Qi Zhen was somewhat impressed.
But he also felt he’d made some progress—after all, he could now hear these kinds of things without turning red or his heart racing.
Old Marquis Qi was much more composed than him.
He set down his untouched teacup, looked at Qi Yuan, and asked, “Lu Minghui was probably the one who pursued Liu Wangfei and the Princess Consort Lu back then, wasn’t he? He’s dead this time, likely because he wanted to kill the Princess Consort Lu to silence him?”
The older the ginger, the spicier it is—Old Marquis Qi had immediately seen to the heart of the matter.
Qi Yuan simply nodded.
The Old Marquis stroked his beard. “So, now that Lu Minghui is dead, all the blame will fall on him, won’t it?”
How would they deal with Duke Chu’s household then?
Qi Yuan raised her brows and smiled. “Grandfather doesn’t need to worry about Duke Chu’s residence retaliating against us. They won’t get the chance.”
Having his careful thoughts seen through by his granddaughter, the Old Marquis wasn’t embarrassed at all. He was long used to this granddaughter’s ability to see through people.
He laughed heartily, “I’m just thinking for our family’s sake. So tell me, why won’t they get the chance?”
Qi Yuan glanced at Baizhi.
Baizhi immediately recounted in vivid detail what had happened today at the gates of Duke Chu’s residence.
Old Marquis Qi and Qi Zhen had been busy dealing with Qi Yunting’s affairs and hadn’t yet heard about the major incident in the capital.
After hearing it now, the two of them fully understood Qi Yuan’s meaning.
How could Duke Chu’s family accept suffering such a heavy loss?
Their top priority now would be to deal with Hu Yichuan, who was causing trouble, and then handle public opinion.
The Old Marquis said meaningfully, “Hu Yichuan must be in danger now, right?”
Hu Yichuan limped back to his own place.
He lived in a shantytown on the outskirts of the capital, just a makeshift shelter. He worked as a laborer, carrying coal for others, and had barely scraped by all these years.
After entering, he hobbled over to the well to draw a bucket of water. Ignoring the cold, he quickly began wiping the blood from his head and face.
But before he could finish, a child about six or seven years old ran out from the mat-covered room. Seeing his father’s bloodied face, the child shouted in alarm, “Dad!” and rushed over in panic.
Hu Yichuan quickly comforted him, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Dad is fine.”
He smiled and patted his son’s head. “Today, Dad stood up for your uncle.”
It was already getting dark. The people living nearby were all refugees from other regions, people who had lost their land and had no foundation to settle in the capital, so they could only live here and do odd jobs to survive.
Hu Yichuan tried to stand up while supporting his son, but suddenly, the entire shack shook and immediately collapsed.
He was shocked and quickly rolled to the ground with his son in his arms, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a thick wooden beam.
Even so, he was still badly injured.
It seemed like the other shacks nearby were also collapsing, and people rushed out, afraid that their homes would fall at any moment.
Hu Yichuan, holding his son, struggled to steady himself and tried to get up when suddenly there was a loud clang—a gleaming blade chopped into the wooden beam right next to his hand.
In that instant, his whole body went cold. Instinctively, he reached out to cover his son’s mouth.
But the child was so frightened that he screamed.
The blade immediately swung toward Hu Yichuan.
At that moment, Hu Yichuan felt his heart nearly stop.
But in the end, the blade did not fall on them.
He nervously swallowed, shivering as he looked up—and saw a familiar face.
His eyes immediately welled with tears as he cried out, “Young Lady Qi!”
It was Qi Yuan!
Qi Yuan had come to save him!
In the flickering night, Qi Yuan’s whip coiled around the assassin’s blade. With a sharp tug, she disarmed him completely, then struck him on the head with a fierce lash, making him scream in agony.
They had only sent a few people to kill a mere vagrant, and their martial skills weren’t high to begin with.
Qi Yuan’s whip could take one down with each strike. Without pausing, she swiftly defeated them all, then casually sat atop the last man’s back and reached her hand out to the little boy among the rubble. “Stand up.”
Then she looked at Hu Yichuan. “Do you want to take your revenge even more thoroughly?”
Hu Yichuan’s eyes lit up as he nodded.
That very night, Hu Yichuan led several residents from the shantytown and dragged the assassins straight to the gates of Duke Chu’s residence.
Duke Chu’s guards tried to block them from a distance, but they couldn’t stop them.
Because on the way, Hu Yichuan had already loudly cried out his grievances, shouting that Duke Chu’s household was trying to silence him by murder, drawing crowds of commoners to follow.
The people carried lanterns and torches, and they were furious—after seeing Hu Yichuan lodge his complaint in broad daylight, now they witnessed an attempt on his life that very night.
They were united in their anger, following Hu Yichuan all the way to Duke Chu’s gate.
When Duke Chu received the report, he was both enraged and deeply alarmed.
But then something even more unbelievable happened—he ordered his men to drive Hu Yichuan away, but the iron-willed Censor Tie pointed at him and cursed, “Duke Chu, not only did you fail to silence him, now you want to commit violence in public?!”
Duke Chu was so furious his chest hurt.
Censor Tie was truly as stubborn as a mule!
At that moment, Qi Yuan slipped into the rear courtyard of Duke Chu’s residence through a small gate.
Her movements were light and swift, and she was skilled at concealing herself. Plus, the household guards had all been sent to the front yard, so she made her way smoothly to Duchess Chu’s quarters and set a fire in the back courtyard.
As everyone rushed to put out the flames, she entered the Duchess’s room and came face-to-face with the woman, who had just sat up to check what was happening.
When she saw Qi Yuan, Duchess Chu ignored the pain from her injury and shouted sharply, “You wretched girl! How dare you trespass into Duke Chu’s residence! Guards! Guards!”
Qi Yuan sat casually on the edge of her bed, smiling sweetly. “Why so agitated, Madam? Aren’t you curious how I managed to sneak into your heavily guarded residence?”
Duchess Chu didn’t care—when she saw Qi Yuan, all she could think of was the hatred of her lost son.
She clenched her fists tightly. “There’s a road to heaven, but you refuse to take it. There’s no door to h*ll, yet you insist on barging in. Since you’re here today, you’ll die here!”
Qi Yuan smiled faintly. “I’m afraid that won’t happen, Madam. Before that, you’ll have to meet the King of H*ll first.”
The Duchess narrowed her eyes and sneered coldly. “Seems you don’t know how to write the word ‘death’!”
As she shouted again for people to come.
Today, she was determined to kill Qi Yuan!
This little wretch actually thought she was all-powerful, daring to trespass into Duke Chu’s residence.
She would kill her and make sure the Qi family wouldn’t even find her body!
That would finally ease her rage.
But before she could shout much more, she suddenly felt a sweet metallic taste rise in her throat—and the next moment, she collapsed heavily to the ground.
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