Vice Minister Li of the Ministry of War had two daughters.
One was skilled in letters, the other in martial arts.
The legitimate daughter, Li Mengxi, possessed extraordinary literary talent and was known as the number one gifted woman in the capital.
The concubine-born daughter, Li Ya, possessed extraordinary martial prowess, having fought on the battlefield and slain enemies at the border.
Li Mengxi, the one with extraordinary literary talent, had married Su Fei, the Heir of the Marquis of Yongning, three years ago.
The two had been married for three years, yet they had still not consummated their marriage.
Three years without an heir.
The once brilliantly talented Li Mengxi had become the laughingstock of the entire capital.
What did it matter if a woman was talented and virtuous?
Being unable to bear a child was a sin.
The noble ladies who liked Su Fei took every opportunity, whether openly or covertly, to make trouble for Li Mengxi at every banquet.
Li Mengxi always handled it with calm composure.
It had been three years. She thought that perhaps tonight, she could try to set aside her dignified reserve to propose to her husband the idea of consummating the marriage and having a child.
Li Mengxi looked at the woman in the bronze mirror, who possessed a gentle temperament and skin as smooth as congealed fat.
She pressed her red lips together and stood up.
The hem of her red skirt fluttered lightly with her steps.
With a hint of shyness in her heart, she headed to the East Yard alone.
The guards at the East Yard did not stop her.
Li Mengxi entered the courtyard without hindrance.
Under the carved eaves of the courtyard, several red lanterns were hanging.
Li Mengxi asked a servant and learned that Su Fei was currently in the study, so she headed straight there.
The candlelight in the study was lit.
The study door was not tightly closed.
Li Mengxi was about to knock and call out “Husband.”
However, the hand she raised to knock stopped instantly because of the situation inside the study.
The word “Husband” that had not yet been uttered got stuck in her throat.
It felt as if her throat were blocked by something, making her unable to call out.
Through the gap in the door, she saw her husband—a man as cold and aloof as a Buddhist monk, a man of noble character—picking up a woman in his arms.
Such impetuousness, so unlike his usual self!
Li Mengxi’s eyelashes trembled, and she widened her beautiful eyes in disbelief.
She covered her red lips tightly.
Those beautiful eyes brimmed with tears and turned red.
Who was the woman Su Fei was holding?
Li Mengxi had always believed her husband was not interested in women.
Whether toward her or other women, he had always maintained a sense of detachment.
However, the scene she was witnessing now completely overturned her perception of him.
It wasn’t until the woman shifted her body that Li Mengxi clearly saw her face through the gap in the door.
It was a face with bright and beautiful features, and it was someone she knew.
Li Ya lifted her eyelids and also saw Li Mengxi standing outside the study door.
She raised an eyebrow and smiled, asking, “A-Fei, it’s been so many years. Have you really never touched my dignified and virtuous sister?”
The woman’s voice carried a hint of mockery.
Su Fei looked down at Li Ya, his cold voice turning hoarse. “Never. You should know that I do not like her.”
That single phrase, “I do not like her,” was heard clearly and distinctly by Li Mengxi standing outside.
Inside the study, the man unfastened his beloved’s waist sash, his cold eyes filled with affection.
He made no attempt to hide his love for Li Ya.
As Li Ya’s clothes were freed from the sash, they loosened and slipped down, revealing a saber scar on her right shoulder.
The man gently touched the scar on her shoulder with great heartache.
Li Ya felt her shoulder tingle under his touch, an unusual numbness spreading through her.
She narrowed her phoenix eyes and explained, “This is an injury I received a year ago on the battlefield during an enemy ambush. A-Fei, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
She was now the only Fifth-Rank Senior Expeditionary General in the Kingdom of Mo, and her reputation and status had long surpassed those of most women.
Li Ya smiled and wrapped her arms around the man’s shoulders.
Outside the door, Li Mengxi did not want to continue watching and invite further humiliation.
She slowly took two steps back.
Then, she straightened her back, preparing to leave.
Her pride would not allow her to bow her head at a time like this.
It just so happened that at this moment, Lu Xi, who was hurrying into the courtyard, saw Li Mengxi.
He bowed his head and saluted respectfully. “Young Madam.”
Lu Xi was Su Fei’s personal attendant.
Li Mengxi nodded faintly and walked away.
She walked with composure, carrying the faint, elegant fragrance of a lotus.
Lu Xi remained in his bow; as the Young Marchioness passed by, he lowered his head even further.
Only after she had left did he look up.
Lu Xi looked toward the study and then toward the direction the Young Marchioness had just gone.
Not long ago, the Young Marchioness’s younger half-sister had come to see the Heir.
Could they have run into each other?
Inside the study, both Su Fei and Li Ya heard Lu Xi calling out “Young Madam.”
Li Ya narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly, her neck tilting back as her red lips parted. “A-Fei, stop.”
The man’s handsome face was flushed with desire; the “monk” had descended to the mortal realm. “She had to find out sooner or later.”
The person he loved had always been Li Ya, not Li Mengxi.
He hadn’t known that one day he would fall in love with the woman in his arms.
Because of that, before he met Li Ya, he had married Li Mengxi to fulfill his grandmother’s wish.
In the past, to him, it only mattered that his wife was virtuous, did not cause trouble, and was capable of being the mistress of the household.
But now… Su Fei looked down at the woman in his arms.
He would divorce Li Mengxi.
When the time came, he would marry his beloved with grand ceremony.
He maintained a distant attitude toward everyone.
Only Li Ya could make him open his heart.
Li Mengxi hurriedly left the East Yard and returned to her own courtyard.
“Young Madam, why have you returned so soon?”
Nanny Wang hurried forward, looking worried.
She was the only one who knew why her mistress had gone to see the Heir tonight.
Li Mengxi gripped her handkerchief tightly, suppressing the urge to cry, and said calmly, “Nanny, prepare the carriage. I am returning to the Li residence.”
She needed to discuss this matter with her mother.
The worst-case scenario was divorce.
She might even be sent to a nunnery.
Li Mengxi prepared for the worst.
Hearing this, Nanny Wang’s heart skipped a beat. “Young Madam, it is already the hour of the Dog (7-9 PM). You want to return to the Li residence at this time?”
It was already dark outside.
Li Mengxi nodded; she didn’t want to stay here for another moment. “Prepare the carriage. Try not to alert Anhe Hall.”
Anhe Hall was where the Marquis and the Marchioness resided.
If her difficult mother-in-law found out she was returning to the Li residence so late, she probably wouldn’t be able to leave the Marquis’s estate.
Seeing that her mistress was determined to return to the Li residence, Nanny Wang stopped trying to persuade her and hurried out to arrange the carriage.
Something must have happened; otherwise, her usually composed mistress would not have given such an order at this time.
Sweat broke out on Nanny Wang’s forehead, and she wondered what could have happened.
As she stepped over the threshold, she nearly collided with Qingcui.
Qingcui was usually steady, and it was rare to see her so frantic.
“Nanny, where is the Young Madam?”
“Inside.”
Qingcui hurried into the room anxiously.
Nanny Wang, feeling uneasy, went to order the servants to prepare the carriage first before rushing back inside.
Li Mengxi was thinking about the scene she had witnessed in the study, her stomach churning with nausea.
Just then, Qingcui rushed into the inner chamber in a panic.
She whispered in a trembling voice, “Young Madam, something has happened. Someone from the Li residence just came to report that the Young Master’s legs were broken, and the Madam… she has passed away from illness.”
“What!” Li Mengxi stood up instantly. She froze for a moment, then strode out of the room. “Quick, back to the Li residence!”
Li Mengxi squeezed the palms of her hands tightly.
Her mother had been fine two days ago; how could she have suddenly died of illness? And her younger brother…
“Sister, it’s so late. Where do you think you’re going?”
Li Ya blocked Li Mengxi’s path with a smile on her face.
She was still draped in Su Fei’s black cloak.
There were lingering traces of intimacy left by the man on her neck.
The green bamboo embroidery on this cloak had been stitched by Li Mengxi herself, needle by needle.
Her path blocked, Li Mengxi’s eyes were bloodshot, and her gaze was sharp. “Move!”
At this moment, no cloak or man mattered as much as her mother and brother.
Li Ya smiled softly, refusing to budge. “Sister, are you in a hurry to return to the Li residence? Hmm? Hurrying back to see your mother and brother?”
“Sister, you might not be able to go back now. There is a curfew outside.”
She was telling the truth.
During a curfew, anyone who went out without the Emperor’s decree would be arrested and thrown into prison.
She was acting out of “kindness.”
Nanny Wang, Qingcui, and the others had already been restrained by the people Li Ya had brought.
Li Ya had come prepared.
Li Mengxi narrowed her eyes slightly. She took a step forward, looking down at Li Ya.
She was half a head taller than Li Ya.
She didn’t have time for Li Ya’s nonsense; she just wanted to get back to the Li residence!
Even if there was a curfew, she had ways to escape.
“Li Ya, move.”
“Sister, you can’t go back. I’m doing this for your own good,” Li Ya continued to smile.
She simply wouldn’t move.
The two were at daggers drawn.
Li Mengxi’s eyes suddenly turned sharp. She pulled the hairpin from her hair, her strike both ruthless and fast.
She needed to restrain Li Ya.
She was in a desperate hurry to return to the Li residence.
Li Ya raised her hand to block Li Mengxi’s attack and quickly retreated two steps.
The hairpin grazed Li Ya’s arm, and a thin line of blood seeped out.
Li Ya glanced at her injured arm, her face instantly darkening.
The two sisters had studied under the same martial arts master.
Li Mengxi lunged forward again.
Li Ya, who had been on the battlefield, was actually momentarily unable to match her elder sister’s strength.
At that moment, Li Mengxi pinned one of Li Ya’s hands and pressed the hairpin against her neck with the other.
Su Fei, entering the courtyard, happened to see the scene of Li Mengxi threatening Li Ya with a hairpin.
His cold eyes narrowed dangerously. With a wave of his hand, he ordered his Hidden Guards to strike.
Li Mengxi had a strong sense of danger. She sensed the threat from behind.
She tried to dodge while holding Li Ya.
However, it was too late.
A sharp blade pierced her back, and she was struck hard on the back of her head.
Li Mengxi became dizzy instantly.
Li Ya took the opportunity to seize Li Mengxi’s hand that was holding the hairpin.
With a twist of her body, she forcefully wrenched Li Mengxi’s arm.
Crack.
Li Ya snapped Li Mengxi’s arm on the spot.
“Young Madam!”
Nanny Wang cried out in a sharp, miserable voice.
She tried to rush over but was held down firmly by Miao Ling.
Just as Li Ya curled her lips in a contemptuous smile, Li Mengxi, despite her broken arm, was consumed by a desire for mutual destruction.
Ignoring the pain in her snapped arm, Li Mengxi ferociously grabbed Li Ya’s waist with her one good hand and charged with her toward the stone table.
There was a stone table in this courtyard.
No one expected that at the last moment, Li Mengxi could still erupt with such strength.
With this impact, even if Li Ya didn’t die, her waist would be crippled.
Li Mengxi was nearly successful.
However, time seemed to freeze.
Su Fei, who had rushed over, cut off Li Mengxi’s hand.
The man’s sharp sword sliced through her hand without mercy.
He sent her flying with a palm strike.
She had been so close.
Li Mengxi lay in a pool of blood.
She could hear the grieving cries of Nanny and the others.
She also heard her husband’s voice as he expressed concern for her younger sister.
Was she… going to die?
But she really wanted to go back to the Li residence to see her brother and mother.
The woman lying on the ground struggled to keep her eyes open.
She didn’t want to close them; she wanted to go home.
“Su Fei, my… greatest regret… was saving… saving you two years ago…”
Su Fei, who had been about to leave while holding Li Ya, heard Li Mengxi’s murmur.
He stopped in his tracks instantly.
He looked at Li Mengxi, who was lying in a pool of blood, in shock.
“Li Mengxi, what did you just say?”
It was impossible for Li Mengxi to answer him.
The woman’s eyes, as beautiful as the starry sky, gradually lost their former luster.
She lay in a pool of blood, still wearing that red dress, now soaked in gore.
She was beautiful—a breathtaking, tragic beauty.
Nanny Wang’s eyes nearly split with grief. Miss! This old servant will accompany you!
The moment Miao Ling slightly loosened her grip on Nanny Wang, the old woman shoved her aside, scrambled up, and slammed her head against the stone table.
She collapsed softly to the ground, then struggled to crawl toward Li Mengxi’s side.