Captain Ma looked at his still-clueless son and felt his liver ache with anger.
“Qi Yanfeng is dead!” he snapped.
“Dead? Died from illness?” Ma Chengting blurted out. “That doesn’t make sense. Sure, he had something wrong with his head, but he was actually a decent person. If his head injury were cured someday, he might even make something of himself. Then maybe Miss Ah Li would have to thank me! Father, did you hear wrong?”
Ma Chengting sounded proud, even believing he had helped bring about a good match.
Deep down, he felt he had done the right thing.
He had never liked Ah Li and had long wanted to break off the engagement—but he knew his father wouldn’t agree.
He didn’t understand the rules of the army. All he knew was that his father had been saved by a mere soldier and, because of that, had been saddled with this marriage. It was ridiculous!
His father was stubborn. His grandmother and mother had tried persuading him several times, but he still refused to budge.
Later, Ma Chengting thought that if Ah Li herself were willing to cancel the engagement, that would be ideal. But after getting to know her, he felt that without him, her life would be over. After all, who would want to marry a girl like her?
She was silent, dull, like a stagnant pool that never saw sunlight—rotted inside with lifeless gloom.
He didn’t want to watch Ah Li completely dry up, but he also didn’t want to sacrifice the rest of his life just to be a “good man.”
So long ago, he decided to use this method.
He could marry the woman he loved, and Ah Li could still find a husband.
Qi Yanfeng was ill himself, so naturally he couldn’t despise Ah Li for not being good enough. The Qi family had a lamp-oil business—though not wealthy, they never lacked food or drink. If Ah Li married over, her life would at least be stable.
Captain Ma stared darkly at his son. “Now is not the time for your nonsense! Just now, word came from the servants—Qi Yanfeng abused Ah Li. She fought desperately to resist and, in the struggle, accidentally hacked Qi Yanfeng to death!”
“……”
Ma Chengting’s body stiffened. His heart began to pound violently. “He’s… really dead?”
Yao A Ning, standing beside him, also widened her eyes.
“Yesterday was our family’s happy occasion. Many of my comrades from the army came to drink the wedding wine. A few even stayed in town and haven’t returned yet. This news will definitely spread. If people find out that I, a dignified captain, let my son commit such wrongdoing by switching brides, where am I supposed to put my face?!”
“Among all this, that Li girl is the most innocent. If she’s taken by the authorities to pay for Qi Yanfeng’s life, then I won’t be able to hold my head up ever again!”
With that, Captain Ma flung his sleeve and left.
Ma Chengting was stunned by the news. “A Ning, didn’t you say Qi Yanfeng was sick but usually fine? How could he… beat Ah Li on their wedding night? Now Ah Li has killed someone—what will happen to her?!”
“I don’t know…” Yao A Ning said anxiously. “Maybe Qi Yanfeng discovered the bride wasn’t me and was driven into an episode… Miss Ah Li is so pitiful. How can we help her?”
The two of them were like headless flies, completely at a loss.
When Captain Ma arrived at the Qi family’s gate, a large crowd had already gathered. The constables were there, and Qi Yanfeng’s body had been carried out.
The wound on the corpse was horrifying to behold.
Qi Yanfeng’s mother also received the news and rushed over, arriving almost at the same time as Captain Ma. The moment she saw the body on the ground, she lunged forward like a madwoman.
“My son—!”
“You wretched woman, you killed my son! I’ll make you pay for his life!” Qi’s mother moved quickly. Under the intense shock, her fingers trembled violently, her flared nostrils resembling tattered wings struggling in agony.
Li Shu immediately dodged away. Her voice was soft, weak. “It was he who wanted to kill me! I didn’t want to marry him. I never had any engagement with him at all… The one I was supposed to marry was the Ma family…”
Captain Ma’s heart jolted. At this point, he had no choice but to step forward and block Qi’s mother.
“Let’s talk properly. No violence!” he said firmly.
“Talk properly?!” Qi’s mother shrieked. “Why didn’t she talk properly with my son?! My son is dead! She’s a murderer—what’s wrong with me beating her to death?!”
Captain Ma felt bitter inside. “Look at her. Do you really think she looks like a murderer? Before coming, I asked around. When Qi Yanfeng had an episode, even three to five grown men might not be able to restrain him. Facing such a man, if this little girl didn’t fight back, how could she possibly still be alive?!”
Li Shu’s lips moved slightly as she raised her head to look at Captain Ma. Her eyes were cold and distant.
The original owner remembered his face clearly, as if carved into her mind.
In her entire life, there had not been many people who treated her well.
Her mother died early. Before the age of five or six, she survived only because of her grandfather—but he was gone too.
After that, her uncle counted as one. He was a military household, a low-ranking soldier. Because he lived nearby, he could see her once or twice a year, bringing her clothes and food. Her aunt wasn’t bad, but neither was she particularly affectionate.
After her uncle gave her such a good marriage opportunity, her aunt didn’t scold or curse her—but she didn’t want to see her anymore either.
She had cousins who once protected her, but with such a father and stepmother, the original owner only knew how to hide, never how to resist. Over time, even her cousins felt disheartened and gradually distanced themselves.
Even her uncle, after her engagement was settled, told her that this match was too good. Having already benefited so much, further contact might breed regret or jealousy in the future—so it would be better not to keep in touch. She should just live her own life well.
Two years ago, when Captain Ma personally came to propose on behalf of his son, Ah Li had been genuinely grateful.
She believed the Ma family were all good people—people who didn’t despise her for being unlikable or useless. She thought that if she married into the Ma family, she would certainly be filial to him.
Aside from this marriage, she had nothing.
So in Ah Li’s heart, Captain Ma was like a kind father—someone she placed her hopes in.
But when the mistake happened, the elder she trusted completely did not come to the Qi family to take her away. During the two hours she was brutally beaten by Qi Yanfeng, she had asked herself countless times—why?
Why had Captain Ma agreed to let her be his daughter-in-law, only to change his mind?
Why, in such a huge matter, could he not come and take a look—see the living hell she was going through?
Li Shu could feel the despairing pain left behind by the original owner.
“Uncle Ma, you came to take me home, didn’t you?” Li Shu asked softly. “Qi Yanfeng said Young Master Ma and Yao A Ning had already consummated the marriage. But how could that be? Young Master Ma knows me. He knows that wasn’t me, doesn’t he?”
The question was like a knife scraping across Captain Ma’s face.
The onlookers also felt the sting. Among the crowd were even some comrades who had drunk the Ma family’s wedding wine the day before; they, too, frowned deeply.
At Captain Ma’s position, trust and honor mattered greatly.
He could be a lecher, even a gambler—but he could not be a man who broke his word. Ah Li’s uncle had saved his life. Back then, in front of many soldiers and comrades, Captain Ma had personally promised to take that soldier’s niece as his son’s wife.
So now, there had to be justice.
Captain Ma’s expression grew heavy. “This is all my failure to discipline my son. That brat drank too much yesterday. After entering the bridal chamber, in his drunken confusion, he just… But don’t worry. Since I’ve acknowledged you as my daughter-in-law, I will never go back on my word. I will take you home. You will still be that brat’s legal wife!”
“And what about the Yao family girl?” Li Shu asked.
“No matchmaker, no betrothal gifts. Even if she bowed to heaven and earth, she is only a concubine,” Captain Ma said, hardening his heart.