That woman was none other than Xie Suisui's adoptive mother, the wife of General Xie Fei, Luo Sheng.
Qi Hui's head began to ache.
For Xie Suisui, seeing her adoptive mother again felt like a lifetime had passed.
Her eyes reddened instantly.
"Mother," she choked out, rushing over, "Suisui missed you so much…"
"I'm here, don't be afraid!" Luo Sheng's heart ached as she saw blood caking half of her face, making her look like a crimson-faced demon, and the wounds on her hands so deep the bone was visible.
She immediately cursed: "Are you stupid? Why didn't you go see a doctor first? What's the point of reasoning with these scoundrels? Don't you know dogs can't understand human speech?"
With a "rip," Luo Sheng tore three strips of cloth from the hem of her own new garment—one to wrap Xie Suisui's head, two to bind her hands.
Qi Hui fumed: "Who are you calling a dog?"
Luo Sheng whipped a knife out from the table with a "whoosh," pointed it at Qi Hui, and roared: "You told me to return your daughter to you, and I did! And this is how you treat her?"
Qi Hui instinctively recoiled, staring at the gleaming blade, his voice turning shrill as he shouted: "What are you doing? Are you trying to cut down the Prime Minister?"
The Prime Minister's wife, Xiao Shanshan, also snapped back to her senses and said indignantly: "Madam Xie, do you intend to meddle in the affairs of the Prime Minister's residence?"
"Shut up!" Luo Sheng barked at Xiao Shanshan, itching to slash someone.
"Prime Minister Qi, Suisui may be your daughter, but I raised her. In twelve years, I never let her shed a single drop of blood. She's been at the Prime Minister's residence for only a few days, and you've left her head split open and her hands mangled like this? You haven't even called a physician—are you even human?"
"I run my household with strict discipline. How do you know this isn't a scheme she staged herself, reaping what she sowed? Madam Xie, charging in here without knowing the facts—do you no longer care about the future of the General's residence?"
"What of it? Can you issue decrees in the Emperor's stead?"
"You're being unreasonable, aren't you? Then I must ask Madam Xie to leave the residence!"
"Who staged a scheme? Who reaped what they sowed?" Xie Suisui hopped on her small feet and said, "Prime Minister, what gives you the right to speak to my adoptive mother like that?"
Qi Hui grew even angrier, jumping up and slamming the table, his hand stinging numb from the impact.
"Xie Suisui, I am your father!"
"Aren't you the Prime Minister?"
"…" What kind of twisted logic was this?
There were many guests today, all high-ranking officials of weighty authority, and they all chimed in to urge Luo Sheng and Xie Suisui to stay calm.
But most subtly took sides, openly and covertly favoring Qi Hui and Qi Qingrou.
Qi Hui was the Prime Minister, a first-rank official of the court. And who was Qi Qingrou? A Lucky Star, a gifted scholar, whose fiancé was the Empress's own younger brother—royal kin.
"Rumble, rumble," the heavy sound of wheels grinding over the blue-brick path rolled slowly toward the reception hall.
Everyone turned their heads involuntarily.
In the setting sun, the wheelchair resembled an elegant palanquin from ancient times—solemn, majestic.
Seated upon it was a figure of breathtaking beauty, peerless and transcendent.
The contours of that face seemed sculpted from ice and snow of distant mountains, pale to the point of near transparency. His eyes were like glaciers frozen for ten thousand years in the polar wastes—utterly devoid of warmth.
It was none other than Jiang Wuyang, the commander of Six Doors, known as the sage of the martial world, the friend of the Emperor, the immortal of the literary circle, the master of the chivalrous path, and the iron-faced, merciless master of case-solving.
Qi Hui frowned: Why is he here?
Luo Sheng's eyes lit up at once. She hurried over to Jiang Wuyang and pleaded: "Lord Jiang, you've come just in time. Prime Minister Qi has been abusing my daughter."
Qi Hui rose politely and greeted Jiang Wuyang.
Jiang Wuyang swept his gaze across the room and immediately spotted Xie Suisui's considerable injuries, as well as the alarming marks on Qi Qingrou's neck.
"What exactly happened?" Jiang Wuyang looked at Xie Suisui.
Qi Hui didn't want to drag a family dispute into Six Doors, so he merely said: "A minor quarrel between my two daughters."
Xie Suisui would never pass up the chance to put her biological father in the spotlight. She immediately pointed at Qi Qingrou and lodged her complaint: "Lord Jiang, the eldest Miss Qi tried to kill me!"
Qi Qingrou immediately counter-accused: "Xie Suisui tried to strangle me when I wasn't looking."
As she spoke, she wept like a pear blossom in the rain, showing everyone the marks on her neck.
Xiao Shanshan said: "Xie Suisui, no matter how jealous you are of your elder sister, you can't go this far. Heaven have mercy—thank goodness their brother heard the commotion, or the eldest miss would be dead."
Qi Ziheng's wife, Tao Xinyi, added fuel to the fire: "The eldest sister was born with rosy clouds filling the room, and as she grew, her fame spread across the capital—even His Majesty calls her a Lucky Star. But the third sister? She's nothing but a Coffin-child, born with ill fortune, a mere Broom Star…"
Luo Sheng raged: "You're the Broom Star! Your whole family are Broom Stars!"
"The parties involved are the eldest Miss Qi and Miss Xie Suisui. This official is presiding over the case—unrelated parties, please refrain from interjecting."
Jiang Wuyang said coldly to Qi Qingrou: "Miss Xie Suisui has been back at the residence for only a few days. Why would she attack you today?"
"At today's banquet, no one paid her any mind. Everyone was kind to me, so she took her anger out on me."
Xie Suisui found it amusing inwardly. Qi Qingrou was counting on Yu Tang being gone so she could deny the adultery and murder, and even try to turn the tables?
Qi Ziyu had already changed his clothes and was sneezing repeatedly. He said: "Lord Jiang, Xie Suisui hasn't spoken yet. Why not let her tell her side?"
Jiang Wuyang looked at Xie Suisui, who had kept her head lowered the whole time. The girl was small, as if frightened out of her wits.
His voice remained calm and unruffled as he said, "Miss Xie, you are the party involved. Please state the facts truthfully."
Only then did Xie Suisui raise her head, looking at Jiang Wuyang with eyes full of tears.
A delicate little mouse, with dark, puppy-like eyes—plop, a string of teardrops!
"Sir, I—I may speak the truth?"
The hearts of the Qi family members present leaped.
Qi Ziyu stared at her intently. The people of the General's Manor valued their word. She wouldn't spout nonsense, would she?
He had been beaten black and blue, and had even handed over three hundred taels of silver, with his seal pressed into her keeping. If she dared to go back on her word, he'd deal with her later!
"Speak the truth freely and without fear. In this court, I judge by right and wrong alone, regardless of status," Jiang Wuyang said.
Xie Suisui burst into loud sobs, then untied the bandages Luo Sheng had just wrapped around her hands and head, showing Jiang Wuyang her wounds.
"Lord Jiang, they nearly crushed me to death with a flowerpot, and Qi Qingrou almost threw me down a well…"
She recounted the whole affair—how Qi Qingrou had been carrying on with Yu Tang of the Shengyang Marquis Manor, how they had tried to kill her with a flowerpot to silence her, and how they later meant to toss her into a well.
Qi Hui's dignity? Everyone's shoe insoles.
She did not mention the escape from the war three months later, nor did she bring up Yu Tang's ambition to crown himself king.
Not for the sake of the hundred thousand taels of silver, but because "rebirth" was something people would dismiss as sheer nonsense!
Qi Qingrou having an affair with Yu Tang, and her stumbling upon it, nearly being silenced—hacked until her head and hands were drenched in blood—now that was explosive gossip! Guaranteed to spread across the capital within half a day.
Qi Qingrou was the Lucky Star. In the capital, those who secretly resented her would seize this chance to ruin her reputation.
The guests were stunned.
They had just bitten into a colossal piece of melon!
Yu Tang had withdrawn from the engagement earlier, saying—what was it?—"This junior has one I wish to wed; only when my name is made shall I come to propose."
The one he wished to wed—it was Qi Qingrou, wasn't it?
But the second son of the Shengyang Marquis Manor was nowhere near comparable to the heir of the Xuanping Marquis!
Could Qi Qingrou have taken a liking to him? And rolled into bed with him?
If it were true, this would be the greatest joke in Shengjing. If it were false, Xie Suisui's life would be hanging by a thread!
Qi Ziyu, furious, charged at her to strike her: "You promised me just now you wouldn't say this! You worthless wretch, Broom Star, plague-bringer…"
Luo Sheng had long since lost patience. He lashed out with a slap, sending Qi Ziyu flying more than ten feet away, blood spurting from his nose and mouth.
"You and Suisui share the same mother—anyone hearing you would think you crawled out of a stepmother's belly. A wolf-hearted beast! If you ever lay a hand on Suisui again, I'll squeeze your eggs out," Luo Sheng cursed.
Qi Ziyu clutched his numb, throbbing face and instinctively clamped his legs together, a chill racing up his crotch!
Only then did he remember—in his youth, Luo Sheng had been known alongside Xie Fei as one of the "Twin Killers," the Martial Pacification General!
Jiang Wuyang gave a slight wave of his hand. Two Funeral Nails shot out with a whistle, embedding themselves into the wall on either side of Qi Ziyu's head, freezing him in terror.
"Unrelated people—shut up!"
His voice was low, but everyone knew he was angered.
This man was the only official in the entire realm who, despite his disability, still walked the halls of court. He was the commander of Six Doors, a master of the martial world whose skill was so profound he had yet to meet his match.
Xie Suisui's gaze snapped to the Funeral Nails. The spikes were two inches long, their tail feathers carved into lifelike plum blossoms.
In her past life, the Northern Yan scouts who had hunted her had been killed by several plum branches shot like arrows, allowing her to escape. Could the one who saved her have been Lord Jiang?
"Miss Xie Suisui, continue." Jiang Wuyang's words were cold, but Xie Suisui clearly heard the gentlest voice in the world—one called justice.
"Qi Ziyu told me to lie, saying that if I didn't protect Qi Qingrou's reputation, he had ten thousand ways to kill me… See, here's the evidence of his bribe for my silence."
Xie Suisui placed the three hundred taels of silver, Qi Ziyu's seal, and the jade pendant on the table.
Qi Ziyu immediately flew into another rage.
Wait—hadn't she been the one forcing him to give all that up?!
Luo Sheng's tiger eyes bulged as he watched Qi Ziyu, ready to strike again. He stepped forward half a pace without a sound, and Qi Ziyu, one hand clutching his crotch, pounded the ground with the other.
At that moment, someone stood up.
The man wore a magnificent robe painted with ink-wash landscapes. His cold, proud eyes seemed to hold no focus, dark depths swirling beneath. Black hair, handsome features, and an icy aura radiating from his entire being.
It was none other than the younger brother of the current Empress—Gu Yanci, heir of the Xuanping Marquis.
And Qi Qingrou's fiancé.
He fixed his gaze on Xie Suisui and asked, "Is everything you said true?"
"Naturally." Xie Suisui tilted her head to glance at him. Gu Yanci was handsome enough, well-born, and didn't seem the type to wear a cuckold's crown.
Gu Yanci frowned as she studied him, tugging lightly at his robes. "Look carefully—was it Yu Tang of the Shengyang Marquis Manor?"
"He tried to kill me. How could I mistake him?"
Gu Yanci gave a light snort, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and said to Qi Hui, "Prime Minister, this heir's engagement to the eldest Miss Qi is hereby dissolved as of today!"
Qi Hui frowned. "Heir Gu, the matter has not yet been fully investigated."
"No smoke without fire!"
"…"
Qi Hui clenched his fists in fury.
Xie Suisui hadn't expected Gu Yanci to be so effective, and her gaze toward him couldn't help but carry a hint of admiration.
Gu Yanci turned his head coldly: This little girl, she's not falling for me, is she?
This girl's peach blossom eyes were indeed pure and pretty, but no matter how good-looking she was, she was still an immature little girl!
Xie Suisui: …
I think I just saw a peacock spreading its tail, but it was showing me its backside!
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