“Yan Niang, we’ve missed you so much!”
“I’ve missed you too… ah…”
Outside the door, Xue Huaiyuan listened to the filthy sounds that were an assault on the ears, his face turning as black as a lump of coal.
Xue Wuyou immediately covered Xue Youli’s ears. “Little sister, don’t listen!”
In her previous life, Xue Youli had heard far more explosive gossip at the hospital—things like two department heads in their fifties brawling over a young nurse and sending her straight to the ICU, or a sixty-something senior director staying up all night to study for the postgraduate entrance exam with a young intern doctor. Gossip like that was endless!
A secret tryst was small potatoes.
Since all three people inside were completely caught up in the moment, this was the perfect chance to catch them in the act!
Xue Youli’s eyes darted around, and she turned to whisper to Xue Wuyou, “Third Brother, the back courtyard gate is bolted from the inside. Can you get it open?”
“Of course—leave it to your third brother!”
Although Xue Wuyou didn’t care much for wielding spears and clubs, he did have a bit of martial skill.
He backed up several zhang, rubbed his hands together, and prepared to charge the door—but Xue Huaiyuan moved even faster than him.
BANG!
With a thunderous crash, the courtyard gate slammed to the ground.
Father is a beast!
Xue Youli marveled inwardly as she watched Xue Huaiyuan kick the door flying, then raised her head to look into the courtyard.
Whoa!
What a huge patch of grass!
It was practically a natural bed!
On the grass, Zhang San and Li Si were clutching Yan Niang, nibbling away with great enthusiasm.
When they heard the thunderous noise from the courtyard entrance, Zhang San and Li Si’s movements froze simultaneously. Whatever excitement the aphrodisiac had stirred up was scared clean out of them.
Li Si was right in the middle of his fun when he was suddenly interrupted. Furious, he burst out cursing, “Wang Er Mazi, you turtle bastard, how dare you ruin your grandpa’s—”
Before the last word could leave his mouth, he saw who was standing at the gate. He jolted, and like an eggplant hit by frost, he completely wilted.
The sky had grown dark, and no lanterns were lit in the courtyard, but by the light of the moon, one could still make out the pale, naked figures on the grass.
Xue Huaiyuan and his wife quickly shielded their daughter with their bodies, not wanting those three shameless dogs to frighten their precious girl.
“Wuyou, take your sister away at once!”
Yan Niang had gone too far—she’d turned the back courtyard into a place of filth!
Xue Wuyou also rushed to Xue Youli’s side immediately, afraid she might burst into tears. He spoke to her gently, coaxing her softly, “Little sister, don’t be scared. Third brother will take you away.”
Xue Youli shook her head and craned her neck, eager to watch the commotion. “Third Brother, I’m not scared. Let me see—what’s going on?”
“Three mad dogs fighting—nothing worth looking at.” Seeing that she refused to leave, Xue Wuyou simply covered her eyes with his hand.
“It’s fine—I love watching mad dogs fight.”
She pried his fingers apart and peered into the grass.
However, when her gaze landed on Yan Niang and the adulterers, she could only make out their faces clearly.
Everything below their necks was a blurry mess, like the most exciting part of an adult video being pixelated out.
Xue Youli couldn’t see such a spectacular scene and grew anxious: [What’s going on? My vision is 20/20—why is everything blurry?]
The Book of Heavenly Secrets: [Host, you still have over a month before your coming-of-age ceremony. The Book of Heavenly Secrets has activated Youth Mode.]
In this dynasty, a woman wasn’t considered an adult until she turned fifteen.
Xue Youli: …
She, a twenty-nine-year-old medical doctor with an encyclopedic knowledge of human anatomy, had seen more bodies than she could count—at least eight hundred, if not a thousand. Yet here she was, watching a live scandal unfold, only to get a pixelated version. It was utterly absurd.
At that moment, Zhang San was the first to snap out of it when he recognized the four members of the Xue family rushing into the courtyard.
He shoved Yan Niang aside and shifted the blame, “Master, it was her! It was Concubine Yan who seduced me!”
Yan Niang had thought Zhang San was more honest than Li Si, but it turned out Zhang San was a coward who pushed all the blame onto her the moment trouble arose.
Back in her brothel days, she’d never lacked for men. After Xue Huaiyuan brought her into the Xue household, how could she endure such a life of abstinence, stricter than a nun’s?
She dared to play such games because Xue Huaiyuan had never bothered to control her—but that didn’t mean she was some brainless bimbo.
Seeing Zhang San shift the blame, Yan Niang wasn’t about to be outdone. She pinched her thigh hard, forcing tears to well up, and put on a pitiful expression. “Master, Madam, it was those two beasts, Zhang San and Li Si, who saw that I had no one to rely on and forced themselves on me. Please, Master, seek justice for me… wuwuwu…”
Zhang San hadn’t expected Yan Niang to put on such an act. He pulled up his pants and knelt before Xue Huaiyuan.
“Master, Madam, I’ve worked for the Xue family for over ten years. You know my character best! If you don’t believe me, ask Li Si—it was Concubine Yan who deliberately seduced us. We were momentarily bewitched and made a grave mistake! Please, Master and Madam, in consideration of our years of service, spare this humble one’s worthless life!”
Li Si quickly chimed in beside him, “Yes, yes, yes! Yan Niang was always flaunting herself in front of us, seducing me and Zhang San in every way imaginable! Please, Master and Madam, investigate thoroughly!”
Yan Niang cried even harder. “Master, they slander me so! I have no way to defend myself. I can only die to prove my innocence!”
Yan Niang had assumed Xue Huaiyuan would stop her no matter what, but he said nothing. Instead, the bright and lovely young woman beside him spoke up coldly, “Fine then. Go ahead and die.”
Yan Niang had never interacted with Xue Youli, but she knew who she was.
After Xue Youli said this, Xue Huaiyuan made no move to object, as if he truly was waiting for Yan Niang to end her own life.
How could Yan Niang actually be willing to die? She pretended to wipe her eyes and continued her tearful plea. “Master, I’ve been with you for over ten years. Would you really watch me die with injustice? Back then, I was forced into that life, but I only sold my art, never my body. Now that I’ve been violated by those two beasts, my death is of no consequence—but what about Yao’er? She’s your own flesh and blood!”
Xue Huaiyuan might not care about her life, but surely he couldn’t ignore his other daughter?
Xue Youli saw that Yan Niang dared to lie through her teeth even when caught in the act, and knew Yan Niang was no simple woman. She had to be nailed to the charge of adultery today.
With that thought, she stepped forward and demanded loudly, “Yan Niang, did my father really sleep with you sixteen years ago? Is Xue Qingyao really my father’s daughter?”
Xue Huaiyuan had neglected Yan Niang and her daughter for fifteen years and already felt guilty about it. Hearing Yan Niang’s tearful pleas, he was indeed torn.
It was true that he had made a grave mistake back then, wronging both his first wife and Yan Niang and her daughter.
However, Xue Youli’s words stunned him.
Unsure whether his daughter knew something, he turned his gaze to Yan Niang, waiting to hear her explanation.
Yan Niang, having a guilty conscience, was naturally intimidated by Xue Youli’s aggressive demeanor.
Hadn’t Yao’er said this yellow-haired girl was nothing but a useless waste?
Why did she speak with such certainty, as if she truly knew the truth?
Yan Niang’s eyes darted away evasively, but she still insisted stubbornly, “Qingyao is the daughter I carried for ten months and nearly died giving birth to. Of course she is the Master’s daughter!”
“Is that so?”
Xue Youli let out a light laugh and stopped right in front of her. “I heard that sixteen years ago, a tea merchant named He Dayong kept you for an entire month. After He Dayong left the capital, you discovered you were pregnant. To find a convenient father for your daughter, you set your sights on my father, who had gone to the Spring Breeze Pavilion to drink with his colleagues. Am I right?”
Yan Niang’s pupils constricted sharply, and her voice trembled uncontrollably. “You—I don’t understand what nonsense you’re spouting…”
It wasn’t just Yan Niang—Xue Huaiyuan was stunned too.
What did this mean?
Was there another hidden truth to what happened back then?
Every time he woke from a midnight dream, he wished that everything that had happened at the Spring Breeze Pavilion was merely a nightmare, that he had never done anything to wrong his wife and children.
So when Xue Youli spoke with such vivid detail, his subconscious actually hoped his daughter’s words were true.
“Yan Niang, you don’t think my father was completely unaware of what you did, do you? He was merely being kind and merciful, seeing that you and Xue Qingyao were a widow and orphan, and didn’t want to take things too far. After all, keeping you mother and daughter fed was just a matter of two extra pairs of chopsticks. But you didn’t appreciate your good fortune—not only did you bring your bastard child into the Xue household, you even went around seducing the servants!”
How could a woman who used her father as a fallback be allowed to make a scene in the Xue residence?
“You’re lying! I didn’t! Master, are you not going to believe your own concubine either?” Yan Niang covered her face and wept, appearing pitifully distraught, but in truth she was hiding the panic in her heart.
Xue Youli took in Yan Niang’s reaction and said in a deep voice, “Even at death’s door, you still dare to make excuses? Father, just put her to torture! Use the finger press to crush her fingers, then pull out her nails, and sprinkle salt on her wounds—let’s see if she still refuses to tell the truth!”