Chapter Two: My Surname is Yu, Not Su

Fu Qingyin's narrow eyes swept in Yu Shengsheng's direction, withdrawing the instant their gazes met.

"As I leave the capital to investigate Prince Nanshun, there will surely be movements here. Send word immediately if you receive any news."

"Understood, Commander."

Highly favored by the Emperor, Fu Qingyin was already the Commander of the Palace Guards in his twenties. He was the only official allowed to wear a sword to court. Clad in crimson robes with a pitch-black sword, he would stand below the steps of the Dragon Throne, facing the entire court.

He was himself a fine blade—the Emperor's personal sword, beholden to no one else. Every official in the court fell under his scrutiny.

At the mention of Fu Qingyin's name, the entire capital trembled with fear. Though he was strikingly handsome and peerlessly elegant, no noble lady dared to harbor designs on him.

"Any leads on the person I asked you to find?"

"Replying to the Commander... not yet. However, I will spare no effort and report immediately once we have news."

"Back when I was down and out, that young woman saved my life. I have never liked owing favors." Fu Qingyin's sharp gaze grew even colder. "Find her, grant her three requests, and the debt will be paid. We will owe each other nothing."

"Yes, Commander."

Fu Qingyin lowered the carriage curtain. His subordinate stepped aside, and the carriage rumbled away.

By the time Yu Shengsheng reached the gates of the General's Mansion, her eldest brother, Su Dingqin, was already waiting for her, his face dark with displeasure.

"You haven't even stepped through the door, yet the rumors are already flying everywhere. Su Shengsheng, where did all the etiquette you were supposed to learn this past year go?"

Su Dingqin was also a military man. Having followed his father to the battlefield since childhood, he stood as straight and tall as a pine tree, a short sword hanging at his waist.

With sharp brows and fierce eyes, he bore a strong resemblance to the Great General Su. This young general was the dream of countless maidens in the capital.

When Yu Shengsheng first returned to the General's Mansion, she had loved to cling to her eldest brother. He was skilled with swords and bows, far superior to her own rudimentary skills of catching small game with homemade bows in the wild.

She still remembered how he had guided her hands to teach her how to shoot with precision. On the day of the spring hunt, she had hoped to bring back a large bounty just to make him proud.

Yet at that very hunting ground, her brother had refused to listen to a single word of explanation. He had snapped the bow he gave her and broken the hand she used to draw it.

His gaze had been like a beast ready to devour her: "Did I teach you archery just so you could aim it at A-Yi?"

Now, Su Dingqin stared at her with that exact same look from a year ago, his words dripping with fury. "Su Shengsheng, Mother went in person to fetch you. Yet you refused the carriage and insisted on walking back. Are you trying to show the whole world how wronged you are?"

"Back then, A-Yi's horse bolted and she was injured. Her leg still hasn't healed, and she might never walk again! As for you," Su Dingqin stepped closer, looming over her, "you merely spent a year learning etiquette at the Empress's villa, unable to return home. That is all."

He swept his eyes over her, a sneer touching his lips. "Looking at your healthy complexion and these fine silks, I can't tell if you went there to be punished or to be rewarded."

Yu Shengsheng let him speak, keeping her eyes cast down. The heart in her chest had long since been ground to dust.

During those days and nights in that dark chamber, her ears had been filled with the endless wailing of ghosts and the roaring of beasts. New wounds had piled upon old ones as her body and mind were subjected to relentless torment.

She had never known that the palace possessed such a sickening variety of ways to torture a person.

Countless times, she had hoped the Su family would come to her rescue. The Su father and son held great military merit, and the second son was the Crown Prince's study companion. If only they had spoken up, the Empress would not have refused them.

But they never did.

Disappointment turned to despair; her wounds festered, and eventually scarred over.

"I am speaking to you. Did you hear me? Who are you pulling that sullen face for?" Su Dingqin's mocking smile vanished, replaced by a surge of fury.

When the girl had first returned to the family, she had been a little rustic, but so frail and thin, like a helpless kitten that everyone couldn't help but want to shelter.

She had been as endearing and pitiful as a kitten, offering clumsy curtsies and calling him "Eldest Brother." The stubborn glint in her bright, dark eyes had once melted his heart.

How had he failed to see that this wild creature could never be tamed? She had harbored hatred in her heart all along!

Hearing this, Yu Shengsheng took a step back and performed a deep, formal curtsy. Her posture was flawless, executed with perfect precision.

"Please forgive me, Young General. My surname is Yu, not Su, and I would never dare show displeasure. My birth is lowly, and I did not wish to defile the General's carriage."

Hearing her call him "Young General," referring to herself as a servant, speaking of her lowly birth, and claiming she was not a Su, Su Dingqin could no longer contain his rage.

He lashed out with a kick, sending Yu Shengsheng flying down the stone steps. She was caught unprepared—though even if she had been, she could not have withstood it.

Her entire body was already wracked with pain, her feet throbbing. She had only been standing by sheer force of will. The kick and the fall made her vision swim with darkness, her toes curling in agony inside her shoes.

Seeing her collapse, Su Dingqin froze. A sudden pang of guilt tightened in his chest. He took a step down the stairs, only to catch sight of the tips of his boots.

These boots were a recent gift from A-Yi, who had stayed up for several nights to finish them just so he could wear them today to welcome Yu Shengsheng home.

At the thought of his beloved sister, the fleeting trace of pity in his heart instantly vanished.

He strode down to Yu Shengsheng and looked down at her coldly, grinding the toe of his boot onto her right wrist.

"Su Shengsheng, even if you harbor resentment—hating A-Yi for taking your place, hating us for not bringing you back sooner—you are perfectly fine now, while A-Yi's legs are ruined!"

"She traded her legs for your identity. She is the one who suffered!"

Cold sweat broke out on Yu Shengsheng's forehead from the agonizing pain in her arm. It felt as though her bones were being ground to dust. The phantom pain of her broken arm from a year ago surged back, threatening to drag her into unconsciousness.

"Stop! Stop this instant!" Madam Su, supported by an old maidservant, scrambled out of the carriage and stumbled toward them. "Dingqin, what are you doing? Shengsheng is your own sister!"

Tears streamed down Madam Su's face as she collapsed against the maidservant's shoulder, weeping uncontrollably.

Su Dingqin ground his boot down one last time before finally lifting his foot.

"Su Shengsheng, remember this: the Su family owes you nothing. If anyone sinned, it was your dead adoptive mother!"

Yu Shengsheng let out a sharp, bitter laugh. Her arm trembled violently, and her voice shook. "She was not my adoptive mother. She was one of the monsters who ruined my life."

"Nor is my surname Su. My name was never entered into the family registry, nor did we open the ancestral hall to present me to the ancestors. I am merely a relative seeking shelter—Madam Su's niece."

"You!"

Su Dingqin struck her across the face with a backhanded slap. "Do you wish to anger Mother to death? You hate us that much, don't you?"

He raised his foot to kick her again, but Yu Shengsheng scrambled up from the ground, quickly dropping into a kneeling position to kowtow.

Her movements were swift and practiced, born of painful repetition.

"This servant dares not hate anyone. Please appease your anger, Young General!"

Su Dingqin's foot froze in mid-air. The entire street fell dead silent.

Madam Su wept silently, while Su Dingqin's eyes blazed with fury.

Who was she trying to humiliate? Kowtowing in the middle of the street, calling herself a servant with every breath.

Su Dingqin clenched his fists. All the affection he had shown this sister for two years had been entirely wasted!

A child brought back halfway could never be trusted. Her heart had long been warped by that wretched maidservant!

Just then, the sound of hooves approached as a rider galloped toward them. He wore a white brocade robe beneath an outer robe of ink-wash gauze, looking elegant and refined.