Chapter 9: A Plaster

  The young waiter at the Baifeng Building saw a shabbily dressed man standing at the entrance, peeking inside and hesitating to come in. He went forward and shouted: "Go away! This is not a place for you to loiter. Don't block my family's business."

  Ding Hao nodded and smiled: "Young master, this is a guest of your esteemed shop who left something at our pharmacy. He said he was going to attend a banquet at the Tianzi Room in Baifeng Building, and he rushed off before I could even finish wrapping his medicine. The boss told me to chase after him, so I'd like to ask, should I deliver it myself or trouble you instead?"

  "Guest of the Tianzi Room?" thought Xiao Erge, "The guests in the Tianzi Room are all wealthy masters. If I deliver this medicine, I'll at least get a few coins as a reward." He changed his expression and said with a smile: "Alright, alright! With your shabby appearance, you can actually enter the elegant rooms of our Baifeng Building? I'll take it up for you myself!"

  "That's alright, thank you little brother, thank you very much. Remember, that customer's surname is Ding, Young Master Ding..." Ding Hao watched as the shop assistant took the package and quickly slipped into the store, a faint smile on his face, before turning around and walking away.

  Baifeng Building, Tianzi No. room, Ding Chengye went upstairs with a gloomy face, saw his father, Li Shishu and several uncle elders, only said that the road was snowy and difficult to walk, so he missed the time, despite this, he was still publicly scolded by his father. When he sat down, he found that Miss Tang had not shown up at all, and he was even more displeased in his heart, and sat down awkwardly, with the hidden anger appearing on his face without any concealment.

  Mr. and Mrs. Ding's guests just thought it was an old friend's banquet today, and they didn't pay attention to the young man. Everyone was chatting and laughing, having a great time, but only Mr. and Mrs. Ding, the hosts, had their own concerns and were just barely responding. From time to time, when no one was paying attention, Old Man Ding would glare at his son fiercely.

  Just then, the little servant came up the stairs in a hurry, knocked gently on the door, tiptoed in and stood at the entrance with a smile: "Which of you gentlemen is Mr. Ding Er?"

  As he asked, his eyes scanned around and soon fixed on Ding Chengye. Among those present, except for Ding Chengye, the youngest was also in their forties. That young master should be him.

  As expected, Ding Chengye turned his head and asked in a bad temper: "What's the matter?"

  "Hey, young master, this is the thing you left at the pharmacy. My colleague has brought it to you." The shop assistant held out the package with both hands, bowed his waist and raised his arm, tiptoed forward like a flowing cloud, and placed the package respectfully on the seat. His hands withdrew, still in the posture of holding something, thinking to himself: "Look at this young master's bright and luxurious clothes, if he gives little reward, I'm afraid he won't be able to take it out either."

  "What did I forget at the pharmacy? When..." Ding Chengye looked down and saw the prescription on the medicine package, his face suddenly changed, and he slapped the little servant with a loud slap: "You scoundrel, where did you get this package from to humiliate your young master, you..."

  He was used to giving orders at home, and he still wanted to kick people when he lifted his leg. Suddenly, he remembered that many uncles and elders were present, and as a junior, he shouldn't be so unruly, so he endured the anger in his heart, but his face was still red with rage, panting heavily.

  The little servant said with a full stomach of grievances: "Young master, how can you say that? Why are you still hitting people? The shopkeeper explained clearly that you went to his store to buy this medicine and then remembered to go to the wine house for dinner. As a result, when you got on the carriage, you forgot the medicine and left it behind. The person had to send it over especially, is there anything wrong with that?"

  Ding Chengye could hold his breath, those elders might not have gone to see the medicine package, but who else could hold their breath after seeing these two prescriptions?

  The two of them were arguing, and several gentlemen took a peek at the medicine package. One label read "Linggui Zhanshi" and another one read "Liu'an Huaming". Those who understood showed a look of disgust and contempt, while those who didn't understand quietly asked each other, and when they looked back at Ding Chengye, their eyes also showed a strange expression.

  What's the point of talking about it, whoever gets this shameful disease will not admit it in public. Now that the pharmacy staff has sent the medicine with their names on it and everyone has seen it, he is guilty and counter-accuses, which is a normal reaction for anyone present.

  To say that he indeed arrived later than the seniors, and to say that the road was not smooth and delayed his journey, with what the little servant said about being in a hurry, paying for the silver and even forgetting to take the medicine, isn't it all nailed on the board?

  Li Yuchang didn't invite his niece, and he still had some guilt towards his old friend, but as soon as he saw the two medicines, a fire ignited in his heart.

  How can this be, so young and yet he's already taking 'Ling Gui Zhan Shi' - a potent aphrodisiac. This person must have been debilitated by wine and lust from an early age. If my niece were to marry him, she'd likely spend the rest of her life in widowhood. And on top of that, he has such a filthy disease. Ding Er looks like a decent human being, but isn't he just too unscrupulous?

  And Ding Tingxun, doesn't he even know what kind of person his own son is? After all these years of friendship, he still has the nerve to cheat me. If I really marry my niece into the Ding family, I'll be crying every day from now on. Will I still have the face to see people with the surname Tang?

  Li Yuchang's face turned red and then white, finally becoming iron-blue, his breathing also became heavy. Ding Tingxun also saw the words on the medicine package, he was a man who cared about his reputation, seeing his son being so reckless, making him lose face in front of everyone, his face suddenly turned red like chicken blood. Seeing the reactions of the old friends, Ding Tingxun was even more furious, his hands and feet became icy cold, he pointed at Ding Chengye and shouted: "You ungrateful son, you're really going to kill me!" He swung his palm to hit him.

  Ding Chengye wouldn't admit his mistake even if he was wrong, let alone take a slap from him. Since he was in the right, he dodged quickly and stood with his neck straight, saying: "This medicine wasn't bought by me, there's no evidence, how can Father hit people randomly?"

  "You dare to talk back!" Ding Tingxun's anger was burning, and he raised his hand to hit again. Li Yuchang suddenly said coldly from the side: "Brother Tingxun, if you want to discipline your son, it's better to go home and say it. In Baifeng Building, in front of many friends, isn't it a loss of face?"

  Ding Ting's face stiffened and he forced a smile: "Yu Chang, my younger brother..."

  Li Yuchang smiled coldly and said, "Brother Ding, thank you for the lavish banquet today. I still have some personal matters to attend to, it seems that Brother Ding also has some private affairs to take care of. Well then, I bid you farewell."

  "Yu Chang, younger brother, this is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding..."

  Li Yuchang turned and went downstairs without looking back, leaving the several gentlemen and scholars staring at each other in confusion. They all knew that Li Yuchang and Ding Tingyun were close friends, but now Ding's second son was acting recklessly and didn't know how to love himself - what kind of temper did he have? These people were all old slippery heads, and for the time being, they couldn't figure out what was going on, so they bid farewell one after another. Ding Tingyun watched as everyone left, his whole body shaking with anger. He let out a loud roar, overturning the table, then grabbed a stool and smashed it like Ding Chengye...

  "Master Ding, what are you doing? Has Chen somehow offended you?"

  A stool was smashed against the window frame, creating a large hole. The door burst open and a man rushed in, wearing silk shoes and socks, with a straight face and an air of annoyance. It turned out that the little waiter who had been waiting for a tip had been slapped in the face, and seeing them fighting in their own shop, he quickly went to fetch the owner.

  "Ah, Master Zeng... " Ding Tingxun saw that it was the owner of Baifeng Building, Zeng Fei, and hurriedly cupped his hands together, forcing a smile as he said: "I apologize, I apologize. This unworthy son of mine has been driven mad by anger and disturbed Master Zeng's business. Please don't take offense."

  Zeng Fei hummed and said in a sarcastic tone, "Master Ding, you're gracious enough to come to my Baifeng Tower for a banquet, which is an honor for me. However, it seems inappropriate for you to discipline your son here. If I were to bring my own son to the Ding Manor and scold him, beat him, and smash things, would that be considered teaching my son or making things difficult for Master Ding?"

  Ding Tingxun's face turned red and white, but he couldn't get angry. He took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and placed it on an upright chair, cupped his hands and said: "Ding is rude, this silver ingot is Ding's compensation, farewell!"

  Ding Tingxun glared at his son fiercely and walked out in big strides. Ding Chengye saw the eyes that were suppressing extreme anger and couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart: "This time, Father is really angry, he's still fuming now, if I go home, won't he break my legs?"

  Ding Chengye thought about it more and more, and he became increasingly afraid. He looked at the package that had been contaminated with wine, water, and dishes, and his teeth chattered loudly. He knew that since the little servant had said it so clearly, it was not a case of mistaken medicine, but someone had deliberately framed him. However, when he tried to figure out who the enemy was, he really couldn't think of anyone. There were many people he had offended in the past, but there weren't many who dared to openly challenge him. Not to mention others, the virtuous women he had seduced, many of whom relied on the Ding family for their livelihood, if they discovered that they had been cheated on and wore a green hat, it was highly likely that they would take revenge against him.

  Ding Chengye thought of all the possible families that might have a grudge against them, but he never thought of Ding Hao, who was called "Ah Dumb" by everyone in the mansion. For a moment, he couldn't think of a solution, and only then did he start to consider his current situation. Although he was usually the most favored by his father, today's incident had made his father lose face completely. Once he returned to the Ding Mansion, he would definitely be beaten severely, and there was no way to escape this fate. What could he do?

  After some thought, Ding Chengye had the idea of escaping: "Damn it, I'll go to Xiongzhou first to avoid the storm, and come back when the old man's anger has passed."

  Ding Tingxun's first wife and her family were killed by bandits during the war, but one of his brothers was studying at a school in another province and escaped. This uncle, Ding Chengye, is now serving as a judge in Xiongzhou, so Ding Chengye thought of going to his uncle's place to avoid trouble.

  Xue Liang sat on the carriage shaft outside, puzzled: "I said Ah Dai, what's going on? The old master is having a banquet inside, why did he leave in a huff?"

  Ding Hao said lazily: "I'm a dull person, how would I know the subtleties?"