Where is the early stage of the marriage alliance?

Yang Luoying was restrained by Ya Feng with her hands tied behind her back, unable to move, but her eyes were still full of unwillingness and stubbornness.

"Wushuang, let go, let's go back to the manor."

Ling Xi thought that Yang Luoying was, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion, and it wouldn't be good if things got too ugly. Wu Shuang loosened her grip and was about to leave with her when, unexpectedly, Yang Luoying suddenly pulled out a gleaming short dagger from somewhere and, without saying a word, swung it fiercely at Wu Shuang.

"Be careful!"

Ling Xi cried out in terror. Wu Shuang turned around, but it was too late to dodge. She instinctively raised her hand to block. The sharp blade instantly tore through her sleeve, and scarlet blood slowly seeped out.

"What are you doing?!"

Ling Xi shouted angrily and stepped forward to check Wu Shuang's injuries, but Wu Shuang gently blocked her with her other hand behind her back.

Yang Luoying suddenly came to her senses, staring at the glaring bloodstains on Wushuang's arm. Her hand holding the dagger trembled slightly, and she froze on the spot, her eyes filled with fear.

"Wushuang, how are you?"

Ling Xi's heart tightened as she looked worriedly at the bleeding wound on her forearm, her fingertips hovering in mid-air, afraid to touch it.

Wushuang remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic. She simply shook her head slightly, then turned to the side, her gaze falling directly on Yang Luoying, who looked flustered.

"Miss Yang, are you still not satisfied with your actions? If you wish to continue, I am happy to oblige."

The bloodstains on Wushuang's arm gradually spread, soaking half of his sleeve, but his tone remained calm and sharp, without the slightest ripple. His few words were powerful and resounding.

Yang Luoying's previous resentment had long since faded, her face was pale, and the hand holding the dagger fell limply to her side. She was caught in a dilemma, knowing all too well that her skills were worlds apart from Wushuang's.

"Princess Consort, what are you doing?"

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, a clear male voice suddenly came from the stairwell.

Qin Qi hurried up the steps, and with just one glance, he saw the tense situation before him.

"I just heard at the street corner that someone was causing trouble at Jinxiu Pavilion, but I never expected it to be you guys."

Qin Qi's gaze swept quickly across the entire scene, and when he caught sight of the glaring blood staining Wu Shuang's forearm sleeve, his gentle expression suddenly changed.

"Sister Wushuang, you're injured? What happened?"

"This Miss Yang insisted on sparring with Wushuang. After being defeated due to her inferior skills, she not only refused to admit defeat but also became enraged and drew her sword to injure him!"

Ling Xi's expression was cold and indignant as she spoke.

"I never expected that the eldest daughter of the dignified Marquis of Pingyang would be so sore loser as to resort to such a ruthless act!"

"Exactly, that's far too arrogant and domineering."

……

The lingering onlookers began to whisper amongst themselves, each offering their own opinion. Yang Luoying felt utterly humiliated by the pointing fingers and whispers of the crowd.

Qin Qi's gaze darkened slightly as he swept over the commotion in the room. His expression remained calm, showing no intention of questioning Yang Luoying. Instead, he gently turned his gaze to Ling Xi.

"This place is crowded and noisy. Why don't you take Wushuang to the clinic across the street to treat her wounds first?"

Ling Xi suddenly remembered that Xiao Xiao had mentioned before that the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion and the Qin family intended to form a marriage alliance, which explained why he seemed to be planning to protect Yang Luoying.

A faint hint of coldness flashed in Ling Xi's eyes. Just as she was about to question him again, Wu Shuang grabbed her sleeve.

"Princess, I'm alright, let's go."

Ling Xi frowned, hesitated for a moment, but finally suppressed the anger surging in her chest. She grabbed Wushuang's hand and turned to go downstairs without saying goodbye to Qin Qi. Pei Lan, also seething with anger, followed closely behind.

The three arrived at the clinic across the street. As the doctor cleaned Wushuang's wounds, Ling Xi finally couldn't help but speak up:

"Wushuang, why did you stop me just now? Yang Luoying injured you, how can we just let it go?"

"Although she injured me, it was probably just because she lost the competition and was angry. She's not a particularly wicked person."

Even so, you have to bear the consequences if you do something wrong.

Wushuang lowered her eyes to look at the wound on her forearm, her expression calm and undisturbed.

"I can't very well cut her arm too. She is, after all, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Pingyang. Even if the princess isn't afraid of her, the heir is not in Jinling right now, and the prince and princess have been in low spirits. At this time, it's best for us to avoid causing trouble."

At this moment, the doctor was applying medicine to the wound. Wushuang's arm trembled slightly, and her brows furrowed as she glanced at the wound that looked frightening but was actually not very deep.

"This little bit of physical pain is nothing to me."

Ling Xi was stunned upon hearing this, her gaze fixed on the long wound on her back. A sudden pang of sadness shot through her heart. Her nonchalant tone was exactly the same as when Xiao Ce had said that he only had a small wound on his back.

She felt a pang of sadness, finding it hard to imagine how much suffering and injury Wushuang had endured since childhood to develop her current skills and cultivate such a patient and tolerant nature.

"Is Wushuang's injury still serious?"

Ling Xi was lost in thought when Qin Qi stepped into the clinic. She turned away from him, not knowing what he had said to Yang Luoying, but she still couldn't bring herself to give him a pleasant look. It was his inability to distinguish right from wrong, his biased favoritism. His protective manner was exactly the same as Xiao Ce's past bias towards Mu Wanning. Thinking of this, a sense of annoyance inexplicably crept into her heart, even towards Xiao Ce, who was thousands of miles away.

"It's nothing serious, just a minor cut and bruise."

Wushuang glanced at Qin Qi briefly, then quickly looked away, still looking down at the wound on her arm.

"Please don't bandage it too tightly, doctor, it's inconvenient for me to move around."

But the old doctor raised an eyebrow, his hands still moving, and replied directly:

"The young lady is already injured; what further movement does she intend to make?"

"Sister Wushuang, you can't go wrong by listening to the doctor..."

Qin Qi paused abruptly, his gaze suddenly falling on her exposed wrist.

"Wait! What's that on your wrist?"

Wushuang frowned slightly, followed his gaze to her forearm, and instantly knew what he was asking.

"It's just a birthmark."

"A birthmark? A crescent-shaped birthmark? Did you have it from birth?"

Qin Qi's expression changed drastically, and his words were filled with disbelief.

Seeing his sudden and unusual shock, Ling Xi, Pei Lan, and Ya Feng all looked at him with great confusion.

Even the old doctor who was bandaging Qin Qi stopped what he was doing and stared at him in a daze.

"Um."

Wushuang nodded slightly in response, a hint of confusion in her eyes. She looked down at the pale pink crescent-shaped birthmark on her forearm, which she had never noticed anything unusual about.

……

Even after sitting in the main hall of the Qin residence, Ling Xi was still in a daze. She never expected that the usually calm and taciturn Wushuang would be Qin Qi's long-lost sister, the biological daughter of the Minister of War of the Great Liang Kingdom!

Looking at Madam Qin, who was slumped in a chair, sobbing and pulling Wushuang along, and Minister Qin, who was trying to suppress his emotions but was still shedding tears, Ling Xi was still filled with astonishment.

Brother, where exactly did you pick up Wushuang?