The Marquis of Yong'an's heir was filled with all sorts of vulgar thoughts. The more he thought, the more excited he became, wishing he could summon men to hold her down and assert his authority.
But he had clearly forgotten one thing.
While this was not the territory of the Duke of Yu's mansion,
It was Du Yiyi's own territory.
Seeing the lewd and hateful expression on the Marquis of Yong'an's heir's face, just like when he had harassed decent women in the capital a year ago, she felt a surge of disgust. Her phoenix eyes narrowed, and she berated him angrily:
"Liu Yuanming, you scoundrel, you dare to have designs on me? Are you tired of living?"
The Marquis of Yong'an's heir, Liu Yuanming, was stunned. In this run-down place, everyone had always respectfully called him "Young Master."
It had been a long time since anyone had called him by his name.
He found it unfamiliar.
Now, being called out by Du Yiyi, his temper flared, and he cursed angrily:
"Du family girl, what are you being so arrogant about? Do you think you're still in the capital?
This is Bashu, Yizhou Prefecture, not your territory."
He remembered that they had an uncle by marriage who served as a judge here.
Once he sent someone to find him, he would definitely suppress Du Yiyi's arrogance.
Du Yiyi smiled and told him to go ahead and try, and see if she dared to hit him here.
"Hit me? Humph, you dare? Hit me, hit me." Liu Yuanming was confident that Du Yiyi wouldn't dare to hit him, and he provocatively shrugged and stepped forward.
Du Yiyi smiled and took off her horsewhip, lashing out.
"Ah..." He cried out in pain, touching his torn clothes, and looked at her in shock.
"You, you, you slut, you actually dared to lay hands on me!
Don't you see? This person is committing assault on the street, quickly arrest her, arrest her!" Liu Yuanming's face contorted, and he became ferocious and terrifying.
"Ah..." Du Yiyi showed no mercy, lashing out again. She winked at Su Xiaoqi, conveying that with her here, he wouldn't bully them.
Su Xiaoqi winked back, but her eyes held undeniable worry.
Although she knew that in the capital, where marquises were commonplace, the Marquis of Yong'an's mansion was nothing significant, he was still a titled heir.
Du Yiyi's actions might stir up trouble.
She wanted to step forward to dissuade her, to teach him a lesson with a couple of lashes, but not to seriously injure him, which would cause a huge problem.
But as soon as she moved, Shen Yun stopped her.
He said in a clear, cold voice, "Two lashes are hitting, and three lashes are also hitting."
It was better to get it over with in one go than to bear the notoriety of hitting someone multiple times.
Shen Yun hadn't finished speaking, but Su Xiaoqi understood immediately.
It seemed Liu Yuanming's behavior had also provoked him, and he was pleased to see him being beaten.
He even casually called out to the man with the gruff voice from before.
"Brother Wanqing, do you think all noble scions from the capital are so unreasonable and overbearing?"
The man Shen Yun addressed was named Chang Chun, with the courtesy name Wanqing. They hadn't known each other before, but they were aware of each other's reputation.
This was because Chang Wanqing was the top scholar in the Yizhou Prefecture examination.
Many people had high hopes for him, believing that with his talent, he had a good chance of winning the provincial examination.
However, Shen Yun, a dark horse, had emerged, making him the second-place winner in the provincial examination.
Earlier, at the Deer Banquet, they had toasted each other under the crowd's urging.
They had even exchanged a few words, but they were not close.
Yet, Shen Yun was acting uncharacteristically friendly towards him.
Others assumed they were fellow scholars and thought they had a very good relationship.
Su Xiaoqi, however, knew that Shen Yun intended to use Chang Wanqing.
As expected, Chang Wanqing, despite his rugged appearance, had a straightforward nature.
He tended to see things only on the surface.
After observing for a while, he felt that Shen Yun's side was in the right.
Although this newly arrived eldest miss Du liked to whip people, wasn't that what the so-called heir from the capital had requested?
Let alone Miss Du hitting him, he would have hit him too if he heard that.
Therefore, as soon as Shen Yun called his name, he immediately chimed in.
"Is this person impersonating someone? Our Bashu region is isolated and our news is blocked.
There are many such people who claim to be noble scions from the capital and come here to swindle.
Miss Du, quickly interrogate him properly."
Shen Yun chimed in at the opportune moment: "Exactly, Miss Du. In my opinion, why not arrest him and send him to the yamen, so that our esteemed judge of Yizhou Prefecture, your honorable father, can interrogate him properly."
These words were very skillfully put.
They not only affirmed Chang Wanqing's statement about Liu Yuanming swindling but also highlighted Du Yiyi's status, guiding those who hadn't grasped the truth to position themselves correctly.
At the same time, it was a message to Liu Yuanming, who had said that this wasn't the capital and Du Yiyi had no backing.
Well, too bad, her father was the prefect, the chief official of this prefecture.
Liu Yuanming was not stupid and naturally understood.
What?
Du Yiyi's father was the prefect here?
Disaster, disaster! He tried to show off and ended up being slapped in the face.
Liu Yuanming forcibly regained his composure, suppressing his torn clothes. He gritted his teeth hatefully:
"So, you are relying on your father being the prefect to commit assault on the street?" Liu Yuanming seized upon the fact that Du Yiyi had hit him.
His clothes were torn, and he had been beaten in broad daylight.
He refused to believe that the Du family dared to monopolize power here and downplay this matter.
"Hey, Young Master Liu, didn't you insist on coming forward to get hit yourself?" Su Xiaoqi reminded Liu Yuanming, suppressing her laughter.
Seeing that Liu Yuanming was still unyielding, she approached him with a bit of a headache, pretending to be concerned:
"I know some medicine. If you trust me, Young Master Liu, I can give you some wound medicine."
As she spoke, she moved closer to Liu Yuanming and, catching him off guard, swiftly flicked a silver needle towards an acupoint on his waist.
Her movements were quick and precise, the silver needle thin and long, completely unnoticed.
Liu Yuanming instinctively refused: "Get lost..."
But before he could finish speaking, he smelled Su Xiaoqi's faint, pleasant fragrance.
His mind immediately became active.
Hmph, letting Du Yiyi hit him, Shen Yun bully him, he would now take advantage of his wife in public.
He reached out with his lewd hand. Su Xiaoqi watched, her smile widening.
She didn't retract the silver needle in her hand, instead piercing his Guanyuan acupoint.
"Ah..." The onlookers saw Liu Yuanming attempting to attack Su Xiaoqi, but instead letting out a strange cry.
The onlookers immediately started talking.
They said he wasn't a man, was more delicate than a woman, and talked nonsense, no wonder he was beaten.
After all, the whip of their prefect's eldest daughter never struck the innocent; those who were whipped must have done something wrong.
"Young Master Liu, you are very ill.
I kindly remind you, your whip injuries are nothing.
But the injury to your kidneys is quite severe.
If you don't restrain yourself properly, you might suffer from nocturnal emission." Su Xiaoqi warned in a low voice.
"Bah, bah, bah, you ignorant woman, I won't."
Liu Yuanming was furious and wanted to rage, but he suddenly clutched his waist, groaning in pain.
Su Xiaoqi's voice had been pitched just right, audible to the close onlookers.
At this moment, everyone understood.