360: Tuberose was hit again

"Hide? Where do you think you can hide?"

Steward Wang squinted his drunken eyes, his gaze roaming over her body, his eyes murky and greedy:

"You didn't even come to the banquet. Are you disrespecting me? Let me tell you, Wan Xiangyu, you are my woman! Once you entered my Wang Manor, you must obey me! If I tell you to go east, you cannot go west! If I tell you to serve me, you must obey obediently!"

As he spoke, he spread his arms and lunged towards Wan Xiangyu.

The overwhelming stench of alcohol mixed with greasy sweat and a faint trace of Face powder washed over her like a tidal wave, churning Wan Xiangyu's stomach and making her feel nauseous.

She hastily sidestepped to avoid him. Steward Wang missed his target and crashed heavily onto the soft couch, his stomach hitting the wooden edge. The pain made him grimace and let out a pained "Ouch!"

He struggled to get up, his eyes growing even fiercer, like a provoked beast.

Wan Xiangyu looked at the man before her, who seemed to have gone mad. Her voice trembled with barely suppressed emotion, yet she still forced herself to remain calm, trying to persuade him:

"Master, it's late, and you're drunk. You should rest early."

"How dare you defy me!"

Hearing this, Steward Wang was completely enraged.

He was already resentful that Wan Xiangyu had missed the banquet, and now being "defied" by her, the fury in his heart erupted instantly.

He abruptly raised his hand and slapped her backhanded. A crisp "crack!" echoed as the blow landed hard on Wan Xiangyu's cheek.

The slap was extremely forceful. Wan Xiangyu's head snapped to the side from the impact. Blood instantly seeped from the corner of her mouth, dripping down her chin onto her collar, staining her plain-colored robe red.

Her recently healed cheek now bore another clear, red, and swollen handprint, looking particularly hideous.

She staggered back two steps, her back thudding heavily against the cold wall. Her cheek burned with a fiery pain, as if countless needles were pricking it. Her ears rang, and her vision darkened in waves.

An immense sense of grievance and despair surged in her heart, making her almost unable to stand steady.

The Servant and Maids guarding outside the courtyard gate heard the commotion inside. Their Faces turned deathly pale, but none dared to enter and intervene.

They all knew Steward Wang's temper. When he flew into a rage, he recognized no one. Anyone who dared to step forward and stop him would only meet a worse fate.

Though their hearts held pity, they were powerless. They could only pretend not to hear and silently pray for the storm to pass sooner.

Inside the room, Steward Wang looked at the blood at the corner of Wan Xiangyu's mouth and the swelling on her Face. Far from feeling any remorse, a cruel smile appeared on his lips.

He advanced step by step towards Wan Xiangyu, his eyes sinister:

"You little bitch, you dare dodge? Just see if I don't teach you a lesson today!"

Wan Xiangyu watched him approach step by step. She closed her eyes. A clear tear slid down her cheek, mingling with the blood at the corner of her mouth, tasting bitterly of sorrow.

Steward Wang let out a drunken belch, sneered, and continued:

"Who do you think you are? Relying on a bit of looks, you dare give me attitude? Don't forget how you entered the Wang Manor in the first place! If it weren't for my kindness in marrying you, your gambler father would have sold you off to Drunken Spring Pavilion long ago, to be ravaged in turn by those rough men, a plaything for others' amusement!"

These words were like blunt knives, repeatedly cutting into Wan Xiangyu's heart.

She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms. The stinging pain in her palms helped her maintain a sliver of clarity.

She raised her head. Her eyes were brimming with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. Those eyes, once brimming with autumn waters, now held nothing but icy hatred and despair.

Her voice was terribly hoarse, carrying a barely perceptible tremor:

"We were once husband and wife. You bring women from Drunken Spring Pavilion back to amuse yourself and still demand my company. What do you take me for? A plaything for you to manipulate at will? You humiliate me, beat me like this... where is your conscience?"

"Husband and wife? Humiliate you?"

Steward Wang burst into uproarious laughter as if he had heard the greatest joke, laughing so hard he rocked back and forth, his alcoholic breath spraying further:

"You think you're worthy of talking to me about being husband and wife?"

He abruptly stopped laughing, his eyes turning sinister in an instant. He reached out and roughly grabbed Wan Xiangyu's chin:

"You've been in this manor for ten years and can't even lay an egg! In my eyes, you're no different from the girls at Drunken Spring Pavilion, even less pleasing and understanding than them! You're just a plaything I bought with money, for my amusement and pleasure. How dare you talk to me about conscience?"

His words were like daggers dipped in ice, stabbing fiercely into Wan Xiangyu's heart, chilling her to the bone.

Before she could react, Steward Wang had already released her chin. He roughly reached out to tear at her collar.

That greasy, large hand carried a brutal force. His fingertips scraped across her neck, leaving behind a nauseating sensation.

Wan Xiangyu stiffened in fright, instinctively raising her hands to push him away. But she was merely a woman at the second level of Qi Refining, with shallow Cultivation, rarely lifting heavy objects even on normal days. How could she contend with the drunken, brute strength of Steward Wang, who was at the fourth level of Qi Refining?

With just a light flick, he knocked her hand aside, then immediately grabbed her wrist in return. The force was astonishing, as if he wanted to crush her bones. Excruciating pain spread from her wrist, making Wan Xiangyu gasp sharply.

"Let go of me! Let go!"

Wan Xiangyu struggled desperately. Her wrist ached terribly from his grip. The tears in her eyes finally overflowed, sliding down the corners. Her voice, thick with sobs, was filled with desperate resistance.

But her feeble struggle, in Steward Wang's eyes, was merely coy flirtation, which only provoked his cruelty further.

He slapped Wan Xiangyu across the Face. A crisp "crack!" echoed, particularly piercing in the silent room.

Wan Xiangyu's head snapped to the side from the blow. Her cheek instantly reddened and swelled. A fiery pain spread across her Face. The corner of her mouth was split, and a trickle of coppery-tasting blood slowly seeped out.

Dizzy and with a ringing in her ears, but Steward Wang did not stop. He shoved her hard onto the soft couch, which emitted a heavy thud.

Immediately after, his whole body pressed down on her. His rough hands tore violently at her clothes. The "rip—rip—" sound of fabric tearing was particularly piercing in the dead of night, as if flaying the last shreds of Wan Xiangyu's dignity.

Wan Xiangyu closed her eyes in despair. The tears finally could no longer be held back. They gushed out like broken strings of pearls, streaming down her cheeks, soaking the pillowcase, and spreading dark, wet stains.

She could feel the cold air on her skin where her clothes were torn. She could feel Steward Wang's heavy breathing on her neck. She could feel those filthy hands roaming wantonly over her body.

Years of endurance, grievance, and pain converged at this moment into a torrent of despair, threatening to completely consume her.

At that very moment, in a room on the second floor of a distant Inn, Situ Jun abruptly opened his eyes.

His eyes, usually carrying a hint of lazy amusement, were now sharp as a hawk's. The aura around him instantly turned icy and fierce.

His Divine Sense saw and heard everything in the courtyard with crystal clarity—the crisp slaps, the sound of tearing fabric, and Wan Xiangyu's despairing sobs. Every word, every sound was like a red-hot branding iron, searing his heart.

A towering rage, like a slumbering volcano, erupted violently from within his chest.

The Dragon Phoenix True Qi surged wildly through his Meridians, carrying a scorching power capable of incinerating everything. The air around him grew stagnant and searing. The tables, chairs, and stools in the room even emitted faint groans under the intangible pressure.

He hit Wan Xiangyu just last night, and again tonight!

That beast! How dare he bully Wan Xiangyu like this!