Zhao Hong was practically beside himself with rage at Xi Weilan’s words. He demanded furiously, “On what grounds? I am an imperial official. What right does a three-year-old child like you have to interrogate me? Even if you are a commandery princess, you cannot do this! I am innocent. Everything I did was carried out on orders conveyed by people from the Princess’s Residence. Without evidence, what right do you have to torture me?”
It was simply too humiliating. If he were truly interrogated by Xi Weilan and beaten with the paddle, then even if he managed to kill them and escape today, Prince Kang might not be willing to keep him. He absolutely could not let that happen.
Meanwhile, the county lieutenant kneeling below was dumbfounded. He had thought he would be the first to be tortured, but instead, the county magistrate was the one about to be beaten.
For some reason, he felt a little pleased. Fortunately, the magistrate was taking the brunt of it. Once they had beaten the magistrate, he would confess immediately. Surely they would not beat him then, right?
When Xi Weilan saw that the guards below had still not moved, she immediately became displeased. Before she could say anything else, two guards stepped out from beside Nan Yun and seized Zhao Hong.
The moment she saw them, Xi Weilan’s face lit up. They were the guards Lu Qianning had assigned to them.
The veins on Zhao Hong’s forehead bulged with rage. Seeing that he was about to be beaten, he could no longer wait. He hurriedly shouted, “Move! Kill them all—leave no one alive!”
The moment his words fell, the county yamen’s gates were slammed shut. The townspeople watching from the entrance widened their eyes in disbelief.
What they had witnessed today was far too shocking—one twist after another. Were they really about to start a massacre inside the county yamen?
At Zhao Hong’s command, several soldiers already in the hall swiftly raised their weapons and charged at the Xi Qingyue sisters. Soldiers and guards rushing in from other directions also attacked Xi Qingyue’s group, their eyes fierce and their strikes vicious.
The county lieutenant was so excited he nearly jumped up. Shen Hanyan and the other members of the Guangling Pavilion, however, remained calm. They even looked at Zhao Hong and the county lieutenant with pity.
The reason they had behaved so obediently was because they wanted a quicker death. The younger a child was, the more dangerous they tended to be—especially children with strange abilities.
This fief belonged to Lu Qianning. She could appoint whomever she pleased to govern it, even a child. Zhao Hong was simply courting death.
The instant Xi Weilan saw Zhao Hong’s move, her little face darkened with fury. She slammed her hand down on the table and launched herself into the air.
In the next instant, she flew before Zhao Hong and kicked him away. Then she chased after him, raining punch after punch down on his face.
“I’ll teach you not to behave! I’ll teach you not to behave...” she repeated as she beat him.
Xi Qingyue’s gaze also turned cold. In an instant, she activated her wind-based ability, and a fierce gust of wind rose eerily within the county yamen’s main hall.
Yet even more strangely, the tornado swept around the spot where Xi Weilan was beating Zhao Hong. It also bypassed Mu Jin and the others. Even Shen Hanyan and the Guangling Pavilion members were spared.
A moment later, the gale subsided. The hall was a complete wreck, and Zhao Hong’s men had all been wiped out.
Seeing the horrific scene in the hall, the county lieutenant wet himself again. He collapsed to his knees and repeatedly knocked his head against the ground. “Commandery Princess, I’ll confess! I’ll confess to everything! I’ll confess right now!”
The people from Guangling Pavilion were also frightened pale. One of them quickly shut his eyes and blurted out, “I’ll confess too! It’s the Ninth Young Master. Guangling Pavilion has another master—the Ninth Young Master. Very few people know about him. I only found out by accident.”
Xi Qingyue was rather surprised by this answer, though upon reflection, it also seemed perfectly reasonable.
She glanced at the man who had spoken. “You’re quite good at keeping secrets. It seems you won’t be honest unless some measures are taken.”
As she spoke, she cast a look at the others. They hurriedly shook their heads, while Shen Hanyan hastened to say that they had already revealed everything they knew.
They were drenched in cold sweat, their clothes soaked through across their backs.
The corpses on the ground were simply too horrifying to behold—not one of them was intact.
Only after Xi Weilan had beaten him to her satisfaction did she finally rise to her feet, still muttering, “Hmph. They all wanted to kill me and Sister. They’re all bad people.”
Nan Yun stepped forward and crouched down to check Zhao Hong’s breathing. Then, with an odd expression, she glanced at Xi Weilan. The man lying on the ground had already stopped breathing—he had been beaten to death alive.
Xi Qingyue rose from her seat and walked down. Looking over the bodies strewn across the floor, she sighed. “I had originally intended to interrogate them before the common people. But since they dared to carry out an assassination in public, there’s nothing left to question. Dead is dead.”
Then, she suddenly turned to the county commandant with a beaming smile. “Oh? So you’re still alive. Then tell me everything you know.”
After saying this, she looked toward Shen Hanyan and the others. With a flick of her finger, a slender wooden needle instantly pierced Shen Hanyan’s body. Passing through her, it then pierced the bodies of the others in turn.
In the blink of an eye, Shen Hanyan and the rest collapsed to the ground. Smiles of bliss appeared on their faces, as though they were having some wonderful dream.
“Ah, I truly am such a kind person,” Xi Qingyue murmured to herself. “Letting you die in a beautiful dream.”
The county commandant was terrified by such an eerie method. Yet he also understood the difference between the death reserved for the obedient and the death awaiting those who were not. He did not dare conceal the slightest thing.
Other than the county commandant, only one person from Guangling Pavilion remained alive—the very man who had just revealed that the Ninth Young Master was the hidden master behind it all.
Xi Qingyue looked at him and asked, “Have you ever seen the Ninth Young Master?”
The man hurriedly nodded. “Once.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and nodded. “Very well. If you saw him again, would you recognize him?”
At those words, the man was overjoyed. “Yes! I would definitely recognize him.”
“Mu Jin, take him away and lock him up. Just don’t let him starve to death.”
The moment he heard that, the man finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would not die for now. One more day alive was one more day gained. Even if he eventually died, it would not be too painful.
For some reason, he now felt that being allowed an ordinary death was already a blessing.
Afterward, the county commandant told Xi Qingyue everything he knew in detail. All he asked for was a swift end.
Next, Xi Qingyue ordered the remaining people in the entire county yamen to be gathered together.
There were servants and maidservants among them, all of them trembling in fear.
Xi Qingyue regarded the group with a calm expression. “Mu Jin, I’ll leave them to you. Find out whether they helped Zhao Hong commit evil. If they are truly innocent, let them go. But if they have done wrong, kill them. There’s no need to report every detail to me.”
“Yes, Princess. I will see to it that everything is handled properly.”
After saying this, Xi Qingyue took Xi Weilan by the hand and headed toward the county yamen’s rear courtyard. As they walked, she gently scolded her, “Weilan, next time you get angry, don’t do it yourself. Just have your subordinates handle it. Fighting on your own is tiring, you know. Or you could simply finish them with a single shot. Look at you—you’ve gotten yourself all filthy.”
Xi Weilan nodded. “I understand, Sister. But just now, I really wanted to hit him. When we first met, his smile was so fake. He used Big Sister Lu’s name to do bad things, and he even wanted to kill us.”
With a smile, Xi Qingyue lifted her into her arms. “Mm, you did well to hit him. But there was no need to get yourself covered in blood. Be more careful next time.”
