Mu Wanting reached out to pull Shen Yujiao back.
Her movements appeared gentle and unhurried, seemingly without force, yet she effortlessly rescued Shen Yujiao from the hands of those beasts.
Shielding Shen Yujiao behind her, she faced Commander Li calmly and fearlessly, sharpness filling her eyes.
“Commander Li, fortunes change with time. How can you be certain the Shen family will never rise again? Showing mercy to others is also leaving a path for yourself.”
“Besides, Great Xia law clearly states that soldiers carrying out confiscations are forbidden from committing any acts of sexual assault against the condemned. If word of this reaches higher authorities, it may very well ruin Commander Li’s road to wealth.”
Commander Li had intended to speak, but under Mu Wanting’s gaze, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart and could not utter a single word.
Embarrassed, he turned toward the soldiers and barked angrily:
“Men! Search the treasury!”
The Shen family stared at Mu Wanting in astonishment.
None of them had expected that at such a moment, the person who stepped forward for the Shen family would actually be the very Mu Wanting they had disliked most.
Shen Yujiao, who moments ago had been terrified beyond measure, was now overwhelmed with gratitude. She clutched Mu Wanting’s sleeve tightly and refused to let go, hiding behind her like a frightened deer.
Mu Wanting sighed softly.
Dragging along Shen Yujiao—the “little tail” attached to her—she walked over to Madam Shen, crouched down, and began treating her wounds.
Madam Shen’s earlobe had been torn nearly in half, blood flowing endlessly. It was obvious how viciously Commander Li had acted.
Mu Wanting immediately stopped the bleeding, cleaned the wound, and stitched it closed.
Just as she finished suturing it, Commander Li stormed furiously out of the treasury.
He had thought confiscating a prince’s estate would be a lucrative assignment and had spent plenty of silver bribing people for the opportunity.
Yet in the end, he had not even found a single worthwhile item.
He grabbed Madam Shen by the throat and lifted her into the air.
“Madam Shen, why is the treasury empty?!”
Madam Shen’s face turned purple as she struggled weakly and shook her head.
Commander Li tightened his grip further. Her eyes rolled back, and it looked as though he truly intended to strangle her to death.
“Speak! Where did everything from the treasury go?!”
The Shen family tried to rush forward to help, but the Imperial Guards forced them to kneel on the ground.
Even the reclusive Old Madam Shen pleaded for mercy.
Yet Commander Li only squeezed harder.
Madam Shen’s face turned dark red, her eyes bulging outward.
Mu Wanting frowned.
Commander Li was abusing power and going far too far.
Avoiding the guards, she stepped forward and grabbed his wrist.
Commander Li suddenly felt his arm go numb and involuntarily released Madam Shen.
Seeing Madam Shen about to collapse, Mu Wanting quickly caught her.
Madam Shen immediately began coughing violently while Mu Wanting carefully helped her breathe.
Commander Li glared at Mu Wanting in fury.
Again, this Mu Wanting had ruined his plans.
He immediately raised his hand and swung with all his strength toward her face.
Yet it was as though Mu Wanting had eyes on the back of her head.
She dodged at an incredibly tricky angle, causing Commander Li to stumble awkwardly from the force of his own momentum.
Humiliated in front of so many people, he felt his dignity collapsing.
He launched several more attacks at her.
But despite striking with full force each time, he never once touched her.
Every time, however, he had the illusion that the next punch would definitely land.
So he attacked again and again, faster and faster, while Mu Wanting calmly dodged every single strike.
By the end, Commander Li was utterly exhausted.
Meanwhile, Mu Wanting still stood there expressionless, as though nothing had happened at all.
She looked up at him with bright, steady eyes.
“Commander Li, none of us wished for the prince’s estate to suffer this calamity. Rather than wasting time with us here, wouldn’t it be better to pursue the thieves? If you recover the missing goods, it would count as a great merit.”
After saying this, she helped Madam Shen return to where the Shen family knelt.
Commander Li and the Imperial Guards tried to block her repeatedly, but every attempt was effortlessly evaded by Mu Wanting, leaving them red-faced with anger.
Unable to get any answers, Commander Li had no choice but to order the Imperial Guards to report the situation truthfully to the Emperor.
Shen Yujiao looked at the bruises around Madam Shen’s neck, tears falling from anger as she cursed under her breath.
“That ungrateful bastard. Even if someone else had come to confiscate the estate, they wouldn’t have been this vicious.”
Mu Wanting said calmly:
“Watch your words.”
Shen Yujiao looked toward Mu Wanting, who remained steady and composed like a cool breeze in the heat of summer, instantly easing the agitation in her heart.
Without realizing it, she edged a little closer toward Mu Wanting.
Then she bit her lip in annoyance.
Earlier, being frightened into clinging to Mu Wanting was one thing—but now she was moving closer to her again. Mu Wanting must be secretly delighted.
Yet when Shen Yujiao looked up and saw Mu Wanting’s expression remained perfectly normal, she relaxed slightly.
Unable to gain anything from the third branch of the family, Commander Li ordered the Imperial Guards to search everyone.
When it came to the women, several soldiers took the opportunity to grope them, causing the women of the second branch to cry out repeatedly while the guards laughed obscenely.
Mu Wanting spoke coolly:
“Commander Li, have you forgotten Great Xia law? Shall I recite it for you?”
The vulgar laughter abruptly stopped.
Commander Li’s face darkened.
“You’re just a woman. Why are you studying laws all day long?!”
But he still angrily ordered several rough old women to conduct the body searches instead.
No matter how carefully the female relatives had hidden their valuables, everything was confiscated.
Seeing the anxiety on Madam Shen and Shen Yujiao’s faces, Mu Wanting sighed softly.
“Mother, Second Sister, if you trust me, let me hide your belongings for you.”
Madam Shen looked at Mu Wanting worriedly.
But after meeting her firm gaze, she handed over several banknotes along with a jade pendant and hairpin.
Shen Yujiao followed suit.
Mu Wanting said quietly:
“Help keep watch for me.”
Once the two turned around, Mu Wanting slipped the items into her sleeve—though in reality, she stored them inside her space.
When the old women searched Mu Wanting, they found nothing.
They stripped away her luxurious robes and forced her into prison garments instead.
Only then did Madam Shen and Shen Yujiao finally breathe in relief.
Just then, several Imperial Guards dragged over the members of the eldest branch, all carrying bundles.
They had been beaten badly and were thrown down beside the third branch.
Madam Shen of the eldest branch, already in severe pain, immediately began blaming Shen Xinglan.
“Xinglan really brought this upon us. Wasn’t being a prince enough? He just had to collude with the enemy. Now the whole family suffers because of him.”
Eldest Master Shen clutched his swollen cheek.
“And now our family has been implicated too.”
Second Madam Shen sighed as well.
“It’s all because Xinglan was too greedy. He dragged down the entire estate. Who knows what horrors await us on the road to exile?”
The eldest and second branches had always had little presence within Prince Pingxi’s estate.
Out of familial affection, Shen Xinglan had given each branch its own courtyard and supported them all with his salary and rewards, allowing everyone to live peacefully.
Yet when disaster struck, the first people to flee and the first to point fingers were precisely these relatives who had benefited most from him.
Mu Wanting spoke calmly:
“First Aunt and Second Aunt are mistaken. Serving beside an emperor is like serving beside a tiger. Surely you know my husband’s character well enough. There must be injustice involved here.”
Madam Shen of the eldest branch scoffed.
“What good is injustice now? We’re all being exiled because of him anyway.”
Shen Yujiao might have been spoiled and headstrong, but she could never tolerate others insulting her family.
She whipped her head around so sharply that the tears on her face flew off and splattered onto Madam Shen’s face.
Like a fiery little pepper, she exploded angrily:
“When you were eating my brother’s food and living off my brother’s money, none of you complained! But now that something happened to him, suddenly you’re all cursing him? If not for my brother risking his life on the battlefield, you’d all still be peasants right now!”