The wind, carrying the unique smell of coal dust from the mine, swirled across the empty grounds.
Su Bingzhang and Li Wencheng had been slumped on the ground. Seeing Song Yubai striding toward the young woman in red with a face as dark as a stormy sea, a fanatical gleam of hope for a desperate counterattack instantly ignited in their eyes.
In their eyes, Young Master Song was furious.
It was the thunderous wrath of a capital city aristocrat who had been made a fool of—a sign that he was about to uproot the audacious Xu family once and for all!
"Wicked woman!"
Summoning strength from nowhere, Su Bingzhang suddenly sprang up from the ground. His bony finger trembled as he pointed at Xu Qinghuan, roaring hoarsely.
"A noble from the capital is right in front of you! Kneel down and confess your crimes at once!"
Li Wencheng, as if injected with a shot of adrenaline, scrambled to his feet and followed suit. The bruises on his face looked exceptionally twisted due to his ferocious expression.
"Xu Qinghuan! You force the miners to overeat! You call it preferential treatment, but you are actually treating them like pigs! You are playing with human beings as if they were livestock!"
"Young Master! It is her! This woman has a vicious heart. Not only has she harmed the people of the neighboring counties, but she also dares to put on such a clumsy act in front of you!"
Their voices were sharp and piercing, like two wild dogs whose tails had been stepped on, madly tearing at their prey in front of their master to claim credit.
The hundreds of miners surrounding them, holding their large bowls, glared with wide, angry eyes. Some even stealthily reached for the pickaxes at their feet.
Had the Eldest Miss not spoken yet, these burly men would have already rushed forward and torn those two foul-mouthed old geezers to pieces.
Xu Qinghuan stood on the high platform, still clutching the ledger she had intended to use for deducting wages.
She watched Song Yubai marching over aggressively, then looked at the two barking watchdogs. Not only was she unafraid, but she also raised an eyebrow, a meaningful smirk curving the corners of her lips.
What was this?
This was an excuse delivered right to her doorstep!
As long as this pretty boy dared to utter a single word of insult, she would dare to extort... oh, wait, claim a massive sum for emotional distress right then and there!
She was just worrying about the funding pool of her Prodigal System hitting rock bottom.
"Good dogs."
Xu Qinghuan shot Su Bingzhang a half-smile, her gaze akin to watching a monkey jumping through a ring of fire in a circus.
"Young Master, look at her! Death is at her door, yet she still dares to be so arrogant!"
Seeing this, Su Bingzhang became even more indignant. He turned and bowed deeply to Song Yubai. "I beg the Young Master to give the order to apprehend this wicked woman! Subject her to severe torture to set the record straight!"
Song Yubai stopped in his tracks.
He stood before the three of them, only five steps away from Xu Qinghuan.
His face was indeed dark—so dark it looked as if water could drip from it.
However, the storm brewing in his phoenix-like eyes was not directed at Xu Qinghuan, but fell upon the backs of the two men who were currently spraying saliva as they spoke.
Slap!
An incredibly crisp slap echoed across the mining ground without any warning.
The slap was too vicious, too fast.
Su Bingzhang spun on the spot twice like a whipped top. Several bloodstained old teeth, mixed with saliva, flew out of his mouth, tracing a miserable parabola in the air.
"So noisy."
Before anyone could react, the brocade boot, clad in a straw overshoe, had already been raised.
Thud!
A muffled sound rang out.
Li Wencheng, who was just about to continue his complaints, felt as if a wild bull had slammed into his chest. He flew backward for three or four meters, crashing heavily into a pile of discarded mine slag and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Clutching his chest, his mouth full of blood, Li Wencheng looked up in disbelief, his eyes filled with bewilderment and terror.
"Y-Young Master? Y-You hit the wrong person, didn't you?"
The entire area fell dead silent.
Even Xu Qinghuan was stunned; her hand, which was holding sunflower seeds, paused in mid-air.
Wasn't there something wrong with this script?
Song Yubai unhurriedly took out a snow-white silk handkerchief from his robes and gently wiped the hand that had just slapped Su Bingzhang, as if he had touched something filthy.
After wiping his hand, he casually tossed the handkerchief onto the ground, letting the expensive silk gather dust.
"Slandering the virtuous and confounding black and white."
Song Yubai looked down condescendingly at the two writhing lumps of rotten meat on the ground. His tone was as cold as if he were pronouncing the death sentence on two ants.
"Su Bingzhang. As a teacher, instead of thinking about educating and nurturing others, you sow discord and gossip. Your mind is as narrow and malicious as a ghoul."
"Li Wencheng. As a local official, instead of caring for the people's livelihood, you are jealous of the capable and talented. Your mouth is full of lies like a street ruffian."
With his hands behind his back, Song Yubai's gaze swept past the two men and landed on the distant green mountains. His voice carried the unique arrogance and oppressive aura of the highest-ranking nobles in the Great Qian Dynasty.
"Li Wencheng, I think your days of wearing this official's uniform have come to an end."
"Men."
"Here!"
Several agile attendants immediately stepped forward. They flashed their waist tags, revealing the official seals of the Ministry of War in the capital.
"Take off his official hat and strip him of his robes. Escort him to the Ministry of Personnel to answer for his crimes. Tell the Minister of Personnel that I, Song Yubai, want him gone."
"As for this old fool, Su Bingzhang..."
Song Yubai sneered. "Strip him of his academic titles and ban him from employment forever. In addition, notify all the academies in the world: whoever dares to take this man in is making an enemy of my Song family."
These words were spoken so casually, without the slightest hint of worldly anger.
But to the ears of Su Bingzhang and Li Wencheng, they were no different from a thunderbolt from the highest heavens, directly blasting their souls to pieces.
Was this... the end?
Decades of arduous study, decades of maneuvering in the officialdom—all turned to bubbles by a few light words from this noble young master?
"No! Young Master! I am innocent! Spare my life, Young Master!"
Li Wencheng let out a shrill, miserable shriek. He desperately tried to crawl over to hug Song Yubai's thigh, only to be kicked away by an attendant and dragged down like a dead dog.
Su Bingzhang was so frightened that his eyes rolled back, and he passed out on the spot.
A farce swiftly came to an end under the absolute crushing weight of power.
Song Yubai turned around.
The face that had been as cold as frost just a moment ago melted like ice and snow under a gentle spring breeze the moment he faced Xu Qinghuan.
Under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people.
This noble young master, born into the Prime Minister's estate and known for his sky-high arrogance, actually straightened his clothes and formally bowed deeply to the young woman in red.
He bent at a ninety-degree angle, as respectful as a newly enrolled schoolchild paying respects to Confucius.
"Your student, Song Yubai, with his mortal eyes, failed to recognize that you, Master, are a living bodhisattva of our time."
Song Yubai's voice trembled with agitation, guilt, and above all, reverence.
"Allowing such filthy trash to soil your eyes just now was my sin."
"Your righteousness is profound. Nourishing your retainers with braised pork and showing love for the people by mandating rest days—such magnanimity has completely won over my utmost admiration!"
The wind seemed to have stopped.
Xu Qinghuan looked at this big shot who was sticking his rear out while bowing to her, and a row of giant question marks slowly popped up in her mind.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Wasn't I just thinking about how to extort money from him?
Wasn't I trying to complete the mission of acting like an unscrupulous rich person to squander three hundred thousand taels within two months?
How did he completely fall for it before I even started my con?
"Uh..."
Xu Qinghuan's mouth twitched, and the ledger in her hand crinkled loudly under her grip.
Calm down.
Xu Qinghuan, you need to calm down.
Regardless of whether this guy's head had been kicked by a donkey, the fact that he was wealthy was true, and the fact that he was powerful was even truer.
This human, who appeared to be the scion of some aristocratic family...
Since he insisted on offering his face up to be slapped... oh, wait, offering himself up to be fleeced.
Then it would be a sin to refuse a gift from heaven!
Xu Qinghuan quickly adjusted her expression, putting on an unfathomable (but actually just highly pretentious) and aloof facade.
"Young Master Song is too polite."
Xu Qinghuan said lightly, smoothly hiding the ledger she used for deducting wages behind her back. "It was merely my duty. Please forgive my meager display."
"Since those two flies have already been swatted dead, I wonder if Young Master might be interested in visiting my humble abode for a chat?"
"After all..."
Xu Qinghuan's eyes flashed. "I noticed that Young Master seems quite interested in the material I used to pave the road?"
...
An hour later.
Taoyuan County, the main hall of the Xu Manor.
The atmosphere was a bit bizarre.
Xu Youde sat in the seat of honor, but it was as if nails had sprouted beneath his rear. He shifted left and right, unable to find a comfortable position no matter how he sat.
His tiny, mung-bean-sized eyes stared in sheer terror at Song Yubai, who sat in the guest seat below. The lid of the teacup in Xu Youde's trembling hands rattled noisily against the rim.
This was Song Yubai!
The biological nephew of the Vice Minister of Revenue!
A direct descendant of the capital's Song family!
Even out here in the remote countryside, Xu Youde still knew a thing or two about the capital's affairs.
After all, he had listened to his fair share of boasting.
Just moments ago, a servant had reported that this young lord had ruined the neighboring county magistrate and a highly respected academy headmaster with a single sentence at the mine. He was simply more terrifying than the King of Hell himself!
But now...
This very King of Hell was holding his teacup with both hands, perching on the very edge of his chair, listening to his daughter spout absolute nonsense with a look of profound reverence.
Xu Youde winked at his daughter so frantically that his eyelids were about to cramp:
"Daughter! Can we please just quit while we're ahead? Did you cast some sort of hex on him? Once this hex wears off, our entire family is going to lose our heads!"
Xu Qinghuan completely ignored her father's spastic fidgeting.
She was just about to speak.
