"Pei Pei, what am I to do? What if I really hurt her?" Mei Hua asked her friend anxiously.

"Pff, that girl's skin is too fair. You barely applied any pressure and look at how she reddened? Give it a bit and it'll go back to normal."

"Y-you think so?"

Pei Zhi rolled her eyes at her friend. "Even if you hurt her, the Fairy Doctor will easily take care of it. Likely, she'll be in better condition than before she left."

Mei Hua touched her forehead still feeling nervous and then remembered the torn sleeve.

"Ah! This sleeve! I ruined her dressed!"

This caused Pei Zhi to frown and cluck her tongue.

"To come to the Blue Flower Palace in shoddy clothing that tears apart at even the slightest tugging…"

"Even if you say that, I still ruined it!"

This was true, and there were gobs of witnesses as well. If they did nothing at all, it'd make them both look bad. Pei Zhi couldn't help finding the whole thing a bit strange. Why had the girl behaved so outrageously? Gong Niu might be a pig of a man, but he was all about face. He'd never knowingly let his daughter wear substandard clothing to such an important event or train her to be so dramatic.

Huddling closer together, Mei Hua and Pei Zhi discussed how to deal with the dress. As they were talking, Master Shan Hui quickly walked over with his usual swagger. He'd caught a Wen servant going to tell his Father about what had happened and decided to deal with it himself. No point in giving his Old Man the chance to look good when he could look good instead, he he he.

"Mother," He didn't waste time getting to the point. "I bumped into a Wen servant who said there was a problem?"

Mei Hua looked at her son guiltily.

"Son, don't think less of your dearest Mother for this… but I slightly roughed up a young miss and tore her dress in the process. Auntie Pei and I were trying to think of how to compensate…"

While she talked she held out the torn sleeve, Shan Hui took it and then snorted. "Shoddy stitching. What woman dares insult you by wearing such garbage to your birthday?"

Pei Zhi was nodded in agreement. "That's what I said."

Feeling ganged up on, Mei Hua frowned at them both.

"Even if you BOTH say that, I did still ruin her dress! What's she going to do for the rest of the night now? She was publicly humiliated, and she can't walk around with a one-sleeved dress!"

Seeing that his Mother was still feeling (needlessly) guilty, Shan Hui sighed.

"How about this? I'll go and deal with the dress problem while you continue enjoying yourself."

"But…"

"Mother." Shan Hui gave her a mock scolding look. "It's your birthday. On this day, I won't allow there to be any problems. Not even if you created them. So go have fun, let your eldest handle this."

Seeing she wasn't quite convinced, he crinkled his brow and frowned slightly.

"Don't you trust me?" He asked sorrowfully.

She reached out and embraced him. "Of course I do! Mother never doubted your ability!"

Pei Zhi turned away to hide her eyes rolling. Perhaps it was from the isolation they grew up in, but all of Mei Hua’s sons had an extra strong attachment to their Mother. Worst of them all was Shan Hui, who tried every sly way he could to get his Mother’s attention. He thought he was clever, but any adult could see right through his act. Even Mei Hua knew for the most part, but she found the behavior adorable so didn’t stop it.

Master Shan Hui was currently looking immensely pleased by the hug.

After patting his head a bit, Mei Hua let go.

"Since you really want to… I'll leave it in your hands."

"You won't worry about it?"

"I won't!"

"Hm, good then. Mother, go have fun with Aunt Pei Zhi, and leave everything to me!" Shan Hui patted his chest with confidence before giving a slight bow and leaving the two women behind.

Mei Hua smiled at his retreating figure and then turned to Pei Zhi.

"Let me hold your fluffy dumpling again, won't you?" Pei Zhi immediately handed her daughter over with a laugh. "Ah…! Baby girls are so wonderful—! I really wanted one this last time but—"

"Only you would complain about having twin boys." Pei Zhi teased.

"Ha! You can only say that because you've got a daughter!"

——

Shan Hui never hurried for anything but his Mother. He walked slowly to where the Young Miss Qing Ge was located, his Nanny Fairies whispering what they knew of the incident, the girl, and her relations. By the time he got to her room, his nonexistent opinion of the Young Miss had been lowered to a negative.

The Gong Family was alright, but the Gong Eldest Son was a rotten fruit from that family. He was an eloquent and clever talker, which was great for business, but under his fake face was a nasty personality. To the Old Man and Shan Hui this was obvious as the sun, as they could see the good or bad in a person, but to everyone else he seemed like a chubby eager-to-please type of personalty.

Anyone raised in the Gong Nui family likely took after Gong Nui. Nothing good could come from it, as far as Shan Hui was concerned. When he finally stepped into the room with the "Eldest Young Miss of the First Wife", one glance proved him right. Just as rotten as her father!

Giving an extremely lazy half-bow, Shan Hui greeted Young Miss Qing Ge. She was currently sitting in one of the many beautifully carved wood chairs found throughout the Palace, drinking some concoction the Fairy Doctor likely gave her.

"Pardon my intrusion," He began, his voice indifferent. "Apparently there was an accident with your dress."

He gave the torn sleeve to his Fairy Nanny who immediately handed it over to Qing Ge.

Young Miss Qing Ge blushed delicately, looking down at the hands holding her torn sleeve.

"Master Shan Hui, this one feels terrible for disturbing her Ladyship's party and—"

"Good."

Whatever the Young Miss was about to say stuttered to a stop.

"P-Pardon—?"

"It's good that you feel terrible."

The Young Miss' mouth dropped open slightly before quickly rallying herself. She got down on the floor and kowtowed deeply.

"This one has offended Master! Please punish this Young Miss for her behavior!"

"Hm…?" He started circle her still bowing form. "If only you really did want to be punished for your wrongs. But even if I beat you, it wouldn't fix that horrible personality. Just like that pig father of yours."

The Young Miss bowing form noticeably stiffened at his insult, causing Shan Hui to laugh darkly.

"What? Did I upset you? Too bad, too bad.. You said you wanted to be punished! Since beating you won't work, let me just wound your pride a bit instead. For my own satisfaction."

He could see her trembling slightly now. If she'd been wise, she would have been trembling in fear, but she was not wise. He knew she was just furious and trying to restrain herself.

"Would you like to hear something interesting?" Shan Hui squatted down, a hand tucked under a chin, staring at her shaking form. "The Sons of the Lord of the Mountain can see into the hearts of men. So the moment I entered, I knew there was not a shred of sincerity in anything you were saying."

The Young Miss Qing Ge immediately stopped her trembling.

"This… this Young Miss…" She began haltingly in a sickly sweet voice. "…would never dream of lying to Lord Jin or Master Shan Hui. This one would never dare."

"Ay, ay, listen to a person when they tell you things of importance." He tapped her roughly on the head with his knuckles. "Lying to cover your insincerity won't work either. So how about you just tell me what you were actually planning and save yourself some pain, hm?"

"Master's words come from the Heavens above and are too lofty for this one to understand."

He stood up and dusted himself off, sighing wearily as he did. He then took a foot and smashed it into her back, between her shoulder blades, pinning her to the ground instantly.

"So did you think to cause trouble yourself, or did Fat Niu put you up to it?"

"M-Master, for-forgive this——" Came a strangled gasping plea beneath his foot. He simply pressed down harder, causing a cry of pain.

"Let's try this again," He dug his heel in. "Exactly what price are you willing to pay for your lying? Just because I said beating you wouldn't change your personality, it doesn't mean I won't beat you."

"M-my Father——" Qing Ge wheezed out.

"Hm?" Thinking she'd tell him something useful, he eased his foot up a bit so she could talk.

"——will never tolerate this kind of treatment!" Came a furious scream. "I'm related to Royalty! The Han Family will have your heads! How dare you treat me this way, how dare you! You disgusting wild monkeys! How could Grandfather Gong make deals with you trash?! You boorish, barbaric apes!"

Shan Hui's eye twitched at her shrill screaming.

So Gong Nui's First Wife was Han Royalty? No wonder he'd acted like he owned the world at the party today, even though it was his first time attending as the Gong Head. That a merchant family managed to marry any kind of royalty was an amazing feat. Exactly how many inches was Gong Nui's tongue* that he could manage to pull that off?

(*Author: Refers to a Chinese idiom "3 inch tongue", aka "silver tongue", aka, eloquent speaker.)

“——is no lady, just a trash woman who was raped by a mountain bandit! Ugly, disgusting woman—”

This time Shan Hui raised his foot and stomped down. A disturbing crack could be heard under his foot, followed by a gasp. He would have tolerated every other insult but one aimed at his Mother.

"Ah… was that a rib maybe?" He tilted his head and glanced at the Fairy Nannies. One of them left immediately. "I can break more if you like, or a leg, an arm. Fingers are fun too."

"C-can't kill m-me—"

"Hm? Who said I was going to kill you? I just said I'd beat you up a bit, that's all. You should be thanking me for only doing that." He paused. "You met the Fairy Doctor earlier, right? Such a fine man, a genius in his field. Did you know that last year one of the Wu boys fell from a tree and broke his arm? The Doctor managed to heal it in under an hour. There wasn't even a bruise left over. Amazing, right?"

As he talked, the door silently slid open and the Fairy Doctor stepped in. He bowed respectfully to Shun Hui and then glanced at the girl on the floor, his brow furrowed slightly.

"So what I'm thinking," Shan Hui moved his foot and stomped on the girls naked arm, restraining just enough so he didn't break it. It wouldn't due if she fainted, after all. She gave an agonized shriek and starting hitting him with her free hand. "If he can heal a broken arm in under an hour, surely a rib won't matter? And bruises and cuts? Those he can probably deal with in just a few minutes. What do you think Doctor?"

The Fairy Doctor now understood why he'd been brought. He kept his face devoid of emotion and only nodded slightly to Master Shan Hui. He'd been created to heal, not to harm. He disliked this kind of behavior, but only the Nanny fairies by his side dared to contradict him and get away with it. Fairies such as himself did not have that luxury.

"See? So no matter how much I break you, he can put you right. And then I can break you again. No one's going home until tomorrow, and it won't be hard to get Fat Nui so drunk he forgets to ask about you until then. So we can do this all night, if you like."

Qing Ge was already pale from pain, hearing what he planned to do her turned her face ghastly.

"I—I was planning on getting your attention." She said through gritted teeth. "It j-just didn't h-happen as I planned. Never m-meant to offend her L-Ladyship. Just wanted you to notice m-me."

Shan Hui knew she was speaking the truth, but felt puzzled by it.

"My attention?"

"T-to marry into your family."

He stared at her blankly for a moment and then laughed. He laughed as though she'd just told the funniest joke he'd ever heard.

"You wanted to marry into the family of wild monkeys, did you? Ah, but you come from a pig! How could a pig and a monkey get married?"

She flushed with anger, but this time refrained from losing her temper. Seeing this, he was slightly impressed even though he hated her. She should have just been terrified, but she still managed to be angry from his insults. It took a strong willed person to do that. It was a shame she wasted such a good quality on useless scheming.

Finally he lifted his foot and took a few step backs. With a wave, the Fairy Doctor hastily came over and started fixing her up.

"So was it you or Fat Nui who thought to seduce me?" He asked as he watched the Fairy Doctor work.

She gave a hissing sob at the Doctor's touch, glaring at Shun Hui.

"Father suggested I try, but the means were left to me." She spit out her words as if cursing.

"Ah… so Fat Nui was just using you as a tool to further his influence. And he happened to pick a stupid tool." He couldn't tell if the pained face was for the Doctor's treatment or his words. Tapping the side of chin, he hummed slightly. "If you'd just admitted to that at the beginning, none of this would have happened and we could have left on amicable terms. But instead you lied and insulted Mother. See how much pain you put yourself in? Ah… never mind it, what's done is done. Hopefully you learned something valuable, though I doubt it… Take good care of her, Doctor."

Shan Hui pat the Fairy Doctor on the shoulder and left the room.

After he left, he heard the Young Miss let our a screech of frustration, anger, and pain. Shan Hui felt a little sorry for putting the Fairy Doctor through such a hassle.

He look up at the stars and muttered, "…so annoying…"

"Master?" Nanny Qing inquired.

"Have the seamstress make a new dress, slightly better than what she has now, but properly stitched. Have her wear the new one and burn the old. I'd prefer it done by the end of the party tonight, but if she needs more time it's fine. Hm… make sure the Miss goes directly to her room and sleeps so she’s not kicking up a fuss all night. Ask the Doctor for help with that if you need. Then have a servant pretend to be the Miss and wander around for people to see she’s fine. Oh, and keep Fat Nui drunk so he doesn’t even think about where or what his daughter is doing.”

"Anything else Master?" Nanny Xiao Ling followed up.

He hummed thoughtfully for a moment. Then he raised his hand and a small piece of green jade appeared in his palm. His hand fisted and squeezed. When he opened it again, there was a plain jade ring. "Make sure to give her Father this in the morning, as compensation for the… "humiliation"… she suffered."

Nanny Qing frowned unhappily when she took the ring, while Nanny Ling scowled at it.

"Schemers shouldn't get gifts from Master." Nanny Qing said in a small, angry voice.

"Now, now, Mother would be upset if I didn't give the girl something. The dress won't be considered enough compensation. This isn't even nice green jade, really, and I didn't do anything fancy with it, see?"

Both Nannies clucked their tongues, still disagreeing.

"Besides," He spoke more cheerily, "When she talks about what happened to Fat Nui tomorrow, she's going to sound like a lunatic!"