Xia Feng watched as Huo Ci hurried off and, with a resigned sigh, followed after him.
If not for her mistress’s orders—to keep the young master from noticing anything amiss—she wouldn’t have bothered with him at all!
“Mistress, the Old Madam forbids us from wandering freely around the estate.”
Considering Jiang Xingyan’s frail health, Xia Feng offered a well-meaning reminder: “If we’re caught, we’ll be punished with kneeling in the ancestral hall.”
Huo Ci shook his head firmly. “No, that won’t happen. Mother has always been kind and reasonable. She wouldn’t be so unjust.”
“All those past misunderstandings—I’ll go explain everything to her now.”
Xia Feng clicked her tongue inwardly.
Well, good advice is wasted on those hellbent on their own ruin.
Still, she couldn’t just leave, so she followed him to the main courtyard’s corridor.
As expected, Mammy Yin Zhu, stationed there as a guard, promptly blocked their path.
Xia Feng sighed.
Completely predictable.
Earlier, when she had taken Dong Yang to the side courtyard, Mammy Bao Zhu had interrogated them at length before letting them pass.
Before this, when the young master had first returned from the battlefield, the mistress had come daily, hoping to speak with him face-to-face.
But the old viper had been prepared.
She stationed guards at the corridor, ready to drag the mistress to kneel in the ancestral hall at the first opportunity.
Every false accusation had been pinned on the mistress.
Not only had the young master turned a blind eye, but he had also taken the old viper’s side every time, scolding the mistress until he eventually refused to see her at all.
Gradually, the mistress’s heart turned cold, her only solace being Xiao Ya.
Yet even Xiao Ya wasn’t spared by the old viper.
Xia Feng clenched her fists.
She didn’t dare imagine how the mistress—how any of them—would go on without Xiao Ya.
Now, it was time for the old viper’s precious son to taste a bit of his own medicine.
“Jiang Xingyan, have you forgotten your place again? Have you forgotten the rules set by the Old Madam?”
Yin Zhu glared at Jiang Xingyan, her teeth gritted in fury.
Jin Zhu had been her own sister. After the miserable end she’d met, how could Yin Zhu not hate this woman?
It was all this wretch’s fault!
If not for her repeated insinuations that her sister had acted on the Old Madam’s orders, would the Old Madam have abandoned her?
Huo Ci was both shocked and enraged. “How dare you! Xing—I am still the Young General’s wife! Not only do you address me by name, but you also speak with such insolence!”
“How could Mother tolerate such a disrespectful servant? Bring out the household discipline!”
Huo Ci grew even more convinced that these old mammies had grown too bold, bullying their masters—his mother had simply been misled by them.
Yin Zhu paused, then let out a cold laugh.
This merchant’s daughter must have lost her mind today.
A lowborn wretch like her, daring to put on airs as the Young General’s wife?
Let’s see who disciplines whom!
Huo Ci tried to push past, but Yin Zhu shoved him back with enough force to send him stumbling.
Had Xia Feng not steadied him, he would have fallen flat on the ground.
Never in his life had he suffered such humiliation. Instinctively, he tried to retaliate with martial skill—
Only to find Jiang Xingyan’s body alarmingly weak, his limbs soft and powerless.
“Thought you’d learned your lesson and tucked your tail between your legs.”
“Turns out you’re still the same shameless wretch as ever!”
“Servants! Drag her to the ancestral hall!”
The maids behind Yin Zhu surged forward, seizing Huo Ci and Xia Feng by the arms and hauling them away.
Xia Feng could only sigh.
Should’ve known better than to follow him.
What a pointless disaster.
The maids deftly stuffed a handkerchief into Huo Ci’s mouth, and Yin Zhu took the opportunity to pinch the tender flesh at his waist—hard.
Huo Ci stifled a groan.
Damn Jiang Xingyan’s delicate body.
Back when an arrow had pierced his shoulder, he hadn’t even flinched.
Yin Zhu flung “Jiang Xingyan” into the dim ancestral hall, her anger still unspent. She grabbed a door bolt and swung it at her.
The Old Madam had forbidden marking her face—lest the Young General grow suspicious—
But the rest of her body was fair game.
Xia Feng couldn’t bear to see her mistress’s body suffer, so she threw herself in front of Huo Ci, taking the full force of the blow.
Her cry of pain snapped Huo Ci back to his senses.
He never let others take punishment in his stead.
Turning, he shielded Xia Feng behind him. “Stop. This is my fault. Any punishment should fall on me alone.”
Xia Feng froze for a moment, her eyes reddening.
What are you playing at, hero? That’s our mistress’s body!
Fortunately, Yin Zhu only struck a few more times, venting just enough before stopping.
“Make them kneel properly! No dinner for them tonight!”
With a final huff, Yin Zhu left, leaving two maids to stand watch.
Huo Ci’s back burned with pain, his spine too stiff to straighten, his strength gone.
The maids yanked him up, then kicked the back of his knees.
His legs buckled, and his kneecaps slammed against the stone floor with a heavy thud.
The pain was sharp enough to steal his breath.
Even biting down hard couldn’t suppress the groan that escaped his throat.
Xia Feng turned away, wiping her tears in silent distress.
General Huo is nothing but a curse on our mistress!
Since meeting him, she hasn’t had a single good day.
A moment of distraction, and Huo Ci—kneeling unevenly—earned two lashes from a cane.
Xia Feng rushed to steady her mistress’s body, taking the third strike herself.
Huo Ci was moved. These maids truly cared for Jiang Xingyan.
In his dream, after her death, they had all taken their own lives.
Such loyalty was rare.
Xia Feng, meanwhile, was rolling her eyes so hard they might’ve fallen out of her head.
If he hadn’t insisted on this suicide mission, would our mistress’s body be suffering like this again?
Time crawled. Huo Ci’s entire body ached, his limbs trembling as if on the verge of collapse.
Then Yin Zhu’s grating voice sounded in his ears: “Get back to your side courtyard! If you dare disrupt the Old Madam again, you won’t get off so lightly!”
He tried to stand, but his legs refused to cooperate.
Leaning heavily on Xia Feng, he limped back to the side courtyard.
The moment they crossed the threshold, Huo Ci’s strength gave out entirely, and he passed out from the pain.
Dong Yang rushed forward to help. “What happened?” she asked, alarmed.
Xia Feng shot her a weary look. “Long story. Heat some water and fetch the medicinal ointment.”
As Dong Yang hurried off, Xia Feng laid Huo Ci on the bamboo bed, preparing to tend to his wounds.
This body still belongs to our mistress, after all.
Pulling aside his robes, she gasped. “How—?”
Jiang Xingyan had always been delicate, her fair skin bruising at the slightest touch.
Yin Zhu had struck them with full force.
Even Xia Feng’s own skin was red and swollen—so why was there not a single mark on the mistress’s back?
She checked Jiang Xingyan’s arms and knees—only old scars remained, with no new injuries.
How strange!
She and Dong Yang puzzled over it but found no explanation.
“Forget it. We’ll ask the mistress tomorrow.”
“Mm. Rest now. The old viper will start her nonsense again in a couple of hours.”
The side courtyard had only one large bed, where they usually all slept crowded together—mistress, Xiao Ya, and the maids.
Now that the mistress’s body housed the young master’s soul, the situation felt… awkward.
The two maids settled at the edge of the bed, sleeping in their clothes.
Huo Ci drifted in and out of agony, his body too battered to move, leaving him no choice but to endure.
Then—
BANG!
The door was kicked open, jolting him awake.
“Merchant’s daughter! You grow more insolent by the day!”
“What time do you think it is, lazing in bed?”
“Miss the Old Madam’s morning greetings, and you’ll regret it!”