One must remember that Su Yú’ér was only eleven years old. Even in his prime, with his spirit and energy at their peak, Yan Feng would have had no choice but to fight and retreat when faced with an encirclement of dozens of death-sworn warriors; if he had dared to fight back, he would have been lucky to take seven or eight of them with him before losing his own life.
Yet, his eleven-year-old daughter, Su Yú’ér, had somehow managed to take out more than thirty of them single-handedly. It was utterly absurd—if anyone heard such a thing, they wouldn’t believe it. Even Su Liangchen himself wouldn’t have believed it had his own servants not witnessed it with their own eyes.
Su Liangchen had handled the matter quietly, issuing a gag order to those servants: they were forbidden from speaking of that day, or both they and their families would be executed.
In truth, the servants wouldn't have dared to talk even if they had been asked. Setting aside the clan leader’s punishment, they knew that if the young lady herself found out, she could kill every single one of them with a sword, leaving no survivors. That beautiful young girl, wielding a sword alone in a slaughter, had left an indelible shadow in the hearts of those servants.
Consequently, apart from a few in the Su Estate and a handful of people on Su Changqing’s side who knew some of the inside story, the incident didn't cause much of a stir.
"Father, Mother is fine now. You don't need to worry about me; I don't feel any discomfort at all. I’m perfectly well."
Looking at Su Yú’ér’s delicate, pretty face and hearing her playful tone, Su Liangchen finally allowed himself to believe her.
"If anything happens, you must tell me immediately. I have been busy lately, but I will make time to check on how you are doing."
Feeling the depth of Su Liangchen’s concern, Su Yú’ér’s heart, which had not felt much emotion for a long time, suddenly skipped a beat.
"Father, don't worry. I will take good care of myself."
"Very well. I am going to handle some clan business now. You should spend some time with your mother, Yú’ér."
"Alright, I will."
Only two days had passed since she had last left the city when a sudden accident shattered Su Yú’ér’s peaceful life.
That night, as Su Yú’ér was meditating in her room, she suddenly felt a disturbance. She stood up, threw on an outer robe, and stepped out of her inner chamber.
The servant guarding the outer room had been dozing off, but she startled awake the moment Su Yú’ér appeared. The maid’s face flushed, and she asked nervously in a low voice, "Is there something you need, Eldest Miss? Please, just tell me what to do."
Su Yú’ér waved a hand and said, "Stay quiet. If you're tired, go take a nap. I don't need your service for now."
"I am going out for a moment. Do not breathe a word of this."
"Yes, Miss."
Su Yú’ér slipped out of the room silently and arrived at the back courtyard wall. She looked up. Less than fifty meters away stood another property owned by the Su Clan—a small three-story building.
A figure stood on the roof of that building, dressed in black, wearing the same attire as the men Su Yú’ér had killed two days prior. Even in the dark, she could see clearly that the man was drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, which had a paper scroll tied to it. He was aiming to shoot it toward her side.
Su Yú’ér didn't know what the man intended, but she disliked waiting for others to finish what they were doing. She grabbed her sword, leapt up, and vaulted over the three-meter-high wall with the grace of a martial arts master.
While she was still in mid-air, she saw the man release the arrow. Su Yú’ér formed her fingers into a sword shape and slashed through the air; a crescent of true qi flew out, slicing the arrow clean in two.
Su Yú’ér took a step forward and caught the falling paper scroll without haste. Instead of opening it, she used a footwork technique to shorten the distance, crossing the fifty meters in just over two seconds.
The man in black on the roof hadn't even had a chance to admire his own archery before he saw a small black shadow rapidly approaching him in the night—moving so fast it was as if it were flying.
He hadn't had a moment to think before the shadow was right in his face!
"?"
*Swish!*
"Who are you? What is your purpose in shooting arrows into my estate in the middle of the night? Speak!"
"Aghhhhh! A ghost!" The man in black was so terrified he dropped his bow and arrows. He turned to run, completely ignoring the sword pressed against his waist.
"Thinking of running? Where do you think you're going?"
Though the eleven-year-old Su Yú’ér wasn't exactly towering, she wasn't short for her age, either; at 1.5 meters, she was quite tall for an eleven-year-old.
She simply stuck out a leg and tripped him, then poked his pressure points with her finger, sealing his meridians so that, for the time being, he could do nothing but talk.
"Speak!"
"Ahhh, don't kill me! Please don't! The debt has a creditor, and the grievance has a source—if you have a grudge, don't take it out on me! I’ll burn paper money for you on the holidays!"
The man in black was so frightened that his incoherent blathering left Su Yú’ér speechless. She had to use the scabbard of her sword to smack him across the face twice.
Feeling the pain finally snapped him back to reality. When he realized that the person before him was just a small girl, his spirit, which had briefly hoped to put up a fight, cooled completely. This was worse than running into a ghost!
He knew about this young lady; she was the one who had wiped out all his colleagues two days ago. Combining that with her display just now, even if he wanted to be stubborn, his body wouldn't allow it. If he didn't talk, she would definitely kill him.
*Anyway,* the man in black thought, *the mission is just to deliver the message. It makes no difference whether I shoot it in or deliver it in person. Better to talk and save my own hide.*
"Young Lady, I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Please, be the bigger person and let me go! I’m just following orders!"
Seeing how cooperative he was, Su Yú’ér nodded with satisfaction. "Following orders? Whose orders? Su Luó’s or Su Changqing’s?"
"Su Changqing! It was Su Changqing!"
"And what is your business here in the middle of the night?"
"To deliver a message. Su Changqing’s side has kidnapped your maid, Su Ling'er. He wants to ensure you receive the message tonight so you can show up at the rendezvous tomorrow morning."
"What? Say that again!" Su Yú’ér’s indifferent expression instantly vanished, replaced by cold tension. She pressed her sword against the man’s throat, drawing a thin line of blood. It wasn't fatal, but it terrified him, and he began begging for mercy.
"Spare me, Young Lady! Spare me!"
"I said, say it again!" Su Yú’ér repeated, word for word. Her voice was icy, and her qi flowed out with her intent, causing the temperature in the immediate vicinity to physically plummet by several degrees.
The man in black, suddenly feeling the freezing cold, couldn't care about anything else and repeated his words.
After hearing it a second time, Su Yú’ér grew calm. "So, Su Changqing wants me to go to a designated location tomorrow, is that right?"
"Ye... yes!"
"Which means that tonight, Su Ling'er is at Su Changqing’s residence, and Su Changqing is there as well?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Now, you lead the way."
"Me? Me?"
Ignoring his confusion, Su Yú’ér grabbed him by the collar and dragged him across the rooftops toward the western district.
"Ah—wait, wait! I don't know the way across the rooftops!"