BDSMST -Chapter 4 The Desolate Estate — A First-Night Show of Force

Wang Laohu’s shrill scream tore through the dusk, shattering the evening’s stillness and stealing the breath from everyone present.

The sneers on Li Si and the two farmhands’ faces froze stiff, replaced by horror as if they’d seen a ghost. They watched, wide-eyed, as that seemingly delicate woman from the capital subdued the local tyrant—someone no one in the area dared provoke—with just one hand, like wringing the neck of a chicken.

“Y-You… let go! Ahhh! My hand! It’s broken! Broken!” Wang Laohu writhed on the ground in agony. With his free hand, he tried desperately to pry Jiang Suisui’s fingers away, but he couldn’t budge them in the slightest.

Jiang Suisui’s expression was icy. In her beautiful eyes there was no warmth—only the stillness of a frozen lake. Her grip was precise, locking onto the most fragile joint of his wrist. One ounce more pressure, and the wrist would truly be ruined.

“I’ll ask again,” she said evenly, her voice neither loud nor soft, yet clearly heard by all. “On my turf, what are the rules?”

Wang Laohu’s lackeys, still clutching their sticks, were dumbfounded. They had come to watch their boss flirt with a beauty and collect protection money. Who would have thought the beauty was a man-eating flower? They exchanged frightened glances, their hands trembling. Not one dared step forward.

“N-No rules! Great-aunt! Heroine! You make the rules! You do!” Wang Laohu finally buckled under the piercing pain, tears and snot streaming down his face. “I was blind and failed to recognize greatness! I offended you! Please, be magnanimous—just treat me like a fart and let me go!”

Jiang Suisui said nothing. She merely shifted her wrist slightly—and twisted.

Crack!

A crisp sound of bone slipping out of joint rang out, followed by another inhuman howl from Wang Laohu. His entire arm went limp, dangling uselessly. It was clearly dislocated.

Jiang Suisui released him and flicked her fingers against the hem of her plain dress as if wiping off dirt. Taking a step back, she swept her cold gaze across the stunned ruffians.

“Scram.”

One word—heavy with unquestionable authority.

As if pardoned from death, the underlings scrambled to haul up the half-conscious Wang Laohu. Stumbling and tripping over themselves, they fled down the country road as though a tiger were chasing them.

Silence fell over the world.

Chunxing’s mouth hung open, unable to close for a long moment. Her madam had just… twisted a burly man’s arm out of its socket?

Gu Xuan, who had been hiding behind Jiang Suisui, forgot his fear. Peeking out with half his little head, he stared at her slender yet upright back. His small eyes were filled with shock—and a trace of something he didn’t even recognize himself… admiration? Maybe this bad woman… was kind of impressive?

Jiang Suisui turned, her gaze settling on the estate steward Li Si, who was already pale as paper.

Li Si’s legs gave out. With a thud, he dropped to his knees, kowtowing frantically. “M-Madam, spare me! I was blind! I spoke carelessly! I shouldn’t have believed the rumors from the Marquisate, thinking that you… I won’t dare again! Please, Madam, give me a way to live!”

Rumors from the Marquisate? Jiang Suisui understood at once. It seemed those two old foxes had arranged everything in advance, just waiting to see her bullied by the local tyrant and slink back to the capital in disgrace.

Too bad—they had miscalculated.

“A way to live?” Jiang Suisui walked up to him, looking down from above. “If you want to live, you have to be useful. Starting today, you and those two will rise at dawn to reclaim the land and won’t rest until sunset. When this field can grow crops, you’ll receive your wages. If anyone dares to slack off—or if I hear one more word of nonsense…”

She paused, her eyes flicking toward the direction Wang Laohu had fled.

Li Si and the two farmhands shuddered violently, pressing their foreheads to the ground. Their voices shook uncontrollably. “We wouldn’t dare! We won’t dare! We’ll work hard! We’ll work hard!”

“Get up.” Jiang Suisui couldn’t be bothered to look at them further. “Find some wooden boards. Patch up the holes in the roof and walls first. Then clean the inside and light a brazier.”

“Yes, yes!”

Li Si scrambled to his feet as if reborn, barking orders at the two farmhands—who were still slumped on the ground—to hurry and fetch tools. The diligence they showed now was a stark contrast to their earlier laziness.

The immediate crisis had been resolved—but the real trial was only just beginning.

Jiang Suisui led Chunxing and Gu Xuan into the so-called “main house.” A wave of mold, dust, and rotting wood assaulted them, choking their throats. The room was bare except for a broken table missing a leg and a few benches so worn their original color couldn’t be told. Several large holes gaped in the roof, exposing the dull gray sky above.

Chunxing’s tears spilled instantly. “Madam… h-how can anyone live here…?”

Gu Xuan frowned deeply. Even the storage room in the Marquisate—used for junk—was a hundred times better than this.

“It’s livable.” Jiang Suisui remained calm. She walked to a corner and nudged a messy pile of straw with her foot. “Tonight, we sleep here.”

Night fell. Mountain winds poured through the cracks in the walls, cutting to the bone. Li Si and the others had barely managed to nail up some broken planks over the worst gaps, and they lit a small brazier in the center of the room. Only then did a faint warmth and flicker of light fill the house.

Chunxing pulled out the few coarse corn buns they had from their bundle. She handed one to Jiang Suisui, then hesitated before choosing the smallest one and offering it to Gu Xuan. “Young Lord… have a little to fill your stomach.”

Gu Xuan hadn’t eaten since the afternoon. His stomach had long been growling. But when he looked at the dark, rock-hard bun shedding crumbs in his hand, the dignity of a marquis’s heir wouldn’t allow him to open his mouth.

At the Marquisate, he ate delicate pastries and drank warm milk. This kind of thing—wasn’t it pig feed?

“I won’t eat it!” He flung the bun to the ground and shouted at the top of his lungs, his neck stiff with defiance. “I want meat! I want sliced chicken with lotus flower garnish! I want bird’s nest porridge! You wicked woman, you’re abusing me! I’ll tell my father! My father will kill you!”

His voice echoed through the empty, dilapidated room, carrying a trace of fear even he didn’t notice.

Chunxing hurried to cover his mouth. “Young Lord, please keep your voice down…”

But Jiang Suisui didn’t even raise her eyelids. Calmly, she broke apart her own bun and ate it slowly, washing it down with cold water drawn from the well. The way she ate, one might think she was savoring a delicacy rather than coarse rations.

After finishing, she took a sip of water, stood up, and walked to the straw pile in the corner. Lying down, she pulled her thin outer garment over herself.

“From today on, we set a rule.” Her back faced them, her tone utterly even. “Here, there is no young lord. If you want to eat, you work. If you won’t work, you go hungry. Food that’s thrown away won’t be replaced. When you understand that, you’ll earn the right to eat.”

With that, she closed her eyes and made no further sound.

Only the occasional crackle of the charcoal broke the silence.

Gu Xuan froze. He looked at the bun he had smashed into crumbs, then at the woman lying with her back to him, as if already asleep. A surge of anger and grievance rose inside him like never before.

How dare she? How dare she treat him like this!

“Fine! I won’t eat! Even if I starve to death, I won’t eat your pig feed!” he shouted with the last of his strength. Then he stormed to the farthest corner from Jiang Suisui, hugging his knees and turning his back to her.

Chunxing looked from one to the other, stomping her foot anxiously yet helplessly. She picked up the bun from the floor, blew the dust off carefully, and placed it beside Gu Xuan. Only then did she lie down not far from Jiang Suisui, her heart heavy with worry.

The night deepened. Faint howls of wolves echoed from the mountains. The wind wailed like ghosts crying.

Gu Xuan was cold and hungry. His stomach rumbled thunderously. Hugging his small body, he tasted for the first time what it meant to be hungry and freezing. He sneaked a glance at Jiang Suisui. The woman didn’t move at all, as if truly asleep.

Was she really ignoring him? Was she truly going to let him starve?

Fear and hunger coiled around his small frame like twin venomous snakes. He bit his lip, tears brimming in his eyes, stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

I am Gu Xuan! The young heir of Yongning Marquisate! I will never bow my head to a wicked woman! Never!