Dragged Out and Beaten to Death

Chloe Zhu had been serving in the study for two months now.

She knew all too well that everyone who had ever been looked at by Evan Xiao with that kind of gaze... ended up dead.

"General!" Chloe hurriedly explained, "I wasn’t trying to violate you, I have a reason for doing this!"

Evan Xiao didn’t say a word. He got out of bed and calmly buttoned up his undershirt.

With his shirt half open, he really was both intimidating and impossibly handsome.

After a long pause, Evan Xiao’s deep and icy voice finally rang out: "What reason?"

What reason? What reason? What reason?

Chloe’s mind was working at full speed, then she blurted out, "You look a lot like my dad!"

Evan Xiao glanced at her, his eyes icy cold.

"Ahem, here’s the thing. I have a brother who got separated from me when we were little, and we’ve been searching for him everywhere. Since you look so much like my dad, I started to wonder if you might be my brother!" Chloe said with absolute seriousness. "My brother has a birthmark on his chest, so I just wanted to see if you have one too."

"Then why were you trying to take off my pants?"

Chloe: "Uh... he’s got a birthmark on his butt too..."

As they spoke, Evan Xiao had already finished dressing. He looked down from above at the small girl curled up with her big, soft, pitiful eyes staring at him, and called out, "Someone!"

Ruby, the head maid by Evan Xiao’s side, pushed open the door and respectfully asked, "General, what are your orders?"

"Drag Lily Bai out and beat her to death with a staff!" Evan Xiao said, enunciating each word clearly.

Ruby glanced at Chloe Zhu, a smile playing at her lips. "Yes, sir! I’ll have someone take her away right now!"

With that, she turned and left, calling over two guards stationed at the courtyard gate to drag Chloe away for her punishment.

"Wait!" Chloe shouted.

Evan Xiao didn’t even lift an eyebrow.

"General, spare my life! I can help you save the beauty in the Moonlight Pavilion." Chloe pointed in the direction of the pavilion as she spoke.

From her observations, that sickly beauty seemed very important to Evan Xiao—maybe even the woman he loved.

Sure enough, her words caught Evan Xiao’s attention. His icy gaze landed on her: "You? Even the Spiritual Alchemist couldn’t cure her—what makes you think you can?"

"I can!" Chloe declared. "Just recently, I even healed Steward Qin’s old injury! Didn’t the Spiritual Alchemist fail at that too? If you don’t believe me, summon him and ask!"

It was this incident that played a decisive role in getting her promoted to serve close to Evan Xiao.

But Evan Xiao had no idea about any of this. He looked at Ruby and asked, "Is that true?"

Ruby lowered her eyes and replied, "I haven’t heard about that!"

She’d disliked Lily Bai from the very beginning.

She was just too pretty!

Big eyes, small mouth, beautiful as a fairy. Eyes like fallen stars from the heavens, lips like petals kissed by dew, skin as flawless as snow, a graceful and soft figure, and an indescribable air of beauty.

From the very first day Lily Bai entered the general’s manor, Ruby had taken a dislike to her and made things difficult for her at every turn.

But this girl was clever and sweet-tongued, and she even knew a bit about medicine. She healed Steward Qin’s old wound and earned his favor.

Plus, the tea she brewed was just to the general’s taste, so Steward Qin arranged for her to serve by the general’s side, making her one of his four personal maids.

Ruby was wary of Steward Qin and had been racking her brain for an excuse to get rid of Lily Bai. She never expected Lily to anger the general all on her own—talk about digging her own grave!

With Steward Qin out of town, if she didn’t kick Lily while she was down now, when would she get another chance?