The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 4

A lantern hung from the carriage, swaying in the evening breeze.

Its dark-red candlelight illuminated the man’s face.

His features were refined and aristocratic, while his crimson Flying Fish Robe accentuated his tall, heroic figure.

Yet the sidelong way he looked at people gave him an exceptionally overbearing air.

The man made no attempt to lower his voice. His command to “get lost” carried clearly to Zhao Kaiyang in the distance.

Zhao Kaiyang looked as if he had been slapped, his face burning with humiliation.

Yet he did not dare lose his temper. He recognized the man before him as Shen Yan, Commander-in-Chief of the Jingning Guard.

Forget Zhao Kaiyang—even his father, Zhao Huai, would have to curb his arrogance before the head of the Jingning Guard, the organization that investigated every official in the realm and carried out imperial orders to confiscate estates and exterminate entire clans.

Enduring the pain, Zhao Kaiyang limped two steps forward.

“Lord Shen, my younger sister Zhao Li struck her head a few days ago. Since waking, she has suffered from madness and behaved erratically. Please return her to the Zhao estate. We will keep a strict watch on her from now on.”

Madness?

Zhao Li, who had been helped onto the steps, raised her head.

She was about to mock him when the handsome man on the carriage drew his cloak around himself and descended at an unhurried pace.

“I have already said that Miss Zhao Li is one of the Jingning Guard’s people now. No one is permitted to slander her.” Shen Yan idly rubbed the white jade thumb ring he wore. “Are you deaf, Young Master Zhao?”

He did not speak loudly, but every member of the Jingning Guard who had been lounging around eating a late-night meal rose in unison and casually tossed aside his bowl.

The mood turned instantly explosive.

These men had only just returned from a mission in the southern city. The scent of blood still clung to them. Every last one was tall and powerfully built, their baleful energy oppressive.

Startled, Zhao Kaiyang retreated half a step.

His loyal guard stepped in front of him and drew his saber.

Zhao Li’s blood still stained the blade.

Shen Yan narrowed his eyes. “Miss Zhao?”

Zhao Li had been debating whether she ought to stand with the crowd and make her position clear when she heard someone call her.

She looked over and met a pair of fathomless eyes.

“Was this the man who injured you?” he asked.

She paused. Losing so much blood had left her chilled to the bone, but she had made sure to memorize the face of her enemy.

“Yes. It was him.”

“Very well.” Shen Yan nodded carelessly. “This man was implicated in a major case and was beheaded in the street while resisting arrest.”

His statement came without context, yet everyone present understood.

Zhao Kaiyang’s eyes flew open. “Shen Yan! You—”

Everyone said Shen Yan was tyrannical. Zhao Kaiyang had never imagined he could be this brazen.

The guard reacted a beat too slowly. Only when several Jingning Guard commandants surrounded him did his expression change.

“Young Master! Save—”

Before he could finish his plea, a flash of silver sliced through the air and sent his perfectly good head flying.

The severed head struck the flagstones and bounced, terror still frozen on its face.

“What were you about to say, Young Master Zhao?” Shen Yan asked, tilting his head.

Half of Zhao Kaiyang’s body had been sprayed scarlet by the blood erupting from his trusted guard’s headless neck.

When he finally understood what had happened, he shuddered from head to toe and collapsed to the ground.

The sight seemed to please Shen Yan. Some of the gloom eased from his features.

“Miss Zhao,” he called out again. “Since this is our first meeting, how would you like a human head as a gift?”

At his words, a member of the Jingning Guard actually picked up the dripping head and brought it to Zhao Li.

Seated on the stone steps, Zhao Li had just gained an entirely new understanding of the word *overbearing* when the head, its nose crushed crooked by the fall, was presented before her.

She looked up at Shen Yan.

This handsome guy’s psycho score was a little high. Better play along.

“Thank you, my lord.” She accepted it in both hands and worked hard to produce a sincere smile.

In the dim light, the young woman sat obediently with a human head in her arms. Her features were indistinct, and only her wide eyes could be seen blinking.

Amid the heavy stench of blood, a sharp pain pierced Shen Yan’s heart, and his mind went momentarily blank.

Beside his ear, he seemed to hear a girl call, “Lord Shen.”

The sensation passed in an instant, but the stabbing pain and the violent, greedy longing that accompanied it left him dazed.

In that flash of time, he searched his memories and found nothing.

His gaze fell on Zhao Li’s wound. Half her sleeve was soaked red.

Anger rose inexplicably in his chest. Rubbing his thumb ring, he fixed Zhao Kaiyang with a stare cold enough to raise gooseflesh.

That gaze seemed to assess a dead object. Zhao Kaiyang went cold all over and opened his mouth to shout.

“Thank you for taking such an interest in my family affairs, Lord Shen!” Zhao Huai strode over, his expression as dark as thunder.

He had not been at the estate today. He had been drinking with colleagues aboard a pleasure boat and never imagined such chaos would break out at home.

He stepped protectively in front of his battered eldest son and glared at Zhao Li, his eyes sharp as arrows.

His feelings toward this daughter were complicated: one part pity and nine parts loathing.

He pitied the hardship she had suffered, but hated her even more for making Yaoguang’s position awkward and turning sixteen years of the Zhao family’s careful grooming and image-building to waste.

“A-Li, how long do you intend to keep making trouble? Come home this instant!” he barked.

“Home?” Zhao Li sneered, resting the “gift” on her knees. “I have no home to return to.”

“Nonsense!” Zhao Huai’s face turned livid, but he could not make a scene in public. “Stop acting out. Come home, and all that has happened will be forgiven.”

Zhao Li scoffed. Forgiven, her ass! As if she cared whether they were willing to forgive her. The very thought disgusted her.

“I like Lord Shen’s gift very much!”

Blood loss had left her desperately thirsty. Zhao Li licked her cracked lips. “From this day forward, I am one of the Jingning Guard’s people!”

Shen Yan arched a brow.

Zhao Huai’s expression, in contrast, grew even darker. “If you insist on this folly, you will no longer be my daughter.”

Back in the Zhao estate, the former Zhao Li had smiled and fawned even on servants because of her inferiority.

Zhao Huai believed he knew exactly where her weakness lay.

He had not expected her laughing reply.

“Then I won’t be. Zhao Li doesn’t care anymore.”

Zhao Huai’s heart jolted. For the first time, he truly looked at Zhao Li.

Blood had saturated half the petite girl’s sleeve. She set the “gift” on the steps, swayed to her feet, and walked out of the shadows into the moonlight.

Her face was deathly pale, a glaring wound scoring one cheek.

Zhao Huai stared in a daze.

Only now did he notice that this daughter was every bit as beautiful as Yaoguang. Even in this wretched state, she might surpass her.

Why had he never seen it before?

Zhao Li swayed to a stop before him and raised a palm stained with both her own blood and that of her enemy.

“Three claps to seal the oath. Whoever refuses to sever these ties is a bastard!”

After a moment’s shock, Zhao Huai erupted in fury. “Fine! We will do as you wish! Let us see how long you can remain so defiant!”

He raised his hand as well, certain Zhao Li would not dare follow through.

Zhao Li looked at Shen Yan. “Please bear witness, my lord.”

For the first time, Shen Yan saw her face clearly. The young woman’s limpid eyes made her look like a cat.

His chest tightened. He actually looked away on instinct, though his voice remained composed.

“I shall.”

Zhao Li had long since reached the end of her strength.

Her bloodied palm struck Zhao Huai’s palm three times. Once the metaphysical ritual for severing family ties was complete, she sighed in relief and let herself fall backward.

Shen Yan, who had been waiting nearby, caught her.

“The matter is settled. She belongs to me now!”

For some reason, his heart pounded violently in his chest. He lifted Zhao Li—who was covered in moss and filthy water—into his arms and carried her toward the carriage without a moment’s delay.

Zhao Huai remained rooted to the spot, Zhao Li’s blood still on his palm.

A strange intuition told him that he might truly have lost this daughter forever.