The next day, after Yun Ruoyan had washed up, a guard knocked on her door stating that one of her maids was here to see her. Yun Ruoyan immediately had the maid sent in.

“Ling Lan greets Miss Yun.” However, the person who came was neither Xi Lan nor Peony, but instead Ling Lan.

“Quick, rise!” Yun Ruoyan wasn’t able to bend down, so Li Luo immediately stepped forward to help her up. “Yesterday, Xi Lan and Peony told me that your brother had fetched you home.” Yun Ruoyan held onto Ling Lan’s hand and smiled. “Are you doing well?”

“Don’t worry about me, Miss, my brother treats me perfectly. I’m here to plead for you to intercede on Xi Lan and Peony’s behalf.” Ling Lan’s eyes turned red, and she began to choke on her words.

“What’s wrong with Xi Lan and Peony? Tell me everything.” Yun Ruoyan’s gaze turned sharp.

Ling Lan told Yun Ruoyan everything that had happened in the three years since Yun Ruoyan left the Yun manor.

Not too long after she left, Yun Ruoyu, who had secluded herself in her cottage, slowly began to participate in the family’s activities. Because she was the only daughter remaining in the Yun household, and with Madam Qin gone, everyone was particularly lenient towards Yun Ruoyu.

Yun Ruoyu was initially very obedient, and she quickly obtained her father’s trust and her grandmother’s care. Around that time, Yun Moxiao was also getting busier and busier: Yun Lan had passed most of his duties to his son, choosing to focus on cultivation. In the end, as he devoted himself almost solely to closed cultivation and the Yun matriarch’s health deteriorated, the task of running the household naturally fell to Yun Ruoyu.

Initially, Yun Moxiao would frequently inspect her work, and Yun Ruoyu didn’t dare to go too far out of bounds. However, once Yun Moxiao left to quell the rebellion, Yun Ruoyu had free rein over the household.

One month after Yun Moxiao left—not half a year after Yun Ruoyan’s departure for the Mingyuan continent—she forced Xi Lan and Peony to marry two of the most wretched servants of the manor. When they refused, they were subject to such terrible beatings that they were forced to agree.

“If my brother hadn’t come to fetch me, I would likely have suffered the same fate,” Ling Lan cried out. “But my brother’s only a low-ranking official, and he wasn’t able to save Xi Lan or Peony along with me. I couldn’t bear to watch them continue to suffer within the Yun manor, but thank goodness you’re back now, Miss. I’m sure you’ll be able to intercede on Xi Lan and Peony’s behalf.”

Yun Ruoyan slammed her palm down on her table, cracking the thick, sturdy wood.

“Ruoyan, don’t get too upset! It’ll hurt your body,” Li Luo hurriedly exclaimed.

Ling Lan was also shocked by Yun Ruoyan’s anger, so much that she suddenly jumped up.

“Yun Ruoyu, you’ll pay for this!” Yun Ruoyan tried to calm herself, but whenever she thought about how much Xi Lan and Peony had suffered because of her all these years… “We’re heading to the Yun manor immediately!”

“Ah, Second Miss, you’re here this early?” When the newly assigned guard stepped out of the manor to assume his post and saw the Slaughtering King’s carriage by the door, he immediately bowed down to Yun Ruoyan.

“Ling Lan, do you know where Xi Lan and Peony are staying? Bring me there, now!” Yun Ruoyan ignored the guard.

“Follow me, Miss!”

Xi Lan and Peony lived in a small hovel in a remote part of the Yun residence, and they were both preparing breakfast in their shared kitchen.

“Peony, when Miss Yun came back yesterday, why didn’t you let me tell her the truth? I’m sure she’d stand up for us!” Xi Lan cried out.

“She’d stand up for us, but what about Bao’er and Qiao’er? Have you forgotten what the third miss told us?” Peony sighed.

“Our poor children! If not for them, I wouldn’t stay in this wretched place even if I were to die,” Xi Lan sobbed.

“Xi Lan, Peony, where’s my washbasin? Why haven’t you prepared it for me?!” a bare-shouldered man walked into the kitchen and began to yell.

Xi Lan trembled subconsciously, put down her ladle, and was about to step out when Peony pulled her back. “Stay here. I’ll go.”

Peony took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face as she walked out of the kitchen. “Ah, Niu San, you’re up?”

“Where’s that bitch? Get her to come out and help me wash my face!” Niu San sat down on a bench in the yard.

“Xi Lan’s making breakfast. The hot water’s ready, and I’ll bring it to you in a moment,” Peony replied.

“I don’t want you! Get Xi Lan here!” Niu San stood up and began walking into the kitchen.

“What are you doing? Xi Lan’s making breakfast!” Peony rushed before him and blocked his way. Suddenly, she staggered and fell to the ground, her cheek burning.

After Niu San had slapped her away, he called out, “Brother, your wife was being disobedient, so I punished her for you!”

“Do what you want, but don’t disturb my sleep!” another male voice called out from within the rooms.

“You damned Niu San, I’ll kill you!” Xi Lan rushed out of the kitchen with a cleaver in her hand.

“Oh, you’ve grown bold, have you?” Niu San dodged to the side and kicked Xi Lan in the stomach, sending her flying into the distance.

“Xi Lan!” Peony called out in shock, hurrying to her side. “Niu San, you bastard, she’s your wife!”

“Would a wife dare to raise a cleaver against her husband? The third miss is right—you’re both disobedient hussies who need a man’s stern guidance!” Niu San strode up to the two women and began kicking at them. “You’ll pay for waving a cleaver at me!”

When Yun Ruoyan walked up to the hovel only to hear terrible cries emerging from within, she immediately sped up. As she laid eyes on Niu San beating Xi Lan and Peony, her boiling rage erupted like a volcano.

“Stop!” Ling Lan and Li Luo called out. As they did so, a scarlet beam suddenly shot toward Niu San’s leg, which was currently kicking at Xi Lan and Peony.

Niu San suddenly found his leg lopped off in mid-air, the scorching heat cauterizing his leg wound and leaving no trace of blood. “My leg, my leg!” Niu San crumpled to the ground and began screaming out in shock.

“Who is it? Who’s making such a loud fuss so early in the morning?” Niu Er’s voice came from within the hovel.

Yun Ruoyan’s face was so cold it may as well have been a frozen mask. She glanced at Li Luo, who quickly headed into the hovel and dragged Niu Er out.

“Xi Lan, Peony!” Ling Lan sobbed as she helped the two women up, checking to ensure that they weren’t too badly hurt.

“Miss, we—” Peony and Xi Lan both glanced pleadingly at Yun Ruoyan, but they couldn’t bring themselves to speak. Peony was still somewhat composed, but Xi Lan was sobbing near-hysterically.

Yun Ruoyan wanted to scream at her two maids for not having told her about the situation sooner as much as she wanted to apologize for not having saved them. Her conflicted emotions made her icy mask appear even colder than before. When her two maids saw Yun Ruoyan’s face, they were even more scared of speaking up.

“Ruoyan, what should we do with these two scoundrels?” Li Luo asked.

“Bring them with me,” Yun Ruoyan said, then turned and stalked off.

Yun Ruoyu had just finished washing up when a servant rushed up to her and reported, “Miss, the second miss is back, and she’s furious. She’s right outside, so please have a look.”

“Yun Ruoyu, get out here!” Yun Ruoyan’s voice could be heard from the yard.

Yun Ruoyu’s eyes gleamed coldly as she walked out of her bedroom. “Sister, what’s the matter? Didn’t you just visit yesterday?” When she saw Yun Ruoyan walking in with Xi Lan, Peony, Niu Er, and Niu San, she sighed. “How can I help, Sister?”

“Yun Ruoyu, I don’t want to bicker with you. I want justice for my two maids.” She glanced coldly at Niu Er and Niu San. “Do you think I’m easy to bully? That I wouldn’t return, or that I wouldn’t discover your plots?”

She beheaded the offending men with a single sweep of her sword, causing blood to splatter all over Yun Ruoyu’s room and causing her maids to start screaming.

Yun Ruoyu hadn’t expected that Yun Ruoyan would kill so easily, and she too was scared stiff.

“Xi Lan, Peony!” Yun Ruoyan called out.

“Y-Yes, Miss?” Xi Lan immediately awoke from her daze. She tugged on Peony, and the two of them walked up to Yun Ruoyan together.

“Who among the servants here has ever beaten you? If they’ve beaten you with their hands, I’ll have their hands cut off! If they’ve kicked you with their feet, I’ll have their legs chopped off!” Yun Ruoyan announced.

The dozen or so servants in Yun Ruoyu’s yard all blanched.

Xi Lan was just about to speak when Peony tugged on her arm. “Miss, everyone here has treated us well,” she replied.

“Is that so?” Yun Ruoyan whirled around to look at Peony. She frowned, then suddenly asked, “Where’s Bao’er and Qiao’er?”

“They weren’t in the house,” Li Luo reported.

Xi Lan finally broke down. She knelt and sobbed, “Miss, please save me and Peony!”