A whirlwind marriage: The real heiress marries a warlord.

Cheng Tianxun didn't say anything that night, but he made a phone call to the warlord's wife.

The next day, after he finished his training exercise, Qin Yan had just gotten up.

"Wait for me to eat. I have something to tell you," Cheng Tianxun said.

Qin Yan: "Okay."

She sat down at the dining table.

The maid's hands trembled slightly as she placed the chopsticks in the bowl. Qin Yan, puzzled, glanced at her, and the maid flinched in fright.

This is the old maid of the annex, in her thirties, who has always been very loyal.

"...Go back now," said Sister Zhou.

Sister-in-law Zhou was the head of the maids at the villa. She came from a respectable background, and Cheng Tianxun trusted her greatly.

"What happened?" Qin Yan asked.

Sister-in-law Zhou: "You and the young marshal haven't been very happy these past few days, have you? The servants are a bit scared, afraid of being punished for doing something wrong."

Qin Yan: "..."

She did not argue with Cheng Tianxun.

Ever since Luo Tang returned, Qin Yan has been on edge, that's for sure. But it hasn't affected her life or work.

After Cheng Tianxun came downstairs, Qin Yan carefully observed him.

Cheng Tianxun: "What, is there something dirty on my face that I didn't wash off?"

"No." Qin Yan looked away. "Have you been angry these past few days?"

Cheng Tianxun: "No."

Qin Yan: "I'm not angry."

Business as usual.

The maid is overthinking things.

The couple ate in silence.

As Qin Yan ate, he suddenly realized that Cheng Tianxun was not the warlord's wife, and he shouldn't be so quiet.

She looked up.

"Do you have something to say?" she asked.

Cheng Tianxun: "Let's talk after we eat."

After finishing their meal, the couple rinsed their mouths, drank tea, and chatted for a few minutes in the small reception room.

Cheng Tianxun told her, "I asked my mother to transfer Uncle Zheng and another adjutant with good marksmanship to you."

Qin Yan: "I don't need it..."

"Liu Jinyao is coming back. This time he is a special envoy of the Northern Government, and the military government will receive him," Cheng Tianxun said.

Qin Yan tightened his grip on the teacup.

She sat upright, remaining silent for a long time.

She remembered what happened two years ago. It was the dog days of summer, the sun was scorching, and the weather was extremely hot.

When Qin Yan returned from lunch, he was taken to the police station.

When she was invited, her attitude was alright: "President Qin, there's something I'd like to ask you to cooperate with in an investigation."

Qin Yan was mentally prepared; her chief editor had used sharp and incisive language to criticize current affairs those days, and she was worried that it might offend powerful figures. So when the police department invited her, she roughly guessed it was related to the chief editor's article.

She went.

But when she arrived at the police station and asked what was wrong, the officer suddenly yelled at her, "Quiet down!"

They locked her up in jail.

Then a group of people came in, led by Liu Jinyao.

He was as tall as Cheng Tianxun, only stronger, with short hair that stood straight like a long spear, inexplicably carrying a bloody aura.

Qin Yan thought to himself, "Today I'm going to suffer a lot."

Liu Jinyao examined her closely.

His subordinate asked, "Chief, should we use torture first, or...?"

"Let's use torture first; they won't behave unless we use torture," Liu Jinyao said.

Qin Yan looked frail and thin. She wasn't a big, burly man, so how could she be dishonest?

Wasn't she invited to investigate?

Without a word, she was tied to the torture device and whipped.

The whip doesn't break the skin, but it causes excruciating pain; this is a very clever method of execution.

Qin Yan had no idea what crime she had been arrested for. But Liu Jinyao sat there casually, his gaze fixed on her, without saying a word or asking any questions.

He didn't speak, and Qin Yan didn't say anything either.

The prison was stiflingly hot, and she was sweating profusely. She suspected that she was bleeding continuously; but when she looked down, she only saw whip marks without any blood.

Her skin wasn't broken, but her flesh looked like it was about to rot.

She clenched her teeth and didn't utter a sound.

"...So he's a tough nut to crack?" Liu Jinyao said, seemingly praising him, but also expressing his dissatisfaction with his executioners.

He stood up, took the whip, and struck Qin Yan.

Qin Yan felt as if her internal organs had been struck, the pain causing her body to spasm, and she couldn't help but let out a soft cry.

"It's not that hard," he laughed.

He takes pleasure in tormenting people.

Qin Yan's eyes were blurred with sweat, and her eyelashes were wet. She even suspected that she was in so much pain that she was unconsciously shedding tears.

Liu Jinyao stood beside her, blocking the evening glow from the prison and casting a deep shadow.

The shadows carried a bloody stench.

He gently sniffed Qin Yan.

In the shadows, his eyes gleamed; Qin Yan saw the eyes of a wild beast.

At that moment, she knew that if she didn't die here this time, she would die next time.

She noticed the amusement in those eyes.

It was as if a mischievous child had seen a beautiful rag doll. He wanted to trample it, tear it apart, rip its skin to shreds, and rip out its entrails.

"What did I do wrong?" she asked.

"It hurts so much," she said weakly.

"You can tell me," Liu Jinyao said, touching her bound fingertips. "What did you do?"

Qin Yan thought, "They really have some tricks up their sleeves."

First, lock the person up, ask them nothing, and then give them a severe beating.

This method of fighting is the same as the method used by the royalists when training assassins; it's ruthless inside, and it will destroy the minds of 90% of the people.

A leaf has a side facing the sun and a side facing the shade; no one is truly clean.

At this point, they will confess on their own.

Liu Jinyao used these methods to kill countless innocent people and gain immense "merit" and wealth.

Qin Yan lowered his head helplessly.

"I am Lan Changming's daughter," she said. "You can hit me and slander me, but if you tie me up overnight and use those dirty tricks of the police department on me, you will suffer a terrible fate."

Liu Jinyao grabbed her hair.

His whole body ached, and that blow was particularly harsh; it felt like half of his black hair was about to be ripped off, but Qin Yan didn't feel much pain.

She was forced to raise her face.

"Using someone else's name to make a big deal out of them? You're really cunning," he said, then leaned closer and sniffed her.

Ling Manyun made a scene outside for a long time. Liu Jinyao's subordinates searched for him at the door three times before he finally ordered his men to release Qin Yan.

When Qin Yan lost her balance, he steadied her by the shoulder.

He said, "Miss Qin, see you next time."

Qin Yan looked down and saw that he had goosebumps on his arms and that the hairs on his body stood on end.

As Qin Yan stepped out of the police station, night had just fallen, and he suddenly smelled the blood of wild beasts in the air.

It smells foul and is extremely toxic.

She turned around, and Liu Jinyao stood on the steps at the entrance of the garrison headquarters, quietly watching her.

The stench of blood emanated from him.

Qin Yan knew that if she came here again, she would disappear from this world. She would be skinned alive, her organs and flesh might be used to feed dogs.

She didn't sleep that night.

He was in so much pain that he couldn't sleep, and his body was covered in whip marks, but not on his face or neck.

The police department has very sophisticated methods for torturing people. They inflict pain in secret, so that people can't even scream.

Qin Yan sat alone all night, pondering how to deal with this matter. She never dared to take chances when faced with danger.

She had two options: assassinate Liu Jinyao herself or find Lan Changming.

Liu Jinyao was the chief of the police force; his murder will be investigated. Qin Yan's methods bear the hallmarks of a royalist assassin organization.

If the investigation leads back to her, her mission will be thwarted, and all her efforts will be in vain. She's not here to get entangled with this kind of thug.

So she decided to go find Lan Changming.

In this incident, Qin Yan didn't reveal anything. But Ling Manyun, in order to save her, displayed the names of the Qin and Ling families from Guangzhou at the police station.

Gradually, Ling Manyun's whereabouts became impossible to hide, and Qin Yao finally found out her location and came looking for her.

"...He'll probably retaliate against you. I've borrowed someone from your mother for you, so be careful when you go out these days." Cheng Tianxun's words pulled Qin Yan back from the sweltering summer heat to the cool little reception room.

"Okay, thank you, and thank you, Mom," Qin Yan said.