him to go out of town to be a scapegoat and get himself killed.’

Chu Zhao looked at him and asked, ”Who are you in the Liang Family?”

The young man smiled. ”I am Liang Qiang. And just like Young Master Chu Ke and Miss Chu Zhao, I call Liang Qin my younger cousin.”

He announced his identity and saw the girl, who either didn’t recognize him or pretended not to, give a slight change in expression as her gaze fixed on him.

”You’re Liang Qiang?” Chu Zhao asked. ”Is Liang Siqing your uncle? And your father is Liang Ji?”

’She even knows my father’s name?’

Liang Qiang was slightly surprised. ”That’s right, it’s me. It’s not strange that Miss Chu doesn’t recognize me. My father is just a scholar, with no great achievements or fame to his name. Our branch of the family has been a burden to the Liang Family and my uncle.”

Chu Zhao ignored the subtle jab in his words. Her expression was complicated. Speaking of which, she was actually a little envious of Liang Siqing. In her past life, after Liang Siqing fell from power and fled the capital in disgrace, the world descended into chaos. Liang Siqing’s brother, Liang Ji, traded his scholar’s brush for a sword and joined the army. Liang Ji’s sons were also exceptionally brave.

One of them, a man named Liang Qiang, lost an arm but continued to fight on the battlefield, wielding a blade with his remaining one. Xiao Xun praised him greatly in the imperial court and bestowed titles and honors upon the Liang Family.

Second Master Liang’s family had carved a bloody path to success, reviving the Liang Family’s fortunes—

’So this is the one-armed Liang Qiang.’ Chu Zhao studied him seriously for a few moments. When her gaze fell back on Chu Ke, her anger surged even higher.

”What do you have to say for yourself?” she shouted. ”Did my father not support you? Chu Ke, when you were little, my father wanted you to practice martial arts, but you were afraid of the hardship and exhaustion, so you cried and refused. Later, he had you come to the Border County to join the barracks. And what did you do? In less than three months, you were crying and begging to return to the capital, saying you’d rather live in obscurity for the rest of your life than risk your life for achievements. You’re afraid of hardship, afraid of exhaustion, and afraid of death. How can you blame my father for not supporting you?”

Hearing her bring up the past, and seeing the curious, surprised looks from the crowd, Chu Ke grew mortified. ”I—I had poor health when I was a child! Not everyone can practice martial arts! And when I went to the Border County, I was still young! Not only did Uncle make me a common soldier, he even made me fight against the Western Liang Soldiers! How is that supporting me? He was trying to get me killed!”

He had gone to the Border County thinking that with Chu Ling as his backer, and being a scholar himself, he would at least be made a General. Who would have thought he’d end up as a common soldier, getting beaten every day? In all his years, even his own parents had never dared to hit him!

Chu Zhao sneered. ”You were young? Mr. Liang Qiang is even younger than you, but he isn’t afraid of hardship. Dismounted, he can wield a brush and write. Mounted, he can wield a blade and shoot a bow. Go ask him if he’s endured any less hardship than you!”

Ignoring Chu Ke’s flushed and furious face, Liang Qiang, who was off to the side, froze. He couldn’t help but sit up straighter and stare at the girl.

’She’s praising me so highly!’

’So it turns out this girl... is an admirer of mine.’