Chapter Fifty-Four: Entering the City

Hearing this, a surge of anger instantly ignited in Fang Jun's heart.

What is the meaning of this? Is Prince Han, Li Yuanyji, planning to elevate a concubine and humiliate his legitimate wife?

As a grand chancellor, Fang Xuanling could not possibly interfere in his children's domestic affairs; regardless of who was right or wrong, it would be entirely inappropriate. Fang Yizhi was a bookish scholar—his moral character was beyond reproach, but he was far too rigid and upright; faced with such a situation, he would only swallow his grievances in silence. Although Lady Lu was sharp-tongued and fierce, no matter how formidable a mother-in-law might be, she could not make a public spectacle of demanding justice for her daughter—what would people say about Fang Xuanling's family discipline? The third son, Fang Yize, was still too young and understood nothing at all. As for the former Fang Yi'ai, he was nothing more than a blockhead and a hopeless fool who wouldn't pay any attention to such matters whatsoever...

But Fang Jun could not. He simply could not hold it in!

Was this not bullying the Fang family by assuming there was no one to stand up for the Fang woman?

Perhaps Li Yuanyji had no such conscious intention, but deep down, a certain contempt for the Fang woman was inevitable.

Damn it, the moment Lady Cao's brothers came over to make a scene, you turned soft and submissive; does that mean my sister has no brothers to back her up?

He could easily imagine how heartbroken and desolate his sister must have felt when she suffered grievances and could only flee back to her maiden family, only to find no one willing to support her or even utter a single strong word on her behalf.

A daughter who marries out is by no means like water poured onto the ground.

A woman's status in her husband's family is directly proportional to the power and backing of her maternal family—this has been true in all eras, past and present.

Although Fang Xuanling was a chancellor holding supreme influence over the empire, he was far too upright. A gentleman can be deceived by means proper to his character, and consequently, people did not take him very seriously.

I, Fang Jun, am no gentleman! I wasn't one before, I am not one now, and by damn, I won't be one in the future either!

Fang Jun abruptly stood up.

Ever since his transmigrated journey began, his previous grand ambitions seemed to have dissipated into thin air. Finding contentment in moderate wealth and enjoying life had become the state he yearned for most.

Yet he knew that in this matter, he could not simply stand by and do nothing.

Regardless of anything else, he was a traveler from another world. Setting aside unifying the realm, looking down upon the globe, or spearheading the industrial revolution, the absolute least he could do was safeguard the happy lives of his family members!

If he couldn't even step forward when his own sister suffered a grievance, what was the point of living?

He might as well buy a block of tofu and smash his head against it to end it all—it would utterly shame all transmigrators!

Seeing Fang Jun stand up, Fang Xiuzhu felt a sudden tightening in her chest. She hurriedly grabbed his hand and asked anxiously, "Second Brother, what are you going to do?"

Looking up, she saw that Fang Jun's already slightly swarthy face had turned as dark as the bottom of a cooking pot. Her heart fluttered with a sudden tremor, and she thought to herself, *This is bad!*

Sure enough, Fang Jun said with a chilling countenance, "I am going into the city!"

Fang Xiuzhu was terrified. Their mother and eldest sister had given her repeated, strict instructions not to breathe a word of this to Fang Jun, warning her that disaster would surely follow. Now it had indeed come to pass; what could she do?

The little girl was so anxious she was on the verge of tears. She clutched Fang Jun's hand for dear life and pleaded, "Second Brother... Good Second Brother, please don't be rash! The Emperor gave an imperial decree forbidding you to return to the city anyway. Besides, your brother-in-law is an imperial prince—what could you possibly do to him?"

Fang Jun halted his steps, looked at his younger sister's pale, worry-stricken face, and smiled. Reaching out, he gently patted the top of Fang Xiuzhu's head, affectionately rearranging her neatly combed double hair buns, and said in a soft voice, "You are still young and do not understand how difficult a woman's life in her husband's family can be without the backing of her maternal relatives. People in this world are all the same: they bully the weak and fear the strong, favoring the wicked over the good. Just imagine—if you were to marry in the future and suffer mistreatment at your husband's house, but your Second Brother turned a blind eye and ignored it, how heartbroken would you be? Anyone who dares to bully my sisters—forget about him being just a prince, even the Emperor himself wouldn't do!"

"No..." Fang Xiuzhu cried out in despair, tears welling in her eyes as she glared angrily at Li Yulong standing nearby, scolding, "It's all your fault! Big mouth, why did you have to run your mouth? Mother is going to beat me to death for this..."

Li Yulong, however, turned a deaf ear. Her bright, sparkling eyes were fixed entirely upon the wrathful, supremely imposing Fang Jun, as if she had discovered a rare and priceless treasure.

Then, she turned her head, flashed a radiant smile at Li Siwen, and asked, "If one day I am bullied by my husband, Second Brother, will you come over to back me up?"

Li Siwen was stuffed with food and drink and lacked energy, letting out a yawn before casually replying, "Bully my sister? I'll slap him until his teeth fall out!"

Hearing this, Li Yulong beamed like a blossoming flower, crying out in a sweet, coquettish voice, "Second Brother is the best..."

This declaration startled Li Siwen so violently that he shivered all over. His lingering drowsiness vanished instantly as he stared blankly at his own sister and pleaded, "Sister... please don't be like this. Just be your usual fierce, natural self. Suddenly acting all tender and watery like you've been replaced by a different person is far too terrifying..."

Li Yulong's willow-leaf brows instantly shot up in indignation. Overwhelmed with shyness and embarrassment, she snapped angrily, "Li Siwen, who are you calling fierce?"

Startled, Li Siwen executed a carp-leap spring from the couch, grabbed Fang Jun's hand, and dragged him toward the exit, shouting, "Let's go, let's go... brothers for a lifetime, I, Li Siwen, will accompany you to the Prince Han Manor..."

He would rather go to the Prince Han Manor and stir up a colossal disaster than face his rampaging sister...

Unable to hold Fang Jun back, Fang Xiuzhu stamped her feet in anxiety, casting a resentful glare at the instigator, Li Yulong, utterly at a loss for what to do.

Li Yulong offered a faint smile, her delicate, pure countenance resembling a blooming flower of peerless beauty.

Fang Xiuzhu stared in a daze, and subconsciously muttered, "Yulong, you really are gorgeous..."

"Gorgeous?"

Not knowing what crossed her mind, Li Yulong's lovely face instantly dimmed as she silently watched the doorway where Fang Jun had disappeared...

In this farming estate, Fang Jun was the supreme authority; his word was final.

When he summoned a few retainers, saddled fine steeds, and galloped down the mountain amidst the howling wind and swirling snow, the estate steward, Fang Quan, offered only a few words of dissuasion. Seeing that Fang Jun would not be swayed, he had no choice but to let him be, though he promptly dispatched a messenger into the city to report the matter to the mansion.

At some point, the snow began to fall again. The biting northern wind, carrying snowflakes, lashed against people's faces like cutting blades.

The entire world was a vast expanse of white.

Because daylight was fading and the roads were difficult to travel, it took Fang Jun a long time to clear the Xinfeng territory. Pulling down his marten-fur hat, he squinted through the wind and snow at the distant, looming silhouette of Chang'an City and shouted aloud, "Take the northern path! Make good time and enter the city through the Tonghua Gate before the curfew!"

With a resounding cry, he spurred his horse forward into a gallop.

Without a word, Li Siwen and several robust retainers followed closely behind.

The Prince Han Manor was located in Jingshan Ward in the southern part of the city. Logically, entering through the Mingde Gate would have been closer, but Fang Jun remembered that he was currently a man "under a cloud of guilt." There was a good chance the city guards wouldn't let him pass, and the slightest delay would cause them to miss the curfew. Remembering that Cheng Chubi had recently been demoted by Emperor Li Er from the Left Martial Guard Imperial Guards to guard the Tonghua Gate at Chang'an due to their brawl at the Drunk Immortal Pavilion, and calculating that today happened to be Cheng Chubi's shift, Fang Jun headed straight for the Tonghua Gate.

A troop of cavaliers came galloping through the howling wind and snow, their bowl-sized hooves shattering the ice and slush and kicking up flurries of snowy mist. The guards at the Tonghua Gate were thoroughly startled. Seeing that both men and beasts were breathing plumes of white mist, it was obvious they had ridden hard for a considerable distance. With the curfew imminent, what kind of background could these people possibly have?

Every day at sunset, the four gates of Chang'an would be locked; no entry or exit was permitted without military orders. Then, at the first quarter of the *Xu* double-hour, the ward gates within the city would be shut, and commoners were forbidden to walk the streets—this was known as the curfew.

It was already the tail end of the *You* double-hour, and the curfew was moments away; naturally, the guards would not arbitrarily open the city gates.

Someone shouted from atop the ramparts, "Who goes there? The city curfew is about to begin. Turn back at once!"

Fang Jun spurred his horse right up to the base of the city wall, reined in his mount, caught his breath, and yelled up at the ramparts, "Is Cheng Chubi on duty?"