Chapter 914 - 916 Minor Conflict, Fair Handling_1
Bai Ruozhu didn’t want her second brother to feel guilty forever, so she persuaded him as much as she could, and also believed that her second brother wasn’t the type to obsess over things.
After leaving the room where Qin Kaichang was arranged, Jianqi whispered to Bai Ruozhu, "My lady, I just checked Qin Kaichang’s wounds, and they aren’t too serious, but he resisted fiercely, and I feel there’s something wrong with the injuries on his hands..."
"Oh?" Bai Ruozhu raised her eyebrows, Jianqi might not have medical skills, but after all, as a dark guard, he was much more experienced in examining injuries than she was.
Jianqi whispered a few more words, but when he saw someone from the Study Palace approaching, he stopped talking.
The next day, when everything was ready, everyone boarded the boat and took the water route. As soon as Bai Ruozhu got on the boat, she instructed the kitchen to prepare seasickness medicine, so this time there wasn’t a repeat of the mass vomiting from before. However, soldiers caught a chef hiding medicine dregs, suspecting he wanted to steal Bai Ruozhu’s seasickness formula, which infuriated them enough to give the chef a beating and dump all the dregs into the river.
The incident quickly spread among the soldiers on the two boats, and afterward, as soon as everyone drank the medicine, they consciously dumped the dregs into the river. Thus, there began a trend on deck of taking medicine and dumping dregs, leaving Bai Ruozhu somewhat bemused. The funniest thing was seeing Little Dengdeng imitate them, trying to dump his millet porridge into the river, which caused Bai Ruozhu to take a while to explain and reason with him.
She felt that now Dengdeng understood everything, only he couldn’t express it, so they had to properly reason with him.
Bai Zepei took great care of Qin Kaichang throughout the journey and shared with him many things about the river, including his identity and how to take care of himself daily. Qin Kaichang was no longer as frightened as before and seemed to have gotten used to life on the boat. However, he appeared dazed and confused, almost as if he had become foolish.
One day, Qin Kaichang wandered onto the deck and somehow collided with a rough-shod soldier. He didn’t know to apologize, and when the soldier grumbled a curse at him, he blankly asked what it meant. The soldier, losing his patience and disdainful, said, "Are you an idiot? Do you even have to ask?"
Bai Zepei rushed out from the ship cabin and heard this remark, his face instantly growing cold as he glared at the soldier, "Who allowed you to insult him? Is this how the Northwest Main Camp’s military regulations are?"
The soldiers on the boat all respected Bai Ruozhu and knew Bai Zepei was her brother. Seeing Bai Zepei angry, and possibly to save face for Bai Ruozhu, the soldier reluctantly apologized to Bai Zepei with a fist and palm salute, "I’m a crude man, and my words are blunt. Please forgive me, Young Master Bai."
"You don’t need to apologize to me; you insulted him, so you should apologize to him!" Bai Zepei said coldly.
The brute was not one to take an insult lying down, and upon hearing that, his teeth grinded, "It was he who bumped into me without a single apology. Just because he’s a young master and we are soldiers, it’s okay to bump into us without consequences? And I have to apologize to him?"
"You shouldn’t have called him an idiot," Bai Zepei said through clenched teeth.
Bai Ruozhu hurried over upon hearing the commotion and quickly understood the situation. She felt sympathy for Qin Kaichang’s circumstances, but indeed it was Qin Kaichang who bumped into someone first. If she insisted on an apology from the soldier, she might diminish the soldiers’ morale, making them feel like they were ranked below the scholars in the eyes of their lady.
After thinking for a moment, Bai Ruozhu started to speak, "You scholars strategize for the country, and you soldiers fight with your blood for the country, each with your significant role. There is no reason to look down upon anyone; at least in my eyes, Bai Ruozhu, there’s no such thing as a hierarchy. It’s just that Mister Qin has suffered a severe illness and isn’t very clear-headed, otherwise, he wouldn’t have bumped into you without apologizing. If he were clear-headed and did this, it wouldn’t just be me, even the head of the scholarly institute would criticize him."
Bai Ruozhu said, bowing to the soldier, "I am the doctor treating him, and since I did not cure him in time, leading to his creating trouble, I should apologize to you on his behalf."
The soldier’s face flushed red, "Please, Madam, you are putting me in a difficult position. I am also to blame for picking a quarrel with a patient."
"But calling him a ’fool’ later on was a bit hurtful, and you should also give him an apology. Master Qin was previously very intelligent. Now that he is not in his right mind, it must be tough enough, and being ridiculed by others like that could stimulate him considerably," Bai Ruozhu added.
An error for an error, Qin Kaichang bumping into someone warranted an apology, but given his current state of involuntary behavior, Bai Ruozhu apologized for him. Nevertheless, the soldier insulting Qin Kaichang was also in the wrong and should apologize, ensuring a fair resolution.
With his face still red, the soldier hurriedly gave Qin Kaichang a fist salute, "I am such a brute, I truly went too far just now. Please forgive me, Master Qin, I shouldn’t have insulted you."
Qin Kaichang was somewhat confused about what was happening and absentmindedly grunted a few times. Bai Zepei nodded slightly to her sister and took Qin Kaichang back to the ship cabin.
Bai Ruozhu silently sighed and then whispered to the soldier, asking him to remind those around him to be more considerate toward Qin Kaichang, emphasizing that Qing was not foolish, just temporarily confused, and he would soon recover from his illness and be back to his former self.
The soldier felt very ashamed of bullying a sick person and immediately said, "I’ve taken note, Sir. I’ll pass the word around to my brothers quietly; I won’t make a fuss about it, I promise."
Bai Ruozhu smiled and nodded. Although the soldier seemed rough around the edges, he wasn’t without his considerate moments.
Indeed, along the rest of the journey, the soldiers were very careful not to create any more conflict with Qin Kaichang. Even on the day he crazily dashed to the deck and splashed ink on two soldiers, they merely glared at him angrily and then walked away without saying a word.
Even Bai Zepei couldn’t help but admire his little sister’s authority among these soldiers, with just a few words proving so effective.
When they arrived at the pier, Bai Ruozhu would relay messages to Jiang Yichun through the morning breeze and the Commerce Association. Jiang Yichun had replied once, but due to the confidential nature of his current tasks, he couldn’t say much until Bai Ruozhu returned to Bai Family in Beiyu City and learned that Jiang Yichun had been out on business for over ten days and hadn’t come home.
No one even knew where Jiang Yichun had gone; he hadn’t informed his in-laws, Bai Yihong and his wife, before leaving, and both the morning breeze and Muyu were also in the dark about his whereabouts. They could only try to use their communication methods to contact Jiang Yichun, but for the time being, there was no news.
Bai Ruozhu was very worried about Jiang Yichun’s safety, but she couldn’t discuss political matters with her family or add to their worries, especially since the whole family was overjoyed at her homecoming, and she couldn’t dampen everyone’s spirits with her own concerns.
She did her best to hide her anxiety and said with a smile to the family gathered around her and her second brother, "You don’t know how well the second brother performed; he earned quite a few places. He’s definitely the Study Palace’s number one hero this time!"