Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 182

All the secret guards of the prince’s palace changed into civilian clothes, and together with the guards from the Eldest Princess’ palace, they hurried to the wharf. They divided into four teams and searched along both banks of the river, heading upstream and downstream.

The river flowed straight in only two directions, upstream and downstream.

Originally, those who abducted Gu Yu Qi intended to change boats at the riverbank to evade Yun Ke’s pursuit, but they had not expected what kind of man Yun Ke was. They thought that they had acted stealthily, but they had not known that Yun Ke had highly skilled secret guards who actually found traces and tracked them to the river.

With the princess’ palace giving its full support, the four search teams winded like dragons along both sides of the river.

The torches lit up both sides of the river. Whether it was a boat drifting on the river or vessels moored at the bank, Yun Ke and his men searched them thoroughly one by one.

Gu Yu Qi simply smiled coldly. The pain in her body had already left her numb. Her mind was also beginning to drift.

Seeing that Gu Yu Qi had already been beaten until she was covered in bl00d and still refused to open her mouth to beg for mercy, Xia Shuang Cheng was so furious that he stamped his feet. He could not believe that there was truly such a stubborn person in the world!

“Cut her hands tendons for me!” Xia Shuang Cheng shouted angrily, slapping his own thigh in rage.

“Yes.” The masked criminal drew the sword from his waist and walked towards Gu Yu Qi.

Sensing that a trace of fear finally passed through the calmness in Gu Yu Qi’s eyes, Xia Shuang Cheng immediately burst into loud laughter. “I thought your backbone was so hard! Come, beg this young master! Beg this young master, if I’m pleased I might just spare you!”

He chuckled as he looked at Gu Yu Qi.

Would he spare Gu Yu Qi? Impossible!

He only wanted to avenge the humiliation he had suffered in the street that day, and also avenge his older sister, and vent his own anger.

He wanted to make Gu Yu Qi abandon her dignity, to kneel before him and beg like a dog, then humiliate her ruthlessly, and finally kill her with a single blow! Either way, Yun Ke would never see a living Gu Yu Qi again in his life.

Xia Shuang Cheng had calculated well. This place was so hidden, and along the way he had switched from carriage to boat repeatedly. Yun Ke, that pig, would not possibly find her.

He would imprison Gu Yu Qi here. When his case opened for trial, he would use Gu Yu Qi to blackmail Yun Ke. If Yun Ke cherished Gu Yu Qi, then good, his charge of murder would be dismissed and at most he would simply be fined some money, and everything would be swept under the rug. In this way, Yun Ke would also be implicated. Once the case was closed, it would never be reopened. As for the person who dared to accuse him, he would also find someone to get rid of them.

After dragging Yun Ke down, he would kill Gu Yu Qi and then hand her back to Yun Ke. At that time, he would push all the blame onto these criminals and kill a few men to appease Yun Ke’s anger.

She was only a secondary consort anyway. Then he would select a few more beautiful women to send to Yun Ke’s palace. Given time, Yun Ke would forget the existence of this secondary consort.

If Yun Ke was unreasonable and insisted on holding him accountable, since Gu Yu Qi was already dead and the case was closed, what could Yun Ke do? In the end it would also be brushed aside!

If Yun Ke did not care for Gu Yu Qi, then killing her would be even less of a burden! Anyway, his matters had already gotten out of hand, at worst he would just be dragging Gu Yu Qi down with him.

His calculations were indeed sound. Moreover, the Xia family held imperial death-exemption tokens from the former emperor. Not only one, but three! What was there to fear?!

When the time came, just by showing the death-exemption token, what could Yun Ke do to him? That death-exemption token was bestowed by Yun Ke’s ancestors, protecting the Xia family’s descendants immunity from execution. Yun Ke could not possibly go against his ancestors.

He sneered. To fight against him?! They ought to know what kind of family the Xia clan was!

“Come closer.” Gu Yu Qi said weakly. “I’m out of strength.”

“Haha!” Xia Shuang Cheng swaggered over, dug in his own ear with a finger, then leaned his body slightly towards Gu Yu Qi. “Come on, speak, this young master is listening!”

“What? Can’t hear you!” Xia Shuang Cheng heard Gu Yu Qi mumble something, but her voice was too soft. Seeing her looking as though she could barely breathe, he leaned closer again.

Just a moment ago she had been staring fixedly at him, but now she was like this. Lowering his head, he saw the splatters of bl00d beneath her feet and the corners of his lips curled upwards. Having been beaten like this, how could she still have strength left?

So he leaned closer again, never expecting that the moment he did, Gu Yu Qi suddenly thrust her body forward, opened her mouth, and bit down hard on Xia Shuang Cheng’s ear.

“Ah!” Xia Shuang Cheng cried out in pain, immediately trying to push her away. Gu Yu Qi clamped down on his ear without letting go, yanking once, making Xia Shuang Cheng feel as if his ear was about to be torn right off.

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” Xia Shuang Cheng cried, “You wretch, let go!”

“If you don’t want to lose your ear, then tell that man to release me!” Gu Yu Qi bit down on his ear and said coldly.

“Damn it, think of something!” Xia Shuang Cheng shouted at the masked man in black beside him. His ear hurt terribly! It was about to come off!

That masked man stepped forward and seized Gu Yu Qi’s jaw, forcing her to open her mouth. He pried Xia Shuang Cheng’s ear free from her teeth.

Xia Shuang Cheng touched his ear with his hand. Bloody hell! It was bleeding!

“Cut the tendons of both her hands for me!” Xia Shuang Cheng retreated several steps, covering his ear, and shouted viciously.

“Yes.” The masked man immediately picked up a blade and slashed with uncannily precise accuracy at Gu Yu Qi’s wrist.

A wave of piercing pain swept through her, and Gu Yu Qi’s body trembled involuntarily. This time she truly could not endure it and let out a groan.

“The other one too!” Xia Shuang Cheng pointed at her other hand and shouted. “Afterwards, pull out all her teeth for me!”

Another wave of agony surged through her. Gu Yu Qi was unable to endure it and fainted.

“Young Master, she fainted!” The masked man lifted Gu Yu Qi’s limp head, checked her, then said.

“Splash her awake!” Xia Shuang Cheng stamped his foot and ordered.

“Yes.” The man grabbed a bucket and went out to fetch water.

Xia Shuang Cheng reached out with one finger and cautiously poked Gu Yu Qi. Seeing that she truly did not move, he plucked up his courage and went closer again.

This woman was too fierce. Even bound like this, she had still managed to injure him.

He grabbed a fistful of Gu Yu Qi’s hair and yanked her head up.

Beneath the dishevelled hair was a face of stunning beauty. Since she was unconscious, her eyes were closed and gone was the sharp, cold gaze she usually had, replaced by a fragility. Her lips had lost their colour, yet bore a soft allure that made him want to destroy them. The whip had left a bloody cut across her face, but strangely it made him feel a perverse urge to destroy her beautiful face even further.

“Damn it! That pig Yun Ke really has good fortune with women!” Xia Shuang Cheng cursed.

Gu Yu Qi certainly stirred his lust, but his ear hurt so much! It dulled his lust a little.

“Wake her up for me,” Xia Shuang Cheng said as he saw the man in black return with river water. “I’ll screw her right here.” He yanked Gu Yu Qi’s head around to face the masked man. “Look at this beauty! Tsk tsk, what a rarity! Once this young master is done enjoying her, she’s yours.”

The man in black poured the whole bucket of water over Gu Yu Qi’s face. Droplets rolled down her smooth cheeks, glistening under the firelight, mingled with streaks of bl00d, making her pale face all the more enticing.

Just as Xia Shuang Cheng could no longer hold himself back and reached to loosen his belt, another man in black rushed in from outside. “Young Master, something terrible has happened!”

“What is it?!” Xia Shuang Cheng asked impatiently.

“It seems like someone’s coming!” One man cupped his fists and said, “Both banks of the river are lined with torches, winding towards here. I’m afraid they’ll find this place very soon!”

“So fast?! Impossible!” Xia Shuang Cheng panicked. No longer caring about Gu Yu Qi, he pushed the door open and rushed out.

He turned his head and indeed saw that the banks of the river were lined with torches forming a long dragon, heading straight towards them.

“Damn it!” Xia Shuang Cheng glanced at Gu Yu Qi, whose eyes were tightly shut, and cursed through gritted teeth. “Burn her to death!”

The man in black raised his knife, ready to strike Gu Yu Qi, but Xia Shuang Cheng stopped him. “I want to burn her alive, let her know what it feels like to be burned by fire.” How dare she hit him!

“Hurry! Light the fire!” Xia Shuang Cheng grabbed the man in black and shouted, “Protect me and get me out of here!”

“Yes.” Many men in black hurled their torches onto the shabby little wooden hut. The inside of the hut was not spared either.

Only when he saw the hut engulfed in flames did Xia Shuang Cheng, under the protection of the men in black, flee in another direction.

“Your Highness, there’s a fire over there!” Those searching in the area saw the firelight suddenly rising from the forest by the riverbank, and quickly reported to Yun Ke.

How could there suddenly be fire in the dead of night?

Yun Ke narrowed his eyes towards the flames, and suddenly his heart clenched. Without saying a word, he leapt into the air.

His heart was filled with dread. He thought only of going faster, ever faster.

He wanted to leap to the flames in an instant. He was truly terrified, afraid that by the time he arrived, all he would see was Gu Yu Qi’s charred corpse.

In truth, after being doused with water, Gu Yu Qi had already regained consciousness but she had not opened her eyes.

She had been feigning unconsciousness, biding her time and waiting for a chance to escape.

Who would have thought Yun Ke would arrive so quickly, forcing Xia Shuang Cheng to flee?

Looking at the flames rising around her, she could not help smiling faintly.

Was she going to die? She had never imagined that the heavens would play such absurd tricks on her, making her travel through time and live again only to end her life twice in the same way.

But perhaps this was not so bad. Once dead, she would know nothing more.

No more heartbreak, no more attachments.

May she be granted eternal rest. This time, she hoped she would not be reborn again.