The old wooden door of the storage shed groaned inward as Bairan stumbled out.
The moment she crossed the threshold, Lin Ruoyu froze mid-stride. She didn't even have time to take a breath before Bairan threw herself into her arms, clinging.
Bairan's voice came out thin and ragged, her whole body trembling.
"Si-sister… what shall I do now?"
Ruoyu's brows tightened. She noticed Bairan had opened the door from the inside. But she still reached out and hugged her back, panic voice she said,
"Ruolan-Jie?! What happened—why are you crying?"
Bairan didn't answer in a clear sentence. She clutched at the fine silk of Ruoyu's sleeve with her uninjured hand, gripping as if it were the only thing keeping her standing.
"There is a man…"
Her breathing hitched, uneven and shallow.
"He… I… I don't know what was wrong with me…"
Ruoyu's eyes flashed. She glanced toward the half-opened shed door — thought if the man still being inside meant her sister's name could never stay clean.
Her voice rose as she held Bairan's shoulder.
"Bairan-Jie, tell me! Did someone bully you?"
At the word "bully," Bairan's shoulders shook harder. Tears streamed steadily down the folds of Ruoyu's dress. Suddenly she lifted her head, her tearful, wide eyes looking straight at Ruoyu, her bandaged hand pressing painfully against Ruoyu's collarbone, making her tears tumble down even more.
Her whisper trembled.
"Sister… help me… we must hide it from everyone!"
But Ruoyu's cry out even more,
"Sister, what are you saying?! How can we hide such a grave matter from Father? And… how can we keep the truth from Young Master Lu?"
Right then, the cold, cutting voice sliced through the night air. "What else are you trying to hide from me now?"
Lu Yichen stepped into view. His eyes were bloodshot; his fists clenched so tightly the knuckles had turned white.
He had spent the early evening waiting in Ruolan's courtyard, calculating precisely when the drug should take effect. He hadn't wished to harm her—only to make her think she was losing control. This forced him to do so; in this way, she would owe him forever for marrying her.
But she had never returned.
Her maids dodged his questions and did not reveal where she was until Ruoyu arrived, claiming that A'Rou had just come home and she intended to see him soon. But she got delayed for reasons she didn't know.
He didn't fully trust Ruoyu, but since she knew his secret, he tolerated her to keep it. He was okay with granting her wish and making her his concubine.
He followed her here just to hear they're trying to hide something from him.
His eyes swept over Bairan — her wide, reddened eyes, her hair mostly undone and hanging wildly, her shoulders trembling. One hand tightly clutched Ruoyu's sleeve; the other, wrapped in stark bandages, convulsed. Her clothes were intact… yet loose and wrinkled everywhere.
Lu Yichen's heart slammed against his ribs at wild speed.
If the drug truly affected her…
With whom...?
His gaze shifted to the half-open, shadowed shed. His face changed intensely, and he roared, "Lin Ruolan, you betrayed me!"
Bairan trembled but didn't answer, leaning closer to Ruoyu.
Ruoyu immediately cried out, "Young Master Lu! Please—please don't be angry at her! That man must have followed her when she went out today! For Sister Ruolan's honor… please..."
Before Lu Yichen could shout for the intruder to reveal himself, the sound of many footsteps approached.
Master Lin, Madam Luo, Ruomei and a group of frightened servants hurried forward.
When Master Lin saw Lu Yichen standing there too, fury ripped through him. If what the steward had said was true — that his eldest daughter had gone out alone since afternoon and returned with a man hidden in a shed — then only blood could cleanse this shame.
His voice thundered:
"What is happening here?!"
Bairan tore free from Ruoyu, stumbled toward her father, and pointed with a trembling hand at the shed. Her voice breaking. "Father!... There is a man inside! He tried to — to!"
She covered her face with her uninjured hand, collapsing into sobs.
Lu Yichen's expression twisted with rage.
He barked an order at the nearest servant:
"Pull him out! Whoever is inside—drag him out! Now!"
Madam Luo rushed to Bairan's side.
Her voice sounded gentle; "Which man? What he did to you ... why are you even here?"
Hearing this core questions Master Lin's face drained of all color.His voice tore from his throat like thunder:
"Lin Ruolan! Will you not stop until you drag this old face of mine into the mud?!"
"Father… I—I didn't—" Bairan choked out.
But Master Lin slapped her across the cheek before she could finish, followed by some gasps and a shout.
Hanyue's voice was the first to cut through the chaotic hysteria. "Stop!"
His voice, carrying terrifying anger, froze every figure in the courtyard.
Bao'er rushed straight to Bairan, shielding her with her small body as she cried and begged between sobs, "Master, please don't hurt my young miss! Don't hurt her!"
Ruomei shrank back, seeing her father's anger. She wanted her rival's downfall, but this wasn't as joyful as she expected.
Hanyue strode forward; the moonlight made her tightened eyebrows a masterpiece, but the situation was too dire for anyone to enjoy watching his handsome face.
Dongpo followed grimly while dragging a struggling, terrified gatekeeper by the collar.
Hanyue didn't glance at Master Lin; his gaze was fixed entirely on Bairan's tilted face. The edge of her lips cracked, and a thin line of blood came out. He saw the raw, fierce hatred flash in Bairan's eyes, but it soon vanished instantly as she buried her face deeper into Bao'er's shoulder, without complaining about his father's actions.
Hanyue turned to Master Lin, his tone dangerously sharp: "Master Lin, it seems you punish your daughter too quickly for a crime that no one has proven yet."
Master Lin's face still red, his breath raw, tried to calm himself down as he replied to Hanyue, "Master Pei, forgive me for being rude, but this is an internal family matter—"
Hanyue cut him off: "It is not internal when we're the reason for this misunderstanding."
Just as Hanyue called all this a "misunderstanding," a desperate commotion erupted from the dark shed. Two of Master Lin's guards stumbled backward, pulling a figure between them.
The man was sweating profusely, his limbs rubbery and useless, his eyes wide and panicked.
One guard stammered, pulling the Lantern near of the man's figure and said, "Master!... There was a man! But he is... paralyzed!"
The courtyard exploded with renewed gasps.
Ruoyu's eyes widened, recognizing the paralyzed man. She couldn't stop her hand from shaking; one sentence echoed in her head: "Her plot failed."
Yichen's shock wasn't any less than hers. He didn't fully understand what was going on. If this man had done something to A'Rou, why was he like this now?
Bairan lifted her head from Bao'er's embrace, looked at the paralyzed man, and cried in shock, "Father, it's him! He came out of the darkness and wanted to attack me!"
The paralyzed man saw Bairan. He also shouted with a choked voice, "Miss, please forgive me... forgive me."
Seeing how frightened the man was when looking at Bairan, Hanyue wanted to laugh, but on the surface, he turned to Bairan and said in a surprised tone, "Miss Lin, did you use the powder I gave you?"
Bairan nodded with tear-filled eyes. "Yes, as you went with the gatekeeper, I was alone. My sister wasn't coming back, and I was so scared. There was a sound. I... I held this powder that you said would keep animals away from me. And... and when this man attacked me... it was the only thing on me, so I exploded it at him. Then I ran away."
Though her words were in a choked tone, she still made everyone understand what really happened.
Master Lin realized the situation was not what he had thought; his daughter had suffered no loss, but someone was plotting against her. His eyes swept over everyone. When he saw the gatekeeper, he remembered it was he who had told those things to the steward.
He looked at Bairan; "Why did you go out today?"
Bairan trembled as she heard Master Lin's voice. She parted her lips but shot a glance at Hanyue as well.
Hanyue said, "Miss Lin, please let me clarify this matter with your father."
Bairan nodded weakly.
Hanyue turned toward Master Lin and said respectfully, "Master Lin, there's a misunderstanding in this matter, like I said before. This afternoon, when your daughter, Miss Ruolan, came to visit me, I told her about some concerns that I have about your family, specifically you, Master Lin."
Master Lin's hand trembled uncontrollably. He spluttered, "What concerns...?"
Hanyue continued, deliberately glancing at Lin Bowen's shaking hands. "As you know, Master Lin, we came to this town to arrest criminals. But on our way, we rescued your daughter from Master Tong and Master Mo, and the innkeeper, who were attempting to kidnap her."
Hearing an account of "kidnapping," Lu Yichen stepped forward. "Kidnapping? What kind of kidnapping? Didn't her carriage get into an accident?"
Master Lin didn't have time to worry about Lu Yichen.
Hearing that man's name reminds him some past he thought he buried well.
Hanyue ignored Lu Yichen's bewildered question entirely.
He continued, his voice utterly devoid of emotion; "We found that all those men worked for the criminal group we are pursuing. They alleged your involvement as well, Master Lin."
He drew a sharp breath. "Therefore, your daughter did not run away to elope with some man, as the gatekeeper reported to your steward. She went to the teahouse at my recommendation to clarify these matters. We suspected they were attempting to drag your reputation into their affairs, likely because of their established hatred for Miss Lin."
Hanyue made the revelation of drag into transition sound no more consequential than a minor ruined reputation.