Old Zhao stood with his arms crossed, watching coldly from the crowd, a mocking smile on his face.
Tian Baoci had long needed to be taught a lesson.
This guy spent all day cockfighting and parading his dogs—never doing a single decent thing.
Once, one of Tian Baoci’s sleek hounds had mauled a small child to death by the roadside, which stirred up public outrage.
But Tian Baoci conveniently fainted, claiming some old illness had flared up.
Then one of his servants stepped forward to take the blame, saying it was his fault for not watching the dog—it had nothing to do with Tian Baoci.
In the end, the matter was quietly swept under the rug.
There was no way around it—the Emperor couldn’t personally handle every single grievance.
The Great Zhou Empire was massive, with countless state affairs each day.
The noble clans had sprawling, tangled networks of power. Even if a scandal blew up, by the time an impeachment memorial made it to the Ministry of Communications, it would often be stalled.
And even if it reached the Grand Secretariat, not every grand secretary was willing to get involved.
By the time the Emperor himself heard about it, the situation would already be “resolved.”
The current Emperor was relatively wise, but issues like this had existed in every dynasty—too many to count. He couldn’t possibly root them all out.
But no matter—he’d messed with Miss Qi, and that was like kicking a steel wall.
Tian Baoci wasn’t afraid, though. His foot had been stabbed clean through by Qi Yuan, and the pain only fueled his rage.
He pointed at her and cursed, “What the h*ll are you yammering on about?! Just answer me—did you or did you not beat to death my dog?!”
The Tian household servants hurried to hush him, trying to calm him down.
You can beg the King of H*ll for mercy, but not his little devils.
That saying was tailor-made for censors.
Censors weren’t “little devils,” of course—but their doggedness might as well have made them.
Plenty of high officials had lost titles and rank just from being hounded by censors.
Especially this one—Censor Tie—known for being hard-boned and impossible to shake off.
Qi Yuan hadn’t even spoken yet, but Censor Tie had already exploded: “So what if your dog was killed?! You beat people until they’re covered in wounds and now you want someone to die for it?!”
Trading a human life for a dog’s—utterly preposterous!
Xiao Jingzhao frowned in disgust.
Tian Baoci was the very definition of a parasite—relying on his ties to the imperial family to throw his weight around, treating human life like it was nothing. People like that were better off dead!
He clenched his fists.
Feng Caiwei, on the other hand, wore a relaxed smile, even fanning herself with amusement.
Excellent—she’d love to see how this all ended.
But Tian Baoci wasn’t entirely stupid. He sneered at Censor Tie: “Don’t try to pin anything on me. Did I say I wanted their lives? Did I kill anyone?! I’m not asking for their lives—I just want them to compensate me for my dog. Is that so hard?!”
He might be arrogant, but he wasn’t a fool.
The moment Censor Tie showed up, he switched tactics.
The dog was already dead—and it had been a gift from the Empress Dowager. Let’s see how this wretched girl planned to compensate that.
Tian Baoci smugly propped up his injured foot to show the wound: “See for yourself. Yes, I hit them—but that little b*tch also stabbed me. I bled!”
Leaning back, he pointed at Qi Yuan and said, “Don’t preach at me, and don’t try to paint me as the villain. I hit them, you stabbed me—we’re even. But the dog—how are you going to pay for that?”
Feng Caiwei was even more pleased now, her mocking smile deepening.
Did Qi Yuan really think everyone else was stupid?
Tian Baoci was the worst kind of person—evil and clever. What now?
Censor Tie scoffed. “You couldn’t even control your dog. It ran out and bit someone. Being killed was exactly what it deserved!”
But Tian Baoci suddenly started crying out in pain.
Old Zhao rolled his eyes.
This act again.
The Tian family probably doted on Tian Baoci because they’d lost too many sons. Now, with him playing the victim, this whole mess might somehow end up being the Qi family’s fault.
But Qi Yuan suddenly spoke up, her voice steady and cold: “That wasn’t a good dog. I’ll replace it for you.”
Old Zhao tensed. Whether the dog was “good” or not—it was a fine dog. It had been a gift from the Empress Dowager!
Where was Miss Qi supposed to find a dog better than that?
Besides, it wasn’t about whether the dog was good. It was about who said it was good—and that person was Tian Baoci. Even if Qi Yuan brought him a tiger, he could still say it didn’t count!
Sure enough, Tian Baoci burst into laughter. “You? Compensate me? With what?!”
“Isn’t it all about having a good dog?” Qi Yuan smiled faintly, her gaze fixed on him. “You, Sixth Young Master Tian, are known for your collection of dogs, right? I’ve heard you enjoy dogfights. So—let’s compete. If my dog beats yours, then it must be a good dog. Isn’t that fair?”
Tian Baoci thought he misheard.
What did this little b*tch just say?
She wanted to compete in a dogfight with him?!
He had been burning with anger, not knowing how to vent it.
Censor Tie was a pain in the *ss—he couldn’t hit him or insult him.
And now this girl was walking right into his trap.
She had no idea what was about to kill her.
In all of the capital, who dared say they knew more about dogfighting than him?
His sleek hounds were fiercer than wolves. Rabbits and pheasants didn’t stand a chance. Even a leopard would get torn to shreds if surrounded by his dogs.
And yet Qi Yuan dared to challenge him?
He couldn’t hold back his laughter, bursting into howls of amusement.
Feng Caiwei, in her room, let out a cold laugh: “Completely unaware of her own limits.”
But Xiao Jingzhao didn’t laugh—his expression was still faintly cold.
Before Censor Tie could speak, Tian Baoci already shouted: “Fine! If your dog can’t beat my hound, then your two little brothers are guilty of destroying an imperial gift!”
Everyone had made good points—Censor Tie, Qi Yuan, the whole crowd.
But in his eyes, his dog was more valuable than their lives.
So what? Wasn’t that perfectly natural?
He would make sure Qi Yuan lost—utterly and completely.
He gave a contemptuous snort and asked loudly, “So? How do we compete?”
Qi Yuan’s expression didn’t shift in the slightest. “However Sixth Young Master Tian wants to do it, that’s how we’ll do it.”
Qi Yunzhi tugged her sleeve, nervous now. “Big sister…”
Qi Yuan gently shook her head, signaling he needn’t worry. Then she said each word clearly and firmly: “You decide, Sixth Young Master—how we fight, where we fight—I’ll see it through to the end.”
What Tian Baoci had feared most was that she wouldn’t dare.
Truth be told, no woman had ever dared challenge him to a dogfight before—and now he was genuinely interested.
Want to show your support? Go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! Want to get early access to at least 20+ chapters in advance? Go to my Patreon to join now! :)
