Deep within the Imperial Guards Command Office in the Imperial Capital, in Deputy Commander Sima Qianyu's study, the atmosphere was so oppressive it had nearly solidified.
Case files were piled high atop the massive rosewood desk, every cover marked with the scarlet words "Boudoir Rape Case." It was as though the pages still carried the sobs, blood, and tears of those victimized women.
Sima Qianyu wore the Deputy Commander's official robes embroidered with silver-clawed black panthers, a dark jade belt cinched around his upright waist, yet it could not conceal the violent aura surging from his body.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the latest case file on the desk. His knuckles had gone white from clenching his fists, and even the lines of his jaw were drawn taut.
"Duke's daughter... He actually dared lay hands on a Duke's daughter!" His furious roar made the bronze bells on the window lattice buzz.
Sima Qianyu suddenly slammed his palm onto the desk. The jade paperweight shattered on impact, fragments flying everywhere.
The veins on his forehead throbbed wildly, as though fire were burning beneath his skin.
Three months had passed. Since the first case, more than a dozen unmarried daughters of officials and wealthy merchants had suffered this calamity.
Those girls should have been delicate blossoms, pampered and precious, waiting in their chambers to be wed. Now, their chastity had been destroyed by that shameless rapist.
Some wept all day and never stepped beyond their doors; others were fierce by nature and could not bear the humiliation, ending their lives long ago with three feet of white silk.
Each fresh life lost, each shattered family, every single case struck Sima Qianyu's heart like a heavy hammer.
The Emperor was enraged, and the court was shaken.
The Son of