Ouyang Zishi tried several times to barge into the house, but each attempt was blocked by the sword-wielding maidservant, on his final try, he nearly tumbled to the ground.
This pushed Ouyang Zishi over the edge, especially since he’d downed some liquor in a fit of rage before coming, turning him into a full-on street-shouting shrew.
“Yan Lan, come out here! You don’t agree to our marriage—is it because that Zhu Ping’an has earned merit again and is about to get promoted?!”
“Yan Lan, tell me, are you still thinking about him?!”
“He peeped at you bathing, and he’s a married man, such a lecherous scoundrel, and you’re still pining for him?! You’d reject a dashing man like me because of him?! Are you worthy of your aunt and uncle?! Are you worthy of me?!”
Ouyang Zishi stood with one hand on his hip, hysterically yelling into the house, calling Yan Lan by name.
The maidservants outside tried to push him out of the courtyard, but Ouyang Zishi clung to a crabapple tree with both arms and legs, even the sword-wielding maid couldn’t pry him off quickly.
The more they tried to drive him away, the more frenzied he became, clinging to the tree and shouting wildly.
“Ouyang Zishi, have you lost your mind?! Look at yourself—what a disgusting sight!”
Yan Lan emerged from the house, accompanied by several maidservants and an older servant woman, glaring at Ouyang Zishi—who was clinging to the tree like a monkey and shrieking like a shrew—with a cold, expressionless rebuke.
“You find me disgusting?! But if it’s Zhu Ping’an, you’re all joy and fluttering hearts, aren’t you?!”
Ouyang Zishi, humiliated and furious, shook off the maidservants, slid down from the tree, and stormed toward Yan Lan, questioning her angrily.
“Nonsense! Ouyang Zishi, I warn you, don’t insult and slander me! I rejected your proposal simply because I don’t like you—it has nothing to do with Zhu Ping’an! If you keep defaming me, don’t blame me for getting nasty!”
Yan Lan’s disgust deepened.
“Hmph, nonsense?! I’m slandering you?! Nothing to do with Zhu Ping’an?! You’re really going out of your way to protect him! Let me tell you, Yan Lan, stop deluding yourself! I saw it with my own eyes—Zhu Ping’an being led into your courtyard by your maid for a secret meeting!”
Ouyang Zishi threw all dignity aside, his eyes red as he aired the jealousy festering in his heart.
Hearing this, Yan Lan seemed to recall something, what Ouyang Zishi referred to must’ve been that one time—when the top scholar of the imperial exams paraded through the streets on horseback, she’d realized the lecher who’d spied on her bathing was none other than that scholar, Zhu Ping’an, so she’d had her personal maid lure Zhu Ping’an, who was a guest at the Yan residence, to her courtyard for revenge, only to end up humiliated again instead.
“What, remembered it, haven’t you?! If you don’t want people to know, don’t do it—you think your filthy little secrets can stay hidden forever?!”
Seeing Yan Lan’s expression, Ouyang Zishi knew she’d recalled the incident and shouted in bitter indignation.
“Rubbish! That was me trying to teach Zhu Ping’an a lesson! Believe it or not, I don’t owe you an explanation, nor do I need to give you one!”
Yan Lan said coldly.
“Yan Lan! Even now, you’re still shielding Zhu Ping’an! You’re truly beyond hope!”
“Let me tell you, Zhu Ping’an is already married! His wife’s about to have a child! And here you are, still daydreaming!”
“I’m the only one who doesn’t care about your past, who’s willing to accept you! Don’t be so ungrateful!”
Ouyang Zishi grew even angrier at her words, feeling she was defending Zhu Ping’an, and snapped furiously.
“Hah, self-righteous! Hopeless!”
Yan Lan laughed in exasperation, looking at Ouyang Zishi with utter disdain, “Think what you want! In any case, there’s no chance between us! Now get out, you’re not welcome here, and from now on, don’t set foot in my courtyard again!”
“Yan Lan, you’re rejecting me just to be Zhu Ping’an’s mistress, aren’t you?!” Ouyang Zishi roared in rage.
Be Zhu Ping’an’s mistress?!
At those words, Yan Lan’s face turned green with fury, trembling with anger, she pointed at Ouyang Zishi and ordered the sword-wielding maid and the others, “I don’t want to see this dung-spouting idiot anymore! Throw him out!”
With Yan Lan’s command, the sword-wielding maid and the older servants immediately moved to drag Ouyang Zishi out.
Ouyang Zishi repeated his trick, clinging tightly to the crabapple tree with all four limbs.
“I’m not leaving, I won’t go, I have to make this clear to you, make you see reason!”
“Zhu Ping’an already has a family! His wife’s his childhood sweetheart, a noblewoman from a marquis’s house, she supported him when he was still a nobody, now that he’s made it, there’s no way he’d abandon her for someone else! Otherwise, the people’s scorn alone would drown him!”
“So if you’re with him, you’d only be a mistress! A mistress—are you willing?! Even if you are, would your aunt and uncle agree?! Your uncle’s the Grand Secretary, second only to the emperor, if you became Zhu Ping’an’s mistress, how could he hold his head up in court or beyond?! So, Yan Lan, give up on that dream!”
“Only I, Ouyang Zishi, am your best match! My looks far surpass Zhu Ping’an’s, my talents aren’t inferior either, I just haven’t had my chance to shine! My family background is something Zhu Ping’an could never catch up to!”
“And I don’t even mind your past! As long as you forget that bastard Zhu Ping’an from now on!”
Ouyang Zishi shouted while clutching the tree.
“Throw him out, throw him out!” Yan Lan, covering her ears in fury, stomped her feet repeatedly.
The sword-wielding maid stopped holding back, with a flick of her hand, the scabbard shot from her waist like a sword, striking Ouyang Zishi’s shoulder and knocking him off the tree with a yelp as he hit the ground.
Then, the older servants rushed forward, half-dragging, half-pulling him toward the courtyard’s exit.
Ouyang Zishi dug his feet into the ground, but it was no use, the combined strength of the servants far outmatched his.
Thus, like a pitiful piglet being dragged by its ears, Ouyang Zishi’s feet carved two parallel lines in the dirt.
“Yan Lan, let me tell you, don’t think Zhu Ping’an’s on top just because he’s earned more merit! I’m telling you, his days are numbered, your brother and the others are already plotting against him!”
“Just wait, Zhu Ping’an’s about to face a big fall!”
“His end is near!”
“There’s still time to regret it, I, Ouyang Zishi, will still take you in, Yan Lan, think it over!”
Ouyang Zishi’s hysterical voice echoed as he was dragged away.
“Go to hell!”
Yan Lan turned around, seething.
