Chapter 162

"My lord, I still find it hard to believe!"

Kneeling beside Shen Yu, Wu Si'an had yet to recover from the shock, his face filled with panic.

What Shen Yu had said was simply too shocking; he needed time to process it.

If it were only He Yuan who had been replaced, that would be one thing, but if many people had been replaced as Shen Yu claimed, it would inevitably cause a massive uproar.

If things went wrong, the entire Xichuan region could face a major upheaval, triggering a chain reaction.

Not to mention how they managed to swap these people without a sound, how could their own family and friends not notice the drastic changes in their personalities?

No matter how you look at it, it is hard to believe.

Yet, seeing how certain Shen Yu sounded, he didn't seem to be lying, and besides, someone of his status wouldn't even bother to deceive him.

Thinking back on the changes in Xichuan over such a long time, perhaps it wasn't impossible, but the case was so massive that he dared not believe it.

"Baby, hee hee, baby!" Just then, a woman who appeared to be insane suddenly appeared on the street.

The woman's clothes were tattered, leaving much of her skin exposed, and her original features were hidden behind layers of dust, grime, and matted hair.

Yet, Shen Yu could tell that a beautiful face was definitely hidden beneath that disheveled appearance.

If she were cleaned up, she would certainly be a woman with a graceful figure and a gentle, lovely appearance—a true beauty.

Although her voice was a bit hoarse, it was still pleasant to the ear; it was truly a pity to see such a woman in this demented state.

When they saw the woman approaching, all the Black Guards around Shen Yu placed their hands on their sword hilts.

At this moment, on the street outside the Tingfeng Pavilion, because of the large number of Black Guards accompanying Shen Yu, the surrounding commoners were only watching from afar, and no one dared to approach.

Only this woman seemed completely unafraid, walking toward them without dodging or avoiding, a foolish smile on her face.

Although the woman appeared to be no threat, all the Black Guards remained on high alert; who knew if she was just pretending?

"Is it her?" When he saw the woman walking over clearly, Wu Si'an, who was kneeling beside Shen Yu, shouted in surprise, clearly recognizing her.

"Wu Si'an, do you know this woman?"

"Reporting to my lord, I do!"

Nodding, a flash of pity crossed Wu Si'an's eyes: "To be precise, almost the entire Anzhou City knows her; she is a pitiful person!"

"My lord, this woman is Lady Du, the young mistress of the Du family. Her husband was the former Deputy Commander of Anzhou, and her father-in-law, Du Mingchuan, was a renowned master in Xichuan!"

"The Du family was a prestigious and influential clan in Anzhou, with a history spanning hundreds of years!"

"Baby!" As Wu Si'an was speaking, Lady Du had already arrived nearby, circling them while giggling incessantly.

The surrounding Black Guards immediately surrounded Shen Yu, fearing she might suddenly lash out.

However, Lady Du did not charge in; instead, she gently patted one of them, humming a lullaby.

The moment she approached, all the Black Guards had already drawn their swords; if she made even the slightest suspicious move, these dozen blades would pierce her in an instant.

"Don't move, absolutely do not move!"

Seeing this, Wu Si'an shouted in a hurry, then whispered, "My lord, she is a madwoman; please don't lower yourself to her level!"

"Rest assured, I wouldn't go so far as to pick on a weak woman."

Shen Yu could tell that this Lady Du posed no threat to him. She might have had martial arts skills in the past, and perhaps not weak ones at that, but now, they must have long since been crippled.

Of course, even in her prime, she couldn't have harmed him in the slightest, even if she attacked with her life on the line.

"Wu Si'an, you said the Du family was a prestigious clan and Lady Du was the young mistress, so why has she fallen into this state?"

"My lord, you may not know this, but three years ago, the Du family was wiped out overnight; men, women, old, and young were all slaughtered."

"The only one left alive from the entire Du family was this young mistress! But although she survived, she went insane; living like this is worse than death!"

"Sigh!" With a deep sigh, Wu Si'an said bitterly, "My lord, the mastermind behind all this was the former Governor, He Yuan!"

"He Yuan again?"

"Yes, it was him!" Nodding, Wu Si'an clenched his fists, clearly deeply disturbed.

"Not long after the Du family was wiped out, I once drank with He Yuan. When he was drunk, he boasted about it, saying that he was the one who led the men to destroy the Du family."

"It was only because the Du family repeatedly opposed him, the young master of the Du family refused to follow his orders, and the old master, Du Mingchuan, had even publicly criticized him."

"Because of this, He Yuan wanted revenge, and so the Du family was gone. He even said that he had smashed Lady Du's newborn child to death in front of everyone in the family, and then defiled her!"

"Because Lady Du was beautiful, He Yuan wanted to keep her for himself, which is why she was left alive."

"Perhaps unable to bear the trauma, Lady Du went insane after that night. Finding her boring, He Yuan threw her onto the street and left her to fend for herself!"

Casting a pitying glance at Lady Du, who was still clapping, Wu Si'an couldn't help but shake his head at the thought of this poor woman's fate.

"Lady Du has been wandering the streets ever since, living a miserable life, and even, even often... sigh!"

"Often what?"

"I dare not say, my lord!"

"Speak!"

"Yes, my lord!" Taking a deep breath, Wu Si'an continued, "Lady Du was beautiful, enough to move even He Yuan."

"My lord can probably guess what happens to such a woman when she is left to wander the streets?"

"At first, Lady Du was abused by local bullies, and later, even beggars and thugs on the street joined in, taking turns defiling her."

"Every day was a fiery torment for Lady Du. And they often did it in broad daylight, in front of countless commoners!"

"My lord should know that once people are without constraints, they have no bottom line."

"Especially since Lady Du was once the high-and-mighty young mistress of the Du family, her current state on the streets only made people want to trample on her even more."

【Note: This line was merged into the previous/next context in the source.】

"So her fate is easy to imagine; those beggars and vagrants, already resentful of the wealthy, abused her wantonly, using all sorts of methods to torture her for their own pleasure!"

Recalling the moment he learned of all this, it felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

He Yuan was truly ruthless; the Du family was wiped out just for contradicting him twice. Such cruel methods left everyone feeling a sense of dread.

He also sensed that He Yuan's drunken confessions might not have been mere slips of the tongue, but perhaps intentional, meant to intimidate everyone.

It is not even certain whether He Yuan was drunk that day; by killing the chicken to scare the monkey, the Du Family is that chicken!

"Wu Si'an, does the Du Family really have no old acquaintances or the like, no one willing to give her a hand?"

"No one dares!" Shaking his head, Wu Si'an said with a hint of helplessness, "Someone once couldn't bear it and offered help, but afterwards they suffered retaliation from He Yuan!"

"He Yuan wants to humiliate the Du Family, he wants Du Xushi to live having suffered every humiliation, he wants everyone to see this, he wants everyone to know the consequences of opposing him!"

"This is not just killing, it is destroying the heart!"

"My lord, He Yuan deserves to die!"

"Indeed he deserves to die, Du Xushi, what do you say?"