Zhuang Li's guess was correct. The people in the Chamber of Commerce had been coveting Yu Yuxian for a long time.
She was able to climb to the fifth rank in just a few years, firstly by virtue of her talent in writing poetry and secondly by virtue of her good looks. Which of the overly enthusiastic men and women around her did not have delusions?
Previously, Feng Yu protected her openly and secretly, so she was naturally not exposed to these dark sides. Now that Feng Yu has fallen, her situation is precarious.
It’s a pity that Yu Yuxian, who is used to smooth sailing, has not realized this yet.
Her aloofness and purity are gradually pushing her into the abyss.
Pulled to the main seat by a group of people, she actually sat down with peace of mind, never thinking about why she, who was already in such a miserable state, deserved such preferential treatment.
She only knew that her frustrations were in dire need of public adulation and flattery. Her experience in officialdom hadn't sobered her up, but had instead caused her to lose her original direction. She no longer needed self-realization, but power, wealth, and status.
She has long been vulgar.
The endless stream of compliments overwhelmed Yu Yuxian, and she regained her former sense of superiority. Several prostitutes prostrated themselves at her feet, their eyes filled with admiration, begging for mercy in the most humble manner.
Looking at their bright red lips, Yu Yuxian seemed to see Zhuang Xiaohui's face.
However, at this moment, this arrogant face is slowly twisting into a lowly, pitiful and flattering look.
So, without anyone's persuasion, Yu Yuxian, in a good mood, drank one cup after another. When she felt dizzy, she reached out and pinched the cheek of a prostitute.
Hua Niang originally thought that she was flirting with her, so she smiled and moved her face closer, but she didn't expect that she would be so fatal and almost pinched off a piece of flesh on Hua Niang's face.
Hua Niang immediately screamed, pushed Yu Yuxian away, and rolled to the side. Her sisters helped her up and took a look, and they all gasped.
Yu Yuxian's nails had left two deep marks on her face, which were bleeding. If she couldn't find a skilled doctor to help, she would definitely be left with two scars.
This was tantamount to killing Hua Niang, who relied on her looks to make a living. If this beautiful face was ruined, she would be sold by the madam to the lowest and most cruel customers, and within a few months she would be tortured beyond recognition.
Hua Niang looked at herself in the mirror and burst into tears on the spot. The other Hua Niangs who had been vying to serve Yu Yuxian now all avoided her.
I never expected that this famous man who shook the literary world was actually a beast in human skin!
After all this squeezing, fussing, crying, and shouting, Yu Yuxian was mostly sober. She looked at her bloody hands with a look of shock and uncertainty.
However, the wealthy businessmen who brought her here didn't treat Hua Niang as a human being at all. They slapped her and scolded her, "If you want to cry, get out of here! Don't spoil my fun!"
Hua Niang, whose face was already covered in blood, was injured even more seriously, with her nose and mouth broken.
The madam heard the noise and rushed in to investigate. After learning what had happened, she grabbed Hua Niang by the ear and led her away, cursing. To save money, she certainly didn't bother to find a good doctor or medicine for her wounds. One can imagine what happened to Hua Niang.
The other Hua girls looked at each other, with endless sadness in their hearts.
Yu Yuxian, in a state of shock and uncertainty, suddenly experienced the pleasure of controlling the fate of others. When she was still a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, weren't the people who served her also trembling with fear and treading on thin ice?
Now that she is in trouble, a bitch like Zhuang Xiaohui dares to bully her and act wildly.
What's wrong with pinching him? Even if he's beaten to death, he deserves it.
Thinking of this, Yu Yuxian actually smiled happily, and then touched the face of the flower girl closest to him with his bloody fingertips.
Hua Niang wanted to hide, but she didn't dare. She could only say in a trembling voice, "Please have mercy on me, guest."
Seeing her shrinking and frightened look, Yu Yuxian drank the wine in his glass in one gulp and laughed out loud.
When several wealthy businessmen saw her smile, which was even more gorgeous than Hua Niang's, their saliva almost dripped from the corners of their mouths. They looked at each other, and then they urged Yu Yuxian to drink again and again, until Yu Yuxian was drunk.
Yu Yuxian lay on the couch, smiling foolishly, mumbling something about being reinstated.
"What are you daydreaming about? Even a prince like Fengyu has been completely abandoned by the emperor. Do you think you can go back? Without Fengyu's support, who do you think you are?" A wealthy businessman gently patted Yu Yuxian's red face with a look of contempt.
After the photoshoot, he exclaimed in amazement: "This guy's face is so fucking smooth!"
"Really? Let me touch it too." Several wealthy businessmen walked forward, rubbing their hands, with smiles on their faces more obscene than each other.
Another wealthy businessman swung his sleeves and ordered, "All of you get out!"
The girls looked at each other, then filed out. As they helped close the door, their eyes revealed a look of gloating delight.
It turns out that evildoers need to be punished by evildoers.
---
After a chaotic night, Yu Yuxian almost collapsed when he woke up the next day.
She was so badly beaten that she was beyond recognition. She didn't even have the strength to get up except to scream and cry.
A wealthy businessman slapped her face hard and threatened, "Just be quiet! If you make trouble again, I'll expose you for your deception and deceit, and have the emperor execute your entire clan!"
This sentence hit Yu Yuxian's sore spot directly.
In a trance, she recalled the scene of her father's death.
He held Yu Yuxian's hand tightly and said proudly, "Son, you are the hope of our Yu family. With your talent, you will surely pass the imperial examination and bring honor to our family! Dad is very relieved to pass this family lineage to you."
This affirmative word was like a brand, deeply engraved in Yu Yuxian's heart.
On the day she passed the imperial examination and became the top scorer, she knelt before her father's spirit and whispered, "Dad, did you see that? Although I'm a daughter, I'm better than all ten of your sons! The Yu family's legacy will ultimately depend on me!"
This was her most glorious moment. From then on, the entire Yu family depended on her for survival.
If these people denounced her, bringing ruin to her reputation, how would her clan view her? How would the world judge her? In the underworld, how would she face her father?
What she cared about was not the lives of the nine members of the Yu family, but only her own face.
Reputation means more to her than anything else.
Yu Yuxian, whose weak spot was firmly grasped, gradually stopped crying.
Several wealthy businessmen took turns patting her face, their smiles both lewd and malicious: "From now on, as long as you behave well, we will definitely not tell your secret to anyone else."
The so-called "obedient" means being available at any time and at their mercy. This was the method they used against Zhuang Xiaohui, but now they were using it on Yu Yuxian.
As early as when they formulated this plan to deal with Zhuang Xiaohui, if Yu Yuxian had any conscience and common sense, she should have understood that she must not hang out with such a person.
She should know the truth that "birds of a feather flock together".
However, she had long since abandoned her conscience and brain.
Deep despair and regret washed over Yu Yuxian. Her eyes had dried up, and her chest was filled with raging anger, yet she dared not express it. She knew exactly what kind of life she would lead, having imagined what Zhuang Xiaohui would be like if she were in this situation.
That is torture worse than death!
"Put on your clothes and get up." A wealthy businessman threw torn clothes on her head.
Yu Yuxian was no different from a toy to them now. All the previous flattery, fawning, and admiration was just a prelude to today. Even if Yu Yuxian was really a man, what could she do?
When a grown man was bullied, she should have kept her mouth shut.
Yu Yuxian didn't even have the strength to move her fingers. Her dry eye sockets ached with every blink, as if they were about to bleed.
"Find a pimp to cover her head and carry her back." A wealthy businessman suggested.
Carrying the brothel girl on the shoulders around the city and then delivering her to the customer's home is a unique way for brothels to attract business.
Treated like this, Yu Yuxian was as lowly as a rag in their hearts.
"No, please don't do this! I can walk back by myself!" Yu Yuxian struggled with all his strength, and the fear in his eyes almost solidified.
However, her pain became a joke to these people, making them laugh so hard that they couldn't help laughing.
"It's really worth it this time! The taste of the number one scholar is really wonderful!" They ignored Yu Yuxian's pleading, wrapped her head with a cloak, and asked the turtle man to carry her out.
Yu Yuxian was naked and covered with wounds. Anyone who saw her would know what she had experienced last night.
Passersby pointed at her and talked about her, with all kinds of vicious words constantly reaching her ears. She tightly covered her head with the cloak, fearing that it would fall off and reveal her true appearance.
The journey of a quarter of an hour seemed endless to her. Her eyes were covered in darkness, and her heart was plunged into an endless hell.
She was fully aware that she was ruined.
Having been caught with such a big handle, she couldn't return to the officialdom, as that would be truly handing her life over to others. She also couldn't do business again, because she couldn't face those beasts.
escape?
The thought was rejected as soon as it came to her mind. Where could she escape to?
When these people discovered she had escaped, they furiously accused her of deceiving the emperor. She would be wanted by the authorities everywhere. Under heaven belonged to the king, so where could she hide? She would be disgraced and infamous for eternity. Her entire family would be disgraced, a fate worse than death.
The more Yu Yuxian thought about it, the more desperate he became. His tears mixed with blood gradually wet the cloak wrapped around his head.
After an unknown amount of time, she was thrown to the ground by the turtle husband and was trembling with pain.
The old man knocked on the door randomly a few times and shouted, "Come out and answer it!"
Without waiting for anyone to respond from inside the door, the old man turned around and left, not caring whether Yu Yuxian, who was left on the roadside, would be picked up by someone else.
Fortunately, when Mrs. Li saw that her daughter did not come back all night, she sent people to look for her all over the city and kept an eye on the movement at the door, so she arrived at the first time.
After being carried into the boudoir and having her cloak torn off, Yu Yuxian finally couldn't suppress her inner fear and despair and burst into tears.
Li quickly covered her mouth and whispered, "Be quiet! Don't let your half-brother hear you!"
Before she finished speaking, Li also started crying, choking and saying, "How did you become like this? Has your identity as a woman been discovered?"
Yu Yuxian looked at her in disbelief, her voice shrill: "I'm already like this, and this is all you care about? If it weren't for you, would I have to pretend to be a man? Would I have to go through all this? You're the one who ruined me! I could have lived an upright and free life like Zhuang Xiaohui. She's a woman and can still show her face and manage the family business. Why can't I? Tell me, why can't I?"
Unable to take revenge on anyone, she could only vent her anger on her mother.
Li was so angry that she blurted out, "If you had even a third of Zhuang Xiaohui's talent, would I have to dress you up as a man? Her brother saw how capable she was and entrusted the family business to her. Would your father have trusted you? If I hadn't raised you as a man, your father wouldn't even bother looking at you!"
"Zhuang Xiaohui was able to make her business the only one of its kind in the capital in just a few months. Can you do it? Didn't our huge family business fall into your hands? How dare you blame me? You can't be an official, you can't run a business, and your clean body has been ruined like this. What on earth can you do? I should have strangled you to death when I gave birth to you! The family business and reputation accumulated by the old Yu family for hundreds of years have all been destroyed by you!
"Wow, wow, how can I go to the underworld to meet your father? I feel so ashamed of my ancestors of the Yu family!" Li cried and wailed, regretting her decision.
Yu Yuxian, who was completely rejected by her mother, finally lost all hope at this moment.
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