Yang Hong always told those around him that villains die from talking too much.
This was partly to give himself some peace and quiet, urging those near him to be less noisy, and partly to make the girls work more diligently.
However, Jia Yuanchun and the others interpreted it as: if you can act, don't blab.
Like now.
"Bang ~ Crack ~ Rumble ~"
Jiao Da, a late-stage Grandmaster, was embedded into the outer wall of the Ningguo Mansion by a palm strike from Jia Yuanchun.
"You, you don't uphold martial ethics! Pfft ~"
Jiao Da cursed angrily, then spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Eh ~ Not dead yet!"
Hearing Jiao Da still able to speak, Jia Yuanchun stomped on the ground and charged at him like a cannonball.
"Wait, I am the guardian of the Jia family! Didn't you say you were Jia Yuanchun? You can't kill me!"
Seeing Jia Yuanchun's murderous aura, Jiao Da was completely stunned! He quickly shouted for her to stop.
"Heh ~"
Jia Yuanchun sneered, her movements on foot unchanged.
"Boom ~"
Jiao Da channeled all his inner strength and quickly pulled himself out of the wall.
Then...
Then he turned and ran into the Ningguo Mansion.
"Youngster, this is an imperial granted Ningguo Mansion! If you dare to enter, you'll be killed by the imperial Grandmasters!"
Jiao Da continued to bluster as he fled.
"Hmph ~ Coward!"
Jia Yuanchun hadn't intended to kill Jiao Da. Although she didn't know him, he was a Grandmaster of the Jia family, their foundation. Now, it seemed, this person could no longer be spared.
"Gentle Breeze Slowly Blows"
Jia Yuanchun cried out coquettishly. She moved like a gentle breeze, vanishing instantly.
The next moment she reappeared, she was in front of Jiao Da.
"Bang ~"
Another explosive sound. Jia Yuanchun's slender jade hand collided with Jiao Da's rough, calloused one.
"Impossible!"
Jia Yuanchun stood firm. Jiao Da exclaimed in disbelief, spitting out another mouthful of blood.
"Bang ~ Bang ~ Bang!"
With three more punches, Jiao Da was stomped to the ground by Jia Yuanchun. He was utterly lifeless, beyond dead.
Suddenly.
"Ugh ~ Ugh ~~ Ugh ~"
Jia Yuanchun, who had just killed a Grandmaster with four punches, bent over and vomited. Jiao Da's head had been crushed under her foot. The gruesome sight of red and white brains made the Concubine Xiande, who had killed for the first time, retch!
"Your Ladyship ~"
"Your Ladyship, are you alright?"
Baoqin and Qinyun, holding their groggy heads, scurried to Jia Yuanchun's side, patting her back and expressing their concern.
"I, I'm fine, just a little nauseous, a little unaccustomed to it. Ugh ~"
Jia Yuanchun's face was a little pale. As she spoke, she started to vomit again.
"Your Ladyship, ugh ~"
"Ugh ~"
Vomiting is contagious. The two maids, who had been happily engaged in killing just moments ago, saw Jia Yuanchun vomiting and started to do the same.
Jia Zhen and Jia Lian's pants were soaked. They supported each other, but still collapsed onto the ground, an offensive odor spreading from beneath them.
"Brother Lian, call, call someone ~"
"This, Big Brother Zhen, you go."
"I, I don't dare,"
"My legs are weak."
The two of them were true weaklings, unable to even stand.
"Who dared to put on the front of my Jia family ~ put ~"
A stern, old woman's voice approached menacingly. But before she could finish, she was stunned by the scene of a river of blood. The last half of her sentence choked in her throat.
Hearing this voice, Jia Yuanchun unceremoniously wiped her mouth with her sleeve and turned to look.
"Old Ancestor!"
"It's Yuanchun, Granddaughter Yuanchun greets Old Ancestor."
Upon seeing Old Madam Shi, Jia Yuanchun also became somewhat emotional. She moved a few steps and appeared before Old Madam Shi. Holding her hand, Jia Yuanchun's body trembled slightly.
"You are Yuanchun? You are the eldest girl?"
"How is that possible? You should be twenty-nine this year, how could you ~ how could you..."
Old Madam Shi also trembled all over. She was terrified. She had seen the bodies scattered everywhere. And these bodies were likely caused by the young woman before her. Even if she truly was Jia Yuanchun, it was enough to make her heart pound with fear.
"Old Ancestor wants to say, so young, right? Let's talk inside about this."
Jia Yuanchun had also calmed down. Many things could not be said in public.
"Then ~ then ~ we'll go inside."
Old Madam Shi had already spotted Jiao Da's corpse. She would never mistake the distinctive grey servant's attire. That was the Jia family's only trump card, and now it lay there with its brain splattered. This was simply too terrifying! Her only hope now was that the young woman before her was truly Jia Yuanchun.
"Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, you two handle this. When the officials arrive, you deal with them."
Jia Yuanchun looked back with disgust at the brothers Jia Zhen and Jia Lian, then helped Old Madam Shi walk towards the Rongguo Mansion.
Not long after, Jia Yuanchun's mother, Madam Wang, received the news and also came out to greet them. Mother and daughter couldn't help but share a tearful reunion.
The members of the Jia family couldn't believe that Jia Yuanchun, who had been sent to the Cold Palace just last year after her provincial visit, had become a Grandmaster. After all, Jia Yuanchun had never cultivated before, at least not before her provincial visit last year. To cultivate from an ordinary person to a Grandmaster in a year and a half was simply a fairy tale. But it was happening before their very eyes.
"Eldest girl, you mean the Emperor sent you to the Cold Palace, but gave you cultivation resources, and you cultivated to the Grandmaster level."
After everyone was seated and exchanged pleasantries, Jia Yuanchun told the Jia family the story she had prepared.
"Yes, Old Ancestor. Currently, there are few experts in the Great Sui dynasty. The Emperor has sent some consorts to the Cold Palace to cultivate. We seven were the first batch, but we won't be the last."
"Amitabha, Heaven bless you, Eldest Girl. It turns out you have found fortune in misfortune. This is truly great news."
Madam Wang on the side was already beaming with joy. She knew how powerful and rare Grandmasters were. It was said that the Great Sui imperial family had fewer than ten Grandmasters.
"But Eldest Girl, why did you come back and immediately..."
Old Madam Shi, however, looked troubled. Even if Jia Yuanchun was a Grandmaster, she was an imperial Grandmaster, making it difficult for her to protect the Jia family. And the Jia family's only Grandmaster foundation had been killed by Jia Yuanchun.
"Heh, you ask why I killed someone? You'll have to ask Master Zhen and Second Master Lian."
Jia Yuanchun cast her gaze downwards at the two brothers, who could barely stand with the support of their maids.
"Your Ladyship, pardon us!"
"Your Ladyship, spare our lives!"
Seeing Jia Yuanchun looking at them, they both immediately knelt. Just moments ago, they had spoken of sharing, of "enjoying" their sister, the imperial Concubine Xiande! This was a great sin of incest, unfilial piety, disloyalty, and injustice! It was enough to have their families wiped out. If Jia Yuanchun were not their sister, the Imperial Guards and the Black-Clad Guard would likely have their swords at their throats by now.
"Slap ~ You damned scoundrels, what did you do? You actually made your sister so angry! Confess truthfully."
Old Madam Shi slapped the armrest of her chair and roared angrily.
"Old Ancestor, this is a misunderstanding, this..."
"Confess truthfully!"
Old Madam Shi, being an old fox, directly interrupted Jia Zhen, who was about to argue.
"Old Ancestor, I'll tell you, I'll tell you. It was like this, just now..."
Jia Zhen recounted what had just happened, but he cleverly spun the story, portraying himself as a good man passively defending the Jia family, while Jia Yuanchun became a petty person abusing her power.
"Heh, Big Brother Zhen, you have quite the silver tongue!"
Jia Yuanchun sneered dismissively. Then she looked at Old Madam Shi again.
"Old Ancestor, do not worry. I will petition His Majesty tomorrow to have the Emperor appoint a new patriarch for the Jia family."
"Sister, spare my life, Your Ladyship, spare my life. It was the grease of my eyes that blinded my heart and made me speak nonsense. Sister, spare your brother's life."
Jia Zhen immediately knelt again, pleading with a runny nose and tears. If Jia Yuanchun reported what he said today to the imperial court, his death was certain.
"Heh, I can't make the decision on this matter anymore. Someone will come to find Master Zhen."
Jia Yuanchun gave another indifferent smile. With such a patriarch, it was no wonder the Jia family was declining so rapidly.