The Birth of a Villainess

Qu Xing Xu went down the carriage in silence and walked over towards where the noise was coming from. The moment he was seen by the soldiers who stood close to him, they felt their body being surrounded with extreme coldness and biting pain as if a knife was skinning them alive.

The dark guards that were under Qu Xing Xu knew that their master was displeased by the noise they were making. However, it wasn't really their fault since the Zheng Empire's soldiers started it. Insulting their master was tantamount to getting the highest punishment that could be given to a soldier within their ranks.

Ni Zixuan also noticed his older brother walking towards them and glanced towards Jiang Sheng. The two shared tacit understandings in just a second and Jian Sheng walked towards Qu Xing Xu.

"Qu Xing Xu... where's sister-in-law? Why are you here outside instead of accompanying her inside the carriage?" Jiang Sheng tried to get his attention away from this small matter.

Qu Xing Xu gave him a sardonic smile and replied in a low voice, "Your sister-in-law couldn't sleep after hearing such a loud noise so I had to come out and see what's happening. Brother Jiang, tell me, isn't it my duty to make sure no one disturbs my wife's sleep?"

Towards this wife-crazed man, Jiang Sheng couldn't answer his question. Heck, he was never married so how was he supposed to know what was a husband's duty in the first place?

Faced with such a problematic and tyrannical man, Jiang Sheng really wanted to grab some people from the Zheng Empire's soldiers for him to beat up. Were they living so freely and worry free?

They even have to force the big boss out of his cave to take care of them!

"Qu Xing Xu, don't worry about this. Let me handle them and just go back to my sister-in-law and hug her to sleep." Jiang Sheng could only use Lin Xiaofei's influence towards Qu Xing Xu.

Qu Xing Xu, however, was not convinced. Though he was tempted to go back to hug Lin Xiaofei, he was also curious what the Zheng Empire soldiers were up to. Thus, followed by Jiang Sheng, Qu Xing Xu slowly got near the commotion.

"The Duke of Xin is really skilled! He could even use his own people to silence us, good soldiers of the Empire! I wonder what would His Majesty say if he heard about this?"

If people heard him saying this, ordinary people might look badly on the Duke of Xin and think he was abusing his power to bully the soldiers of the Empire. This might even cause him to be censored by the numerous officials that have been waiting to take a bite from this big piece of meat that has been dangling in front of them but couldn't!

The men in the Duke of Xin's army were angered by what the soldier said and even Qi Yandi, who was trying to hold back a soldier's brother from moving forward glared at the person who just said these words.

However, just as he was about to pummel down this man, he saw a glimpse of black coat floating under the moonlight and the Duke of Xin that the Zheng Empire's soldiers were bad mouthing just now was standing in front of everyone.

The man who had just spoken these words didn't see Qu Xing Xu because he had his back towards him, and was even more delighted when he saw that everyone was staring at him in astonishment and had their eyes wide open.

"Hmph! What are you looking at? Are you scared of me now? Tsk tsk... You all are so annoying. When I arrive in the capital, I will tell my official father to send a censor to His Majesty! Let's see if your Duke of Xin can still act arrogantly without fear. I'd really love to see him kneeling and begging His Majesty for mercy!" The soldier continued to laugh and feel a surge of pride and arrogance inside as if he was injected with chicken blood.

Gu Nan was the Di son of a mid-rank official who could enter the court meeting with His Majesty. Recently, his father was getting more attention in the court and even His Majesty praised him for doing a great job and rewarded him with several treasures. Now, Gu Nan was no longer worried about living the rest of his life as a soldier and would soon ask his father to put him in a position as a low ranking official.

Then, he could stay in the capital for the rest of his life and never think of fighting in the battlefield again!

"Who gave you such courage to raise your voice when the Duchess is asleep? Hmm?"

Qu Xing Xu's voice, which was extremely chilly, rang out in the middle of the forest. The soldiers who saw him paled and the men under his army shuddered. They could already see the outcome of Gu Nan even without opening their eyes.

Gu Nan, who finally sensed that something was wrong and heard the voice from behind him, sweated profusely. Despite his courage to say all these words, he was sure that the Duke of Xin wouldn't come out since it was widely rumored that he loved his wife to the core that he wouldn't even want to separate with him.

It was also true in the case of these past few days during their journey. Duke of Xin, the fearful man that many were scared of, admired, and loved, had always been beside Duchess of Xin.

Hence, Gu Nan was confident that Duke of Xin wouldn't come out just because of this small commotion. The least that could happen to him was that after tonight's events, he would be sent away from the army and forced to stay at home for a house arrest.

"Your Lordship, this soldier is guilty."

Gu Nan couldn't make any excuses. Besides, he really didn't think that he was overly loud. He only lowered his head and admitted his mistakes immediately to lessen the punishment and also to finish this matter quickly after appeasing Duke of Xin's anger through admitting his mistakes early on.

Clearly, he had done this action many times so that Gu Nan's movement had no awkwardness and even looked as if he was an elegant court official bowing before the Emperor.

Gu Nan knew that the Duke of Xin was not easy to deal with. However, he should not be able to do anything to him in front of everyone, right?

"Your Lordship, this soldier is aware of his mistakes!" Gu Nan said loudly for everyone to hear him. He even had a solemn and aggrieved expression on his face as if he was being bullied.

But who told the Duke of Xin to be so merciless?

Not caring about his heart-felt admittance of mistake, Qu Xing Xu interrupted. "This Duke doesn't dare accept your apology. I fear that the Duchess will suffer even more tonight because of how loud your voice is. However, it is good that you admit your mistakes early on."

Gu Nan's heart thumped, but he released a relieved sigh when he heard the last part of Duke of Xin's words.

He was once again proud of himself since he knew that he would get a lighter punishment after admitting his wrongdoing first.

"Since you know your mistakes... Then, what do you think is a suitable punishment for him?" Qu Xing Xu said carelessly as if he didn't see the expression on Gu Nan's face turning stiffer by the second.

Qu Xing Xu gave the highest ranking soldier left in the Zheng Empire's army a deep look and asked him, "I dare not punish His Majesty's soldiers. Will the Deputy General tell me how I should punish this lowly soldier?"

The Deputy General felt his back soaking in sweat and he anxiously replied, fearing that he would say the wrong words, "Your Lordship has given the authority to handle the Empire's soldiers however he likes. Your Lordship can punish him however you want."

Qu Xing Xu gazed down at the Deputy General for a while. In a quiet and almost floating voice, he said, "Someone come. These lowly soldiers has disturbed the Duchess's sleep and insulted this Duke's name. Give these men a special treatment to how I punish my soldiers."

"Your Lordship!" Gu Nan stared incredulously at Qu Xing Xu. However, the Duke had already turned around and disappeared from his sight as men in dark robes started to move forward and drag all the men who insulted and started a fight that night away from where their resting place was located.

Nobody knows where they were dragged to and nobody knows what has been done to them.

However, one thing was certain. The Duke certainly cared about the Duchess far more than the care he put to himself. Why else would he first mention the offense of disturbing her sleep?

At this moment, all the little doubts that everyone had towards Qu Xing Xu's relationship with Lin Xiaofei was erased. Nobody could be so devoted and love-crazed as Duke of Xin towards the Duchess.