Lin Xiuyan had foreseen all of Zhou Chenyang's actions today, so she was not surprised by his move.

Just as she was about to act, a large knife came whistling through the air, carrying a sharp gust of wind as it swept towards the constables.

The constables were startled and quickly retreated several steps, only to have their swords slash less than three inches from their feet.

A red figure swooped down from mid-air, landing in front of the sword, hand gripping the hilt, and said, "Zhou Chenyang, what did you just say? Say it again!"

Zhou Chenyang: "..."

He had originally intended to lash out, but when he saw the person's face clearly, he couldn't utter a single word.

The person who came was none other than Qu Shuangyue, Lin Xiuyan's mother, who had just returned home from out of town that day.

She was dressed in blood-red, with a black belt around her waist, the belt fluttering in the wind, making her look heroic and dashing.

She looked to be in her early thirties, with delicate features, porcelain-white skin, and a murderous glint in her almond-shaped eyes.

Her eyes and brows held a hint of mockery, as if she didn't take Zhou Chenyang seriously at all.

When Lin Xiuyan saw Qu Shuangyue, she was stunned for a moment, then her nose tingled, and she walked to her side and gently tugged at her sleeve, saying, "Mother!"

Qu Shuangyue turned around and glanced at her, then immediately started scolding, "You good-for-nothing! How did I teach you before?"

When Lin Xiuyan saw Qu Shuangyue for the first time after her rebirth, she was saddened to think of the scene in her previous life where Qu Shuangyue was angered to death by her, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

Qu Shuangyue frowned slightly when she saw her like this, and continued to scold, "What are you doing now? Why are you crying!"

"How many times have I told you, crying won't solve anything!"

"If anyone bullies you, you should hit them back!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiuyan's tears flowed even more fiercely.

Qu Shuangyue's brows furrowed even more: "Still crying! Aren't you done yet!"

"Tell me, did that bastard Zhou Chenyang bully you again?" (M.cascoo.net)

Lin Xiuyan nodded, while Qu Shuangyue was furious and cursed, "How many times have I told you, this dog is not good enough for you, nor is he suitable for you!"

"I told you to break off the engagement with him, but you absolutely refused. When you were bullied, all you did was go home and cry."

"I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to have given birth to such a good-for-nothing!"

Her tone softened a bit as she said this, and she told Lin Xiuyan, "I'll avenge you, so don't cry anymore!"

She drew her knife, the blade pointing horizontally, and said coldly to Zhou Chenyang, "All you ever do is bully my Yan'er. Today I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!"

Zhou Chenyang: "..."

He knew that the most unreasonable person in the Lin family was Qu Shuangyue; she was the type who would rather use her hands than her words!

Others might be afraid of his status as the city lord and dare not make a move, but Qu Shuangyue didn't take him seriously at all.

He was once beaten by Qu Shuangyue because of Lin Xiuyan, and he still remembers it vividly.

He cried out urgently, "Stop! I am the lord of this city..."

Qu Shuangyue's broadsword swept across Zhou Chenyang's head, directly severing his hair ornament.

If he had reacted any slower, he might have been the one getting his head chopped off.

He knew that at this moment, Qu Shuangyue was truly capable of killing him!

The constables rushed over to protect him, but Qu Shuangyue kicked them all away.

Just as Qu Shuangyue's broadsword was about to fall again, cleaving Zhou Chen in two, Lin Xiuyan grabbed Qu Shuangyue's hand and said, "Mother, don't kill him!"

Qu Shuangyue looked at her with a hint of disappointment.

She wiped away her tears and smiled at Qu Shuangyue: "Mother, he is the lord of a city and an official appointed by the imperial court."

“If you kill him, you will be wanted by the imperial court. It’s not worth paying such a price for such a scoundrel.”

Zhou Chenyang: "..."

She has such audacity to call him scum!

Lin Xiuyan continued, "There's something my mother just got back and might not know yet: I've already broken off my engagement with Zhou Chenyang."

Qu Shuangyue paused for a moment, then asked her with some suspicion, "Really?"

Lin Xiuyan replied, "If I dare to lie to my mother, she can chop me up with the knife in your hand."

Qu Shuangyue met her eyes, sensed the difference between her now and before, and smiled: "Good for you to retreat!"

"This is what my daughter should do!"

After she finished speaking, she pointed at Zhou Chenyang and asked, "Since you've already broken off your engagement with him, why are you still crying because he's bullying you?"

Lin Xiuyan replied, "I didn't cry because he bullied me. I was so happy to see my mother come back that I couldn't help but cry."

Qu Shuangyue touched the goosebumps on her body: "It's only been a month or so since we last met, where did you learn this kind of tone? It's disgusting."

Lin Xiuyan: "..."

Her relationship with Qu Shuangyue was actually far worse than her relationship with Lin Yunzhi.

Because Qu Shuangyue acts too simply and crudely, he doesn't have much patience when it comes to educating her.

If she made a mistake when she was a child, Qu Shuangyue would hit her directly.

For this, Lin Xiuyan was beaten a lot and once thought that Qu Shuangyue didn't like her and only liked Jiang Xinrou.

Their mother-daughter relationship was once very bad; whenever they met, they would either argue or fight.

Lin Xiuyan's martial arts skills and fighting abilities throughout her life were basically all thanks to Qu Shuangyue.

If Lin Xiuyan hadn't witnessed Qu Shuangyue's selfless act of saving her in her past life, she might never have known about Qu Shuangyue's maternal love for her.

She laughed and said, "I learned it from my dad. If Mom feels uncomfortable, she can just go home and beat Dad up."

Qu Shuangyue glanced at her sideways and felt that this girl was acting a little strange today.

But since Zhou Chenyang was there, she couldn't ask any questions. She only said, "Don't take advantage of your father's doting on you and push everything onto him."

"Alright, let's go home!"

She tried to pull Lin Xiuyan away, but Zhou Chenyang shouted, "City Lord of Yucheng, investigate the case!"

"Today, a notorious bandit broke into the city and robbed a gambling den. Lin Xiuyan happened to be in the gambling den at the time of the incident."

"Some people accused her of colluding with notorious bandits, killing dozens of people, and robbing all the money from the gambling den."

"We request that Madam Lin retain Lin Xiuyan to cooperate with the investigation."

Qu Shuangyue's eyes showed some displeasure. She asked Lin Xiuyan, "Did you go to the gambling den today?"

"No." Lin Xiuyan denied it directly: "Father and Mother have repeatedly instructed that no one in our Lin family should ever touch the word 'gambling'."

Qu Shuangyue nodded, released her hand, slung the broadsword over her shoulder, and looked at Zhou Chenyang, saying, "My Xiuyan said she didn't go to the gambling den."

Zhou Chenyang said coldly, "That's just her side of the story. Someone at the gambling den saw her there today."

Qu Shuangyue raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

She never held back when she struck; this slap twisted Zhou Chenyang's face.

Zhou Chenyang flew into a rage: "How dare you hit me?"