The Marquis of Pingning, still furious after smashing the porcelain in his room, stormed towards the Tanza Xiang Yuan despite feigning illness.
Qian Wei and Zi Wei’s hearts clenched as they saw him heading directly for the small Buddhist hall. Their only relief was that their mistress had already returned. If the Marquis discovered she had secretly gone out, their mistress might endure unimaginable suffering.
The speed at which the Buddhist beads were turned quickened with Madam Ban’s heartbeat. Upon seeing Marquis Pingning’s figure, it abruptly steadied.
His expression was so grim that Madam Ban knew, at a glance, that she couldn't escape a beating today.
Even if he didn't know what she had done.
What reason did a man need to beat his wife?
As Madam Ban lowered her eyes, she was kicked to the ground. She didn't even beg for mercy, merely curling into a ball to protect her head and face. This submissiveness only further enraged Marquis Pingning. He grabbed Madam Ban’s hair and slammed her against the wall, shouting, "Bitch, you won't even cry out? You’ve ruined my mood for no reason."
The crisp sound of a slap mingled with the tearing of fabric. Without looking, one could tell what Madam Ban was enduring.
Outside the door, Qian Wei and Zi Wei hugged each other, tears silently falling as they listened to the commotion inside, yet they were powerless.
Marquis Pingning’s wife was no longer young. Her body trembled with pain from the Marquis's actions. She bit her teeth tightly, daring not to make a sound, nor did she beg for mercy, for based on her years of experience, begging and screaming would only lead to more severe beatings.
A man on medication was already irrational, and she dared not give him even the slightest provocation.
Fifteen minutes later, Marquis Pingning took out another whip.
This whip was different from ordinary leather ones; it was woven from strips of cloth. It wouldn't tear the flesh but would leave behind long red welts. Even if they later turned bluish-purple, a dab of ointment would heal them.
He didn’t like his woman’s body to be covered in scars.
The sound of the whip striking flesh followed one after another. Marquis Pingning’s wife writhed on the ground in pain but still clenched her teeth, refusing to make a sound. The only sound in the rudimentary room was Marquis Pingning's heavy panting.
Beating someone was truly an arduous task.
Perhaps it was her age that couldn't withstand the exertion, or perhaps this pantomime of whipping couldn't excite him. In any case, Marquis Pingning soon lost interest. He put away the whip and kicked Madam Ban again, "Useless. You can't satisfy me in anything. I don't know what bad luck befell me to marry you, a jinx."
The exhausted Marquis Pingning returned satisfied.
Qian Wei and Zi Wei quickly entered the room, skillfully lifting the person slumped on the ground onto the bed, cleaning and applying medicine. Qian Wei finally couldn't hold back her tears, "Mistress, please leave with Young Master Yan. The world is vast; anywhere is better than staying in this man-eating Marquis Pingning's mansion!"
Madam Ban lay on the bed, her eyes open but vacant. "Forget it. My life is already like this. Why drag others down?"
She was no longer the clean girl who waited for him under an oil-paper umbrella after school. Being with him would only tarnish him unjustly.
"Mistress." Even for the umpteenth time, Zi Wei’s hand trembled as she applied the medicine. "Shall we go find the eldest young lady? The eldest young lady is now the Rui Princess; she will surely have a solution."
Ban Shi, however, closed her eyes, refusing to communicate.
On the other side, Yan Qing was doing the same thing. No matter how Lu Nian Fu asked, he had only one answer: "Eldest young lady, please don't ask. I promised an old friend that I would not reveal what happened back then until she agrees."
Lu Nian Fu said, "Uncle Yan, I've already guessed eighty percent. Why must you hide the remaining twenty percent?"
Yan Qing applauded her, "The eldest young lady is indeed extraordinarily intelligent."
Lu Nian Fu: ......
Qing Ya: ......
"Uncle Yan's skill of deflecting with a feather's touch has grown ever deeper."
After a bit more evasive maneuvering, Lu Nian Fu saw that he was determined not to speak and could do nothing but dejectedly board the carriage again.
Situ Yan said, "Why don't you hand the person over to me? We can take him to the Dali Temple's interrogation room and give him a scare; maybe he'll confess."
Lu Nian Fu gave him a weak, exasperated glance. "Do you think that's possible?"
"Mainly, I'm afraid you wouldn't bear to."
"That's stating the obvious. If Uncle Yan gets hurt, will you help me make money?"
As the head steward, Uncle Yan vetted all of Lu Nian Fu's businesses. From her past life to this one, they had always been profitable. Unless her brain was kicked by a donkey, she would never lay a hand on him.
Speaking of making money, Situ Yan fell silent.
Even though he was now a prince and earned much more than Lu Nian Fu, he always felt like he was still poor.
There was no help for it; he was used to being poor.
However, he still decided to investigate. When one door closes, another opens; if an investigator rigidly sticks to one line of inquiry, what can they possibly uncover?