Palace Coup 17

He lunged forward, turning his body to shield Xie Miaoxuan, then raised his leg and delivered a fierce kick to the brute’s abdomen, sending him flying across the ground until he tumbled to a stop right at the feet of the onlookers.

The brute scrambled to his feet, blood spilling from his mouth as he wailed, "Have mercy, my lady! I merely lost my footing; my sin is not worthy of death. You are truly cruel to torture me so."

Xie Miaoxuan turned a deaf ear.

Daniu, quick-eyed and nimble, scanned the man’s frame. Suddenly, he moved, snatching a dagger from the man’s sleeve. "My lady, he intended to commit murder!"

Xie Miaoxuan glanced at Cao Youxin. She had seen clearly the signal he had just made. This man had only arrived at the threshing floor after Cao Youxin appeared; he was obviously not a farmhand, but some hired ruffian. She had assumed the tactics used against her would be nothing more than base attempts to ruin her reputation.

Seeing the dagger, she understood everything. A cold sneer played on her lips.

She took the blade from Daniu’s hand. It was forged from high-quality refined iron—ironware in these times was as valuable as gold or silver, let alone refined iron.

She had underestimated them; they actually intended to assassinate her on the spot!

She did not know whether to marvel at their audacity or be insulted that they held her in such contempt simply because she was a woman.

Her life was not something just anyone could claim.

With a sharp *clang*, Xie Miaoxuan drew the dagger. "Hmph."

A cold flash of light shimmered in her hand. With lightning speed, before the stunned crowd could react, she sliced cleanly across the brute’s throat. A spray of blood erupted, splashing onto her hands.

Drip. Drop...

Though hundreds were present, the silence was absolute—one could hear a needle drop. It felt as if it took an eternity for the crowd to regain their senses, yet the only sound left was the rustle of leaves in the wind.

She sheathed the blade.

Cao Youxin felt a genuine chill in his bones. Her decisive, unpredictable nature was utterly unnerving.

Xie Miaoxuan turned to her retainers and the farmhands. "Did you all hear the house rules that Steward Cao recited just moments ago?"

The scene remained silent for several seconds.

Daniu was the first to recover. "Heard them clearly!" The retainers followed in chorus, "Heard them clearly! Heard them clearly!"

The sound pierced the clouds, a roar of a hundred men.

"Heard... clearly. We all heard them," the farmhands chimed in.

Steward Cao looked left and right, his heart seized with terror. *She!* He thought, bordering on hysteria, *is she really just a woman?*

Her actions made it clear she intended to burn every bridge. Even if he were not cowed by her ruthless killing, the sight of those twenty-three sturdy retainers shattered the last of his hopes. If she truly ordered the use of force, he had no way to stand against her.

His earlier excuses, now that his son had spoken those words, seemed pale and hollow. And judging by her demeanor, she had no intention of wasting more words on him.

In truth, there were seven or eight other ruffians he had brought along. But after the first was subdued, no matter how he signaled them, they acted as if they saw nothing.

He cursed inwardly.

His body trembled involuntarily; he knew this day would not end well. He should have guessed—Xie Miaoxuan had traveled thousands of miles from south to north through treacherous lands; how could she have been guarded by only a dozen people?

Regret. Oh, the regret came too late.

Xie Miaoxuan’s move was nothing short of brilliant. By having him recite the rules, she made the punishment appear righteous and grounded in law. By using blood, she had cowed the entire assembly.

She understood that only by breaking Steward Cao could she establish true authority in the hearts of the farmhands, making it easier to command them in the future.

With chaotic times approaching, she sought to secure a safe and stable refuge for herself as a woman, and that required unity of heart and mind.

But that was for later. For now, it was time to weed out the traitors within.

"Cao Youxin, you disregarded morality by forcibly seizing others' children as concubines for your son. You are cold-hearted and cruel. Not only did you fail to treat them well, but you abused them wantonly, causing the death of Yan'er! You have violated the fifth house rule: Prohibition of Forcible Seizure."

"You exploited the farmhands, amassed wealth through extortion, and persecuted them with forced labor. You have violated the second house rule: Prohibition of Greed and Dishonor."

"You hoarded grain, deceived me time and again, and even plotted to murder your master! You have violated the first and fourth house rules: Prohibition of Disloyalty to the Master, and Prohibition of the Inferior Offending the Superior."

"And those men behind you—ha! Are they the thugs you deliberately cultivated? You used them to aid your evildoing and run rampant across the village. You spent plenty of silver to bribe them, feeding them fine wine and meat, did you not? You have violated the seventh and eighth house rules: Prohibition of Idleness and Gluttony, and Prohibition of Drunkenness and Violence."

"With both human and material evidence, you have broken six of the ten prohibitions. Cao Youxin, do you plead guilty?"

The cold glint of the dagger reflected the sunlight into Cao Youxin’s eyes, capturing his desperate struggle on the blade's surface.

"I do not wish to hear any more nonsense, Cao Youxin." The words, carried on the wind like a sigh, were as biting as a winter gale. "I will say this only one last time. Cao Youxin, if you speak more nonsense to me, I do not mind killing your son first."

Xie Miaoxuan gently brushed her finger along the edge of the blade, feeling a sharp sting as it drew blood from her palm.

Cao Jian, though mentally stunted, had been corrupted by his black-hearted father into a creature of pure vice. Not only did he live off the sweat and blood of the people, but he also harbored a wanton desire to kill.

She had long known of the injuries on Yan'er; most were inflicted by Cao Jian in his private quarters. Even after Yan'er was cast into the pigsty, he would go there in his spare time to kick and beat her, never regarding her as human.

Such a tumor—stupid and venomous—was a blight if left to fester.

The cold words struck Cao Youxin like a thunderbolt. His expression shifted violently as he realized the tide had turned, and he finally collapsed to his knees.

Only then did the farmhands truly believe that the young mistress would stand up for them—and that she possessed the power to do so.

Seeing Cao Youxin still attempting to crawl toward Xie Miaoxuan to beg for mercy, someone could no longer hold back; they rushed forward and restrained him, preventing him from moving an inch.

The first farmer spoke up, "You wretched old thief! You caused the death of my Yan'er. My two eldest children also died because of your cruel exploitation; they were starved to the bone, and a minor illness took both their lives. You should have been hacked to pieces long ago. You don't deserve to beg the mistress; you deserve to die!"

Witnessing the mistress's resolve, once the dam was broken, the long-suppressed anger of the oppressed was instantly ignited. The farmhands all grew agitated, and even the silent elders began to speak.

"My Lady, Cao Youxin forced my husband into hard labor. He claimed we could pay to exempt him, forcing us to take out usurious loans. In the end, he dragged my husband away anyway, claiming the deadline had passed, and he took all the money..."

"Cao Youxin is worse than a beast. My son and my two grandsons—three lives in total—were all dragged off to labor. The number of people sent from our village increased every year, but there is a quota for each village. Later, I spoke with people from other villages and found out he had been selling our labor quotas and replacing them with our own sons! He has no conscience..."

"My Lady..."

"He deserves no mercy!"

"The whole lot of them are parasites; they all deserve to die!"