Chapter 161: The Decisive and Ruthless Yang Xin

Wang Xifeng gripped Amber’s wrist, a bright smile plastered across her face, though the words leaving her lips were entirely devoid of warmth. "What is this? A mere maid attempting to lay hands on her master? Tell me, is my husband, the First-Class Defender of the State, the master of the Rongguo Estate, or are you, a servant girl, the master?"

The moment Amber saw Wang Xifeng flare up, she hurriedly claimed innocence. As Lady Jia's primary maid, she was accustomed to acting with arrogant impunity, and in the face of Wang Xifeng’s rebuke, she submitted only on the surface while remaining deeply defiant within. Just as she intended to use Lady Jia's name to suppress Wang Xifeng, the latter could not be bothered to listen to her rambling. Knowing well that with Yang Xin's return the household was bound to undergo a drastic upheaval, Wang Xifeng uttered a chilling command: "Ping'er, seize this wretch who knows neither superior nor inferior, and slap her across the face."

Ping'er, as Wang Xifeng's personal maid and confidante, had been accompanying her in practicing martial arts over this past period. After all, since Wang Xifeng was illiterate, martial arts manuals required Ping'er's interpretation. Although Ping'er had not consumed a Blood Bodhi, her martial prowess was not to be underestimated. With a swift movement, Ping'er executed a joint-lock, subdued Amber, and delivered two resounding slaps—"Slap! Slap!"—swelling Amber's face up like a pig's head.

Amber had never suffered such abuse before. As Lady Jia's chief maid, she was always the one striking others; she had never expected to be beaten today, let alone so brutally. A cold, venomous glare of hatred flashed through her eyes as she resolved that once she returned to Lady Jia's side, she would heavily exaggerate everything that had happened and report it to the matriarch.

"Enough, Ping'er. Beat her to death." Catching the fleeting glint of malice in Amber's eyes, Wang Xifeng was suddenly overcome with a sense of mental exhaustion. She completely concurred with Yang Xin's words: this Rongguo Estate was rotten to the very core. A mere maid actually dared to punish her master. No wonder Yang Xin would rather recruit new people from scratch than use anyone currently in this household.

Ping'er felt a great surge of pent-up triumph today as well. In the past, she had suffered no small amount of bullying and manipulation at Amber's hands. Upon hearing Wang Xifeng's order, she channeled her inner energy and delivered a Jade-Breaking Fist directly to Amber's chest, shattering her ribcage and ending her life on the spot.

"Sigh, drag her corpse over to the Old Lady's quarters. After all, they were master and servant once," Wang Xifeng said indifferently.

Leaving aside how furious Lady Jia was upon seeing Amber's corpse, let us turn to Yang Xin. Last night, Yang Xin had led men to confiscate the outer properties of the estate's corrupt servants, and now he was leading men to thoroughly ransack the Rongguo Estate itself. With the exception of the Rongxi Hall, which was temporarily left untouched, the entire Rongguo Estate was stripped bare by Yang Xin.

Upon seeing Amber's corpse and hearing that Yang Xin was ransacking the entire Rongguo Estate, Lady Jia was so enraged that her blood pressure nearly spiked out of control. Her body trembled violently as she smashed the teacup in her hand onto the floor, pointing a trembling finger toward the door. "Such an audacious hussy... Such a beast..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Lady Jia’s body collapsed downward. Fortunately, Yuanyang was supporting her all along, preventing her from hitting the ground.

All the masters and servants in the mansion had crowded into the room to wait for news, and the place instantly plunged into chaos once more. Jia Zheng spun around in anxious panic, hastily dispatching people to summon an imperial physician. He instructed Lady Wang to look after the matriarch carefully while he went out personally to seek out Yang Xin.

Unfortunately, the Rongxi Hall had long since been sealed off by Yang Xin, and the maid sent out to fetch a physician could not even step foot outside the doors of the Rongxi Hall. This left Jia Zheng with a face ashen with fury; forget the maid, even Jia Zheng himself was unable to leave the Rongxi Hall.

"Fine! Fine! Splendid indeed! Let me see who dares to stop me!" Trembling with rage, Jia Zheng knew that the men Yang Xin brought would never obey him, so he simply changed into his formal court attire and forcefully tried to break through.

The estate guards dared not obstruct him, so they could only let Jia Zheng leave. But a maid wanting to step outside? Not a chance!

Jia Zheng had originally intended to go fetch a physician, but he was merely a fifth-rank official of minor distinction—what did an imperial physician care who he was? Furthermore, Yang Xin had already inherited the title, rendering Jia Shi's calling card obsolete. To find a physician, one had to first find Yang Xin and use his title as the First-Class Defender of the State to summon one.

When Jia Zheng finally tracked down Yang Xin, Wang Zhu's entire family was kneeling before Yang Xin. Wang Zhu's mother, who was Yingchun's wet nurse, was currently wailing at the top of her lungs like a shrieking shrew, crying out as if the heavens and earth were collapsing.

With an ashen face, Jia Zheng strode up to Yang Xin and swung a heavy slap directly at Yang Xin's face. Regrettably, Jia Zheng's hand was gently caught in Yang Xin's grip. With a slight exertion of force from Yang Xin, Jia Zheng let out a miserable shriek.

Paying no heed to Jia Zheng and refusing to let go, Yang Xin said coldly, "Second Uncle, you've come just in time. Take a look at how filial my younger sister Yingchun is. Whatever she has in her quarters, there is nothing she hasn't brought out to honor her wet nurse."

"Oh, Second Uncle, what is wrong with you? Why is your face so red?" Seeing that Jia Zheng no longer even had the strength to scream, Yang Xin gave a flick of his wrist, flinging Jia Zheng sprawling to the ground in a face-first tumble.

Jia Zheng was flying into a rage. In the past, Jia Lian would always let him beat and scold him as he pleased; he never imagined that Jia Lian would actually dare to fight back today. As Jia Zheng prepared to strike again, he caught sight of Yang Xin's ruthless gaze and involuntarily shuddered.

Not daring to meet Yang Xin's eyes, Jia Zheng swept his gaze across the ground, landing on the piled-up garments, hair ornaments, silk fabrics, and precious goods. Every single item was opulent and abundant—clearly things not meant for servants to use—which only intensified his fury. Yet, remembering Lady Jia, he hurriedly swallowed his pride and said, "Nephew, why go to such dramatic lengths? You didn't even spare Mother Lai's old face, and the Old Lady just collapsed in a faint a moment ago."

Feigning great shock, Yang Xin adopted an extremely concerned tone and asked, "How is the Old Ancestor? Have you summoned an imperial physician yet?"

"Without my nephew's calling card, there is no way to secure a physician," Jia Zheng said through clenched teeth, keeping his head lowered.

"Oh, why didn't you mention this earlier? Someone, take my calling card and invite a physician." Casually summoning two maids he had brought back from Yangzhou, Yang Xin handed the calling card to them and instructed two guards to accompany them in search of a physician.

These two maids were also sharp-witted. Taking the calling card, they and the two guards stepped out the door, shouting at the very top of their lungs the moment they crossed the threshold: "The Old Matriarch has been fainted away by the Second Master..."

Even more infuriatingly, the two guards joined in, shouting all the way down the path, maintaining that momentum as if they intended to yell all the way to the Imperial Medical Academy.

"You scoundrel!" With a retching sound, Jia Zheng vomited a large mouthful of fresh blood, his trembling finger pointing straight at Yang Xin.

Ignoring Jia Zheng entirely, Yang Xin stated coldly, "What have you wicked slaves driven my Second Uncle to? It would be one thing if you drove my Second Uncle to this state, but you actually dared to treat my younger sister this way!

"My sister Yingchun is the eldest daughter of the primary branch, yet these items, which rightfully belonged to her as a mistress, were all plundered by you. Even worse, all of Yingchun's meals were stolen away by you, leaving her to eat your leftovers. Most viciously of all, even her thick winter quilts were taken away, causing my sister Yingchun to freeze miserably through the winter. You truly are lower than beasts."

"Did you know about any of this, Second Uncle?" Yang Xin asked coldly, turning his gaze toward Jia Zheng.

"Matters of the inner courtyard—how could I possibly know?"

"You did not know, but did your wife, Lady Wang, know? Very well, regardless of whether Elder Lady Wang knew or not, as the master of the Rongguo Estate, I cannot simply ignore this. Men, drag Wang Zhu's family out and beat them to death!"

Without a second word, the guards picked up heavy wooden staves and rained vicious blows down upon Wang Zhu's family. Having already been subdued by Yang Xin's martial might back in Yangzhou, these guards were mostly retired soldiers with blood on their hands; they had no hesitation in executing such orders.

Before long, Wang Zhu's entire family was beaten to death.

"Men, sever their heads and hang them outside the Rongxi Hall. Let those servants who fail to distinguish between superiors and inferiors and fancy themselves masters take a good, hard look at what happens to those who bully their masters."

"Second Uncle, did I do right?" Yang Xin asked indifferently.