The shop fell into chaos as Lu Shuo was pinned under the shelf, his mind ringing. Nearby customers scrambled to lift the shelf, while the terrified proprietor abandoned his accounts and hurried over, crouching beside Lu Shuo. "Young master, are you all right?"
Tianqing, who had been by the carriage, rushed in at the commotion, pushed through the crowd, and rolled up Lu Shuo's sleeve with a frown, revealing an arm swollen red from the blow.
"Zhang's is supposed to be an established shop. How can you leave shelves like that? If our young master hadn't blocked it, it would have smashed someone's head!" Tianqing scolded.
The proprietor bowed and apologized profusely.
Helan Rong finally emerged carrying two bags of zongzi and one of five-poison pastries. Seeing it was Lu Shuo who had been hit, he was shocked, then furious. "Who did this? This is someone from our Xuan Duke Mansion! If anything happens to him, Zhang's will close today!"
Upon learning that the injured boy was from the Xuan Duke Mansion, the proprietor broke out in a cold sweat and forced a smile. "My apologies, my apologies. It must have been the crowd today that caused this accident. There's a medical clinic nearby. Allow me to accompany the young master to have his injuries checked. All medical expenses will be on Zhang's, and I will come to the Duke Mansion later to apologize in person."
A customer nearby remarked, "I saw someone bump into the shelf and knock it over. Where did that person go?"
"Who bumped into it? Who?" Helan Rong's eyes went wide as he bellowed, "How dare they not own up? Hurting someone and then running off without a word?"
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.
Lu Shuo, helped up by Tianqing, clutched his injured arm, which was so painful he could barely move it. He said quietly, "Forget it, Third Young Master. Let it go. I'll just go to the clinic."
Seeing his condition, Helan Rong knew the injury couldn't be delayed, so he suppressed his anger. "Then let's go to the clinic."
The proprietor, Tianqing, and the servant who had been queuing, all three escorted Lu Shuo out first. Helan Rong ran to the carriage, tossed the zongzi and pastries through the window, and shouted to Helan Zhen inside, "Big Brother—"
"I heard it," Helan Zhen said coldly. "Wait a moment."
"Wait for what?" Helan Rong asked.
Before he finished, a guard came running back from the other end of the street, panting heavily.
"Eldest Young Master, I caught up!" The guard stopped by the carriage and looked up to report to Helan Zhen. "That man who knocked over the shelf—he had empty hands, didn't buy anything. As soon as the shelf fell, he ran out to an intersection, stopped by a carriage, exchanged a few words with someone inside, and then the carriage drove off. He followed it."
"What?" Helan Rong yelled, but a glare from Helan Zhen made him lower his voice. He said angrily, "So it wasn't an accident? It was deliberate? Who could be so malicious?"
The guard said, "From the decoration of the carriage, it looked like it belonged to the Song Duke Mansion."
Helan Zhen gave a cold laugh.
"I knew it, I knew it!" Helan Rong stomped in fury. "Who else would target Lu Shuo? So that Du guy apologized just so he could pull this dirty trick!"
As he cursed, Helan Chang walked over carrying two bowls of ice cream. He handed one to Helan Rong and asked in surprise, "What's all this noise about? I heard you guys yelling from Yan's. What happened?"
Holding the ice cream but not bothering to eat it, Helan Rong immediately told him how Lu Shuo had been deliberately injured by someone from the Song Duke Mansion.
"What? How shameless! Pulling such a dirty trick?" Helan Chang fumed. "Did they follow us all the way? Don't they have anything better to do?"
Helan Zhen's face darkened.
Of course, the Song Duke Mansion couldn't have predicted they'd come to Zhang's. It seemed they had been tailed all along.
Or perhaps not tailed; maybe when the Song Duke Mansion went to watch the dragon boat race, other people besides Young Master Du were there. After Young Master Du was humiliated, the others might not have wanted to go home. After the race, they just happened to take the same road back.
After all, there was only one main road from the outskirts to the city, and the mansions of high officials were all in similar areas, so it was completely normal for them to be on the same road. It wasn't like sneaking around; no one would specifically check if they were being followed.
But no matter what, even if it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, the Song Duke Mansion's tactics were far too low-class.
They didn't dare confront them head-on, only resorted to underhanded means, and against a twelve-year-old child at that—not even a biological son of the Helan family, but an adopted son of a different surname. It showed just how much they bullied the weak and feared the strong.
"Big Brother, let's go to the Song Duke Mansion right now and demand an explanation!" Helan Rong shook his fist.
"Do you have proof?" Helan Zhen's words stopped him cold. "Can you prove it was them? Or do you plan to seal off the entire Zhang's and make all the customers stay as witnesses?"
Helan Rong choked.
Helan Chang said, "So we just swallow this? Take it lying down?"
Helan Zhen took a deep breath. "You two don't worry about this. Don't make any more trouble. When Father and Mother return, they'll decide."
He got out of the carriage and led his brothers to the clinic.
The doctor was applying medicine to Lu Shuo. The part of his forearm hit by the shelf was already swollen, beginning to show blue-purple bruises.
Lu Shuo frowned, his eyes red, breathing lightly in pain.
Helan Zhen asked, "How bad is it?"
Tianqing said, "Fortunately, the bones aren't broken. No serious injury. But the blow was heavy, and the young master can't use his arm now."
"Don't move it much, don't press on it, don't lift anything heavy. In short, try not to use this hand. Rest well and apply medicine daily," the doctor instructed. "After half a month, the pain should subside. Then gradually resume normal use."
Lu Shuo forced a bitter smile, thinking that at least it was his left arm; if it had been his right, he wouldn't even be able to write.
The doctor gave them medicine, and Zhang's proprietor paid the fee. Then he bent over to escort them back to the carriage.
"It was our shop's poor management that caused this young master's injury. I'm truly ashamed. Please allow me some time to prepare a humble gift and come to the Duke Mansion later tonight to apologize," the proprietor said humbly.
Helan Zhen said, "No need. It was just an accident today, not entirely your fault. Just replace the shelf with a sturdier one in the future, so no one else gets hurt. And don't bother coming to pay respects."
The proprietor glanced at his expression, saw he wasn't being sarcastic, and quietly sighed in relief. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he said sincerely, "Thank you for your magnanimity. If you ever fancy our shop's goods in the future, just send word, and we'll deliver them to your mansion."
Helan Zhen gave a faint hum of acknowledgment. The carriage started moving again, heading toward the Xuan Duke Mansion.
No one spoke during the ride. By the time they returned to the mansion, the sun had already set, leaving only residual crimson clouds burning in the western sky.
Zhang Yizhu was flipping through last month's account books. Helan Pei sat beside her mother, quietly reading a book.
"Why are they so late?" Zhang Yizhu looked up at the sky, puzzled. "Did those two rascals get held up by some excitement on the road again?"
Helan Pei also looked up and glanced out the window.