Chapter 209| Chapter 210| Chapter 211
Chapter 209: Pregnancy
Whenever the topic shifted back to her family’s ruin, Cui Shishi couldn’t help but fall back into a deep depression, the hard-fought smile completely vanishing from her face.
Lu Yunxi and Shen San exchanged a silent, heavy look, neither of them knowing quite what to say.
Originally, their plan had been simple: deliver Cui Shishi to her surviving relatives and part ways. But now that she had reunited with her second brother, the situation was even more complicated. Frankly, Little Cui was entirely unreliable. If they left the siblings to fend for themselves in this treacherous wilderness, it wouldn’t be long before someone stumbled upon their cold corpses.
Lu Yunxi let out a quiet, inward sigh.
Beside her, Shen San remained dead silent, surreptitiously pulling up his player system interface.
[System Quest: Cui Shishi’s Request] Current Status: Serial Questline in progress.
In the game, serial quests were deeply interconnected. A player had to follow the narrative chain all the way to its bitter end to reap the ultimate rewards. If one abandoned the questline halfway through, there was no active penalty, but the mid-tier rewards were a joke compared to the final bounty. For instance, completing the final leg might net a player an orange-grade weapon, whereas stopping halfway would yield nothing but a handful of useless copper coins.
Given that Shen San had already looted an impressive haul of high-grade drops just from fighting that squad of level 60 assassins, it stood to reason that the final reward for this questline would be extraordinary.
Then again… he mused. He could always pause the chain, join his master to track down the treasure map first, and then circle back to finish this later.
Still, checking the active quest parameters on his interface, he decided to make a suggestion. “Master, why don’t we head to Beizhen first? After all, the bulk of the Cui family is supposed to be sheltered there.”
“Go to Beizhen…” Lu Yunxi murmured. She was initially caught off guard, but the moment she remembered Shen San’s unique player panel, she understood.
If he was pushing for Beizhen, it had to be a prompt from his quest interface.
She nodded in agreement and turned to the Cui siblings. Hearing that their mother and aunts were supposedly waiting in Beizhen, they naturally agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
“Are you absolutely certain we’re heading the right way?”
Shen San stopped, staring at the massive labyrinth of jagged yellow boulders loom ahead in bizarre, contorted shapes. He looked deeply skeptical.
In this region, the towering rocks grew as thick and countless as trees in a dense forest. Initially, they had been following the precise directions Little Cui provided, but the further they marched, the more wrong the path felt. Eventually, every twist and turn brought them face-to-face with identical stone monoliths.
Little Cui scratched his head, his confidence rapidly evaporating. After all, he had only overheard rumors regarding Beizhen’s coordinates; he had never actually set foot in the town himself.
“Maybe we should find a local and ask for directions?” Cui Shishi suggested gently, trying to cover for her brother’s obvious unreliability.
“No, that won’t work,” Little Cui replied, shaking his head quickly. “To get into Beizhen, you must have a resident guide you. Otherwise, no outsider around these parts can navigate the terrain. I only managed to pry the layout from an old laborer who had escaped Beizhen to look for work.”
Reflecting on it now, he realized he had been incredibly lucky to get even that much information.
Although Beizhen technically fell under Wuzhou’s jurisdiction, it was completely swallowed by a massive stone forest. The topography functioned exactly like a natural maze. Unless driven by absolute necessity, no one in their right mind would ever willingly venture inside.
Lu Yunxi surveyed the endless rows of identical rocks, her patience finally wearing thin. “You three sit down and rest. I’ll find the path.”
Before they could even process her words, she blurred, vanishing into the stone forest in three swift strides.
Using her master-level lightness skills, she vaulted atop the highest peaks, leaping from boulder to boulder as she scanned the horizon. From her elevated vantage point, she managed to spot the hidden layout of Beizhen.
She quickly doubled back and guided the group through the correct path.
The moment they breached the perimeter of the town, a fierce gale howled through the canyons, sending a blinding wall of sand and dirt whipping through the air. The Cui siblings instinctively squeezed their eyes shut, coughing violently.
“Oh, gods! With all these massive rocks blocking the valley, how is the wind still this brutal—cough, ugh!” Little Cui doubled over, hacking for several minutes before spitting a mouthful of grit onto the dirt.
The remaining companions hurriedly pulled up their cloaks, wrapping the fabric tightly around their faces to block the storm.
“Huh?! Who goes there?” a faint voice called out, barely audible over the roaring wind.
The group snapped their heads toward the sound. Through the dusty haze, they spotted a small, weathered house a short distance away. Pressing her face tightly against the windowpane was a young girl, her eyes wide as she stared intently at the strangers.
“We’re looking for someone! Please, let us in!” Cui Shishi screamed at the top of her lungs, cupping her hands around her mouth.
After she bellowed the plea several times, the girl inside finally caught the words. The heavy wooden door swung open, beckoning them inside.
The four travelers scrambled through the threshold at breakneck speed. The moment the door slammed shut against the howling gale, they spun around, eager to offer their profound thanks to their savior.
But the words caught in their throats.
“Second Sister? Second Brother?!” The young girl’s eyes went completely round the moment she processed their features. A mix of shock and pure euphoria flooded her face. “You’re… you’re actually alive?!”
The Cui siblings gasped, frozen in place. The stranger who had opened the door to shelter them from the storm was none other than their youngest sister!
In an instant, the three erupted into tears, throwing their arms around one another and sobbing hysterically.
“Miss Lu, Mr. Shen, I cannot thank you enough for rescuing my children and bringing them back to me,” Mrs. Cui said later that evening, forcing a weary but deeply grateful smile. “If it weren’t for your immense kindness, they never would have survived the journey to find us.”
Lu Yunxi returned the smile gently. “It was a minor matter, ma’am. Please, don’t give it another thought.”
“No, it’s a monumental debt! Let me think…” Mrs. Cui murmured, her brow furrowing. She desperately wanted to offer her saviors a proper token of appreciation, but after racking her brains for a long time, she realized she had absolutely nothing left to give.
Noticing the awkward tension, the two aunts quickly stepped forward with forced cheer. “Miss Lu, Mr. Shen, please, sit! Eat your fill before the food gets cold!”
However, the moment the words left their mouths, the aunts glanced down at the dining table and froze, their smiles faltering.
They had temporarily forgotten their current reality. This was no longer the grand Cui Manor in the imperial capital. They were no longer wealthy aristocracy. Laid out before their guests were nothing but a pile of coarse, dry steamed buns and a few meager side dishes—and even this simple spread had required them to pool their remaining rations just to show proper hospitality.
If they were eating by themselves, they wouldn’t have even had the luxury of side dishes.
Staring at the embarrassingly humble meal, the faces of the entire Cui family flushed deep crimson with shame.
Lu Yunxi and Shen San, however, didn’t let a single flicker of judgment cross their expressions. They smoothly picked up their chopsticks and began eating, chatting warmly with easy smiles.
Seeing their lack of pretension, the Cui family collectively breathed a massive sigh of relief.
Yet, before the relaxed atmosphere could fully settle, Mrs. Cui’s eyes suddenly rolled back, and she collapsed from her stool, hitting the floorboards with a heavy thud.
“Mother!” Cui Shishi shrieked, instantly throwing herself over her mother’s limp form.
Lu Yunxi and Shen San traded a swift look and rushed forward. Lu Yunxi immediately pressed her fingers against the woman’s pulse, checking her vitals.
“Mrs. Cui’s condition…” Lu Yunxi began, her expression tightening significantly.
The heavy pause in her voice sent a wave of sheer panic rippling through the gathered family members.
“She’s pregnant.”
“What?!” The Cui family gasped in unison, shock instantly giving way to a burst of profound joy.
Ever since their sudden downfall and forced exile, they had been plagued by nothing but tragedy and death. While it was exceedingly rare and dangerous for a woman of Mrs. Cui’s advanced age to conceive, the arrival of new life felt like a beacon of hope, a desperate comfort to their shattered spirits.
“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Lu Yunxi interrupted, her voice sober and unyielding. “Her body has sustained too many severe psychological blows recently, compounded by the sheer physical exhaustion of the forced march. Her constitution is dangerously depleted. If you want her to survive the coming years, it is highly recommended that you terminate this pregnancy.”
The family stiffened, the joy instantly draining from the room.
Cui Shishi was the first to break the silence, speaking without a shred of hesitation. “Miss Lu… please, perform the abortion. To us, our mother’s life is paramount. Nothing else matters.”
The rest of the siblings and aunts nodded in grim, tearful agreement.
Lu Yunxi offered no immediate reply, merely letting out a quiet, sorrowful sigh in her heart. What she kept to herself was a harsher truth: Mrs. Cui had already lost her fundamental will to live long ago. Even if they aborted the child to save her physical body, her spirit was so deeply shattered that she likely wouldn’t survive more than a few years anyway.
“If we are to proceed with a termination, I must consult Mrs. Cui first to see what she desires,” Lu Yunxi explained gently. “If she is fiercely opposed to it, I cannot force the procedure upon her.”
With that, she expertly slid several acupuncture needles into key acupoints to stabilize the woman’s fluctuating vitals, gradually coaxing her back to consciousness.
When Mrs. Cui opened her eyes and heard the diagnosis, she went completely rigid. Her hand trembled as she placed it over her barren-looking stomach, her gaze turning entirely hollow and distant.
Lu Yunxi and Shen San quietly stepped out of the room, granting the family the privacy they needed to process the news, while the older Cui brothers gathered in the adjacent corridor to furiously debate the threat of the Wuzhou Prefect.
“It has to be that miserable cur, Zhuang Lu!” the eldest Cui brother hissed, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white. “Seeing our clan fall from grace, he couldn’t wait to swoop in and kick us while we’re down!”
The Zhuang family had accumulated massive political capital in recent years, and their network of corrupt connections ran deep. It was entirely within their capability to pull strings and command a regional Prefect to execute an exiled family.
The second and third aunts wrung their hands, their faces pale with anxiety. “Now that we know they have orders to slaughter us, what are we supposed to do? Can we even escape this place?”
“Do not panic,” the eldest brother replied, drawing a deep, steadying breath. “During my time at the imperial academy, I formed close bonds with several brilliant scholars who have since risen through the political ranks. I will draft secret letters to them immediately, imploring them to speak on our behalf before the imperial court.”
Hearing this, the rest of the family relaxed slightly, clinging to the sliver of hope.
Lu Yunxi observed them for a moment before addressing the room. “Since your family has safely reunited, I have other urgent matters to attend to. My disciple and I will be taking our leave.”
The Cui family frantically swarmed around her, desperately trying to convince her to stay. Their hospitality was so overwhelming and genuine that Lu Yunxi found herself entirely incapable of refusing. Ultimately, she relented, agreeing to remain in Beizhen for two more days to monitor Mrs. Cui’s health.
Over the next forty-eight hours, while the eldest Cui son busied himself drafting and dispatching letters to his contacts in the capital, Mrs. Cui reached her final decision: she would carry the child to term, refusing the abortion.
Though her body remained terrifyingly frail and emaciated, a sudden, radiant light seemed to glow beneath her skin, her hollow eyes finally sparkling with a newfound sense of purpose.
Later that afternoon, when the rest of the family stepped out to gather firewood, Mrs. Cui quietly lowered her voice, pinning Lu Yunxi with an intense, knowing stare. “Miss Lu… tell me the truth. How long will I have left to live if I give birth to this child?”
Lu Yunxi opened her mouth to deliver the medical prognosis, but the words died in her throat as she caught sight of the woman’s face.
Mrs. Cui’s countenance, which had been deathly pale and reeking of impending mortality just two days prior, had completely transformed. The aura of death surrounding her had vanished entirely.
Chapter 210: An Unexpected Discovery
Lu Yunxi was pleasantly surprised. After checking Mrs. Cui’s pulse, she realized that having a newfound sense of hope had done wonders for the woman’s condition. Her overall health had improved significantly.
“If you continue to take good care of yourself like this, you will definitely live a long life.”
Mrs. Cui blinked in surprise, her eyes instantly filling with pure joy.
Lu Yunxi sat down and drafted several detailed prescriptions for her, covering everything from prenatal care and postpartum recovery to the strict regimen required for her confinement period. As long as no unexpected disasters occurred, Mrs. Cui would naturally make a full recovery by following these guides.
The Cui family’s gratitude toward her deepened even further.
With Mrs. Cui stabilized, Lu Yunxi spent her time resting in the small house alongside the two younger Cui sisters, while Shen San ventured out into the surrounding wilderness to map the local terrain.
Meanwhile, the other members of the Cui family gathered in the cramped kitchen for a quiet meeting.
“Miss Lu and Mr. Shen are incredibly kind souls. They have done so much for our family; we must find a way to give them a proper token of our appreciation.”
“But what do we even have left here in Beizhen? Every antique, scroll, painting, and piece of jewelry we owned back in the capital was seized during the asset forfeiture.”
“Why don’t we go look through my personal trunks? Perhaps we can scrounge up something of value…”
“Are you all preparing for a long journey?”
Lu Yunxi asked the next morning, looking thoroughly bewildered as she stared at the heavily armed and packed members of the Cui family.
Mrs. Cui still required constant medical monitoring, and Cui Shishi and her younger sister were far too young and unaccustomed to hard labor to manage a household alone. Did the rest of the family truly feel comfortable abandoning the three of them here?
Noticing her confusion, the eldest Cui brother, Cui Da, offered a helpless smile. “Miss Lu, you don’t understand. It’s not that we want to leave. When the exile decrees were handed down, the women of our clan were explicitly assigned to Beizhen, but the men were ordered to a labor camp in the neighboring… town.” He paused, entirely blanking on the name of the settlement. “Well, never mind the name, it doesn’t matter!”
“Yes, we were worried the boys would run into danger if they traveled through the stone forest alone, so we decided to escort them part of the way,” the two older aunts added, sharing a bright smile.
Lu Yunxi’s eye twitched. “But leaving a pregnant Mrs. Cui and two young girls completely unprotected in this house seems infinitely more dangerous, don’t you think?”
“This…” The family froze, completely blindsided by her blunt logic. For a long moment, everyone fell silent, trading awkward glances.
Ultimately, after a brief, tense discussion, the elders relented. They decided to let the younger men navigate the path to the labor camp on their own while the rest of the adults stayed behind to guard the house. After all, the greatest danger within this labyrinthine stone forest was merely getting lost; there were no massive apex predators or bandits lurking in the immediate area.
“What is all this?” Lu Yunxi asked, staring at the thick stack of handwritten parchments thrust into her hands.
“Miss Lu, Mr. Shen, please accept this as a token of our gratitude for everything you’ve done for us over the past few weeks,” the family insisted warmly. “We know it isn’t much, but it’s the only thing we have left.”
Lu Yunxi looked down at the documents, realizing they were a collection of closely guarded family recipes. Most were detailed culinary secrets, but a few even outlined specialized techniques for brewing premium soy sauce.
An heirloom like this was incredibly valuable. If the Cui family were to sell these methods, they wouldn’t have to suffer inside this narrow, dark little hovel.
“I can’t possibly accept this,” she murmured, trying to hand the stack back. “You should take these to a major city and sell them. That way—”
Before she could finish, Cui Da gently cut her off.
“Miss Lu, even if we wanted to sell them, our only option would be Wuzhou City. Traveling anywhere further would take over two months by carriage, and since the imperial guards can show up to inspect our camp at any moment, we aren’t legally permitted to leave the region.”
“Furthermore, if we sell them in Wuzhou, the Prefect will catch wind of it immediately. If that happens, he’ll have a valid excuse to target us for possessing undeclared wealth.”
The rest of the family nodded in solemn agreement, fiercely insisting she keep the papers. Left with no choice, Lu Yunxi accepted the gift.
For the rest of the day, she immersed herself in studying the intricate recipes. While she was buried in her research, the rest of the Cui family adults, accompanied by a disguised Shen San, slipped out of Beizhen to infiltrate Wuzhou City and gather intelligence.
Late the following evening, a violent pounding rattled the heavy front door. Inside the dark house, the remaining Cui women huddled together in absolute terror.
Seeing their panic, Lu Yunxi stood up to check the entrance.
The young Cui sisters lunged forward, grabbing her arms and weeping hysterically. “Miss Lu! Please, don’t open it! Second Brother said they were going to investigate the Wuzhou Prefect and wouldn’t be back for at least a week! It’s only the second night!”
The older aunts forced a veneer of composure, desperately attempting to soothe the girls, but the frantic trembling of their fingers gave away their own deep-seated fear.
Lu Yunxi offered a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. The person capable of beating me hasn’t been born yet.”
Gently breaking free from their grip, she stepped up to the door and pulled it open.
To her surprise, Shen San and the others were standing on the threshold.
“What happened? Why are you back so early—” She cut herself short as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Little Cui was slung limply over the back of a massive, shimmering blue dragon, fresh crimson blood pouring from his wounds and staining the creature’s scales before dripping onto the dirt.
Lu Yunxi’s face darkened. She instantly lunged forward, casting a high-level healing spell over the young man to stabilize his plummeting health bar.
Shen San let out a massive sigh of relief, quickly recalling the dragon back into his pet inventory. Together with Cui Da, they carefully carried the unconscious youth into the house.
Because the room had been cast in shadow, the women didn’t fully comprehend the severity of the situation until a candle was lit, illuminating the gruesome trail of blood staining the entryway.
“Heavens! What happened to him?!”
“Clean up those bloodstains immediately,” Lu Yunxi commanded Shen San as she pressed her fingers against Little Cui’s pulse.
Fortunately, his injuries were entirely superficial, and her initial healing spell had already fully mended the underlying trauma. She retracted her hand, thoroughly perplexed. Shen San’s disguise skills were flawless—even she struggled to recognize him under his illusions. How on earth had they been compromised?
“Thank you, Miss Lu,” Cui Da gasped, his face pale with exhaustion. He knit his brows tightly. “We attempted to infiltrate the Prefect’s estate tonight, but we stumbled directly into an ambush by those level 60 masked assassins. If Master Shen hadn’t materialized in the nick of time to pull us out, we would have been slaughtered.”
“You… you’re going to be the death of me!” one of the aunts wailed, her knees giving out from pure terror as she collapsed limply to the floorboards.
Lu Yunxi darted forward, catching the pregnant Mrs. Cui before she could fall as well, successfully preventing a domestic tragedy.
Cui Da, entirely consumed by his own shocking discoveries, failed to notice the panic gripping his mother and aunts. His expression was dead serious. “That man… the one sitting in the Wuzhou estate… he isn’t the real Prefect at all!”
The room fell into a stunned silence, the family members trading bewildered glances. What did he mean, he wasn’t the real Prefect?
But no matter how much the aunts pressed for clarification, Cui Da simply kept his brows furrowed, entirely locked within his own racing thoughts. Since Little Cui had safely drifted into a deep sleep to recover from his trauma, they couldn’t question him either.
A few minutes later, Shen San stepped back into the main room after scrubbing the entryway clean.
“Are you talking about the imposter?” Shen San asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not entirely sure about the details. While we were observing the estate, we managed to overhear the guards discussing the Prefect’s name, his hometown, and his academic history. Cui Da recognized the background instantly. But the moment he caught a clear glimpse of the Prefect’s face through the window, he froze, muttering that it was impossible over and over again… and then the guards spotted us.”
Hearing the explanation, Lu Yunxi’s mind clicked. “So you’re saying the actual Prefect of Wuzhou was secretly replaced by an identity thief?”
“An identity thief!” The phrase finally broke Cui Da out of his trance, his eyes lighting up. “Yes! Exactly! He’s an imposter! I know nearly every prominent scholar who graduated from the imperial academy. The official records state the Wuzhou Prefect is a man from my neighboring class; I’ve crossed paths with him dozens of times! But the man occupying that estate—while possessing the correct name, age, and academic credentials—is a completely different person!”
Cui Da shook his head in disbelief. “I have no idea what happened to the real Liu Yi.”
“Liu Yi?” Lu Yunxi repeated.
“The true Prefect of Wuzhou.”
The group sat in stunned silence, completely unprepared for such a massive political conspiracy.
“This imposter seems obsessed with wiping out the Cui clan,” Lu Yunxi mused, an idea forming. “Since he’s a fraud, why don’t you sketch a detailed portrait of his actual appearance and send a secret report to the high officials in the imperial capital? If this fake Prefect is exposed and dragged down, the court will deploy a legitimate replacement, and your family’s living conditions might drastically improve.”
The Cui family elders traded hopeful looks, instantly preparing to take action.
“No, that won’t work,” Cui Da countered, shaking his head bitterly after a moment’s thought. “Zhuang Lu’s father is currently the Minister of Personnel. If the court orders a replacement, the Zhuang family will simply pull strings to deploy someone even more ruthless to oversee our exile.”
Despite his reservations, Cui Da ultimately decided to draft the letter anyway. He attached a precise illustration of the imposter’s face and penned a formal report exposing the fraudulent official. Even if it didn’t solve his family’s personal plight, the fake Prefect was a plague on the province, levying exorbitant, illegal taxes that left the citizens of Wuzhou trapped in absolute misery.
However, a mere hour after Cui Da’s courier bird vanished into the night sky, the thunderous stomp of armored boots echoed outside.
A massive cohort of imperial soldiers, bristling with long spears and exuding a suffocating aura of violence, completely surrounded the small hovel.
The commanding officer stepped forward, his face twisted in a sneer as he kicked the front door off its hinges with a resounding slam.
“Is this the disgraced Cui residence?” the officer bellowed, waving his blade. “Ransack the place! Leave nothing unturned!”
At his command, the soldiers behind him surged into the narrow home like a swarm of angry hornets.
Chapter 211: The Missing Gold Ingot
The women gathered in the main room were absolutely horrified as the armed officials stormed into their home.
“Gentlemen, why have you suddenly broken into our residence? Has someone in our family committed an offense?” Mrs. Cui stepped forward cautiously, subtly slipping a small, heavy silk purse into the commanding officer’s pocket.
The captain felt the weight of the silver inside the pouch and gave a curt, covert nod of approval.
“The Prefect reported that several gold ingots vanished from his private estate. A witness claimed they saw the thief fleeing toward Beizhen, so we are conducting a thorough search of the premises.”
Having delivered his rehearsed line, he waved his hand impatiently, signaling the end of the conversation.
Mrs. Cui covertly shot a meaningful look at her daughters and nieces.
Catching the signal, Cui Shishi slowly and silently backed away from the group, slipping out the back door while the officials were distracted.
A few days prior, Mr. Shen had taken an interest in investigating the neighboring town where the exiled men were supposed to be held, and he had departed with Cui Da, her second brother, and the younger cousins. It had been several days, and they were due back soon. If they happened to return right now and walked straight into these imperial guards, they would be doomed. As exiles, they were strictly forbidden from wandering outside their designated zones for the first year. If caught violating their perimeter, they would be thrown directly into the imperial dungeons.
Cui Shishi sprinted to the edge of the village and hid behind a boulder, waiting for a long time. Fortunately, there was no sign of her brothers on the horizon. Perhaps their investigation had delayed their return.
She breathed a massive sigh of relief, entirely unaware that absolute chaos had just erupted back at the Cui residence.
“Take them all away!” the captain bellowed.
“No, sir! Please, you have to listen to me! We didn’t steal anything! I have no idea how those ingots ended up in our yard! I swear…” The youngest aunt, the Third Madam of the Cui family, was so frantic that her voice cracked. Tears welled up in her eyes, though she bit her lip, desperately fighting to keep them from falling.
However, she failed to notice that she was the only one panicking. The rest of the adult Cui women remained entirely silent, their eyes filled with either dark mockery or icy resignation.
“Sir, I beg you…” Third Madam sobbed. But when she finally turned around and saw the strange, stony expressions of her own family members, she froze.
“Mother? Auntie? What is wrong with you all?! Say something! Defend yourselves! We don’t have any gold ingots!” She stomped her foot, utterly bewildered and furious at their silence.
Watching from the side, Lu Yunxi felt a wave of helplessness wash over her. Aside from the youngest and most naive aunt, everyone else in the room had already deduced exactly where the gold had come from. If the exiled, starving Cui family actually possessed solid gold ingots, would they be living in a dirt-floored hovel eating stale buns? The gold had obviously been planted by the guards themselves, functioning as a fabricated excuse to arrest them.
Seeing the soldiers draw their binding ropes without a shred of hesitation, Mrs. Cui took a deep breath and stepped in front of Lu Yunxi to negotiate with the captain. “Sir, this young lady is merely a traveler passing through. She only stepped inside to rest her feet and drink a bowl of water. She has absolutely no relation to the Cui clan. Please, show some leniency and let her go.”
Unfortunately, although the captain had happily pocketed the Cui family’s silver bribe, he had no intention of granting any favors in return.
He sneered coldly. “Madam Cui, whether this girl has ties to your family or not is a matter for the magistrate to decide. I am simply following my orders.”
Dismissing her entirely, he turned to his subordinates and barked, “What are you idiots standing around for?! Bind them! Don’t let a single one slip away!”
Jolted into action, the soldiers abandoned their relaxed posture and rushed forward, roughly tying the hands of every woman in the room.
Once the prisoners were secured, the guards stood at attention, waiting for the captain’s next command.
The captain surveyed the room. Realizing the house was entirely quiet, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What the hell are you waiting for?! Can’t you see there are only women here?! Where are the men?! Go find them and drag them out!”
The soldiers exchanged confused looks before one spoke up. “Sir, we’ve already searched the entire courtyard and the perimeter. These women are the only ones here. There’s absolutely no sign of anyone else!”
“What?! Then expand the search perimeter! If they aren’t inside, they must have slipped out! You useless bunch of idiots!” The veins on the captain’s forehead throbbed violently as his temper flared.
The soldiers scrambled to obey, rushing out the door to scour the surrounding area.
Mrs. Cui quickly interjected, attempting to defuse the situation. “Sir, when our exile decrees were issued, the men and women of our clan were legally assigned to different labor camps. They are currently residing in a separate town.”
The captain stiffened, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “And how do I know you aren’t lying to cover for them?”
“Sir, we were separated by the direct decree of the Wuzhou Prefect himself! We wouldn’t dare lie about official imperial mandates!” As she spoke, Mrs. Cui’s eyes darted toward the open doorway, praying silently. Her palms were slick with sweat.
She was incredibly anxious. She wanted to signal someone, but she didn’t dare make her movements too obvious lest the captain catch on. They were all trapped, but the guards hadn’t noticed Cui Shishi yet. She desperately hoped the girl had the sense to run as far away as possible!
Fortunately, Cui Shishi had been creeping back toward the house and overheard the captain’s bellowing orders. Realizing the danger, she immediately ducked back into the shadows and fled.
In the end, with the sole exception of Cui Shishi, every female member of the Cui family was arrested and hauled off to the dungeons—including an incredibly exasperated Lu Yunxi.
After being marched through a long, damp subterranean corridor, Lu Yunxi and the Cui women were shoved roughly into a large, communal cell.
“Get in there!” the guard barked coldly, giving the women a violent shove.
Weakened by starvation and stress, the Cui women couldn’t withstand the force and stumbled forward.
Lu Yunxi instantly shot out her arm, catching Mrs. Cui before she could hit the stone floor, narrowly preventing a miscarriage that would have undoubtedly killed the frail woman.
Oddly enough, while the guards had locked them behind heavy iron bars, they hadn’t bothered to shackle their hands or feet.
Lu Yunxi immediately began pacing the perimeter of the cell, running her hands along the damp stone blocks and inspecting every corner.
Unfortunately, it was just a completely ordinary dungeon. There were no hidden mechanisms, no secret escape routes, and no structural weaknesses. Aside from the reinforced iron door, the only opening was a tiny, heavily barred window set far too high up on the wall to reach. A thin layer of moldy straw was scattered across the floor, serving as their only bedding.
They were the first group of prisoners assigned to this specific block. While they had passed several overcrowded cells on their way down, there were also plenty of empty ones, so there was no telling how the wardens organized their prisoners.
Giving up on finding an immediate exit, Lu Yunxi swept a pile of relatively clean straw together and sat down.
Finding herself with a rare moment of downtime, she pulled up her system interface to check her status.
Huh?! Why were her experience points steadily climbing?
Lately, she had been so laser-focused on resolving the Cui family’s crisis so she could finally go treasure hunting that she hadn’t bothered checking her stats. Watching her experience bar visibly tick upward left her utterly bewildered. What on earth had she done to passively generate experience?
“Miss Lu, we are so incredibly sorry…”
Noticing her sitting silently, staring blankly into space with wide eyes, the Cui family assumed the shock of being imprisoned had finally caught up to her. They approached her, their faces etched with profound guilt.
Still distracted by her system panel, Lu Yunxi waved a hand dismissively. “There’s no need to apologize. This isn’t your fault at all. If anyone is to blame, it’s that corrupt Prefect. If he hadn’t deliberately framed your family, none of us would be…”
Before she could finish the sentence, the Cui women reacted with terrifying speed.
Moving with an agility that completely belied her pregnant, frail state, Mrs. Cui practically tackled Lu Yunxi, clamping a hand tightly over her mouth.
“Mmph?!” Lu Yunxi’s eyes went wide with shock.
The other aunts immediately fanned out, pressing themselves flat against the iron bars and scanning the corridor like paranoid thieves, ensuring no guards were within earshot.
Only after confirming the coast was clear did the women breathe a collective sigh of relief. They huddled closely around Lu Yunxi, lowering their voices to urgent whispers.
“Miss Lu, you have absolutely no connection to our family’s disgrace. You must not speak ill of the Prefect while we are in here! We believe that once the magistrate reviews the case, he won’t make things difficult for an innocent bystander.” They spent the next several minutes lecturing her on dungeon survival etiquette.
Lu Yunxi nodded helplessly, signaling her understanding.
However, the commotion had awakened the youngest aunt, Third Madam Cui, who had been sitting blankly in the corner. She suddenly jerked her head up.
“What?! Mother? Auntie? What do you mean? We were framed by the Prefect?!” Third Madam shook her head in sheer disbelief, her voice cracking. “But why…”
Seeing the utter devastation in the girl’s vacant eyes, the older women panicked and rushed over to soothe her.
Lu Yunxi mentally slapped her forehead. She had completely forgotten that the eleven-year-old Third Madam was present. The adults had gone to great lengths to shield the youngest girl from the harsh realities of their situation, always speaking in vague codes and half-truths.
She had accidentally let the cat out of the bag.
The women swarmed the crying girl, whispering gentle comforts and stroking her hair until she finally exhausted herself and drifted back into an uneasy sleep. They handled her with an extreme, almost suffocating fragility—as if they were holding a delicate glass ornament that would shatter if dropped, or a snowflake that would melt if breathed upon too harshly.
Lu Yunxi scratched her cheek, offering a sheepish, apologetic grimace.
Mrs. Cui waved a tired hand. “It’s fine. Our family has fallen to rock bottom. She was going to have to face the truth and grow up eventually.”
After a brief pause, Mrs. Cui offered a wry, bitter smile. “Miss Lu, do you think we coddle Sanniang too much? Do you think it’s unfair that we don’t protect our other daughters the same way?”
Lu Yunxi paused, then nodded honestly. They were all children of the same generation; showing such blatant favoritism was usually a guaranteed recipe for deep-seated resentment and familial strife.
Mrs. Cui let out a long, quiet sigh. “Miss Lu, there’s something you don’t know. Before our exile, a thief broke into our estate… During the struggle, Sanniang was shoved and suffered a severe blow to the head. Although she survived, the trauma never fully healed. Now, whenever she tries to process complex or stressful information, she suffers from agonizing, crippling migraines. That is why we have kept the reality of our situation hidden from her.”
