Volume 1 Chapter 52 Don't Beat Your Brother to Death

To dodge his incoming fist, Xie Mingyue collided with the vase stand nearby, furrowing her brows in sudden pain as she steadied her waist with one hand.

"Song'er!"

Lady Jin let out a sharp cry and hurried forward to pull Qi Haosong back.

"You lawless wretch! The Marquis's Lady is still present here! How dare you commit such an outrage against the Marquis's Lady and your eldest sister-in-law!"

The servants rushed up to restrain Qi Haosong, but he still stiffened his neck and hollered, "Xie Mingyue, you murdered my second sister-in-law, you will come to a bad end!"

"Crack!"

Lady Luo strode over and delivered a resounding slap across Qi Haosong's face.

Qi Haosong reeked heavily of alcohol.

"After swilling down a few cups of horse piss, you dare to run wild like this?"

She pulled a long face, venting all the suppressed anger in her heart entirely upon Qi Haosong.

"Go invite the Marquis and the Second Master! Invite them both here immediately!"

The world had truly turned upside down; Qi Haosong actually dared to strike Xie Mingyue on account of Xie Wanqing.

What kind of outrageous behavior was this!

She trembled with fury, but upon catching sight of Xie Mingyue's expression of pain, her countenance softened instantly.

"Has Mingyue been injured? Perhaps we should take the Marquis's tally and summon an imperial physician."

Xie Mingyue stared coldly at Qi Haosong. "There is no need. Mother should attend to Third Brother first. If he is not reined in now, I fear Third Brother will swallow me alive."

Before she even had the chance to deal with him, Qi Haosong had thrown himself right into her trap.

He truly must have grown tired of living.

"Broad daylight, and you go about gulping down cheap liquor like a madman, only to come here and run amok afterwards. It seems you have been living far too comfortably!"

Knowing things had taken a bad turn, Lady Jin violently struck Qi Haosong's shoulders right in front of Xie Mingyue.

Her expression was one of bitter disappointment. "Your second sister-in-law's accident was the work of villains outside; what on earth does it have to do with your eldest sister-in-law? If you persist in such willful disregard for right and wrong, I will no longer indulge you. We might as well tie up your bundles and drive you out of the estate once and for all!"

Having endured the flurry of blows, Qi Haosong's drunkenness receded by three tenths. Just then, Qi Xiuyu arrived upon hearing the commotion. Seeing his second brother glaring at him with a sinister expression, he snapped even more fully to his senses.

"I had too much to drink and disturbed the Marquis's Lady and my eldest sister-in-law. It was my fault."

Lady Jin hastily smiled. "Mingyue has been wronged. As for this rascal, I will most certainly have the Second Master discipline him severely."

Hearing that Qi Haosong still had the audacity to come here shouting Xie Wanqing's name and making a scene, Qi Xiuyu was consumed by exasperation.

"With Third Brother acting in such a lawless manner, how can he possibly be disciplined? If you ask me, he ought to be sent away to an academy and forbidden from returning home!"

That unmentionable scoundrel from the West Courtyard had dared to dally with Xie Wanqing, and now he kept invoking her name to make trouble—it was as though he was determined to force a green cuckold's hat onto his head even after death!

Originally, upon Xie Wanqing's death, Qi Haosong had already harbored deep resentment toward Qi Xiuyu; seeing him now trying to drive him away as well, Qi Haosong flew into a rage.

"On what grounds? You failed to cherish your own second wife, and now instead you hold a grudge against me?"

"You!"

Seeing him openly challenge him to his face, Qi Xiuyu grew even more infuriated.

Qi Haosong continued to bawl, "Don't think I don't know what you've been doing out—"

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Qi Xiuyu's complexion changed drastically at those words as he lunged forward and delivered another slap.

Qi Haosong jerked his head aside and stubbornly retorted, "In short, this young master is not going anywhere!"

"Not going anywhere? Does that mean you wish to die in this house?"

Another sound of footsteps echoed from outside. Xie Mingyue turned her head to see Qi Jingshan and the Marquis of Shunqing striding in, with the Second Master Qi Yongxiang following closely behind, wearing a countenance ashen with worry.

"Madam."

Qi Jingshan's face was veiled in a profound and gloomy frost. He walked to Xie Mingyue's side and grasped her hand without a care for the onlookers.

"Were you hurt?"

Though there was a dull ache in Xie Mingyue's flank, she could have endured it; yet the moment she laid eyes upon him, a wave of grievance welled up from the depths of her heart, and her eyes suddenly reddened.

"Go summon an imperial physician."

Ignoring everyone else in the hall entirely, Qi Jingshan unfastened the jade pendant from his waist and tossed it to Jin He.

"There is no need," Xie Mingyue caught his hand. "I merely bumped against something. Applying some bruised-bone ointment later will suffice."

Qi Jingshan gazed down at her with a profound and heavy breath, then abruptly released her hand, turned around, and sent a kick straight at Qi Haosong.

"Ah!"

Qi Haosong's frail, chicken-like frame flew across the floor, letting out a cry of agony.

Lady Jin's face crumpled into a mask of pure terror, yet she dared not utter a single sound.

Only the Marquis of Shunqing twitched the corner of his mouth and stepped forward to offer a conciliatory word, "Song'er had been drinking..."

"I will give you two choices," Qi Jingshan interrupted coldly, fixing his fierce gaze on Qi Haosong. "One, stay at home and be beaten to death by me; two, go to the Ganzhou military camp to temper yourself, and we will talk about your return after a full year."

Ganzhou?

Ganzhou was a bitter and frigid wasteland where the snowflakes fell as large as the palm of a hand!

Qi Haosong's face instantly drained of color.

"Eldest Brother, Eldest Sister-in-law, I know I was wrong."

He scrambled up onto his knees, prostrating himself obediently before Qi Jingshan, no longer daring to act presumptuously.

"You may beat me with a stick, punish me however you please, just don't send me to the military camp!"

"Very well," Qi Jingshan sneered. "Bring me a stick."

"Jingshan!"

The Marquis of Shunqing could no longer contain himself and cried out with a frown. "Enough is enough."

Qi Haosong was a scoundrel, but Xie Wanqing was already dead; in a few days of folly, he would forget all about this matter. Although he had injured Xie Mingyue, it hardly warranted banishing him to Ganzhou.

After all, he was the Second Master's only son!

"Enough?" Xie Mingyue walked up to Qi Jingshan's side, looking apathetically at the Marquis of Shunqing. "He sneaked into his brother and sister-in-law's quarters by night within the estate, slandered and abused his eldest sister-in-law, and now has come straight to the front hall to commit an outrage. If I had been struck by him today, would this face of mine still be intact?"

Qi Jingshan glanced sideways at the Marquis of Shunqing. "Is there anything else Father wishes to say?"

The Marquis of Shunqing looked at Xie Mingyue's fair and tender cheeks, his lips parted slightly, but no words came out.

In this Marquis's residence, the young men—one and all—were utterly disgraceful. Qi Xiuyu took a concubine on the very day his wife died, while Qi Haosong carried on an ambiguous entanglement with his sister-in-law...

Even if he wanted to cover it up, he had no idea how to conceal such scandals.

"Eldest Young Master."

Yujiang cleverly fetched a long wooden staff.

This was originally used by the servants during the scorching summer months to knock cicadas down from the trees.

Qi Jingshan took it and snapped the long staff in half right before Qi Haosong's eyes.

"Whoever dares to obstruct this shall be sent to the Ministry of Punishments on the charge of assaulting a noble lady of rank."

He swept his gaze across the room in a circle, and no one dared to utter a peep.

Indeed, Qi Jingshan was an official of the third rank, and his wife was likewise a noble lady of the third rank—their weight and standing were far beyond anything Xie Wanqing could compare to.

Only Xie Mingyue stepped forward and reached out to take the broken half of the staff from his hand.

"Husband, do not hurt yourself," she smiled softly. Just as Lady Jin let out a sigh of relief, Qi Jingshan handed the staff over to Yujiang instead.

"Let Yujiang hit him."

Yujiang: "???"

Were his hands as an unmarried bachelor somehow immune to injury?

Eldest Young Master, now that you have a wife, you really are something else!

Xie Mingyue could not help but lightly tap him on the arm, and Qi Jingshan chuckled, leading her back to her seat.

"Yujiang."

He gave a slight nod, staring fixedly at Qi Haosong as his expression turned cold once more. "Let me make this clear beforehand: if you cannot endure my staff, then crawl off to the military camp."

Qi Haosong clenched his teeth tight: "I can endure it!"

Qi Jingshan gave a faint, cold sneer and issued a ruthless command: "Strike."

The bamboo rod, as thick as two fingers, came crashing down onto Qi Haosong's back with a resounding thwack.

"Ah!"

Qi Haosong let out a shriek like a slaughtered pig, instantly collapsing onto the ground and rolling about uncontrollably.

"It hurts! It hurts so much!"

"Continue." Qi Jingshan did not even knit his brows.

Yujiang raised his hand again. Before the second strike could fall, Lady Jin lunged forward, tears and mucus streaming down her face.

"Stop beating him, stop beating him! Send him to Ganzhou, Jingshan! Don't beat your younger brother to death!"