Lu Ziqian stared coldly at her, waiting until she had vented before speaking: "Have you gone crazy enough?"

Suddenly, I was stared at by her beautiful eyes. They were eyes filled with anger and hatred, cold as ice, and captivating.

Lu Ziqian suddenly realized that the look in her eyes when she looked at him was no longer love, but hatred.

He knew he was in the wrong for abandoning her, so he stopped arguing with her and instead forcibly pulled her into his arms.

"Come over here to apply the medicine."

"Get out, don't touch me."

"Don't move, or I'll strip you naked and tie you to the bed."

As he spoke, the man actually unbuckled his belt and wrapped it around the woman's slender wrist, reminding her of their intimate moments in bed. He would occasionally do the same when he was in the mood…

Su Yujiao bit her lip, swallowing all her grievances, and dared not move again. She knew that this cold-hearted, mean-spirited person was capable of anything.

Lu Ziqian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she had finally calmed down.

He had never coaxed a woman before, and now it seemed more tiring than fighting a war.

The man removed her clothes, revealing her snow-white back, but the crisscrossing red marks looked mottled and glaring.

Although he cheated during the whipping and didn't leave any wounds on her back, her skin was too delicate, and even the slightest touch left such obvious marks.

Lu Ziqian frowned slightly, picked up a smear of ointment, and gently applied it to her back.

Su Yujiao lay on the bed, her body trembling slightly. She turned her face away, biting her lip tightly, tears welling up in her eyes.

From Lu Ziqian's perspective, she appeared even more charming and beautiful, and pitiful.

The light flickered and swayed, and the wick made a soft, clear 'click' sound, which seemed not to cause the slightest ripple.

The two remained silent, neither of them speaking.

After applying the medicine, Lu Ziqian saw that she had closed her eyes, said nothing, and quietly left.

Mo Shu and Xiao Tao were both outside the door.

Xiao Tao wanted to go in, but Mo Shu kept stopping her.

"Go inside, she's asleep."

Xiao Tao glared at him resentfully before pushing the door open and going inside.

Mo Shu suddenly spoke up: "Master, let me bandage you."

Xiao Tao glanced back and saw Lu Ziqian's bright red palm, which seemed to be still dripping blood.

Could it be that what Mo Shu said is true?

Xiao Tao walked to the bedside and glanced at Su Yujiao's back. Sure enough, there were no wounds, only red marks.

Su Yujiao opened her eyes and saw Xiao Tao. Her nose tingled and her eyes reddened.

"Miss, does it still hurt?"

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't taken it upon myself to go see Master Gu, none of these rumors would have arisen..."

Xiao Tao, her voice trembling with tears, knelt on the ground, blaming herself and hitting herself.

Su Yujiao grabbed her hand: "Don't hit silly Xiaotao, it's not your fault."

“Those people are deliberately targeting me; I can’t escape them even if I want to.”

Seeing Su Yujiao's sad appearance, Xiaotao comforted her instead: "Miss, don't be sad. Actually, the general has you in his heart."

"You've misunderstood the general. It was all that lowly maid Mo Hua who acted on her own."

"The general has already punished Mo Hua, whipping her a hundred times and making her kneel in the main courtyard."

"The general said that she is not allowed to get up without your order. He told her to recognize her place and understand who is the master and who is the slave."

"Mo Hua is very concerned about her reputation. In the past, she always relied on being the general's personal bodyguard to think that she was superior to others."

“Now, forcing her to kneel in the main courtyard where people come and go, and being pointed at and talked about, is worse than killing her.”

Su Yujiao smiled bitterly: "Xiao Tao, why are you speaking up for him today?"

Xiao Tao's expression changed. She didn't want to say anything good about Lu Ziqian, but she knew that her mistress loved him deeply.

She said that it would make the young lady feel better.

The young lady kept saying she wanted a divorce, but how could a woman really dare to divorce a man?

How can a woman live after a divorce?

She didn't want to see her mistress really escalate the situation to an irreparable point, so she could only say some nice things to cheer her up.

Moreover, Lu Ziqian's hand injury was real. Regardless of his motives, he did protect the young lady.

"Miss, I saw the wound on the general's hand."

"Yeah, I bit him, he deserved it."

Xiao Tao shook her head: "It's not the injury on my shoulder, it's the injury on my palm, a very long and deep wound."

Su Yujiao frowned. She didn't understand what Xiao Tao meant. How could Lu Ziqian have an injury on his palm?

"Mo Shu said that the general couldn't bear to see you punished, but he also couldn't fail to give an explanation to the clan, so he could only put on a show for them."

"He hit you personally because he was afraid that Granny Chen would take revenge on him and harm you."

“General, you can control your strength with your internal energy and won’t really hurt you, but if there’s no blood, it will seem too fake.”

"So when Mo Shu handed him the whip, the general used Mo Shu as cover to cut his palm with a dagger."

"The blood flows down the whip and then strikes you; what looks like blood is actually the general's blood..."

"I think that the general's painstaking efforts to protect you must stem from his affection for you."

"If the general were truly heartless, he wouldn't care whether you live or die."

Su Yujiao was stunned by Xiao Tao's words. She wasn't injured.

She touched her back with her hand and found only a slippery, cool ointment; there seemed to be no wound at all.

Soon, she gave a self-deprecating laugh. How could he possibly have feelings for her? He was only doing this because he felt guilty, and it made him feel better.

Since you've already decided to divorce, stop overthinking and wavering.

Once she feels better, she will take Xiao Tao away.

As for the divorce papers, he will provide them, since after the divorce, he can openly marry Chen Yunniang.

In the study, Lu Ziqian suddenly thought of something.

"Mo Shu, go to the Prefect of Jingzhao and make sure you take credit for the bandit suppression."

"Don't let anyone spread the word that Su Yujiao drugged them, giving the Prefect of the Capital the opportunity to capture them all in one fell swoop."

Mo Shu was stunned. The general was never one to steal credit, so why was he trying to steal the young mistress's credit today?

"Go quickly."

"yes."

It wasn't until he left the General's Mansion that Mo Shu understood the reason behind it.

The credit for this bandit suppression should not go to the young mistress, no matter whose it is. Otherwise, everyone will know that the young mistress has fallen into the bandits' den, and the rumors will drive her to her death.

The master may seem to be vying for credit, but in reality, he is trying to protect the young mistress.

As soon as Mo Shu left, the butler bowed and entered, looking troubled. "General, the old lady wants... wants you to hand over Mo Shu, and also said..."

"What else is there to say?"

"He even said he would chop up the ink book and feed it to the dogs."

Lu Ziqian's lips curled up slightly: "Why is the old lady causing trouble for Mo Shu?"

"Has Moshu offended the old lady in any way?"

"this?"

The butler listened to Lu Ziqian's serious question, his CPU almost burning out. What did the general mean by this?