I had him sent to the northern frontier to work in the mines.
But it was a thousand miles away. Who knew if he’d even make it there alive?
Passing the main courtyard, I pushed open the door and went inside.
Xiao Yunji was still unconscious.
The bedding beneath him was soaked red with fresh blood. It continued to seep from the wound, soaking the sheets.
Since I didn’t know exactly when our bodies would switch back, I’d swallowed enough sleeping potion to knock out a bull, just to be safe.
It seemed everything had gone according to plan.
As I left the estate, I glanced back at the plaque above the gate: “Xiao Family Residence.”
Goodbye.
This hellhole that devours people…
I crooked a finger.
The beggars hiding in the corner immediately swarmed over.
Without hesitation, they flung buckets of pitch-black slop onto the sign hanging high above the gate.
I didn’t bother looking back.
I climbed into the carriage waiting at the end of the alley and headed toward the new life that awaited me.
20
Three days later, Xiao Yunji slowly came to.
Instinctively, he reached down to touch himself.
In that instant, pain ripped through his entire body, striking deep into his heart and soul.
He went rigid, trembling as he pulled down his undergarment.
When he finally saw the wound—
“Aaaah!”
A wail as agonizing as a slaughtered beast’s echoed through the estate.
Even the person lurking on the roof was startled and nearly kicked a tile loose.
At the same time, Madam Xiao, who had been unconscious from the sleeping potion, also jolted awake at the scream.
She scrambled out of bed. Before she could even put on her shoes, she staggered toward the noise.
When she arrived, the sight before her struck her like a bolt of lightning.
Her son sat dazed in a pool of blood.
Her cloudy eyes widened like brass bells.
“Yun… Yunji, my son, what… what happened?”
Before she could finish—
The courtyard gate thundered under a barrage of pounding.
By then, the capital was already in an uproar.
Every tavern and teahouse was abuzz with talk—
The Eldest Prince’s head had been hung at the gate of a bandit camp.
The Second Prince’s naked corpse had been hung from a flagpole.
The old emperor had heard the news during court, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed unconscious. He still hadn’t woken up.
The court was in total disarray. Who had time to investigate the real cause of the two princes’ deaths?
As for Xiao Yunji, you could say he was… lucky.
21
But by now, Xiao Yunji could hardly feel lucky.
The main gate of the Xiao family residence was smashed open.
More than ten burly men wielding clubs stormed into the courtyard.
At their head was the scar-faced man, a fierce-looking brute. He pulled out a stack of IOUs.
“Xiao Yunji, time to pay up!”
Every page bore his blood-red thumbprint and personal seal.
“I didn’t borrow that money!”
Xiao Yunji snatched the IOUs and tried to tear them to pieces.
But Scarface wasn’t about to let him.
He grabbed Xiao Yunji’s hand and wrenched it back hard—
“Crack!”
The crisp snap of a breaking bone rang out.
A stabbing pain shot through him.
Xiao Yunji screamed like a pig being slaughtered, sweat pouring off him.
“Trying to welch on your debt?”
Xiao Yunji tried desperately to explain:
“It was Quinn Morgan! She used my body…”
Before he could finish, jeers drowned him out.
Even Madam Xiao, standing beside him, looked at him strangely.
She gripped his shoulders and asked anxiously:
“Yunji, what on earth is going on? Didn’t you say you could take care of this debt?”
Xiao Yunji was nearly out of his mind.
Why wouldn’t anyone believe him?
Not even his own mother!
He shouted in near despair:
“I’m telling the truth! Quinn Morgan and I switched bodies! She locked me up! I don’t know anything!”
After hearing him, Scarface exchanged a glance with his men, his face full of contempt:
“You think we’re three-year-olds? Get him, boys!”
Madam Xiao threw herself in front of him, shouting until her voice went hoarse:
“How dare you! My son serves the Second Prince! You’ll pay for this!”
“The Second Prince?”
Scarface froze for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed.
He spat a thick glob of phlegm right in the old lady’s face:
“The Second Prince is dead! If you want to file a complaint, go find him in the underworld!”
He waved his hand—
The men rushed forward and pinned mother and son to the ground.
They pummeled them with fists and kicks.
Unable to fight back, the two could only scream and beg for mercy.
In the struggle, Xiao Yunji’s undergarment slipped down, revealing a gruesome wound of blood and torn flesh.
The whole group froze in shock for several seconds.
Then—
Laughter erupted, loud enough to shake the heavens.
“So that’s what happened… He’s got nothing down there!”
22
Scarface was eager to strip the Xiao residence bare.
But after searching high and low, he was left speechless.
The Xiao residence was completely empty.
As if it had been cleared out long ago.
“Damn it, we’re too late!”
Scarface grew even more furious.
He turned and glared at Xiao Yunji, sprawled on the ground.
“If you can’t pay…”
He took Xiao Yunji by the chin and turned his face this way and that, examining it closely.
Then he suddenly broke into a leering smile.
“That face of yours would fetch a pretty penny.”
Three days later.
A new act appeared at the capital’s most famous circus—
“Beauty in the Vase.”
A face like Grace Turner’s, her figure concealed within a blue-and-white porcelain jar.
It drew countless spectators, who paid lavishly to see it.
As for Madam Xiao—she was old and worn out, so no one would pay a decent price for her. She was beaten to death on the spot.
Her body was tossed onto a graveyard, left for wild dogs to tear apart and devour.
She died a truly horrible death.
The glory and riches she’d once enjoyed had crumbled to ashes.
The entire Xiao clan, along with Madam Xiao’s family, had spent no small amount of money on Xiao Yunji in the past.
Now it was all gone.
They all hated him to the bone.
In their fury, they unanimously petitioned the clan head to strike Xiao Yunji and Madam Xiao from the family register.
Aboard a flower-decked boat in the south, I leaned against the carved railing.
Inside the teahouse, the storyteller’s voice rose to a climax—
“I must say, Miss Shen was truly fortunate to have severed ties with the Xiao family long ago.”
I smiled faintly.
I gently scattered fish feed into the water. Ripples spread across the lake, widening without end.
—THE END—