Chapter Thirty-Four: The Interrogation of the Wicked Servant

Fu Langxing was speechless.

Zhang Heze chuckled, stepped forward, and said to Song Yiqiu:

"Since Miss has run out of ideas, how about I accompany General Song with a piece of music? I do have some knowledge of music."

Before anyone could react, he sat down on the piano bench.

As the fingertips fell, a resounding, clanging melody, like the clash of swords and the thunder of horses, suddenly erupted—the opening of "Breaking the Enemy's Formation."

Song Yiqiu's eyes sharpened, and her aura became increasingly fierce. Her gaze swept over the son of a military general who was watching with a sword. Before the man could react, she flicked her wrist and swiftly drew the long sword from his waist.

"I'll borrow your sword!"

Before she finished speaking, she moved with her sword, the sword light flashing like a bolt of lightning, sometimes as nimble and graceful as a dragon soaring through the air, sometimes as powerful and resounding as a north wind sweeping across the land.

Her dance moves were crisp and clean, her dress fluttering in the wind.

The music grew increasingly urgent, and the sword light flashed faster and faster. At the climax of the music, a wicked glint flashed in Song Yiqiu's eyes, and with a sudden flick of the sword tip, it aimed directly at the face of Song Sangyu, who was standing to the side, stunned.

Song Sangyu screamed in fright, her face turning pale. She staggered backward, her legs giving way, and she collapsed to the ground, looking utterly disheveled.

With a flick of her wrist, Song Yiqiu deftly twirled the sword tip, then gracefully spun the longsword back behind her, her posture as upright as a pine tree.

The music stopped abruptly at that moment.

The entire room fell silent.

A moment later, Xiao Yongjing was the first to applaud. He looked at Song Yiqiu, then glanced at Zhang Heze, who was laughing smugly on the piano bench. His eyes darted between the two of them, his expression unreadable.

Some of the onlookers unconsciously joined in the applause. While graceful dance moves and music are common, this unique style was a first.

However, Princess Xingrong became extremely jealous when she saw Zhang Heze's gaze following Song Yiqiu:

"What kind of nonsense is this? It has no aesthetic appeal whatsoever. It's not even as good as the sacrificial dance performed by village women. Is it some kind of shamanistic exorcism?"

Those who were initially amazed immediately changed their tune and echoed the princess's words:

"Exactly! It's completely chaotic, just brute force!"

"It's terrifying! Where's the gentleness of a girl?"

"What an insult to civility! A perfectly respectable tea party has been turned into a display of swords and knives!"

"Miss Sang Yu's piano skills are still superb, and her music is melodious."

Fu Langxing frowned, looking at Song Yiqiu with disgust, and whispered to Song Sangyu beside him to comfort her:

"Sang Yu, don't be afraid. She's just used to being rude and doesn't understand what elegance is..."

Song Yiqiu, with her sharp ears, interrupted him coldly, asking clearly:

"Is Prince Fu so dissatisfied with me because he intends to apologize to me in public and then cancel the engagement?"

Fu Langxing was speechless for a moment, his face turning bright red.

He wanted to break off the engagement, but he absolutely couldn't do it in this kind of setting or in this kind of manner.

He could only glare at Song Yiqiu, speechless.

Just then, Bai Mei darted out from a corner of the crowd, ran anxiously to Song Yiqiu's side, and spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for those around to hear:

"Miss! Has the wound on your back reopened? Don't move!"

Song Yiqiu exchanged a knowing glance with her, then casually tossed the longsword back to the still-dazed young master, a look of pain on her face.

"A few old wounds, nothing serious. It's just a bit of a downer. I hope you all enjoy yourselves. I'll have to excuse myself."

Watching her departing figure, Fu Langxing felt she was just putting on an act and muttered a curse under his breath:

"Stop pretending!"

However, some sharp-eyed people present could vaguely see that there were indeed faint dark red marks seeping out on her back.

Seeing this, Zhang Heze deliberately spoke up:

"Oh my, this instrument is really nice. I also know some other pieces; I wonder if there's anyone who would appreciate them?"

Princess Xingrong blushed and met his 'affectionate' gaze:

"One more song."

The onlookers, following the princess's words, began to jeer:

"Again!"

"Again!"

Zhang Heze watched Song Yiqiu's disappearing figure, a smile playing on his lips. "General Song, I've saved you from trouble again."

...

Bai Mei firmly supported Song Yiqiu's arm and whispered:

"Miss, the injury on your back..."

Song Yiqiu waved her hand and lowered her voice:

"It's alright. How did things go?"

Bai Mei immediately replied:

"Everything was done as you instructed. The person is in the secret room in your courtyard now, and Qingzhu is watching him. That old codger was initially defiant and kept shouting, but I knocked him out with two punches, and now he's very quiet."

Song Yiqiu nodded in satisfaction: "Let's hurry over there."

The two quickly returned to the main courtyard and entered a hidden, dark room.

Xiao Yongjing saw Song Yiqiu leave her seat from afar, and his curiosity was piqued. He made an excuse to change his clothes and quietly left his seat to follow her.

They silently infiltrated, hiding in the shadows, and took in the entire scene inside.

Inside the dark room, Granny Qian was tightly bound to a chair, her mouth stuffed with a rag, and she was still unconscious.

She was a maid who came with Song Shenshi as part of her dowry. She held a very high position in the household and even had her own small kitchen. Her food, drink and daily necessities were comparable to those of a half-master.

Originally, half of the housekeeping power was in Song Sangyu's hands. Song Sangyu was impatient with these trivial matters. Just when the tea party was busy, Song Shenshi temporarily transferred her to help, which gave Song Yiqiu the opportunity to make her move.

Song Yiqiu gave her a wink.

Qingzhu picked up the bucket of cold water that had been prepared in advance and splashed it mercilessly at Granny Qian.

Granny Qian jolted awake, coughing as she spat out the wad of cloth from her mouth.

She was momentarily stunned, but when she saw Song Yiqiu standing in front of her, she was so angry that she trembled and burst into a tirade:

"Song Yiqiu! You little slut who was born of a mother but raised without one! A shrew! A bastard! How dare you tie me up?"

"I am part of the lady's dowry! Release me now, or she will never forgive you! Do you have any manners at all? You are utterly lawless!"

Song Yiqiu didn't bother arguing with her. She stepped forward, swung her arm, and slapped her hard across the face!

Using all his strength, he knocked out two of Granny Qian's back molars, and blood instantly spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Granny Qian was stunned by the beating, her eyes widening in disbelief:

"You...you actually dared to hit me?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do!"

Song Yiqiu responded coldly, and then slapped him even harder across the face.

Granny Qian was so badly beaten that she saw stars, and her cheeks swelled up quickly, burning with pain.

She then truly realized that Song Yiqiu wasn't bluffing; her imposing manner instantly weakened, and she began to feel afraid.

"Young Miss...Young Miss, please spare me! This old servant...this old servant, what have I done to offend you? Tell me...this old servant will definitely change! I will definitely change!"

Song Yiqiu stopped wasting time beating around the bush and directly took out the jade pendant from her bosom, holding it up in front of Granny Qian:

Do you recognize this?

Upon seeing the object clearly, Granny Qian was instinctively surprised, a flicker of panic crossing her eyes, but she immediately gritted her teeth and vehemently denied it:

"What...what is this? This servant has never seen anything like it before...Young Miss, please don't make things difficult for this servant..."