The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 68

Han Qi frowned when Zhao Yaoguang stepped forward to speak.

He disliked her interfering so casually in his family affairs.

What right did the daughter of a border military household—an imposter who had usurped another’s nest—have to speak in such company?

Had he not heard that Grand Secretary Lin Zhu doted on her and that she shared some affection with Prince Rui, Han Qi would have rebuked her on the spot.

Even so, his tone was far from courteous.

“Miss Zhao, my family affairs require none of your interference.”

Zhao Yaoguang was not stupid. But she had always stood above the rest, basking in the praise of the capital’s young ladies and living a life soaked in honey. At times, she forgot the awkward position she now occupied.

Stepping forward had been a habit cultivated over many years. She thought she had merely spoken a fair word.

Only when Han Qi addressed her this way did she remember what she was now.

Humiliation and anger surged within her, though none showed on her face.

“Lord Han, my grandfather often says that a nation has its laws and a family its rules. A strange incident like this cannot be privately settled by the Han household.”

“Please report it to the Five Cities Military Patrol Office at once and investigate it thoroughly. Only then can justice be done for Miss Han, whose chastity has been ruined.”

Han Qi wanted nothing more than to keep the family’s disgrace behind closed doors. But when she mentioned Grand Secretary Lin Zhu, he paused and summoned a servant boy.

“Go to the Five Cities Military Patrol Office.”

There were too many eyes and ears present. It seemed he would simply have to endure the humiliation.

With that thought, Han Qi looked at his eldest daughter in disgust.

Han Yin, pale as paper, was slowly climbing to her feet, her eyes fixed on the sharp corner of the railing.

Something stirred in Han Qi’s heart.

He actually began to hope.

Without betraying a thing, he waited for his eldest daughter to make the correct choice.

Han Yin stood and turned, casting a long look over every person present.

Her eyes were bloodshot and filled with hatred.

“Han Yin’s honor is pure as snow, yet Heaven has cast this calamity upon me. I will wash away my injustice with my death!”

With that anguished cry, she hurled herself headfirst toward the sharp corner.

Han Qi’s eyes brightened. For the first time, he felt approval for this eldest daughter.

“Zheng Lian, save her.”

A sharp command rang out.

Just before Han Yin’s forehead struck the corner, a dark figure flashed in from the side and seized her arm.

Han Yin was a sheltered young lady, thin and delicate. The yank sent her flying like a kite before she crashed onto the ground.

Apparently, that was not enough. Afraid she might try to kill herself again, Zheng Lian twisted both her arms behind her as though restraining a criminal, planting one knee firmly on her back in a textbook hold.

Han Yin cried out and could no longer move.

Zhao Li came forward. The sight made the corner of her eye twitch.

Looked at another way, Zheng Lian had shown mercy by not opening with a flying kick.

Everything from Han Yin’s suicide attempt to Zheng Lian’s appearance happened too quickly for the onlookers to process.

Only when they saw Zheng Lian pinning her down did they notice the additional people in the courtyard.

At the sight of their black fish-patterned uniforms, a wave of alarm swept through the gathering.

Everyone recoiled several steps as though they had seen ghosts.

Han Qi’s expression changed the moment the Jingning Guard appeared in his home. He quickly reviewed everything he had said and done recently.

Aside from joining the impeachment of the Jingning Guard over the Mount Jin canal, he had done nothing.

His backbone returned at once. “Have you people come to flaunt your authority in my home?”

Zhao Li gave him a sidelong glance, ignored him, and raised her badge high.

“The Jingning Guard is conducting official business. All law-abiding subjects of Great Jing are expected to cooperate.”

“Li Qing, Lu Jianxing—protect the victim.”

Li Qing and Lu Jianxing obeyed at once, drawing their blades as they stepped forward.

Lu Zhao ran straight to the black dog lying on the ground. After examining it, he reported, “Thousand-Household Commander Zhao, it is still alive.”

Zhao Li gave a nod. “Save it first. We will deal with it later.”

Lu Zhao removed a tube from the utility belt at his waist, opened it, and sprinkled wound medicine over the dog’s head.

Only then did Han Qi realize that the shortest girl among them was the leader.

He looked more closely. She might be petite and plainly dressed, but her striking beauty could not be concealed. A long, narrow scar ran across her cheek.

It took Han Qi no effort to identify her.

After all, he had once defended Zhao Huai by impeaching Shen Yan.

His face darkened. “Thousand-Household Commander Zhao?”

“What an impressive spectacle, Miss Zhao.”

Zhao Li glanced at him. “What is this? Does Lord Han object to this official? Have you forgotten even the courtesies observed between officials?”

Han Qi was left speechless.

A Thousand-Household Commander of the Jingning Guard, the emperor’s own troops, held the proper fifth rank.

She was an official of the same court as him. The form of address he had used was indeed improper.

Yet bowing his head to Zhao Li was impossible. While he wrestled with the dilemma, she had already forgotten about him.

With an amused half smile, Zhao Li studied the deathly pale Zhao Yaoguang.

Since Zhao Li fled and severed her family ties, Zhao Yaoguang had never seen her again.

She had imagined their reunion countless times.

In every version, Zhao Li returned in wretched defeat.

She had never imagined Zhao Li in a fish-patterned uniform, casually commanding those wolfish Jingning Guard officers.

It was a scene Zhao Yaoguang had never considered and absolutely could not accept.

Unfortunately, reality did not care whether she accepted it.

Zhao Li stood before her in high spirits, holding aloft the badge that symbolized her authority.

An indescribable envy and hatred crept into Zhao Yaoguang’s heart and gnawed at her until every organ seemed to ache.

Zhao Li looked at Zhao Yaoguang’s reddened eyes, as though someone had wronged her, and found it almost funny. Then she simply turned away.

The greatest mistake the original Zhao Li had made was caring far too much about vermin like these.

Ignoring Zhao Yaoguang, Zhao Li swept her gaze over the now deathly silent crowd and put away her badge.

“Which one is Han Yun?”

At the question, Han Yun, hiding in the rear, went pale and involuntarily retreated one step.

Li Qing noticed at once.

He strode toward her.

Han Yin’s cousin instinctively shielded her. “Why are you looking for Cousin Yun?”

A friendly smile appeared on Li Qing’s pale face.

His hands did not slow in the slightest.

He reached out, grabbed the front of the young man’s robe, and hauled him aside.

The refined scholar was no match for Li Qing. He staggered and nearly fell.

Han Yun hunched her shoulders, looking frightened and pitiful.

Li Qing stopped before her and asked pleasantly, “Han Yun?”

Seeing that he did not appear particularly fierce, Han Yun blinked her watery eyes and nodded timidly.

The world spun the very next instant.

Li Qing kicked her squarely in the shin, knocked her down, and slammed her face-first against the ground.

Unlike Zheng Lian, who had held back, Li Qing drove his knee hard into Han Yun’s spine.

She screamed in pain. Her teeth struck the ground, filling her mouth with the taste of blood.

“Your crime has been exposed. You’re coming with us.”

Only then did Li Qing wrench her arm behind her.

“Release my daughter!” Han Qi cried in distress.

Zhao Li arched a brow.

His eldest daughter had been about to kill herself, and he had shown nothing like this agitation.

Annoyance flared in her. She raised her voice.

“Han Yun colluded with White Lotus heretics and used the Beast-Making Art in an attempt to murder her legitimate elder sister, Han Yin. She is hereby placed under arrest.”

“Any practitioner of Beast-Making is sentenced to death, whether or not the victim was killed. All members of the same household, even if ignorant of the crime, are exiled two thousand *li*.”

“Seize them all!”

At Zhao Li’s wave, the commandants and guard enforcers who had accompanied her surged forward and surrounded everyone in the courtyard.