Wang Daxia had been assigned a surveillance mission and hadn't slept for a full day and night. By evening, he finally managed to map out the residences of all fifty-four employees of the Myriad Goods Trading Company.
At the hidden stakeout on West Drum Tower Street, Wang Daxia marked fifty-four locations on a map and deployed personnel, finally spreading out a surveillance net. The mission was making progress.
It was the Beginning of Autumn, a time to nourish the body with hearty food. Exhausted, Wang Daxia wanted a good meal to replenish his energy. However, Ding Wu no longer cooked, and going home meant enduring his father Wang Commander's endless nagging and his younger brother Wang Daqiu's constant weeping for their mother Madam Wu. A peaceful meal was impossible, so he settled for a nearby tavern.
There, he spotted a familiar figure. A woman in blue robes with a mourning bun, carrying a medicine bag on her shoulder. The white mourning bun was particularly conspicuous, and since this was the closest tavern to Sweetwater Lane, he immediately recognized her as Wei Caiwei.
Wei Caiwei was behaving strangely. With her back to the door, she was retreating step by step, as if highly alert.
The rain poured heavily, and Wang Daxia couldn't hear the commotion inside the tavern, but he instinctively sensed Wei Caiwei was in trouble.
To move faster, Wang Daxia threw away his umbrella and charged toward the tavern entrance. The rain drenched his clothes instantly. As he reached the doorway, he saw a chair hurling toward Wei Caiwei. He leaped forward, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and spun around, shielding her with his back.
A sharp pain shot through his right shoulder as the chair grazed it and flew out into the downpour.
Only then did Wang Daxia notice that Wei Caiwei was gripping a slender, triangular awl!
The handle was from an umbrella.
What had she just been through?
Wang Daxia shielded Wei Caiwei behind him and asked, "Did they bully you?"
Wei Caiwei pointed at the men in pink lapel robes, the bespectacled man, and the short man. "These three have foul mouths. They called me a slut right in front of me. This shorty tried to trip me with his leg, so I stabbed his foot with my umbrella. He threw a chair at me in retaliation."
Wang Daxia's expression darkened instantly, radiating murderous intent.
As one of the Four Pests of the North City, Wang Daxia had a long-established reputation for being untouchable and fearsome in the northern part of the city.
The man in pink lapel robes, who had been holding a chair defensively, was so terrified that he dropped it, and the chair landed on his own foot, making him hop in pain.
Wang Daxia kicked the bespectacled man first, sending him crashing into a wine table. His glasses flew off and shattered on the ground, the Western glass lenses scattering everywhere.
Next, Wang Daxia grabbed the collar of the man in pink lapel robes, lifting him off his feet. With a swing of his arm, he hurled the man onto the short man, who was trying to flee.
"Ouch!"
The two men collided and joined the bespectacled man on the floor, writhing and moaning, unable to get up for a while.
Slut-shaming and bullying the weak were second nature to the keyboard warriors of the North City. As the cries of pain echoed, the surrounding diners, afraid of being caught in the crossfire, scrambled to escape. Some even left their umbrellas behind in their haste.
The tavern manager rushed after them, shouting, "Hey, you haven't paid yet!"
"Put it on my tab, I'll pay tomorrow!" yelled a regular customer whose face the manager recognized. But for unfamiliar patrons, the manager and his staff chased them down to collect payment, trying to minimize losses.
The once bustling tavern was nearly empty in an instant.Wei Caiwei, having just dealt with the tense situation on an empty stomach, was utterly exhausted. She found a chair to sit down, still gripping the handle of the Awl in her right hand, unwilling to let go.
Seeing her guarded expression, it was clear what humiliations she had endured and what vile insults had been hurled at her.
Three men publicly bullying a woman, while in a large restaurant, no one spoke up for her—forcing her to draw a hidden weapon from her umbrella to protect herself.
Wang Daxia was furious. He immediately dragged the three men, who were rolling on the ground, outside. First, he forced them to reveal their names and backgrounds. It turned out all three were scholars, students from the Shuntian Prefectural School, and the bespectacled one even held the title of Xiucai.
Wang Daxia said coldly, "Fine scholars indeed. I’ve remembered your names. You three better remember this too: starting today, your lives will be a living hell. You brought this upon yourselves."
With that, Wang Daxia took out a knife and shredded their clothes into tatters. The fabric scraps were washed away by the heavy rain into the drainage ditches, leaving them completely naked, without even a shred of cloth to cover their shame.
Wang Daxia tied their hands together with a rope, securing it with a tight knot, and drove the three of them out into the pouring rain. He then bought a large brass gong from a nearby music store, banging it loudly as he shouted:
"Neighbors, come and see! Come see these beasts in human clothing stripped bare, revealing their filthy, wretched true forms! Free show, no charge, don’t miss out!"
The three despicable men had publicly shamed Wei Caiwei, and Wang Daxia vowed to make them repay it a thousand, ten thousand times over.
Wang Daxia knew all too well that if he let these three men off lightly without severe punishment, failing to make an example of them, Wei Caiwei would face even more bullying and humiliation in the future.
Because, among vulnerable groups, bullying the elderly or children would draw moral and public condemnation. But if a woman were labeled a "slut," it was different. Anyone could feel justified in stepping on her, spitting on her, insulting her, or even physically assaulting her.
Moreover, most of these people were ordinary folks, like the diners in the restaurant. They weren’t inherently evil; some might even be good people in daily life. But when it came to slut-shaming, such ordinary individuals could inflict the greatest harm precisely because there were so many of them. If each uttered just one insult, it would pierce Wei Caiwei’s heart like ten thousand arrows, leaving her riddled with wounds.
Wang Daxia would not let Wei Caiwei fall into such danger.
The three naked men, tied together in a line, were driven by Wang Daxia to the center of Gulou West Diagonal Street. Humiliated and enraged, they tried to flee to the shelter of nearby shops.
Wang Daxia swung the gong mallet, striking their bare bodies repeatedly to drive them back into the middle of the street, parading them publicly with the gong.
To prevent them from escaping under the eaves of street-side shops again, Wang Daxia tied the other end of the rope around his waist and pulled the string of men along the street.
It was the Beginning of Autumn, with heavy rain, and just dinnertime when people were home eating to "fatten up for autumn." The commotion on Gulou West Diagonal Street drew residents out, bowls in hand, squatting under their eaves to eat while watching the rare spectacle of three naked men being paraded.
Wang Daxia, one of the Four Pests of the North City, provided at least half of the entertainment for the northern part of the city, regularly shocking the neighborhood with his antics.Women dared not openly gaze at the naked men being paraded through the streets, though some bold ones secretly cracked their windows open a sliver.
They watched with flushed cheeks while comparing sizes in their minds.
Of course, some disapproved of Wang Daxia forcing the three men into this public humiliation and came forward to accuse him, "This corrupts public morals and disgraces our scholarly dignity!"
Wang Daxia didn't argue with these critics, continuing to beat his gong and parade the men for all to see. "The four most despicable acts are: desecrating graves of the heirless! Stealing milk from nursing mothers! Cursing mute people! Kicking down widows' doors! These three scholars publicly bullied a young widow!"
"One of the four cardinal sins right here! This account must be properly settled. Was it fun to humiliate a widow? Now taste the bitterness of humiliation yourselves!"
As everyone knew, after Commander Lu - Lu Bing's illegitimate son - parted ways with the widow physician, Young Master Wang immediately became the widow's devoted follower. The onlookers holding rice bowls under the eaves instantly understood the situation: these three naked men had bullied Young Master Wang's widow lover!
How utterly blind! This was no ordinary widow. Even when beating a dog, one must consider its master. Was Young Master Wang, one of Beijing's Four Scourges, someone to be trifled with?
Those who provoked Young Master Wang deserved their misfortune.
Last time when Thousand Household Chen's Embroidered Uniform Guard surrounded Wang Daxia alone on West Diagonal Street near the Drum Tower, the Northern City Military Command clashed with the Embroidered Uniform Guard right in the streets. Wang Daxia fled all the way to the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, beating the grievance drum to demand justice and confronting Thousand Household Chen in court.
What was the final outcome?
Thousand Household Chen died suddenly that very night after the confrontation!
This proved Young Master Wang wasn't just a fop - he was a deadly star, fatal to whoever crossed him. Even an Embroidered Uniform Guard thousand-household commander had been cursed to death by him, let alone these three scholars.
As Wang Daxia paraded them through the streets, he beat his gong and announced their backgrounds: "Come see! Prefectural school students bullying a widow! Real men who stand by their names - in front is Wu Lianchi! The middle one is called Bu Yaolian! The last one, Lu Renjia, just passed the imperial examination this year! Such scum harassing widows - truly a disgrace to our dynasty's examination system!"
Wu Lianchi, Bu Yaolian, and Lu Renjia became instantly famous throughout Northern City.
Onlookers commented among themselves, "Tsk tsk, look at Lu Renjia swaying his hips and buttocks as he walks - clearly no proper scholar."
"Bu Yaolian with his stumpy figure, and that thing's so short it's practically nonexistent. I say he should quit studying - he'd have better prospects becoming a eunuch in the palace, wouldn't even need to suffer the cut."
"This Wu Lianchi with his pale flesh, looks decent enough on the surface. Someone like him getting into prefectural school - probably got in by selling his backside..."
The three men suffered bitterly in the rain, forced to endure the parade. The mocking gazes shooting from under eaves and through windows, the humiliating comments about their bodies and souls, the unspeakable suspicions - all mirrored exactly how they had humiliated and mocked Wei Caiwei. They were reaping what they had sown.
The Northern City Military Command, responsible for maintaining order in the area, was alerted and immediately rushed over through the rain. Leading them was Officer Mu.
Seeing Young Master Wang beating his gong while leading a string of naked men behind him, Officer Mu - who had witnessed Wang Daxia's birth, first words, toddling steps, and gradual growth - though weathered by life's vicissitudes and accustomed to Wang Daxia's various absurd antics, couldn't help but be stunned this time.
Wang Daxia truly never failed to "disappoint," always managing to deliver "surprises."
If it were anyone else, they would have been arrested immediately to preserve Northern City's "urban appearance and environment." But since it was Young Master Wang's doing, the subordinates didn't dare act without orders and asked Officer Mu, "What should we do now?"Officer Mu closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before saying, "Are you all just going to stand by and watch Wang Commander's eldest son getting drenched in the rain? Hurry over and hold an umbrella for him. It's the beginning of autumn, and the weather has turned cold. If he continues like this, he'll catch a chill."
"What about those three?" his subordinate asked, pointing at the shivering group behind Wang Daxia.
Officer Mu replied, "Since they're already here, let them finish walking through West Drum Tower Street. One should always see things through to the end."
Officer Mu thought to himself: Since Wang Commander is going to be dismissed after the autumn metropolitan evaluation results come out anyway, I might as well use my authority one last time to provide this little ancestor with a protective umbrella. After all, there won't be any more opportunities in the future.
Author's Note: Officer Mu: I've worn myself out worrying about this family. The comments section from the previous chapter had so many golden quotes - many insights were much more profound than mine. I've even saved some of them in a document.
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