Inside the Song family ancestral hall.
Hundreds of white candles were lit, their flames flickering.
The crackling fire tongues cast shifting patterns of light and shadow on the floor.
The ancestral tablets were surrounded by candles, and the air was thick with the scent of incense, suggesting regular maintenance.
Song Yiqiu's gaze passed over the unfamiliar tablets of Song ancestors, coming to rest directly on the tablet in the farthest corner covered with a thin layer of dust.
That was her grandmother Shen Zhaohua.
How ridiculous!
If not for her grandmother Shen Zhaohua's influential support back then, how could her father Song Qingming—a poor and weak scholar—have attained the position of Sixth Rank Assistant Director of the Imperial Stables? How could they have achieved today's wealth and status?
Yet now, her grandmother's tablet was so disdainfully placed in the corner, as if it were something shameful.
The Song ancestral hall was not unfamiliar to her.
In the years before she left for the borderlands, she had been punished with kneeling here countless times by her mother for preferring martial arts over needlework.
Each time, she would stubbornly straighten her back, waiting for her grandmother to come take her back to Zhaohua Manor.
She slowly stepped forward, gently brushing the dust off her grandmother's tablet, her eyes filled with longing.
From behind came Song Shenshi's icy reprimand:
"Since you're here, kneel properly!"
Without hesitation, Song Yiqiu straightened her back, turned around, and knelt directly facing her grandmother's tablet.
Seeing the direction she was kneeling, Song Shenshi's expression darkened further.
At that moment, Mama Wang entered carrying a rosewood tray, upon which lay a family punishment rod as thick as a child's wrist, made of bundled thorny branches with uncleaned sharp spikes still visible.
Song Shenshi grabbed it and demanded harshly:
"Song Yiqiu! Do you admit your wrongdoing?"
Song Yiqiu slightly furrowed her brows, pressed her lips together, and remained silent.
What wrong had she committed? She had never been the one who wronged the Song family.
Seeing this, Mama Li threw herself to her knees, tears streaming down her aged face as she pleaded:
"Madam! You mustn't! This punishment is too severe! A rod this thick will leave the young mistress bedridden for ten days to half a month! The young mistress… she has already admitted her fault, I beg you to show mercy!"
Song Sangyu immediately knelt as well, her voice choked with sobs, though her gaze remained fixed on Song Yiqiu:
"Mother, please calm your anger! Although sister remains silent, she must surely acknowledge her fault in her heart—she absolutely doesn't mean to be defiant!"
"All the fault is mine, Sangyu's! I shouldn't have returned and made sister unhappy… She simply doesn't like me. If it would ease sister's anger, I'm willing to give up my status as the legitimate daughter!"
"As long as I can stay by Father and Mother's side, even if I must serve tea as a maid, Sangyu would be content!"
These words were like pouring water into hot oil.
Song Shenshi's rage intensified:
"Mama Wang! Help the Second Young Mistress up! She is of noble status—how can she kneel!"
She then fixed her glare on Song Yiqiu,
"Song Yiqiu, today I will see just how stubborn your bones are! How tight-lipped you can be!"
With that, she truly raised her arm and struck Song Yiqiu's back with all her strength.
Crack!
The fabric on Song Yiqiu's back instantly tore open, flesh torn and bleeding, blood almost spurting out and quickly staining her entire back crimson.
Everyone was stunned.
Even Song Shenshi herself froze in shock.
She had threatened Song Yiqiu with family discipline before. When Yiqiu was younger, she would always dodge, and Shen Shi never truly struck with lethal intent… So why, this time, did she neither evade nor flinch, enduring it head-on?
Baimei’s eyes widened in fury, ready to charge forward, but Qingzhu, who appeared deranged, tightly gripped her wrist.
Amid the chaos, Qingzhu shook her head at her almost imperceptibly.
Mama Li cried out in alarm:
“Young Miss!”
She threw herself to the ground, wailing,
“Madam! How could you strike so harshly? Young Miss is your own flesh and blood!”
Song Yiqiu endured the full-force blow, a metallic, bloody taste seeping from the corner of her mouth.
Fortunately, seven years on the frontier had forged her a robust physique. An ordinary sheltered maiden would have long lost consciousness by now.
She didn’t even stagger, merely drawing a deep breath:
“Mother, was that… enough to repay the debt?”
Her gaze then fell upon her grandmother’s memorial tablet:
Grandmother, Yiqiu hurts so much… But this time, no one will take her back.
Song Shenshi, provoked by her retort, flushed with humiliation and rage:
“Hah! Perhaps I didn’t put enough strength into it earlier, letting you remain so sharp-tongued!”
With that, she raised the blood-stained cane once more.
Just as it was about to descend again—
“Ah! Don’t hit Miss! Bad people! Hit the bad people!”
Qingzhu, who had seemed foolish, suddenly shrieked as if terrified and threw herself over Song Yiqiu.
Song Shenshi couldn’t retract her strike in time—the barbed cane lashed viciously across Qingzhu’s back.
“Ugh!”
Qingzhu let out a sharp cry of pain, her eyes shut, and she “fainted” directly, collapsing limply over Song Yiqiu.
“Qingzhu!”
Song Yiqiu exclaimed, feeling the warmth of blood soaking her back. Gritting her teeth, her eyes instantly reddened,
“Why are you so foolish!”
Mama Li was beside herself with terror:
“Madam! You mustn’t strike again! This will cost a life!”
Song Shenshi, too, was stunned by the sudden turn of events, staring at Qingzhu lying unconscious over Song Yiqiu.
Her grip loosened, and the bloodied cane clattered to the floor.
Only then did panic set in, and she shrieked toward the door:
“A physician! Quick! Fetch a physician, now!”
Song Sangyu watched Song Yiqiu’s disheveled state, a smirk tugging uncontrollably at her lips as she observed coldly from the sidelines.
Yet, the next moment, her smile froze on her face.
Song Yiqiu, gritting through the agony, carefully lifted the unconscious Qingzhu into her arms and stood up.
Baimei rushed forward at once, swiftly removing her own outer robe and draping it over Song Yiqiu’s mangled back, concealing the gruesome wounds.
Beads of sweat dotted Song Yiqiu’s temples as she suppressed her murderous intent:
“There’s no need for Mother’s concern.”
“But I will remember what happened today.”
“If anything happens to Qingzhu…”
She paused, her gaze shifting to Song Sangyu,
“Every single person present, I, Song Yiqiu… will not spare a single one.”
With that, she looked at no one else, cradling Qingzhu, and walked step by step toward her own courtyard.
Song Sangyu shuddered in fear, lowering her head as if uninvolved.
From behind came Song Shenshi’s furious curses:
“Song Yiqiu! What is this attitude? Halt! How dare you leave without my permission? Stop right there!”