Chapter Thirty-Three: Yu Huatian's Investment

Jiang Yuyan could feel the pain intensifying, but she truly didn't have the strength to cry out anymore. Her head was growing heavier and heavier, and a wave of drowsiness swept over her. At this moment, her muddled mind could grasp only a few scattered thoughts, but she understood one thing: she must find something to focus on, she must not fall asleep. If she did, she might never wake again.

Her mother’s dying wishes had long since faded under the relentless beatings and scoldings of recent days. In their place lingered the figure of Zhu Yu—his voice, his manner, his appearance—growing ever clearer until he was carved into her heart.

Outside the door, Jiang Biehe stood listening to the sound of the whip striking flesh. His face was etched with inner conflict. But soon something felt amiss: usually, when the beatings began, Yuyan would scream and struggle, even with her mouth gagged. But today, there was nothing—no cries, no sound of resistance.

A sense of foreboding crept into Jiang Biehe’s heart. He lifted his foot and entered the room.

The moment he stepped inside, he saw Jiang Yuyan had already fainted. A flash of pain crossed his eyes as he turned to Jiang Liu and demanded, “Madam, what reason did you have to beat Yuyan today? And why did you go so far? You’ve beaten her unconscious!”

His words were weak, lacking conviction even as he tried to reprimand her.

Jiang Liu sneered at his protest. “Isn’t it better that she’s unconscious? Saves you the heartbreak of listening at the door every time. Besides, let me remind you again: she’s called ‘Little Dog’! There’s only one Yufeng in this household—only one true young lady of the Jiang family! There is no such person as Jiang Yuyan!”

“No matter what you say, Yuyan is still my own flesh and blood. Why must you treat her this way? Is your heart not made of flesh as well? How can you be so cruel?”

It was rare for Jiang Biehe to speak so harshly to Jiang Liu.

At his words, Jiang Liu’s brows shot up. She shouted, “How dare you speak to me like that, Jiang Biehe? Don’t forget your place! If not for my godfather, Liu Xi, you’d still be that servant boy everyone condemned for betraying his master, feared and hated throughout the martial world. Who knows if you’d even be alive today? Where did your reputation for righteousness come from?”

Apparently unsatisfied, Jiang Liu continued berating him, “Marrying me was the best fortune you could ever hope for. Instead of cherishing it, you go consorting with other women and bring home a bastard child. Do you even remember the vow you made to me?”

Seeing Jiang Biehe remain silent, Jiang Liu pressed, “Well? Why aren’t you speaking? Have you forgotten?”

“Of course not,” Jiang Biehe replied, turning his head away in embarrassment.

“Then repeat it. What did you swear?” she demanded.

“I, Jiang Biehe, am a man of my word. A promise is a promise. I swore never to consort with other women,” he said, face stiff.

When he finished, Jiang Liu mocked him with a cold, sarcastic tone. “Never consort with other women? The bastard is already this old! I’ve spared that little wretch out of consideration for our twenty years of marriage. Otherwise, I’d have made you kill her yourself!”

Jiang Liu still seemed unsatisfied and went on, “I bet that little wretch still hopes you’ll save her one day. She’ll never know that every time she’s beaten, you’re right outside the door—and that it’s your own hand that passes me the rattan switch.”

At this, Jiang Biehe could listen no longer. He interrupted, “Enough. There are outsiders in the manor today. Must you make such a scene? Do you have to destroy the reputation for righteousness we’ve built all these years?”

Jiang Liu had been poised to continue her tirade, but at his words, she swallowed the rest of her accusations.

Seizing the moment, Jiang Biehe took her hand and led her outside. At the door, he instructed his adopted son, Jiang Dan, who stood waiting, “Go and see to Yuyan...”

Before Jiang Dan could reply, Jiang Liu shot Jiang Biehe a sidelong glare.

Under her watchful eyes, Jiang Biehe awkwardly corrected himself, “Go and check on Little Dog. See that nothing happens to her.”

Satisfied, Jiang Liu allowed herself to be led away.

Inside, Jiang Yuyan, who had overheard everything, trembled from head to toe. The bruises and beatings she had suffered were nothing compared to the fresh wound that now pierced her heart.

She wanted to cry, but no tears would come, no matter how hard she tried.

In the end, Jiang Yuyan swore to herself: she would repay today’s humiliation a thousandfold.

She refused Jiang Dan’s help, dragged herself up, treated her wounds as best she could, and returned to her meager bed.

She should have fallen quickly into sleep, but the cold, white moonlight spilling through the window kept her awake, her thoughts churning restlessly. Over and over, she wondered: When will Young Master Zhu come to take me away...?

After a long while, sleep finally began to overtake her, but something felt wrong—she couldn’t settle, and forced her bleary eyes open to glance around the room.

What she saw drove all sleep from her.

There was someone standing beside her bed.

He made no move. As her panic faded, Jiang Yuyan took a closer look, then asked uncertainly, “Steward Tian?”

“It’s me,” replied Yu Hua Tian.

Hearing his confirmation, Jiang Yuyan’s spirits instantly lifted.

“Has Young Master Zhu returned? Did he send you to take me away?”

Yu Hua Tian had witnessed everything that had just transpired. As the Chief Eunuch of the Western Depot, he was a man with a heart of stone—the petty cruelty he’d just observed made no impression on him at all.

He had also seen the hatred blazing in Jiang Yuyan’s eyes. This kind of drama played out countless times every day; the ending was always tragic. But those who endured to the end always rose above others—without exception.

For people like this, once they seized an opportunity, they never let go. They would stop at nothing to gather every resource around them, turning everything to their advantage.

Unfortunately, very few such people succeeded—not because of any external factor, but because most failed at the first hurdle. They simply couldn’t persist.

There were only two difficulties: psychological collapse and physical breakdown. Simple to say, but few could endure.

Moreover, the kind of opportunity that could change their fate did not come easily.

But this woman before him—Jiang Yuyan—was different. She had already won the emperor’s favor. Could there be a greater opportunity than that, under heaven?

Yu Hua Tian decided to change his attitude toward Jiang Yuyan. If she could endure, if she could persist until the emperor remembered her again, her future would be limitless.

If he could leave a good impression now, she might become his ally in the palace one day.

Yu Hua Tian was eager to invest early not out of sentiment, but because he knew clearly that people like Jiang Yuyan, if they succeeded, were never whole. They were either physically flawed or psychologically twisted. Since she had won the emperor’s favor, he would make sure she suffered no physical harm.

As for her mind, there was nothing he could do—such people, when they turned vicious, could even make Yu Hua Tian himself shudder.

Therefore, he must show her kindness before her spirit twisted completely, so that she would remember him—and make things easier in the future.