With another lash, Zhang Qing cried out, "Master, Master, I..."

Before he could finish saying "I was wrong," Li Yunmu shouted, "You dog of a bastard, how dare you call me a villain!! Jin'an, you rest first, I'll take care of it."

He grabbed the iron whip and lashed Zhang Qing more than a dozen times, leaving Zhang Qing to choose between dying and coming back to life.

Seeing that Zhang Qing was almost beyond repair, Yin Jin'an patted imaginary dust off his hands and said, "I'm tired, I'm going home to rest."

He turned to look at Xie Zhaozhao and asked, "Can you handle them? If it's too difficult, I might as well just kill them all?"

Xie Zhaozhao smiled and said, "You guys go back first. Business is important. I'll leave the rest to you."

No one else knows what the "thing" actually is!

Yin Jin'an and Li Yunmu replied, "You're welcome!"

They strode away, and no one dared to stop them.

Xie Zhaozhao didn't want to waste her breath arguing with these women, nor did she want to fight at the door. If they did, her reputation would be the one most damaged, and so would Gu Shaoyu's.

She said calmly, "What do you want to say? We'll talk about it when we get back to the Marquis's residence. I won't run away, and I won't renege on my promise."

Madam Tu didn't want the scandal to spread, ruining the reputation of the entire Marquis's mansion and causing misfortune to her husband and children.

"Very well, I hope Third Madam keeps her word!" said Madam Tu.

Xie Xiangxiang said unwillingly, "We can't leave. If we leave, the evidence will be gone."

After she finished speaking, Xie Zhaozhao did not respond, her eyes fixed on a carriage speeding towards them in the distance.

She looked up at the sun overhead; it was noon!

With a clatter of hooves, Nanxing stopped his carriage at the entrance of Yuehu Garden, and Grand Secretary Gu alighted from the carriage.

He was taller than the others in the Marquis's mansion, with sword-like eyebrows and phoenix eyes, his gaze sharp as an eagle. His purple official robes accentuated his tall and elegant figure, giving him an imposing presence, like a sharp sword about to be drawn.

He coldly swept his gaze over the people in the Marquis's residence and said sternly, "What's going on? What are you all doing here?"