Dong Huiying woke up, and nothing had happened.

Everyone was going on with their business as usual; the slaughter from last night had been so well concealed that few people knew about it, and even Dong Huiying was kept in the dark.

However, the Liang family brothers were looking at Yixuan in a rather odd way.

Yixuan smiled gently, "Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have flowers on my face?"

Shujun’s lips twitched, wondering who Little Liu learned this thick-skinned skill from.

How did he become like a rogue?

The eldest brother gave Yixuan a long look, "Alright, let’s go!"

And thus, the team got ready to set off.

Yixuan brushed past the second brother and suddenly heard a soft ’heh’.

The second brother seemed to be laughing, but the laugh was ambiguous, leaving one uncertain of what he was laughing about.

Yixuan naturally mounted the horse.

A day later, Dongcui City.

...

Maid Li Luo was kneeling in the courtyard, covered in wounds. It had rained last night, and the courtyard was muddy. Li Luo had been caught in the rain since last night, and now her whole body was wet and cold, her knees were in severe pain.

Her face was pale, with a look of near-fainting.

Yan Xiyu had returned yesterday.

Upon returning to Dongcui City, her first task was to settle accounts with Maid Li Luo. If a Master wanted to punish a servant, they needed no excuse or reason.

Of course, to avoid leaving herself open to gossip, she later accused Li Luo of being a disrespectful, unruly servant who bullied the Master.

Li Luo was just a servant, with no right to object. All she could do was grit her teeth, admit her mistakes, and accept the punishment.

But now, her whole body was swaying, she could hardly kneel any longer, and her vision was blackening.

At this moment, she seemed to see Butler Yan hurrying over.

...

This rain carried a bit of chill. Yan Xiyu felt a little cold, so she had the servants light a charcoal basin, and she was currently eating cut apples, looking calm and leisurely.

"Miss."

After entering, Butler Yan first greeted politely, and then dismissed the others before stepping forward quickly.

"Two matters. First, there is news from the black market; the assassins tasked with your heavy bounty are all wiped out, not a single one returned."

"What did you say?"

Yan Xiyu’s eyes widened as she slowly sat up straight.

Butler Yan glanced at her and continued, "And the second thing, there was drumming and gongs at the city gate this morning. People said it’s because the Young Master of Qin Family is arriving in Dongcui City today."

Yan Xiyu was once again surprised.

The complete failure of the assassins had caught her off guard, causing her to reassess their capabilities.

But in any case, these ’personal vendettas’ could at most be considered minor skirmishes; the arrival of the Young Master of Qin Family in Dongcui City, with the Family Head planning for them to be engaged in a marriage alliance, made Yan Xiyu uncomfortable. She disliked Qin Xuan, finding him unclean and not a good person.

Overall, she believed those unreliable, sordid rumors, whether or not she had someone she cared for, it was impossible for her to take a liking to someone like Qin Xuan, who was so mired in filth. Therefore, she was fundamentally opposed to this marriage.

She neither wanted to take Qin Xuan as her husband, nor desired to be allied in marriage with Qin family.

Suddenly, she recalled her previous lengthy journey to Chuixue Manor, where the servants had told her that the Master of Chuixue, Qin Xuan, was not home, as he had gone away. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She didn’t believe them at the time, thinking it was just an excuse from the servants.

But now Qin Xuan was unexpectedly coming to Dongcui City?