Ming Lingyi looked up in the direction of the voice, her brow furrowing.

When Zhao Shu, the young lady from the Duke Jing Mansion, had left earlier, she had threatened to come back. Ming Lingyi had dismissed it as just an empty threat from a young girl. After all, the girl had just lost face because of her.

But Ming Lingyi never expected that Zhao Shu would actually return with backup. ’All this just to deal with a small fry like her? It’s unbelievable.’

This time, Zhao Shu had brought guards from the Duke Jing Mansion—not helpless maids like Fuqu, who was with her earlier.

When so many men arrived, the common folk who had been eating green balls and lotus seed soup at Ming Lingyi’s stall quickly dropped their silver and fled.

Who among them would dare get involved in a confrontation like this?

Seeing this, Shi Mingyue grabbed the wooden stick in her hand, ready to fight them to the death.

But Ming Lingyi pulled her back.

"Don’t," Ming Lingyi said.

’I can accept the loss of my stall, but I can’t let the people by my side get hurt.’

Besides, no matter how skilled Shi Mingyue was, she was still just a young girl who had barely come of age. How could she possibly fight against so many men?

The outcome was obvious. Ming Lingyi wasn’t about to throw an egg against a rock.

Xiao Chun’s eyes were red with anger. "Are we just going to let them... let them destroy our stall like this? Just let it go?"

Ming Lingyi replied, "If you try to stop them, won’t you be the one getting hurt?"

Across from them, Zhao Shu stood with her men, all traces of her earlier discomposure gone. She crossed her arms. "If you know what’s good for you, get over here and apologize to me. Kneel and kowtow three times, and I might consider letting you off."

After she spoke, the head maid beside her whispered something. Zhao Shu’s expression changed slightly, and she spoke again, but this time she was giving orders to the guards she’d brought.

"Go grab those two insolent wenches next to her and bring them to me!"

If Fuqu hadn’t just reminded her, Zhao Shu would have almost forgotten about the two maids with Ming Lingyi—especially the chubby one, who had been particularly disrespectful. Relying on their strength and martial arts skills, those two wenches had caused her a lot of trouble earlier.

’I’m the dignified young lady of a State Duke Mansion! How could I tolerate being bullied by these servants?’

’I’ll teach them a lesson right now. At the very least, they need to learn their place in the hierarchy.’

’Lowly servants should kneel when they see me, not dare to talk back.’

Hearing this, Ming Lingyi frowned. "Run," she said, uttering just a single word.

But the Duke Jing Mansion’s guards had already surrounded them tightly.

Ming Lingyi looked up at Zhao Shu in the distance and said coldly, "Young lady, are you not aware that assaulting commoners without cause in Shangjing City is a violation of the laws of our Dayan Dynasty? Acting so recklessly today, are you not afraid of bringing trouble upon your family in the future?"

Far from bringing Zhao Shu to her senses, Ming Lingyi’s words only reminded her of how this sharp-tongued woman had refuted her earlier.

She sneered. "So what if I beat a lowlife like you? I’d like to see who dares to gossip about it! Aren’t you something special? Seducing my cousin and turning his head with just a pretty face. I want to see if my cousin will spare you a second glance once that face is gone!"

Zhao Shu found Ming Lingyi incredibly grating. Even though the woman before her was dressed plainly—shabbily, even, in her opinion—and wore no makeup, she showed no sign of feeling inferior when facing her.

That calm composure just made her blood boil. She was dying to see that composure shattered.

Before Ming Lingyi could reply, the Duke Jing Mansion guards had already closed in, and Shi Mingyue, trying to protect her, had started to fight them.

Ming Lingyi’s expression was grim. She had met unreasonable people before, but even they wouldn’t dare to act so brazenly outside the law. This was the first time she had encountered someone like Zhao Shu, so lawless and willing to abuse her power to bully others.

Just as Ming Lingyi was trying to figure out how to resolve this disaster, the sharp WHIZZ of an arrow suddenly split the air, coming from a distance and rapidly approaching.

Then, Ming Lingyi heard Zhao Shu let out a scream.

Her gaze snapped toward the sound, and her eyes widened in shock at the sight of Zhao Shu.

An arrow had pierced through her hair ornaments, pinning them to the ground. She now stood with her hair disheveled, her face a mask of panic.

She probably never imagined someone would dare to attack her, and so mercilessly at that.

The guards from the Duke Jing Mansion, who had been tangling with Shi Mingyue and Xiao Chun, now retreated due to this sudden turn of events. They warily scanned their surroundings, forming a protective circle around their young lady.

After her initial scream, Zhao Shu’s legs felt a little weak, but what she felt most was rage.

"Who is it! Who dares to shoot at me!" she yelled.

But before the sound of her voice had even faded, the WHIZZ of several more arrows cut through the air.

The Duke Jing Mansion’s guards raised their swords to block, managing to strike down the incoming iron arrows.

Zhao Shu had seen it clearly—all those arrows had been aimed at her. If not for the many guards protecting her, those iron arrows would have pierced right through her body.

On the main road leading to the steps of Qinglong Temple, the sound of galloping hooves had already begun to echo when the first arrow was shot at Zhao Shu.

Leading the way was a young child.

Li Yan had left the palace today, first heading to Huaidei Fang, only to learn that his mother had gone to Leyou Garden. He immediately changed course, not stopping for a moment. He had been thinking that maybe he could join his mother in "doing business," since he was great at math and could definitely help her.

But Li Yan never expected that just after finding out the location of his mother’s stall and rushing over, he would be met with such a scene.

Some audacious thugs from who-knows-where had thrown the place into chaos. Someone was even attacking his mother, forcing the two maids by her side to fight back.

Ganging up on the few, the strong bullying the weak.

The young Crown Prince was burning with rage. In fact, the first shot hadn’t come from a regular bow, but from the crossbow in Li Yan’s hands.

This weapon had a long range and great power; even in the army, not everyone was equipped with one. However, the Black Armor Guards under Li Yun’s command were all issued one, making them a true rarity.

Outside of the military, there were no channels for commoners to obtain such a deadly weapon.

Not even the noble families.

Li Yun, considering the Crown Prince’s young age, had given him a crossbow. Although he already had a teacher for archery, a child’s arm strength was limited, and he wasn’t born with supernatural power.

This crossbow had been with Li Yan for a year. He usually just carried it around for show, only ever using it for training on the training ground.

Today was the first time he had ever aimed it at anything other than a target.

Cheng Yi, who had accompanied the Crown Prince out today, certainly knew who his young master was looking for. It was precisely because he knew that he understood why his young master showed no mercy when aiming at the person attempting to harm the current Queen Mother.

"Seize them!" Li Yan commanded. He sat on a pony, a size smaller than the horses around him. Though he looked like nothing more than a toddler, his current majestic aura was a stark contrast to the shy Little Bun he’d been in front of Ming Lingyi.

The Duke Jing Mansion guards protecting Zhao Shu now realized something was wrong.

Setting aside the first arrow, shot by a child with a crossbow, the three arrows that followed—aimed at their young lady with such power and precision—were not something guards from an ordinary family could produce.

"My lady," one of the Duke Jing Mansion guards couldn’t help but turn and say, "Perhaps we should retreat for now. We don’t know who these people are, but they’ve brought just as many men as we have."