When Wu Ming carried the man inside, she found that Hou Danxue was already fast asleep. Unwilling to disturb her rest over such a trivial matter, Wu Ming stuffed Hou Chenghong into an empty crate.
She would find an opportunity to deal with him tomorrow.
Wu Ming changed her clothes and pulled Hou Danxue into her arms. The woman must have been utterly exhausted; even with Wu Ming’s significant movements, she didn’t react and remained in a deep slumber.
The next morning, when Hou Danxue woke up, she opened the crate. She discovered Hou Chenghong and was terrified.
This crate of hers wasn’t particularly large, and Hou Chenghong had been folded inside in a grotesque, distorted manner. He hardly looked like a living person, so when he twisted his head to stare at her with a hideous expression, she was genuinely frightened.
“Wu Ming!!!”
Hearing her mistress’s scream, Wu Ming woke up instantly. She rose and embraced the trembling Hou Danxue.
“Head of House, what’s wrong?”
Hou Danxue pointed at the crate. Hou Chenghong, having been locked in that twisted position all night, still possessed a strange vitality. He writhed inside the crate, causing it to hop and thump against the floor.
“Why is he here?”
“Head of House, I specifically brought him back so you could take your revenge personally!”
Thanks, but I don’t need this at all!
Hou Danxue rummaged around and found a vial of poison, tossing it to Wu Ming: “Force him to swallow this.”
Wu Ming administered the poison to Hou Chenghong. The toxin was fast-acting; after a few moments of violent struggling, he dropped dead.
“Head of House, is that the end of it?”
Hou Danxue stared at Hou Chenghong’s corpse with annoyance. Since he had died in her room, she now had to worry about how to dispose of the body—how troublesome!
“He didn’t die easily, and that’s enough. Next, we must consider how to handle this corpse…”
“What does the Head of House wish to do?”
Hou Danxue only knew how to poison people quietly; she had never experienced the task of body disposal.
The future of the Hou family belonged to her, and she did not want a vengeful ghost haunting her home. Naturally, she could not leave him within the Hou estate.
“Avoid the guards and dump him in the mass graves.”
“Understood.”
Whatever Hou Danxue said, Wu Ming obeyed. However, Wu Ming didn’t get the reaction she wanted.
Why? Even though she was being so attentive, her mistress’s attitude remained so cold!
Refusing to give up, Wu Ming leaned in to kiss Hou Danxue, only to be pushed away impatiently.
Wu Ming: ???
Hou Danxue: “Did you wash yourself clean after you killed him?”
She was actually disgusted by her! She had killed for her sake! How could she be repulsed?
Hou Danxue finally sensed the heavy resentment in Wu Ming’s gaze. She took the initiative to hug Wu Ming. “Alright, I’ll wait for you to come back. We can wash together.”
“Head of House, you don’t need to rest now?”
“Cough… You were too rough. If you let me take the lead, I wouldn’t get tired so easily.”
Wu Ming had no intention of letting Hou Danxue take the lead. God knows what kind of “tools” Hou Danxue would choose this time! In these matters, she was… truly too bold.
“If the Head of House wants to seize the initiative, you’ll have to work hard to suppress Wu Ming.”
Wu Ming stole another kiss before picking up the crate containing the corpse and departing.
She was very familiar with the mass graves; after all, in the world of martial arts, fighting and killing were daily occurrences, and dead bodies were a common sight.
It was difficult to stay hidden during the day, so Wu Ming took a long, circuitous route to avoid people before reaching the mass graves.
The area was strewn with exposed corpses. She certainly wasn’t going to leave a coffin for Hou Chenghong; she crudely flipped the crate over and dumped him out.
As for the crate, it could still be used after a wash. If Hou Danxue found it distasteful because it had touched blood, it could be given to the subordinates.
Wu Ming wasn’t particular about such things. Her former broken-down shack had been stained with the blood of countless people, and she had lived there just fine.
Having disposed of the body, Wu Ming no longer needed to worry about concealment. She used her light-work skills to quickly return to the Hou Manor.
She excitedly pushed open the door, wanting to find Hou Danxue for their bath, but Hou Danxue was not in the room.
Liar! Disposal hadn’t taken long at all, yet she hadn’t waited for her!
Hou Danxue had intended to wait for Wu Ming. With the threats cleared by Wu Ming, she didn’t mind spending the whole day idling with her.
Regardless, she was the only choice left for this family; she was destined to become the Head of House.
If the Head of House wasn’t her, she would simply have Wu Ming kill whoever it was.
Wu Ming was her sharpest blade and her most loyal hound; she could use her to achieve her goals with ease.
Too many people had died, and she was summoned to the main hall for a meeting.
When Hou Danxue arrived, everyone looked at her with eyes full of fear.
Hou Danxue wasn’t surprised. The dead were all her competitors; it would be a wonder if she wasn’t suspected.
Now that the high-ranking men were dead, the remaining ones were the women. They tacitly refrained from exposing Hou Danxue’s assassinations.
In truth, back when they wanted to recruit Wu Ming as a son-in-law, wasn’t the martial prowess she now displayed exactly what they desired? They simply never expected Wu Ming’s growth to be so staggering, turning into a blade that pierced the heart of the Hou family.
Once everyone was gathered, the leader, Heng Xiangyan, gave a long-winded speech and subsequently announced that the Hou family needed someone to take charge of the overall situation.
Victory, just as Hou Danxue had desired.
She became the Head of House just like that.
Once the matter was settled and the crowd began to disperse, Hou Danxue was kept behind alone by Heng Xiangyan.
“Xue’er, you must understand that the prosperity of a family depends on the hard work of all its members.”
Heng Xiangyan’s gaze was meaningful. Hou Danxue naturally understood her intent.
She was warning her, but she was also pleading with her.
“Grandmother, rest assured. Since I have become the Head of House, all my future actions will prioritize the interests of the family.”
“Good… good…”
Hou Danxue returned to tell Wu Ming the good news.
“You are now the spouse of the Head of House! From now on, you can take your pick of anything in the Hou family treasury!”
The arrival of the good news smoothed over the resentment in Wu Ming’s heart.
However, the ease with which her strength had increased made her far less interested in treasures than she had been before.
She cared more about another matter that Hou Danxue had been ignoring.
Hou Danxue couldn’t feel it, but Wu Ming had been feeling stifled by it for a long time.
“Head of House, your goal has been achieved. Does that mean I don’t have to dress as a man anymore? Can I restore my female identity?”
“Of course!”
Upon receiving confirmation, Wu Ming immediately walked to the wardrobe. She had had enough of everyone in the Hou Manor misunderstanding her gender! She wanted to declare her true self to these people!
Wu Ming changed into a suit of light martial attire.
This outfit exposed her neck; surely people would realize the truth when they saw she had no Adam’s apple.
Hou Danxue walked to her side and raised her hands to peel the clothes off.
“Head of House!”
“How is this restoring your female identity? You should wear a dress!”
“But I didn’t wear dresses before either.”
“No, no, no. Now that you want to overturn everyone’s impression of you, you should be a bit more radical. Wear a dress! That way, the moment people see you, they’ll know you’re actually a female warrior!”
Wu Ming felt something was off. Hou Danxue had a strange, eerie enthusiasm for this.
Actually, as long as they spent enough time together, the servants would eventually discover the truth, wouldn’t they?
Was it really necessary to put on an unfamiliar dress?
While Wu Ming was still hesitating, Hou Danxue’s hands moved with extreme speed. She had already dressed Wu Ming in the gown she had selected.
Wu Ming turned once in front of the mirror and clenched her fists.
There was zero aesthetic appeal. She was certain now—this was just someone’s fetish!
That “someone” was already unable to stop herself from giggling foolishly by her side.
“Head of House!”
Wu Ming, annoyed, lunged forward and pinned Hou Danxue to the floor.
“Do you think this looks good?”
“In my eyes, it’s extremely beautiful!”
Wu Ming knew Hou Danxue was telling the truth. Her eyes were sparkling, and there was only one time her eyes ever sparkled like that—when she wanted to pounce on her.
“Change it! Take this seriously!”
Wu Ming could accept wearing a dress, but she wouldn’t accept this kind of mockery.
This dress was too delicate and soft; it clearly didn’t suit her style at all. She looked bizarre in it and couldn’t possibly step outside!
“Alright, alright. Then let’s deal with the one you’re wearing first.”
Hou Danxue’s hand moved to the collar. Her fingertips turned white from the effort, but her strength was too meager, and the quality of the fabric was too good; she couldn’t tear it at all.
Wu Ming began to shake with laughter.
The person before her had mocked Wu Ming on their wedding night for being unable to tear the wedding robes!
Wu Ming could tear wedding robes with ease, but Hou Danxue’s weakness was something she couldn’t replicate.
Hou Danxue gave up and pushed against Wu Ming, who was pinning her down.
“Get me a pair of scissors.”
If her hands wouldn’t do, she’d use tools!
Wu Ming didn’t mind that Hou Danxue was “cheating.” She stood up and brought her a pair of scissors.