Chapter 129: Hitting Where It Hurts

"Hahaha..."

Suddenly, an irrepressible burst of laughter erupted from not far away. Cao Jinhua looked up and spotted a young dandy sitting in a nearby restaurant, laughing heartily as if mocking her.

"How detestable!"

Unable to stand the ridicule, Cao Jinhua abandoned all thoughts of her horse. With a sharp twist of her body, she marched straight toward the young man. Concerned that she might get into trouble, Shen Shi followed close behind.

"Well, well! You dare to mock me?" Cao Jinhua stormed up to the balcony, pointing a finger at the dandy, her manner overbearing.

"No, no, how could I dare? Come, Brother Cao, you must be hungry. Have a bite." The man was not intimidated by Cao Jinhua; instead, he invited her to join him for a meal.

Surveying the dishes on the table—poached fish, a platter of vegetables, tofu, and a bowl of soup—Cao Jinhua said with disdain, "For a prince, you certainly eat meagerly."

As the saying goes, when an enemy suffers, one feels joy. Cao Jinhua grabbed Shen Shi and began to expose the man's shortcomings: "Let me tell you..."

The dandy before them was also a member of the imperial clan, Zhao Zongjing, the son of the Prince of Beihai, Zhao Yunpi. In the parlance of later ages, this Zhao Zongjing was a hopeless romantic.

Like most scions of the imperial house, this young prince had married early, but the wife chosen for him by his family was not to his liking—dull and devoid of charm. Possessing a youthful spirit, Zhao Zongjing had fallen for a young performer. After making inquiries, he learned that the girl was still in training and had not yet made her public debut.

Zhao Zongjing spent a fortune to redeem her and took her in as a concubine. Such things were not uncommon, and usually, everyone simply turned a blind eye. However, what happened next nearly caused Zhao Yunpi to die of rage.

Zhao Zongjing and the woman were perfectly compatible, as inseparable as glue and lacquer. After several years, when Zhao Zongjing’s primary wife died of an illness, the young prince decided to elevate his concubine to the status of his official wife. But one must not forget her background—how could she possibly serve as the official wife of a prince?

Yet, Zhao Zongjing was a stubborn man. On a whim, he sent the woman out of the estate, fabricated a background for her as a woman of respectable birth, and then remarried her.

Zhao Zongjing thought his plan was seamless, but with so many eyes watching in the capital, it was soon exposed. The incident became common knowledge, and the Imperial Clan Court could not sit idly by. They stripped Zhao Zongjing of his titles and ordered him to confine himself at home to reflect on his actions. In a fit of fury, Zhao Yunpi kicked him out of the family estate entirely.

This had all happened only two or three months ago, and the scandal was still fresh. Cao Jinhua and her peers had spent no small amount of time gossiping about it. After all, in later times, this might be seen as romantic devotion, but in this era, it was considered nothing short of outrageous, a violation of rites and laws.

As Cao Jinhua laughed, Zhao Zongjing looked mortified. As for Shen Shi... was there anything truly shocking about this? Not really.

"Why aren't you laughing?" Cao Jinhua asked, finding it strange that Shen Shi remained stoic.

"Why should I laugh? Even Confucius said that food and sex are human nature. Brother Zhao loves someone and wants to give her the best; there is nothing laughable about that," Shen Shi replied.

"But it goes against the rites and laws," Cao Jinhua countered.

"Exactly! If it were in accordance with the rites, no one would be talking about it," said Shen Shi.

"Uh—can one even think like that?" Cao Jinhua was stunned. This was quite different from everything she had been taught since childhood.

"How should I address you, Brother? You are truly a kindred spirit," Zhao Zongjing said, overjoyed, for this was the first time anyone had validated him.

"My name is Shen Shi. And furthermore, I am merely discussing the matter; I have not stated my position."

Shen Shi knew what he was thinking, but he had not taken a side. After all, in such matters, both sides have their own logic; it all depends on the perspective. From Zhao Zongjing's perspective, it was "love"—true love. From his father's perspective, however, it was different. His father was already a prince, and while his reputation was decent, it was only decent. With a son acting so recklessly and disregarding the established order, would he ever be able to inherit his title? That was a concern for any father. One should never assume the Imperial Clan Court was a toothless office; if someone was truly too unconventional, they would not hesitate to strip away titles.

"Understood, understood."

Zhao Zongjing did not overthink it. He sized up Shen Shi and noted his official robes. He believed he understood. Who created these moral teachings? Plainly put, it was the literati—the civil officials. Seeing Shen Shi dressed as an official, he felt it was all clear. In his view, Shen Shi approved of him, but his status simply prevented him from saying so openly.

"Come, let us leave this place. I shall take you both somewhere interesting."

Zhao Zongjing was delighted to have found someone who validated him, especially a fellow official. As the saying goes, when drinking with a kindred spirit, a thousand cups are not enough. The food here was indeed mediocre. Of course, it was impossible for a restaurant located right at the gate of a government office to have a lavish menu. It wasn't that they couldn't make fine food, but that they shouldn't. If one truly wanted to eat well, one had to go far from the government offices.

"Oh? And you know of a good place?" Cao Jinhua couldn't help but offer another sarcastic remark.

It was a habit forged by the era, not necessarily something she truly believed in her heart. Honestly, she would have preferred that their social statuses did not align, so that she could... looking at Shen Shi, her heart fluttered and pounded.

She was shy. And when she was shy, she didn't know how to act, so she took it out on Zhao Zongjing. It was unintentional, just a way to find a topic of conversation.

Of course, for such an outing, it was best if Shen Shi did not wear his official robes. He returned home to change, only to find his family in the middle of a meeting.

Well... perhaps "meeting" was the right word. In any case, they were discussing serious matters. Their clan had arrived in the capital, and after the pleasantries of reunion, it was time for family business: Should they stay, or should they leave? Should the family develop in the capital? And so on.

These were major matters, serious matters, because they concerned everyone, Shen Shi included.

The capital was important to others, but to Shen Shi, it was nothing special. The so-called prosperity was only on par with a county-level city of later times. For a modern person, this level of prosperity held little appeal. There was not much difference between the capital and Jinhua.

As for the argument that being under the Emperor's nose offered more opportunities for advancement... the Shen family didn't necessarily need that. As long as they managed the horse farm well and remained a supplier of warhorses, the Shen family would be secure—unless the imperial court decided it no longer needed horses. Grasping that point firmly was more important than trying to stand out before the Emperor.

Of course, this was just Shen Shi's view. If the family wanted to stay, he would not object. Just like in later times, many people yearned for big cities. It was their pursuit, and there was nothing inherently wrong with that.