Chapter 17

“Miss Qi!”

Guan Yidao let out another furious shout and rushed over to grab Qi Yue’s wrist.

Qi Yue bit down on her teeth and smiled.

“Why? Give me a reason, Commander. Or are you saying you were involved in those things he did?”

At that remark, Guan Yidao suddenly froze.

“What did you say? Qi Yue, do you have any idea who I am?”

“I know, my father’s Lieutenant General. He’s dead, and you’re alive. I heard you were bosom friends?”

Qi Yue’s voice contained playfulness, doubt, and a hint of mockery.

Guan Yidao’s complexion turned deathly pale, as if he had been wounded by the words “bosom friends.”

But he quickly regained his composure, his expression becoming a mixture of sincerity and pleading.

“Qi Yue, trust me, let him live a few more days.”

She curled her lips and glanced at the over three hundred people in Ma Pengli.

Everyone was looking at her with fanatical admiration, their lips slightly stirring as their low cries merged into a single phrase.

“Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!”

She smiled faintly, put away her firewood chopping knife, and with a swift kick sent Qian Faliang flying into the crowd.

Shrieks erupted from the people as they hastily retreated.

“This man has abused your sons and daughters, whipped you on the road to exile, making sure you suffered every step of the way. Don’t you want your revenge?”

The crowd fell silent, no one daring to come forward.

Qian Faliang, who had been thrown out, scrambled to his feet, frantically pulling at the whip coiled around his neck.

“Hurry, someone help!”

The six attending government officials regained their senses and clumsily rushed to Qian Faliang’s side, helping him to his feet.

No sooner had Qian Faliang stabilized himself than he rewarded the attending government officials with a flurry of slaps.

“Don’t just stand there, go and capture that dead fat woman! I want her dead!”

The government officials, dazed from the slapping, drew their knives and charged at Qi Yue.

It was six against one again.

Zhao Yonglian, who had been previously captured by six men, cried out in alarm.

“Be careful!”

Zhao Xiyan also held onto the crossbow, having heard that General Qi’s daughter indeed possessed innate divine strength, but truly knew no martial arts.

“Ah!”

Several screams rang out as six men were flung away simultaneously.

Guan Yidao looked at the knife in his hand, confused. He hadn’t even struck yet.

Zhao Xiyan was also stunned. He hadn’t fired his crossbow!

Looking again at Qi Yue, she stood proudly amidst the stable like a stout pine, her firewood chopping knife dripping with bright red blood.

Qi Yue was somewhat surprised herself.

She knew this body had innate divine strength, but what about this speed? When the men had charged at her, she had swung the firewood chopping knife almost instinctively, as though her muscles remembered the movement on their own.

Swish swish swish!

Two strikes to the left, one above, three in the center—it was as if she had known martial arts all her life.

Could the original owner of this body actually have been skilled in martial arts?

She focused her thoughts, but couldn’t recall anything. Instead, her head began to throb in pain.

“Qi Yue, you have the audacity of the heavens, do you know who I am?”

The shouting of Qian Faliang brought her back from her thoughts.

Strange, why were so many people asking her that question today?

What did she care who they were?

All she knew was that she had to safely deliver Zhao Xiyan to the place of exile, get the divorce paper from him, and reclaim her freedom!

Anyone who wanted to harm Zhao Xiyan was opposing her freedom, and she would not let them go!

“Guan Yidao, why don’t you hurry up and restrain this fat woman? Careful, or I’ll report you to the Grand Tutor and have your entire family executed!”

At these words, Guan Yidao’s expression tightened.

“You really are the Grand Tutor’s man!”

Qi Yue’s brows furrowed ever so slightly.

That Qian Faliang was a man of the Grand Tutor was not hard to guess.

This time, the Zhao Family was raided by the Grand Tutor himself; Qian Faliang parachuting into the mission midway clearly indicated he was directed to target the Zhao Family.

Throughout the journey, he had been overbearing and cruel, committed all kinds of atrocities, always referring to himself as ‘this great official,’ and not even the commander was spared his disdain. Clearly, the power behind him was formidable.

But she had not expected him to invoke the Grand Tutor’s name as soon as he opened his mouth.

If he wasn’t just bluffing for effect, then a problem had arisen.

The Grand Tutor himself, a figure of such standing, had personally ordered Zhao Xiyan’s death?

That made no sense at all!

And there was Guan Yidao, who clearly also harbored deep hatred for Qian Faliang.

Why would he want to save Qian Faliang’s life?

Seeing both of them stunned, Qian Faliang became arrogant again!

“Scared now, aren’t you? Let me tell you, once I report all of today’s events to the Grand Tutor, every one of you will die!”

He laughed wildly, pulling out a token from his bosom.

The token was black, with a ferocious human head carved on it, into which a sword was thrust.

“Let this great official broaden your horizons, hahaha!”

All the exiles had seen much of the world.

At the sight of the token in Qian Faliang’s hand, they all fell silent as if struck by frostbite, followed by a series of thudding kneels.

“Spare us, great official, spare our lives!”

“We were ignorant of your arrival, great official, our transgression is unforgivable!”

“We beg you, great official, to be merciful. We have nothing to do with the Zhao Family; we would never defy you!”

“…”

‘Notorious’ was not Qian Faliang’s name or his rank; it referred to a dread-inspiring governmental office—the Notorious Ones.

This was a secretive organization that had existed since the founding of Beiyuan.

It had no official premises, no personnel records; all its members responded solely to the black token’s call.

In Beiyuan, being a Notorious One meant acting by the Emperor’s personal command, with carte blanche.

Among the common people, the terror of the Notorious Ones even eclipsed that of ferocious beasts and ghosts.

If children were disobedient, simply by saying “The Notorious Ones are coming,” they would instantly behave, indicating the group’s actions were wickedly cruel and brutal.

However, in recent years, with the power of Beiyuan’s Huang family waning, even the Notorious Ones had become the pawn of Grand Tutor Lin.

“Hahahaha!” The object of the kneeling, Qian Faliang laughed maniacally, his emaciated form trembling as though struck by lightning.

“Qi Yue, bring Zhao Xiyan to this great official immediately!”

“Considering you are General Qi’s daughter, and given your medical skills and cunning, if you willingly serve me, you won’t have to suffer this exile any longer, and you could be one of the elite!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene became instantly quiet.

The fervent gazes of those who had knelt turned back to Qi Yue.

A single thought roared in everyone’s mind,

“Why couldn’t I be Qi Yue? Then I could prosper!”

Suddenly, someone burst from the crowd.

“Qi Yue, my dear niece! What are you standing there for? Hurry up and bring Zhao Xiyan to the official!”

This endearment nearly made Qi Yue vomit.

She examined the man before her, Qi Fengzhang, and suddenly found his name rather fitting.

Indeed, he was rat-like, crafty, full of foul schemes!

That her self-proclaimed patriotic father could have such a brother?

It was truly a family misfortune!

“My niece, your second uncle understands that you have been wronged. You are a member of our Qi Family and have nothing to do with the Zhao Family. Just listen to the great Notorious Official, offer up Zhao Xiyan, and our whole family can return to the Capital City!”

Qi Yue suppressed her disgust and replied indifferently, “Our whole family? What relation do I have with you?”

At this, Qi Fengzhang hurriedly took a step forward.

“We’re related, I’m your second uncle!”

“Oh, I can see that,” Qi Yue snorted, “You certainly share my second uncle’s character, both utterly shameless.”

With that, she walked towards Zhao Xiyan.