Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

The woman's screams echoed through the corridor, filled with hysterical madness.

Immediately afterwards, several prison guards scrambled ahead to lead the way.

Hu Yuzhen, dressed in red with a thick veil covering her face and carrying a horsewhip, rushed in like a burning flame.

"Open the door!"

Hu Yuzhen lashed the fence with her whip, sparks flying everywhere.

The jailer opened the lock with trembling hands.

Hu Yuzhen rushed in, raising her whip without a word, yelling, "You wretch! Hand over the antidote!"

Shen Qiongju did not dodge.

She just sat there quietly, without even lifting her eyelids.

"If Miss Hu strikes with this whip, the antidote will truly be gone."

His voice was clear and cool, neither hurried nor slow.

The whip stopped abruptly in mid-air.

Hu Yuzhen's chest heaved violently as she stared intently at Shen Qiongju through her veil.

"You dare threaten me?"

"Whether it's a threat or not, Miss Hu knows perfectly well."

Shen Qiongju slowly raised her head, her gaze falling on Hu Yuzhen's veiled face.

"I've heard that when this 'youth-preserving poison' takes effect, it first causes red spots, then intense itching, and if twelve hours pass without a specially prepared medicinal catalyst..."

She paused, her tone tinged with regret.

"Then the skin and flesh will fall off piece by piece, like rotten peaches."

"Ah! Stop talking!"

Hu Yuzhen screamed in despair, threw down the whip, and covered her ears with her hands.

The itching seemed to be even more intense at that moment.

She could even feel the skin on her face dying little by little.

"Give me the antidote! I'll give you anything you want!"

Hu Yuzhen was no longer as arrogant as before; now she was filled only with fear of being disfigured.

She was a pampered girl in front of Hu Biao, and a tigress in front of the servants, but when it came to matters of great importance concerning her appearance, she was incredibly vulnerable.

Shen Qiongju looked at her, a faint, cold smile playing on her lips. This was the human nature that Pei Zhihui had accurately predicted.

"Miss Hu should know what I want."

Shen Qiongju stood up, enduring the excruciating pain in her ankle, and walked step by step to Hu Yuzhen.

"Immediately remove the seal from Qionghua Pavilion."

"Release me from prison."

"besides……"

She leaned down and whispered in Hu Yuzhen's ear, "Have your father prepare a car and take us back."

"I promise! I promise everything!"

At this moment, Hu Yuzhen no longer cared about saving face or her shop. Nothing was more important than her reputation.

She turned and yelled at the jailer outside the door, "Did you hear me! Release them! Release them now!"

Yu Dian looked troubled: "Young Miss, this...this is the General's order, and there's also Commander Wen's..."

"I told you to release them!"

Hu Yuzhen ripped off her veil, revealing her swollen and mottled face. "If my face is ruined, I'll make you all pay with your lives!"

That face was truly terrifying.

The prison warden trembled with fear and dared not utter another word.

"Release it! We'll release it right now!"

The chains were untied.

Shen Qiongju walked out of the cell; the sunlight outside was somewhat dazzling.

She took a deep breath of the cold air, and it seemed as if some of the stale air in her lungs had dissipated.

At the prison gate, Shen Qiongju looked towards the distance.

The Hu family's carriage is ready.

Hu Yuzhen covered her face, stamping her feet in frustration: "Release him! Where's the antidote? Give me the antidote now!"

Shen Qiongju took out a porcelain bottle that she had prepared beforehand from her sleeve.

What was inside were just some ordinary pills for clearing heat and detoxifying, which the old woman had given her earlier.

"Take one pill daily for three consecutive days, and the erythema will subside on its own."

Hu Yuzhen was overjoyed and snatched the porcelain bottle, immediately getting into the carriage.

"Let's go home!"

Shen Qiongju was about to walk towards another carriage that the Hu family had prepared.

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats approached from afar, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Whoa—!"

Dozens of fast horses reined in at the prison gate, instantly surrounding the Shen family father and daughter.

The man in the lead was dressed in a black martial arts uniform, yet he exuded a chilling and sinister aura.

It was Wen Xiujie.

He looked down at Shen Qiongju, his gaze sweeping over her face, which, though haggard, remained beautiful, before finally settling on the riding crop in her hand.

That was dropped by Hu Yuzhen.

"Manager Shen, you have some impressive skills." Wen Xiujie dismounted, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"With just a few grains of flour rolled into balls, he managed to keep my wife completely entertained."

Shen Qiongju's heart sank; he had seen through it all.

That makes sense. How could someone like Wen Xiujie, who has worked his way up in officialdom, believe such vulgar rumors?

"Lord Wen is joking."

Shen Qiongju forced herself to remain calm, "I was merely protecting myself."

"Self-preservation?"

Wen Xiujie stepped forward, getting closer to Shen Qiongju.

That familiar, nauseating sense of oppression returned.

"My father-in-law was willing to release the person for his daughter, but I'm not someone without a backup plan."

He took out an official document from his pocket and slowly unfolded it.

"Now that my wife's face has been treated with the antidote, I shall read out your charges again."

"The Shen family restaurant is colluding with foreign enemies and reselling military rations. This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their family."

Wen Xiujie threw the official document at Shen Qiongju's feet, his smile sinister.

"You're not leaving this prison today."

"Take them away!"

Shen Qiongju looked at the fabricated charge, her hands and feet turning cold; this was a dead end.

Pei Zhihui could manipulate Hu Yuzhen's love of beauty, but he couldn't have predicted that Wen Xiujie would directly use such political means to suppress her.

The official document in Wen Xiujie's hand rustled in the wind, and the bright red official seal on it was extremely glaring.

The soldiers around them drew their swords, their blades gleaming coldly.

Shen Qiongju didn't look at the death warrant. She turned her head and looked past the cold blades and halberds, landing on the red-clad woman who was covering her face and looking terrified.

"Lord Wen, this is a very serious compliment, and I dare not refuse it." Shen Qiongju's voice was somewhat ethereal in the cold wind, but every word was clear. "It's just a pity for Miss Hu's stunningly beautiful face."

She sighed, her voice full of regret: "The preparation of this antidote is extremely complicated, requiring seven separate additions of the medicine, and the timing of each addition must be precise. I originally thought that I would do my best to prepare the medicine, even if it cost me my life. But now Lord Wen is taking me to interrogate that person who is guilty of treason... This trip will take at least ten days, and possibly as long as half a month."

Shen Qiongju looked at Hu Yuzhen with sincere eyes: "Miss Hu, if the time is too late and this face rots to the bone, please don't blame me."

"ah--!"

Hu Yuzhen screamed, her voice like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, so shrill it sent chills down one's spine.

Rotten to the bone?

Whenever she thinks of that scene, she feels an itch all over her body, an itch that even seeps into her brain.

"No! No!" Hu Yuzhen went crazy.

She lunged at Wen Xiujie, her hands, which usually held only embroidery needles, now gripping his collar tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

"You're not allowed to grab her! She's mine! My face isn't healed yet, no one is allowed to touch her!"

Caught off guard, Wen Xiujie staggered a few steps after being grabbed, and several bloody marks appeared on his face.

"Yu Zhen, are you crazy!" Wen Xiujie exclaimed helplessly, shoving her away. "This is the law, this is official business!"

"I don't care about official business, my reputation is the most important thing!" Hu Yuzhen, her hair disheveled, roared at her servants, "What are you all standing there for? Stop him! Anyone who dares to take Shen Qiongju away, I'll have Father chop off their head!"

The servants of the general's mansion looked at each other, torn between their son-in-law and their own daughter, who was like a living devil.

Just as the scene was in chaos and out of control, a rough, angry shout rang out like thunder.

"Stop it, all of you!"