Chapter 212

Chapter 212: I Have a Powerful Backer

The man in silk paused and turned toward the door; when he saw the woman standing there with a calm, pretty face, his eyes lit up as he said with a grin: “Which family’s young wife is this, born so lovely?”

Ever since moving out of Du Manor, Yu Zhi Yi dressed as simply as possible whenever she did not enter the palace. Tonight she wore only a plain gauze dress. It was not expensive or ornate, but thanks to Red Luan’s careful design, the cut was fine and neat, perfectly highlighting Yu Zhi Yi’s airy, untouchable grace.

That kind of grace makes respectful people keep their distance. But for a man blinded by lust, it becomes a spark to feed his greed.

The silk-clad man did not stop to wonder how the woman slipped past the guards at the door. He decided those two guards had seen her beauty and sent her in to please him. In his heart he praised them for being thoughtful and planned to reward them with a few taels of silver later.

From the corner of her eye, Madam Li also sensed someone coming closer. At first she thought a neighbor had heard the noise and come to save her, but when she turned her head she saw a stranger, and not just a stranger but a very beautiful woman. Her heart first sank with disappointment, then she realized the danger and began to struggle wildly, making muffled “mm-mm” sounds through the gag.

[Run!]

[Run!]

[This man is a beast. If you don’t leave now, you will never leave.]

The silk-clad man let go of Madam Li and walked toward Yu Zhi Yi, speaking with a lazy smile: “Beauty, it’s the middle of the night. Why are you here alone? Did you hear this young master was here and come on purpose to seduce me?”

His eyes were full of filthy greed as he reached out to touch Yu Zhi Yi’s face.

Madam Li rolled off the table in a struggle, grabbed the only stool in the room, and lifted it to smash the back of the man’s head. The next second she froze, her face full of shock.

The unusually young woman with the otherworldly air did not even move. Yet the silk-clad man’s head snapped to the side as if a huge palm had slapped him. His whole body followed his face and flew sideways.

With a heavy thud, he crashed to the floor. Half his face swelled high at once, as if someone had pounded him.

He scrambled up and spat with fear and rage in his eyes: “You filthy whore, you dare hit me?!”

Yu Zhi Yi looked at him like he was a fool and said calmly: “Which eye of yours saw me hit you?”

The man fell silent.

He puffed himself up again and barked: “Do you know who I am? You ruined my fun. You must be tired of living!”

Seeing her plain clothes, he was wary of her strange way of hitting, but he was not very afraid. He muttered with a sneer: “Even the best fighter is scared of a kitchen knife.”

Yu Zhi Yi asked with a mild voice: “Oh? And who are you? Can you override the yamen’s power over life and death?”

The man snorted: “The yamen is nothing! I’m telling you, I have backing at court. If you are smart, take off your clothes and serve this young master. If you dare resist, then wait for death.”

Sensing that people from Jing Prefecture had already arrived, Yu Zhi Yi tilted her head and said: “What a coincidence. I also know a fifth-rank official. I wonder how big your backing is.”

He laughed in scorn: “Only a fifth rank? The one I know would scare you to death. He is a first-rank duke, Duke Ping Nan. Are you scared now?”

Yu Zhi Yi blinked, her expression turning odd as she asked: “Your backing is Duke Ping Nan? What is your relationship with him?”

The man curled his lip: “Why do you care what my relationship with the duke is? I have the Duke’s Manor behind me. Your fifth-rank backer wouldn’t even dare let out a fart.”

Then he put on a lewd smile and purred: “If you don’t want to suffer, be good and take off your clothes.”

He was sure the woman would obey. For a while now, he had been using the Duke’s Manor name to trick many women. To be fair, he only knew the head chef at the Duke’s Manor, but people say anyone close to a great house carries weight; a head chef of the Duke’s Manor stands above many officials. A mere hanger-on of a fifth-rank official was nothing to fear.

But what he pictured did not happen. The woman did not undress. She looked toward the doorway and said in a cool voice: “Did you hear that? This man claims he is a noble from Ping Nan Duke’s Manor. Go invite the duke to come identify him.”

The man’s smile cracked: “You… who are you talking to?”

Before Yu Zhi Yi could answer, a group of constables rushed into the shabby room. One stepped forward and bowed to Yu Zhi Yi as he said respectfully: “Official Yu, what is going on?”

The man stared, his mouth dry as he whispered: “Yu… Official Yu? She is an official?”

Yu Zhi Yi gave him no time to be shocked. She looked at the constable and said evenly: “This person claims he is from Ping Nan Duke’s Manor. Please trouble yourselves to invite the duke.”

Panic flooded the man’s heart as he babbled: “No… no need, right? The duke handles many matters every day. He has no time for such a small thing. It’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding…”

Yu Zhi Yi said without warmth: “Since it is a misunderstanding, then it should be cleared up.”

The constables had already gone to the Duke’s Manor to invite someone.

The man wanted to run, but with Yu Zhi Yi and a room full of constables watching, he could not go anywhere.

About an hour later, Duke Ping Nan walked into the broken-down house with a dark face. When he saw Yu Zhi Yi standing inside calm and unhurried, his expression grew even darker as he asked coldly: “In the middle of the night, Official Yu, what do you want?”

The silk-clad man’s knees nearly gave out. With the help of the head chef he had once seen the duke from a distance, so he knew at once that this powerful older man was Duke Ping Nan. He had never expected the woman and the constables would dare to invite him, and he had even less expected that the duke would really come. He was the duke, not some random stray!

What happened next shocked him even more.

The woman smiled and spoke lightly to the duke: “My lord duke, I did not mean to disturb your peace. But a rogue here is pretending to be your relative and using your name to do evil. The woman he tried to harm is exactly someone Yiluan Charity plans to help.”

She added, still smiling: “You know Yiluan Charity works with His Majesty’s approval. His Majesty cares a lot about our results. If a person we help ends up harmed, I have no way to answer to His Majesty.”

The man sank straight to the floor. At first, seeing the duke talk to Yu Zhi Yi, he felt nothing was strange. The constables must have explained the situation and described the people in the room. It made sense for the duke to scold the troublemaker.

But from the woman’s tone, she was not afraid of the duke at all. More importantly, she seemed to know the emperor.

[It’s over.]