Zhou Chenyang: "…"
Zhou Chenyang: "!!"
He looked at Lin Xiuyan with an incredulous expression.
Before he could speak, Lin Xiuyan burst into tears with a loud "wah": "I was terrified yesterday!"
"Can't you see I'm injured? You didn't even ask where I was hurt—you only asked where I went last night!"
"With behavior like this, how dare you call yourself my fiancé! You don't care about me at all! I want to break off the engagement!"
After saying this, she pounded his chest with her fists, perfectly portraying the mix of a young girl's pride and fear.
Ye Junfei, who had been yawning boredly nearby, crossed his arms and watched with great interest.
Hearing Lin Xiuyan pound Zhou Chenyang's chest with loud thuds, he strongly suspected she was trying to beat him to death.
Such an engaged couple was rather amusing.
Zhou Chenyang was infuriated by her questions, and his chest ached from her pounding.
He grabbed her hands, suppressing his temper, and asked stiffly, "Where are you hurt?"
Lin Xiuyan glared at him with reddened eyes and accused, "You're only caring about me now? Too late! I'm never speaking to you again!"
With that, she broke free from Zhou Chenyang's grip, turned around, and stormed off.
Zhou Chenyang: "…"
What madness had taken hold of Lin Xiuyan today?
His gaze fell on Ye Junfei, who smiled gently and said, "If you don't go after your fiancée now, she really will never speak to you again."
Zhou Chenyang asked him, "Who are you?"
Ye Junfei, never one to shy away from stirring up trouble, replied, "The one who spent a wonderful night with your fiancée."
Zhou Chenyang: "…"
Lin Xiuyan, who hadn't run far: "…"
She nearly stumbled and fell flat on her face. How could she have expected a pervert like him to say anything decent?
What a blunder!
Zhou Chenyang gave Ye Junfei a complicated look, snorted coldly, and went after Lin Xiuyan.
As soon as he left, the guards he had brought with him followed.
Ye Junfei said coldly, "Come out!"
Wu Dao emerged from behind a tree, carrying a heavy sword on his back, and knelt before him. "Greetings, Shizi."
Ye Junfei asked, "Who was that woman just now?"
Wu Dao inwardly complained: The Shizi spent the night with Lin Xiuyan and still doesn't know who she is? How shameless!
Outwardly, he replied respectfully, "That woman is named Lin Xiuyan. She is the only daughter of Lin Yunzhi, the wealthiest man in Yucheng, and is also famously known as Yucheng's most notorious female wastrel."
Ye Junfei asked with great interest, "A female wastrel? How notorious?"
He had already noticed that Lin Xiuyan was no ordinary young lady—she was bold, thick-skinned, ruthless, and cunning.
He had seen plenty of male wastrels, but a female one was a first for him.
Wu Dao carefully chose his words: "She's notorious enough that there's nothing in this world she wouldn't dare to do. She's considered a scourge in Yucheng."
"To put it in the words of Yucheng's residents: 'The sooner she dies, the sooner she can be reborn. Her existence only harms others and wastes food.'"
Ye Junfei said expressionlessly, "That sounds rather interesting."
He then asked, "And who was that man?"
Wu Dao replied, "He is Zhou Chenyang, the newly appointed City Lord of Yucheng, and also Lin Xiuyan's fiancé. Their wedding is scheduled for the fifteenth of next month."
He knew this so clearly because Ye Junfei had previously tasked him with investigating Zhou Chenyang, Yucheng's new City Lord.
As Lin Xiuyan was Zhou Chenyang's fiancée, she naturally fell within the scope of Wu Dao's investigation.
Ye Junfei sneered, "So that's Zhou Chenyang. What a coincidence."
Zhou Chenyang had only been in office for half a year but had already caused considerable trouble for Pingnan Wangfu, serving as a pawn for the emperor against the Prince of Pingnan.
Wu Dao silently lit a candle in his heart for Zhou Chenyang—most people targeted by his Shizi ended up dying miserably.
Ye Junfei asked again, "How is the relationship between Zhou Chenyang and Lin Xiuyan?"
After thinking for a moment, Wu Dao replied, "Zhou Chenyang is quite dissatisfied with his fiancée, Lin Xiuyan, but as a gentleman, he won’t take the initiative to break off the engagement."
"Lin Xiuyan is deeply in love with Zhou Chenyang, obeying his every word and fulfilling all his requests."
Ye Junfei recalled how Lin Xiuyan had beaten Zhou Chenyang earlier—he couldn’t see any trace of deep affection, only full-blown disgust and murderous intent.
He lazily remarked, "Obeying his every word? Fulfilling all his requests? Tsk tsk, are today’s playboys this good at playing games?"
After speaking, he glanced at Wu Dao and placed one hand behind his back. "You left your post without permission last night. Twenty military lashes—to be carried out upon returning to the Wangfu."
Wu Dao’s expression shifted slightly, but he replied respectfully, "Yes!"
Seeing Ye Junfei start walking, he hurried to follow.
Ye Junfei turned to look at him, and Wu Dao quickly took a step back, saying, "From now on, I will do my utmost to protect the Shizi, ensuring no female playboy can lay a hand on you!"
He had only intended to express loyalty and set a tone for future actions, but he inadvertently struck a nerve.
A gentle smile appeared on Ye Junfei’s face. "Add another thirty lashes upon returning."
Wu Dao: "!!"
Fifty lashes could kill a man!
Zhou Chenyang intercepted Lin Xiuyan at the intersection ahead, grabbing her sleeve and saying, "Lin Xiuyan, haven’t you caused enough trouble?"
Seeing the bustling crowd around them, Lin Xiuyan realized Zhou Chenyang couldn’t possibly silence her here, and Ye Junfei hadn’t followed. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
On her way here, she had already sorted out her thoughts:
Zhou Chenyang coveted the Lin family’s wealth. Before obtaining it, he wouldn’t openly break with her—he would only try to placate her.
At the same time, she recalled something critically important:
Zhou Chenyang had blocked her path today with two goals—to kill her if possible, or at least prevent her from returning home.
Because on this very day in her past life, Jiang Xinrou had persuaded Lin Xiuyan’s father to invest one hundred thousand taels of silver into Xinzhitang.
Xinzhitang was Zhou Chenyang’s enterprise. Once the Lin family invested, they became his personal treasury.
Using this as a foundation, Zhou Chenyang dragged the Lin family completely into the mire.
He exploited the influence the Lin family had built over years in Yucheng to the fullest, turning them into the sharpest blade against Pingnan Wangfu.
As a result, the Lin family became a thorn in the side of Pingnan Wangfu, and she was tortured by Ye Junfei until life was worse than death.
In the end, the Lin family’s wealth was exhausted, and they met with ruin and death!
Lin Xiuyan recalled the despair in her father’s eyes before his death, her mother’s tears, her own disfigurement, severed arm, and the disappearance of her remains. A flash of murderous intent crossed her eyes.
When her gaze met Zhou Chenyang’s, it shifted back to a spoiled, aggrieved expression. "You don’t care about me, and now you’re even scolding me!"
Zhou Chenyang: "…"
In the past, the slightest hint of displeasure from him would make her circle him like a dog, wagging her tail to please him.
Today, not only had she laid hands on him, but she also dared to express dissatisfaction!
He was just about to lash out to regain his footing when he heard her add, "Don't think I don’t know—you secretly met my cousin the day before yesterday and even gave her a hairpin!"
Jiang Xinrou was her cousin.
She seemed to grow angrier as she spoke, hands on her hips, cheeks puffed out, demanding indignantly, "Are you my fiancé, or are you my cousin’s fiancé?"