Chapter 373: Chapter 373: Slapping the Naughty Boy
When it came to reading and his lessons, Di Rong’s memory was atrocious. But when it came to holding a grudge, it was flawless.
In a flash, he blocked Dabao’s path. He held a newly bought horsewhip in his right hand, tapping it intermittently against his left palm.
"Hey, why are you all alone? That girl the other day was your sister, right? Where is she?"
As he spoke, Di Rong glanced around.
Dabao clearly remembered Di Rong as well. He looked up at him, his little face turning cold. Then he lowered his gaze, sidestepped him, and slowly continued on his way.
Being ignored by a little brat made Di Rong’s anger flare.
He spun around, grabbed Dabao, and yanked him back. Chin raised, he looked down at him and asked, "Are you deaf or mute? I’m talking to you."
Dabao was lifted so high his toes barely touched the ground. His face slowly turned red, but his lips were pressed into a thin line, and his eyes stared coldly at Di Rong.
Seeing him puffed up like a little toad, Di Rong burst out laughing.
"Your sister is so capable, isn’t she? Let’s see her come and save you now!"
After laughing, he poked Dabao’s face with the handle of the horsewhip, then poked his chest. "I’m asking you a question. Not talking, huh? Don’t talk, and I’ll drop you to your death!"
As he uttered the threat, the hand gripping Dabao’s collar suddenly lifted him into the air.
Dabao’s feet left the ground completely.
"If you still don’t talk, I’m going to let go..."
People nearby had started to notice. At first, they thought it was just two kids playing around, but they didn’t expect it to get serious.
Someone spoke up, telling him to put the child down.
But the person who spoke was immediately silenced by a companion, who had clearly recognized the infamous Little Demon Star of the Wan Family.
Di Rong held Dabao high, pretending he was about to let go, when his hand suddenly felt empty. The person he was holding was gone.
He looked again and saw that the boy had been snatched away by the same man who had pulled him off his horse last time.
Guan Shan handed Dabao to Ji Huan. Ji Huan pulled Dabao into a tight embrace, the anxious look on her face finally receding slightly.
But in the next moment, boundless fury surged through her.
She shot to her feet and stalked toward Di Rong, radiating rage.
Di Rong was still standing there with his arms crossed and leg shaking, not taking her seriously at all. "I’m telling you, if you dare..."
Before he could finish, Ji Huan slapped him hard across the face.
Di Rong clutched his stinging, numb left cheek, too stunned to react.
In the next instant, the horsewhip was snatched from his hand.
Ji Huan twirled the horsewhip in her hand, then jabbed the wooden handle at Di Rong.
"You were going to drop him to his death, weren’t you?"
"You were going to poke him with a horsewhip, weren’t you?"
With each question, Ji Huan jabbed the handle into his chest.
Di Rong stumbled backward from the force of the jabs.
"You said I wouldn’t dare, didn’t you?"
"Well, today I dare!"
With that, Ji Huan gave him a hard shove with both hands, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Throughout this rapid sequence of events, Di Rong remained in a daze. He only snapped out of it when Ji Huan’s whip came swinging down.
’He... He was being hit?’
’This... This crazy woman actually dared to hit him?’
His personal attendant, Santai, had been sent to buy a roast goose. When he returned to the harness shop and couldn’t find his young master, he walked a little further. He saw a crowd gathered ahead and knew without a doubt that his master was there.
’Oh no! He must have caused trouble again!’
Santai wanted to cry but had no tears. The wounds on his backside had just healed. ’Am I going to get caned again?’
He hastily squeezed through the crowd and froze.
’The person scrambling around, clutching his head and stamping his feet in fury... was that his young master?’
Di Rong had already been struck twice by the whip. He looked ready to tear Ji Huan apart, but unfortunately, he hadn’t brought any other servants with him today, so he had no backup.
Catching sight of Santai out of the corner of his eye, he roared, "You idiot, are you just watching the show? Get over here and restrain that crazy woman for me!"
"Oh, oh..." Santai spun in a circle, handed the roast goose he was holding to a bystander, then rolled up his sleeves and charged forward.
Just as he was about to reach Ji Huan, his right arm was suddenly seized, twisted behind his back, and then a sharp pain shot through the back of his left knee, forcing him to kneel heavily on the ground.
Santai let out a howl of pain, tears and snot instantly covering his face. "Young Master, save me..."
"Useless!" Di Rong glared resentfully at the man in the conical hat, then turned back to Ji Huan. "Crazy woman, do you have a death wish?! Do you know who I am? I’m..."
"I know who you are."
Ji Huan, who was getting tired of swinging the whip anyway, paused to catch her breath.
"Aren’t you the great ancestor of the Wan Family? What, you can’t win a fight so you have to go crying to your parents? Haven’t you been weaned yet!"
If Di Rong had initially provoked Dabao simply because he was in a bad mood, now he was absolutely incandescent with rage.
"Who hasn’t been weaned?! Who’s crying to their parents?! You... you put down that whip and back off! A gentleman doesn’t fight with a woman!"
"A gentleman? What can you do besides bully people with borrowed power? Even if you don’t go crying to your family, I’m going to them. I need to pay a visit and ask if all children from prestigious families treat human life so cheaply. Or is it just you—born but not raised!"
Di Rong flew into a thunderous rage. "Don’t you dare talk about my mother!"
"With a son like you, your mother lost face long ago!"
Ji Huan wanted to whip him again, but her reason told her to stop while she was ahead.
Still seething, she threw the whip on the ground. "Get lost!"
At the same time, Guan Shan released his grip.
Santai clutched his arm and rubbed his knee, scrambling over to Di Rong’s side in a panic. "Waaah... Young Master, let’s get out of here..."
Disgusted by Santai’s humiliating display, Di Rong kicked him to the ground. Then he pointed a menacing finger at Ji Huan. "If you’ve got the guts, don’t you move. You just wait here for me..."
"What else can you do besides tattling and calling for backup? If it weren’t for your family’s influence, someone like you would have been beaten to death a hundred times over by now." Ji Huan mimicked his earlier posture, crossing her arms and sneering. "Go on, then. I’ll wait for you to gather your lackeys. We can meet at the government office."
Santai panicked. Risking another kick, he tugged on Di Rong’s sleeve. "Young Master, Young Master, we have to go! If this gets back to the Wan Mansion, or if it goes to the government office, we really won’t be able to return to the capital this year..."
"The capital, the capital, the capital! That’s all you know how to use against me!"
Santai flinched at the shouting and muttered under his breath, "But Young Master, you want to go back to the capital too..."
"You!"
Muffled laughter rippled through the crowd, and Di Rong’s face turned pale, then livid.
"You all—I’ll remember this! Just you wait!"
After spitting out this threat, Di Rong turned and shoved his way out of the crowd.
"Peasants! Move! Get out of my way!"
He pushed and shoved his way through, his panicked escape causing a wave of complaints.
Seeing his young master flee, Santai grabbed the roast goose back from the bystander and chased after him.
Ping’an had led a group to search in the other direction. By the time he found his way here, the scene had already dispersed.
"Is Dabao okay? I never expected that attendant to be so unreliable..."
Ji Huan shook her head, knowing she couldn’t blame anyone else.
She leaned down and gently touched the red mark on Dabao’s face, left by the handle of the whip.
Dabao shook his head and reached for her hand.
When Ji Huan had been whipping Di Rong, she had used her right hand—the same one that had been swollen from a whip lash before. It was stinging painfully now.
She didn’t regret hitting that naughty boy. When she saw him about to drop Dabao from a distance, she had felt murderous.
’I just wish I was better with a whip. I kept missing, and my hand had only just healed, so I couldn’t put much force into it...’
Seeing her silence, Ping’an thought she was worried the Little Demon Star would come back.
"You don’t need to worry. That little tyrant has only been in Yeyang for a short time, but he’s already managed to make everyone despise him. Old Master Wan is a clear-headed man. Although he spoils the boy, he wouldn’t abuse his power to bully others. And taking a step back, even if this ends up in court, there’s nothing to fear. County Magistrate Pan isn’t some muddle-headed official who can’t tell right from wrong."
Ji Huan had seen that the naughty boy was a stubborn one, which was why she had deliberately provoked him. She figured it was unlikely he would go crying to his family, but there was no guarantee his servants wouldn’t report it.
’Oh well,’ she thought. ’I’ll just have to deal with whatever comes my way.’