Madam Yu felt a surge of bitterness and waved her hand.
The steward took a glance at the eldest young master kneeling on the ground, exited the ancestral hall, and closed the door with melancholy.
The Yu family had stood for a hundred years.
Every generation was infatuated.
The family rules became stricter with each passing generation.
The Yu family now had a hundred family rules, yet they still raised a eldest young master who was willing to remove himself from the family tree for a woman.
It was doomed, destined calamity.
The Yu family were all doomed to have ill-fated romances, and this eldest young master would surely not have a good ending.
"Slap!" A whip lashed flesh and blood sounded from inside the ancestral hall.
Madam Yu stood with her back to the two men.
She had heard the whip crack against her husband's body hundreds of times, so she knew the force Yu Sheng was using.
"One lash to draw blood, anything less than a hundred bloody welts is not considered discipline."
When Lv Linwan heard this, his hand shook even more.
He had seen much blood before.
But he could not stand to see his nephew's blood.
This was of the Lv family, the Lv family's own flesh and blood.
Lv Linwan could not bear to whip him. His arm halted midair.
"Please uncle, grant me this wish," Yu Sheng kowtowed to Lv Linwan.
Lv Linwan closed his eyes, raised the whip high, and brought it down heavily.
"Slap!" The whip tore open flesh.
"Slap!" Blood sprayed out.
The bloody welts were shocking to behold.
Madam Yu put away the memorial tablets and wiped them over and over.
Amidst the sounds of the whip, she silently pushed open the vermilion doors and walked out of the ancestral hall.
Behind her, Yu Sheng knelt upright, eyes lowered, gritting his teeth as the color slowly drained from his face.
"Hurry, faster!"
"Did you get the IV equipment over there?"
"It's in the room!"
Li Zhen groggily opened her eyes.
She had fallen asleep?
What woke her was the commotion in the distance.
The sky was completely dark now. Looking outside, she saw a group of doctors in white coats hurrying by beneath the streetlights.
"What's going on outside?" Li Zhen asked the tea master curiously.
The tea master replied softly, "Miss Li, we're not sure either."
He then gestured at the table of food and said, "Seeing you were asleep, Miss Li, we didn't want to disturb you. This is the third serving of fresh dishes brought in."
Li Zhen felt her stomach. She was indeed hungry.
After eating and drinking two cups of tea, it was 10pm. She saw guests gradually leaving the main street.
The banquet must have ended.
Heavy footsteps sounded outside the tea room.
Li Zhen thought it was Yu Sheng.
But when she turned, it was Yu Yang.
Yu Yang had a strange look on his face, with bloodshot eyes, as if all his strength had been drained away.
In a low voice he called, "Sis."
"Are you...tired out?" Li Zhen got up and walked over to him.
She even felt he was swaying as if he would collapse any moment.
Thinking of how his brother's entire body was a mess of wounds just now, the blood staining the floor a dark red, Yu Yang's throat constricted. He had to use all his strength to hold back his tears in front of Li Zhen.
His brother had instructed, "Don't tell her, take her home safely."
Yu Yang had always felt his brother was ruthless to others, only today realizing he was even more ruthless to himself.
Yu Yang turned to walk outside. "Sis, let's go."
Li Zhen felt Yu Yang was acting strange but didn't ask further.
After just two steps, their way was blocked by the steward. "Miss Li, the Mistress wishes to speak with you for a moment."
Yu Yang stood in front of Li Zhen. "Tell my mother that's enough. My brother is already..."
He clenched his fists, forcefully swallowing his words.
"She's not going," was all Yu Yang said coldly.
The steward gestured behind him. Over a dozen trained men stepped forward.
Li Zhen frowned. What was going on here?
It felt like she had walked into a den of gangsters.
"You can take her away, but only if you step over my dead body." Yu Yang didn't budge an inch.
His brother had tasked him with taking Li Zhen home safely.
His brother was still lying in bed.
He couldn't let his brother worry.
"Second young master, the Mistress just wants to chat with Miss Li for a bit," the steward advised with a sigh.
"Let me pass."
The weak words sounded from behind everyone.
All turned around.
Seeing Yu Sheng, besides Li Zhen, everyone was shocked with eyes wide open.
How could the eldest young master possibly be out of bed!
Yu Sheng had changed into a fresh set of clothes, pristine from head to toe, a far cry from the bloody mess he was just now.
The steward was frozen in place.
Yu Yang's heart wrenched so much he couldn't get out a word. He had seen with his own eyes how many bandages and ointments were wrapped around his brother's body.
The person who could hardly speak just now had gotten out of bed, so that Li Zhen wouldn't face trouble.
Obviously he had tidied himself up.
Was it so Li Zhen wouldn't be frightened seeing him?
Yu Yang thought his brother must have lost his mind, bewitched by Li Zhen, disregarding himself entirely for her sake, willing to abandon the prestigious Yu family.
"Let me pass," Yu Sheng repeated.
Before the steward could react, the dozens of men blocking Li Zhen's way had already stepped aside.
Yu Sheng went up to Li Zhen and glanced at her. His face was bloodless, his lips pale as paper. "Let's go."
Walking to the parking lot, Yu Sheng pulled the car door but didn't open it. He grasped the handle tightly but lacked strength.
Only then did Li Zhen realize Yu Sheng's strength seemed frighteningly feeble, his whole body radiating fragility.
Yu Sheng pulled the door a second time and was about to get into the driver's seat when Yu Yang held his arm.
Lowering his voice fearing his sobs would come out, Yu Yang said, "Bro, let me drive."
Yu Sheng didn't refuse and got into the backseat.
"Take her to Sunshine Garden first," Yu Sheng said with eyes closed, leaning against the seatback.
"I don't live there anymore," Li Zhen gave Yu Yang the address of Qiao Yi's home.
She wouldn't be staying at Prestigious Mansions anymore.
Yu Sheng opened his eyes and glanced at her, wanting to ask why she had moved.
But he felt too weary and closed his eyes again.
When they arrived, Li Zhen got out of the car.
Yu Yang started the engine.
Yu Sheng lifted his eyes to look out the window. "Wait..."
He wanted to see her again.
Bathed in the dim yellow light, Li Zhen's figure was drawn slender and graceful.
With one hand clutching her formal gown, she inelegantly hiked it up as she slowly walked forward.
Her gait was a bit comical.
The normally somber Yu Sheng couldn't help lightly pulling up the corners of his lips.
But even that slight motion felt taxing.
Seeing Li Zhen leave, Yu Yang looked back at Yu Sheng's condition and finally couldn't hold back, yelling out, "Bro, was she worth it?"
After saying this, Yu Yang slammed the car door and crouched down covering his face, breaking into great heaving sobs.
"How could she not be worth it?" Yu Sheng's voice was very faint, as if speaking only to himself.
In the past, he had always avoided showing his closeness with Li Zhen in front of others.
It wasn't that he feared Macau's institutions. He just didn't want to provoke his mother too overtly, to leave room for Li Zhen to still enter the Yu family.
But now there was no more hope of Li Zhen entering the Yu family. All that remained was for his uncles to pick a time to remove him from the family registry.
All was settled.
He no longer had anything to hide or conceal.
He could openly and uprightly let everyone know Li Zhen belonged to him.
