Chapter 111 -

Chapter 111: Chapter

Yimei looked down at the kneeling man, her eyebrows pulling together in genuine surprise.

"Are you all sent by Young Master Xiao Jun?" Yimei asked directly, her clear voice cutting through the freezing air.

The black-robed men exchanged quiet, swift glances with one another under their leather masks. The masked leader shifted slightly on his knee, his eyes fixed firmly on the snow-covered floorboards.

"No, First Young Madame," the leader replied in a low, flat tone. "We are not sent by Young Master Xiao."

Yimei frowned, taking a half-step forward. "Then who sent you?"

The leader did not answer. Without dropping another word or revealing a single clue about their master’s identity, he sprang back onto his feet. With a single sharp wave of his hand, all twelve black-robed men leapt high into the air, their dark cloaks catching the night wind as they vanished over the snow-covered rooftops as quickly and silently as they had appeared.

Yimei stood on the high porch, watching the dark empty rooflines for a second before turning her eyes back down to the street.

The heavy sound of shouting, bone-snapping, and painful screams had drawn the attention of the surrounding market area. Curious shopkeepers, late-night tea drinkers, and nearby villagers were now creeping out from side alleys and opening their wooden window shutters, whispering as they gathered in a wide crowd at the edge of the street.

They gasped in shock when they saw the scene outside the grand pavilion. Twenty heavy thugs, including Boss Qian’s infamous scarred guard, were lying scattered all over the blood-stained snow, groaning, weeping, and clutching their broken limbs.

Qinqin gulped, stepping close to Yimei’s side. "Y-Young Madame... everyone in the market is watching."

"Good," Yimei said calmly. "Let them watch."

Instead of hiding inside or rushing away in fear, Yimei picked up the skirt of her dark blue winter dress and stepped down the porch stairs, walking slowly right into the middle of the street.

The watching crowd went dead silent, every pair of eyes fixed on the delicate Young Madame as she stopped directly beside Boss Qian’s scarred head guard.

The scarred guard was face-down in the dirty slush, gasping for air and trying desperately to crawl away. Yimei didn’t hesitate. She raised her foot and brought her heavy leather shoe down directly onto the guard’s bloody wrist!

CRACK!

"AAAAAHHH!" the scarred guard shrieked, his body spasming in pure agony as his fingers dug into the ice.

Yimei didn’t lift her foot. She pressed down harder, her face completely calm, cold, and composed under the moonlight, looking down at him like he was nothing more than an insect.

"Listen to me carefully," Yimei spoke, her clear, sharp voice echoing loudly across the silent street for every single villager and shopkeeper to hear. "Go back and tell Boss Qian and Boss Sun that if they want to play dirty games in the East Market, they had better bring sharper blades next time."

She leaned in slightly, her dark eyes flashing with dangerous authority.

"This three-story pavilion belongs to me," Yimei declared clearly. "If any foolish thug sets foot on my property again, or if any bitter shopkeeper tries to spread fake rumors about my business, I will not just break wrists—I will tear down their shops and hand them straight to the city magistrate. Do you understand me?"

The scarred guard sobbed violently, nodding his head repeatedly in the snow. "Y-Yes! Yes! I understand! Mercy, Young Madame! Mercy!"

Yimei lifted her foot casually, brushing off her skirt. She looked around at the stunned crowd of villagers and local shopkeepers, who were staring at her with wide eyes full of shock and deep respect. No one in the East Market had ever dared to stand up to Boss Qian and Boss Sun like this, let alone crush twenty of their thugs.

"Qinqin," Yimei called out, turning her back on the bloody mess without a single trace of fear. "Call our carriage. It is time to go back to the manor."

As Yimei stepped into her carriage and the horses pulled away into the snowy night, the quiet street burst into a storm of loud, excited chatter.

Shopkeepers pulled their warm coats tight, rushing out from their storefronts. Villagers gathered in tight circles around the groaning thugs, pointing their fingers and gasping in utter shock.

"Did you see that?!" a fish merchant yelled, his hands waving wildly in the air. "She didn’t even flinch! A young noblewoman from the Bai family took down two heavy thugs with her own hands!"

"Her hands?!" a tea vendor gasped, his eyes wide as saucers. "I saw her strike that big guard’s neck with just two fingers! His whole arm went dead numb! She moves like a trained general!"

"And her foot on his wrist!" a woman selling silk ribbons whispered loudly to her neighbor, fanning her face. "Merciful Heavens! She looked like a goddess! She stomped right down on his bones while looking him dead in the eyes! Boss Qian’s guard was weeping like a little child in the slush!"

"Boss Qian and Boss Sun finally met their match," an old blacksmith chuckled bitterly, spitting onto the snow. "For three whole years, those two greedy bastards have been terrorizing every new business on this street. They smashed the noodle shop down the road, they ruined the young tea merchant three months ago, and they thought they could do the same to a young lady!"

"She warned them!" another villager chimed in, leaning close to the crowd. "Did you hear what she said? She told them to bring sharper blades next time! She said if any thug sets foot near her pavilion again, she will tear down their shops and hand them straight to the magistrate!"

"Who is she really?!" a young maid asked, her voice filled with awe. "I heard someone call her the First Young Madame of the Bai family!"

"The First Young Madame?" an old scholar carrying a paper lantern stroked his beard, shaking his head in wonder. "Isn’t she married to the First Young Master, the broken cripple who never leaves his courtyard? People said she was just a quiet girl from a humble background!"

"Quiet?!" the fish merchant laughed out loud. "If that woman is quiet, then a tiger is just a house cat! She owns that whole three-story pavilion now! Boss Qian and Boss Sun must be shivering in their beds tonight!"

Across the street, behind the closed wooden shutters of Boss Qian’s wine shop, Boss Qian and Boss Sun had been peeking through the gaps the entire time.

Their fat faces were completely drained of color. Boss Qian’s hands were shaking so violently he dropped his heavy wooden stick onto the floorboards with a loud CLACK. Boss Sun was trembling from head to toe, clutching his chest as if his heart was about to burst out.

"S-She... she broke his wrist," Boss Sun whimpered in a terrified, high-pitched whisper. "She broke his bones in front of the whole market! And those men in black... who were those men in black?!"

"An Yulan lied to us!" Boss Qian gasped, cold sweat pouring down his fat cheeks and dripping onto his silk collar. "That bitter woman said Yimei was helpless! She said Yimei was just an unfaithful girl using stolen money! Does that look like a helpless girl to you?!"

"We are dead," Boss Sun squeaked out, collapsing onto a chair. "If she really goes to the magistrate or brings those black-robed killers to our shops tomorrow, we will lose everything!"

"Lock the doors!" Boss Qian screamed frantically, turning around to his terrified servants. "Bar the windows! Put out all the lanterns! If anyone asks, we were never here tonight! We don’t know anything!"

While the entire East Market buzzed with endless gossip, Yimei’s carriage rolled smoothly through the grand gates of the Bai Manor.