As soon as the leading officer uttered these words, Ji Yunsu instantly became the focus of everyone present.
Meanwhile, from the two Grand Tutor Manor carriages that had already passed the inspection ahead, the heads of Zhang Momo and Zhao Momo simultaneously poked out.
Seeing that Concubine Liu and her two children had been stopped by the officers, Zhao Momo hurriedly tried to get off the carriage to help them out of their predicament.
However, Zhang Momo, her old face bruised and swollen, stopped Zhao Momo with a grab. With a cunning expression, she said, “Why are you in such a hurry? We can wait until that illegitimate daughter Ji Yunsu reveals her ugly face in public. It won’t be too late for us to step forward and announce our Grand Tutor Manor identity then.”
Hearing this, a look of confusion crossed Zhao Momo’s wrinkled face.
But soon, Zhao Momo caught on and exclaimed in surprise, “You’re stopping me from helping Concubine Liu and her children now—are you planning to make the Second Young Miss expose her hideous face in public?”
A calculating glint flashed in Zhang Momo’s narrow, triangular eyes as she snorted coldly. “Someone as ugly as her should obediently follow our orders. But she, relying on her mediocre martial skills, overestimates herself and dares to disrespect us, the seasoned servants of the Grand Tutor Manor. Well, I’ll make sure she tastes the bitterness of having her fat and ugly reputation spread throughout the capital!”
Before Zhao Momo could respond, Zhang Momo added, “Sooner or later, her unsightly reputation will get out. Now, with others doing the spreading for us, it saves our Madam the trouble.”
As their words faded, Zhang Momo and Zhao Momo exchanged a glance, both unconsciously wearing identical sly smirks.
On one side, Zhang Momo and Zhao Momo were scheming for Ji Yunsu to disgrace herself by revealing her face.
On the other side, the leading officer had already lost his patience.
Seeing that the woman standing before him showed no intention of cooperating with the inspection, he barked out a rebuke, “You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! If you won’t take off your Weimao, then I’ll assume you’re accomplices of the thieves! Men, seize this suspicious mother and her two children and throw them into the Capital Magistrate’s prison!”
“What are you doing? We’re not thieves’ accomplices!” Ji Wenbo’s small frame stepped forward first, shielding his mother and elder sister as he shouted indignantly.
But the officers paid him no mind. Under the lead officer’s command, several burly, sword-carrying officers swarmed forward menacingly.
Trained in martial arts, the officers easily overpowered the boy. Ji Wenbo, already smaller than his peers, was grabbed by the collar by the leading officer’s large hand and hoisted up like a chick.
Witnessing this, a cold, dark glint flashed in Ji Yunsu’s clear almond eyes, hidden beneath her Weimao.
The embroidery needle she held—one her mother used for sewing—was poised and ready to strike.
How dare they bully her brother? They were asking for death!
Just as Ji Yunsu was about to flick the embroidery needle toward a vulnerable acupoint on the leading officer to teach him a lesson, the situation took a sudden and drastic turn.
The leading officer, who had been arrogantly laughing while holding the frail Ji Wenbo, abruptly began to tremble violently. With a “thud,” he collapsed stiffly to the ground without warning!
His eyes rolled back, white foam spewed from his mouth, and his entire body convulsed uncontrollably.
It looked as though he could die at any moment!
“Boss! Boss!”
The soldiers under the commanding officer were frantic when they saw their superior suddenly collapse and remain motionless.
In this critical moment, they could no longer bother harassing Liu Rumei and her two children, instead hastily scrambling to carry their leader to a medical clinic.
Observing this, Ji Yunsu’s swollen face, hidden beneath the weimao, tightened with severity. She immediately called out in a low, stern voice, “Don’t move him, or he’ll die even faster!”
Her clear, authoritative shout abruptly emerged from behind the thick veil of the weimao.
At her words, the soldiers who were about to lift their leader froze mid-action.
One of them reacted swiftly and asked Ji Yunsu, “Miss, you know what’s wrong with our leader, don’t you?”
Without waiting for her reply, the soldier dropped to his knees with a thud before Ji Yunsu. “Miss, I beg you, please save our leader!”
Ji Yunsu’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. Honestly, while saving a life was said to be more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda, she had no desire to help someone who had bullied her mother and younger brother.
“Elder sister, this man looks like he’s about to die. Please save him.”
Just then, a familiar, clear voice sounded by her ear.
She saw Ji Wenbo hesitantly approach her. The thin, sallow-faced young boy flushed red and timidly whispered his plea.
“He bullied you. Aren’t you angry?” Ji Yunsu didn’t consider herself a good person, nor did she possess any sanctimonious compassion. She couldn’t be bothered with anyone or anything that showed ill will toward her, her mother, or her brother.
Ji Wenbo lifted his thin, pale, childish face and shook his head at Ji Yunsu.
A shadow crossed Ji Yunsu’s clear almond-shaped eyes. She reached out and ruffled her kind-hearted younger brother’s hair, then strode forward and knelt beside the collapsed commanding officer.
At that moment, the heavy veil of her weimao brushed against the ground.
As she drew near the convulsing officer, his uncontrollable limbs pressed down on the veil of her weimao.
Just as Ji Yunsu leaned forward to loosen the officer’s collar and administer aid, any movement caused the weimao to tug, proving quite obstructive.
Seeing the officer’s convulsions worsen and fearing he might bite his tongue and lose his life at any moment, Ji Yunsu decisively removed the cumbersome weimao and tossed it aside.
“Gasp—”
When Ji Yunsu revealed her face, still swollen and not fully subsided, the onlookers couldn’t help but inhale sharply.
Staring at her puffy, dough-like face, their eyes unconsciously filled with scorn.
No one believed such an ugly, bloated woman could possibly save a life.
Unfazed by the surrounding doubts and disdainful gazes, Ji Yunsu paid them no mind.
She sharply addressed the soldier who had earlier pleaded for her help, “Why are you still standing there? Hurry and hold down your leader’s arms and legs!”
As she spoke, Ji Yunsu deftly aimed the embroidery needle she had originally intended for retaliation and precisely inserted it into the convulsing, foaming officer’s philtrum.
The moment the embroidery needle was withdrawn from the philtrum, a black blood bead the size of a soybean immediately seeped out.
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the lead officer who had been trembling violently moments before suddenly stopped shaking!
“Pry open your leader’s mouth—don’t let him bite his tongue.”
“Loosen his collar to help him breathe freely.”
Ji Yunsu’s expression remained calm as she issued another cool command.
“Yes!” The officers, seeing their leader cease trembling and foaming at the mouth, truly saved by this plain-looking, plump girl before them, hurriedly responded. They scrambled to carry out Ji Yunsu’s instructions as directed.