Good, Put It on Me!

Isn't that just great?

Those were the only five words in Qin Muye's mind.

He thought he'd reacted quickly enough.

Though he had no idea why Qin Yanying's team had suddenly crossed the river, he'd immediately followed. Even though Qin Yanying had easily left him in the dust, he'd used the Divergent Path fate skill to track her precisely.

When he arrived, Qin Yanying hadn't made a move yet.

As long as the Yayu couple were safe, the moral high ground belonged to Qin Yanying. After all, there were both eyewitnesses and physical evidence.

Sure, after the matter was reported to the authorities, there was a ninety-nine percent chance they'd sweep it under the rug and pretend nothing had happened. But at least the Qin Family wouldn't be put on the defensive.

But he hadn't expected this.

He'd underestimated his great-aunt's strength and temper.

Only just now had he understood the weight behind the title of "Great Gan's First Female God of Slaughter."

They were both fourth-rank.

Some were strong enough to contend with grandmasters.

Others... were only fourth-rank.

Even with Yayu blood in his veins, Hu Huan hadn't even had a chance to save his wife and child against Qin Yanying, who'd been tempered in blood and fire since childhood.

Or rather,

he'd never imagined Qin Yanying would kill his wife and child right in front of him.

Who the hell could've seen that coming?

The puppet's voice was hoarse. "General Qin, why did it come to this?"

"Tch!"

Qin Yanying sneered. "If I didn't do this, should I have waited for those incompetent officials to let them get away with it?"

The puppet fell silent.

He understood.

Qin Yanying hadn't acted on impulse.

She'd already thought through every consequence.

Qin Yanying glanced at the puppet. "I see you as a friend, not an enemy. Take these children and pregnant women somewhere safe, and I'll owe you a favor."

The puppet nodded. His aura spread, and he carried the children, who were too choked with tears to cry out, in his arms. Then he turned to the three pregnant women. "Can you walk?"

"I, I..."

Two of the women's legs were trembling. They were clearly in no condition to move.

Only Qingtiao seemed all right. She hurriedly supported the other two. "We can. We can!"

Then she quickly followed the puppet out of the courtyard.

"You!"

Hu Huan's eyes bulged with fury. He wanted nothing more than to kill these humans and vent his rage.

But Qin Yanying's aura had him firmly pinned down. He didn't dare make a reckless move.

His hands gripped Qin Yanying's Blazing Spear. The scales on his body stood on end, and his frenzied demonic power looked ready to explode at any moment.

Qin Yanying simply watched him in silence. "My people have arrived, but I won't let them intervene. The Brocade Guard will be here in about fifteen minutes. That means this is your last chance to avenge yourself.

"Once I'm in a cell, you'll never have another chance. I'm giving you the opening. Let me see the blood of Yayu's descendants."

Hu Huan fell silent.

He glanced back and saw the Imperial Guard filing into the courtyard. His face darkened like ink.

"Don't dare?"

Seeing he still wouldn't act, Qin Yanying crushed the snake's head on the ground with one foot. "What about now?"

Hu Huan fell silent.

Qin Yanying sneered, picked up an eggshell, and gently crushed it. It made a soft crack. She clicked her tongue. "The eggshell's already hard. She was about to give birth, wasn't she? What a pity..."

Hu Huan fell silent.

Qin Yanying sneered. "Coward!"

Hu Huan's voice was shrill. "Don't think I can't see what you're after! You're just trying to find a good excuse to kill me and still keep yourself alive!"

Qin Yanying raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You're not entirely stupid."

By then,

the puppet had handed the pregnant women and children over to a squad of Imperial Guards. He quietly walked over to Qin Yanying and lowered his voice. "General Qin, leave. I'll take the blame."

"You? Can you shoulder it?"

"I can!"

Qin Muye had already made up his mind to sacrifice his identity as a "Puppet Master."

The Qin Family wasn't here, and there were only a few people in the capital who couldn't stand the Demon Official system. Even Li Xingluo merely disliked the Demon Race. She'd never openly opposed the Demon Official system.

This matter couldn't be made public.

So no one could save the "culprit."

Only someone with enough standing could step forward as a scapegoat and put the matter to rest.

It was true the court didn't want to offend the Demon Officials, but it couldn't afford to offend the Qin Family either.

Whether Qin Yanying had killed the demons didn't matter.

Just as it didn't matter whether Hu Huan had abused his authority and taken lives.

All anyone wanted was a unified story and an explanation that would pass muster.

Of course, a Puppet Master who'd only just made a name for himself probably wouldn't be enough.

It would also depend on how much the court was willing to offer Hu Huan.

Perhaps the Qin Family would have to pay a price, too.

But Qin Muye didn't care. So far, Qin Yanying was the only person in this world he truly considered family. Chen Sui counted for half.

"I don't even know you. Why would I let you take the blame for me?"

Qin Yanying laughed and waved a hand. "Relax! Your general knows where to draw the line!"

The puppet glanced at the snake's corpse and the spilled egg liquid. He could barely keep it together. "You don't know where the hell the line is!"

Qin Yanying burst out laughing. "I've been in the army since I was a kid. I've beaten up at least eighty Demon Officials and demon generals, and I know the laws concerning Demon Officials like the back of my hand.

"That big-bellied snake was Hu Huan's wife, sure, but she was only a relative of a Demon Official. Even if she was carrying Yayu's offspring, I'd get at most twenty years in prison for killing her."

"Then try to get acquitted..."

"Acquitted my ass!"

Qin Yanying swore. "This has to blow up. I want to see if there's even half a person left in this whole damn capital with any backbone! This has nothing to do with you, so get out of here.

"Take this. Qin Yanying owes you a favor. I may not be able to repay it if I end up in prison, but my nephew's loaded. Go ask him for ten or eight thousand taels. No problem."

As she spoke,

she tossed the puppet a jade pendant.

The puppet fell silent.

Right, right. Use my money to repay your debt to me, huh?

Qin Muye knew there was no turning back now. He controlled the puppet and quickly left the scene.

For now, he needed to find another way to help Qin Yanying avoid punishment.

After spending so many days together, he'd always thought his great-aunt was a little reckless.

Only now did he understand: she just couldn't stand even a grain of sand in her eye.

She knew the consequences would be severe.

But she was ready to bear them.

Thinking about it, how could someone worthy of being called a renowned general have no sense of restraint at all?

The puppet quickly disappeared from the scene.

Hu Huan hadn't moved once from beginning to end. He just stood there with his eyes wide, panting heavily.

Qin Yanying kept taunting him. "Still the same spoiled brat as ever. You make trouble, then you're afraid of the consequences. Yayu's an ancient ferocious beast, yet its descendants raise spoiled brats even better than we humans do.

"And you call yourself a Demon Official?

"With that temperament, you aren't worth a hair on my nephew's head.

"Damn it, the more I think about it, the angrier I get!

"If someone like you can be a Demon Official, my nephew could at least be Prime Minister, couldn't he?"

As she spoke,

she kept stomping on the snake's corpse.

Before long, the snake's innards had been crushed to mush, splattering out through the holes in its body.

Hu Huan's reason teetered on the brink of collapse again and again, but his feet remained rooted to the ground. He roared at the top of his lungs, "You'll never trick me!"

"What a damn mess!"

Qin Yanying was getting a headache. She only wished she hadn't been so infamous in the past, so every Demon Official knew how well she could exploit loopholes in the law.

There was still a significant difference between unilaterally slaughtering a Demon Official and killing one in a fight.

Just then,

a ripple of energy swept over them.

She looked up and saw Chen Sui standing at the doorway, having vaulted over the courtyard wall.

"Boom!"

At the sight of what was inside, Chen Sui felt as if the sky had fallen. He trembled and couldn't get a word out.

He was stunned!

He really was stunned!

He knew full well that Hu Huan was unquestionably in the wrong.

If Qin Yanying hadn't killed Hu Huan's wife and child, then no matter how you looked at it, Qin Yanying wouldn't be at fault. She might even have earned merit, though an invisible hand would have swept the matter away.

But Qin Yanying had killed Hu Huan's wife and child.

And not a single human pregnant woman or child had died.

This was a huge mess.

If this had happened to any human clan, they would have swallowed the blame out of fairness, for the greater good, or out of fear of the Qin Family.

But the Demon Officials wouldn't!

The clans and the dynasty were bound together.

The Demon Officials and the dynasty were merely partners!

Even though they'd taken human form, their minds were still full of bestial instincts. When their interests were touched, they wouldn't back down!

What should he do?

What should he do?

Qin Yanying swore as she walked over. "Why's a grown man trembling? Where are the shackles? Put them on me!"

Chen Sui instinctively took a step back. His throat bobbed as he struggled to speak. "Yan, Yan Ying! Actually, you don't..."

Qin Yanying glared at him. "You can't protect me! I said put them on, so put them on. Do as you're told!"

Chen Sui fell silent.

A moment later,

Chen Sui escorted Qin Yanying away. The Imperial Guard protected the victims and carried the snake's corpse after them.

In the courtyard,

Hu Huan's belated threat finally rang out. "Qin Yanying, just you wait! This time, I won't let you get away with it!"