Feng Junzhuo muttered to himself in a panic, mumbling incoherently. As the half-master of the household, when faced with such a situation, he had lost all composure, without even a shred of a family head’s bearing!

Feng Qingyin looked at him, and the more she looked at this father of hers, the more contemptible she found him.

Such a useless man, yet he was her own biological father!

Where did Feng Junzhuo have any mind to care about the gazes of others right now? If it led to the execution of nine generations of the family, then no one would have any chance of surviving.

What to do? What to do?

“Master, it is not an imperial decree!” A servant finally ran up to him, gasping for breath. “It is… it is the Sixth Miss and… and the Seventh Miss — something has happened to them!”

“What… do you mean?” Feng Junzhuo’s emotions had swung so violently that his heart could barely endure it.

As long as it was not an imperial decree, there was still no need to fear being executed along with the family for now.

Not a decree, good. Not a decree, good. As for the Sixth Miss and the Seventh Miss, whatever’s happened has happened — what was there to make such a fuss about?

“Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister?” Feng Qingyin was considerably calmer than Feng Junzhuo. She fixed the servant with a stare and asked, “What happened?”

“The two Misses… the two Misses have been hung up in a tree by someone — a very tall… very tall tree, truly very tall… hah—”

……

By the time Feng Qingyin and a finally calmed Feng Junzhuo arrived, the manor’s guards were trying to figure out how to climb the tree and rescue the two.

However, the two of them had been bound to an exceptionally tall tree at the back of the hill — it may well have been the tallest tree in that entire area.

In any case, it was truly, tremendously tall.

The most vexing thing was that the place where they had been bound was far too distant from the trunk, and no one could fathom how whoever had done this had managed to get them up there.

Those two branches were so slender that they appeared to bear just barely enough weight for two people. If anyone were to climb up to rescue them, the branches would surely snap immediately.

This raised the difficulty of the rescue enormously. Even if the guards knew lightness techniques, they could not manage to leave absolutely no weight upon the branches whatsoever.

In this world, aside from the most supreme martial experts, hardly anyone could achieve such a feat — so how were they to save the two?

If a ladder were used, it could not reach anywhere near such a height either. What were they to do?

The guards stationed both below and partway up the tree were utterly at a loss.

Feng Anya and Feng Xiyu, hanging up there, had gone head-heavy and feet-light, both on the verge of losing consciousness.

Not to mention, those two pairs of legs thrashing about in the wind — because they were suspended upside down, their garments had slid downward, leaving their legs completely exposed for all those below to see.

Even their inner shorts were in plain view. For young ladies of distinguished families, this was a humiliation worse than death.

The one who had hung them up there had likely had no intention of causing them this particular shame. After all, if the true intent was to humiliate, stripping them of their clothes entirely would have been more effective.

This was, in truth, an accident. Hanging upside down, it was only natural that the garments would slide.

“Father, Father… save us, save me…”

Both daughters were crying breathlessly up there, nearly on the verge of fainting, yet the people below remained entirely helpless.

Feng Qingyin, of course, knew who had arranged all of this. She had not expected that scoundrel would truly vent her grievances so thoroughly and so satisfyingly on her behalf.

It seemed that keeping him at her side was indeed a brilliant stratagem!

In the future, he would absolutely be the sharpest piece on her board!

Raising her head to look at her two pitiful sisters, Feng Qingyin concealed the smile in her eyes and put on an expression of great anxiety. “Sixth Sister, Seventh Sister, you must not move about recklessly. Those branches are far too thin — I fear they may snap at any moment.”

“What?” Snap at any moment?

Both of them were so frightened they could not even catch their breath.

At such a height, if the branches snapped, people could die!

Those useless guards below could not even manage to climb up and rescue them, let alone catch them.

At this height, there was simply no catching them if they fell!

“Father, what do we do now? The guards dare not climb up. If they fall, they will certainly die from the impact. If both sisters remain hanging up there, they will suffocate and perish as well.”

What Feng Qingyin said was, in truth, entirely without fault — in reality, perhaps it was truly so.

But with every sentence she spoke, she did not stray from the word “death.” This left both women above seething and terrified. Could it be that they would truly hang to their deaths here?

At that critical moment, Feng Qingyin suddenly raised another point: “Father, if Grandfather receives news about Jiu’er, will he immediately go to the palace for an imperial audience?”

“That cannot be! Given the present situation, it is evident that His Majesty is showing extraordinary clemency. If Father were to go to the palace…”

No, that would not do! If Father went to the palace to plead, His Majesty would think the Feng Family had a hand in the matter. At that point, the entire Feng Family would be implicated!

If Feng Jiu’er alone were beheaded, so be it — that was a consequence of her own recklessness and self-inflicted disaster. But what fault was there with their Feng Family?

No, Father could not be allowed to go to the palace and throw his life away. Absolutely not!

Once Feng Junzhuo thought about it, he immediately turned around and headed back to the rear courtyard — he actually abandoned his two daughters there and left the matter entirely behind.

Feng Anya and Feng Xiyu were so terrified their courage utterly shattered, and they immediately burst into sobs. “Father, Father, save us — help us…”

Yet Feng Junzhuo was anxious in his heart, desperate to stop his father from going to the palace, and just as desperate to preserve his own life!

Between these mere two daughters and his own life — which was more important?

Daughters, after all — he, Feng Junzhuo, had plenty of those.

Their master had truly walked away just like that. The guards who had been trying to rescue the two exchanged bewildered glances, unable to believe their master had genuinely abandoned his own daughters and washed his hands of the entire matter.

Feng Qingyin, for her part, was in no rush to leave. The matter of Grandfather and Father was between them; her presence would not necessarily afford her any say in it.

But here — there was still a fine spectacle left to enjoy!

“Tell me, the pair of you — however did you end up being hung up there?” After Feng Junzhuo’s departure, even the tone of Feng Qingyin’s voice grew light and breezy, her mood evidently quite pleasant.

What she said next was a further twist of the knife: “Could it be that you two have been too dreadful in the way you treat people, having done nothing but wicked deeds, and so heaven itself is now punishing you?”

“Feng Qingyin, you wretched bastard, what do you mean by that?!” Feng Anya shook with fury, even her body swaying.

“Oh dear, Sister, please do not move about — your branch is swaying. It may snap very soon!”

Hearing this, Feng Anya truly froze, not daring to move a muscle. But she was furious, wretched, and deeply suspicious.

“It must have been you. It must have been you who had this done!” Feng Xiyu raged.

“Surely not — a person as kind-hearted as myself, how could I be as black-hearted as you two sisters?”

Feng Qingyin covered her lips with a faint smile. “If I truly were that black-hearted, perhaps I would have ended up hung up in a tree just like my sisters.”

Both women ground their teeth in rage, yet neither dared to move.

“By the way, sisters, your legs are truly fair — so white and tender. Quite lovely!”

Feng Qingyin smiled as she said this, and at once every gaze snapped toward the two women’s legs. Though all were anxious to rescue the two Misses, well — it cost nothing to look!