Hua Ping was sitting upright, waiting for Su Hua to kneel before her young mistress, when she suddenly heard Su Hua's words and thought she had misheard.

It took him a long time to come to his senses, and his sneer grew even stronger. "My young lady is the daughter of the Prefect of Tangshan Prefecture, but what about you? You're just a lowly commoner with no name or surname. Isn't it only right that you kneel down and pay your respects to my young lady?"

If she hadn't been taught to kneel and pay respects to her young mistress, why would she have knelt on the ground in public just now?!

Although she was just a maid, she was a maid in the prefect's household. When she went out, she was called Sister Huaping by everyone, but she never had the honor of kneeling down to perform operas for people to amuse them.

The young men and women who were watching the drama unfold with wide eyes also silently shed a tear for Su Hua.

Her father is the Prefect, and instead of rushing to curry favor with him, she tries to lecture him with nonsense. Isn't that like picking lice on a tiger's head—courting death?

"That brat, how dare she insult Sister Su!" Qin Yingxian had already crumpled the handkerchief in her hand.

A pair of shimmering, watery eyes glared angrily at the painted screen.

She knew that Liu Yuxian was willful, but she didn't expect her to be so unreasonable. Even the maids below her were just like her. If it weren't for Sister Su forbidding her from interfering, she would definitely have had someone teach Huaping a good lesson.

And brother, it takes you this long just to go to the kitchen.

If you didn't know better, you'd think you'd fallen into a pit!

Su Hua's lips curled into a cold smile as she chuckled softly, "You lowly commoner, if I am a lowly commoner, then what are you? And what is your young lady? A lowly young lady with a lowly maid, a perfect combination of lowliness, is that it?"

"You! You! You are simply outrageous..." Ever since Huaping started following Liu Yuxian, she has received good treatment both inside and outside the mansion, but this is the first time she has been so verbally abused.

Enraged, she bristled, "How dare you insult me? You dare insult my young lady! You're really asking for trouble!"

Before she could finish speaking, her right hand was already raised.

The force was immense, slapping straight towards Su Hua's porcelain-white cheek.

"Hua'er!"

Qin Yucheng had just stepped out of the farmhouse kitchen when he saw this scene, and his heart jumped from his chest to his throat.

He ran past like a whirlwind.

"Beat her! Beat her hard!" Liu Yuxian looked at Su Hua, her heart burning with rage. In all her life, no one had ever dared to scold her. This woman was truly the first.

Wei Jianjia stood gracefully to one side, her previously frozen smile returning to life, hoping that Hua Ping would hit her hard and hit her a few more times.

The young men and women held their breath, and the timid ones even covered their eyes with their hands, peeking out through their fingers.

However, just as Hua Ping's hand was only a finger's width away from Su Hua's face—

With a light tap of her toes, Su Hua retreated three steps away in the blink of an eye.

Immediately, he raised his left hand, grabbed Huaping's empty hand, and with his right hand covering Huaping's cheek, slapped her hard across the face.

"Smack!"

A crisp slap rang out, and Huaping's cheeks turned bright red.

Then, a large lump quickly swelled up.

The young men and women who had initially shed tears of sympathy for Su Hua were finally unable to remain calm after seeing this slap.

"I...I can't believe my eyes! She...she...she actually slapped this maid!"

"How could I be wrong? I saw it clearly with both eyes. And I must say, she looked absolutely stunning when she slapped someone!"

“I think so too. To be honest, if Miss Wei hadn’t said she came from a small vendor’s family, I would have thought she was a young lady from Kyoto.”

"Yes, before I go back to the prefectural city today, I want to try that Su Family Spicy Hot Pot to see if it's really that delicious."

"Men are indeed all lustful creatures, only knowing beauty. Now Su Hua has slapped Miss Liu's maid, which is clearly a slap in Miss Liu's face. Whether she can leave Qichi Manor today is another matter."

"That's right, everyone treats Miss Liu with utmost respect. She, on the other hand, dares to hit people. What good will come of that?"

Qin Yingxian, Su Dahu, and Qin Yucheng, who had been anxiously waiting, all stopped what they were doing upon seeing the scene in the garden.

Hua Ping was stunned by the blow and stood there for a long time before she came to her senses.

She covered her cheek, staring at Su Hua in disbelief, "You lowly commoner, how dare you hit me!"

"If you can't speak properly, shut up! Don't keep calling me a lowly commoner. I'll hit you every time you say it!" Su Hua's almond-shaped eyes turned cold, and she raised her hand to slap three more times.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Having lived two lives, she has always adhered to the principle of "I will not offend others unless they offend me, and if they do offend me, I will repay them a thousandfold."

"Su Hua, how dare you! This is utterly outrageous..." Liu Yuxian stepped forward in a few strides, her beautiful face flushed with anger.

Hitting her maid is like slapping her in the face.

Su Hua looked at Liu Yuxian's restless hands, coldly shook her slightly sore palm, and thought that she should hit people less hard, since force is reciprocal and she didn't want to suffer.

"If you don't want to get beaten up, behave yourself."

"What do you mean by this? Do you dare to hit me?!" Liu Yuxian was so angry at her nonchalant attitude that she choked. "My maid kindly taught you how to behave, and you not only don't appreciate it, but you also hit me. You really are a lowly commoner who doesn't know manners."

"Ha! You don't know manners? I'm not known manners because I don't want to kneel down to you?" Su Hua raised her eyes and looked straight at Liu Yuxian, her eyes devoid of any warmth. "Miss Liu, are you used to being treated like a superior person? Once you're not being fawned over, you feel like people owe you something?"

Your father is the Prefect of Tangshan Prefecture, a fourth-rank official of the Yu Dynasty. If your father comes, it is only right and proper for me to bow and kneel.

But you are merely the daughter of a prefectural magistrate, with no official rank, no merit to the court, and no benefit to the people. Why should I kneel before you?!

Could it be that Prefect Liu felt the laws of Yu the Great were incomplete, and thus declared himself king in Tangshan Prefecture, establishing his own laws and effectively usurping imperial power?