Kiyomi Tsuki and His Fox

Chapter 10

In her frenzy, the woman in white possessed extraordinary strength, breaking free from Lei Yongxiang's grasp. She flailed wildly, her phoenix hairpin piercing Lei Yongxiang's arm indiscriminately. Terrified, the woman then desperately clung to Lei Yongxiang, wailing loudly.

"She stole you away. You don't want me anymore, you don't care about me anymore. I hate you, I hate you."

Lei Yongxiang was neither in pain nor angry. He held her in his arms and coaxed her softly. After finally calming her down, he picked her up, didn't even look at Jianyue clearly, and left.

"Damn it." Kiyomi Tsuki touched her bitten neck, as if she had just had a nightmare.

Master, shall I follow the beauty?

The white fox ran back and forth, busily and enthusiastically busy.

Chapter Six: Stealing the Bride

After this strange incident, Qing Jianyue lost all interest in training the white fox and ran back to the guest courtyard just in time for breakfast. After eating and drinking her fill, Qing Jianyue's mood brightened, and she picked up a cup of fragrant tea to cleanse her mouth of the grease. Meanwhile, Cai Zhonghe was trying to comfort his elder brother. All morning, Cai Bo'an had been preoccupied, his brows furrowed; clearly, his efforts to persuade Lei Yongxiang had been fruitless.

"Great Enforcer, handsome brother, listen to me." After finishing his tea, Qingjian Yue started drooling. "I encountered a very strange thing this morning. A stunningly beautiful woman! What a pity, she's a madwoman."

He successfully captured the Cai brothers' attention. Qing Jian Yue vividly recounted the events of the morning to his brothers, adding his own embellishments, complete with a performance, of course, with the little fox's cooperation. After the performance, Qing Jian Yue couldn't help but savor the fragrant kiss from the beautiful woman, even though the bite mark on his neck still throbbed faintly.

"He was fine last night." Cai Bo'an's face turned pale. "Why did he have a relapse today?"

"This is terrible." Cai Zhonghe's expression was equally grim.

"What's wrong?" Kiyomi Tsuki asked, sounding like a child wanting to hear an adult tell a story.

“The woman you saw this morning is Yongqing’s widow. Her maiden name is Yang, and her given name is Xueli. Ever since Yongqing passed away, she has been mentally unstable, sometimes good and sometimes bad. When she has an episode, she behaves like the one you saw this morning.” Cai Zhonghe kindly satisfied his desire for knowledge.

"How pitiful!" Qingjian Yue said with pity, but raised one hand high as if to ask a question, "Who is Brother Yongqing?"

Cai Zhonghe took his hand and gently said, "Brother Yongqing is Lei Yongxiang's elder brother."

Kiyomi Tsuki then asked, "How did Lei Yongqing die?"

This time, it wasn't Cai Zhonghe who answered him, but Cai Bo'an. He smiled bitterly, "I'm ashamed. Yongqing was arrogant by nature and never got along with the people around his wife. He eventually died at Baishi Manor."

Qingjian Yue nodded. "You mean to say that Lei Yongqing was killed by our esteemed lord's mother?"

Cai Bo'an and Cai Zhonghe stared wide-eyed.

"You brat, how dare you say such things!" After a long while, Cai Zhonghe finally cursed, "Be careful these words reach the ears of the Madam or the Lord of the Fortress, or you might lose your life."

Qing Jianyue said with a grin, "There are only the Chief Enforcer and the handsome brother here, no outsiders. Besides, you are all gentlemen, so naturally you won't accuse Qing Jianyue of falsely accusing Madam of murdering Lei Yongqing."

Cai Bo'an shook his head, "You can't say that. He only has himself to blame."

"He brought it on himself?" Qing Jianyue said happily, "I understand. What bad thing did he do that allowed the noble lord's mother to finally catch him red-handed and then kill him without hesitation?"

Cai Bo'an was once again dumbfounded.

"Oh my, I'm so clever, I guessed it right away. What bad thing did he do? Tell me quickly." Kiyoshi Tsuki pressed for details.

Cai Zhonghe opened his mouth wide, pointing at him but unable to speak.

"No, there's nothing at all," Cai Bo'an said angrily. "I'll tell Yanni to go and check on the patient right away."

“No need to rush. When Miss Yang was missing her late husband, Miss Zhou was also there. She must have sent someone to invite your wife, my virtuous sister-in-law, over long ago. Otherwise, why didn’t we see her beautiful figure at breakfast?” Qing Jianyue grabbed Cai Bo’an’s sleeve to stop him from leaving and suddenly asked, “Brother Cai, do you want to marry Miss Zhou to Lei Yongxiang?”

Cai Bo'an was startled. "Why does Jian Yue ask such a question?"

“It’s that simple. Miss Zhou is unmarried, and Lei Yongxiang has no wife, only a widowed sister-in-law,” Qing Jianyue said.

"You? You're awful!" Cai Bo'an pointed at Qing Jianyue, too angry to speak.

Cai Zhonghe flew into a rage, "Jian Yue, how can you have no compassion at all? How can you say such things at a time like this?"

"Is it because you think I didn't sympathize with Miss Yang enough, or Miss Zhou enough?" Qing Jianyue asked. "What's the use of sympathy? Can sympathy cure Miss Yang's illness? Can sympathy make Miss Zhou happy?"

Cai Zhonghe was speechless again.

“You guessed right.” Helpless, Cai Bo’an had no choice but to sit down again. “Speaking of Yanhua, her life has been truly tragic. My wife’s maiden name is Zhou, and she runs a cloth shop, but due to her father’s mismanagement, she lost a lot of debt. Six years ago, when my wife married me, her father practically sold his daughter, extorting a lot of money from me. A year after our marriage, my wife gave birth to a son, and Yanhua came to help take care of him. That’s when she met Yongxiang and developed feelings for him. But later, because her father’s business ran into trouble again, he hastily arranged a marriage for Yanhua, just like when he married my wife, essentially selling her to the other party. By the time I found out, it was too late. The son of the family Yanhua married was a sickly man, and Yanhua became a widow in less than half a year.”

“She’s still a young woman,” Cai Zhonghe added.

Cai Bo'an glared fiercely at his brother, "My wife is always worried about this matter. When she heard that I was coming to Tianyi Ranch, she kept nagging me to bring Yanhua over and see if I could bring them together."

Kiyomi Tsuki bit her finger and muttered to herself, "What a nuisance."

Cai Bo'an asked, "What's the trouble?"

"Huh?" Kiyomizuki said with a forced smile, "It's nothing."

Cai Zhonghe suddenly grabbed his neck from behind, "You brat, what are you thinking? Tell me now, or I'll strangle you."

"Help! Damn it, handsome brother, let me go!" Qing Jianyue struggled wildly with her hands and feet.

Just then, an announcement came from outside. A moment later, Steward Zhou led in a refined, handsome, and composed young man to pay his respects to the Cai brothers. Cai Zhonghe had no choice but to let Qing Jianyue go for the time being.

Cai Bo'an quickly straightened up and smiled, "Steward Zhou, there's no need for such formalities. And who is this?"

"This is my son, Zhou Jie," Steward Zhou said with a smile. "Jie'er, haven't you met the Grand Enforcer yet?"

"I pay my respects to the Supreme Enforcer."

Zhou Jie bowed respectfully, her demeanor upright.

"Brother Zhou, there's no need for such formalities." Cai Bo'an looked Zhou Jie up and down and praised, "I never expected your son to be so handsome and dashing. Steward Zhou, you are truly blessed!"

Steward Zhou chuckled and said, "Not at all, not at all. Lord Lei ordered me to serve you. Please feel free to give me and my son any orders. Lord Lei also asked me to apologize to you for not being able to come and pay my respects to you, as Miss Yang is ill."