Chapter 9: Father and Daughter's Affection

  "Old master!" Liu's eyes brimmed with tears, one hand grasping Su Qingyun's sleeve, "After ten years of marriage, do you really want to inflict severe punishment on me?"

  Su Qingyun suddenly shook her sleeve, flinging off Liu's grasp, and gazed at her as she stumbled to the ground with an unstable movement. Her face was extremely cold and detached. "You've done something wrong yet you still dare to try to escape punishment. Ten years of marriage? Don't forget that in Su Qingyun's eyes, there is only one wife, and that is Chu Rou!"

  She didn't look at Liu again, took the long whip from Yun's hand, and several women with great strength walked to Liu's side, forcing her to stretch out her hands in mid-air. Liu stopped struggling, looking at Su Qingyun's icy expression, her face somewhat self-mocking.

  Su Qingyun's eyes narrowed. The long whip made a cracking sound as it landed on Liu Shi's palm, causing her body to tremble violently, but she bit her teeth and didn't make a sound, instead staring at Su Mu Jin with a pair of venomous eyes.

  Today is her big mistake, she will be calculated by Su Mu Jin! She glared at Su Mu Jin with disdain, did she really think she won?! As long as the old lady in the mansion favors her, as long as the master doesn't take away her right to manage the household's food supply, she will never win!

  Su Mojin, you just wait and see, I want to see who will laugh in the end!

  Su Mu Jin naturally saw Liu's resentment and anger, she smiled lightly, glanced around at the crowd, some people who met her gaze all lowered their eyes in fear, she showed a satisfied expression.

  It's still unknown who will have the last laugh!

  "Bang——bang——bang——"

  Su Qingyun struck without mercy, each crisp sound seeming to lash at the hearts of the crowd. The group held their breaths, and in that moment, even the sound of leaves falling to the ground was clearly audible.

  By the tenth lash, Liu's endurance was exhausted, her forehead beaded with cold sweat, and her pale lips were bitten red. Her eyes had become somewhat dazed. Both palms were already blurred with bloodstains, swollen and unbearable to look at.

  "Master, please spare the mistress! If you continue to beat her, she will die!" The old nurse beside Liu's wife finally couldn't bear it anymore and knelt down on the ground, crying uncontrollably. "The mistress has already acknowledged her mistake, please have mercy on her, Master! She is the official wife of the manor, you can't kill her! Second Miss treats the mistress like a mother, if you treat the mistress this way, how will Second Miss be able to stand in the manor in the future? Please spare the mistress for the sake of her treatment of Second Miss and young master over the years, and for the sake of your late wife!"

  Su Mu Jin gazed at Jiang Ya with narrowed eyes. This Jiang Ya was a nurse brought by Liu Shi from Yunzhou, and it was said that she had been very close to her since childhood, loyal and devoted to Liu Shi, one of Liu Shi's most trusted confidantes.

  If they could seize hold of Old Lady Jiang's handle and get rid of this scourge, then the Liu family would lose one arm.

  Su Mu Jin gazed at the whip suspended in mid-air by his father, and coughed lightly twice, blowing cold air that made his face even paler than paper.

  She covered her mouth and tried hard to suppress it, her face turning bright red as she saw her father's worried look.

  Su Qingyun saw this, and her heart, which had originally softened a bit, suddenly hardened again. She thought of the hardships her daughter had suffered over the years, and with one kick, she opened the door to Jiang's quarters. In a stern voice, she said, "With slaves like you by their side, not only do they not correct their masters' mistakes, but they also indulge them. If this continues, won't it be your turn to control my Su family?"

  The old woman was kicked in the chest and immediately fainted.

  Liu was in a great hurry, struggling to shake off the old woman's grasp, and cried out loudly, "Auntie, Auntie Jiang!"

  Su Qingyun's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and she gave a signal to the cloud general, "Find someone to carry her away!" He knew how much force he used, and it was impossible for anyone to die! Turning around, he shouted at several women, "Catch her, today no one can let go until twenty lashes are finished!"

  Liu watched as Jiang was carried away, in great pain and urgency, and finally fainted after the sixteenth lash.

  Even so, Su Qingyun still made up for the remaining four times.

  After finishing, he threw away the whip stained with blood and flesh, looked at the trembling figure of the maid beside Liu's wife who was kneeling on the ground, and said coldly, "Take your madam back home. From today onwards, she is forbidden to leave her room for three days, copy out the 'Admonitions for Women' twenty times. When she understands what it means to be a woman, then she can come out. If I find out that you are being hypocritical and disobedient, I will sell all of you off to the slave traders!"

  "How dare you!" More than a dozen people broke out in cold sweats, terrified beyond measure.

  "Get out!"

  Two rough servants beside Liu held him up as he fainted and took him away with a dozen or so people.

  The crowd spontaneously made way for a path and saw Liu's party off as they left.

  All that was left in the air was a faint smell of blood.

  Su Qingyun waved her hand at the crowd, her face stern. "Disperse, everyone! I hope you all take today's events as a warning. Su Mu Jin is the eldest young lady of our manor and my treasured daughter. From now on, I'm sure you all know how to treat her."

  Everyone held their breath and responded with a mere "yes" or "uh-huh".

  As the crowd dispersed, Su Qingyun let out a melancholic sigh with a despondent expression.

  It's hard not to think of Ruo'er when she was still alive. At that time, although Mother didn't particularly like her, Ruo'er was gentle and considerate, treating Mother as if she were her own mother. She was tolerant and magnanimous, often laughing off Mother's occasional difficulties. The servants in the mansion also respected her greatly. Who didn't know that the lady of the Su household was dignified, virtuous, gentle, and wise?

  "Dad..."

  Su Qingyun snapped back to reality, gathered all her emotions and smiled softly at her.

  "Jin'er, Father can't interfere too much in the inner courtyard's affairs. Today, I can only help you this far. Father is busy and sometimes may not be able to take care of you, but if you suffer any grievances, you can't always endure them. If there's anything that can't be resolved, go find Yun Zongguan, he's Father's trusted aide, whatever the matter is, just feel free to tell him."

  With Su Qingyun's wisdom, it was clear that today's eldest daughter's every move was intentional. Although he might be biased or protective, he could see his daughter using him to counterattack, and in the end, he was more relieved than distressed. As for the inner courtyard affairs, he couldn't interfere too much, so Jin'er couldn't rely on him for everything. If she didn't counterattack, perhaps one day she would silently disappear from the mansion without anyone noticing.

  It's just right like this now.

  Su Mu Jin had never thought of playing tricks on Su Qing Yun's face, and upon hearing this, her eyes turned slightly red, unable to say a word.

  "Foolish child, why are you crying again?" Su Qingyun supported her arm, wrapped her cloak tightly around her, and smiled, "Look at how worried your father is, Jiner. You must remember that in your father's heart, the wealth and glory of the Su family combined cannot compare to the weight of you and Cong'er in his heart. From now on, whatever you want to do, just go ahead and do it, Father will always be your solid backing."

  Su Mu Jin blinked her eyes, blinking away the tears in her eyes, and pouted with Su Qing Yun's arm, "Then Jin'er will take this opportunity to ask Father for something!"

  Su Qingyun raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

  "Father ordered Cloud General Manager to find some people to come over, and Jin'er wants to select some slaves from them to serve in the Brocade Garden!"