Zhao Yueniang had been harassed on the street, and Lin Yu was furious. Rubbing his stomach, he felt a twinge of pain. After taking several deep breaths and drinking some water, he felt much better.

Zhao Yueniang was terrified, worried Lin Yu had hurt himself from anger. “Brother, please don’t be angry. Don’t be angry.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be okay after resting a bit.”

How could Lin Yu not be furious? His sister had been bullied. “Xu Nainai, please go find Wei Qingshan.”

“Alright, Miss Yue. Keep an eye on Mr. Lin. I’ll go right away.”

Xu Nainai hurried off to find Wei Qingshan. He happened to be patrolling the city today, and it took her a while to locate him. Upon hearing that Zhao Yueniang had been harassed and Lin Yu was so angry his stomach hurt, Wei Qingshan rushed back immediately.

When he returned, Lin Yu was sitting ahead. Wei Qingshan quickened his pace. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It just hurt for a moment, but it’s okay now.” Seeing Wei Qingshan return gave Lin Yu a sense of reassurance. “Qingshan, we can’t just let this go.”

“Alright, I understand. I’ll go find them right now.”

Lin Yu grabbed his arm. “I’m coming with you.”

“Wait here. I’ll be back soon.”

“No, I won’t feel at ease if you go alone.”

Lin Yu feared Wei Qingshan might act impulsively. Drunken Immortal Pavilion had operated in the county seat for years—no one would believe it lacked connections. But this incident couldn’t be swept under the rug.

Zhao Yueniang followed suit. “Brother, I’m coming too.”

“Your brother and I will handle this. You stay home.”

It wouldn’t be proper for a young lady like Zhao Yueniang to tag along. Xu Nainai hurriedly interjected, “I’ll go with them. Miss Yue, you stay home and look after Tuan-ger.”

Only then did Zhao Yueniang nod in agreement.

Wei Qingshan hitched a carriage and headed straight for the Cui residence. The grand gates and spacious courtyard immediately marked it as a wealthy household. Two servants sat at the entrance. Wei Qingshan helped Lin Yu down from the carriage. The servants at the gate stopped them. “Who are you here to see? Do you have a calling card?”

Wei Qingshan shoved the man blocking his path aside. “Tell your boss, Master Cui, to come out.”

Wei Qingshan entered with Lin Yu. As a martial artist, the servants couldn’t hold him back. The attendants summoned Master Cui, who emerged just as he saw Master Lin being supported by a man in a city guard uniform.

Master Cui knew Lin Yu’s husband served in the city guard. Seeing both men with cold expressions, he hurriedly asked, “Master Lin, what’s happened?”

Lin Yu was usually mild-tempered and rarely got angry, but this time, the Cui family had publicly harassed Zhao Yueniang. This couldn’t be let slide. Lin Yu gave a cold snort. “Jia Feng is one of your people, right?”

“He’s my wife’s maternal nephew. What of it?”

“What of it? Just because I refused to sell your family the formula, your people publicly harassed my sister.”

Master Cui hurriedly protested, “I absolutely did not order this! If I wanted to use such underhanded tactics, why would I bother visiting your establishment, Mr. Lin? Someone, fetch my nephew!”

Master Cui accompanied Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan as they sipped tea, showering them with compliments. Anyone capable of running the Drunken Immortal Pavilion was a shrewd operator. Knowing Wei Qingshan also worked at the City Defense Office, Master Cui was careful not to offend. “Come to think of it, my son is stationed at the City Defense Office too. He and Commander Wei are colleagues.”

Wei Qingshan didn’t respond to Master Cui’s remark. He mentally reviewed the Cui family members at the City Defense Office and recalled a young commander also surnamed Cui—likely Master Cui’s son.

Jia Feng had just been thrown out of the First Pavilion by Shi Xiaoliu and his men. As soon as he entered his home, a servant informed him that Master Cui was seeking him. Jia Feng, who had been thinking of going to claim credit, hurried over without delay. “Uncle, you sought me out?”

Spotting two unfamiliar faces seated above him, Jia Feng approached cautiously, covering his mouth with his sleeve. “Uncle, what’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter? Did you intercept Mr. Lin’s sister today?”

Seeing they’d come to his doorstep, Jia Feng panicked. His uncle was a wealthy man—people usually dared not confront him. Now they’d come looking for him, and Jia Feng felt like running. “Uncle, I just stopped her. I didn’t do anything to her.”

“What else did you expect to do?!” Lin Yu glared at him.

Master Cui sighed at his trouble-making nephew. “Didn’t I tell you to stay home and study? Why did you run out? And what happened to the wound on your face?”

Jia Feng lowered his sleeve. “Don’t even get me started. It was those First Pavilion guys who beat me up.”

Wei Qingshan shot him a hostile look. “So you went to cause trouble at the First Pavilion.”

When Master Cui first heard it was First Pavilion, he assumed Lin Yu had already sent someone to teach them a lesson privately. Little did he know this good-for-nothing had gone to cause trouble at their restaurant. He groaned in exasperation—this kid was nothing but trouble.

Jia Feng was still stubborn. “No way! Their staff were unreasonable. I just went in for a drink, and they threw me out.”

Lin Yu didn’t buy his nonsense. “I know my own staff. If you hadn’t gone looking for trouble, why would they have thrown you out?”

This Jia Feng was truly despicable—not only had he flirted with Zhao Yueniang, but now he’d gone to cause trouble at his shop. Lin Yu turned to Master Cui. “Master Cui, what should we do?”

Master Cui scanned the room, spotted a feather duster, and began whipping Jia Feng with it. “This is what you get for causing trouble! This is what you get!”

Originally, his establishment and the First Pavilion had coexisted peacefully. But now, thanks to Jia Feng, trouble had erupted. The two shops were likely to become enemies. Even if they went to the First Pavilion to buy soup dumplings, they wouldn’t be sold to them anymore.

Lin Yu and the others watched him, so he couldn’t go easy. He lashed out fiercely with the feather duster several times, beating Jia Feng until he clutched his head and scrambled away. Madam Cui was summoned by the servants. Seeing her nephew beaten, she rushed to intervene. “Master, stop! Stop it!”

Wei Qingshan had no desire to watch their bickering. He helped Lin Yu away. Master Cui tried to offer gifts as an apology, but they flatly refused.

Jia Feng, still hiding behind Madam Cui after the beating, continued whining, “Uncle, I was only trying to help our family! I didn’t do anything to them!”

“Why did you have to step in? Wife, keep him in line! He’s always causing trouble!”

Madam Cui wasn’t convinced. When the maid had come to inform her earlier, she’d already heard the story. She defended her nephew: “Xiao Feng didn’t do much to them. Why did they make such a big fuss and come looking for trouble?”

“What if our young lady had been stopped in the street?”

“That would be utterly unacceptable!”

“Look at this, just look at this.”

Madam Cui shielded her maternal nephew and left. Her brother had passed away, her maternal family had fallen on hard times, and this nephew was all she had left. Naturally, she had to protect him. She’d taken him in to study at the Cui residence, pampering him daily with fine food and drink.

Wei Qingshan escorted Lin Yu back, soothing him along the way not to fret.

Zhao Yueniang rushed out the moment she saw them return. “Brother, are you alright?”

“Fine. Seeing that bastard get a few whacks made me feel much better.”

That evening, when Shi Xiaoliu and the others returned from the shop, Lin Yu called him over to ask what had happened. Shi Xiaoliu hadn’t intended to tell Lin Yu—after all, they’d already thrown the man out—and he was surprised Lin Yu even knew about it.

Hearing from Shi Xiaoliu that no one at the shop had been harmed, Lin Yu finally relaxed. “From now on, if anyone from Drunken Immortal Pavilion comes to buy buns, we won’t sell to them.”

“Got it. Those Drunken Immortal Pavilion people are truly despicable.”

The next day, Wei Qingshan rode his horse to report for duty when he encountered Cui Xian, also from the City Defense Office. Cui Xian greeted him with a smile, “Commander Wei, you’re quite early today.”

Wei Qingshan rode past without acknowledging him. Cui Xian was puzzled. “Did I offend Commander Wei?”

There were only a handful of commanders at the city guard station. They saw each other daily. Sometimes Cui Xian would greet Wei Qingshan, but Wei Qingshan ignored him today, leaving Cui Xian completely baffled.

Before long, the weather grew warmer, and Lin Yu’s due date approached. Wei Qingshan had secured a midwife well in advance, and the household had prepared two milk goats, all in anticipation of the two little ones’ arrival.

It would be untrue to say Wei Qingshan wasn’t nervous. Every day after finishing his duties, he stayed by Lin Yu’s side. He would tease him, “There’s still half a month to go.”

Tuan-ger lay his head on Lin Yu’s belly. “Little Daddy, there’s a little brother in there.”

“Yes, a little brother. Once they’re born, they’ll play with you.”

Tuan-ger remembered something and scampered off. “I’m going to feed the little brothers’ goat!”

The family now kept two goats, which Tuan-ger adored. He insisted on feeding them grass daily. When Baixue saw him approach, she nudged him with her head. Tuan-ger tugged her ear playfully, “Eat up.”

Baixue wasn’t about to eat grass. She turned her head and scampered off to another spot.

Xu Nainai followed Tuan-ger, helping him feed the goat. “Alright, it’s time for us to eat.”

With two more little ones on the way, Wei Qingshan asked the matchmaker to find two young maidservants for household work. Xu Nainai needed to care for Tuan-ger, cook, and handle chores. Adding two more children meant the family would be short-handed, so they hired two reliable maidservants to help out.

Lin Yu was doing needlework at home that day when sudden abdominal pain struck. “Aunt Wang! Aunt Wang! My stomach hurts!”

Zhao Yueniang, who had been playing outside with Tuan-ger, rushed inside. “Brother, are you going into labor?”

“Maybe. But isn’t it still half a month away? How could it be so soon?”

With Lin Yu suddenly going into labor, the household bustled into action. Xu Nainai was occupied caring for Tuan-ger and couldn’t leave. Of the other two maids, one stayed to assist Lin Yu while the other went to fetch the midwife.

Zhao Yueniang clasped Lin Yu’s hand. “Brother, don’t be afraid. I’ll go find my brother-in-law!”

“Mm. Be careful on your way.”

Zhao Yueniang hurried off to find Wei Qingshan. Panting heavily, she raced toward the city guard station. Just as she neared the entrance, she encountered Cui Xian riding his horse. Seeing a young woman running so frantically toward the guard station, he assumed something urgent had happened. He stopped Zhao Yueniang. “Miss, is there some emergency?”