My game even includes ancient times

"How come he's not dead?"

The boy's voice was clear but weak.

He Shi stood against the light at the warehouse entrance, his clothes slightly disheveled. He rested one hand on his sword, and his once neatly combed hair was now loose, with a few strands falling from his temples and fluttering to one side in the wind.

"Junior Brother?" Xia Yuan hadn't expected He Shi to suddenly appear here. She quickly walked a few steps out of the warehouse, bent down, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Why are you here? Why do you look so pale?"

He Shi raised his pale face to meet her gaze, and when he smiled, blood seeped from his chapped lower lip: "Senior Sister, I saw your carriage when I came out of the Chang residence, so I followed it all the way here."

Xia Yuan took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the corner of his mouth. Then she noticed the purplish marks on his wrists and a hint of heartache flashed in her eyes: "Okay, Senior Sister understands. You rest first and don't talk."

She straightened up, turned to face Steward Chang, and her face visibly darkened: "Chang Dong, my junior brother was sent by our master to deliver a message, yet you torment him like this. Do you know the consequences?"

Manager Chang stared at He Shi with a deathly pale face, cursing the incompetent coachman in his heart, but he couldn't utter a single word.

He Shi gently patted Xia Yuan's hand on his shoulder to indicate that he was alright. He then looked at Steward Chang and spoke in a calm voice, but to the latter it sounded like a thunderclap.

“Manager Chang, you have been disobeying the orders of Master Chu, conspiring with Military Advisor Hou, County Magistrate Wang, and Colonel Liu to embezzle various supplies allocated for disaster relief, and even tried to kill me to silence me. Why don’t you take advantage of the presence of all the officials and explain yourselves?”

Xia Yuan looked down in surprise.

How did the junior brother know that he had secretly summoned officials from Yunzhou to the scene? After a moment's thought, he immediately understood; it must have been that mysterious person who told him.

However, if the mysterious person was always by his side, why did he end up in such a sorry state?

When the steward heard the words "Gentlemen," he was a little taken aback.

When three familiar figures were escorted by state soldiers and led by a cold-faced general, they turned the corner from the other side of the warehouse and appeared before everyone. Manager Chang knew he was doomed.

He slumped his head in dejection, as if all his strength had been drained, and staggered backward, almost falling to the ground.

In an instant, all eyes were on him.

"Miss Xia, this young man must be the disciple that Master Chu took in at the end of last year, right?"

Just then, a cheerful voice rang out from behind them.

He Shi turned around and saw a middle-aged man getting out of an inconspicuous little carriage parked under the big tree opposite the warehouse.

The man, dressed in a simple brocade robe, walked over with his hands behind his back, looking like a wealthy old man commonly seen in the marketplace.

Hou, the military advisor, looked ashen-faced and knelt on the ground with a thud, muttering, "Prefect Zheng..."

The other two also knelt on the ground, heads bowed, not daring to speak.

Prefect Zheng ignored the three men and walked straight to He Shi's side. He looked He Shi up and down and said with a smile, "What an exceptionally handsome young man! He is calm in the face of danger and has an extraordinary demeanor. He is destined for great things. Master Chu is very fortunate."

Xia Yuan raised her delicate hand, covered her mouth and chuckled: "Thank you for the praise, Prefect Zheng, but it is unfortunate that my Chu family has produced such a scoundrel as Chang Dong. Today, I have made you laugh at me."

"Not at all. If you really want to talk about it, it's my fault for not being strict enough in my administration. I almost ruined this good deed of collecting grain for disaster relief. Fortunately, Miss Xia noticed it in time and notified me. Otherwise, if the matter had come to light, I would have been in serious trouble if the court had blamed me."

"Prefect Zheng, you are too kind."

The two of them chatted back and forth, oblivious to everyone else around them.

Looking at Xia Yuan's radiant smile, Manager Chang suddenly shivered.

He gritted his teeth, then suddenly knelt down, his knees slamming hard on the ground, startling everyone around him.

"Miss Xia!"

Steward Chang lifted the front of his robe, scraped his knees against the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, and quickly crawled to Xia Yuan on his knees.

He prostrated himself on the ground, tears streaming down his old face, his voice filled with remorse: "Miss Xia! I, Old Chang, was momentarily blinded by greed, betraying the noble deeds of the manor lord and the various grain-donating merchants. Fearing that my misdeeds would be discovered by the manor lord, I secretly detained and imprisoned Young Master He. I know I am guilty! Please punish me, Miss Xia!"

He cried so bitterly that the guards and soldiers around him felt pity for him.

Xia Yuan, however, was not buying his act. She looked down at his face, which seemed to be sincerely repenting, and her usually gentle voice was filled with coldness: "Manager Chang, you have been in charge of all of Chu's businesses in Dingyun City for nearly twenty years. My master trusts you and never sends anyone to inquire about them. But not inquiring does not mean he does not know. Do you really think he is completely unaware of what you have done in the past five years?"

The steward's crying stopped abruptly, but Xia Yuan's cold voice continued.

"Four years ago at the Heroes' Gathering, you intercepted nearly 20% of the various pills and powders sent by Huichun Valley, and several weapons sent by the Ouyang family. You resold them privately and made a lot of money, didn't you? And three years ago, when the Mountain-Moving Sword Master of Hualing came to my Chu Clan as a guest and instructed the members of the clan on swordsmanship, the clan leader ordered that generous gifts be prepared as gifts. Among them, various gems, rare steels, and century-old medicinal herbs were all missing a portion. You embezzled those as well, didn't you?"

The open space in front of the warehouse was silent. Everyone stared at Steward Chang in disbelief. Even Prefect Zheng shook his head with a sigh.

Xia Yuan's lips curved slightly, but her eyes held no smile: "Manager Chang, I don't need to say more about the subsequent incidents. My master cherishes old friendships and doesn't care about material possessions, so he has forgiven you time and time again. But this time, your actions have not only damaged the interests of my Chu family, but also harmed tens of thousands of disaster victims in Jinzhou and the reputation of my Chu family that has stood tall in the martial world for nearly a hundred years. I think you should understand your fate."

Manager Chang knelt on the ground with his head down, not uttering a word, as if he had already resigned himself to his fate.

But He Yu, who had been standing hidden to the side, saw that the red light on his body was getting brighter and brighter, as if it was about to burst into flames.

He Yu felt a chill run down her spine—

Oh no, this old man is trying to hurt someone!

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the steward, who had been kneeling quietly, suddenly sprang up, pulling a dagger from who-knows-where and pointing it straight at Xia Yuan's heart.

He Shi subconsciously took a step forward, but Steward Chang was too fast. Before he could draw his sword, the gleaming tip of the blade had already touched Xia Yuan's clothes.

But it could only stop there, the knife tip pressed against its heart, unable even to sever the brightly colored fabric.

Xia Yuan slowly lowered her raised right leg and gently straightened her skirt.

Manager Chang collapsed to the ground, vomiting a mouthful of blood. He clutched his lower abdomen, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Xia Yuan.

Xia Yuan first patted He Shi on the shoulder, then turned back to Zheng Zhizhou with an apologetic smile: "I'm so sorry to have disturbed you, Zheng Zhizhou."

Prefect Zheng smiled and shook his head: "It's alright, it's alright, Miss Xia's skills are truly excellent."

"Xia Yuan! You've only managed to get involved with the Chu family by luck. What right do you have to swagger around in front of me!"

Knowing he wouldn't live past today, Manager Chang had completely gone mad, coughing up blood while pointing at Xia Yuan and cursing her.

"Just because I call you Miss Xia, you think you're some pure and noble lady? You're nothing but a slut abandoned by her husband's family! A whore! A filthy bitch who climbed up the social ladder with her body..."

"Snapped!"

A black sword sheath slapped Steward Chang hard across the mouth, interrupting his incessant, vicious curses.

He Shi slowly lowered the sword in his hand and coldly watched as Steward Chang lay on the ground, spitting out a few broken teeth from his bloodied mouth.