Chapter 131

Editor: Sahloknir

The esteemed and noble Jiang family of Crane City could no longer buy even a single grain of rice because of Shi Qing, who everyone thought was a teenage dandy before this matter came to light.

People would laugh their heads off if someone said before that the entire Jiang family did not have enough to eat.

But somehow such a thing had actually happened.

And Shi Qing didn’t even try to hide what he was doing. He openly confronted the whole Jiang family.

Every day, the little master sat in his lavish palanquin that even had curtains embroidered with gold thread and had people carry him to all the grain stores with great fanfare.

Every time he arrived at one, he would have people shout a few phrases.

No one was allowed to sell grain to a member of the Jiang family. Anyone who did would be going against him, Shi Qing. Or in other words the entire Shi family.

It was actually pretty easy to identify who was from the Jiang family.

After all, every person who enters or leaves their manor had at least three to five people tailing them. They even had red ribbons tied to their shoulders to distinguish them even more.

The huge commotion the youngest son of the Shi family made had the whole of Crane City buzzing with excitement.

Not just the noble families, even the commoners were discussing how this matter would end.

Would the unrestrained little master of the Shi family, who could come up with strange schemes like this, be suppressed?

Or would the veteran Jiang family be the first to bow down and agree to sign the divorce papers?

In short, this was the latest hot topic.

As one of the people involved, Father Shi discovered for the first time that there are advantages to being shameless.

His prior suffering at Jiang family’s manor had been returned to Father Jiang in full.

Now Father Shi slowly sipped his tea with an unhurried look. “Jiang-xiong, you don’t need to be angry. Children are inevitably impulsive. Why demean yourself to deal with a junior like him?”

Father Jiang was so furious that he almost flipped the table.

He barely managed to maintain his appearance and smiled with gritted teeth. “Your family’s Qing-er is not of age yet, and I heard he isn’t a good student either. How could he be capable of causing my Jiang family to be in such a state? This one surnamed Jiang finds it hard to believe that a junior like him is the only one behind this matter, Shi-xiong.”

“Aiya, what are you saying?”

Father Shi was all smiles as he set his cup down. He proudly said, “Even I didn’t believe it when I first heard about it, but it’s true. Although my Qing-er doesn’t like to study, he’s still my son that I’ve raised by my side. It’s not that strange for someone as gifted as him to do such a big thing like this.”

With that, he smiled and stroked his long beard, letting out a long, contented sigh.

“After all, sons resemble their fathers. It’s no surprise that Qing-er inherited my intelligence.”

Father Jiang: “&#k2026;”

He had never seen such a shameless person before.

When Father Shi saw that the other didn’t intend to leave, despite being infuriated, he thought for a moment before turning to a servant, “Go ask Qing-er to come here.”

He turned back and smiled at Father Jiang again.

“This is something Qing-er did on his own. If he has offended Jiang-xiong, I might as well call him to give an apology to smooth things over.”

Father Jiang’s expression eased a little when he heard this.

Seeing that his mood had changed for the better, Father Shi scoffed disdainfully in his heart.

He was too lazy to entertain this guy any longer.

So why not let Qing-er make him blow a gasket.

After all, he was Qing-er’s father. He knew firsthand how good this kid was at pissing people off.

Shi Qing soon arrived, still with his Jiang Bieyu by his side.

Only when he reached the door did he stop and wave his hand, “Just wait here for me.”

Jiang Bieyu silently acknowledged that and remained obediently at the door, watching the little master saunter inside.

“Shi Qing greets Uncle.”

So he does know how to be polite.

The man stood where he was, observing the seemingly respectful and sensible little master. A glint of humor appeared in his eyes.

I can’t see him acting this way for long.

As Jiang Bieyu expected, Father Shi raised a hand to his son. “Qing-er, your Uncle Jiang is here because you’ve been buying out all the grain merchants lately. Oh you, why didn’t you tell Father about this? I only found out when Uncle Jiang came to our door.”

Shi Qing glanced at Father Shi, whose expression was indeed appropriately admonishing and stern.

If Father Shi hadn’t been the one who gave him the funds to bribe or buy out the grain merchants, he might’ve believed it.

The little master of the Shi family had an apologetic look on his face. “Sorry Father, I didn’t want to bother you with a trivial matter like this.”

Father Jiang’s face instantly turned ugly.

A trivial matter?!

Shi Qing had forced their Jiang family into such a state and caused them all to go hungry. They were the esteemed Jiang family of Crane City! How could this be called a ‘trivial matter’?

“How could it be a trivial matter? Can’t you see how upset your Uncle Jiang is?!”

Father Shi also had a serious look on his face. “Why aren’t you apologizing to your Uncle Jiang yet!”

“Yes.”

The little master who had been stirring up trouble outside was very obedient in front of his family. After responding demurely, he bowed to Father Jiang, his soft voice full of guilt,

“Shi Qing apologises to Uncle Jiang.”

Although he had suffered a little humiliation at the hands of Father Shi, at least the payoff was worth it. Father Jiang raised his hand with a frown. “Since Qing-er has apologised, then our Jiang family will be magnamious and not pursue this matter any further.”

Father Shi nodded. “It’s good that Jiang-xiong is not angry anymore. Then let us put this matter to rest.” He said, before looking at his mastermind of a son. “Did you hear that, Qing-er? Your Uncle Jiang is not angry anymore.”

“Thank you Uncle Jiang for your understanding.”

A smile immediately appeared on Shi Qing’s face as he played along.

He asked Father Jiang again, “Is Uncle really forgiving this youngster?”

Father Jiang wanted to say ‘no’ so very badly.

But considering how this lunatic, Shi Qing, was willing to mercilessly cut off their food supply, he nodded in the end. “Naturally.”

“That’s good.”

Shi Qing smiled again.

When a good looking person like him smiled, it was even more radiant.

The little master looked up at the seated Father Jiang with such a sunny face. He cupped his hands. “Since Uncle Jiang has forgiven this junior, I’ll go ahead and have my people prevent the Jiang family from buying fabrics, spices, accessories, firewood etc. Uncle Jiang, please forgive me for those as well.”

Father Jiang: “…”

He rose to his feet in shock, giving the jade-like youth smiling brightly below an incredulous look.

“Didn’t we just settle this matter?!”

“We did.” Shi Qing was full of innocence as he cupped his hands. “Uncle Jiang, the matter of you being angry with this youngster is indeed settled.”

Black spots started to appear in Father Jiang’s vision. He struggled to take a deep breath. “I’m talking about the matter of you having people prevent my Jiang family from buying food!!!”

“Oh that?”

The little master’s voice was still soft and sticky, as if he was the most innocent and pure person in the world. “Uncle, this youngster only did that because I wanted to make Young Master Jiang Liye agree to sign the divorce papers and send my sister back home. This is just a personal dispute between us juniors. It’s not appropriate for elders like Uncle to interfere, right?”

“A personal dispute?!”

Father Jiang’s teeth were itching with hatred as he spat out, “You’ve caused the entire Jiang family to go hungry, and you’re still calling it a personal dispute?!”

“Yes.”

Shi Qing pouted. “Everyone in the city knows I don’t get along with Young Master Jiang. Now that we’re going to fight, those merchants chose, of their own volition, to support the underdog and not sell to the Jiang family. Although this is a personal dispute between Young Master Jiang and I, I am still truly grateful that they would do such a thing for my sake.”

“Don’t worry Uncle. If you’re still angry, I will definitely apologize to you again. But the matter of grain, well…it’s either the divorce papers or nothing.”

Father Jiang: “…”

He took a deep breath and looked to the side at Father Shi. “Aren’t you going to say anything to your son?”

Father Shi seemed bewildered. “What should I say?”

He thought for a moment before sternly saying, “Qing-er, look at you! How dare you talk to an elder in that tone! Is that what Father taught you to do?!”

“Yes, Father is right.”

With an expression of shame, Shi Qing cupped his hands in Father Jiang’s direction again, “I’m really sorry Uncle, I’ll rephrase what I said.”

“It doesn’t matter if your family doesn’t send the divorce papers over. This youngster is a junior and can’t do anything to Uncle either. At most, the Jiang family will have no rice to eat, no clothes to wear, no firewood to boil water and no charcoal to keep warm.”

He then looked at his father, “Those are just minor inconveniences. It’s not like I had them beaten up.”

“Yes, minor inconveniences.”

Father Shi nodded approvingly as he stroked his long beard. “Kids will be kids. As long as no bones are broken when they fight, there’s no need for Jiang-xiong to take things so seriously.”

“You!!”

Father Jiang was about to have an aneurysm. He pointed a shaking finger at Shi Qing. “How can you all be so shameless?! If you have something against the Jiang family, then oppose us openly! Resorting to such underhanded tricks is just shameless!!”

Shi Qing sighed, his face full of regret, “This youngster is talentless and of subpar moral character. For the Jiang family’s cooperation in this matter, I can only steel myself and face off against Young Master Jiang. But if I were to go up against him…”

“When it comes to martial arts, I am too weak physically. When it comes to composition, I am inexperienced. In the end when I did the math, it seemed like this was the only way left. Begging Uncle’s forgiveness.”

The little master sighed once again and cupped his hands helplessly.

“After all, I had no other choice.”

“Alas, this Shi Qing only has money to spare.”