I'm Here To Exercise My In-Law Rights

Mei Deng only realized a while later that his thumb sat on the general's bruised lip slowly caressing it, acting on its own accord. He nervously withdrew his hand and kept it at his side, the young doctor's cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

"Ahem..." He dry coughed then straightened his sleeping clothes, "it seems that I might have caused you commotion brother traffic." He asserted, referring to the beaten-up soldiers sprawled across the area.

"But don't worry too much about it, you see I'm the would-be brother-in-law to that sour-faced general. If he plans to marry Daiyu then he won't act so cheeky in front of me." Said the naive doctor, spreading his peacock feathers around.

The spectators around were infuriated by his words and all clicked their tongues in disdain.

"You are too brazen Yu Xiaoguang! How dare you talk big like the marriage has already pushed through?" Charged one of the soldiers who was still standing despite taking many punches from the infamous Yu brat.

"Huh?" Mei Deng raised a brow at the speaker, wondering to himself just who was strong enough to run his mouth after being beaten so hard.

"Brother traffic, do you know where the general is? I don't have time to spare toying with these third-rate soldiers." He retorted then smirked fully, earning a vicious sneer from the maids.

"You still won't learn?! Then I'll teach you a thing or two myself!" The speaker cried out lifting a blade over his head, as he charged towards Yu Xiaoguang with the intent to badly injure him, if not kill the young man.

'Crap! I shouldn't have spoken like a bigshot when there's no one backing me up!' the startled doctor stood in place, too frozen to run from the angry soldier.

"Go to hell you dog!" His attacker declared and swung his blade without any reservation aiming at a kill point. However, his blade never got to land a hit on Yu Xiaoguang, the soldier widened his eyes in shock as he felt a strong grip on his wrist, suspending his arm in the air.

"Yu Xiaoguang you dog! You dare to hold me..."

"Fu Bao, where the hell are you swinging that sword?" Tengfei's still voice retorted sharply, reminding everyone of his presence.

The man known as Fu Bao who was formerly putting up a tough act immediately lowered his sword the moment he locked eyes with the infamous Wang general.

"Humph." Tengfei scoffed at him, "and all of you standing by to watch, have you had your fill? Or do you want to see me do something?" The maids were swift to pick up on his undertone and took to their heels, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of the general's rage.

Mei Deng watched as they hopelessly dispersed at the taller man's command, he pinched his chin in suspicion.

"All of you who were beaten by Yu Xiaoguang will go without dinner tonight, and train extra hours till I am satisfied." He declared in an authoritative tone, sending chills down Mei Deng's Spine.

'Is brother traffic a demon?!' he panicked wondering what sort of fate awaited him for landing a punch on this sort of man.

"Forgive me for being imposing, but this dog here insulted you and I could not stand to listen idly." Fu Bao confessed on his knees, with angry clenched fingers curled into a fist.

"Do I need to explain the implication of hitting not just the son of a minister but the imperial consort's chosen bride's brother?" Tengfei scolded harshly, his intimidating stare trained on the subordinate whose anger against Yu Xiaoguang was still so evident.

"Now, Now brother traffic, he shows he's repentant for his misdeeds and that's more than enough. Please let him go now and join the others." Mei Deng chimed into the conversation trying to smooth things over.

Fu Bao pursued his lips then mumbled something inaudible under his breath, judging by his venomous tone it was most definitely an insult.

"Leave," Tengfei ordered in a distinct tone, Fu Bao bowed his head respectfully to the general then rose to his feet, a dampened expression on his face.

On his way out, he stole a hateful glance at Yu Xiaoguang then brushed his shoulder hard against him, sending the message that they were not on good terms with one another.

'Another enemy, I'm not even the female lead but so many people are targeting me. Hehehe...at least I've gained another ally.' he thought, grinning mischievously from ear to ear.

"Brother traffic, you must be someone with a strong presence and most importantly significant to the general. Perhaps you know where to find him." Mei Deng insisted, without ever once considering that this man might just be the general.

"What was that you just called him?" Tengfei asked out of the blue in a hard-to-read tone, Mei Deng almost didn't hear what he had said.

"By him do you mean the general?" A sly grin planted itself on the young doctor's face, and he recklessly slung one arm over Mei Deng's shoulder, bringing both their faces close.

Wang Tengfei knitted his brows against each other, an uneven mix of anger and bashfulness drawn across his face, as he averted his eyes from the other man's face.

His lips in particular.

"What are you..." He tried to speak up in protest, but Yu Xiaoguang was far stronger than the rumors gave him credit for.

"Brother traffic and I seem to have hit it off well, so I'll say it once more, that is the nickname given to the young general in the capital." Mei Deng told him in an ecstatic tone.

"They call him the sour-faced general and I hear it's for good reason too!" He whispered in an amused tone. Wang Tengfei curled his lips into a frown, confused by how and where this new title had sprung about.

"Sour faced?" He asked and peeled off the youngster's grip effortlessly, he folded his arms across his chest, wearing a pissed-off expression.

"You mean you haven't heard the rumors at all? They say that he wears a mean scowl on his face and whoever stares into his eyes turns into stone! What's more, I hear he's riding on his father's tailcoat and not all that talented." Mei Deng answered repeating all the things Chunhua had said to him.

Wang Tengfei scoffed and rolled his eyes in disbelief, it was the first time someone would dare to repeat such crap in front of him. If it had been anyone else, they would have sucked up to him in fear of his title.

"Only people with so much time on their hands would be idle enough to spread rumors around," Tengfei said in a prickly tone, his eyes narrowed as he inwardly recited the rumors in his head.

"These soldiers were not so strong brother traffic, it felt like I was punching the air, perhaps that general is all talk." Mei Deng sheepishly said, resting both hands on his hips, grinning broadly in satisfaction.

"But... how come you know so much about me? I thought we met for the first time on the streets?" The young doctor asked all of a sudden, staring animatedly at the general.

Wang Tengfei in turn stole a glance at him and then realized he was still in his sleeping clothes, with messy bed hair that hinted he came directly from the Yu residence.

"The general is marrying into the Yu family, it's only natural that we subordinates gather information on the other family members." He answered him, lying through his teeth so early in the day.

"It seems that we were fated we meet after all, but I still haven't fulfilled my agenda for coming here, plus I've already picked a fight with the men here. The general will not be pleased." Mei Deng remarked, helping himself to some shade.

"Why do you want to meet with General Tengfei? Are you here to try and persuade him to call off the wedding to young miss Yu? If that's your agenda then give up on it." The young general firmly told him, not mincing words.

"The imperial consort has made the match and it would be foolish to go against her decision. Young Miss Yu should be glad that she got such a fortunate match, our general is more than capable of being the ideal husband." Tengfei said with a small grin, singing his own praises.

'Aish. It almost seems like brother traffic has some passionate feelings for this sour-faced general. He takes ass kissing to another level' Mei Deng remarked inwardly, a blank expression plastered unto his face.

"But brother traffic, whoever said that I was here to oppose the wedding? You must have misunderstood my intentions." He said, sparking Tengfei's interest.

"Then why do you want to see the general?"

Mei Deng pulled his lips back into a wide grin and focused his stare on the conflicted general.

"I'm here to exercise my in-law rights, and demand a hefty amount of dowry!" The young doctor declared with a menacing grin on his face, satisfied with his answer.

'Those debts won't pay themselves.'