George Lambert then said, “Third brother, according to the way we in the Imperial Capital Guard handle cases, this can’t be called a fight… it should be called assault.”

According to Peter Lambert’s account, the whole incident didn’t involve any self-defense at all; it was entirely one-sided intentional harm.

“Did anyone see you… during the fight with him?” Emily Lambert asked.

“At the time, probably a few hundred people passed by,” Peter Lambert said. “I did consider whether I should avoid the crowd before making a move, but my intention was to take revenge and make a statement, so it wouldn’t make sense to deliberately avoid people.”

“That was too careless,” Emily Lambert said.

“Actually, I had thought about how to handle the aftermath. I always rank first in the academy’s major exams, while his grades are always terrible; I’ve always been respectful to teachers and classmates, while he’s notorious for being unruly and hard to discipline; and this time, he was the one who provoked me first. Even if a fight broke out, the teachers would likely side with me,” Peter Lambert said. “But there was one thing I didn’t expect…”

“Afterwards, a classmate told me that his father is Charles Jennings, a principal official in the Ministry of Works, a sixth-rank official in the current dynasty.”

“How could that be?” George Lambert asked. “Aren’t all the students at Nanshan Academy from commoner families in the southern part of the city? At most, some have parents who are merchants or minor officials. How could there be a sixth-rank court official? If he didn’t send his child to the Swordsmanship Academy, at the very least it should be Wen’an Hall, the Imperial College, or one of those more prestigious academies in Longyuan City, right? Why come to Nanshan?”

“It was precisely because I didn’t expect this that I made such a mistake.” Peter Lambert shook his head, seeming a bit regretful. “I made some inquiries, and it turns out that Charles Jennings is famous among the six ministries for his integrity. Because he’s so honest and often charitable, his family struggles to make ends meet, so he sent his child to the ordinary Nanshan Academy.”

Clearly, what he regretted was not taking action, but failing to investigate the other party’s family background beforehand.

“How is that person now? Is he badly hurt?” Emily Lambert asked again.

“I don’t know, he was carried home by others,” Peter Lambert replied.

“That sounds pretty serious…” George Lambert looked a bit troubled. After all, that’s a sixth-rank official—even if it’s just the Ministry of Works, he must have a lot of connections. There’s no way a mere guard like him could afford to offend such a person.

“Third brother, you need to go apologize in person,” Emily Lambert said immediately. “The sooner, the better.”

“Xiaoyun is right,” George Lambert agreed. “Right now, the most important thing is to seek their forgiveness. Even if the other side provoked you first, we’re still at a disadvantage and don’t have the upper hand.”

“Even if they want to hit or scold you, or insult you, you must endure it. No matter what, you have to settle this matter peacefully,” Emily Lambert said. “If you still feel resentful, we can look for an opportunity to get back at him later. But for now, we must keep a low profile.”

“You’re both right,” Peter Lambert nodded.

The three siblings were all clear-headed and quickly reached a consensus.

“If we do want to take revenge later, I recently learned about a medicine: it’s a mixture of two non-toxic drugs, but together they can cause a person’s yang energy to dissipate and yin energy to grow stronger,” Emily Lambert said calmly. “This medicine is colorless and tasteless. If he takes it, he’ll unknowingly lose all his male abilities and become androgynous.”

“No,” George Lambert quickly stopped her. “Drugging someone is too easy to trace, and this is just a temporary conflict between classmates—ruining someone’s life over it is too harsh… I happen to know a way to set a fire without anyone noticing. If we need to take revenge, we can use that for a little punishment.”

“Big brother, you’re truly kind,” Emily Lambert praised.

“There’s no rush for revenge. After all, this time it was tit for tat. If the other side is willing to settle things peacefully, I won’t hold a grudge,” Peter Lambert said. “Mother always taught us…”

The three siblings said in unison, “Harmony is most precious.”

“I’ll write a letter of apology myself, explaining what happened and expressing my regret… At the same time, I’ll tell the truth. Since his father is known for his integrity, he must care about his reputation. If he knows his own child was at fault first, he probably won’t make things too difficult for me,” Peter Lambert speculated.

“That makes sense,” George Lambert agreed, then rested his hand on his chin and said, “In the Ministry of Works, which is notorious for corruption, to have a reputation for honesty is quite impressive for this Supervisor Jennings.”

Chapter 7 Supervisor Jennings

“This Mr. Jennings really does live in the southern part of the city.”

The The Lambert Family siblings were people of action. Once they had a plan, they immediately went out to find the address of The Jennings Family. George Lambert took Peter Lambert to buy a fruit basket, and together they went to apologize in person.

In Longyuan City, land prices are absolutely higher in the north and lower in the south. The area near the northern imperial city is extremely valuable, filled with government offices and the residences of high officials and nobles. Most court officials also choose to live there for convenience.

The eastern and western districts each have their own wealthy areas because of the two markets.

By comparison, the liveliest part of the southern city is the Hongxiu Lane, where brothels and entertainment houses are clustered, but the land price doesn’t go up just because it’s close to the pleasure quarters. So the south became the poor district of the capital, Longyuan City, where most of the common people live.

No wonder George Lambert was surprised.

A sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works—if not living in a mansion in the north, at least getting a courtyard in the east or west shouldn’t be hard, right? For him to appear in the southern district is truly a rare thing.