Palace Coup 41

While he was calculating busily in his mind, Xie Miaoxuan merely sneered, "Never heard of you. My affairs require no concern from strangers."

She lifted her foot, intending to walk right past him.

Xun Ming hurriedly reached out to block her way.

"Pardon me for not making myself clear. Our Xun family and the Xie clan have been on friendly terms for generations. Furthermore, your elder sister and I are bosom friends. Since she calls me elder brother, it is only natural that you may address me as such."

Xie Miaoxuan continued to look at him coldly.

He reached out to grab Xie Miaoxuan's hand, wearing a somewhat helpless expression. "How can a young lady like you stay overnight outside? Your reputation will be utterly ruined! I shall escort you back to the Xie residence. With me here, you may follow with absolute peace of mind, and no one throughout the entire capital will dare to trouble you. I hear you brought a great deal of luggage upon arriving in the capital; how could it be safe left in such a rustic place? Shortly, I shall have my elder brother send men to help you escort these belongings safely back to the capital."

Xie Miaoxuan stepped back to avoid him. "Pray show some self-respect, young master of the Marquisate."

"I am acting under the instructions of your Xie uncle and aunt. Do you really wish to be reprimanded by your clan? Stop being so headstrong and willful, and come back with me. Where have you put your belongings? I will have my household servants fetch them; my carriage is spacious enough to hold them all."

She cast a sidelong glance at him, her expression already tinged with mockery.

The way he put on airs to obtain something for nothing while talking to himself made her instantly feel a wave of nausea.

A mocking gaze slowly swept across Xun Ming's face, leaving him momentarily flustered, which quickly turned into irritation. Just as he was about to lecture her on a woman's lack of gentleness, he saw her suddenly break into a bright, light smile, making his heart skip a beat.

With a swift motion, she raised her foot and kicked him hard right in the back of his knee.

She used a tremendous amount of force.

Since he could not understand a rejection, she would simply resort to physical action.

Xun Ming was sent sprawling to the ground with a sudden crash.

Ah—

His pretense of elegance was utterly ruined by his shrill, piercing scream.

Xie Miaoxuan quickly stepped forward and, catching him off guard, delivered a sharp slap across his face, knocking his head violently to the side.

"Are you incapable of understanding human speech, or are you simply deaf?"

"What kind of Marquisate heir are you, that you dare meddle in my affairs? Even if the Senior Madam Xie herself were standing before me, she would have to speak to me with courtesy. What on earth makes you think you are anything? Just some stray dog from nowhere, yet you dare stand before me and brazenly presume to make decisions for me. Who do you think you are?"

"You actually even dare to covet my belongings! It is truly a rare sight to see someone brazenly and shamelessly plotting to misappropriate another family's wealth right to their face. If I do not punish you properly, everyone in the future will think Xie Miaoxuan is easy to bully, and if they all come knocking at my door, am I supposed to just swallow my grievances and endure it?"

She instinctively reached for her waist, only to remember that her riding whip had been snatched away by the men in black yesterday, and with fires and explosions everywhere, she hadn't been able to find it at all.

Lacking a familiar weapon...

A large hand holding a familiar riding whip appeared before her eyes.

She looked in slight surprise toward Xie Yuangju at her side. He said, "This was tanned for you by the head of the family. Knowing you would surely feel uncomfortable after losing it, he went out of his way to find it back for you."

She took it, lightly stroking the texture of the whip. Her palm grew faintly warm as she gripped it. Standing quietly beside her, his handsome face instantly made her feel as though her eyes, polluted by Xun Ming just moments ago, had been thoroughly washed clean.

She pressed her red lips together and let out a soft sigh. "Some people simply insist on coming to my door to take a beating, so I am compelled to make the reluctant effort of teaching him what it means to be courteous before resorting to force."

Deliberately wearing the same helpless smile Xun Ming had used earlier, her movements, however, were swift.

With a crack, the whip lashed out toward Xun Ming's body.

The young maiden was like the rising sun, dazzling and blindingly captivating. Xie Yuangju averted his gaze and gave a low cough.

Xun Ming, accustomed to a life of debauchery and indulgence, was far too slow to dodge. A sharp pain flared across his back, and before his first miserable howl could finish, the second whip fell upon him.

"Stop! Base wench!" Only then did he notice Xie Yuangju standing beside Xie Miaoxuan. Seeing the tacit understanding flowing between the two, his eyes bulged instantly. "You really do have a kept child-husband by your side?! How utterly vile! To actually intermarry with a servant!"

"And you even dare to raise your hand and injure people! Just as Xie Miaohan said, you are utterly ungrateful and overbearing! I am the son of a Marquis, and you dare lay a hand on me? Causing unprovoked injury is a grave crime punishable by imprisonment!"

The primary reason Xie Miaohan had sent him to find Xie Miaoxuan was to break up this child-husband arrangement. At the time, he had merely listened casually and forgotten all about it, not taking it to heart at all.

After all, who would actually marry a proper daughter of an aristocratic family to a servant?

To think it was actually true, and judging by the lingering glances between them, they clearly harbored affection for one another.

Xun Ming's words laughed Xie Miaoxuan out of her anger. Someone with such a twisted logic of his own, who insisted on forcing it onto others, truly made... her hands itch.

"Seeing as you still have the energy to chatter away here with me, I suppose it means I used too little force, causing you to underestimate me. Today, I shall let you witness what it truly means to be overbearing!"

The long whip was raised high, and Xun Ming became so frightened that he blurted out wildly, "You really are the daughter of that morally corrupt Xie Qi! Since you liquidated your family estate in the Southern蛮 and traveled north to the capital, you naturally wish to live a good life here in the capital, don't you? Aren't you afraid that acting like this will get you driven out of the clan just like Xie Qi?!"

"Oh?" A strange glint flashed across Xie Miaoxuan's eyes. "Then why don't you tell us properly just how they drove Xie Qi out of the family."

Whenever Xun Ming tried to turn and dodge, Xie Yuangju, standing guard at the side, would kick him right back.

The two worked together in perfect coordination, beating Xun Ming until he begged repeatedly for mercy, spilling everything he knew.

His miserable screams were truly deafening, startling birds into scattering in panic.

"Shh," Xie Miaoxuan raised a finger and pressed it against her lips, her mouth curling into a mischievous arc. "Keep it down. You're disturbing me, you know. If you scream this loudly again, the whip will be replaced by a straight sword! I am taking the trouble to teach you how to behave on behalf of your family, so don't be ungrateful."

Replaced by a straight sword—that meant a single thrust could send him off to the netherworld.

Crack! Another whip-lash came down.

This time, Xun Ming bit his lip hard, not daring to let out any more earth-shattering screams.

"Do you still dare to speak boastfully?"

"I don't dare anymore."

"Do you still dare to brazenly plot against other people's belongings?"

"....I don't dare anymore."

"Get lost."

She did not hold back with the whip in her hand. Xun Ming was thrashed until all his spirit was beaten out of him, and he begged for mercy over and over again.

There was not a shred of softness on Xie Miaoxuan's face; her expression was filled solely with disgust. After giving Xun Ming a thorough beating to vent her anger, she felt a sudden sense of relief in her chest.

This social-climbing parasite, who had colluded with Xie Miaohan to plot against her and spread malicious rumors everywhere about Cui'er and her pre-existing illicit affair with her child-husband that ruined her chastity, had finally had his hypocritical mask ripped off, his arrogant face thoroughly trampled into the dirt.

If one holds a grudge, there is no need to bottle it up; it is best to exact vengeance on the spot.

The pent-up gloom in her heart dissipated along with it, and her whole body seemed to lighten considerably.

Yet, thinking of what Xun Ming had said just moments ago, Xie Miaoxuan, sitting inside the room, wore a heavy expression and could not help pacing back and forth.