Although the Qiao family was a prestigious and noble household, it wasn’t without its influence.

The entire household had many servants, and the young masters’ courtyards were staffed with servants and guards who were all well-trained and capable, far from being mere idlers.

When Qiao Shuyue went out, Nanny Liu borrowed ten guards from Qiao Liang’s courtyard.

The Magnolia Courtyard didn’t have its own guards for two reasons: first, because Qiao Shuyue didn’t often go out, so she didn’t need them; second, because when she was young, she was frightened by a martial guard and cried for three days, followed by a high fever.

After that, Madam Chu had removed the large, burly guards from the Magnolia Courtyard, leaving only Guard Li, who appeared delicate and weak but had good lightness skills.

The ten guards Nanny Liu lent today were elite soldiers specifically assigned by Qiao’s father to protect Qiao Liang.

At the moment, two of the Qiao family’s trained guards stood at the courtyard gate, while the rest encircled the group of people present, half-surrounding them. The only gap in the circle was where Qiao Shuyue stood.

The young girl, hands on her hips, was puffed up with anger, looking more like a ball than anything else. She trembled with rage, pointing at the burly man who was causing trouble, her voice nasal and heavy with emotion, “In broad daylight, you still want to harm someone?”

Perhaps her shout was too forceful, because as soon as she finished threatening, she clutched her mouth and started coughing uncontrollably.

Her tender voice made everyone pause. The few people from the Yuequan Tower looked at each other, somewhat stunned, and the intimidating atmosphere that had been building diminished slightly as they looked at this unexpected group of people.

Brother Meng quickly regained his senses, tightening his grip on his knife, watching them warily. He first glanced at the girl who had spoken, but quickly turned his attention elsewhere, not taking a little girl seriously. His eyes roamed over the crowd, eventually landing on Qiao Liang.

His tone was uncertain, “This young master seems familiar. May I ask for your name?”

Qiao Liang furrowed his brows and studied the other man’s face, but felt that the man was very unfamiliar.

He sneered, “Who do you think you are, daring to ask my name?”

“I—”

“What do you mean ’I’? Is this your boss’s and the master’s order? To bring someone here to kill them?”

Qiao Liang glanced back and looked at the still-bound young man. When their eyes met, the young man’s cold, defiant gaze caused Qiao Liang to hesitate for a moment. The words “don’t be afraid” seemed impossible to say.

He couldn’t withstand the young man’s sharp gaze and, feeling flustered, turned his eyes away and rubbed his nose.

Brother Meng’s expression shifted several times. After spending many years in Xijing City, he was quite adept at reading people. It was clear that this young master was no ordinary person-his status was probably that of a nobleman’s son. The fact that he was accompanied by over ten guards indicated that his family held a position of power.

No matter how low-ranking the official, he couldn’t afford to offend someone of this caliber.

But after finally getting the boy here, if he didn’t take this chance to avenge his boss, there might not be another opportunity.

He couldn’t afford to offend him, so he decided to dismiss it for now.

Brother Meng threw the knife aside, adopted a flattering smile, clasped his hands in apology, and repeatedly apologized, “Young master, please don’t take offense. This little servant has been very troublesome. The higher-ups are aware of and have allowed us to teach him a lesson. With your many servants, you must understand how difficult it is to manage these lowly servants. We’ve disturbed you, and I’m truly sorry. We’ll move to another place.”

He then gave a signal to his subordinates.

Qiao Liang furrowed his brows even more. The man was clearly just making excuses, not at all giving up on his misdeeds. When it came to human life, Qiao Liang could not sit idly by.

Just as he was about to speak, a sharp, angry female voice suddenly rang out in his ear.

“I said, don’t touch him!”

Qiao Liang felt a whoosh, and something flew past his peripheral vision.

He looked over in surprise, his heartbeat momentarily stopping.

Qiao Shuyue, with all her strength, stomped her foot and shot forward like a small cannonball.

“Miss—!!”

“Yue’er!!”

Qiao Shuyue ignored everything and rushed straight toward the burly man. She was only as tall as his waist, but she showed no fear. She raised her arm and pushed him away with all her might.

As soon as Brother Meng changed his attitude and greeted Qiao Liang’s group with a smiling face, the guards from Yuequan Tower knew that it was not the time to escalate things further.

The burly man had simply forgotten to release his grip.

He watched as an unknown little lady charged toward him with the determination of someone willing to risk everything. He froze in place, afraid that his large frame would accidentally brush against her hair, fearing that if he did, he would have to face the consequences from his boss.

“I... this..... Brother Meng...” The burly man looked around for help.

Brother Meng: “...”

Nanny Liu’s face grew stern as she quickly walked over to Qiao Shuyue, her sharp gaze sweeping over the group. She attempted to protect Qiao Shuyue, but as soon as she reached out, the girl had already turned and pushed the adults away.

The young girl didn’t even spare a glance for anyone else. After shoving them aside, she turned to face the young man.

She lifted her head, meeting the young man’s lowered gaze.

In an instant, her mind went blank, and her eyes turned red.

This is her Majesty.

He wasn’t wearing a jade crown, a dragon robe, nor did he carry the calm and composed air or gentle, peaceful features that she had once seen.

At this moment, the young man’s clothes were torn and ragged, his arms exposed and covered in scars. His face was dirtied, his forehead sticky with fragmented hair that seemed stained with blood.

He looked so thin, his arms smaller than her little chubby ones. When she had first met him in the great hall, he had told her to look up, and back then, he had appeared to be a strong and healthy adult man. Later, after countless close encounters, she came to realize he was indeed powerful.

He had once briefly described his childhood, but Qiao Shuyue had never known how deeply those few words contained the scars of bloodshed, the bitterness and suffering that made her heart ache.

Holding on to her own private memories, Qiao Shuyue felt sorrow for this hidden truth, and her pitiful expression caught Xie Zhaoling’s eye, stirring something unexpected inside him.

However, his emotions quickly calmed again. He glanced indifferently at the girl and then shifted his gaze away.

But even as his eyes left her, her image was deeply etched in his mind.

Her hair tied in a cute little bun, her eyes large and dark, like black grapes. Under the blazing summer sun, she was tightly wrapped, her cheeks flushed red-whether from heat or something else-it made her look like a bloodstained sticky rice dumpling, so delicious that one might want to take a bite and see what it tasted like.

She was clearly the pampered daughter of a wealthy family. He couldn’t understand why she would appear in such a filthy place.

“This young noble lady, he’s a slave we bought from a human trafficker. Do you know what a ’slave’ is? The kind of little demon that hides in the gutters, not fit to see the light of day,” Brother Meng’s voice lowered as he spoke, his words dripping with blood. “We brought him here, gave him food and drink, and even let him live in a house with a roof over his head. That alone is showing great mercy and accumulating good karma.”

“If your servants do something wrong, the master must punish them, right? This stubborn, useless slave made a mistake, and naturally, he must be taught a lesson. There’s no mercy.”

Brother Meng, seeing that the girl had not turned to face him, shifted his gaze back to Qiao Liang and lamented, “Young master, your sister has a heart of a Bodhisattva, but kind-heartedness can easily be exploited by bad people. This boy is an ungrateful wretch. Our boss kindly bought him, spent a lot of money and effort to train him, but he didn’t appreciate it, and instead—”

Just as Brother Meng began to angrily speak of the debt owed by the scar-faced man, Qiao Shuyue finally turned around and interrupted him.

“How much?” she asked.

Brother Meng froze for a moment, “What?”

“According to our country’s laws, even if someone is enslaved, they have the right to redeem themselves, as long as both parties in the transaction agree,” Qiao Shuyue said confidently, her words clear and well-reasoned. If one ignored her rather immature voice, Brother Meng might have thought she was the wife or daughter of some noble family.

“The amount of money isn’t the key, but if both parties agree, money is, of course, one way to resolve it.”

The young girl spoke with reason, and despite her childish voice, her words were logical and forceful.

Brother Meng hesitated, his expression faltering.

“If he truly made a mistake, in such a large restaurant, is there no place for punishment? Clearly, this could be an opportunity to set an example and intimidate others, but instead, you brought him here and are applying private punishment,” the girl continued, her voice sharp, “Such secretive actions, aren’t they meant to deceive higher authorities and act with ill intent?”

She recalled how Xie Zhaoling had spoken in the past and tried to imitate him. While she felt her imitation was fierce, her small body hindered her ability to project the same force.

Her words came out like a little kitten throwing a tantrum, her paws swiping through the air, leaving only two scratches on a person’s skin-barely breaking the surface. How could she hope to pierce their bones?

The claws of a cat scratched at everyone’s hearts, including Xie Zhaoling’s.

The young man’s slightly lowered eyelashes trembled, and the scars on his back suddenly flared up with pain.

Qiao Liang quickly reacted and cleared his throat. “Exactly, this matter is settled by my second brother Qiao. I can see that what you’re doing isn’t exactly something that should be seen in the light of day.”

His tone was arrogant, mocking as he said, “Now tell me, how much do you want for him?”

Qiao Liang could tell that his younger sister seemed to care deeply about this young man, though he didn’t know why. He could look into it later, but as long as it was something his sister wanted or suggested, he would unconditionally support her and try to satisfy her wishes as best as he could.

Brother Meng’s eyes darkened, and he turned his head to glance at his subordinates.

Once the price was mentioned, it meant he would give up on avenging his boss. If he sold his boss’s life for money today, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t meet the same fate tomorrow.

The small, rundown courtyard fell into complete silence for a moment.

After a while, the two men who had gone to dump the waste exchanged glances, and one with a sharp chin spoke first. “Brother Meng, didn’t we agree that this kid ran away on his own?”

Like a drop of water hitting a hot oil pan, the silence was broken with a loud burst of voices.

One spoke, and others quickly chimed in.

“Yeah, he knew he had done something wrong and dared not stay, so he ran for his life. We brothers were careless and didn’t keep an eye on him, letting him escape. It’s just a mistake on our part.”

“Manager Liu suggested we don’t have to worry, and it was clear he didn’t care about him.”

Meng Ge’s eyes flickered. “Not caring” meant not caring at all.

Whether the man was dead, escaped, or was sold to someone else, what difference did it make?

Most of these people were from similar backgrounds, wanted by local authorities for various reasons, they had been kidnapped by traffickers while fleeing, and then bought by wealthy families to become lowly servants.

They were all the same. Why could the master see him alone in the middle of the night? Why not them? If he wasn’t around, would the master’s pitying gaze fall upon them instead?

The death of the scar-faced man was a cautionary tale. They had often bullied him, and if he were favored by the master and rose to prominence, it wasn’t hard to imagine that they might be the next to meet a gruesome fate.

Brother Meng took a deep breath, turning back to look at Qiao Liang. His gaze gradually became firm.

He said, “Fifty taels.”

Qiao Liang was momentarily stunned, blinking slowly.

How much? Fifty taels??

His family bought a strong, clean-background male servant for only ten taels. How could this skinny, monkey-like boy ask for fifty taels?

He was about to explode when, unexpectedly, he heard Qiao Shuyue’s bright and crisp voice from the side. The girl waved her hand with confidence, “I’ll take him!”

Qiao Liang: “...”

Qiao Liang slowly widened his eyes.

Qiao Liang’s face turned red with frustration.

Qiao Liang nearly fainted.

Qiao Shuyue, oblivious, lifted her head, her gaze innocent and pure. “It’s just fifty taels, don’t go back on your word.”

Brother Meng and the group of thugs: “......”