Husband-stealing story - Chapter 59
The moon, like a silver hook, hung in the dark night sky. Tang Yu was a little confused as she watched Tang Shijiu's behavior change from being furious to blushing and hesitant to speak.
If it were Tianxiu or Zinu, they would have been able to tell at a glance that Shijiu was thinking about some girlish secret. But Tang Yu, seeing her fluctuating between anger and joy, had only one thought in her mind: unease.
Oh no, could that last blow have seriously injured her...?
Compared to the Tang Clan's courtyard, this villa is not very big, but in Tang Shijiu's eyes, it is quite large.
After having breakfast, Tang Shijiu wandered around the courtyard, calculating how much black-hearted poison the Tang Clan would have to sell to earn back so much silver.
Artificial hills and strange rocks, pavilions and towers, flowers and trees, waterside terraces—everything is exquisitely crafted. Even though it's said that since the death of the eldest young master of the Tang family, this place has been abandoned, and has even gradually become the most secluded of the Tang Clan's thirty-two secluded courtyards, it is still kept spotless. There are many ghostly servants secretly working, cleaning everything up without you even noticing.
"Ghostly appearance" was just Tang Shijiu's description. In reality, few of these servants possessed martial arts skills; they were merely well-trained.
Tang Shijiu caught a servant and asked seriously, "Why are you all wearing black clothes?"
"Young Master likes it!" The servant replied respectfully without even looking up.
"Why plant so many of these trees?" She didn't know what they were at first, but seeing them all over the yard, she finally couldn't help but ask, "What kind of trees are these?"
"The mimosa tree, because the young master likes it."
Why keep so many stray cats?
"Because the young master likes it."
Tang Shijiu understood; this room was a symbol of remembrance. Even though the eldest young master of the Tang family had died more than ten years ago, this villa was a place to express the Tang family's grief for him. It was said that the furnishings in the study had never changed, and every day, a maid would bring in a bowl of lotus seed soup, simply because it was the eldest young master's favorite food.
Even if the desserts that are sent in are always taken out untouched.
Even the room where Tang Shijiu lived was originally a side room that the eldest young master used to entertain guests.
"Young Master is always hospitable. He will surely like it if you stay here, Miss." Tang Shijiu shivered inexplicably as the servant in black clothes and trousers uttered these words.
It's as if... Young Master Tang has never left.
It's as if... in the dead of night, the eldest son of the Tang family would quietly stand outside the window and look at this new guest.
Tang Shijiu shuddered. He couldn't let his mind wander any further; if he did, he'd scare himself to death!
Tang Shijiu couldn't take it anymore and decided to ask Tang Yu when their old man would come for a joint trial.
Although she knew that asking this question would probably be pointless. In the past five or six days, she had asked more than twenty times, and each time Tang Yu's answer was: "It seems that something is holding you back. The Second Sect Master and the Third Sect Master will definitely come as soon as possible."
Living in the Tang family's villa, Tang Yu would often disappear without Tang Yu's constant presence.
Tang Shijiu felt uneasy looking at the group of dark-skinned servants and the eerie house.
As I was lost in thought, I heard a commotion in the front yard, the sound of fighting, and someone shouting, "No, we can't go in!"
After being cooped up for five or six days, Tang Shijiu was overjoyed at the rare liveliness. He kicked off his shoes and ran to the front yard, but stopped as soon as he entered the gate.
Miss Tang Chongli, wielding her Autumn Water Longsword, looked arrogant and haughty. She glanced at Tang Shijiu with her narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes and immediately became smug: "I heard you've lost your inner strength, let's see where you run now!" With that, she kicked down several servants who tried to stop her and thrust her sword at Tang Shijiu! Grandpa said she had an important secret, so a scratch on her face shouldn't matter, right?
Although Tang Shijiu was straightforward, he was not reckless and always took good care of his health.
Fight if you can win, run if you can't, and only fight desperately when you can't win or escape – this has always been her secret rule. So, without any internal energy, when she saw Tang Chongli rushing towards her menacingly, she immediately turned around and ran away.
Chapters 37-38
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Truth
For the servants of the former young master of the Tang Clan, this day was a day to watch a show, destined to be absolutely spectacular.
First, the current young lady of the Tang Clan, taking advantage of Tang Yu's absence from the hospital for her work report, stormed in, specifically seeking trouble for Tang Shijiu. After being obstructed, she caused a scene in the front hall, injuring several servants. Then, Tang Shijiu, the person involved, appeared with a look of schadenfreude, only to be turned from bystander into the one being watched, chased by the enraged Tang Chongli, who was wielding a sword.
Tang Chongli's anger was not without reason.
Unable to find Tang Shijiu, Shen Yuntan began to cause trouble for the rest of the Tang family. Zi Nu was originally an assassin for the Tang Clan; while she might not know the locations of all the villas, she knew most of them. Tang Chongli, as the culprit behind the conflict between the Tang Clan and Shijiu, naturally became Shen Yuntan's first target.
On the first day, Shen Yuntan sneaked into Shuli Manor, where Tang Chongli lived, and shaved the heads of all the maids and servants.
The next day, the people of Shuli Manor found their steward hanging upside down at the door with a white cloth stuffed in his mouth.
On the third day, the fire set off Shuli Village.
Tang Chongli didn't know whether she should be happy or regretful. She was glad that she hadn't returned to the manor during those three days, or she regretted that she should have gone back to the manor so that she could have a wonderful encounter with her dream lover.
Shen Yuntan's blatant provocation prompted the Tang Clan to immediately launch an investigation, which unsurprisingly led them to the conclusion that Shen Yuntan had essentially disappeared.
Upon hearing this news, Tang Chongli was furious. Her first reaction was that Tang Shijiu was a vixen who had seduced her hidden brother. Therefore, after learning that Tang Yu had been summoned back by Tang Diruo for a duty report, she immediately rushed to cause trouble. The villa had been abandoned for a long time, and most of the servants in the mansion had followed the young master for many years. Besides, Tang Chongli was, after all, a young lady, and so she managed to barge in.
And so the farce described above occurred.
What others see as a comedy is Tang Shijiu's tragedy.
Having lost her martial arts skills, she had no choice but to hide in the house. Fortunately, she had often played cops and robbers with her junior brothers and sisters in the mountains since childhood, and she knew very well how to take advantage of the terrain during the chase. Moreover, she had lived in this courtyard for some time and knew the structure of the courtyard much better than Tang Chongli, who rarely visited.
One moment they darted into the artificial hills, the next they hid in the flower bushes. The garden was filled with craggy artificial hills and shady paths, so Tang Chongli, despite her excellent lightness skills, could only follow Tang Shijiu around aimlessly.
Tang Shijiu was inwardly groaning as he ran, and he even took a moment to complain about Tang Yu—this little girl, who was always there, but only needed to be outside the Western Paradise.
The two chased each other around the house for most of the hour. Tang Chongli had cut down many of the flowers and plants that Tang Shao loved during his lifetime. The servants gasped in shock, but no one stopped them.
To witness such a spectacle in a place resembling a tomb of the living dead is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Flowers and plants can be replanted, but once a good show is over, it's truly gone forever.
Although familiar with the terrain, Tang Shijiu eventually got confused after wandering around for a while. She stumbled through a grove of flowers and was surprised to find herself in a backyard she had never been to before.