Chapter 11: Humiliation of Body and Soul

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Every remark struck Xiao Yi like a steel needle, stabbing until she could scarcely straighten her back.

Once, they had accused her of harming her own kind, a crime deserving death. Now they said she was shameless, that she had entered into an illicit union without a matchmaker and brought disgrace upon the family name.

When such crimes were forced upon a person and proclaimed openly, what hope was there of survival? In the vast Fox Clan, there was no place left for her.

Never before had Xiao Yi so desperately wanted to flee this family.

Yet how to escape, and when, remained a difficult question.

As she lowered her head in thought, the voices around her suddenly grew quieter, until they fell completely silent.

She turned and saw that Xiao Ru had come to stand behind her.

“Which household are you from? What are you all doing gathered here? Are you itching for punishment?”

After Xiao Ru’s sharp reprimand, the servants surrounding the Southern Courtyard scattered like startled birds and beasts, scrambling over one another in their haste to flee.

“Whatever else she may be, she was raised by our parents and is a young lady of the Fox Clan. The servants have rebelled against their mistress, and you are actually this useless!”

After driving the servants away, Xiao Ru turned his criticism upon her.

Raised daughter?

Xiao Yi gave a cold laugh inwardly, finding the title deeply ironic.

Compared with the family servants, all she possessed was the empty name of “raised daughter.”

Once, she too had been the apple of her parents’ eyes, the treasure of their hearts. Whenever she encountered injustice, she had struck back without hesitation, because she knew perfectly well that her parents and elder brother would always be her strongest support. No matter what happened, they would stand on her side.

But all of that had long since become the past.

Now, she was a thorn in Xiao Qiang’s side and an eyesore to her. Naturally, everything she did was wrong, and everything she said was dismissed as an excuse.

If that was the case, what support did she have? What confidence could she possibly have to fight back?

To regard herself as a true young lady of the Fox Clan, as she had in the past, would be nothing more than inviting further humiliation.

“What a disgrace!”

When Xiao Yi remained silent, looking utterly beyond redemption, Xiao Ru’s anger only grew fiercer.

Without another word, he seized her by the arm and marched straight toward the main residence.

They said nothing along the way, doing nothing but hurry onward.

The night stretched endlessly, with only a few scattered stars strewn across the sky. Snow blanketed the earth in every direction, making it seem as though only the two of them remained in all the world.

Had they not just endured a confrontation, this scene, together with the warmth spreading from his hand around her wrist, might have made Xiao Yi feel so comforted that she would have thought herself returned to the past.

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It had been another bitter winter like this one, back when she and Xiao Ru were still brother and sister by blood.

She loved burrowing through the snow and digging tunnels, and every time she came home she was covered from head to toe in it. That alone would have been enough, but she would then shake her fur all over the house, leaving the rooms soaked through and filthy each time. For that, her parents had beaten her more than once.

Yet even though he knew that indulging her in such mischief would bring him no benefit, her elder brother had doted on her without hesitation. He walked beside her and joined her in every ridiculous escapade.

Her heart aching, Xiao Yi gradually slowed her steps.

“What is it? Do you regret it now?” Xiao Ru noticed her slowing pace and turned back to ask. “Your younger sister Qiang is marrying far away; it was difficult enough as it was. Today, the two clans are entering into a betrothal agreement. If that envoy, Shen Lan, learns the truth, where will that leave your sister’s dignity?”

“Brother, please believe me just once. I truly did not do anything with Xiaosheng…”

Xiao Yi’s eyes brimmed with tears, their glimmer trembling in the light. They had lived together as siblings for more than a decade; even a heart of stone could have been warmed by such intimacy. Deep down, she still held out hope for her elder brother, Xiao Ru.

With that innocent, harmless face and her soft, pleading voice, Xiao Yi made it impossible for Xiao Ru to strike her.

He loosened his grip on her wrist. After struggling with himself for a moment, he seized it tightly again and said through clenched teeth, “How am I supposed to believe you? The marks on your neck—are you saying they were caused by mosquitoes? If Father hadn’t been angered into unconsciousness, and Mother hadn’t been occupied caring for him, it would have been our parents waiting for you in the Southern Courtyard today.”

“You can explain yourself when you see them.”

With that, Xiao Ru led Xiao Yi onward toward the main residence.

…

At that time, the main residence blazed with candlelight, and servants hurried constantly back and forth.

Outside the chamber of the clan leader and his wife, Xiao Ru abandoned Xiao Yi to the head maid of the main residence, instructing her to keep watch over Xiao Yi before knocking on the door and entering to report.

Time passed second by second. Xiao Yi waited outside for a long while, yet no one summoned her.

The night deepened, and the dew grew heavy. She could not help drawing her robe tighter and moving toward a sheltered corner by the wall.

But the moment she started forward, the head maid stopped her.

“Miss Xiao Yi, I advise you to behave yourself and wait where you are.”

“I’m a little cold. I’ll only stand there for a while. It won’t cause any trouble.”

Xiao Yi smiled faintly and tried to continue.

“It would be better for you to remain where you are.”

The head maid blocked her path, refusing to yield even an inch.

With no alternative, Xiao Yi wrapped her robe more tightly around herself, crouched down, and curled into a ball, trying her best to preserve what little warmth remained in her body.

She waited for an unknown length of time. At last, footsteps sounded inside. Then the door creaked open, and Xiao Ru emerged together with an elderly servant.

Xiao Ru, who walked ahead, moved hurriedly, his expression dark and displeased. The old servant behind him wore a stern, grim face.

“I…”

Xiao Yi stepped forward, hoping to exchange a few words with Xiao Ru and sound out the situation, but the old servant seized her and dragged her through the doorway.

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Once inside, Xiao Yi glanced around, but saw no sign of the clan leader or his wife.

“Are the clan leader and his wife here?” she asked, only to discover that the old servant had vanished.

The room was empty and utterly silent. Unease stirred within Xiao Yi, and she turned, intending to push open the door and leave.

Her hands had already reached the bolt when someone seized her from behind, locking an arm around her waist.

Xiao Yi turned to look. It was the old servant who had disappeared moments earlier. She had barely recovered from her astonishment when three or four ill-tempered maids emerged from behind the curtain.

“What are you doing?”

Xiao Yi sensed that something was wrong, but it was already too late.

Without explanation, the maids divided the task of restraining her. They pinned down every part of her body, then forcibly lifted her, laid her flat, and held her down.

“What are you doing? Let me go!”

As her robe slipped away, she could not help crying out and struggling.

The maids acted as though they had heard nothing. They held Xiao Yi down with all their strength, giving her no chance to resist.

A coolness touched the skin beneath her. Just when Xiao Yi thought it was over, an inexplicable, sinister chill spread through her legs.

The maids conducted a meticulous examination, leaving nothing unchecked.

Xiao Yi kicked and thrashed with all her strength until she was exhausted, yet it was all in vain. Like a fish on a chopping board, she was at their mercy, stripped of every shred of dignity.

“No, please, no.”

Even during her two years at the frontier, Xiao Yi had never suffered such humiliation. Weeping, she begged them to stop, but not one of them withdrew her hands.

Only after Xiao Yi had cried herself hoarse did the maids finish their examination and finally release her. Then they all knelt in unison, facing one direction.

“Madam, although there is some redness and swelling at Miss Xiao Yi’s inner thighs…” the leading maid reported from her knees, “but…”

“Oh? Is that so? Are you certain?”

The clan leader’s wife spoke from behind the curtain.

The maid kowtowed. “Madam, I am absolutely certain.”

“Then that is wonderful news. Very well, you have all worked hard. Withdraw.”

After speaking, the clan leader’s wife lifted the curtain and walked over to Xiao Yi.

“My daughter, you have suffered a great injustice. Mother is here now.”

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