“Woman, I will show you the price of talking back to me and resisting me.” In Jinren’s hand was a small whip — made of the finest rattan, its handle set with gemstones, its appearance quite magnificent.

Yet when this whip that looked like a work of art landed on a person, the pain was searing and bone-deep.

Shen Ruoxi clenched her teeth, and finally could no longer hold back a cry of agony.

With that first crack of the whip, Jinren split open the back of her dress.

The particular virtue of this rattan whip was that it could make a person writhe in agony on the edge of death, yet leave no open wounds on the body — only a red welt wherever it struck.

“How does that feel? A pleasant taste?” Jinren laughed as he brought down another vicious stroke.

Shen Ruoxi’s body trembled and curled under the whip, with nowhere to flee, able only to absorb one lash after another.

For a brief moment she felt herself close to death — that sensation of being just on the verge of closing her eyes and exhaling her last breath was startlingly, achingly clear.

She was not afraid of dying. But if she died like this, all the efforts she had made before would have been for nothing.

After more than a dozen lashes, Jinren had heard only her screams — not a single plea for mercy. This ignited a fire in his heart; the hotter that fire burned, the more force he put into each strike.

“Very good — you have spirit.” Jinren raised the whip again, ready to bring it down once more. “I want to see just how long you can last.”

But just as that next lash was about to fall, a peculiar sound suddenly came from outside.

After a few repetitions, it fell silent again.

Standing outside were all his guards — hand-picked elites selected through layers of screening from their Di Kingdom, each capable of taking on ten at once. With these men surrounding him, he had no reason to be concerned about anything.

“Daitian.” Jinren called out toward the door.

Daitian was the captain of these guards — also the most skilled fighter among them.

Silence was the only answer Jinren received. The one called Daitian did not appear.

Jinren finally sensed that something was wrong. He gripped the whip in hand and strode toward the door. When he pulled it open, a keen blade of a dagger was already pressing against his throat.

Startled, he immediately raised both hands and said in his imperfect Hua Kingdom speech: “Let’s talk this over.”

The person’s objective didn’t appear to be him. After the dagger pointed at him for a moment, it was lowered — and before Jinren’s eyes, the figure disappeared.

When he turned around, he saw the man crouching in front of Shen Ruoxi. And under Jinren’s astonished gaze, this person lifted the barely-conscious Shen Ruoxi into his arms.

Jinren was shrewd — he understood this person had come for Shen Ruoxi. As long as he didn’t resist, he’d be in no danger. Between his own life and a woman, there was nothing to hesitate over.

Jinren even stepped back two paces to clear the path, allowing that person to carry Shen Ruoxi away unchallenged.

Once the man had left, Jinren quickly stepped outside the room — only to find his guards sprawled across the floor in every direction.

They were all still alive, but had been knocked unconscious. And they were not lightly injured.

Jinren couldn’t help breaking out in a cold sweat.

That man had, through his efforts alone, subdued the guards he had personally selected — and had done so without making virtually any sound at all.

He had moved through his compound as though walking into an empty land. Never mind taking someone away — even killing Jinren would have been effortlessly within his means.

Yet following the shock came boundless fury, because Jinren’s authority had been challenged and the dignity of his royal house had been humiliated.

This matter — he would not let it go so easily.

~

Shen Ruoxi drifted back from the haze of unconsciousness. The searing pain all over her body made her involuntarily let out a groan. “It hurts!”

“So now you know it hurts?”

Shen Ruoxi recognized the familiar voice and quickly opened her eyes.

Seeing clearly who stood before her, she said in surprise: “Mr. Xie?”

Xie Yan looked down at her from above, a mocking smile at the corner of his lips. “Didn’t you think yourself quite capable — daring to offend even the Commander and the Di Kingdom’s royal family? And now you’re crying out in pain. Where was all that bravado before?”

Shen Ruoxi said, “I only went to sing. I wasn’t going to keep company with anyone.”

“Shen Ruoxi, do yourself the courtesy of seeing clearly what era you’re living in, and also see clearly your own position. You are no wealthy young lady, no child of a powerful household. You want to feed yourself, you have to endure.”

“I would sooner die than keep company with those men.”

“It seems this time’s events have still not taught you a lesson.” Xie Yan said with a cold laugh. “You told me — give you a job, and you can feed yourself, you can survive in this era. But I gave you that chance, and you nearly threw your life away.”

“This time was an accident.” Shen Ruoxi quickly explained. “Mr. Xie, please give me another chance.”

“What can you do besides sing?”

“I…”

“You can only sing. So you can only be a singer. And what you experienced today is a process every singer must go through.” Xie Yan looked at her and said. “Did you think they were paragons of virtue? Did you think they looked magnificent standing on that stage? Those people in the audience — if they wanted to crush you, it would be as simple as crushing an ant.”

Shen Ruoxi lowered her gaze, fixing it on the thin coverlet draped over her body.

Xie Yan was right. She couldn’t refute a single word.

This was the world of the powerful. It was an era where power and ability did the talking.

“Shen Ruoxi — to survive, you must adapt to it, accommodate it. You cannot change this age — you can only try to fit into it. Otherwise the only thing waiting for you is a dead end.”

Xie Yan made a gesture, and a female doctor came in from outside.

“Tend to her wounds.”

“Yes, Mr. Xie.” The female doctor walked to the bedside, lifting the coverlet from Shen Ruoxi’s body.

Shen Ruoxi’s outfit was split with the marks of the whip in every direction, her condition looking utterly bedraggled. Several lashes had caught her on the chest — and through the rents in the fabric, a faint hint of pale skin could just be glimpsed.

Xie Yan averted his gaze and turned toward the door. “Think it over yourself.”

With the sound of the door closing, Shen Ruoxi let out a long, heavy sigh.

“Young lady,” the doctor said kindly, “the things Mr. Xie said — I heard them all from outside, and he’s right. We women have a hard time surviving safely in this world. Your stubbornness won’t solve anything — stubbornness can’t be eaten as food.”

Shen Ruoxi looked at her, sniffling. “And you? What about you?”

“From childhood I wanted to become a doctor. But my family wouldn’t agree — because above me were several older brothers, and below me there were younger ones too. All the family’s money went toward the boys. Even though I was clever and exceptional, the ones sent out to study were the sons, and I could only devour the textbooks they brought back from school. Later, through my own efforts, I got into a medical college, working while I studied to pay my tuition. But what kind of work could a student do? As it happened, a wealthy man took a liking to me. So I became his mistress — he put me through school, and I went to him several times a week.”

Shen Ruoxi was taken somewhat aback, yet found herself at a loss for words.

“What is a little dignity sacrificed for one’s dream? All the more so when it’s simply a matter of staying alive.” The doctor spoke of all this without a ripple of emotion, as though these experiences were nothing out of the ordinary for her.

“Miss, Mr. Xie saved you this time — but what about next time?” The doctor sighed and shook her head. “Mr. Xie is no one’s idea of a good person.”

“Doctor, how exactly did I end up back here?” Shen Ruoxi knew it was Xie Yan who had saved her, but she had no idea what had happened in between.

“It was Mr. Mu.”

“Mu Bai?”

Shen Ruoxi had heard of this person, though she had never met him. Reportedly, he was Xie Yan’s foremost fighter — more precisely, this Mu Bai had few rivals in Shun Cheng or even across the entire Xin Kingdom.

“Bringing this much trouble to Mr. Xie this time.” Shen Ruoxi let out a sigh. “I was too naive.”

“I’m afraid Mr. Xie’s having offended that Di Kingdom man won’t be so easy to resolve.”

Shen Ruoxi immediately asked with some anxiety: “Will that Di Kingdom man come looking for trouble with Mr. Xie?”

However powerful Xie Yan might be, he was still a commoner. And that Di Kingdom person was an official. Since ancient times, a commoner cannot fight an official.

“This Di Kingdom man can’t stir up too much trouble on our Xin Kingdom soil. But I heard he and the Shi family’s Second Young Master have grown close, and you being seized and taken to that Di Kingdom man’s residence — there’s a good chance the Second Young Master arranged it.” The doctor was one of Xie Yan’s trusted people and had some knowledge of these affairs. “This Di Kingdom man will certainly report it to the Second Young Master, and then there’ll be some unavoidable trouble.”

“It’s all my fault.” Shen Ruoxi pressed her lips together, then quickly recovered her resolute expression. “If they come looking for trouble with Mr. Xie, I’ll simply offer my life in recompense.”

“Since Mr. Xie saved you, he won’t let you go off to die.” The doctor soothed her. “Besides, Mr. Xie has the Young Marshal behind him.”

“The Young Marshal?”

“Has Miss Shen not heard? Mr. Xie and the Young Marshal are friends of life and death — their relationship is no ordinary one.”

Hearing the doctor say this, Shen Ruoxi finally let out a breath of relief. If the Second Young Master came looking for trouble with Xie Yan, and Xie Yan couldn’t manage on his own, the Young Marshal would certainly step in to help.

Even so, Shen Ruoxi began to reflect on the words Xie Yan and the doctor had spoken. Perhaps they were right — to be born in a time like this was to conform to it rather than struggle against it in vain.

An ant trying to topple a great tree — laughable, hopelessly out of its depth.

And she simply wanted to survive.

~

The news that the woman Shi Guang had sent to Jinren had been taken away by Xie Yan reached Shi Guang’s ears before long.

“Xie Yan?” Shi Guang’s eyes narrowed. “This Xie Yan truly has some nerve — over a single woman, he dares to make an enemy of the royal family.”

“Xie Yan is the kind of person who’s never known the height of the sky or the depth of the earth — there’s nothing in this world he wouldn’t dare do.” Zuo Liang said. “But this time he made quite a spectacle of himself. This isn’t just slapping the Di royal house in the face — it’s mocking the Second Young Master as incompetent.”

Shi Guang gave a cold laugh. “Right now I have no energy to spare dealing with him. But I can’t just let him go on like this without consequence.”