Chapter 5: A Match Made in Heaven

Outside the thatched cottage lay a muddy clearing, scattered with pig manure that emitted a foul stench.

Su Yuexi was currently surrounded by several people. Leading them was a beautiful woman dressed in luxurious silk, though her brows and eyes were filled with malice, and her face was etched with arrogance.

Su Yuexi trembled slightly, saying with fear and indignation, "Su Yun, it was Aunt Dou who slandered me for stealing pigs from the farm first. She hit me and cursed me, which is why I fought back."

Sikong Jing’s footsteps faltered. He was stunned.

He was the one who had severed that shrew’s hands and feet, yet Su Yuexi was claiming she had done it herself?

Aunt Dou was that very shrew; she was still unconscious on the ground, and someone was currently bandaging her wounds.

"Oh, so it really was you."

Su Yun, the malicious woman opposite Su Yuexi, shrieked with a twisted expression, "You ugly freak, a disgrace to the Su family—how dare you lay such a heavy hand on my servant?"

"Someone, give her ten slaps across the face for me, then drag her to the Su family’s Law Enforcement Hall for punishment!"

At Su Yun’s command, a woman who appeared to be a maid stepped forward with long strides.

She swung her hand hard toward Su Yuexi’s face.

Su Yuexi wanted to dodge, but as if remembering something, she abruptly closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate.

*Slap!*

Suddenly, a crisp sound echoed in the air. Su Yuexi felt no pain on her face, but she heard a scream—the source of which was Su Yun’s maid.

Opening her eyes, she saw a tall, upright figure standing before her. It was, of course, Sikong Jing.

Her expression changed drastically. How had her husband come out? And he had even struck Su Yun’s maid.

Su Yun, on the opposite side, was also stunned by Sikong Jing’s sudden appearance. Seeing her own person struck, she was instantly incensed and snapped, "Who are you? How dare you hit my people?"

Sikong Jing’s gaze was cold and piercing as he replied in a low voice, "I am Su Yuexi’s husband, Sikong Jing."

"Hmm?"

Su Yun was taken aback. She looked Sikong Jing up and down before sneering, "You are that criminal, the sickly weakling husband whom the Lord of Yunzhou personally betrothed to Su Yuexi five days ago?"

Sikong Jing raised an eyebrow. He believed he had been betrothed by the Emperor of Great Shang, Yan Tianmo, who had ordered him to marry the ugliest woman in Yunzhou—likely at the suggestion of the Ninth Princess, Yan Ruyu.

The goal, naturally, was to humiliate him thoroughly.

When had it become the minor Lord of Yunzhou who issued the betrothal?

However, Sikong Jing did not care about such trivial details. He said coldly, "That’s right. I am the one who severed that shrew’s hands and feet. If you have any grievances, come at me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Yuexi hurriedly tugged at Sikong Jing, saying, "No, it was me who cut Aunt Dou’s hands and feet, not him."

Although her face was veiled, the anxiety in her eyes was palpable, and she kept signaling to Sikong Jing with her eyes.

Sikong Jing understood immediately that Su Yuexi was taking the blame for him. His heart warmed, and he shook his head at her, saying, "There is no need for that. What I did, I did."

"You..."

Seeing Sikong Jing continue to admit it, Su Yuexi was too anxious to speak.

Just then, Su Yun roared, "Shut up! Are you two showing off your affection in front of me? A sickly, exiled weakling and an ugly freak—truly a match made in heaven."

"Regardless of who did it, since you are husband and wife, neither of you will escape punishment!"

"Especially you, you sickly weakling, to dare hit my maid... Attack! Teach him a lesson!"

The surrounding thugs received the order, their faces twisting into savage smiles as they lunged at Sikong Jing without a word.

Su Yun’s maid, clutching the face Sikong Jing had slapped, said viciously, "Beat these two dogs to death!"

With that, the maid also attacked Su Yuexi.

The moment everyone lunged forward, Sikong Jing widened his eyes and said coldly, "Mere rabble."

As he spoke, he threw a massive punch. Although he was currently only at the second level of the Ming Realm, he was now cultivating the *Slaying Emperor Breaking Prison Art*, and he was, after all, a former invincible Divine General.

His aura surged upward. He threw a few punches, not even needing to use any martial techniques.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The thugs Su Yun had brought were all struck, screaming as they flew backward.

Immediately after, Sikong Jing flashed in front of Su Yuexi and slapped Su Yun’s maid as she lunged forward.

*Slap!*

The maid was struck again, letting out a miserable howl as her body twisted in mid-air before landing heavily, covered in pig manure.

The scene froze at the moment Sikong Jing withdrew his hand.

Sikong Jing, who should have been a sickly weakling, stood before Su Yuexi, his posture sharp like a blade, an insurmountable barrier.