Chapter 1: Death to Traitors

Night fell, starless and moonless.

In the silent manor, peach blossoms bloomed in solitude, their faint fragrance drifting through the darkness.

Deep within the estate, a small building lit with lamps stood quietly, its dim yellow windows casting a flickering silhouette.

"Leader, the person has been brought back." The door opened soundlessly, and a handsome man dressed in black stepped into the room, his eyes lowered in respect.

"Qiuming, you've worked hard. Bring him in." The person sitting by the window turned around, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face that carried a natural chill under the candlelight.

The woman was in the prime of her youth; her phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, and the cinnabar mole beneath her left eye added a touch of enchantment under the lamp.

The man called Qiuming stepped aside, and a moment later, he hauled a man tied up like a rice dumpling into the inner chamber, dropping him in front of the woman.

The "rice dumpling" on the floor struggled to lift his head. Upon seeing the woman before him, he froze for a moment before asking warily, "Who... who are you people?"

The woman nonchalantly toyed with a magnificent Seven-Treasure Ruyi Lock in her hand. "Zhao Tian, you certainly have nerve."

The man's eyes shrank suddenly. He hurriedly denied it, saying, "What Zhao Tian? I don't know anyone by that name! You've got the wrong person!"

"You killed those close to you and changed your identity to flee to the capital, thinking no one could find you?" The woman looked at him calmly, as if she were looking at a useless object.

The man's body stiffened, his expression contorted, and he couldn't help but tremble.

He looked up at the woman, his teeth beginning to chatter.

"You... you... are you from the Nine Heavens Society?!" He struggled to crawl up, but the person who bound him was highly skilled; even with all his strength, he could only wriggle on the ground like a caterpillar.

"Miss, I beg for your mercy! Whatever you want... I can give you anything!"

Seeing him in this state, the woman let out a light laugh and said hauntingly, "You conspired with outsiders to sabotage our great cause; I thought you weren't afraid of death."

The man looked as if he had been struck by a heavy club. His body froze, and his eyes bulged as if they might pop out of their sockets.

His face was filled with terror, as if the person under the lamp was not a stunning beauty, but a man-eating demon.

"You... you... are..."

"Tell me, who is the person behind you framing Feng Yuting? And which noble in the imperial court is trying to extend their reach into Shu?"

Zhao Tian shook his head repeatedly. "I... I don't know!"

"You dare betray the Nine Heavens Society without even knowing who is behind you?"

Zhao Tian said, "I... I only know he is someone close to Tong Lin, the Prefect of Yuezhou. He... he gave me fifty thousand taels of silver to come to the capital. He said... said the Marquis of Yonglin's manor would... would protect me."

The woman leaned back against her chair and sneered, "The Prefect of Yuezhou? Traveling thousands of miles to harm a Deputy Prefect of Baoning? Do they have a grudge?"

Zhao Tian murmured, "I... I really don't know. I know I was wrong, please, Miss, spare my life!"

"Someone should have told you: once you join the Nine Heavens Society, traitors die."

The woman stared at him for a long while before finally letting out a soft sigh. "Take him out and kill him."

"Yes." Qiuming, who had been standing silently to the side, responded in a low voice. Ignoring Zhao Tian's wailing and howling, he leaned down, struck his acupoints, and hauled him out.

In less than fifteen minutes, Qiuming returned, carrying a faint scent of blood.

"Is he dead?"

"Yes." Qiuming presented a letter to the woman and said, "It just arrived. Feng Yuting will be escorted to the capital in half a month. After a joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices, if the evidence is conclusive, he may be sentenced to decapitation."

The woman sighed and rubbed her temples wearily. "If it weren't for this incident, Feng Yuting would have been promoted to Prefect of Baoning in six months. Now... so many things have been disrupted."

Qiuming whispered, "He acted arrogantly; falling into someone's trap was his own fault. You have great matters to attend to in the capital, Leader. If this delays you..."

"If we let him go unpunished, who will be willing to work with heart in the future?" The woman smiled lightly. "Fine. Whether it's one sheep or a flock, they must be driven. Since I have to stay in the capital for a while anyway, let's investigate the full details as quickly as possible and tell the subordinates to be careful."

"Yes."

"How was Zhao Tian handled?"

"I had him buried."

"I remember Tong Lin is the second son of the Marquis of Yonglin, right? Hang him at the entrance of the Marquis's manor."

"Yes." Qiuming took his leave.

"Miss, it's time to rest." A young girl with a round face and almond eyes entered carrying a basin of water, brushing past Qiuming. She shot him a glare before saying sweetly, "You've been staying up late these past two days. If the Duke's manor comes to fetch you tomorrow and you return with a listless face, it won't look good at all."

The woman looked down at the shimmering Seven-Treasure Ruyi Lock in her hand and said faintly, "Tomorrow? There's no need to worry about that. They won't be coming tomorrow."

"But we've been staying outside the city for two days already," the girl asked in confusion.

Her mistress had been wandering abroad since childhood. Only recently, in Guangzhou, she was recognized by Prince Xin, who was out suppressing bandits, because of a keepsake she carried. Prince Xin said he would first return to discuss it with the Duke's manor before sending people to fetch her.

It had been two days; wouldn't they come tomorrow?

The woman reached out and lightly tapped the girl's forehead, smiling. "Silly girl, do you really think Prince Xin wants to bring us back to the capital? If Prince Rong hadn't interfered, I'm afraid Prince Xin would have killed us in Guangzhou."

"Ah? How could that be?!"

"Qin Mu and I have an imperial marriage decree. I heard he and my second sister, Xie Wan, are in love and married last year; they are still in their honeymoon phase. Do you think he would want a long-lost fiancée suddenly appearing?"

The girl's eyebrows knitted together at those words.

"As for the Duke's manor, if they truly rejoiced at the return of this daughter, why wait two days?" Xie Wu said calmly.

*That's true. Do the people from the Duke's manor not look forward to seeing Miss at all?*

"Then... Miss, are we still acknowledging this engagement?"

"We are. Why wouldn't we? Some things must be settled."

The woman put away the Ruyi Lock, stood up, and washed her hands. She walked toward the inner chamber while drying her hands.

The girl frowned. "But if no one comes to fetch us, are we supposed to go to the Duke of Ying's manor ourselves?" That would be so embarrassing.

"I heard the Duke of Ying has gone on an imperial tour and won't return for half a month. Right now... someone is likely trying to give me a warning." Of course, it would be even better if she could settle things before the Duke and his son returned.

"Then... shall we stay in this villa for half a month?"

The woman glanced at the frustrated girl with a smile. "Your face is going to wrinkle like an old lady's. Tomorrow, I'll take you into the city to have some fun."

The girl's eyes lit up, and she immediately beamed. "Miss is the best!"

Looking at the girl's excited, smiling face, the woman leaned back into her bed. However, the smile on her face gradually faded, becoming cold and sharp.

Eleven years ago, when she had struggled to climb out of a filthy river and was aimlessly swept along by a crowd of refugees, she knew there was no home left for her in this world.

A noble lady of the Duke's manor, she had encountered bandits on the road while carrying her biological mother's coffin back to her hometown for burial. Pursued by bandits all the way, her wet nurse had been forced to jump into the rushing river with her.

The wet nurse vanished, and the eight-year-old Xie Wu ceased to exist in this world.

The Xie Wu who struggled out of the water was a soul from another world.

Xie Wu did not attempt to return to the capital immediately.

A great disaster had just passed, refugees were everywhere, and the government had long lost control over the local areas. How could an eight-year-old child travel to the capital thousands of miles away?

Not to mention, the way those bandits pursued them was too strange.

Robbing a funeral procession and killing for wealth was one thing, but pursuing two women and a child relentlessly was highly unusual.

Was it really for wealth? It was clearly for lives.

Biological mother dead, no relatives on the maternal side, and bandits in pursuit.

It was hard to say whether the Duke of Ying's manor was a home or a grave for her.

However, she had always known she would eventually return.

For herself, and for the child who died in the river eleven years ago.

Some debts must be paid sooner or later.