Chapter 53: Taking a Fancy to a Young Lass

"Fine... Just as we've dealt with Shen Yishu, you've now set your sights on a little girl."

Furious, he waved his hand to cut off Gu Zhaozhao's report, stood up, and strode out of the Crown Prince's study. His moving figure stirred up a biting, fierce wind as he made a bee-line for the Marquis's residence.

With a menacing look, he demanded of Dou Hongyan, "What are you up to again?"

He gave a cold chuckle and closed in on Dou Hongyan, casting his imposing shadow over her as he sinisterly interrogated her, "I simply felt I've given you too much space, seeing as you still have the leisure to make room for someone else. I never knew you could be so tender-hearted as to care about some country girl."

Even if she were a harmless, frail little girl—

The words, spoken by him, still carried a thick, murderous intent.

Dou Hongyan's eyes flushed red as she stubbornly and reproachfully confronted Xiao Ze. "I like Erya precisely because of you!"

Xiao Ze's aura sank, his gaze turning dark and obscure.

Only to hear Dou Hongyan continue with defiant resentment, "If you hadn't forbidden me from getting close to Brother Heng, I wouldn't be unable to even approach my own child. Having a child yet being unable to enjoy the happiness of family—"

"Would I have any reason to want a daughter, someone to fulfill filial duties in place of Brother Heng?!"

She shoved Xiao Ze aside, sat down on the edge of the bed, and turned her face away in a huff.

Dou Hongyan had struck first and silenced Xiao Ze. Instead, his aura grew slightly milder. With a cold glance at Dou Hongyan, he ground his back teeth together.

Without a word, he turned and left.

Dou Hongyan widened her eyes and sharply called out to him, "I want that tutor!"

"I'll have someone send her over tomorrow."

His tone was gloomy, suppressing his displeasure.

A country girl... Xiao Ze was filled with utter disdain, yet he no longer brought up the matter of making Dou Hongyan stay away from her.

She was merely keeping a little pet, after all.

...

Instructor Wang inspected the fruits of the three young masters' punishment. As he flipped through those three identical sets of copied texts, his displeasure reached its peak.

Suppressing the urge to punish them on the spot, his sharp gaze swept across the three boys, and he asked, "Tell me, what was your other assignment, and how well did you complete it?"

The youngest, Brother An, scratched his head. "W-what other assignment?"

Realizing they were about to slip up, Brother Shun hurriedly gave him a sharp jab in the ribs with his elbow and blurted out, "Reporting to the instructor, we all did something for Erya—we helped her practice her calligraphy!"

"Yes, yes, exactly!" Brother Lin nodded repeatedly. "Erya was so happy; she said she's already forgiven us."

Instructor Wang felt a surge of hot blood rush to his head, making him dizzy with rage.

He violently flung the thick stack of copied texts onto the floor right in front of them and rebuked them in a deep, angry voice, "You still dare to lie!"

He paced around the study, found a dusty rattan cane, pointed it at the boys, and gave a cold, disappointed laugh. "It seems you won't shed tears until you see your own coffins! Since your parents can't teach you properly, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

"Hold out your hands! Today's lies will be punished together with the last punishment! Ten lashes of the cane for each of you!"

"Waaah—"

"No, please don't, stop hitting me!"

"Mother, I want my Mother—!"

Howls of misery echoed through the study, but this time, no one dared to beg for mercy.

The palms of the three brothers were swollen high, and their bottoms had received a harsh beating with the cane. Limping as they returned to Tingyu Garden, they immediately began shoving and blaming one another. "It's all Brother An's fault! He was the first one to give us away!"

"Blame the eldest brother! The instructor didn't believe his clumsy lies at all!"

"Then why didn't you come up with something yourselves? If I hadn't thought of having Erya copy the texts, you would have had to copy them yourselves!"

"Wait!"

After hurling accusations at each other, their collective focus suddenly shifted as they recalled the original reason for their punishment. "It's all Erya's fault! If she wasn't such an eyesore, we wouldn't have been punished at all!"

They clung to Liu Xin'er's legs, crying and complaining.

Liu Xin'er's eyes streamed with heartache and rage as she cursed, "Where has that damned girl Erya gone? Such a jinx—look at what she's done to her own brothers!"

Erya, who had overheard everything from the corner, dared not show her face before Liu Xin'er. She covered her mouth and fled in tears.

She had been away in her room for too long. Xiyue grew suspicious in the dark, disguised herself as a junior maid, pushed open the door, and froze in her tracks. "Quickly, fetch a doctor! The young miss has hanged herself—!"

Trouble never rains but it pours in the Marquis's residence.

Amidst the chaos, Dou Hongyan strode in, accompanied by a stern-looking, dignified matron surnamed Zhao, and quickly suppressed the disarray. "This is Mama Zhao from the imperial palace. From now on, she will be in charge of Erya's education."

Then, her beautiful eyes shifted with displeasure, landing squarely on Liu Xin'er. "Lady Liu has failed in raising her sons and almost drove her own daughter to death, bringing shame to the Marquis's household. Go to the ancestral hall and kneel in repentance."