Yu Sanqi heard the beating of her own heart. The warmth that had been missing from her body since her revival seemed to return in an instant, as if she had been cast into a furnace. Yet the furnace did not harm her; it only warmed her flesh and soul.
“Thank you, Yan Du,” she replied hoarsely.
Hearing her raspy voice, Yan Du frowned, his thoughts turning to the bruises on her neck. His eyes darkened with anger.
He wrapped her more tightly in his black fox-fur cloak. Her body was too cold—not the temperature a living person should have. Earlier, in his haste to bring her back to the mansion for treatment, he hadn’t had time to change her wet clothes. She was still wearing the same soaked garments.
Only then did Yan Du turn his gaze to the Yu Family, his eyes landing directly on Yu Minwu.
Yu Minwu’s face was now swollen, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. Yan Du’s single punch had knocked out three of his teeth.
But Yan Du felt it wasn’t enough. He should have stabbed him with a knife earlier!
The young general’s murderous aura was overwhelming, and the Yu Family members paled in fear. Yu Jing no longer dared to hide in the back: “Y-Young General, why did you attack someone… This is a private matter of our Yu Mansion…”
“Private matter?” Yan Du’s gaze was contemptuous. “Courtier Yu has deceived the emperor, harmed his own daughter, and murdered the Empress Dowager’s benefactor. This general has come by imperial decree to correct the emperor’s edict!”
“By His Majesty’s decree: Yu Jing, in disregard of law and propriety, lacking benevolence and kindness, is hereby demoted three ranks, fined three years’ salary, and sentenced to fifty public floggings as a warning to others!”
Yu Jing felt as if struck by lightning, instantly collapsing to the ground.
The Yu Family’s earlier joy upon receiving the emperor’s reward now turned to utter despair.
Yan Du paid no heed to their pleas for mercy. “Guards, carry out the punishment here!”
Several of his personal soldiers stepped forward, shoving Yu Minwen and the others aside. They pinned Yu Jing down, stripped off his pants, and began swinging the rods.
Normally, floggings didn’t involve stripping, but Yan Du’s soldiers were clever. Miss Yu San was their young general’s savior, and the young general valued her deeply.
Moreover, even these rough men couldn’t stand the injustice Yu Sanqi had suffered. Those with daughters of their own were especially furious.
How could this man, who didn’t deserve to be called a father, still care about face?!
Yu Jing’s sagging buttocks were exposed for all to see, causing an uproar among the onlookers. Yu Jing was humiliated and furious, but soon he had no energy for shame—he was in too much pain!
The soldiers used skillful force, each strike breaking his skin and tearing his flesh.
Yu Jing’s screams and the Yu Family’s cries blended together, creating a spectacle more dramatic than a pig slaughter.
Yu Sanqi watched intently, when suddenly the young man’s low voice whispered in her ear.
“If you think fifty floggings are too many, I can…”
“Too many? I think it’s too few,” Yu Sanqi blurted out. She sensed his obvious relief, and at that moment, Yan Du seemed to realize they were standing too close.
He averted his gaze and stepped back slightly.
Yu Jing had already been beaten to the brink of death. At first, he could still scream like a slaughtered pig, but after twenty strikes, he could barely make a sound.
Liu Shi cried out and rushed toward Yu Sanqi.
“San Qi! Save your father! He’ll be beaten to death… Go beg the emperor, please beg the emperor! No matter what, he’s still your father…”
Yu Sanqi didn’t even try to avoid her. She curled her fingers slightly, and Liu Shi stumbled as if tripped by something, falling flat on the ground.
The Yu brothers and Yu Tang helped Liu Shi up, all turning their eyes to Yu Sanqi.
“Third Sister, will you really stand by and watch him die?”
“That is your father, your own flesh and blood!”
Yan Du’s hand on the sword hilt tightened more and more. He truly despised the faces of this family, but… he looked at Yu Sanqi with concern.
He knew how much she cared for this family.
If she softened her heart…
The response was Yu Sanqi’s scornful laugh.
She looked down upon them, utterly indifferent: “When I died, the debt of life was repaid.”
“My name is no longer in the Yu family genealogy. What does the life or death of the Yu family have to do with me?”
“Yu Sanqi is dead. From today onward, there is only San Qi in this world, no longer the third daughter of the Yu family!”
She looked at Yan Du: “Young General, would you be willing to bear witness for me?”
Yan Du gazed at her with burning eyes, his jade-like face rarely showing a smile.
This was the San Qi he knew!
She was extraordinary, a spiritual being—why should she become the ‘panacea’ for that family of bloodsuckers? She should be as she is now: free, unrestrained, and unbound!!
“I, Yan Du, am willing to bear witness!”
The Yu family was shocked and enraged. Their gazes at San Qi were filled only with disbelief, confusion, and resentment.
“Yu Sanqi, how can you sever family ties just by saying so?”
“You are just a young girl. Where can you go without the Yu family? Since ancient times, has there ever been a daughter who severed ties with her parents? This is rebellion!”
Yu Tang also nodded, as if heartbroken: “Third Sister, you keep saying Father is unkind and the family has wronged you, but haven’t you caused enough trouble in the past?”
“You burned Eldest Brother’s rare ancient texts, caused Second Brother’s leg to break—both Eldest and Second Brother forgave you, but you never learned your lesson.”
“You say you died, but aren’t you alive and well now?”
“Father was punished because of you, Mother and Second Brother knelt to you—isn’t that enough? Is this really necessary?”
San Qi swept her gaze over the eyes of the Yu family and suddenly laughed.
Her slender body was wrapped in a black fox fur cloak, black and white so distinct, just like her eyes, far darker than ordinary people’s—black as an abyss, yet so bright.
Nothing could ever again cloud her vision, make her lost or confused.
“Where can I go? I am the Minghua Junzhu, personally enfeoffed by His Majesty. Naturally, I will rise to greater heights.”
“As for all of you, stay in your muddy pit, slowly rotting and stinking…”
San Qi leaned forward slightly, staring at them.
The mire formed by Gui Qi had already coiled around the bodies of the Yu family. Misfortune and calamity had locked onto them, though they remained completely unaware.
“Yu Minwen, do you really think you found those rare Confucian texts behind you on your own?”
“Yu Minwu, how exactly did your leg break? Don’t you know? The physician said you would surely be disabled, yet now you can walk as swiftly as the wind. Do you truly believe it was heaven’s mercy, a miracle granted to you?”
“And you, Yu Tang.” San Qi slowly curled her lips: “One lie requires a thousand more to cover it up. Without me, how will you patch up all those lies you told to the Boyuan Houfu?”
Every word from San Qi was like a needle, piercing their hearts with panic and suspicion.
Yu Tang’s face instantly turned ashen.
San Qi left with Yan Du.
Though she was now a Commandery Princess, she truly had no money and no home to return to.
“Would the Young General be willing to take me in temporarily?” she asked straightforwardly.
Yan Du met her clear, black-and-white eyes, his hand clenching slightly. He naturally averted his gaze, giving a deep “mm” in response, then resumed his usual cold, aloof demeanor as a general.
By chance, the young general’s wandering gaze met Eunuch Li’s. The old eunuch’s face crinkled into a smile so deep it seemed to fold upon itself, his ambiguous expression making Yan Du want to stretch his skin taut for him.
“Commandery Princess Minghua, please return to the general’s residence to rest and recuperate. I will first accompany Eunuch Li back to the palace to report.”
As Yan Du spoke, he paused, then looked at San Qi and softened his tone: “Don’t worry, His Majesty will not punish you.”
San Qi’s act of severing familial ties today was extremely audacious in the Daqian Dynasty, which governed the realm through filial piety.
Even Yan Du, who had publicly taken her side today, would inevitably face a barrage of censure from the imperial censors during tomorrow’s morning court session.
But he said nothing of this, only telling San Qi to rest assured.
“Commandery Princess! Let’s hurry back to the residence,” a young-looking personal guard approached. When he smiled, his tiger teeth showed, and he was quite sociable. After a few sentences, San Qi learned that his name was Nan Xun, where he lived, how many family members he had, and how many cats and dogs were in his household.
Settling into the carriage, San Qi wrapped herself tighter in the cloak. The warmth from Yan Du’s body on the cloak seemed to linger.
She interrupted Nan Xun’s incessant chatter: “Don’t call me Commandery Princess anymore. Perhaps by tomorrow, this title of mine will be revoked.”
“It won’t be. The young general said it won’t, so it definitely won’t. Commandery Princess, just rest assured~”
“Won’t it? What about forging an imperial decree?” San Qi’s eyes shone with startling intensity.
Nan Xun faltered, exclaiming in surprise, “Commandery Princess, you… how did you find out?”
San Qi lowered her gaze. When Yan Du entered the palace to help her demand repayment, she had already been dead—a case with no living witness. Even if His Majesty truly intended to issue an edict punishing the Yu Family, he likely wouldn’t impose severe penalties.
Did he want to avenge her, so he altered the decree on his own authority?
Truly… audacious to the extreme.
But…
A thoughtful gleam flashed in San Qi’s beautiful eyes.
To this day, she still hadn’t figured out when she had formed such a connection with this young general.
What could have driven him to go to such lengths for her?