Chapter 6: The Seventh Prince Who Broke Off the Engagement

Kneel down.

Just two soft words, yet they struck Feng Zhanlian like a slap in the face.

"How dare you tell me to kneel!"

Feng Zhanlian trembled with fury, wishing he could slap to death this disobedient daughter.

"Father, please do not be angry, Sister Ling must be too heartbroken and spoke without thinking."

Feng Xiangxue's face was full of concern as she patted Feng Zhanlian's back to calm him.

Feng Zhanlian got even angrier upon hearing this.

"I asked them to kneel. Having not returned for several years, has the Princess' Mansion's discipline gone astray? Who allowed them to stand without my order?"

Feng Bailing raised her hand, pointing at the two nannies.

"Sister Ling, please don't be angry. I was the one who let them stand. They are all old servants of the mansion, frail and elderly, with the cold and heavy snow, I feared they couldn't withstand it."

Feng Xiangxue looked empathetic towards the servants, instantly gaining favor from the two nannies.

The Second Miss is truly a living Bodhisattva; they indeed found the right mistress.

"If I remember correctly, they are my servants. Since when did you take over with your false kindness? Not to mention kneeling for a while, even if I sold them outright, it would be completely justified."

Feng Bailing's gaze was cold and composed as she took out two indenture contracts, which Chun Liu had been secretly hiding and had just handed over to her.

Upon hearing they might be sold, the two nannies panicked, and with pang pang sounds, they knelt neatly.

"Great Miss, you are our true mistress, this old servant won't dare anymore."

"It was my mistake, my sister dislikes me, I will leave right now."

Feng Xiangxue's face turned deathly pale, she covered her face and was about to run out when Feng Zhanlian called her back.

"The one who should leave is her, not you. After committing such indecent acts, she still has the face to return."

Feng Zhanlian's face grew stern.

"Housekeeper Wang, apply family discipline!"

Uncle Wang stepped forward carrying the red lacquer box. Inside was a thorny stick as thick as a thumb.

The thorny stick, soaked in tung oil, was very resilient and would tear flesh upon impact.

Feng Bailing watched coldly as Feng Zhanlian and his daughter played their parts. Back then, she was beaten until bloody and raw by a thorny stick, expelled from the Princess' Mansion with barely a life left, unable to defend herself when the Seventh Prince called off their engagement, forced by Feng Zhanlian to press her bloody thumbprint on the divorce papers.

All the servants of the Princess' Mansion were present but none pleaded for her.

Feng Zhanlian picked up the thorny stick and whipped it towards Feng Bailing's body and face.

Feng Xiangxue showed a schadenfreude expression.

Feng Bailing caught Feng Zhanlian's wrist reflexively, performed a quick maneuver, and grabbed the thorny stick. Pushing Feng Zhanlian away, he staggered and nearly fell to the ground.

"You dare to strike back! You lost your virtue, gave birth to a bastard, if I were you, I would have already thrown myself into a well."

Feng Zhanlian, a mere scholar, was already gasping for breath, with agitated bluster and glaring eyes. Beside him, Feng Xiangxue was inwardly shocked.

After a visit to Yizhuang, was Feng Bailing possessed by a spirit? Not crying or fussing, instead attacking her father?

Slap—

A cry of pain was heard.

Feng Xiangxue had just taken a hit from Feng Bailing.

"Sister, why are you hitting people randomly?"

Feng Xiangxue hurriedly hid behind Feng Zhanlian, but Feng Bailing's thorny stick seemed to have eyes, bypassing Feng Zhanlian and hitting the target every time.

"I've only been back for half a day, and rumors have already spread. I've only seen a few of you, the ones who saw are also responsible for spreading rumors. Whoever defames me, I will beat."

Feng Bailing's thorny stick fell like wind and rain, sparing no one, snapping at the two nannies and even giving Uncle Wang a few strikes.

She appeared to strike without strength, yet her blows landed on the most nerve-dense areas of the body, causing severe pain within seconds.

"I must kill you, you unfilial daughter, today! Somebody help!"

Before Feng Zhanlian could finish speaking, a cold sensation hit his forehead, the thorny stick looming over him. The words at his lips were swallowed back with a gulp of saliva.

"After four years, I finally realized I have a father. Other fathers would painstakingly care for their children. But you, you just follow the herd and are easily swayed by slander. Feng Zhanlian, what evidence do you have that proves my loss of chastity and virtue?"

Evidence?

Feng Zhanlian was dumbstruck, stealing a glance at Feng Xiangxue.

Indeed, there was no evidence.

A father beating his daughter is righteous by nature!

He had disliked Bai Ling for a long time and now that the princess was close to death, he no longer needed to pretend.

Feng Xiangxue was anxiously panicking inside. Xia Zhu, that wretched woman, had promised to come back with evidence. What hour was it now, and she was still nowhere to be seen?

Little did she know, on her ride back, Bai Ling had turned around to set Yizhuang on fire and Xiao Li had been taken away. Feng Xiangxue truly had no evidence at hand.

"Without any proof or evidence, a mere usurper dares to slander me."

A cold glare flickered in Bai Ling's eyes.

The thorny stick in her hand whistled through the air, swinging towards Feng Xiangxue.

Feng Xiangxue screamed, trying to run for the door, only to bump into a firm embrace just a few steps away.

The familiar scent of sandalwood enveloped her, immediately misting her eyes with tears. She hid in the person's embrace, sobbing softly.

"Seventh Prince, she didn't mean it; she was just angry with me. I shouldn't have let someone take her child to Yizhuang..."

Mid-sentence, she abruptly covered her own mouth, her face overwhelmed with panic and fear.

"She bullied you again?"

The newcomer lowered their head to see Feng Xiangxue's face swollen like a bun, her delicate skin marred with bruises, his protective instincts intensifying.

Since childhood, Bai Ling had always bullied Xiangxue because she was the legitimate daughter of the Princess' Mansion, while Xiangxue was a concubine daughter, beautiful and talented but suppressed by her status.

"Bai Ling, do you have no respect for the law left in your eyes!"

Seeing Bai Ling's repulsive appearance, the newcomer felt both disgusted and furious.

Two guards drew their scabbards, confronting Bai Ling.

Bai Ling looked coldly at them. Dongfang Li stood tall, wrapped in a gray fox fur over a purple, cloud-patterned brocade robe, wearing a Jade Crown that accentuated his profound gaze and defined eyebrows.

In his embrace, Feng Xiangxue blushed shyly, love apparent between them.

Bai Ling felt disgusted.

"The law? This is the law!"

As Bai Ling spoke, she swung the thorny stick relentlessly. The guards, unaware of her lack of martial honor in striking without warning, one of them got hit on the wrist and the scabbard slipped out, flying towards Dongfang Li and Feng Xiangxue.

Dongfang Li instinctively shielded Feng Xiangxue, who screamed in terror.

Just then, the blade veered and embedded in a nearby pillar.

"Bai Ling, you... you're rebelling... you killed Xia Zhu, and now you're trying to harm me. I want to call off the engagement!"

"This wretched daughter killed Xia Zhu?"

Feng Zhanlian, following with the housekeeper, brightened upon seeing the Seventh Prince.

"Prince Consort Feng, I heard Bai Ling returned, and I wanted to check on her. Unknown to me, outside the Princess' Mansion, I found the maid Xia Zhu and a suicide note. The note specified that four years ago, Bai Ling had an illicit affair and bore an illegitimate child. To silence her, she forced Xia Zhu to swallow gold."

Dongfang Li's two guards quickly left and returned dragging Xia Zhu.

Xia Zhu, pale as death, foaming at the mouth, was barely clinging to life.