Chapter 27: It has been a long time since I last saw the Fourth Master this unhinged.

Page 1 of 3

A bone-chilling voice rang out overhead. Zhang Biao recognized who it was and was instantly seized by terror, pounding his head against the floor again and again.

“Fourth Master, I was wrong. I was truly, terribly wrong this time. I shouldn’t have taken any chances, and I shouldn’t have harbored improper thoughts about Miss Nan.”

“From now on, whenever I see Miss Nan, I’ll give her a wide berth. No, no—I’ll follow Miss Nan’s lead in everything. Whatever she says goes. If she tells me to head east, I’ll head east. I wouldn’t dare go west.”

“Fourth Master, please, give me one last chance. Spare my life, even if it’s only a dog’s life.”

If what had happened at Nan Weiguo’s birthday banquet last time had merely been a small lesson, Zhang Biao knew that this time his fate would be far worse.

These days, a single word from Li Beitian could bring the entire Zhang family to ruin. What did his own life matter by comparison?

At this critical juncture between life and death, Zhang Biao no longer cared about worldly possessions. He only hoped that Li Beitian would spare his life.

But Zhang Biao was mistaken. Anyone who dared offend Li Beitian had only one road left—the road to death.

Li Beitian rose to his feet. The hand gripping the whip slowly tightened, veins standing out on the back of it and swelling beneath the black leather glove. Without the slightest hesitation, he swung the whip down across Zhang Biao’s back.

“Fourth Master—”

Zhang Biao’s clothes split open beneath the blow, and he writhed across the floor in agony, clutching his knees.

The black blindfold shut out the light, plunging his world into darkness and intensifying his fear.

“Fourth Master, it was them! All three of them made the first move against Miss Nan—”

Before he could finish, another whip came down.

This time, it struck his face.

A vivid red welt appeared across Zhang Biao’s cheek almost at once.

Terrifying beads of blood trickled down his face and fell with soft, rhythmic drops. He looked utterly wretched.

Jingzhe, standing nearby, could not help but sigh inwardly.

It had been many years since he had seen Fourth Master go this mad.

He had originally been sent to the Imperial Capital on a mission for Fourth Master and had been gone for more than half a year. Then, out of nowhere, a phone call summoned him back that very day.

Li Beitian had truly been enraged over the phone, ordering him to search the entire city for Zhang Biao and the whereabouts of the three rich young heirs.

During the past six months in the Imperial Capital, Jingzhe had never dealt with Nan Xing. He had only heard rumors from other members of the Li family: that Miss Nan came from the countryside, had neither refinement nor beauty, and that Young Master Si Chen was fiercely opposed to the marriage.

But judging from the degree of Fourth Master’s fury just now, things clearly were not as everyone claimed.

Regardless of what others said, Jingzhe had already decided that this Miss Nan, whom he had never met, was certainly no ordinary woman.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

In any case, once he met her in the future, he would treat her with the utmost respect.

After several more lashes, Zhang Biao lay motionless on the floor, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. With the last of his feeble strength, he pleaded with Li Beitian.

“Please, Fourth Master… spare my life. I, Zhang Biao, swear… I’ll mend my ways. I won’t make the same mistake again. I won’t… harbor any more wicked thoughts. I’ll worship Miss Nan like an ancestor.”

“Take him to the Dark Hall.”

Li Beitian waved a hand. His deep, magnetic voice flowed from his throat, like that of an underworld judge who could decide life and death with a word.

“Fourth Master, what should we do with the other three?”

Li Beitian accepted the handkerchief Jingzhe offered and leisurely wiped the blood from the short whip. He did not even raise his eyes.

“Whichever hand they used, cripple that hand.”

“Yes.”

Jingzhe received the order and signaled to his men. The three young heirs, who had long since been frightened into wetting themselves as they lay sprawled on the floor, were immediately dragged into the adjoining room.

A moment later, agonized screams rang out.

…

Late that night, at Emerald Grove Bay.

A black Maybach drove into the garage.

Nan Xing was sleeping fitfully when she heard movement outside the door.

A moment later came the sound of the bedroom door opening.

Perhaps afraid of disturbing the sleeping girl, the visitor moved with extraordinary care, creeping quietly to the bedside.

A large hand gently brushed her flushed cheek, its fingertips still carrying the chill of the night outdoors.

Nan Xing could not help letting out a soft whimper. She turned over and continued sleeping soundly.

She had no idea how long the visitor remained. Only after she heard the door open and close again did the girl open her bright, sly eyes.

Fighting back her sleepiness, Nan Xing logged into WeChat and opened someone’s doggie avatar.

She looked at it again and again.

Moonlight spilled into the room. A sweet smile touched the girl’s lips as she whispered to the avatar, “Good night, Makka Pakka.”

—

Early the next morning, Nan Xing was awakened by a call from Nan Weiguo.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

He told her over the phone that Li Si Chen had been discharged from the hospital and ordered her to fulfill her duties as his fiancée by going to pick him up.

“I have a meeting at school today. I don’t have time.”

Nan Xing rejected Nan Weiguo in a single sentence, then got out of bed to wash and dress.

At the Nan residence.

“Why is that wretched girl becoming more disobedient by the day? Doesn’t she know what an important occasion this is? How dare she put on airs?”

Qin Peiqin sat on the sofa, toying with her freshly painted nails as she made snide remarks.

Nan Weiguo was already furious. He slammed his palm onto the table, signaling Qin Peiqin to keep quiet.

Then he called Nan Xing again, but no one answered.

“See? She won’t even answer your call now. Young Master Si Chen has been discharged from the hospital—that’s a major event! Is going to some lousy school really more important than that? She clearly has no idea what matters and what doesn’t!”

“I suggest you stop letting Nan Xing go to school altogether. No matter how much she studies, she’ll never be as promising as our Zhen’er. Just wait and see—Zhen’er will definitely win first place in the piano competition this time.”

“That’s enough. She is going to marry into the Li family, after all. Wouldn’t it be humiliating if she had no education at all? People would say Nan Weiguo was so stingy that he couldn’t even afford to educate his daughter.”

Irritated, Nan Weiguo tugged at his tie and dialed Nan Xing’s number once more.

This time, Nan Xing blocked him outright.

“You ungrateful brat! How dare you toy with your own father? You truly have no sense of your place!”

With an ashen expression, Nan Weiguo picked up a purple clay teapot worth tens of thousands and smashed it onto the floor.

Qin Peiqin, who valued money above all else, was heartbroken.

“Oh, my goodness! I paid a fortune for that! You wasteful fool—if you have the nerve, go take it out on Nan Xing. Don’t destroy the things I bought!”

“Dad, Mom, what happened?”

While Qin Peiqin was lamenting over her precious teapot, Nan Zhen’er came downstairs.

She was dressed in a little white Chanel dress, her curly hair swept high, with a pair of high heels encrusted with pearls and rhinestones on her feet. A vivid touch of lipstick completed the look. It was obvious that she had dressed with great care.

Qin Peiqin instructed the servants to clear away the shards, then took Nan Zhen’er by the hand and sat down angrily on the sofa.

“It’s all because of that wretched Nan Xing. Young Master Si Chen was discharged from the hospital today, and your father told her to go over there. But she said she had to attend a meeting at school. Your father got so angry that he smashed my purple clay teapot.”

“Boo-hoo, that was a treasure I bought for tens of thousands!”

The more Qin Peiqin thought about it, the angrier she became, and she vented all her fury on Nan Xing.

“When I see that little vixen again, I’ll make sure to teach her a proper lesson!”

Page 3 of 3