The horse galloped in swiftly and came to an abrupt halt at the gate. Prime Minister Han’s hair stood on end with fury as he leapt down and lashed his whip sharply toward Ziqing. “Han Ziqing, do you intend to rebel? This Minister orders you to release your mother this instant! This Minister may yet spare your life!”
“My mother died long ago. I’ll say this one last time—call Han Xi’er out here, or else whatever she inflicted on me, I will return to Madam Han in full.”
Ziqing said coldly, and with that she abruptly spun Madam Han around to face the crowd. At once an uproar broke out—nothing much could be seen from the back beneath the underbodice, but the front was all delicate curves laid bare in suggestive exposure!
“You—!”
Prime Minister Han no longer cared what had happened before. Enraged, stamping his feet, veins bulging with fury, he swung his whip down without hesitation. Ziqing, holding Madam Han as a shield, easily dodged aside, her cold, sharp gaze fixed on the Prime Minister. She said nothing—but her dagger suddenly flicked upward.
“No—” Madam Han immediately squeezed her eyes shut, and many onlookers nearby couldn’t help but gasp in tension. One shoulder strap snapped, and the underbodice flipped down at once, her pale, delicate breasts flickering into view with each of her ragged breaths.
She kept her eyes tightly shut, not daring to look at anyone, and wept in despair. “My lord, call Xi’er out, I beg you, call Xi’er out! It’s Xi’er and I who were wrong, my lord, I can’t bear this anymore, hurry and call Xi’er out…”
“Han Ziqing, this old man will kill you today for certain!”
Prime Minister Han roared with fury and raised his whip again. Ziqing narrowed her eyes, and the dagger instantly flicked up to catch the other shoulder strap.
A man of such standing, the head of the household, yet so reckless and blindly protective of his own. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t given him the chance to ask questions—she had demanded more than once that Han Xi’er come out.
And yet he hadn’t even asked a single question about what had actually happened, hadn’t asked why she wanted Han Xi’er to come out. He’d simply charged forward, offering only to spare her life, ready to strike her down.
If she didn’t fight back today, not only would her chastity be ruined for nothing, but Madam Han would also humiliate and disfigure her publicly, then cast her out of the household to be mocked by the whole world.
If she didn’t push Madam Han to her limit today and only made a small scene instead, the whole matter would simply be smoothed over and swept aside. Han Xi’er would remain untouched by any of it, while she alone would go on bearing the entire city’s scorn.
Having been left practically naked at the gate of the Splendor of the Nation, there was no washing this clean even by throwing herself into the Yellow River. Rather than suffer alone, she might as well make the scandal bigger and drag Han Xi’er down with her.
She was no longer the Han Ziqing of before. She carried the convictions and values of a mercenary’s life—the ancients’ rigid notions of propriety, righteousness, integrity, shame, filial piety, brotherly duty, loyalty, and trust meant nothing to her, utter nonsense. But Han Xi’er was different—not to mention anything else, in just a few more days she was set to be selected as Prince Yao’s consort!
Seeing Ziqing make this move, Prime Minister Han was forced to stop. Fighting down the urge to lose his mind completely, he cast a cold glance around at the crowd, and at once the onlookers retreated.
“Guards! Drive them all away! Get everyone out of here this instant, by my order!”
Before long, the onlookers scattered like a receding tide, leaving the surroundings eerily silent, so that Madam Han’s mournful sobbing rang out all the more clearly.
“Xi’er… call Xi’er… hmm, hmm… my lord, call Xi’er here…”
Hearing these sobs, Prime Minister Han’s brow furrowed deeply. As a man who had schemed and maneuvered his way to the position of Prime Minister, he saw through Han Xi’er’s little trick at a glance. What he hadn’t expected was Ziqing’s sudden, drastic change in temperament—one he found he could not suppress no matter how hard he tried.
Here at the front gate, with countless unseen eyes watching from every direction, if he truly called Xi’er out now, even the smallest misstep could jeopardize the household’s consort selection just days away.
Angry as he was, he forced himself to calm down. “Ziqing, release your mother first. Behaving like this at our own front gate—what will people think? I believe you wouldn’t do anything truly disgraceful. I promise you, I will look into this matter thoroughly, without favoritism, and punishment will be meted out fairly!”
Would Ziqing believe him?
How could she possibly? Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Han Xi’er—who had been too afraid to show herself all this while—came hurrying forward, crying out in alarm, “Father, Mother, what on earth has happened here!”
She had come after all? What game was this?