Chapter 68: Ye Xiu: Is My Old Man Having a Midlife Crisis?

Oolong Alley.
The veteran brawlers, originally planning to head out for odd jobs, discovered that a crowd had surrounded the Ye family's small courtyard.
Spontaneously, they blocked the entrance, standing in a standoff against the scholars.
The entire Oolong Alley was packed and sealed off.
Ye Xiu had intended to sleep until he woke up naturally, but was startled awake by the commotion outside.
Stepping out into the courtyard, he saw He Daoxuan locked in a standoff with a group of scholars.
Just as Ye Xiu was about to speak, he noticed Luo Shuheng's eyes wandering continuously toward Zhao Youyou, drool practically dripping from his mouth.
"Fair maiden, I am Luo Shuheng, son of Luo Renyou. I wonder if the fair maiden is already betrothed?"
"Whose son you are—what does that have to do with me?" Zhao Youyou's face darkened.
"My father is the current Assistant Magistrate of Jiangning," Luo Shuheng said, his eyes gleaming with greed. "I wonder if the fair maiden would do me the honor of having lunch together?"
"You... you are so brazen, and yet you call yourself a reader of the sages' books."
With a face full of disgust, Zhao Youyou clutched Ye Xiu's arm. "I am already betrothed, so you can stop daydreaming in broad daylight."
Hearing this, Luo Shuheng's expression darkened, though he did not forget the true purpose of his visit today. "You must be Ye Xiu, right? Tell your father to come out; I want to reason with him."
"Go back inside first. No matter what happens, do not come out."
After comforting Zhao Youyou, Ye Xiu walked up to Luo Shuheng. "Reason with him? Are you even worthy?"
Crack!
Raising his hand, Ye Xiu delivered alternating slaps, striking Luo Shuheng until his mouth and nose bled, leaving him wailing continuously.
Bruised and battered, too panicked to wipe away the blood, Luo Shuheng dropped to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly to beg for mercy.
He Daoxuan was utterly dumbfounded: *Holy crap, Teacher is truly like a little female cow doing a handstand—his awesomeness shoots straight up into the heavens!*
"We merely came to find your father to reason with him, so why on earth would you resort to violence?"
"Ye Xiu, how dare you commit such a vicious act? Aren't you afraid of scholars across the realm denouncing you together?"
Unfazed, Ye Xiu looked at them with cold eyes. "He harassed my wife, so what if I beat him? Let alone his father being the Assistant Magistrate of Jiangning, even if the nephew of Xu Yougong dared to harass my wife, I'd beat him just the same!"
"..."
In an instant, everyone fell silent, because Ye Xiu held the moral high ground.
Even Ximen Qing never dared to openly crawl into Pan Jinlian's bed right inside Wu Dalang's house.
If they put themselves in Ye Xiu's shoes, they would have beaten Luo Shuheng too.
"Didn't you say you wanted to talk about reason?" Ye Xiu placed his hands behind his back. "Speak now, then disperse afterwards."
"It's like this..."
Some of the scholars began bringing up the matter of He Daoxuan beating He Daohan, demanding that Ye Xiu give them an explanation.
"Family business between cousins, and it's your turn to point fingers and meddle?"
Ye Xiu's voice rose passionately. "He Daohan buried a piece of gold; getting beaten was purely well-deserved. Everyone, please return!"
"No, it is impossible for us to leave."
"That's right, unless He Daoxuan comes in person to offer an apology to He Daohan."
"If you don't give us a statement today, we're not leaving. That's right, we're not leaving!"
Coldly eyeing the crowd, Ye Xiu unfastened the money pouch from his waist and handed it to a robust man.
"Uncle Ma, this is for medical expenses." Ye Xiu gave the veteran brawlers their orders. "Throw them out of Oolong Alley. Whoever dares to step foot into Oolong Alley again, break his dog legs!"
With that, Ye Xiu added: "Throw all the loose silver pieces onto the ground, and let these sonsofbitches bend over to pick them up!"
In an instant, chaos erupted within Oolong Alley.
The scholars, who had just been clamoring to reason with Ye Wuji, fled Oolong Alley with their heads in their hands like stray dogs.
A few who were on good terms with Luo Shuheng quietly helped him up and fled the scene in utter disgrace.
As the crowd dispersed, Oolong Alley returned to its former peace.
The old bailiff rounded up a few strong men to guard the entrance of Oolong Alley, barring any scholars from entering.
Acting as if nothing had happened at all, Ye Wuji merely offered a reminder, "Son, the treatment of scholars has improved."
"Ah." Ye Xiu paused for a moment. "Once Big Brother Zhao returns, I'll arrange a sedan chair for you."
"For my son to think this way warms a father's heart." Fully satisfied, Ye Wuji walked away.
"Elder Brother, the sedan chair is best made spacious enough to seat two people," Li Weishan lowered his voice. "It's better if it's a bit roomier."
"..." Looking at the backs of this pair of father and son with a blank expression, Ye Xiu scratched his head hard: *Is my father... going through a second spring?*
He Daoxuan offered a cautious reminder, "Teacher, you beat so many people all at once; your days ahead might not be very easy."
"You worry too much. If I hadn't beaten them up, they'd just keep coming back." Pausing for a moment, Ye Xiu instructed, "Go find the storytellers and traveling poets in Jinling City, give them some loose silver coins, and have them curse the two of us to their hearts' content. Remember, they must curse us fiercely—curse me for being unlearned and incompetent, curse me for lacking self-awareness and daring to take on disciples before even growing up properly."
"Teacher, why is that?" He Daoxuan asked with a puzzled expression. "Instead of solving the problem, why help others curse ourselves?"
"Today, I'll give you a special lesson." As Ye Xiu sat down on a bamboo stool in the courtyard, He Daoxuan immediately poured him a cup of tea.
"People, once excessively stimulated, will produce certain negative emotions. If everyone in Jinling City curses the two of us, many will develop an overflow of sympathy and follow the public opinion to point fingers at us. But after a long time, when a matter is talked about too often, people grow weary and will actively start guessing whether the matter is true or false."
Smug with himself, Ye Xiu said, "You'd better write a few scripts about education without discrimination. Once the public sentiment turns around, the two of us will become famous, and no scholars will ever come looking for trouble again. From a psychological perspective, this is called... Never mind, even if I explained it you wouldn't understand. Just go do it."
Over the next two days, the public sentiment shifted precisely as Ye Xiu had predicted, as the listeners had been excessively stimulated.
The tide of opinion changed, and people began to scold those storytellers and traveling poets:
"Just how much money did Luo Shuheng give you lot to slander Boss Ye like this?"
"Boss Ye does business fairly with young and old alike; what business of yours is it if he takes on a disciple?"
"Spreading rumors and stirring up trouble right in people's faces—that's rather low, isn't it?"
"He Daoxuan is a scion of a renowned family, and he's no fool. If Boss Ye didn't have some real skill, would he go and kowtow as his master?"
"So what if he beat He Daohan? That's their family business. He Daohan hasn't said a word, so what right does Luo Shuheng have to stick his nose into other people's business like a dog meddling in a rat's affairs?"
Seeing that everything had turned out exactly as Ye Xiu predicted, He Daoxuan respected him even more from the bottom of his heart.
Yet the matter was not over yet; the beaten scholars brought the dispute to the Jinling Prefecture Yamen.
They claimed they wanted the old professor Wang Yuanhui to uphold justice for them.
Upon hearing the sequence of events, Wang Yuanhui felt as though this group of people had their brains kicked by a donkey.
Other people's family business, and it was your turn to interfere?
However, for Ye Xiu to beat up dozens of scholars all at once was indeed reckless.
With no other choice, Wang Yuanhui sent a calling card to He Jizhen, inviting him over to the Jinling Academy for tea.
"The matter has blown up to my doorstep, with several prominent scholars jointly petitioning me to severely punish Ye Xiu. But Ye Xiu isn't even a student of my academy, so my hands are tied."
Wang Yuanhui had no desire to get involved in this mess whatsoever. "Alliance Leader He, this ought to be considered your family's internal affair. Look into this..."
To everyone's surprise, He Jizhen picked up his teacup and dropped a bombshell: "He Daohan is my eldest son!"
"..." Wang Yuanhui was left speechless.