I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Lu Cheng flew through the air, crashing into the coffee table and shattering teacups all over the floor.

Before he could even react, Lu Yuan had already sprung up from the bed, rushed over in three steps, grabbed his collar, pulled him out of the shards of porcelain, and then slammed his right fist into his other cheek.

This punch was even harder than the last one.

Lu Cheng's head snapped back, blood spurting from the corner of his mouth, and his nasal bridge collapsed with a muffled thud.

Lu Yuan didn't stop, straddling him and attacking with both hands.

"You plotted against me?"

Snapped!

"You plotted against her?"

Snapped!

"You still dare to bring people to catch someone in the act of adultery?"

clap clap clap!

Lu Cheng's head swayed from side to side as he was slapped, like a rattle drum.

His face was covered in blood from his nose, his cheeks swelled up at a visible speed, and one of his front teeth was knocked out.

"Help... Someone help!"

Lu Cheng howled incoherently, his voice distorted, "Are you all dead?! Pull him away!"

The four armored guards then came to their senses, drew their swords, and rushed forward.

Lu Yuan caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, and his heart skipped a beat.

Although he had lived two lives, this body had been pampered for ten years, and he fought entirely out of sheer rage. If he were to be surrounded by four armed guards, it would be no laughing matter.

However, in the next instant, a figure swept past him.

Su Yuling had already dressed herself and tied her hair up at some point. She picked up a stool leg from the ground and went to meet them.

Her movements were ridiculously fast; the first guard had barely raised his knife when the stool leg swung across his wrist. With a sharp crack, the knife fell to the ground, and the man knelt down screaming in agony.

The second guard swung his sword, but Su Yuling dodged to the side and kicked him in the back of the knee, causing him to fall to the ground.

She casually tapped the back of his neck with a stool leg, and he stopped moving.

The third and fourth pounced on almost simultaneously.

Su Yuling propped herself up on the stool leg, used the momentum to leap up, and kicked the two men in the chest with both feet.

The two were sent flying backwards and crashed into the wall. They slid down and remained motionless, clutching their chests and howling.

It took only a dozen or so breaths.

All four guards knelt down.

Lu Yuan stopped what he was doing. He straddled Lu Cheng, turned his head to look at Su Yuling, and his lips twitched.

Good guy.

No wonder Lu Cheng was so eager to make his move on her. This wasn't just a fiancée; she was a female warrior capable of taking on five men. He'd be panicked too.

Su Yuling threw away the stool leg, walked up to Lu Cheng, and looked down at him.

Lu Cheng's face was covered in blood and swollen like a pig's head. He struggled to open his eyes and saw Su Yuling staring at him with a gaze that was cold and devoid of warmth.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Yu Ling...you...how could you..." Lu Cheng stammered, "I'm your fiancé! You're helping him hit me?"

Su Yuling didn't say anything.

"Yu Ling!" Lu Cheng's voice trembled with tears. "Make him let me go! I'll explain later. There's a huge misunderstanding here... We're engaged, you can't just watch me get beaten to death, can you?"

Su Yuling squatted down and looked him in the eye.

Lu Cheng thought she had softened and was about to say something when he saw Su Yuling raise her right foot and step on his left arm.

Slowly and hard.

"What are you doing...?"

Before Lu Cheng could finish speaking, a cracking sound of bone breaking rang out.

"what……"

Lu Cheng's eyes widened instantly, and the scream that had just escaped his throat was slapped back into his stomach by Lu Yuan.

"Shut up, you're so noisy."

Lu Cheng's eyes rolled upwards, his body convulsed violently a few times, then his head lolled to the side and he completely lost consciousness.

Lu Yuan patted his face.

no response.

He patted it twice more, this time with more force.

Still no response.

"Useless." Lu Yuan muttered, stood up from the ground, and glanced at the guards at the door who were howling and clutching their wrists and knees.

"Alright, stop howling, drag your master away."

The guards looked at each other, none of them daring to move.

One of them mustered his courage and spoke up: "Ninth Prince, you have injured the Second Prince. His Majesty... will definitely not let this go."

Lu Yuan tilted his head and smiled at him.

"I heard the Imperial Household Department is short of eunuchs lately. How about it, any of you want to give it a try?"

The guard's face turned pale instantly.

Without saying a word, the group grabbed their fallen companion, dragged the unconscious Lu Cheng, and ran away in a panic.

As he ran out, Lu Cheng's head slammed against the steps with a thud.

Only Lu Yuan and Su Yuling remained in the room.

Su Yuling stood there, her back to him.

After a moment of silence, she spoke: "You hit the Second Prince, His Majesty will not let you off."

"If I don't show my teeth, they'll think I'm some kind of Hello Kitty?"

Lu Yuan said while adjusting his collar, "Don't worry, I'll take responsibility for this. I'll go to the palace later, explain the situation to my father, and marry you."

Su Yuling turned her head.

A cold smile played on her lips.

"Marry me? You think you're worthy?"

Lu Yuan was so choked by those three words that his face turned green, and he was about to speak in rebuttal.

Su Yuling said sarcastically, "My man must be upright and have ambitions for the world. Not a good-for-nothing like you who just loafs around and waits to die."

Lu Yuan's mouth was open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.

He stared at Su Yuling's retreating figure, took a deep breath, and swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

"OK."

He gritted his teeth. "You just wait."

Lu Yuan, dressed neatly, strode out.

Upon leaving the courtyard, he instructed his attendants to prepare a horse.

The moment he mounted his horse, an unprecedented surge of anger welled up inside him.

He spent ten years in seclusion, pretending to be a carefree prince, only to be scolded by a woman for being unambitious.

Row.

Didn't you want to see me soar through the sky like a dragon?

Then so be it.

Su Yuling ignored him, lowered her head, and couldn't help but sob.

"Could it be... that this is my fate, Su Yuling?"

……

The Imperial Palace, Qianyuan Hall.

Emperor Lu Cangqiong sat behind his desk, his face so dark it looked like ink could be squeezed out.

Just now, the Imperial Guards reported that a fight had broken out at the Ninth Prince's residence. The Ninth Prince, Lu Yuan, had injured the Second Prince, Lu Cheng, and four guards.

Upon hearing this, Lu Cangqiong snapped the vermilion pen in his hand in two.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

Lu Cangqiong slammed his hand on the imperial desk, his face contorted with rage. "That rebellious ninth son! The second son kindly asked his fiancée to help him find a spouse, and this unfilial son not only refused but also assaulted her and sexually assaulted his sister-in-law! He's gone too far!"

"If word gets out, what will the world think of my royal family?"

The head eunuch, Zhou Fu, quickly stepped forward, poured a cup of tea, and offered words of comfort.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. There may be more to this than meets the eye. Why not summon the Ninth Prince and question him to find out the whole story?"

"Hidden story?"

Enraged, Lu Cangqiong downed his tea in one gulp, then, panting heavily, ordered Zhou Fu, "Go, bring him here! I want to see what excuse he has left for himself!"

Just as a young eunuch received the imperial decree and was about to run out, a report suddenly came from the palace gate.

"Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince requests an audience outside the palace."

Lu Cangqiong's eyelid twitched.

He hadn't expected the kid to arrive so quickly.

"Get him in here!"