Slapping Chi Zhuyi Across the Face

Lin Yuejiao said with an expressionless face, "Yunjin, what are you still standing there for? Your Prince is injured; hurry and bring the doctor over."

Looking at Lin Yuejiao issuing orders while sitting in his master's arms, Yunjin instantly got the subtle feeling that she looked very much like the mistress of the household.

"The Prince is injured?" Yunjin's expression changed as he grasped the crucial point. "Prince, this subordinate will have Shanglu come over right away."

Rong Yu's voice was light and breezy, revealing that he was in a quite pleasant mood. "No matter, he is treating Moqian right now, no need to call him over. Just bring some hemostatic powder."

"You were scratched by a fierce tiger, you need to disinfect it first. Hemostatic powder alone is useless in case toxins enter the wound..." Lin Yuejiao retorted, "You must let a doctor examine it."

A smile curled the corners of Rong Yu's lips. "Rest assured, I won't be poisoned."

Before Lin Yuejiao could say anything further, Yunjin had already walked in carrying a bottle of hemostatic powder and said, "The Prince is immune to all poisons, Fourth Young Miss can rest easy."

Immune to all poisons?

Lin Yuejiao could not help but cast another glance at Rong Yu.

Heavens, was the heavens far too partial to him? The supreme noble, a face as bewitching as an immortal, unfathomable martial arts prowess, coupled with a constitution immune to all poisons—no wonder in her past life so many people wanted to murder him, and various plots to poison him had all been utterly useless; the man simply could not be poisoned.

As Yunjin tended to Rong Yu's injury and pulled down the outer garment at his shoulder blade, Lin Yuejiao's face flushed and she turned her back to him. Ordinarily, she should have stepped out of the carriage to avoid any suspicion, but somehow, her feet refused to budge.

Glancing out of the corner of her eye at Yunjin clumsily fumbling and heavy-handedly attempting to bandage Rong Yu's wound, Lin Yuejiao simply could not bear to watch any longer. With a cold face, she walked up to Rong Yu and said to Yunjin, "Step aside, I'll do it. With your technique, your Prince's blood is going to drain away completely."

Yunjin fell silent, while Rong Yu softly remarked, "With Sai Huatuo and Shanglu around, he never gets the chance to practice. Yunjin, you may step outside."

"Understood." Yunjin cupped his fists and departed.

With an expressionless face, Lin Yuejiao bandaged the wound on Rong Yu's left shoulder. Looking at the distinct, deeply bone-deep bloody gash, a complicated turmoil churned within her heart.

*

Lin Zijin returned safe and sound, and the Old Dowager had worried half the night, only setting her mind at ease once she saw them come back.

Since Lin Zijin was close to the Old Dowager, she naturally commanded greater attention and care than the others.

Today's events must never be spread abroad so as not to tarnish their reputations; currently, only the Old Dowager and Lin Yuejiao in the Lin residence knew about it.

Not wishing to disturb the Old Dowager and Lin Zijin as they chatted, Lin Yuejiao returned to her own Youran Courtyard. The night was already deep, yet she found herself entirely devoid of sleep.

Sitting on the daybed flipping through a miscellaneous book, her gaze landed on the cloth bandage wrapped around the back of her hand, and she fell into a daze.

The red cloth strip, and his flowing sleeves.

"What is my Young Miss looking at so intently?" Iris walked over carrying a cup of tea and asked with a suppressed smile. "Could it be that you are thinking of the Prince?"

Recovering her wits, Lin Yuejiao put down the book in her hand, picked up the clear tea to take a light sip, and masked her feelings by saying, "I was merely thinking that since I was saved by the Prince today, I have no way to repay such a kindness."

"So Young Miss intends to offer your hand in marriage to repay him? That's how they always sing it in storybooks," crape myrtle chimed in with a laugh.

Lin Yuejiao said with a straight face, "Storybooks also sing of turning into cattle and horses in the next life to repay kindnesses. Don't count on offering my hand in marriage; becoming his beast of burden in the next life will do just fine. Iris, go fetch that bolt of Southern Xinjiang snow silkworm damask Grandmother rewarded me with last time; I want to cut and make a new dress."

"Didn't Young Miss say last time that this fabric was far too precious to use rashly and told us to set it aside? Whatever made you think of making a dress with it today? Wait a moment, Young Miss, I'll go get it for you," Iris said in astonishment.

Lin Yuejiao bit her lip. *He ruined a set of robes for my sake, so I shall return him a fine silk garment.*

*

The One-Eyed Dragon was handed over to the authorities. Sent by the Prince of Loyalty and Righteousness, how could the Prefect of Xinzhou dare to delay? He uncovered a mountain of crimes against the bandit—though unfortunately without implicating the Si family—and sentenced him to immediate execution.

Business at the Yuyan Workshop was booming. Apart from Li Moqian and a few others, no one else knew that the shop was connected to Lin Yuejiao.

Days returned to tranquility. Amidst the nervous anticipation of everyone, the 18th day of May finally arrived—the day the ranking lists for the first round of the Zhaohuang Selection were posted.

The Jinghua Imperial Palace was already packed to capacity.

Because the two of them had long since obtained ivory bamboo tallies, they received special treatment; a guard led the way, escorting them to the Invitation Moon Pavilion within the Jinghua Imperial Palace.

The place where the results were posted was the pristine white stone tablet wall directly opposite the Invitation Moon Pavilion.

"Young Miss Lin has arrived as well, please take a seat." Upon seeing Lin Yuejiao, Lian Shi'er wore a dignified and gracious smile.

Chi Zhuyi let out a cold snort, and a venomous glint flashed in Si Yingxi's eyes, though it was not as overt as Chi Zhuyi's display.

Everyone at the table turned to look at the Lin sisters, and Li Yingqiu, the daughter of the Prefect of Nanzhou, asked curiously, "Young Miss Lian, which young lady is this? She looks rather unfamiliar."

"You may not have met her before, but you must have heard her name," Lian Shi'er said with a gentle smile. "This is the person who currently holds the most ivory bamboo tallies in Jiangnan, our Jiangnan number one, Lin Yuejiao."

So it was her.

Chi Zhuyi sneered and said, "Jiangnan number one, my foot! She merely took advantage of a loophole to get her hands on bamboo tallies early. Younger Sister Lian has always been the premier young lady of Jiangnan, and I yield to you taking first place. As for calling her number one? I'm the first to disagree."

"Indeed, Young Miss Lian truly deserves the title; how could some upstart who popped up halfway through possibly match up?" Si Yingxi chimed in, and the other young ladies echoed her sentiments in agreement.

"I had heard before that the foremost beauty of Xinzhou seemed to have the surname Lin? Is that her?" a young lady from another region asked, casting a critical look at Lin Yuejiao.

Si Yingxi smiled. "The former number one beauty of Xinzhou was Lin Qingliu, who is Lin Yuejiao's cousin."

"Well, that truly is strange. Someone who couldn't even manage to snag the title of Xinzhou's foremost beauty actually managed to secure three top-grade ivory bamboo tallies. I truly wonder what crafty, devious tricks she used to swindle those three tallies," mocked a young lady from a neighboring table.

Lin Yuejiao did not recognize her, though in truth, they were actually related by marriage.

A flash of anger crossed Lin Zijin's face, and she was about to retort when Lin Yuejiao shook her head at her. Ignoring the chattering flock of women, Lin Yuejiao pulled her along to find a corner seat near the edge.

"Eldest Sister, what they are saying is simply too much," Lin Zijin said angrily. "If Sister hadn't stopped me, I would have gone over to reason with them. When the Prince bestowed those tallies, so many people were present; why didn't a single one of them dare question the Prince? Yet now, they keep harping on how Eldest Sister's ivory bamboo tallies were obtained through fraud, as if the Prince of Loyalty and Righteousness were so easily fooled."

Lin Yuejiao smiled faintly. "You were the one who told me that those who are not envied are mediocre; how is it that you've forgotten your own words? It's useless to reason with them, because they have no intention of being reasonable in the first place. Pay them no mind."

"Eldest Sister is right," Lin Zijin pondered for a moment before sighing. "In truth, everyone knows how Eldest Sister obtained those three tallies. Grandmother went out of her way to publicize it precisely to ward off idle gossip. They're merely picking a fight on purpose."

Watching Lin Yuejiao being ostracized by the crowd, Lian Shi'er felt a sliver of triumph flash in her heart, though on the surface she maintained her gentle demeanor. "You must all stop talking nonsense. His Highness the Prince is discerning; since he bestowed the tallies, he naturally had his reasons. If any of you dare to speak ill of His Highness, I will be the very first to object."

"Young Miss Lian is simply fiercely defending the Prince," Si Yingxi said with a deliberate, flattering smile.

"Naturally. My father and the Marquis of Loyalty and Righteousness are old friends; the Prince is no outsider to me," Lian Shi'er said with a matter-of-fact tone that drew looks of envy and jealousy from many of the surrounding young ladies, though none of them dared to subject her to the same sarcastic mockery they had hurled at Lin Yuejiao.

"Besides, the Prince has always been fair. Even without my defense, the Prince cannot possibly be in the wrong," Lian Shi'er added.

A wave of jealousy churned within Chi Zhuyi's heart, but she nonetheless picked up the thread. "Naturally, the Prince would never do wrong; it's simply that he failed to see through certain people's lowly backgrounds—they are utterly unworthy of holding three ivory bamboo tallies. You probably don't know this, do you? Lin Yuejiao's mother is the daughter of a convicted criminal!"

Last time, she had hoped to strip Lin Yuejiao of her qualification for the selection, but she hadn't expected that fool Wang Ranbai to fail in harming Lin Yuejiao, instead allowing Lin Yuejiao to smoothly pass the first round of assessments.

"The daughter of a convicted criminal? Then how could she possibly marry into the Lin family of Xinzhou? The Lin family is a prominent clan in Xinzhou; how could they possibly marry a convicted slave? With such a lowly background, how could she ever be fit to cross the Lin family's threshold?" the others asked in astonishment.

"The Old Dowager of the Lin family was naturally unwilling, but her mother was a seductive vixen with formidable tricks. She hooked the third young master of the Lin family, performed wedding rites with him outside, and dragged him right back to the Ye family. Ah, once the rice was cooked into a raw meal, even if the Old Dowager was unwilling, she had no choice but to accept. Otherwise, her mother would have long since been sentenced to exile on the frontier; how could she possibly be enjoying a life of luxury and fine silks in the Lin household?" Chi Zhuyi sneered.

Si Yingxi spat out a contemptuous breath. "A marriage must be decided by the command of parents and the words of matchmakers; to engage in a private liaison like that is utterly shameless."

"A vixen is naturally shameless. One need only look at Lin Yuejiao to know her mother must have possessed supreme seduction arts; otherwise, how could she have fooled the noble third young master of the Lin family into marrying a convicted slave?" Chi Zhuyi mocked, her words exceptionally harsh and grating. "If he hadn't been bewitched, why else would the third young master of the Lin family have gone so far as to intercept the imperial army, rescue her mother, and even take her as his principal wife? Tsk tsk, I suppose her skills in bed must have been top-notch..."

"Thud!"

Before Chi Zhuyi could finish speaking, a three-legged pear-blossom round stool smashed squarely against her forehead, instantly splitting open a gash from which blood poured like a fountain.

"Lin Yuejiao, how dare you hit me? What are you doing?" Chi Zhuyi shrieked in rage, clutching her bleeding forehead.

Standing right before her was Lin Yuejiao in a dress of unadorned white. It was precisely she who had suddenly rushed forward and smashed a stool into Chi Zhuyi's face.

"Lin Yuejiao, you—"

"Slap!" Another heavy blow directly cut off Chi Zhuyi's words.

"You can't hit me—"

"Slap!"

"My father is—"

"Slap, slap, slap..."

Swinging with both left and right hands in rapid succession, blow after blow, Lin Yuejiao gave Chi Zhuyi no chance to speak. Each strike was heavier than the last, and in the span of a breath, dozens of slaps landed, swelling both of Chi Zhuyi's cheeks and drawing blood from the corners of her mouth.

"Lin Yuejiao, stop this at once! This is the Jinghua Imperial Palace, how dare you resort to violence and injure people!" Lian Shi'er hastily barked in reprimand.

With a cold sweep of her eyes, Lin Yuejiao fixed her gaze on Lian Shi'er, her voice as chilling as if it came from the deepest netherworld. "I am beating her; what business is it of yours? Since you're so full of a sense of justice, why didn't I hear you say a single word just now when she was slandering my mother? If it's none of your concern, shut your mouth and get lost to the side."

With that, Lin Yuejiao returned her gaze to Chi Zhuyi, her eyes chillingly devoid of warmth. "With a filthy mouth like yours, what right do you have to take the Zhaohuang Academy examinations? To maliciously slander a woman you've never even met before, have your lessons in 'Female Morality' and 'Rituals' been eaten by dogs? With your character, if you were to pass the first round of the Zhaohuang assessments, I would be forced to question whether the examiners had poor eyesight to let someone like you pass the evaluations of virtue and decorum."

As she spoke, her gaze swept across the faces of the group of young ladies nearby. "You can gossip about me all you like—that doesn't matter. But if I ever hear anyone insult my mother, you had best make sure you don't walk alone at night, lest you run into ghosts."

Her final sentence was fraught with bone-chilling killing intent.

Whoever dared to insult her mother would pay the ultimate price.

At that moment, everyone present felt the genuine murderous intent radiating from Lin Yuejiao.

"L-Lin Yuejiao, I won't let you get away with this..." Chi Zhuyi's face had swollen into a steamed bun. Having been slapped in front of such a large crowd, she glared at Lin Yuejiao, consumed by a humiliating fury that made her wish she could kill her.

Lin Yuejiao sneered and abruptly shoved Chi Zhuyi's face down against the table, slamming her so hard that her nose bled and tears and snot streamed down her face.

"Good. That is precisely what I was planning to say to you as well," Lin Yuejiao declared.