Upon seeing this, Jiang Susu’s heart turned half cold. She retreated two steps and asked, “Who are you?”

The man let out a sinister laugh, “Where did this little lady come from, coming to this desolate wilderness in the dead of night to meet her lover? But your little lover didn’t come to the rendezvous tonight, leaving you heartbroken for nothing. Why don’t you let this master comfort you instead?”

Jiang Susu was startled and immediately understood that this man was definitely not the letter writer. Looking at this person dressed in coarse cloth with a fierce and malevolent appearance, her legs couldn’t help but tremble. Yet she still forced herself to remain calm, saying, “What do you want? Do you know who I am? My father is a high official in the capital. While my guards haven’t arrived yet, you’d better get lost quickly.”

The man spat but didn’t move an inch, only laughing ominously, “Nothing that Scar Li has set his eyes on has ever gotten away. A high official in the capital? What kind of high official raises such a shameless daughter? You’re trying to fool me into thinking I’m ignorant, aren’t you? Little lady, even if you claimed to be some princess today, this master would still have his way with you!”

Seeing this man was completely unreasonable and the young master from the letter still hadn’t appeared, Jiang Susu panicked. She turned and ran outside while crying for help, “Someone! Help me!”

But in this desolate wilderness, having run so far to shake off those guards, her voice only drifted and dissipated in the open field beyond the forest. Immediately after, a powerful force from behind dragged her back. Jiang Susu was caught off guard as someone yanked her from behind, and a slap landed hard on her face. This man wasn’t Jiang Quan and naturally wouldn’t show any tenderness—his heavy slap nearly knocked Jiang Susu unconscious, and blood appeared at the corner of her lips.

The man looked her up and down, then suddenly laughed, “Still a feisty one, and so beautiful too. Good! This master has really struck it rich today! I’ll take you back up the mountain, and we’ll have our wedding night tonight!” Ignoring Jiang Susu’s feeble struggles, he hoisted her over his shoulder and headed into the forest.

After the man left with Jiang Susu, a figure emerged from the woods. Under the moonlight, his features were clear—it was Ye Feng. He whistled, knowing that the task Jiang Ruan had assigned him was complete. Today’s letter was merely delivered to Jiang Susu through his hands at Jiang Ruan’s request. As for this area of wilderness and forest being a necessary route for bandits returning to their lair at night, Ye Feng knew this as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but he didn’t know how Jiang Ruan, a sheltered young lady, had learned of it. Nevertheless, he still admired Jiang Ruan’s prophetic abilities. Perhaps being fellow daughters of the Jiang residence, she understood Jiang Susu’s temperament thoroughly, knowing that with Jiang Susu’s nature, upon seeing that letter she would inevitably escape, doing everything possible to avoid becoming a nun.

Ye Feng sighed inwardly—Jiang Ruan’s method was truly ruthlessly cunning. She had given Jiang Susu hope, then let Jiang Susu witness that hope shatter before her eyes. The devastation was unimaginable. Jiang Ruan hadn’t had anyone directly abduct Jiang Susu, but merely provided slight guidance, creating a series of coincidences. Even if Jiang Quan eventually investigated, he would only discover that Jiang Susu had fled from the carriage on her own. As for Jiang Susu’s fate, it was entirely of her own making. When Jiang Susu recalled this incident in the future, would she regret it so deeply her intestines turned green?

What kind of people were those bandits? Rough and crude by nature, they certainly wouldn’t understand tenderness toward women. Once Jiang Susu entered the bandit’s lair, she would encounter a pack of wolves. Those bandits were always generous with women. Jiang Susu was naturally proud and arrogant—she would never serve that man with gentle affection. The consequences of angering the man made Ye Feng sigh with pity for Jiang Susu just thinking about it.

There were many ways to torment people in this world, but the most devastating was complete spiritual destruction. Jiang Susu wholeheartedly wanted to climb into wealthy households and live the life of a superior person, but once she entered the bandit’s lair, she could never easily escape again. Living a lowly existence day after day—wouldn’t this be more painful than beating or killing her?

Standing in the bitter cold wind, Ye Feng couldn’t help but shiver, thinking that this future young mistress was truly formidable. Her skill at killing without shedding blood was truly masterful. He must be extremely careful in serving her in the future and never provoke her. Not to mention the young master standing up for the young mistress—the young mistress alone could destroy everyone in Prince Jinying’s residence.

After standing for a while, Ye Feng seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly flew away. In a hidden mountain cave several li away, a young woman sat glaring at him angrily. Seeing him return, she finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, but her first question was, “Is the matter settled?”

Ye Feng looked at Lian Qiao with surprise. He had expected Lian Qiao’s first words to be scolding him, but unexpectedly her first concern was still the mission. Ye Feng snapped his fingers, “Naturally it’s settled.” The night wilderness was windy, and Lian Qiao wore only a thin emerald green dress, involuntarily sneezing. Seeing this, Ye Feng felt a shallow layer of guilt in his heart. Speaking of it, he had been impulsive today, directly carrying off Lian Qiao. When Lian Qiao couldn’t return to the residence for a long time and feared delaying Jiang Ruan’s affairs, she had no choice but to entrust the letter to him. To prove he indeed had the ability to handle such small matters, Ye Feng stubbornly ignored Lian Qiao’s protests and brought her along as well.

Lian Qiao was still rubbing her nose when she suddenly felt warmth on her body. Looking up, she saw Ye Feng had removed his outer robe and draped it over her, saying, “Cough, today was all my fault, implicating you.”

Lian Qiao turned her face away, quietly cursing her bad luck, but her cheeks secretly reddened. Seeing this, Ye Feng also felt somewhat embarrassed, and the atmosphere in the cave suddenly became strange. Ye Feng cleared his throat softly, “Let’s go, back to the residence.”

When the two returned to Prince Jinying’s residence, Lian Qiao had just walked into the courtyard when she saw Lu Zhu hurriedly approaching, looking her up and down. Seeing she was unharmed, Lu Zhu sighed with relief, “Where did you go? Why are you only returning now?”

Bai Zhi noticed Ye Feng standing outside the courtyard, then looked at Lian Qiao thoughtfully, saying softly, “Let’s go inside to talk first.”

Once inside, Lian Qiao recounted everything that had happened that day to Jiang Ruan in detail, finally saying, “Miss, today’s events were all this servant’s presumptuous decisions. Please punish this servant.”

“I don’t blame you,” Jiang Ruan said. “Having Ye Feng handle this matter is the same—he’s ultimately Xiao Shao’s person.”

Lian Qiao hesitated, then said, “Guard Ye also wanted to help this servant. Please don’t blame him, Miss. Today’s matter was settled properly after all…”

“I naturally won’t blame him,” Jiang Ruan said with some amusement. “Since it’s settled, there’s nothing more to it. Rest early.”

Lu Zhu, however, looked at Lian Qiao with a grin, “Sister Lian Qiao seems to truly care about Guard Ye. Why are all your words defending Guard Ye? Could it be you feel sorry for him?”

“You little vixen, how dare you talk nonsense in front of Miss! Watch me tear your mouth apart.” Lian Qiao wasn’t one to be submissive and immediately responded spiritedly, “Who knows who’s been chatting and laughing intimately with Jin Er every day? I saw you embroidering a handkerchief today too—is that handkerchief meant for Jin Er?”

“You…” Lu Zhu was both embarrassed and anxious, making as if to hit her. The two made a commotion in the room. Perhaps because today’s commission had gone smoothly, a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Jiang Ruan’s lips.

…

The night was ink-black. Deep in the mountains and old forests, there was a village. At this moment, there were still some voices inside, accompanied by noisy clamor and crude cursing. A group of bare-chested burly men squatted at the doorway, with wine jugs scattered on the ground. Amidst the overwhelming stench of alcohol, one person said, “I heard Scar Li brought back a woman today? That woman’s pretty good-looking?”

This group of men were all middle-aged, with various sword and blade scars on their bodies. They looked fierce and malevolent, reeking of sweat and alcohol, quite nauseating.

“That’s right, don’t know what kind of luck he had. Looking at her, she’s still a virgin.” Another person said, “What a bargain for him!”

“What virgin,” a fat, burly man wiped the sweat from his forehead, “I heard she was meeting her lover when Scar Li caught her. She’d already secretly pledged herself to someone—how clean could she be?” He revealed a lewd smile, “But letting him have the first taste—when he’s had enough fun, we can get our share too!”

Hearing this, the others all revealed knowing smiles.

This was a bandit’s lair situated deep in the mountains. The village was inhabited entirely by men like these bandits—there wasn’t even a single elderly person or child. Of course, there were also some women abducted from outside. These women had no status here—like objects that could be casually passed around, even having to serve many men at once. Therefore, women here didn’t live very long—no one could endure such inhumane torture. The men here had to go down the mountain from time to time to bring back new women, and everyone was accustomed to this. However, women of such superior appearance and temperament as today’s were rare, and everyone envied Scar Li, gathering together to make sarcastic remarks.

In a dilapidated room in the village, after some disturbing sounds passed, there was a “crack” as someone used a fire starter to light the oil lamp in the room, and the dim light immediately brightened. A filthy wooden bed was covered with a somewhat smelly thin blanket. At this moment, the blanket was covered with various stains, and a woman lay sprawled on top.

This woman’s eyes were vacant and wide open. Her originally beautiful face was covered with red marks and handprints, obviously having suffered great abuse. Her entire body had no unmarked flesh, with bruises that were chilling to behold. At this moment, her body was positioned in an indecent manner, yet she didn’t move at all, having been tormented until she had no strength left.

Scar Li sat up, dressing while looking at Jiang Susu. When his gaze fell on Jiang Susu’s white neck, he couldn’t help but leer, leaning over to roughly kiss her again.

Jiang Susu seemed to finally react, turning her head away with difficulty and spitting hard at Scar Li.

Scar Li flew into a rage, immediately slapping her. This crude man’s strength was extraordinarily great—the slap made Jiang Susu’s head turn to one side, her sweat-soaked hair completely sticking to her cheek. Her mouth immediately filled with a salty, fishy taste.

“Stinking whore, don’t refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!” Scar Li reached out and roughly grabbed Jiang Susu’s chin, “Such a pretty face—this master wants to keep it for more days of pleasure!”

“Keep dreaming,” Jiang Susu laughed coldly. Even at this point, her attitude hadn’t softened one bit. Her eyes wished she could skin Scar Li alive and eat his flesh, “When my father finds me, he definitely won’t spare you!”

The hatred in Jiang Susu’s eyes immediately infuriated Scar Li, who without another word slapped her again, “Still dreaming! Women who come to my place—there’s no shortage of young ladies from wealthy families! I think you little lady still haven’t sobered up. You gave your body to me today—even if your official father finds you later, can he still accept you? Rich families are the most selfish of all—this master has seen plenty. In the end, they just pretend not to recognize you. You still dare put on airs in front of me—seems you haven’t learned your lesson!” With that, he snorted coldly, not even glancing at Jiang Susu as he grabbed his clothes from the table and left.

Jiang Susu lay alone on the bed, two lines of tears silently flowing down. She didn’t know why things had turned out this way—the young master who was supposed to save her never appeared, but she was abducted by bandits to their lair. Just thinking about what had just happened made Jiang Susu’s whole body tremble uncontrollably. Scar Li was a demon who was extremely violent and had violated her body. Jiang Susu closed her eyes in pain, clutching the bedding beneath her hands. Living like this now, with no hope of escape, becoming such a person’s plaything—it would be better to go to a temple and become a nun.

Scar Li’s words had indeed wounded her heart. Indeed, once daughters from wealthy families experienced such things, if they were abducted by bandits, their lives were essentially ruined. Even if they were eventually rescued, most would be given poison to drink. The woman could find relief, and the family wouldn’t be laughed at, preserving their reputation.

If it were her, if it were she… Jiang Susu’s heart trembled. What would Jiang Quan do? He probably wouldn’t have the courage to acknowledge her and would turn away treating her as a stranger. If this had been a few years ago, Jiang Susu would certainly have believed Jiang Quan would save her regardless of everything. But after experiencing the Xia Yan incident and Jiang Quan making her become a nun, Jiang Susu had developed a rift in her heart toward Jiang Quan. Jiang Quan was so selfish, only caring about the Jiang family’s reputation—would he really disregard everything for her?

As her mind wandered chaotically through these thoughts, the severe pain in her body had not yet subsided when she heard the door being violently kicked open. Jiang Susu thought Scar Li had returned and immediately shuddered. Turning to look, she discovered several unfamiliar bare-chested burly men striding toward her, their eyes flashing with ominous light.

“You… what do you want?” Jiang Susu’s heart jumped with alarm as she asked with trembling lips.

The leading man grinned lewdly, “Little lady, don’t be afraid. Brother Scar said you don’t understand the rules, so he specially asked us brothers to teach you the rules. Don’t worry—we’re very gentle.”

“No… no…” Jiang Susu wanted to escape, but her entire body had long been tormented by Scar Li until she had no strength left. Where could she find extra energy? She was immediately pounced upon.

…

Each place had its own romantic opportunities and encounters. For instance, at this moment in a corner of the palace, in the courtyard where the Thirteenth Prince resided, Xuan Pei stood with his hands behind his back, coldly watching the palace maid kneeling below.

The surrounding eunuchs and palace maids all dared not make a sound, motionlessly lowering their heads. The palace maid kneeling on the ground continued pleading miserably, “Thirteenth Highness, this servant was only momentarily possessed by demons. I’ll never dare again in the future. Please spare this servant’s life, considering how I’ve served Your Highness for so many years.”

Two palace maids holding lanterns stood on either side. In the deep night, the tender child’s face in the middle showed traces of shadow under the lanterns’ glow, making him appear even more like a delicately carved jade figure, like the treasure-scattering child from stories. However, beneath such a delicate and sweet appearance, his eyes were like an ancient well without ripples. When the palace maid raised her head to meet the child’s gaze, she was immediately startled by those cold, dark eyes, feeling as if she was looking at an evil ghost crawling up from hell, coming to claim the life of a murderous sinner.

Xuan Pei slowly looked at her, “Is that so? Precisely because of this—a servant who has attended me for many years yet harbored such filthy thoughts—if I spare you, I will certainly be unable to establish rules in the future. Father Emperor values rules above all else.”

The palace maid looked at Xuan Pei with some disbelief. She didn’t know whether Xuan Pei was truly foolish or pretending to be foolish. If he was truly foolish, how could he identify her as a spy so quickly? If he was pretending to be foolish, knowing she was someone from that side, how did he have the courage to easily punish her?

Having accompanied this incompetent Thirteenth Prince for so many years, she had always thought she could firmly control this prince in her palm, often beating and scolding him since childhood. She never expected that at some unknown point, this child had seemingly become a different person, no longer cowering weakly behind others, but instead becoming intimidating.

It seemed to have started from that day when Jiang Ruan helped Xuan Pei resolve the situation before Princess He Yi—from then on, Xuan Pei began slowly changing. The palace maid didn’t understand why such a small incident could change Xuan Pei, or perhaps Xuan Pei had always been pretending, and that incident was merely a trigger. Now he had decided to tear off his mask and show his true face?

She raised her head to seriously examine Xuan Pei again, only to be shocked to discover that she truly couldn’t connect the young boy before her with the child in her memory. Though the boy before her hadn’t fully grown, he already possessed a hint of imperial bearing. Those eyes were as clear as crystal, yet impossible to fathom. His face always wore a bright smile, even when being scolded. His emotions never showed on his face—had this child already reached such a level of inscrutability?

Noticing her gaze, Xuan Pei smiled slightly, “So, it’s not that I won’t spare you—I’m truly powerless to do so.” With that, he turned away lightly, the auspicious beasts embroidered on his robe hem baring fangs and claws, creating a dark gleam in the night. His voice drifted over with the wind in the moonlight, carrying childish cruelty.

“Death by beating.”

The palace maid suddenly understood, screaming, “Your Highness, don’t—no—” Immediately after came the muffled struggling sounds of her mouth being gagged, as several burly matrons dragged the palace maid away. Everyone remained silent, watching as the tender prince turned to sit back in the chair by the door, completely calm and composed.

This courtyard full of eunuchs and palace maids, a mixed bunch, rarely had anyone who hadn’t bullied Xuan Pei. Now they all watched their eyes and noses, noses and hearts, no longer daring to say another word. Having witnessed Xuan Pei’s methods, how could they dare harbor other thoughts? They could only feel chilled to the bone.

The palace maid just now had originally been Xuan Pei’s personal attendant. For so many years, she had been arrogant toward her master, but she had backing behind her and was essentially a spy. However, perhaps feeling that following the unremarkable Thirteenth Prince had no future, she acted recklessly. Since helping Jiang Ruan testify last time, Xuan Pei’s behavior had become somewhat unusual, but this palace maid still hadn’t noticed, remaining just as arrogant. She never expected Xuan Pei would make an example of her first, finding any excuse to have her beaten to death.

Previously, everyone had considered this, but they felt the Thirteenth Prince was still a child under ten years old—young and soft-hearted. Moreover, though this personal palace maid was arrogant toward her master, she had a glib tongue and could coax Xuan Pei into good spirits, so he might show mercy. Who knew this little master would be so decisive in killing, making decisions without any consideration? For a moment, people in this courtyard couldn’t help but reconsider—some were happy about this, while others were secretly alarmed and dismayed.

Xuan Pei smiled as he surveyed everyone in the courtyard. When those eyes looked at them, for some unknown reason, they felt this child had an intimidating presence they dared not look at directly, actually being awed by his aura. Xuan Pei slowly spoke, “Having beaten one to death, the position of personal palace maid should be filled by you.” He casually pointed to an unfamiliar palace maid in the crowd. This palace maid had only been assigned to Xuan Pei’s courtyard two days ago and was still a third-class palace maid. Suddenly promoted to first-class palace maid, she immediately bowed gracefully, “Servant Ming Yue thanks Your Highness for this grace.”

The second-class palace maids in the courtyard had originally been watching for this opportunity to showcase themselves, but unexpectedly were pushed aside by a newcomer. They were all displeased and wanted to make sarcastic remarks. However, when they met Xuan Pei’s smiling expression, they couldn’t help but shiver, remembering that this little master was no longer someone who could be casually fooled. They could only suppress their resentment and forcibly restrain themselves.

Xuan Pei waved his hand and looked at Ming Yue, “Follow me inside. Everyone else, withdraw.”

The servants looked at each other. Several palace maids glared at Ming Yue before taking their leave. Xuan Pei turned and entered the room, sitting at the desk inside. Ming Yue closed the door and also entered, standing before Xuan Pei. Only then did Xuan Pei raise his head and look at Ming Yue, “Prince Jinying sent you?”

Ming Yue nodded.

Xuan Pei frowned, “Meddling in others’ affairs.” When he frowned, he showed some of the childishness appropriate for his age, more like a child throwing a tantrum.

Ming Yue thought for a moment, “Princess Hong’an said Your Highness lacked someone skilled in martial arts nearby, so Master sent this servant.”

“It’s her!” Xuan Pei immediately sat up straight. Due to his small stature, when sitting in an oversized chair, he looked quite comical. However, his mood seemed excellent as he said, “I knew that with Prince Jinying’s temperament, he definitely couldn’t be so kind-hearted. She’s still kind-hearted and thoughtful.”

When applied to Xiao Shao, this was meddling in others’ affairs, but when applied to Jiang Ruan, it became kindness and consideration—quite a difference. Ming Yue forcibly suppressed her laughter and said, “Your Highness and the Princess seem destined to be connected—your demeanor and behavior are seventy percent similar.”

Hearing this, Xuan Pei became even happier, smiling with narrowed eyes, “Naturally, she’s my…” His words suddenly stopped, then he continued, “The person I helped testify for.”