If they were both truly weak women, they indeed couldn’t have escaped.

But one of them didn’t seem quite so weak—or rather, wasn’t this martial arts skill a bit too extraordinary?

Fuman stared dumbfounded at the scene before her.

Over twenty burly men were naturally fierce and quick-handed, but whether it was axes, halberds, knives, forks, ropes, clubs, swords, or spears, none could even touch the hem of her skirt.

Ruyi seemed to be toying with them, completely unafraid of the murderous aura rushing toward her. She deflected all killing moves with effortless grace, her fingers looking delicate as scallions, yet when they touched those men, the impact was heavy enough to make muffled thuds.

Here, someone had just raised a knife when his wrist went numb. There, someone was about to swing a rope, but with a flash before his eyes, the rope ended up around another servant’s neck.

Then came successive screams as the burly men tumbled into the mud in disarray, their knives piercing their companions’ waists and bellies, their ropes strangling their companions’ throats.

The crimson hem of her skirt swayed in an arc within the pavilion as Ruyi sat back down in front of her, admiringly looking at her nail polish: “Not a drop of blood on it. Excellent.”

Fuman exclaimed in amazement: “Miss, miss’s martial arts are even better than Lord Shen’s.”

If Lord Shen had fought these twenty-odd men single-handedly, he would inevitably have sustained some injuries.

Ruyi somewhat guiltily touched her nose tip.

She wasn’t as good at disguising herself as Shen Qiyuan—that fellow was truly deep and calculating.

“Miss, miss is so capable, why, why would you still be stabbed?”

Seeing that there were rather too many corpses here, Ruyi simply pulled her up to leave: “In the prestigious families within the city, the more people I kill, the more trouble I cause, so naturally I can’t make a move. But here? This is already a burial mountain.”

Fuman nodded as if understanding yet not quite understanding.

The two slowly walked down the mountain, caught a carriage after dawn, and returned to the city.

Ruyi did nothing else first but had the servant heat a large tub of hot water, took a comfortable bath, then pulled Fuman to eat a sumptuous lunch, after which she began to sleep.

She was too tired and had lost too much blood. Even though her wound had healed, she couldn’t help feeling dizzy and light-headed. Fuman seemed equally exhausted from crying and fell asleep without a sound.

They slept until evening. When they opened the door again, both had disheveled hair and even sleep marks on their faces.

Ruyi laughed out loud and called for the servant to bring another table of delicious food.

Though Fuman had been a female clerk before, her salary wasn’t high, and she lived frugally. Suddenly seeing this pile of delicacies, she couldn’t help exclaiming: “Even life in the forbidden palace isn’t, isn’t like this.”

Ruyi served her a piece of crab: “Try it.”

Hesitantly taking a bite, Fuman’s eyes lit up: “De, de, delicious.”

Seeing her finally show some signs of life, Ruyi smiled and nodded.

The little girl was still young—she had plenty of good days ahead of her. How could she seek death?

“Boss, I went to inquire about what you asked.” The servant said in a low voice with a grave expression, “The Grand Preceptor’s manor left no survivors.”

The smile froze on her face as Ruyi turned: “What did you say?”

“Please don’t be angry. That maid signed a death contract with Liu Manor. Even if she lost her life, you couldn’t sue anyone.”

Grand Preceptor Liu had taken Jian Deng captive merely to lure Liu Ruyi into the trap. With Liu Ruyi dead, if they kept Jian Deng alive, that loyal maid might report to the Lin’an yamen at any time. Naturally, beating her to death was the most convenient solution.

Ruyi’s fingers twitched, then she pushed away her bowl and chopsticks and grabbed the servant’s collar: “Where is her body?”

“The Grand Preceptor’s manor has always been secretive in dealing with servants. I only found out that she was carried out through the west side gate, but I don’t know where she went after that.” The servant looked at her somewhat fearfully, “If you’re still short of maids and servants, I can go to the market tonight and buy two back.”

Her five fingers suddenly loosened as Ruyi pressed her temples.

In the Great Qian people’s eyes, maids and servants were just worthless livestock. When they were gone, you bought new ones; when they died, no one felt heartache. But ever since she came here, Jian Deng had been taking care of her. The little girl was loyal and gentle, with her heart and eyes full of her master.

She wasn’t livestock. She was her friend.

Taking a deep breath, Ruyi stood up and said to Fuman, “I need to go out for a while. Just stay here and wait for me.”

Fuman nodded obediently.

Changing into dark blue plain clothes, she put on a gauze hat and went out.

Once a person died, even demons and gods couldn’t revive them. She knew clearly that even if she found Jian Deng, she couldn’t bring her back to life, but according to human customs, she should at least bring her body back to her homeland.

Perhaps the murderous aura around her was too obvious, because she was stopped as soon as she approached the Grand Preceptor’s manor.

“Miss Liu?” Seeing it was her, Zhou Tingchuan couldn’t help but relax his guard, only curious: “What are you planning to do in this outfit?”

Ruyi answered his question with a question: “What are you doing here?”

Today is a great day when Grand Preceptor Liu receives imperial grace. My lord specially had me accompany him to watch the excitement.” He said, somewhat moved, “The grace of being buried beside the imperial mausoleum! Since the founding of the nation, the old Grand Preceptor is the first to receive this honor.”

The imperial mausoleum was an auspicious place with excellent feng shui. Those who could be buried in the ministers’ cemetery were all founding heroes or noble generals. If someone in a family tree entered the ministers’ cemetery, it would bring glory for several generations.

Ruyi smiled without warmth: “He’s worthy of that?”

Zhou Tingchuan was startled, then remembered Liu Ruyi’s connection to the Grand Preceptor’s manor and couldn’t help but block her path: “The imperial guards from the palace are all here today. Don’t be impulsive. If there’s anything, discuss it with my lord first.”

Discuss? Ruyi lightly clapped her hands.

“Right, we should discuss it.”

“Ah, that’s right…”

“Let’s discuss what formation to set up on Grand Preceptor Liu’s grave.” She turned cold and continued walking inside, “Though binding formations are useful, killing formations would be more suitable.”

Zhou Tingchuan was knocked aside by her, his shoulder aching. Seeing trouble brewing, he was about to shout while covering his shoulder when he saw a figure ahead directly embracing her.

Ruyi was already annoyed, and even though she looked up to see Shen Qiyuan’s cool yet handsome face, it couldn’t suppress her anger: “Let go.”

Shen Qiyuan didn’t let go, but instead tightened his grip on her wrist, his brow furrowing: “You’re injured?”

How long had it been since they last met? How had she become as pale as thin paper?

She had no good expression: “I have business to attend to. If you keep blocking me, I’ll beat you up too.”

As if not hearing her threat, he led her to a less crowded alley, held her pulse to examine it carefully, then his expression turned ugly: “Go back and lie down.”

Ruyi laughed angrily: “I’ve come all this way, and you want me to go back with just one sentence? What arrogance.”

“Your body is anemic and weak, already at its limit. If you don’t go back and find a skilled physician, even if you have heaven-defying abilities, you’ll probably become half-dead.” His tone grew heavier as he spoke. After thinking for a moment, he simply pulled her along, “I’ll escort you back.”

Ruyi struggled directly: “Lord Shen, Shen Qiyuan, do you not want your reputation as Lord Zongzheng? Where is there precedent for dragging a young lady on the street?”

“In this outfit, you don’t look like a young lady anyway. No harm done.”

Excellent, he was becoming increasingly unconventional.

Ruyi was so angry that she bit down on his tightly gripping hand.