Violence is only a last resort

  The Yang surname youth who had gone mad was slapped awake by this slap, his originally handsome face now swollen and covered in blood, staring blankly at the Peony Fairy with incomprehension in his eyes.

  "Do you think you've done a good job?" Peony Fairy's face was cold, her eyes icy as she stared at him: "Still not hurrying to apologize to Prince Wang!"

  "I won't!"

  "Aren't you going to apologize?"

  "It's not! I'm right!"

  "Alright, alright, alright!" Peony Fairy said three times in a row, her face revealing a sorrowful expression. "From now on, don't ever come to my place again, and I don't want to see you either. Just leave me now."

  She finished speaking, turned around and walked out of the room without looking back. As she passed by Zhen Ming's side, she gave him a cold glance, an extremely disgusted gaze, as if the person standing in front of her was a heinous murderer.

  That Prince Wang had already crawled up from the ground, shrinking and hiding behind Yu Hu's back, sticking out a battered face, crying and saying: "Yang Dang, you remember for me, today's hatred I will definitely repay!"

  After finishing speaking, he turned around and ran out of the room.

  Yang Zong's eyes were dazed, watching the peony fairy leave, standing still.

  ……

  The night is cool as water.

  In the middle of the night, Yang You walked silently in front, his face covered with scars, while Zhen Ming followed behind him, leading a white horse.

  Yang Zong didn't say a word all along the way and had lost his usual proud and arrogant young master demeanor, with a dejected look on his face.

  Until they left Hongyuan Yard, Peony Fairy did not appear again.

  When Miaoyu saw the two out of the Peony Pavilion's gate, Zhenzhu faintly heard Miaoyu say in a soft voice that was almost only audible to him: "Thank you, Brother Ningsheng."

  As expected, she still remembered him and even his name was crystal clear. This sweet "Nan Ku Ge Ge" made him feel great all the way.

  Yang Zang didn't go back, and he kept walking until he reached the dike by the Luoshui River in the south of the city before stopping.

  The moonlight cast a layer of shimmering silver light on the river, and with the gentle breeze blowing, the waves lightly lapped against the shore, making a soft murmuring sound.

  Zhen Ming sat with him in silence for a while, feeling a bit sleepy, and yawning said: "Let's go back today, I think that Frost sister is just temporarily angry, wait until tomorrow when her anger subsides, you can go back and apologize to her, it will be fine."

  Yang Dang shook his head, looking dejected: "It won't work, Frost sister has never been angry with me before, let alone hit me. This time she probably really won't care about me again."

  He turned around and looked at Zhen Mingshu, his eyes full of confusion: "Zhen Wei, did I really do something wrong this time? If I didn't care what he said about me, pretended not to hear it, and didn't fight with him, wouldn't today's incident have been avoided, and Sister Shuang wouldn't be angry?"

  "What do you think yourself?" Zhen Ming asked bitterly without answering.

  Yang Cong fell silent for a moment, then muttered: "At the moment I won against him, I was originally very happy. Later on, I thought that Frost sister has always disliked me quarreling with others, and this time even had a personal fight in front of her... No wonder she's so angry. If she gets sick from anger, I'll really hate myself to death... Zhen Huwei, if you were in my shoes today, what would you do?"

  Zhen Ming patted Yang Cong's shoulder and said with a smile: "A man should not regret what he has done, if he has made a mistake, he should make amends. Beating him up is not wrong, but you made a fatal mistake tonight, that is, being too easily provoked by the other party. You must know that when two opposing sides are facing each other, whoever loses their calm first will fall into a passive position. If it were me, I wouldn't take action when I'm angry. If I really had to take action, I would calm down first and choose a time when I have the upper hand, preferably in a public place with many people around, so that I can defeat my opponent in one move and make them not dare to challenge me again."

  Yang Cong lowered his head in a dejected manner, the usual arrogant look on his face gone: "It's no use, Wang Xuanyi won't let it go like this."

  "Zhen Ming asked bitterly: 'Do you know why he won't give up?'"

  "Why?" Yang Tong raised his head.

  "Because violence is always the last resort and a lose-lose method, it can't make the other side truly surrender. If you use your brain more often and defeat him in a way that's beyond his comprehension, he'll be intimidated by you because he can't see through you. Next time, he won't dare to mess with you easily. This way, you win over him, protect the woman you love, and maybe even earn praise from your sister-in-law instead of her anger."

  Yang Cong thought for a moment, shook his head and said dejectedly: "It won't work, Frost sister has always disliked me fighting with others. She once said that if I don't listen to her words and provoke the Wang family's people, no matter what the reason is, she will never care about me again."

  "This time it's Zhen Ming's turn to be puzzled: 'It's just a fight, isn't it? It can't be that serious, right?'"

  "Sister Frost said that she would rather not know me and did not want to see me being framed, ending up with a tragic fate of being torn apart."

  Yang Cong's face showed a worry that didn't match his age: "Actually, it's not Frost Sister's fault. When I was seven years old, I used a stone to hit Wang Xuanhe's older brother and cracked open his skull, causing big trouble and also implicating my sister Fulin. To atone for my sin, Fulin married into the Turkic tribe and has never returned in the five years since. If it weren't for me, Fulin wouldn't have married so far away and suffered bullying from those Turkic barbarians..."

  "Fulin sister and Shuang sister have always been very close, no wonder Shuang sister would be angry with me."

  "Oh, I see there's more to it than meets the eye."

  "Elder Sister Frost always warned me to be a humble and obedient person, to live this life peacefully and that's it. I also told myself not to conflict with the people of the Wang Manor, but when I heard Wang Xuan insult Elder Sister Frost, I couldn't control myself...Elder Sister Frost must be very disappointed in me now..."

  Yang Dang said, and his eyes welled up with tears.

  I didn't expect this guy to cry at the drop of a hat, just like a kid. I couldn't help but burst out laughing and patted him on the shoulder: "It's not that big of a deal, don't be such a girl, a real man doesn't shed tears even when he's bleeding. And you won the fight, you should be celebrating instead! Don't worry, I'll vouch for you, within three days your sister will send someone to look for you."

  Yang Zong heard this and wiped away a tear, turning his head to stare blankly at Zhen Mingxu, asking disbelievingly: "R-really?"

  "Do I look like the kind of person who would cheat on a friend? At most, I'll probably scold you later. As for whether she will forgive you in the end, it depends on whether you can seize the opportunity and win her over..."

  Yang Cong's gloom was suddenly swept away, and he happily asked: "How can I win her favor?"

  "For example, what does she like? Cater to her tastes and let her be unable to bear refusing you."

  Yang Cong lowered his head and thought for a moment, his expression changed, and he said with joy: "Right, Frost sister likes to eat sweets!"

  "Dessert?"

  Yang Cong suddenly became worried: "It's just that Frost sister has a very picky taste, she knows all the good food in Luoyang and has tried them all. I've never seen her eat the same snack more than twice, every time after tasting it once, she gets bored and won't eat it again."

  "So picky?"

  "Of course, being picky, Frost sister is a gourmet, even the imperial kitchen invites her to taste their dishes."

  Zhen Ming Suffering asked: "According to you, if you give her food she has never tasted before, maybe she will forgive you this time?"

  "It's not maybe, it's definitely going to forgive me!"

  Zhen Ming thought for a moment with his head bowed low, then lifted his head and said: "This I can think of a way to help you."

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