The entire scene was in chaos, so it wasn’t even surprising that she got bitten. No one came to help—most people were too busy trying to save themselves.
Xiang Rong had been shielded by her brother and wasn’t hurt. Her first reaction was to look for Qi Yuan: “Is Sister Yuan alright?”
Xiang Jie’s expression turned complicated. He’d been watching the whole time, and what he saw was nothing short of shocking. Miss Qi was like some kind of dog king. That spotted dog of hers—no one even knew where she found it—obeyed her as if it could understand human speech. Wherever she pointed, it attacked.
That was one thing. But even Tian Baoci had been bitten by a dog, while countless others were being attacked—and only Miss Qi, despite all those dogs passing by her, was completely untouched.
Why would anything happen to her, anyway?
“She’s fine. Don’t worry.” Xiang Jie glanced at the disorderly villa and the chaos in the dog yard. “But Tian Baoci and the Tian family are in serious trouble now.”
That was no exaggeration.
Xiao Jingzhao had been shouting orders to keep his guards maintaining order.
After the prefect of Tongzhou arrived, Xiao Jingzhao directed him to evacuate the crowd and send men from the local garrison to handle the dogs.
He also ordered physicians to be called in to tend to those who had been bitten or trampled.
At this point, he had no intention of sparing a thought for Feng Caiwei.
All he felt was rage—how brazen the Tian family had become!
Tian Baoci had been doing such despicable, inhuman things, and the Tian family never noticed?
They really didn’t know anything?
Impossible!
Where had the people come from? Where had Tian Baoci gotten human corpses to feed these dogs?
Even if they were corpses, where could he have stolen so many?
Could Tian Baoci have done all of this alone?
And done it for this long without anyone finding out?!
Right under the Emperor’s nose—such appalling acts were nothing short of contempt for imperial authority and the law!
What enraged him even more was Feng Caiwei.
She clearly knew what kind of monster Tian Baoci was, yet instead of warning him, she schemed behind the scenes, trying to use Tian Baoci to kill Qi Yuan.
It was one thing to be manipulative and ruthless.
But to abandon all human decency?
And this was the woman who dared dream of becoming the Imperial Grandson Consort?
Overwhelmed with fury, Xiao Jingzhao slapped Tian Baoci again: “Are you even human? What did you feed your dogs with?! WHAT DID YOU FEED THEM?!”
Tian Baoci’s face was already swollen like a pig’s head, and his mind was filled with a loud, ringing hum.
One of Xiao Jingzhao’s guards leaned in anxiously and whispered, “Your Highness, Your Highness…”
Quietly, he advised: “Your Highness, he is, after all, the Empress Dowager’s grandnephew… Vent your anger, but don’t beat him to death.”
After all, the charges hadn’t been formally tried yet. The final outcome was still unknown.
Even though many had witnessed the horror firsthand, in the end, if things went the way they usually did, a few “loyal servants” would be dragged out to take the blame.
And Tian Baoci?
At most, Duke Chengen’s household would be demoted in title, offer apologies, and he’d go home for “reflection behind closed doors.”
Worst case, he’d get a public sentence of a few dozen canings.
Then they’d all be forced to smile and nod like nothing happened.
Xiao Jingzhao inhaled deeply, cast a venomous glare at Tian Baoci, then released him and stood up. “How bad are the injuries? Round up every last dog and put them down!”
Dogs that have tasted human blood can never be allowed to live.
If they escaped, who knows how many more people might get hurt?
The thought made Xiao Jingzhao’s rage flare again, and he kicked Tian Baoci one more time.
The Tian family’s servants were seething but dared not show it. The crowd now hated them to the bone and looked ready to tear them apart with their bare hands.
A guard reported grimly, “At least a dozen injured by bites. Two or three dozen trampled. Some can’t even move…”
He paused, then hesitated before adding, “The dogs are still everywhere. The whole estate might be crawling with them—it won’t be easy to catch them all.”
Xiao Jingzhao’s head throbbed. “Let’s go check.”
He turned a cold gaze on the guards of Duke Chengen’s household: “Why are you still standing here?! Those dogs belong to your household—if they injure or kill anyone else, you can go die with them!”
The guards quickly dragged Tian Baoci back to his usual residence. One of them whispered, “Sixth Young Master, this has gotten serious. We need to send word to His Grace in the capital. Some of us will stay to help deal with the dogs. You should rest for now.”
But Tian Baoci couldn’t even register what they were saying.
His whole body throbbed with pain. He was in shock.
How had things turned out like this?
That ugly dog of Qi Yuan’s… it wasn’t even one he had wanted!
Some shepherd had once brought a few of those dogs to him, claiming they were born for fighting—brave and fierce.
But Tian Baoci had taken one look and found them disgusting, so he beat the man and chased him off.
And yet that dog, that hideous mutt, had turned out to be more savage than all his dogs that had eaten human flesh.
His face twisted with rage. He slammed a fist on the table.
And then—he heard a light, mocking laugh.
“Who’s there?!” he jumped up, instantly on high alert, scanning the room.
But it was empty. No one there.
He frowned and was just about to sit down again when he heard the same laugh—this time, louder.
His instincts flared—he looked up.
And saw Qi Yuan, sitting calmly on a roof beam above.
Qi Yuan!
How had she even gotten up there?!
His fury exploded: “You b*tch!”
Qi Yuan lightly jumped down and clicked her tongue. “Oh, don’t flatter me. If we’re talking about shamelessness, who could outdo you?”
Tian Baoci, enraged, grabbed a teacup and hurled it at her. “I’ll kill you!”
Qi Yuan dodged easily, expression cold. She shifted her foot—and tripped Tian Baoci to the ground.
He swore furiously and tried to get up.
But Qi Yuan had already stepped on his back—and slammed her fist into his shoulder blade.
CRACK.
A wave of searing pain shot through his entire body.
Before he could even scream, another punch landed on his temple.
Then another. And another.
Tian Baoci didn’t even have time to cry out again.
He simply… stopped.
Qi Yuan stood up, casually brushed off her hands, and even patted away the footprint she’d left on his back. Then she curled her lips into a cold sneer.
She wasn’t going to wait for the court to deliver justice.
People with power and status never died.
No matter how massive the scandal seemed now, there would always be loopholes, always excuses, always protectors and connections willing to speak on their behalf.
There would be memorials pleading for mercy, impeachments deflected, scapegoats offered.
Only death, now, could count as justice.
