Chapter 39: A Pretty Boy

“What?”

Everyone was stunned by Madam Lu’s reply.

She was the most beautiful woman in the Celestial River County, and a major shareholder in both the Colosseum and the Myriad Spring Brothel. It was unconfirmed, but she was quite possibly the wealthiest woman in the county as well—and to top it all off, she was a young widow. She was sought after by every single man in the entire county.

But what had she just said?

She could provide testimony that Qi Ying wasn’t at the crime scene the day prior? Furthermore, she was saying that Qi Ying was at her mansion and under her sheets?

To be able to get into Madam Lu’s sheets was the dream of countless men.

AnimeDaily.Net

Flames of envy were burning in the eyes of the official and all of the jailors.

Lu Feifei’s raised a delicate eyebrow. “What? Did you not hear me? Ah Zuo, Ah You, get Qi Ying down from there!”

Two identical men in black clothes suddenly emerged from behind her, before making their way directly toward Qi Ying.

“Wait!”

The official immediately said as he tried to stop them, “Qi Ying is a major suspect and…”

“Shut up!”

Lu Feifei abruptly cut him off. “I already told you that Qi Ying was at my mansion at the time. If you want more witnesses, I can easily find over a hundred for you.”

The official was beginning to panic. “But…”

Qi Ying had been detained and taken to jail by Duan Xilai in person. Before he left, he had expressed a strong desire to keep Qi Ying detained until the case was solved.

Ah Zuo and Ah You strode forward and one of them pushed him to the ground. The two jailors didn’t dare to do anything aside from looking on as the twins severed the chains, and helped Qi Ying down.

“Let’s go.” Lu Feifei turned to leave.

“You can’t…” The official still wanted to say something.

Lu Feifei’s brows furrowed with impatience. “Can’t what? Even if the mayor were here, the fact of the matter is that Qi Ying wasn’t at the scene. B*stards like you are so eager to solve the case that you’re detaining innocent people! Qi Ying was trying to protect my reputation by refusing to confess where he was at the time, but you’ve forced my hand here! If you dare to try and stop me, my men will break your legs!”

The official immediately swallowed his words of objection.

He couldn’t mess with the Duan family, and nor could he mess with Madam Lu… If he tried to stop them, there was a very solid chance that he would be beaten to the point of disability, and no one would give him any compensation either… It was simply not worth offending the most powerful woman in the Celestial River County, just to appease to the Duan family.

The twins tried to carry Qi Ying away, but he pointed toward the silver glove on the desk. “That’s mine…”

Lu Feifei stepped forward and took the silver glove before turning to leave. “Let’s go!”

Thus, the four of them left the jail cell, while the official and jailors remained, looking on in fear and lust at Lu Feifei’s departing figure.

…

The horse-drawn carriage provided a slightly bumpy ride, and Qi Ying wanted to sit up, but was forced to lie back down by Lu Feifei while reclining on her legs. She caressed the gashes on Qi Ying’s body with a sympathetic expression, then said in a gentle voice, “You must have suffered a lot. I’m going to avenge you today by amputating the limbs of that official and the jailors.”

After being tortured for an entire night, Qi Ying was utterly exhausted, and severely injured. Thus, he went along with what Madam Lu was doing, laying down on her legs, and thanking her in a feeble voice, “Madam Lu… Don’t cause any trouble for my sake… I really must thank you today.”

“If you really want to thank me, then focus on recovery. Only after you’re fit and firing again will you have the energy to thank me.”

Lu Feifei turned to Qi Ying with a suggestive glance as she spoke.

Qi Ying knew what she was implying, but he pretended to be oblivious.

Lu Feifei laid her slim fingers onto Qi Ying’s left hand, to find that it was cold and hard, much more like a piece of metal than a human hand. Her brows furrowed slightly as she questioned in a hushed voice. “How did your left hand become like this? I was curious when I saw you wearing that glove but… Forget it, if this has to do with past events that you don’t want to mention, then just pretend like I never asked.”

“Alright.”

Qi Ying was feeling quite faint and he didn’t want to speak anymore. He closed his eyes and prepared to take a quick nap. However, his head suddenly began to throb as a familiar feeling struck him. His body began to spasm and cold sweat poured from his forehead.

Lu Feifei was given a fright upon seeing this. “Qi Ying, what’s going on?”

Pain was dominating Qi Ying’s consciousness, threatening to pull him under. His body convulsed as he said through gritted teeth. “Madam Lu… I have pills in the spatial ring in my glove… I need to take pills…” He was then unable to hold on any longer and fell unconscious…

…

Qi Ying felt like he was falling from great heights, and after plummeting for what seemed like an eternity, he finally felt like he had landed on the ground. He abruptly came to his senses and regained control of his body. He opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a pink canopy.

‘What is this place…’

Qi Ying sat up on the soft bed and scrambled to remember what had happened.

He was being interrogated in jail, then Madam Lu suddenly arrived and took him away. He got onto her carriage and laid down on her legs, then his left hand began acting up again…

Hence, he had to be at Madam Lu’s mansion.

Qi Ying leaned on the bedframe and looked around at his surroundings. The place wasn’t what he had imagined. It was a very simple setting with just a bed and a table, and the faint scent of incense wafted through the air.

His wounds were very itchy and numb; there seemed to have been some sort of ointment applied to them. Half of his upper body had been bandaged up in an extremely neat manner. His silver glove had also been slipped onto his left hand.

“Phew… I don’t know what happened, but I’ve come out of that accursed place at least…”

Thinking back to that prison cell, Qi Ying still had a hint of fear lingering in his heart. In that place, he was like an animal waiting to be slaughtered. All types of torture had been inflicted upon him, and both his dignity and body were being trampled.

At that moment, the door to the room suddenly opened. Qi Ying turned, thinking that it was Madam Lu, only to find that it was a man instead.

“Master Thirteen?”

…

Only after Master Thirteen arrived did Qi Ying figure out what had happened. The day prior, news of his detainment had somehow spread through the entire Celestial River County. After learning of his situation, Master Thirteen asked Madam Lu to save him from prison. At the same time, he bribed many officials, fabricating a set of circumstances that proved Qi Ying’s innocence. The tale that had been spun was that he was at Madam Lu’s mansion at the time, doing… some things.

Qi Ying was at a loss for words after hearing that. It was a good thing that he had been rescued, but his reputation was gone! How was he supposed to face the world like this? He was a pretty boy sugar baby!