Zhang Bo, commanded by the House Master, dismounted the horse carriage, about to step forward to inquire, but the grand entrance of the restaurant suddenly swung open. A man clad in a red cocoon silk gown stormed out, took a few steps and ended up in front of the woman. He raised his foot and kicked her viciously, sending her flying a great distance.
With a miserable shriek, the woman fell haphazardly on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, and couldn’t get back up.
The man didn’t stop there. He took a few steps further, grabbed the woman’s hair, and dragged her up from the ground; pain shot through her so intense that she couldn’t help but scream in agony.
Cai Wei furrowed her brow. The worst kind of man she despised in her life was one who hit women. Now that she had encountered such a rotten man, she wouldn’t let him off easily.
At this time, the man who had been hitting the woman had started to curse in a fierce, angry tone, "Damn woman, you have received the divorce document, yet you still don’t leave. Instead, you keep wailing in front of my family home. Do you insist on harming my precious son before you’ll stop?"
The woman, protecting her head, cried out, "Heavens above, I have not hurt anyone. It is that whore Bai Fengdan who has framed me!"
The man seethed in rage, "You wretch, even at this point, you still dare deny it. Is your nerve as tough as your hide?"
After finishing his rant, he swung a slap. That slap landed hard on the woman’s face, turning her head to the side, her cheek quickly swelling up, and blood was gushing from her mouth and nose.
Upon seeing this, Mu Zhongqing turned to Lady Du and said, "Lady Mei, please stay quietly in the carriage. I will go to take a look and will be back shortly."
Cai Wei stood up: "I will go with you."
Before she could take a step, her mother grabbed her.
"These are matters between a husband and wife. Why should a young girl like you interfere? Stay quietly in the carriage. Your father will handle the situation outside."
Cai Wei helplessly said: "Mother, have you forgotten that I know kungfu? If that man were to do something to father, I could be of help!"
After a moment of hesitation, Lady Du said: "Ok, but be careful and do not get into a fight with them."
Cai Wei followed her father down from the carriage and saw a 12 or 13-year-old girl run out in a daze from the main entrance, followed by a 7 or 8-year-old little girl. The two girls stumbled over to the man, fell on their knees with a ’splash’, and cried out in a fluster: "Father, please stop beating mother."
The man squinted his eyes and yelled: "You two unfilial beasts, which one of you calls her mother? This damned woman almost killed your little brother. If you dare to call her mother again, you can stop recognizing me as your father. Get lost with her."
The older girl crawled over, held the woman on the ground in her arms, and cried loudly: "Mother, since father doesn’t want you anymore, I don’t want to stay in this home either. I will go with you, even if we have to beg, I have to be with you."
The younger one also cried out: "I will go with mother too, whether in life or death, I must stay with her!"
The mother and her two daughters wept miserably together.
The man flew into a great rage, rolled up his sleeves, and cursed the woman: "Damned woman, my perfectly good daughters, you’ve taught them to be unfilial, even cruel. Not only have they lost their manners, but it seems you’ve decided to die by my hand."
After saying that, he lifted his foot, about to kick again.
Seeing this, the two young daughters rolled and crawled, each hugging one of the man’s legs, crying and pleading for mercy.
However, against the man’s brute force, these two frail girls were quickly thrown off after a couple of tosses. They were left bruised and swollen, rolling to one side.
The passing pedestrians watched from a distance; even though they despised the man’s actions, they dared not intervene because of his fierce appearance and rough demeanor.
Once the man shook off his daughters, he took large strides towards the woman again, about to beat her. The woman had already had a few of her ribs broken from his kicks. Because of the pain, she couldn’t get up. Seeing him coming to hit her again, she hugged her head in fear, curled up into a ball, shuddering violently, looking pitiful.
Seeing this scene, Mu Zhongqing couldn’t help but shout, "Stop!"
The man’s hefty palm was halfway through another swing when he suddenly heard the rebuke. He was taken aback and stopped his hand mid-air, turning his head to look over.
Mu Zhongqing stepped forward, his voice thunderous: "Beating your lawful wife and abusing your daughters in public. Even animals wouldn’t stoop to such behavior, yet you do so without remorse. Are you even human?"
The insulted man became furious and shouted, "You son of a turtle, who the hell are you to meddle in my family affairs? Are you siding with this witch because you’re sleeping with her, using her as your back?"
After his rant, without waiting for Mu Zhongqing to respond, the man swung a punch towards Mu Zhongqing’s face.
Lady Du, witnessing this from the carriage, cried out in alarm, her heart jumping into her throat.
As a Scholar, her husband Mu Zhongqing was naturally thin and had been severely ill not long ago. How could he withstand a punch from this robust man?
Mu Zhongqing also thought he was surely going to take the punch. The man came on so quickly that his fist created a wind current as it whizzed towards him. The man’s stance was such that it looked like he wanted to flatten Mu Zhongqing, and all the onlookers thought the thin man would undoubtedly be beaten and involuntarily broke out in a nervous sweat for him.
But the punch abruptly stopped a mere centimeter from Mu Zhongqing’s cheek. No one could perceive how the maiden, who held the man’s wrist tightly, had gotten there. But somehow, she had appeared in an instant, precisely at the moment the man’s fist descended, and held the man’s robust wrist firmly. Despite his flailing, the man couldn’t get free.
"Little bitch, let go of me quickly, are you so taken by me that you want to be my concubine?"
The man strained, his face turning red as his neck bulged, he cursed and pitted his strength against Cai Wei’s grip.
"Humph!" Cai Wei sneered coldly, her eyes suddenly filled with a murderous look.
After the sneer, there was a sudden "crack," and the man’s elbow suddenly folded outward, his whole arm adopting a bizarre posture.
"Ah! My arm, my arm...." The man kneeled on the ground, shrieking in agony, almost as if he was going to roll around on the ground.
"You asked for this, so I’m merely obliging you."
Cai Wei’s voice was icy. It held a coldness that gave one chills...
On the other hand, Mu Zhongqing, who was staring dumbly at everything unfolding before his eyes, was more than shocked; he was completely dumbfounded.