Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Xia Yu stood on the second-floor railing and addressed the people below. Her domineering statement instantly caused a stir among everyone, and the diners at each table whispered among themselves about who the woman standing up there was.

"Hey, did you hear that? She just said 'This Empress,' who is she?" a diner whispered to his friend at the table.

"Nonsense, of course I heard her. The problem is, I don't know who she is! I've never seen her before. Could she be exaggerating? The food at this Fine Food Pavilion isn't cheap!"

"It must be some princess, otherwise she wouldn't dare to call herself 'this palace'? But there are only a few princesses who have opened their own residences outside these days, and I haven't heard of any of them knowing kung fu." As he spoke, the man frowned and pondered, feeling as if he had missed something.

"Oh well, since she said she'd put it on the tab, let's order a few more of her signature dishes," one of them said.

"Brother Kong, there's still so much food on the table. If we order any more, we won't be able to finish it!"

"Shh, keep your voice down. If you can't finish, just pack it up and take it home. Anyway, someone else is paying, it would be foolish not to order!" As he spoke, he told the waiter to order a few more dishes.

Xia Yu ignored the murmurs below. She looked at the spoiled brat who was surrounded by people who were concerned for him. He was still lying on the table, groaning and crying. The people around him didn't know where he was injured and didn't dare to move him, so they just left him lying on the table, which was littered with cups and plates.

"Princess, two servants ran away in the chaos, probably to get reinforcements. Should we bring them back?" Da Niu whispered behind Xia Yu.

Xia Yu also noticed the two servants who had run out earlier. When she heard Da Niu ask this question, she just shook her head slightly. She wanted to see who they could bring back.

Zhenxiu Pavilion was Zhang Youtie's first business in the capital, so the manager naturally knew Xia Yu's identity. He listened to the whispers in the shop but didn't say anything. He wanted to see how those people would react after learning their master's identity.

"You little wench, do you even know who he is? How dare you hit him so hard? Don't you dare leave! Wait until the Jiang family arrives, then we'll see if you still dare to be so arrogant!" Seeing that Jiang Wan-ku seemed genuinely injured and unable to get up from the table, the other young masters who had come with him, worried about being implicated, didn't even notice Xia Yu's earlier words and started pointing at her, hurling threats. They were afraid that if Xia Yu left, the Jiang family would arrive and, unable to find the culprit, would transfer their anger onto them.

"I'm not leaving. I'll wait here and see which member of the Jiang family comes to take their dog," Xia Yu said sarcastically.

Since arriving in the capital, she has always maintained a low profile and never used her power to intimidate others. While her willingness to keep a low profile is her own business, others cannot arbitrarily bully her simply because she is. In the past, she might have let Jiang the纨绔 (a spoiled, dissolute young man) get away with just a little humiliation, but now that the marriage alliance between the Jiang and Shen families has crumbled, Jiang the纨绔 dared to publicly insult her and Madam Shen at this critical juncture. If she didn't teach him a lesson, the Jiang family would truly believe that the young emperor and the Shen family were afraid of them.

"Ah..." Suddenly, a gasp rang out from a corner on the first floor. Everyone looked in that direction and saw two men in their late twenties sitting at a table. The gasp came from the man who had covered his mouth. Seeing everyone looking at him, the man blushed slightly, lowered his head, and didn't say a word.

"Hey, what are you doing?" The man sitting opposite him nudged his foot under the table and asked him quietly after everyone had looked away.

The man first looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before he whispered...

"I know who that woman is now?"

"Who is it?" the other person asked in a low voice as they leaned closer.

"It's the Eldest Princess," he said, then, seeing the other person's immediate lack of response, explained somewhat impatiently, "Princess Wenfu, the Guardian Princess."

"..." After saying that, he nodded firmly under the increasingly wide eyes of the other person.

The man gasped. He had just thought it over carefully in his mind, and it seemed that only the eldest princess could call herself "this palace" and know martial arts.

He turned and glanced at the group of spoiled young masters still making a ruckus, a gloating expression on his face. Everyone in the capital knew that Jiang the纨绔 (playboy/spoiled brat); he was always the one bullying others, and today he'd finally met his match. The two exchanged a knowing look and slowly resumed eating the food and wine on the table. They were determined to watch the show unfold.

I was initially worried that the woman might be taken advantage of, because even if she was a princess, now that the old emperor was dead and his brother, whom she had never met, had ascended the throne, a princess might not have the same influence with the emperor as the Jiang family. But Princess Wenfu, the Grand Princess of the State, was different. She had escorted the emperor to the capital to ascend the throne and had saved him from danger countless times. Not long ago, she had personally gone to Jialing Pass to defeat the rebel king and reclaim the lost city. Furthermore, she had a brotherly bond with the emperor, and with her merits in supporting the emperor's ascension and her military achievements, she was arguably the most sought-after person in the capital right now. Since it was her, the one who would be unlucky today was that纨绔 (a spoiled, dissolute young man).

The servants who went out to find people didn't keep Xia Yu and the others waiting for long. In less than a quarter of an hour, the two servants led a group of soldiers dressed as city guards into the Zhenxiu Pavilion.

The leader saw the man surrounded by the crowd, groaning in pain, and wanted to kick him again at his pathetic state. But then he remembered that the man was his cousin, and even if he was a disappointment, he couldn't tolerate being bullied. Besides, he had heard from the messenger that the other party had insulted the Jiang family first, and his cousin had retorted in anger, only to be kicked off the building instead of apologizing. Although his cousin was sometimes disappointing, he felt his brother had done nothing wrong this time.

"Have you called a doctor yet?" Jiang Tingzhong asked the other servants.

"Reporting to Master, we have already sent someone to invite him." The servant replied tremblingly. The family was most afraid of this stern and unsmiling master. How did they manage to invite him? Thinking this, the person who answered also took the opportunity to glare at the two servants who had just gone to move the man.

"Hmm, where's the woman who hit someone?" Jiang Tingzhong looked around. Many people were watching them, but there were no women among them.

"Yes, sir, it's in the private room upstairs."

Jiang Tingzhong looked in the direction the servant was pointing and saw two maids dressed as female servants standing at the door of the private room, looking at them.

Seeing the other person's appearance, Jiang Tingzhong felt a sense of unease.

"Where have I seen these two girls before?" Just as I was thinking this, I heard Jiang Ting'an crying behind me.

"Big brother, you have to avenge me! That brat was cursing our family just now, and I only said a couple of words before she kicked me off the building. I feel like my bones are broken. Big brother, you..."

"Shut up!" Jiang Tingzhong hissed angrily upon hearing his words.

"You're a man, and all you do is eat, drink, and have fun, chasing cocks and dogs. You're unambitious and ignorant. Now that you've been kicked away by a woman, instead of reflecting on your actions, you have the nerve to go around bragging. You better watch your skin first. I'll clean up this mess first before we talk about you." With that, he turned and headed upstairs.

Hearing his elder brother's words, Jiang the纨绔 shrank back in fear. Taking advantage of his brother going upstairs, he pinched the arms of the two servants who had brought reinforcements hard several times. The two poor servants were almost in tears from the pinching, but dared not utter a sound. They didn't want to invite their master over, did they? But fate is fickle; they were running down the street when they happened to run into the master riding towards them on horseback. Seeing their frantic appearance, the master immediately asked…

"What trouble has Ting'an gotten into this time?"

They had no choice but to tell the old man what had happened, and of course, their words were completely distorted from the truth. In their version of events, the third young master had done nothing wrong; he had only gotten into the conflict for the sake of family honor.