"Master Qi, please halt; Yuanfei has been waiting here for a long time, hoping for a chance to meet you." Zou Yuzhen stood in the middle of the road, bowing deeply towards Master Qi’s carriage. Zou Yuwan, accompanied by Hua’er, stood behind Zou Yuzhen and bowed deeply towards Master Qi’s carriage, saying, "The junior pays respect to Master Qi." Initially, Master Qi had no intention of dealing with the Zou siblings, but seeing their oblivious persistence, he lifted the carriage curtain and asked with a cold laugh, "Zou Yuzhen, what is it that you want by stopping me?" On seeing that Master Qi was responding, Zou Yuzhen quickly approached Qi’s carriage, bowing respectfully again, "Master, please forgive me. Yuanfei is here specifically to apologize. The previous troubles were Yuanfei’s and our maternal family’s fault, which caused inconvenience for you. Please be assured, Yuanfei will do everything in Zou’s power to compensate you and ensure you receive the spices you desire." "Everything in Zou’s power?" Master Qi laughed, scrutinizing Zou Yuzhen, "Who do you think you are? Merely a bastard born of a concubine, yet you dare assume Zou family as your own possession. Your legitimate brothers already have children of their own; now your eldest nephew is discussing marriage. Do you really think you can take charge of the Zou family in the future?" "Zou Yuzhen, people should know their place. Being a bastard with no official position, coming from a maternal family that can’t even stand straight, what virtues or abilities do you have to compete with your legitimate brothers over Zou’s assets?" "In this rural place, perhaps no one cares. Had you been born in the Prefecture, daring to openly contend with the legitimate descendants over assets, you’d be quickly dealt with by the family head!" Speaking of which, Mrs. Zou is also ineffectual, having contended with Concubine Lu for so many years without defeating her, and even allowed the Zou siblings to grow up safely and dispute over the legitimate children’s inheritance. If such a thing happened in our Qi family, let alone a concubine, even bastard sons and daughters would be privately dealt with by the family. Zou Yuzhen, never having faced such humiliation, was so angry that his face turned iron blue as he clenched his fists tightly. Yet, he did not dare to retort to Master Qi, lowering his head and saying, "Master, you are right to reprimand. Yuanfei has indeed lost his manners. Rest assured, Yuanfei will keep to his place, strictly adhere to the rules of legitimate and illegitimate descendants, scold the concubine, ensuring she sets aside her undue aspirations and dutifully serves the legitimate mother." Master Qi said, "That is your affair and has nothing to do with me. I stopped here only to warn you not to trouble Gu’s Workshop again. If you dare to act against those families again, Qi family will not spare you!" Zou Yuzhen was shocked; it seemed Master Qi had completely sided with the Gu Family! Suppressing his shock, he quickly denied, "Master, you are mistaken, Yuanfei has no intention of harming Gu’s Workshop." "Really?" Master Qi did not believe him, looking at Zou Yuzhen with a cold laugh, "You should not be called Yuanfei; you are not worthy of these characters." After saying this, he looked behind Zou Yuzhen and seeing Zou Yuwan with tears in her eyes, pitifully looking at him, he disdainfully laughed coldly, "Do you know, a true noble lady would never look at someone that way, only a petty woman relying on beauty to retain a man would make such an expression. And what Qi family desires is a true noble lady." His words were extremely harsh, causing Zou Yuwan’s tears to flow. Master Qi, no longer wanting to see the Zou siblings, let down the curtain. San Xiong drove the carriage forward; if the Zou siblings hadn’t hurriedly moved aside, they would have been hit by the carriage. Zou Yuwan, scolded and frightened, was unwilling to stay any longer. She quickly climbed into her family’s mule cart, sobbing inside, bitterly thinking, "What kind of mess is this? Living for fifteen years, when have I ever been so humiliated?!" Zou Yuzhen watched Qi’s carriage disappear, his eyes filled with a brewing storm... Well played, Qi Chengfang! Fine, remember this, today’s humiliation, I will repay a hundredfold! With a dark expression, Zou Yuzhen boarded the mule cart. Once they were settled, the servant drove the mule cart back to the Lu Family. Arriving at the guesthouse study, Zou Yuwan could no longer hold back and tearfully asked Zou Yuzhen, "Third brother, what should we do? Master Qi has clearly abandoned us siblings. Without his help, how can we enter the Prefecture’s bureaucratic circles, how can we meet the nobles and officials of the Prefecture? Without the support of the Prefecture’s noble families and officials, how can we compete with the eldest for the inheritance?" "And Master Qi... how could he say such things? My behavior and manners were taught by a nanny hired by concubine from among the officials, how could I not be fit for noble gatherings? He has never seen crude farmer girls like Gu Yumei and Lu Tianya, if he had, he certainly wouldn’t..." "Shut up!" Zou Yuzhen, annoyed with her, raised his hand and struck her across the face, dazing Zou Yuwan. "Third, third brother... wuwuwu... you hit me?" Zou Yuwan recalled a time when the concubine’s nanny, Mrs. Han, had secretly told the concubine that the maid serving by third brother was injured again. The concubine seemed very anxious and told Mrs. Han to secretly comfort the girl, and once her injuries healed, to sell her off far away, not to keep her in the house, lest the maid speaks out of turn. At that time, she heard this and didn’t take it seriously, thinking it was just a maid getting hit by third brother, why should the concubine be so anxious? Now, looking back, she felt a chill through her body. Third brother’s penchant for hitting others wasn’t just once or twice before; previously it targeted maids, now it was her turn. Could it be... Mrs. Han was right, third brother is sick, that’s why he behaves this way with hitting people? Zou Yuzhen, with eyes cold as ice, stared at Zou Yuwan and said, "The Prefecture is not only home to the Qi family. If we can’t curry favor with Master Qi, we can look to curry favor with other noble families, or even Lord Magistrate. Master Qi is simply a Scholar with a brother who is a Capital Official, can he truly outweigh Lord Magistrate?" Though he said these words, Zou Yuzhen knew that for him, a bastard son of a County Magistrate, currying favor with the noble families and officials of the Prefecture was a daunting task. And the Qi family’s influence in the Prefecture should not be underestimated; just one bad word from Qi Chengfang, and he could forget about finding a new backer in the Prefecture. Now, he felt trapped in a dead end. And all of this was caused by the families of Qin, Gu, and Luotian. He would not let them off; he was determined to destroy their families to vent his full frustration. Zou Yuwan, still fearful of Zou Yuzhen, felt a spark of hope hearing this and bravely spoke to Zou Yuzhen, "Third brother is truly wise, we don’t necessarily have to rely on the Qi Family, leaning on Lord Magistrate is even better." "How shall we curry favor with Lord Magistrate?" Upon hearing this, Zou Yuzhen looked Zou Yuwan up and down and smiled, "Men, after all, only want a few things." Power, silver, beauties. "With third brother here, you don’t need to worry about these; just be obedient, and third brother guarantees that you can marry into the Prefecture and live the lifestyle of a noble family." Zou Yuzhen already had a plan but chose not to disclose it to Zou Yuwan, simply telling her, "Hurry back and pack, we are returning to the county soon."