In the Northern Song Dynasty, he started by marrying the eighth daughter of the Su family.

"What a shameless rascal! He's still so shameless!"

Su Zhen's angry shout came from the courtyard, startling Yue Ping and the maids. Then they saw Han Zhi scrambling out of the room, rubbing his shoulder blade.

Yueping was a little puzzled and subconsciously looked towards the doorway. What she saw there startled her—

At this moment, Su Zhen stood at the door, holding a thin bamboo stick in his hand, which he didn't know where he had broken off from. When Han Zhi saw that the other party was holding this bamboo stick, he was so frightened that he immediately hid behind Yue Ping.

Soon, Tian Kuang also appeared from the room and quickly stopped her, comforting her, "Good niece-in-law, good niece-in-law, don't be angry. This was sent by them themselves, it has nothing to do with you, my dear nephew."

"Uncle, don't favor him. The most important thing for the gentleman now is to study and pass the imperial examinations. How can he engage in such dissolute behavior with women?" Su Zhen said, about to step forward and teach Han Zhi a lesson.

Han Zhi quickly said, "I was wrong, Eighth Sister, please don't be angry, please don't be angry..."

"I was so attentive yesterday, but I'm afraid you already knew about it and wanted to bewitch me so you could go find that courtesan?" Su Zhen said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I didn't..." Han Zhi shrank behind Yue Ping, looking timid and hesitant.

"It's just a business discussion. Uncle doesn't like those brothels either. It's just that those county officials like them," Tian Kuang said.

"They're doing this because they want to get to know you, my nephew. You're bound to pass the imperial examinations someday and enter officialdom. It would be good to know more people, wouldn't it?"

“No! My mother ordered me to supervise my husband all the way. Although I trust those county officials, with my husband’s temperament, I’m afraid he’ll be misled and ruin his studies, earning a reputation as a spoiled brat.”

Su Zhen's attitude was very clear, and Han Zhi was cautious at this moment, not daring to meet her gaze.

"No, no, Uncle will keep an eye on him. Good niece-in-law, there's no need to be like this." Tian Kuang still wanted to persuade him, after all, it was an opportunity to broaden his network, and it wouldn't do Han Zhi any harm.

"No!"

Su Zhen pursed her lips, her hands trembling slightly. She stared intently at Han Zhi, but the more she looked, the more aggrieved she seemed. She finally threw down the bamboo stick and turned to go back into her room.

Once inside the room, she didn't stop there; she even reached out and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

Tian Kuang and Yue Ping exchanged a glance, the latter keeping her head down, while Han Zhi also sighed. Tian Kuang stepped forward and asked:

"Good nephew, this..."

Han Zhi shook his head, looking troubled, and said, "I'm sorry, Uncle, you can see the situation for yourself. This time, I really can't go."

As he spoke, he reached out and touched his shoulder blade, only to gasp in pain at the touch.

Tian Kuang sighed again, and after thinking it over repeatedly, he said, "Alright, alright, if we don't want to go, then we don't want to go. I'll go alone today. You stay at home and take good care of Madam Su."

Han Zhi nodded, and after watching Tian Kuang leave, he walked heavily to the door, opened his own door, went inside, and finally closed the door.

As soon as he entered the room, Han Zhi let out a long breath, then changed his expression and came to the bedside with a happy look on his face.

Su Zhen was still wiping her eyes when she saw Han Zhi approaching. She asked in a low voice, "Has Uncle left?"

"I'm leaving." Han Zhi nodded.

"I have to say, Ba Niang's performance was quite realistic," Han Zhi said with a grin. "I didn't expect that even Uncle and Yue Ping couldn't tell the difference between real and fake."

Su Zhen lightly punched him and said, "It's all because of you, my lord. You insisted on showing off yesterday, and now you've been targeted."

"Don't I still have Ba Niang? Without Ba Niang, I'd definitely be fish on someone else's chopping board." Han Zhi sat on the bed, took Su Zhen's hand, and smacked his lips at it.

......

It was all an act, all because of Han Zhina's performance yesterday.

Because Han Zhi solved the strange case with just a few words, Tian Kuang admired him and decided to invite several county officials from Yizhou to have a proper chat with Han Zhi.

However, for some reason, and whether it was intentional on Tian Kuang's part, the place they chose turned out to be a brothel called "Chunhonglou." When Yueping relayed this news this morning, Han Zhi's first thought was not to go.

As his wife, Su Zhen was naturally the first to object. However, the two of them were worried that if they didn't have a proper excuse and simply didn't attend the banquet, it would be somewhat disrespectful.

Su Zhen originally intended to directly approach Tian Kuang to decline the offer. However, Han Zhi stopped her. She was initially puzzled, but quickly remembered one of Han Zhi's "characteristics"—

He's a complete goblin unless it's his own business.

The more naive and foolish someone is in front of you, the more shrewd they are in turn.

“Think about it, Eighth Sister. If you go to see your uncle like this and then suddenly stop without any reason, you might offend these county officials.”

"But if I'm forced not to go, then even without a reason, this counts as a reason."

These were Han Zhi's original words at the time.

Immediately afterwards, Han Zhi and Su Zhen hid in the room and secretly plotted this scene. From the moment Tian Kuang arrived, the couple began their performance, arguing right in front of Tian Kuang.

The argument escalated, and Su Zhen simply stood up, went to a window, and broke off a thin bamboo strip from the outside. He made a move to strike Han Zhi, but the latter neither dodged nor flinched, taking a solid blow from Su Zhen.

Su Zhen was momentarily stunned when she saw that Han Zhi didn't dodge, but she had to keep up the act. It was only a brief moment of distraction before she raised the bamboo stick again, intending to strike Han Zhi.

Han Zhi then began to dodge, muttering strange words as he did so. If he hadn't tripped, he wouldn't have been in such a sorry state, literally tumbling and crawling on the ground as he ran out.

What followed was the scene that left Yueping utterly astonished.

Seeing that Han Zhi seemed unharmed, Su Zhen reached out her small hand to touch his shoulder, which made Han Zhi wince in pain. Su Zhen quickly withdrew her hand, her eyes full of concern, and asked:

"Does it hurt, my lord?"

"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. Eighth Sister hit very lightly." Han Zhi still had a big smile on his face.

His carefree attitude broke Su Zhen's heart. Without a word, she reached out and skillfully tore open Han Zhi's clothes, revealing a thin, long bloodstain.

"My lord is truly..."

"It's nothing, it's just a superficial wound, it really doesn't hurt."

Su Zhen was truly heartbroken and cried; tears welled up in her eyes. She then stood up and said:

"My lord, you mustn't move. I'll go...go find some medicine."

"If you move, I'll hit you again!"