Although it was way past midnight, the main courtyard of the Li residence was still brightly illuminated. Maids and manservants of the mansion had gathered at a distance away, supporting one another both physically and emotionally. Yet, none of them dared to approach.
The residents of other annexes of the mansion or standalone detached buildings had holed themselves up in their own abode, not wanting to get involved after witnessing the horrific event that had occurred earlier.
Initially, a group of people had attempted to intercept the intruders, but all of them ended up being beaten to a pulp, leaving countless bodies lying all over the place with varying degrees of wounds.
Su Jin sat upright in the chair of the family head, casually flicking her nails with an indifferent expression on her face. Liao Song stood firmly behind her with a few other guards, arms crossed as they glared at the group of people in front of them.
This was the scene that greeted Li Shen when he arrived at the main courtyard, after hastily donning his upperwear. He narrowed his eyes and coldly stared at the woman who took his seat without permission.
(Su Jin… so she is the cause of the ruckus… Just an ignorant woman who needs to be educated to know her own place!)
Seeing that their master had arrived, the servants quickly flocked over to him as he was their beacon of light who could resolve this predicament.
“How impudent of you, Su Jin. Do you think my Li residence is a place where you can freely trespass and behave as you wish?”
He glared at her fiercely and condemned her.
“Oh?”
Su Jin slowly stood up with a smile, but her eyes were as cold as ice.
After glancing at him indifferently, she flicked a kick and sent him tumbling down a flight of stairs.
*Cough cough*
The man coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Li Shen did not expect that Su Jin would launch a straightforward assault. He leaned forward and coughed violently.
The nearby servants cried out in fear and rushed over to support him.
“You bunch of worthless idiots! What are you idling around for? Go and get rid of that crazy b*tch!”
Li Shen unleashed his anger on the housekeeper beside him.
“Master… we…” his hand that was supporting Li Shen trembled slightly. He did not have the courage to look up.
(None of us stood a chance against her!)
Li Shen applied pressure on his injured chest. His rage amplified when he saw that no one was following his orders.
His eyes turned bloodshot and he gritted his teeth.
“Why the hell are you doing this, Su Jin? Do you want to start an all-out feud with the Li family? ”
“Why… you ask? You should know best, right?”
Su Jin continued with a malicious grin.
“Granny Hu is lonely down in the netherworld. Why don’t you join her for a reunion?”
Li Shen’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Granny Hu being mentioned. He tried to recompose himself and rebuked her to change the topic.
“Who the hell is Granny Hu? Stop spewing nonsense! You broke into my private property today and even injured me and my men. If I do not get a satisfactory explanation and appropriate compensation, I will make you regret your actions!”
“You want a proper explanation? Does a sinful woman like myself… need a proper reason to beat people up? Well… if you want one… let’s just say I felt the urge to mess with you and send you to your grave while I’m at it!”
She looked at him with a menacing smile.
“Su Jin, you wretched woman!”
His anger had reached its limit and he cursed at her loudly. Taking a deep breath, he stood back up and raised his hand to strike her.
Su Jin scorned at his amateur moves, effortlessly avoiding his attack with a slight turn of her body. Leveraging on the momentum, she swiftly countered by grabbing his wrist and giving it a twist, casually dislocating his arm.
Li Shen screamed out loud. Unable to withstand the pain, his body went limp and he fell to his knees.
After a quick look around, Su Jin picked up a vase from the shelf and smashed it on the floor.
With the smile still on her face, she said, “Oh? Do you like solving problems using physical means?”
“What a wonderful coincidence! That’s my default solution for everything too!”
With a calm expression, she forcefully pushed him onto the shattered vase and trampled on him, grinding his body against the broken shards with considerable force!
“Aaaargh!”
A shaarp scream pierced through the sky.
“Let me go! Please, stop!”
Li Shen begged in pain as his blood flowed all over the place. The surrounding servants turned pale and trembled in fear. In their eyes, she was like a cold-blooded monster wearing human skin. Those with faint hearts could no longer bear the brutal sight and collapsed to the ground, covering their mouths tightly with their hands, afraid of becoming the next target of the demoness.
“Let you off? Did that thought ever cross your mind when you hired someone to kidnap my daughter?”
The air around Su Jin turned chilly. She stared at him coldly, as her anger welled up.
“I… I will release her! I order them to release her immediately! ”
He initially intended to vehemently deny any involvement in the kidnapping, but his danger alarm went off when he looked directly into Su Jin’s eyes. The woman in front of him had a few screws loose. She was really going to follow through with her threats and send him to the netherworld.
He could only pray that those men were sloppy and that he could still make it in time. Otherwise… she would most certainly slaughter him on the spot!
Li Shen’s blood soaked body shivered as he imagined what would happen to him if that were the case.
He should have resisted the devil’s temptation. Why did he blindly believe the words of Jia Zong, and assumed that Su Jin was an easy prey? It would have been impossible for any ordinary woman to rapidly expand her business while protecting her secret recipe single-handedly over the past few years.
The Jia family boasted the status of being the in-laws of the powerful Marquis Ding’an from the royal capital through multiple layers of political marriages.
Marquis Ding’an also happened to be the maternal family of the eldest prince of the Great Yuan Dynasty, who was speculated to be the leading candidate for the position of the Crown Prince.
Naturally, every power-hungry individual would quickly jump at the opportunity to forge valuable connections and ride the waves of shift in power dynamics, elevating the status and political influence of their family through currying favours with the future emperor’s maternal family.
Their original plan was to kidnap Su Jin’s daughter in order to extort her for her secret brewing techniques and recipes, and subsequently offer them as tribute to get in the good books of Marquis Ding’an.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Their target had come knocking at his doorsteps shortly after the plan was put into action.
Su Jin pretended not to hear his pleas and scorned, “Why don’t you reveal your plan?”
Li Shen groaned in pain. His blood and sweat has mixed together, flowing into his eye whites and dyeing them red. His appearance resembled a tormented soul that had escaped from the depths of hell.
He felt his heart clench up upon hearing Su Jin’s question. He frantically gasped for breath and confessed everything to her while stuttering due to the pain.
“Everything is instigated by Jia Zong of the Jia family from the royal capital? Alright, very well! ”
Su Jin gave no shit about the Marquis and the eldest prince. As long as they did not mess with her, she had no intention of causing trouble with them.
“Liao Song, bring some men with you and burn down the Wangjiang Restaurant. From today onwards, Wangjiang Restaurant shall no longer exist in Fengyuan County!”
That restaurant was the core foundation of the Li family’s wealth and social standing. Destroying it was no different from eradicating the Li family.
Liao Song acknowledged the orders with a serious expression and left with several men.
Li Shen’s face turned pale. Ignoring his own pain, he struggled to his feet and begged Su Jin: “No, please stop! I have realized my mistake, the hostage will be released! Please don’t do that! The Jia family will not leave this matter alone!”
He was only able to establish a large restaurant in the Fengyuan County thanks to the support from the Jia family. In return, he promised to pay an annual tribute to the Jia family. If the restaurant ceased to exist, it would be akin to cutting off a source of income for the Jia family. There was no way the Jia family would take this lying down.
Li Shen had presumed that Su Jin might be wary of implications and reconsider her action if he were to drag the Jia family into the picture. After all, the Jia family had strong backing in the capital. But to his dismay, the woman remained indifferent.
Li Shen’s pleas turned into cries of despair.
The System shed crocodile tears as it observed from the sidelines: “I can’t bear to watch this anymore. Sigh… I think there might be something wrong with me… Why does it feel so pleasing to my heart whenever I see his bloody face?”
The System wiped its tears while cursing, as though it had suffered from split personalities.
Su Jin silently watched the once proud man, now wailing pathetically as he prostrated on the ground. She was starting to get bored with this. A malicious glint flashed in her eyes. After giving a glance to signal to her subordinates, she strode out of the Li family estate alone and never looked back.
Her lips curled up as she lifted her head to enjoy the starry sky, ignoring the screams behind her and embarked on her return journey against the backdrop of the beauty nightscape.
……
By the time she arrived at her residence, the morning twilight had just crossed the horizon, as the tiny streaks of sunlight streamed out to illuminate the morning fog.
However, no one in the mansion was asleep at this time. Everyone was gathered in the main hall, seated and seemingly waiting for something.
Su Jin encountered this peculiar scene when she pushed open the door to the main hall, and became momentarily loss for words. Did she forget to send someone to relay the message of her late return?
Why was everyone awake and gathered over here instead of sleeping? Not only Dabao and Erbao, even her eldest brother and his family were all present. Every single one of them was seated upright with their backs fully straightened.
Su Jin: “…”
(Why does the atmosphere feel kind of off?)
The moment she saw the old man dressed in a black robe seated on the elevated chair, her face brightened up. She was glad that he had returned, and felt relieved from the bottom of her heart.
(Wait, isn’t the old man always dressed in pale moon-coloured robe? Why is he donned in full black today? It gave a completely different impression.)
She acted as usual and cracked a joke: “Finally willing to return, old man?”
It was unfortunate that she was too occupied with the old man’s return, and did not notice Erbao’s frantic attempts to warn her through eye winks.
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
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