Volume One Chapter One: My Lord, Please Don't

"Sir, please don't..."
A sound of weeping echoed in his ears, and as his consciousness shifted from hazy to clear, Li Chen slowly opened his eyes.
A girl as beautiful as a blossoming flower knelt before him, her eyes brimming with tears, shaking her head as she cried.
"Sir, I beg you, please don't sell me to the cleansing house..."
The girl sobbed, tears flowing like petals in the rain.
Li Chen stared at her in a daze, his eyes unfocused.
Had he crossed over?
In his previous life, he was the legendary king of international mercenaries.
After leaving that world behind, he entered the business realm and built a vast commercial empire.
But fate is fickle!
A sudden acute heart attack brought him to this ancient feudal dynasty—the Great Yan Empire.
With a bitter smile, he finally accepted the reality of his transmigration.
Sorting through the memories of his predecessor, he began to re-examine the world before him.
This man, also named Li Chen, looked impressive on the surface, but was rotten within.
At seventeen, orphaned, with no one to guide him; by nineteen, he had become a petty thug, addicted to drink and gambling, causing trouble wherever he went.
The girl before him was a homeless refugee he picked up two months ago, named Yu Qingwan, just eighteen years old.
Originally, his predecessor had wicked intentions—planning to use her and sell her to the cleansing house for profit.
But once Yu Qingwan washed the soot from her face and shed the fake skin disease from her body, she turned out to be a delicate beauty. His predecessor, struck by her appearance, took her as his concubine.
Unexpectedly, after taking her as wife, he suddenly found himself impotent, unable to consummate the marriage.
The county physician told him that his excessive indulgence in wine and women, coupled with recent exhaustion, had rendered him incapable; only slow treatment and rest would cure him.
For two months, he remained unhealed, growing more violent in temperament.
Just moments ago, frustrated by his lack of money for wine and meat, his cruelty flared up; he decided to sell Yu Qingwan to the cleansing house in exchange for food and drink.
As he dragged the desperately struggling Yu Qingwan toward the door, he suddenly lost his grip and crashed into the doorframe, feeling dizzy for a moment.
Thus, the Li Chen from the future arrived across time and space.
Standing there, recalling the past, Li Chen’s expression was bewildered.
Yu Qingwan, seeing him unmoved, assumed he still intended to sell her.
Her hands trembling, she took out a tattered little cloth bundle from her bosom and opened it, revealing ten copper coins.
She raised the coins and pleaded through tears, "Sir, please don’t sell me...
Yesterday, I earned ten coins washing clothes for others. If I save a bit more, I can buy wine and meat for you..."
Looking at this fragile girl, tossed by the winds like a floating reed, and at the ten copper coins in her hand, Li Chen frowned and cursed under his breath, "Beast!"
Yu Qingwan thought he was cursing her. Her hand shook, and the coins clattered to the ground.
Her body quivered, tears filling her eyes as she sobbed, "Sir, I am a beast... If you wish, beat me to vent your anger. Once you’ve beaten me, perhaps you won’t sell me. Would that be alright?"

She knelt by the wall, picked up a wicker cane, and placed it in Li Chen’s hand.
Then, she gently slipped off her clothes, lay face down on a rickety wooden stool, covered her mouth, and closed her eyes, tears trickling down.
Maybe, as before, after the beating and venting his anger, the master would not sell her.
Her clothes fell beneath her, revealing a back as white as snow and a faint, beautiful curve of her hips.
Li Chen’s gaze froze.
On that snowy white back, there were marks of old and new lashes, some places still oozing traces of blood.
Feeling pity and sorrow, he sighed gently, tossed aside the cane, and approached her, covering her with the patched hemp garment.
"The Li Chen you knew... you’ll never see him again."
Li Chen picked up the fallen coins and placed them in her palm.
Yu Qingwan still stared at him in shock, and the next moment, tears of despair fell from her eyes, soaking her collar and splashing onto the ground, raising tiny specks of dust.
"If I never see you again... you still want to sell me to the cleansing house, don't you?"
Li Chen simply shook his head. "I won’t sell you."
"Are you telling the truth, sir?"
Yu Qingwan was both surprised and delighted.
Could it be that the master had truly changed?
"It’s true," Li Chen nodded.
Suddenly, his stomach rumbled loudly, a wave of weakness surging over him.
He was hungry!
"Is there anything to eat?" he asked instinctively.
"There’s no food left in the house..."
Yu Qingwan lowered her head, her voice trembling as if she’d made a mistake, afraid of provoking another beating.
"No food?"
Li Chen was taken aback.
"Wait a moment, sir. I’ll go to Aunt Xu’s house to trade for some coarse flour..."
Afraid of angering him further, Yu Qingwan quickly stood up, grabbed the coins, and hurried out.
Watching her leave, Li Chen finally realized the state of the world now.
The Great Yan Empire, after two centuries, was impoverished and weak, plagued by internal turmoil and external threats.
Northern Man and Western Hu, two barbarian tribes, brought chaos and war, setting the land ablaze.
From the western frontier to the north, thousands of corpses littered the land, wails echoing for miles—a living hell on earth!

On the imperial court, factional struggles never ceased, and officials avoided death and battle.
The royal family, nobility, and powerful clans shamefully abandoned vast lands and countless subjects in the north and west, fleeing south and leaving the two barbarian tribes to ravage and slaughter at will.
Refugees filled the land, half the country suffering famine!
Now, every household considered one meal a day a luxury, surviving by digging wild vegetables and scraping tree bark.
In these chaotic times, mere survival was already an unbearable burden!
Sorting through his memories, Li Chen’s gaze grew deep and sharp.
Just then, outside the courtyard gate, his little concubine’s voice suddenly rang out, breaking his train of thought.
"You—what are you doing... Ah... Please, no..."
"Little beauty, still holding on? Is it that you can't bear to see your brother leave?
Then come back with me.
Anyway, your master is nothing but a useless pretty face—why not come with your brother, bringing both food and yourself?
I’ll show you what true pleasure really is!"
Another rough male voice sounded, vulgar and filthy.
Li Chen’s brow furrowed, and he abruptly stood up, but his legs were weak and powerless, his strength depleted.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to focus, grabbed a homemade short knife from under the bed, and rushed out.
Just outside the door, he saw a young man at the gate, wrestling with his little concubine over a cloth bag.
Li Chen recognized him—it was Zhang Hu, a notorious thug in the village.
Though Li Chen himself was a petty troublemaker, Zhang Hu was a true villain, along with his brother Zhang Guang, bullying men and women, stealing and robbing, committing every crime.
It was said that Zhang Guang was a "silver-tongued flower" in the nearby Black Wind Stronghold, so even his tyranny went unchallenged.
Li Chen had been beaten by him many times and always avoided him, never daring to confront him!
This time, it seemed his little concubine had gone out to buy grain and was targeted by Zhang Hu, who wanted to rob her right at his doorstep.
"Zhang Hu, how dare you!"
Li Chen rushed over and shouted.
But the man merely glanced at him with contempt, and when Yu Qingwan refused to let go, he kicked at her.
"Ah..."
Yu Qingwan closed her eyes in terror, expecting to be beaten half to death.
In the next moment, a tall, slender figure stood before her.
Though not strong, he was like a mountain, shielding her from the storm.