Saying Thank You

Blood trickled from the corner of Song Qingshuang's mouth, and her beautiful little face was now swollen like a pig's head, yet the look she leveled at Qin Yuan was filled with shock and resentment.

She could not fathom how Qin Yuan dared to strike her, let alone with such brutality.

Fortunately, Qin Yuan was perceptive enough to catch the confusion in her eyes:

"I truly don't know where you get the confidence to think I came here looking for you.

To be honest, if you hadn't uttered the words 'break off the engagement' just now, I would have almost forgotten who you were."

Song Qingshuang's eyes widened abruptly, and at the same time, a wave of shame and embarrassment surged in her heart; she had misunderstood.

Then, Qin Yuan said with an amused expression:

"You really are quite the character. From childhood until now, no one has ever dared to lecture me like they were scolding a grandson—you are the first.

Should I call you brave, or ignorant, or perhaps... just so accustomed to being overbearing that you don't take anyone seriously!"

As he finished speaking, Qin Yuan's face turned cold. He grabbed Song Qingshuang by the hair, his gaze icy as he said:

"Even your father wouldn't dare speak to me like that; he has to show me a measure of respect when we meet. A mere daughter of a duke, even a legitimate one, is not qualified to act this way!"

Looking at the menacing Qin Yuan, terror welled up in Song Qingshuang's eyes. Having grown up in a greenhouse, she had never been threatened with such ferocity, and her body could not stop trembling.

"To deal with a woman who doesn't understand her situation, you have to use force!" Qin Yuan stared at Song Qingshuang with cold eyes:

"I hit you—do you submit?"

"I... I submit." Song Qingshuang no longer dared to be defiant.

"Good. It seems my words from just now have penetrated your soul and made you realize your mistake."

Qin Yuan nodded in satisfaction: "Say thank you."

Song Qingshuang froze, momentarily thinking something was wrong with her ears.

"W-what?"

"I made you see reality so you can avoid offending people you can't afford to provoke in the future. Shouldn't you thank me?"

"...Thank you." Song Qingshuang gritted her teeth, bowing her head in humiliation.

"You're welcome. There is a price to pay, however."

Qin Yuan snatched the Storage Soul Tool from Song Qingshuang's slender wrist and, under her stunned and incredulous gaze, held it up:

"I'll be taking this as payment. If you have any issues, tell your father to come to the Imperial Palace to find me."

Qin Yuan rose with a smile, looking at Song Qingshuang with a mix of curiosity and amusement:

"I am very curious—have you always been this confident?"

Before the lip-biting Song Qingshuang could answer, he beckoned toward Zhao Shuang'er, who was standing blankly on the stone steps of the mountain path:

"You there, come here for a moment."

Caught in a state of extreme shock and stupor, Zhao Shuang'er snapped back to reality. Seeing Qin Yuan's gesture, she hurriedly looked left and right, only to realize she was the only one around.

Tentatively, she pointed at herself in hesitation: "Me?"

"Yes, you."

Zhao Shuang'er was terrified. If he dared to hit the legitimate daughter of a duke, what did that make her, the legitimate daughter of a marquis?

She could only pray silently in her heart: "Please, don't hit me just because you hit her."

Trembling, she moved to stand before Qin Yuan, not daring to open her eyes, waiting for his judgment.

"She is your responsibility now. Don't let her die here; it would be too much of a bother."

Just as Zhao Shuang'er was feeling anxious and fearful, a gentle voice drifted into her ears, fading into the distance.

When she opened her eyes, she found that the man who had seemed like a demon had already walked up the mountain, showing no intention of paying her any further mind.

Exhaling a sharp breath of relief, Zhao Shuang'er hurriedly helped up Song Qingshuang, whose eyes were red with grievance.

Only after Qin Yuan had walked far away did Song Qingshuang dare to speak, her eyes reddening with indignation:

"Shuang'er, don't you think Qin Yuan went too far? To hit me like that—I must make my father seek justice for me!"

Zhao Shuang'er dared not interject; she kept her mouth shut and simply supported Song Qingshuang as they headed toward Heaven Dou City.

Qin Yuan had no interest in Song Qingshuang's reaction; he had already entered the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

The Heaven Dou Royal Academy had never seen a man as handsome as Qin Yuan, and along the way, girls' eyes lit up, followed by a series of excited shrieks.

Already twelve years old, Qin Yuan stood at one meter eighty, with a slender and well-proportioned frame, brows like swords, a face like a sculpture, and skin like jade.

Coupled with the noble and elegant temperament cultivated by Qian Renxue since he grew up in the Imperial Palace, he was a peerless beauty of a man, turning every head he passed.

A girl who was bold and confident in her own beauty walked up with a slightly flushed face:

"H-hello, may we get to know each other? My name is Liu Ruyue, my father holds the title of Count, and I..."

Qin Yuan smiled, but instead of answering, he asked:

"Do you know where Dugu Yan is?"

Liu Ruyue's beautiful little face stiffened instantly, and she forced a smile as she pointed the way.

Qin Yuan thanked her with a smile and turned to walk away.

Once Qin Yuan was far enough away, the forced smile on Liu Ruyue's face collapsed instantly. She looked down at her chest, which obscured her own toes, and for the first time, she began to doubt her own beauty.

After asking a few more pretty girls who approached him along the way, Qin Yuan finally found Dugu Yan.

For a peerless, handsome man to take the initiative to seek her out, Dugu Yan was both surprised and delighted. Her pale purple eyes remained fixed, unblinking, on the face before her that seemed not to belong to the mortal realm:

"You were looking for me?"

Yu Tianheng, who had been frantically pursuing Dugu Yan from the side, felt a massive sense of crisis and glared at Qin Yuan with vigilance:

"What business do you have with Yan-yan?"

"None of your business!" Dugu Yan, blinded by beauty and forgetting her loyalty, glared at Yu Tianheng with dissatisfaction.

"I..." Yu Tianheng's heart went cold; she had actually yelled at him for the sake of another man.

Ignoring Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan's beautiful eyes shifted back to Qin Yuan's peerlessly handsome face, and she spoke in a soft, sweet voice that Yu Tianheng had never heard before:

"Don't mind him. What did you want to see me about?"

With a faint, enigmatic smile, Qin Yuan glanced at the gloomy Yu Tianheng and, ignoring the man's threatening and warning gaze, stared earnestly at Dugu Yan:

"You are sick."

"..." Dugu Yan's sweet smile froze instantly.

Such a handsome man, why does he have to have a mouth? I'll sew it shut sooner or later!

Yu Tianheng's eyes suddenly lit up, feeling that his chance to shine had arrived, so he stepped forward and said:

"Is that any way to talk!"

"I can cure your snake venom." Ignoring the clown Yu Tianheng, Qin Yuan kept his eyes on Dugu Yan.

Dugu Yan stared at Qin Yuan in silence, the appreciation for a handsome man in her beautiful eyes turning into scrutiny, laced with intense skepticism:

"You can cure it?"

"I can." Qin Yuan nodded, then changed the subject:

"But I require compensation."

"What kind of compensation?"

"I want to pick any medicinal herbs I choose from your grandfather's herb garden!"

Dugu Yan's pupils constricted: "How do you know about the existence of the herb garden?"

"I have my own channels." Qin Yuan smiled slightly:

"To show my sincerity, I can let you experience it for yourself first."

As he spoke, Qin Yuan extended his right hand and tapped lightly toward Dugu Yan.

A ball of warm, holy, and divine white light flew toward Dugu Yan's chest.

Dugu Yan instinctively wanted to dodge, but she felt no threat; instead, she felt a sense of intense longing.

The white light merged into her heaving chest, and Dugu Yan felt a tingling sensation throughout her body. A feeling of comfort she had never experienced before spread through her, causing her face to flush like a peach blossom, making her look stunningly beautiful.

Yu Tianheng's eyes went wide as he watched.