Volume 1, Chapter 24: A Convicted Slave, Deserving of Death by Anyone

Lady Li gnashed her teeth, her eyes gleaming with malice. How could Xie Shu be so brazen as to harm someone in broad daylight?

And to do it right in front of everyone, targeting someone from her own Marquis of Chengen’s estate!

This was tantamount to trampling the dignity of the Marquis’s household into the dirt!

With a flick of her long sleeves, Lady Li lifted her foot, ready to rush out and teach Xie Shu a harsh lesson. However, no sooner had she moved than she was yanked back firmly by someone holding her arm.

"My Lady, the Marquis has explicitly forbidden you from leaving the estate!" Nanny Liu, who had been following by her side, held onto her arm and pleaded earnestly, "It would be better to wait until the Marquis returns from the palace before making any further plans."

Lady Li clutched her chest. The sting of the slap she had received on her face just yesterday still burned fiercely. Having lived for more than half a lifetime, she found this stifling resentment impossible to swallow.

"Am I not still within the estate?" Lady Li barked at Nanny Liu, her anger surging. "Have you started siding with the Marquis now? If my father hadn't been blind back then, who would have been willing to marry into this dilapidated Marquis of Chengen’s estate!"

Lady Li was, in truth, a woman of great misfortune.

She had married into the Marquis’s household just as the Empress Dowager was returning power and retiring from the court. Eager to avoid suspicion, the high-ranking officials and nobles were unwilling to marry their daughters into the Marquis’s family. Only Lady Li’s father, having just been promoted and transferred to the capital, was oblivious to the intricate web of court politics and was tricked by a matchmaker into marrying off his daughter.

In the many years since, the Marquis had put on a show of giving her face in public, leading everyone to believe he was a man who feared his wife. Yet, Lady Li, who lived within the walls of the estate, knew the truth: her husband treated her as nothing more than a decorative facade.

He forbade her from being too flashy in the capital and restricted her spending at every turn.

Now, with the entire capital aware that the Marquis had kicked her in public, her reputation was utterly ruined. She feared that at every tea party or floral gathering hereafter, she would be the target of mockery.

"Have I enjoyed a single day of comfort or gained any benefit since marrying into the Ning family? If not for Sheng’er, why would I bother groveling before him!" The more Lady Li thought about it, the more furious she became; she felt she had to find a way to vent her rage.

"My Lady, times have changed. Please, just bear with it for now." Nanny Liu had raised Lady Li from childhood and naturally felt for her. But in the current climate, as far as she could see, the situation was looking grim for her mistress.

After several attempts at persuasion, Lady Li grew only more annoyed and incensed. She shoved Nanny Liu’s arm aside and strode to the threshold. Seeing Xie Shu leisurely wiping her dagger, her fury flared anew.

What was she acting so arrogant for?

How could this little hussy be so insufferably smug!

"Xie Shu! Even if you have received an imperial decree for your marriage, you cannot simply harm a person’s life at will!" Lady Li stood with her hands on her hips, looking down her nose at her. "Even if he is just a servant, he is still a human life!"

***

As soon as Lady Li spoke, she fell back on the rhetoric of benevolence and morality; she was well-versed in using these hypocritical platitudes to suppress others.

A mouth like a Buddha, but a heart like a snake.

In her past life, Xie Shu had been far too naive and had been led around by the nose by her, even kneeling in the Dingning Temple under the scorching sun to pray for the Ning family’s blessings—all in the hopes of bearing an heir.

At this moment, Xie Shu looked at Lady Li, who was pacing within the gates of the estate, wanting to come out but not daring to, and let out a scoff. "A servant?"

She remembered well that this Wang Mazi was no ordinary servant.

"Is he not a fugitive slave?" Xie Shu’s airy remark caused Wang Mazi, who had been rolling on the ground, to freeze instantly. He trembled, his body shaking as he shrank back into a corner.

Xie Shu cast a look of contempt in his direction. "A fugitive slave can be executed by anyone. If I report this to the imperial court, they might even reward me with a plaque for 'eliminating a scourge for the people'!"

"A fugitive slave?" Lady Li asked, startled and suspicious. "Where would a fugitive slave come from in the Marquis’s estate! Xie Shu, do not try to slander the Marquis’s household again!"

A so-called fugitive slave was a servant who had committed grave crimes—such as theft, adultery, or murder—within their master’s home and had subsequently fled from the authorities.

Such people were not only cunning but ruthless.

It was precisely because of his ruthlessness that Wang Mazi had caught Lady Li’s eye and been sent to cause trouble for Xie Shu.

Hearing the accusation of slander, the onlookers whispered among themselves: "Could it really be true? Surely the Third Miss Xie wouldn't just make that up! The Marquis of Chengen only holds a trivial, idle post; would he really provoke the Jingzhao Prefecture into coming to make arrests?"

"Tsk... slander?" Xie Shu toyed with the dagger in her hand, spinning it on her fingertip, and laughed. "My dear mother-in-law, if I were truly slandering the Marquis of Chengen’s estate, shouldn't the Prefect of Jingzhao be here to arrest me? Why, then, have they already hauled away the members of the Ning clan?"

With just a few words, Xie Shu turned the tide of public opinion.

Looking at the shivering Wang Mazi on the ground, Xie Shu stepped toward him. As she closed the distance, Wang Mazi scrambled backward, trembling.

With nowhere left to retreat, he hurriedly kowtowed to Xie Shu, begging for mercy. "Lady Heir, Lady Heir, I had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. I was a dog relying on his master's power."

Wang Mazi slapped his own face, one strike after another.

This behavior only made it more apparent that he was hiding a guilty conscience.

Xie Shu kicked out, her foot landing heavily on Wang Mazi’s ankle.

Crack.

The crisp sound of a bone snapping echoed through the air.

"Xie Shu, what are you doing!" Seeing Wang Mazi beating himself, Lady Li felt a flicker of panic.

Could it be that this man really was a fugitive slave?

Xie Shu sneered and drove the dagger deep into Wang Mazi’s calf. With a sharp slice of the blade, the trouser leg was shredded in two, revealing a prominent scar hidden beneath.

It looked as if it had been deliberately branded with a red-hot iron.

Lady Li let out a sigh of relief. "It’s just a scar," she said. "That doesn't prove anything."

Fugitive slaves were often branded by their masters with the red character for "Slave." Where it was placed depended entirely on the master’s whim.

But a mark on the ankle was the distinctive signature of the current head of the Pei family, one of the four great noble houses of the Great Yan Dynasty.

Xie Shu released her foot from Wang Mazi and stepped back, casting a glance toward the crowd.

There, amidst the shifting heads, stood a gentleman with white hair and a youthful face, a folding fan resting on his shoulder. His eyes, as they swept across the scene, were filled with inquisitive scrutiny.

"You harmed me for no reason! I am going to report you to the authorities!" Wang Mazi looked down at his bleeding leg; the knife had gone in deep, and his calf was throbbing with pain.

But seeing Xie Shu take a step back, Wang Mazi immediately regained his composure. He pointed an accusatory finger at her, tears streaming down his face, as if he were truly an innocent victim.

Seeing this, Lady Li grew smug. So that was all Xie Shu’s talent amounted to! She laughed loudly, clapped her hands, and shouted to the estate guards: "Someone, seize her and take her to the authorities!"

The guards, having received the order and seeing that Xie Shu offered no resistance, exchanged knowing smiles and raised their hands, ready to rush toward her!

"Wait."