After Qi Yuan regained power, all the relatives and friends of the Qis’ who hadn’t contacted Qi Yuan for a long time came to congratulate him with a flattering face. Beautiful ladies from wealthy families also approached him to get his attention from time to time. Extremely disgusted, Qi Yuan locked himself in a room and didn’t even want to return to his mansion.

Qi Yuan admired Yun Su the most. But to his surprise, the smart and rational man also lost his mind for a woman, Princess Xi. He could have succeeded to the throne properly, but to protect her from being sacrificed, he usurped the throne and became a tyrant. For that woman, he had not even married a single woman in these years.

Qi Yuan would always remain loyal to his master Yun Su, but since that, he had formed a firm belief that all beautiful women were just trouble. He began to dislike, even hate, every woman who looked pretty.

Due to Qi Yuan’s special preference, his mansion had become famous as home to the worst-looking women in Huaiyang City or even the whole empire. Each of the servant girls and old maids he hired was really one of a kind, with a terrifying appearance.

But it also turned out to be a great way to scare away visitors. Few of those so-called relatives and friends dare to come anymore. As for male servants in the mansion, they had got a solid mental to stand the scary scene. Yet, having nightmares was probably inevitable for them.

The spring night was very quiet, except some bugs started to wake up from their winter sleep and secretly sing songs. They were not noisy or disturbing but very suitable for the scenery.

Qi Yuan finally decided to go back home today. He didn’t take a carriage, nor did he ride a horse. Peacefully, he was just taking a walk, enjoying the sunset he rarely had a chance to watch.

A woman in white ran into Qi Yuan’s view. He had heard of the legend of the twilight ghost girl. After all, the story was so popular that it was impossible not to know it. But he didn’t believe it, nor was he afraid of the ghost. In his view, people could be much more terrifying than ghosts. Even if it was real, it wouldn’t matter. Since she wasn’t even strong enough to live, how could she harm him? Therefore, be it a woman or a ghost, Qi Yuan didn’t care to have a look at her. He walked around her and left.

Wu Xin, the woman in white, was stunned. She didn’t expect Qi Yuan to ignore her and leave directly. Aside from fear, he didn’t even have curiosity about who she was. But she had waited for him for such a long time. How could she let him go like this?

She turned around and quickly pulled Qi Yuan’s sleeve as he passed by, “Master Qi, please help me.”

Qi Yuan didn’t even bother to look back. He wanted to get away from her, but Wu Xin still desperately grabbed his sleeves.

“Master, please, please help me.”

Although he didn’t care about her, Qi Yuan hadn’t reached the point of being completely heartless. Looking indifferent, he said, “If you want to redress an injustice, go to the government office.”

“Master, please turn around and take a look at my face. Then you’ll know why I need your help.”

Wu Xin had a beautiful voice, but she sounded desperate and choked with sobs while begging.

Qi Yuan turned around. The woman in front of him had clear, beautiful eyes. Although he felt a little familiar, he couldn’t recall where he had seen them. After all, he had never paid attention to Princess Xi’s features regarding all beauties as monsters.

At first sight, Qi Yuan confirmed that the woman was no ghost. She was dressed in a white dress and wore a simple pearl hairpin on her bun. Although the clothes were nothing special, she appeared elegant. It was a pity that she was disfigured.

However, her appearance obviously appealed to Qi Yuan. Moreover, she was distinctive from the other disfigured women he had seen. Just like his dead mother, she had an aura of grace that only a high-born lady would possess.

Yet, with red marks and spots all over her face, she couldn’t compete with Qi Yuan’s mother in terms of appearance. Although his mother was not a stunning woman, she still had an average appearance. However, since Qi Yuan had always hated beautiful women, he was comfortable with the way Wu Xin looked.

“What do you want to tell me?” Finally, he got attracted and inquired about her problems. It was surely not easy to make such a cold man interested!

Seeing that Qi Yuan was willing to give her a hand, Wu Xin immediately knelt in front of him. Startled by her reaction, Qi Yuan hurriedly lifted her up.

“My name is Wu Xin. Because my father fell in love with a prostitute and insisted on marrying her as his concubine, my mother was heartbroken and died of sorrow and anger. Spoiled by my father, the prostitute often bullies me however she wants. Half a month ago, she even forced me to take poison and kicked me out of my home.”

Wu Xin’s somewhat similar life experience easily evoked Qi Yuan’s sympathy and hatred for those shameless prostitutes. “Wu Xin, is this your real name? Are you born like this, or...” An awkward expression appeared on Wu Xin’s face. Qi Yuan immediately wanted to explain but didn’t know how to say, “Sorry, I...”

“Master, I came from the Zuo Family. My real name is Zuo Xin. I’m Master Zuo’s first daughter. That day, the prostitute forced me to drink the poison and drove me out. I thought I was bound to die, but fortunately, I was saved by a highly skilled doctor on the way to Huaiyang City. Although I survived, my face was disfigured. After going through all of this, I don’t want my surname Zuo anymore, so I name myself Wu Xin.”

Qi Yuan took pity on the woman whose life was also ruined by a prostitute. He still had to figure the whole thing out, but his voice softened a little, “Why didn’t you tell your father?”

“Master, my father only cares about that prostitute. Actually, he has something to do with my mother’s death, too. It’s a shame I was too useless to avenge my mother. Besides, the prostitute is pregnant. My father sees me as an extra. His permissive attitude has been definitely a reason why that prostitute dares to bully me so blatantly.”

“Why didn’t you report it to the officials?”

“I have neither money nor a good look. Besides, my father, Master Zuo, is an official of some renown. Bureaucrats tend to help one another. No one would help a disfigured woman like me. Maybe I shouldn’t be born in the first place!”

“You did nothing wrong.” Qi Yuan looked at Wu Xin, then asked, “But how did you think of me?”

“I didn’t know what to do, but I heard that you don’t judge people by the way they look, so I came here all the way, hoping that you could help me. Master, you are my last hope. If you don’t want to help me, there is nothing else I can do.”

Finishing her words, Wu Xin raised her disfigured face and looked at Qi Yuan, begging him with her eyes. Those eyes would make any man feel sorry for her, while that face was ugly enough to scare them away.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I want to ask you to avenge my mother and me.”

“I shall do the investigation.”

“Thank you, master! Thank you so much.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Thank you, master! Thank goodness that you are willing to help me. Master, you’ve just given me a second life.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I don’t know how to pay it back. And I don’t have a place to go either. Master, if you don’t mind my appearance, I’d like to work as a servant girl and serve you for the rest of my life.”

“You don’t have to. Your ungrateful father and his malicious concubine deserve it.” Qi Yuan thought about Wu Xin’s situation, then said again, “If you don’t mind, come to live in my mansion, but you don’t need to serve me.”

In fact, even Qi Yuan himself didn’t notice that he had said more words this evening than he usually would in a week. He was a quiet man. Sometimes he didn’t say a whole sentence in a day. Of course, it was different with Yun Su, the only leader he acknowledged. Only when he reported to Yun Su would he speak normally.

Obviously, Wu Xin’s experience resonated with him. From that moment on, Qi Yuan began to act gently to her.

A cold-faced man and a ghost-like girl. Standing together, they seemed to bring the temperature down even more. Fortunately, no one saw them. Otherwise, the weird scene would become another scary legend.

At night, while all were asleep, Wu Xin went to the mansion of Qi Yuan for the first time. She should have lived with other servant girls since she volunteered to be one. Yet Qi Yuan arranged a small yard for her and called a servant girl over to take care of her.

Qi Yuan treated Wu Xin somewhat differently. Aware that she was born in a rich family like his mother, he didn’t want to see her lower herself to do hard work. Qi Yuan couldn’t let her suffer as she shared the same misfortune as he.

But Wu Xin didn’t want a servant anyway. She said she was lucky to have a quiet place to stay, and she couldn’t bear to be served. Qi Yuan didn’t think much and didn’t force her.

Wu Xin didn’t want an ugly servant girl for a reason. Although she didn’t mind, she didn’t want Xuan Zhi to be scared. She cared about Xuan Zhi, even though he wouldn’t care about other women at all! Besides, those servant girls would also get in her way as she carried out her plan.

Moonlight shone into Wu Xin’s bedroom in her yard of the mansion of Qi Yuan. Wu Xin opened the door gently, only to find Xuan Zhi sitting in front of the round table in the room. He was looking at her, waiting for her arrival.

“Zhi, why are you here?”

“I’m waiting for you to come back!”

“Then how do you know that I live in this room? Were you following me?”

“Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“Since always. I’ve been hiding in the dark.”

“You are too bold. Aren’t you afraid of being spotted by Qi Yuan? It’s too dangerous.”

“Relax. Qi Yuan can’t find me. I’m a much better martial artist than him.”

“But Zhi, you can’t be so risky. What if...”

“It won’t happen. I can’t leave you here alone. You are the one who plays with fire,” Xuan Zhi felt uncomfortable every time he talked about it. Wu Xin didn’t take her safety seriously at all.

“I’m all right now. Don’t worry, I will be careful.”

Seeing Xuan Zhi frown, Wu Xin threw herself directly into his arms and rubbed his chest with her head. She touched his chest unconsciously with her fair and delicate hands, behaving like a kitten and making his heart pound.

“Hurry up and take the antidote!”

Turned on by Wu Xin, Xuan Zhi could not help but flush and feel uncontrollably heated. She really had no idea how irresistible she was for him, even with such a scary face. Xuan Zhi quickly changed the subject and took out the antidote.

Wu Xin lifted her head from Xuan Zhi’s arms and almost bumped into his chin. Like a spoiled girl, she looked at him, “Zhi, feed me.”

“Alright.” Xuan Zhi put the pill into her mouth. With an arm around Wu Xin, he poured a cup of water from behind and fed her the water.

Slowly, the red marks and spots on Wu Xin’s face disappeared. Her beautiful face was restored. When she recovered, Xuan Zhi took out another pill and fed it to her. It was a tonic specially prepared by Uncle Zhi.