On the first day of the New Year, fireworks and firecrackers could be heard everywhere.
The noise of firecrackers kept Qi Yuan from sleeping, so she got up early.
Normally, she wasn’t required to perform morning greetings, but since it was the New Year—and her relationship with the rest of the Qi family was pretty good—she still went to pay her respects to the Old Marchioness.
When the Old Marchioness saw her, she was so happy she didn’t know what to do.
She also felt a quiet sense of relief—so emotions really could be nurtured over time.
So when Qi Yuan said she was going to the countryside estate, the Old Marchioness didn’t think anything was off.
Qi Yuan was different from the average noblewoman, and the Old Marchioness would never impose such conventions on her.
Instead, she agreed without hesitation, even thoughtfully preparing many things for her to bring, and smiled as she said, “If you’re really fond of those two servant girls, you could bring them back to stay.”
But Qi Yuan firmly refused.
Perhaps for Lihua and Qingtao, it would be a good path forward—but since they had crossed paths with her and formed that bond, she didn’t want their lives to still end up in servitude. If that were the case, she wouldn’t have taught them to read and write in the first place.
The Old Marchioness didn’t push it.
Since Qi Yuan would be leaving the city—and it was the New Year’s Day—the Old Marchioness specifically ordered Liuzhong to accompany her with a team of guards.
The moment Liuzhong heard he was going out with the young lady, his scalp began to tingle.
When had she ever gone out without bringing two dead bodies back?
Bringing him along would probably just interfere with her “performance,” right?
But when she looked at him—where would he get the courage to say no?
He instinctively agreed on the spot.
After so many years as the Qi household’s steward, Liuzhong considered himself quite experienced—but this time, he was especially cautious, afraid of making even the smallest mistake that might upset the young lady.
Unfortunately, the thing you fear most always finds you.
Just halfway out of the city, one of the carriages hit and killed a dog on the road.
Blood on New Year’s Day? An ominous sign, no question.
Before he even had time to curse the bad luck, a group of people carrying hoes and tools crowded around, shouting that the carriage had killed their dog and demanding compensation.
So d*mn unlucky!
Liuzhong, worried the commotion would disturb the young lady inside the carriage, didn’t bother arguing and asked directly, “How much do you want?”
It was just a dog. He figured two taels of silver would cover it—wasn’t that about the price of a maid?
Just as he was thinking that, a burly, honest-looking man stepped forward, glanced at the carriage with shifty eyes, and opened his lion’s mouth: “This dog came with us from Penglai. A divine beast for driving out evil and praying for blessings. Three thousand taels!”
Three thousand taels?!
Liuzhong couldn’t help but curse. “Three thousand taels?! For a dog?! Why don’t you just go rob someone?!”
The men, who had been speaking civilly until then, immediately swarmed him—grabbing at his clothes, pushing and shoving, cursing non-stop.
At this point, the guards all realized it was a classic case of extortion and rushed forward to help.
Which meant the carriage, previously surrounded by ten guards, now looked conspicuously unprotected.
Inside the carriage, Qi Yuan had already frowned when she heard the arguing outside. When she saw the crowd swarming Liuzhong, her sharp instincts kicked in.
Something wasn’t right.
This didn’t feel like an extortion scam—it felt like a distraction.
A distraction to pull away the guards?
Then the real goal was obvious.
The moment someone climbed through the carriage window, Qi Yuan reacted. She flipped herself out of the door in one agile move.
They weren’t here for money—they were here to kill her.
On New Year’s Day, no less. Really couldn’t wait, could they?
Qi Wang, or that Pu Wuyong—one of them had to be behind it.
The moment she landed, a hoe came hurtling toward her face at astonishing speed.
How did that look anything like an ordinary, honest laborer?
These were clearly well-trained guards.
Liuzhong was scared stiff the moment he saw it.
He knew it! He just knew that going out with the young lady would never lead to anything good—heavens, they hadn’t even made it to the estate yet!
What kind of people were these?!
But he had no time to care about anything else. He just yelled at the top of his lungs for the guards: “Forget about me! Don’t worry about me—protect the young lady, save the young lady!!”
If she died, he’d be chopped into pieces by both the marquis and the Old Marquis!
But clearly, his panic was unnecessary.
Because the moment Qi Yuan landed, she caught the flying hoe mid-air, used the momentum to leap straight up, and landed astride the neck of that “honest-looking” man. With one swift twist of her legs, the man’s neck snapped.
………
Liuzhong’s scream cut off abruptly.
Good God!
He had seriously underestimated the young lady. So this was her holding back when dealing with the young master back then?
She hadn’t used a single weapon. She’d just snapped a man’s neck with her legs!
Qi Yuan’s ferocity shocked even the assassins.
But before they could even process their surprise, she was already on the move—like a goddess of death.
Who needs protection? Liuzhong thought she could probably travel solo and be safer that way.
She pulled something from her hand—he didn’t even see what it was—and in a flash, swoosh swoosh swoosh, three people closest to her were hit.
……
While other families were slaughtering chickens and ducks to celebrate the New Year, his young lady was… slaughtering people.
Qi Yuan flexed her wrist, then drew the soft sword at her waist. With that, she began formally engaging the remaining attackers.
Liuzhong stood rooted to the spot, scalp tingling, until the last few would-be assassins scrambled away in panic.
It wasn’t until Qi Yuan called his name that he snapped out of it.
He stammered, voice trembling, “Y-Young… Young Lady…”
“Report this to the authorities,” Qi Yuan said calmly, sweeping a cold gaze across the area. “You all know who killed these people, right?”
Who killed them?
Watching her calmly wipe the blood off her soft sword and sheath it again, Liuzhong nodded like a pecking chicken.
But Qi Yuan’s expression was grim.
She stood still for a moment, then suddenly said to Liuzhong: “You take five men and report this. Use the Marquis Manor’s name. Say we were attacked, and the young lady of the house was startled, so the remaining guards escorted her straight to the estate. I’ll take the rest and go ahead.”
As she spoke, she didn’t even bother with the carriage. She grabbed a guard’s horse, mounted in one fluid motion, and galloped off without giving Liuzhong any time to react.
What could he say?
He jumped and shouted at the nearest guards, “Why are you standing there? Go! Go after her!”
What was this situation?
How did a simple trip out of the city on the first day of the New Year turn into such a calamity?
Who were these people?
And how did they know the young lady’s whereabouts?
Unless… unless they had been tracking her this whole time…
