Just happy to try out her newly learned technique, this turned out to be the perfect target.
Liu Qingyu forced herself to endure the eye-burning scene in front of her and began circulating inner energy according to the secret manual. Instantly, a surge of heat rushed into her eyes, and everything she saw became far clearer than before.
Once everything was ready, she picked up the embroidery needle she had prepared long ago, aimed at the target, and struck.
“Ah!!!”
Officer Xiao Liu immediately clutched his lower body and let out a pained scream.
Liu Jinyao was startled by his cry and hurriedly asked anxiously, “Brother Liu, what’s wrong?”
But Xiao Liu was already completely overwhelmed by the intense pain and couldn’t respond at all.
Liu Qingyu’s ears twitched. She heard footsteps approaching from not far away—someone was coming.
She glanced at Liu Jinyao, then casually took out two embroidery needles and flicked them toward the bun on top of her head.
In an instant, two brand-new needles with a metallic sheen were embedded in her hair.
Then Liu Qingyu turned and entered her spatial dimension, preparing to observe the situation from inside.
“Eh? What happened? Why did someone scream so terribly? That sounded chilling—could it be a wild beast?” a yamen officer said as he walked over with another officer, his expression serious.
When they arrived, they saw Liu Jinyao and Xiao Liu in the river… in a compromising situation.
“What the—doing something so indecent in broad daylight!” the officer exclaimed in shock.
“Ah!!!” Liu Jinyao screamed, not expecting anyone to suddenly appear in such a secluded place.
People nearby who had been waiting for the officers to investigate immediately heard the woman’s scream.
The more gossipy ones couldn’t resist and rushed toward the river despite the risk. Once someone went, others followed, all eager to see what had happened.
When they arrived, they saw Liu Jinyao scrambling to dress on the riverbank, while Xiao Liu still clutched his lower body in pain.
For noble families who rarely saw such scenes, some “modest” women even covered their eyes—though their fingers were spread wide with curiosity.
“My heavens! This is too shameful!”
“Isn’t that Liu Jinyao? Even if our family has fallen, she shouldn’t degrade herself like this!”
“Look at that officer still holding his lower region… was she forced?”
Rumors flew in all directions, and the scene became chaotic and lively.
The two officers immediately went to check on Xiao Liu, carefully blocking the crowd’s view as they did so.
But the more they blocked, the more curious the onlookers became, shifting around just to catch a glimpse.
They struggled to pry Xiao Liu’s hand away, and when they finally did, they initially found nothing visibly wrong.
But the cold sweat on his forehead showed the situation was far from simple.
After further examination, they were shocked to discover a needle had pierced into that very place—almost completely embedded. If they hadn’t looked carefully, it would have been missed.
At that moment, both officers felt a chill in their groins. This man might very well be rendered incapable in that regard for life.
Sharp-eyed Officer Yi also noticed a matching embroidery needle in Liu Jinyao’s hair and immediately nudged Officer Jia beside him.
“This… what do we do?” Officer Yi, new to the job, looked to the more experienced officer.
Officer Jia took one look at Xiao Liu and then at the growing crowd and knew this situation could become disastrous if mishandled.
“Go find Lord Lu. We can’t handle this.”
Officer Yi quickly nodded and ran off through the crowd.
Officer Jia grabbed a piece of clothing from the riverbank and, with obvious reluctance, draped it over Xiao Liu. If he didn’t, things would be even more unbearable to look at.
“What exactly is going on?”
“There are only two possibilities: either she was forced, or she did it willingly.”
“I think she was forced—look at Xiao Liu, he hasn’t even recovered yet.”
“Good heavens… this Liu Jinyao is ruthless. Just looking at it hurts.”
Officer Jia grew increasingly anxious hearing the discussions behind him. Where was Lord Lu?
“Lord Lu is here!”
A shout rang out. The crowd quickly parted to make way.
Lu Youguang walked through with a dark expression. Under his jurisdiction, something like this had actually happened with Xiao Liu.
After hearing the exaggerated report from Officer Yi, he had already assumed Xiao Liu had forcibly assaulted Liu Jinyao and was now injured in retaliation.
“Sir, Xiao Liu was injured by an embroidery needle in that area… he may never recover. As for Liu Jinyao, due to propriety, we did not examine her,” Officer Jia reported.
Lu Youguang rubbed his temples. He didn’t even need to look to feel the crowd’s eager stares waiting for him to handle it.
“Take Xiao Liu down, treat his wound first, and give him clothes. This is indecent,” he ordered.
Before Officer Yi could act, a sharp, tragic cry suddenly rang out.
“My precious grandson!”
Liu Laotai charged toward Liu Jinyao like an eagle swooping on prey.
No one knew how such an elderly woman still had so much strength.
Seeing her grandmother, Liu Jinyao broke down and cried even harder.
“Sir, you must seek justice for my daughter!” Jiang Shi knelt and sobbed.
Originally, the Liu family had been daydreaming under the shade, not associating the river commotion with their granddaughter.
Only when they saw an officer heading toward Lord Lu did they finally realize something was wrong.
Panicking, they rushed over—and saw Liu Jinyao trembling in a corner.
That was how the current situation came to be.
Seeing the Liu family arrive, Lu Youguang’s headache worsened.
“Don’t worry. I will not tolerate any wrongdoing. We will not continue the journey today—this matter must be investigated clearly before we move on,” he said.
The Liu family, who had just been crying, subtly changed expressions upon hearing this. Liu Erye quickly signaled his wife to coordinate their story.
Jiang Shi nodded and crawled toward Liu Jinyao while sobbing.
“My poor daughter… what will you do in the future?”