Xue Honghong stood in the woodshed, her chest heaving violently. She could swear, even make a blood oath, that in all her years of life she’d never once seen such a despicable person.
At first, she’d only wanted to give him a light punishment. After a few days, she’d release him and leave it at that.
But now she’d changed her mind. She wanted to lock him up until the day he died. So long as she was in Raging Flame City, he could forget about leaving the woodshed. When she returned to the clan, she’d take him back with her and imprison him for life.
Fortunately, Ye ZIchen hadn’t heard about any of this. If he had, he definitely would have said….
Why are you dragging me home with you? Do you want to marry me? Are you trying to use the flames of your pa.s.sion to chain me up for life? I’m sorry, but I’m wanton and unrestrained. I cherish my freedom. If this is your love…. I reject it!
Several of the estate’s servants were standing outside the building. Xue Honghong glared at the woodshed, gnashed her teeth, and shouted, “from now on, no one is permitted to pay the man in the woodshed any heed. Ignore him, no matter what he says. Is that clear?”
“We understand completely.”
They all nodded instinctively, but when they saw her disheveled clothing and recalled the rumors that had been spreading around the estate lately….
Could it be that the young lord inside refused to submit, so the First Miss decided to make him into her private plaything?
The First Miss had always seemed rather decent! They never would have guessed that she was this sort of person.
Xue Honghong no longer cared what others thought of her. Right now, all she cared about was….
Imprisoning him for life!
“Behave yourself and stay put. Don’t even think of escaping in this lifetime!”
In truth, Xue Honghong said all that to vent her innermost fury, but from the perspective of outsiders, it sounded more like something you’d say during a lovers’ spat.
Then she turned to leave, was.h.i.+ng her hands of the matter.
Meanwhile, Zichen sat inside the woodshed. By now, the black and blue marks covering his face had long since disappeared, and he"d struggled free from the ropes binding him as well. He reached out with his immortal awareness. When he discovered that the woman in red was long gone, he sneered and poked his head outside.
“Hey, you guys……”
The servants were truly somewhat startled; they hadn’t expected to see him open the door.
“Hurry up and bring me some meat. I’m about to starve to death here!”
In truth, after entering immortality, you could abstain from eating. However, since Ye Zichen hailed from the Modern Realm, he had cravings for meat despite his astonis.h.i.+ng strength.
The servants outside hesitated. The First Miss had clearly forbidden them from paying the man locked inside any attention.
“What are you just standing there for? Do you dare disobey me? I’m this family’s future son-in-law. That woman said she wants to lock me up, but can’t you tell she only said that out of anger? If you really let me starve to death, I can guarantee it won’t end well for you.”
As soon as he said that, the servants visibly wavered. Replaying the First Miss’s words, it really did sound a bit like they were having a lovers’ spat…..
“Please wait a moment, sir.” Regardless of whether their conjecture was correct or not, they were only servants. They dared not take such a risk.
“That’s more like it! Hurry up, then.”
Roughly fifteen minutes later, the servants returned to deliver several meat dishes.
Ye Zichen closed the door, then lay down with obvious satisfaction. In truth, this woodshed was quite nice. So long as he had straw to lie on, the ground was rather comfortable and although the atmosphere wasn’t so great, it was quiet at least.
“I don’t know how my dear apprentice is doing, but since the Skyspan Trading Company is escorting him, he shouldn’t run into any danger on his way home. Also, that woman told her attendant he was a ‘prince of the Wu Family.’ The attendant will likely announce him as such when they reach the Wu Family. This way, even if his family is plotting against him, they’ll definitely have some reservations. They won’t dare touch him.”
Everything went just as Ye Zichen expected. When the Wu Family saw that Wu Di was accompanied by an escort from the Skyspan Trading Company, they were petrified. Afterwards, they treated Wu Di far better than before.
Despite his awkward status, he was a.s.signed his own residence. It directly faced Zheng Yunan’s courtyard. This was because, throughout the entire Wu Family, she was the only one he had a harmonious relations.h.i.+p with.
A dozen or so men dressed in black stood in a luxuriously decorated room. A pinched, sour-looking woman sat in front of them as well as a tall, stalwart man with a buzzcut and sunken eyes.
“Gang Leader Huang, is this what you promised me?”
“Ma’am, please calm your fury.” The man sitting next to her on the sofa attempted to comfort her.
The pinched looking woman’s eyes practically leaped from their sockets. “Just who was it who thudded their chest and proudly declared that Wu Di would never make it into the city alive? Guess who just arrived? What, was he a ghost?”
“Ma’am, if things really went as Deacon Li said they would, if they’d really walked here along the ancient path, there is absolutely no way they could have escaped from the tight encirclement I had waiting for them. However, for the past few days, only the Skyspan Trading Company has traveled the ancient road. And you saw it too: Wu Di was escorted here by the Skyspan Trading Company. Surely you don’t think we should have attacked the trading company en route?”
“Hmph.” The sour woman snorted coldly. This was none other than the Wu Family leader’s wife, the second daughter of the Li Family, Li Na. A few days ago, Li Wanlong informed her that Wu Di encountered and became apprenticed to an expert. That alone was enough to infuriate her. Fortunately, he’d also told her that the pair planned to travel to Raging Flame City on foot.
In order to prevent any future hitches, Li Na had to be ruthless. She’d hired the Axe Gang to a.s.sa.s.sinate Wu Di and his master.
Yet contrary to all expectations, that little beast had connections in the Skyspan Trading Company.
“Ma’am, please rest a.s.sured. Our Axe Gang’s grudge against Wu Di and his master is as deep as the ocean. We slipped up this time, but that doesn’t mean we"ve given up. Skyspan Tower is mighty indeed, but we’re in our home territory. Our Axe Gang will find a way to eliminate them even if they’ve got Skyspan Tower’s backing.”
The speaker was none other than the head of Axe Gang’s base in Raging Flames City, Huang Aogu. His tone was dark and sinister; not long ago, he’d gotten word from his most beloved subordinate, Zhao Ye. He’d received Li Na’s request at the same time, so he naturally accepted it.
He’d placed countless traps in order to ambush Ye Zichen and Wu Di, only for the Skyspan Trading Company to get involved and ruin his plans.
“Madam, please give us a little time. We’ll definitely ensure that both master and apprentice disappear from the face of the earth.”
“Let’s hope so,” Li Na snorted darkly, then rose from the sofa.
Just as Huang Aogu was about to show her out, she refused him. “I’ll see myself out, Gang Leader Huang.”
She’d sought out the Axe Gang and a.s.signed them a mission for her own benefit. Furthermore, the Wu Family’s relations.h.i.+p with the Axe Gang was rather tense. It would be disadvantageous if others saw them together.
She left the room indifferently. A cold, hateful glint flashed through her eyes. “That little beast is rather lucky. Even so, in the entire clan, only the Zheng Family supports him. The clan compet.i.tion is nominally about martial arts, but it’s actually all about marriage alliances. Once that girl Zheng Yunan is married off, I’d like to see who in the clan dares protect you!”