Chapter 42: What Else Are You Hiding from Me?

The Earl of Kaiyang strode into the courtyard.

The first sight that greeted him was Qin Dewu brandishing a long whip, relentlessly lashing a maidservant.

The beaten maid was filled with terror, her body covered in bloody welts. She crawled desperately across the ground, on the verge of being beaten to death.

The other maids and servants standing around were pale with fright, yet not a single one of them dared to step forward and intervene.

"You unfilial wretch, what are you doing!" the Earl of Kaiyang bellowed in a sudden roar.

"Father, Mother, quickly help me catch her! I'm about to beat her to death!"

Seeing his parents arrive, Qin Dewu was overwhelmingly excited.

As if eager to win his father's praise, he swung the whip even harder.

"Ah!"

The maid's face took the full force of the lash.

Instantly, the skin on her face split open, revealing the bloody flesh beneath.

"Hahahaha!" Qin Dewu's laughter grew even more ecstatic.

The Earl of Kaiyang was thoroughly infuriated: "You beast!"

"Dewu, stop this instant!"

Seeing this, Yang Suxin was beside herself with anxiety.

She had forgotten that it was always her routine to first make sure her son was not abusing the servants before accompanying the Earl to Dewu's small courtyard.

Her original intention in mentioning visiting their second son had simply been to distract the Earl and keep him from dwelling on Qin Hao.

Now look where it had led; things had clearly gone awry.

"Mother, why should I stop? I haven't beaten her to death yet."

Refusing to listen at all, Qin Dewu prepared to continue his brutality.

Right at that moment, a large hand seized his wrist.

"Crack!"

Following closely behind, the Earl of Kaiyang delivered a vicious slap across Qin Dewu's face.

Screaming in agony, Qin Dewu nearly stumbled to the ground.

"Father, why did you hit me?!" Qin Dewu's eyes instantly turned red as he glared fiercely at the Earl.

"I hit you? You ask me why I hit you!" The Earl swung his arm and lashed Qin Dewu with the whip.

The Earl, who had always doted on his son, was now consumed by a raging fury.

"Ah!"

Qin Dewu let out another miserable shriek.

Yang Suxin hurriedly rushed forward to grab the Earl's whip-wielding arm: "My Lord, he is your son! Stop hitting him."

With his chest heaving with rage, the Earl roared, "It is precisely because I know he is my son that I am hitting him!"

"How old is he, yet he treats his servants with such cruelty?"

"Tell me, is this what you meant when you said he was timid?"

"In my eyes, his audacity is greater than the heavens!"

Having taken a beating, Qin Dewu scrambled to his feet. Instead of admitting fault, he roared back, "Mother, give me the whip! I'm going to beat this servant to death!"

"Now that Qin Hao is gone and I can't set the dogs on him, I have to beat this wretch to death instead!"

Hearing this, Yang Suxin's heart skipped a beat, a sense of foreboding washing over her.

She hastily looked toward the Earl.

At that moment, flames seemed to dance in the Earl of Kaiyang's eyes as he pronounced each word with deliberate fury: "Qin... De... Wu."

"What... did... you... say?!"

"You... actually... set... dogs... on... Qin... Hao?!"

Qin Dewu seemed to recall something as he excitedly chimed in, "That's right! Some worthless piece of trash—I set the dogs on him and watched him scream in agony. It made me so happy."

"It's just a pity the dogs couldn't finish him off and let him escape."

"Dewu, for goodness' sake, stop talking!" Yang Suxin was so frantic she felt like banging her head against a wall. She turned to the pleadingly: "My Lord, listen to my explanation."

Exerting strength in his right hand, the Earl of Kaiyang struck Yang Suxin across the face with a slap, roaring, "Get lost!"

Immediately afterward, whip in hand, the Earl stepped closer and closer to Qin Dewu.

Before Qin Dewu even realized what was happening,

"Crack!"

The Earl delivered a vicious lash.

"Crack, crack, crack, crack!"

Then came blow after relentless blow.

The Earl beat Qin Dewu until he collapsed, rolling on the ground while his agonizing screams echoed throughout the entire Earl's residence.

It wasn't until several lashes later, when Qin Dewu finally passed out from the pain, that the Earl stopped.

At that moment.

The Earl of Kaiyang suddenly recalled what Qin Hao had said to him.

Back then, Qin Hao had accused Qin Dewu of being a psychological deviant with a pathological obsession with abuse. Not only had the Earl refused to believe it, but he had also berated Qin Hao for slandering Dewu.

Furthermore, Qin Hao's maidservant had also claimed that Qin Dewu had set dogs upon Qin Hao.

At the time, he hadn't believed that either.

So it had all been true.

Every single word was true.

The Earl of Kaiyang took a stunned step backward, a look of profound anguish contorting his features.

A deep sense of guilt surged within his heart.

Nearby, Yang Suxin had tried her utmost but failed to stop the Earl.

Seeing the expression on the Earl's face now, she hurried forward, desperate to say something.

Catching sight of Yang Suxin out of the corner of his eye, the Earl's suppressed fury flared up once more. Dropping the whip, he seized her tightly by both shoulders.

Glaring at her with bloodshot eyes, he roared, "Tell me! What is wrong with Qin Dewu, and what is this about setting dogs on Qin Hao?!"

Terrified, Yang Suxin was too scared to answer.

The Earl's voice rose another notch: "Speak! What else have you been hiding from me?!"

Knowing she could no longer evade the truth today, Yang Suxin let a tear slip from the corner of her eye and whimpered, "My Lord, it hurts."

Having lost his sanity momentarily, the Earl of Kaiyang saw a brief flash of clarity return to his gaze.

Noticing that he was gripping Yang Suxin's arms with all his might, he instantly relaxed his hold a fraction.

Sighing, Yang Suxin said, "My Lord, let me explain it to you from the beginning."

"As for why Dewu turned out like this, I only found out later."

"There was a period when both you and I were busy and had no time to look after Dewu."

"Back then, he took a liking to raising dogs. Thinking there was no one at home to keep him company, I bought a dog for him."

"Who would have thought that when Dewu brought the dog to show Qin Hao, not only did Qin Hao show no appreciation, but he actually drowned the dog."

"Ever since then, Dewu's personality changed completely."

"By the time I discovered it, it was already too late."

"I was terrified and didn't dare tell you, thinking that once I properly disciplined Dewu in the future, the matter would blow over."

"Who could have imagined that the dog killed by Qin Hao would inflict such deep trauma on Dewu!"

"Sob, sob... It's all my fault!"

"It's my failure as a mother for not raising him right."

"Sob, sob, sob..."

Hearing that the matter once again involved Qin Hao, the Earl of Kaiyang frowned slightly.

He asked skeptically, "Just that? Nothing else?"

Yang Suxin nodded heavily: "There really is nothing else."

"My Lord, rest assured, I will properly guide Dewu and help his state of mind return to normal."

"As for Qin Hao's talent, I truly had no idea."

"Perhaps he genuinely wanted to leave the Qin family, which is why he concealed his abilities."

"Alas, since he wishes to leave, let him go his own way from now on."

"However, his mother's remains cannot be given to him."

"I don't know why this child harbors such deep hatred for the Qin family, even going so far as to harm Zhi'er and Dewu."

"If I had no safeguards in place, I would truly worry about our children's safety."

"Besides, he has the protection of the Grand Princess. If he goes out and spreads wild rumors, he himself will certainly be fine, but it would inevitably impact your official career, My Lord."

"Just like today, when he struck against the Qin family without holding back at all—I had no choice but to keep a card up my sleeve."

"It was to protect Zhi'er and Dewu, and also to protect your official position, My Lord."

The Earl of Kaiyang stared deep into Yang Suxin's eyes for a long, unbroken moment.

Taking a deep breath, he finally said, "Very well, I will trust you this once."

"But Dewu must reform; otherwise, he will surely bring a catastrophe upon us in the future."

"As for Qin Hao, you are not to go looking for trouble with him again."

At this, the chill in the Earl's eyes dissipated somewhat.

Yet, deep down, he did not entirely trust Yang Suxin.

At the same time, however, he could not push her too hard.

After all, Yang Suxin's father was Duke Yang, and it was Duke Yang who had just pulled strings to secure him the position of Minister of Revenue.

With these thoughts in mind, the Earl chose to forgive Yang Suxin.

As for his eldest son Qin Hao—since he wished to sever ties with the Qin family, he could fend for himself and rot.

A wave of relief washed over Yang Suxin internally, though her outward expression remained dejected: "My Lord, if Qin Hao were not so hostile toward me, why would I target him merely to protect myself?"

"As long as he does not target our household, I have no desire to meddle in Qin Hao's affairs any further."

"That's good, that's good..." Letting out a heavy sigh, the Earl of Kaiyang departed the courtyard, looking somewhat exhausted.

Only then did Yang Suxin hastily summon healers for her second son.

Moreover, once the Earl had walked far enough away, the hatred in Yang Suxin's eyes could no longer be contained.

The chilling malice in her gaze was so intense that the surrounding servants didn't even dare to approach her.

"Qin Hao, you are just as troublesome as that cheap mother of yours."

"Since I was capable of getting rid of your mother, I am fully capable of getting rid of you too."

"Don't think that just because you made a scene, you can protect yourself."

"Even if I cannot kill you outright, I still have countless ways to make your life a living hell."

With that, Yang Suxin immediately issued covert orders for someone to keep a close watch on Qin Hao.

No matter the time, they were to keep tabs on him and monitor his every move.

She was waiting to seize any opportunity to dispatch Qin Hao once and for all.

She had a premonition.

If Qin Hao was not put to death now, he would surely become a disastrous menace in the future!