"Men, seize them! Gag them and take them back to the yamen!" He was immediately alarmed, stood up abruptly, and pointed at Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan, ordering the constables.
I was afraid they would say something else.
Immediately, constables surrounded them and started gesturing. Huo Duan sneered, grabbed Gu Fengyan and pulled her into his arms, then kicked away a constable who was reaching for Gu Fengyan.
The scene immediately descended into chaos.
Zhu Kuo, in a fit of rage, cursed loudly, his feigned composure completely gone, "Useless idiots, why aren't you catching them yet!"
Using his strength from years of farm work and his height advantage, Huo Duan snatched a gleaming knife and charged at the people around him, the tip of the knife pointing directly at Zhu Kuo.
"Lord Zhu, are you sure you want to do this..." He sneered, "Do you still remember Yao Chunlan, the eleventh concubine of Master Zhu of Yunze County twenty years ago!"
A note from the author:
I'm too tired, so this will be a short update. I'll speed up the plot tomorrow.
Chapter Fifty
After Huo Duan finished speaking, everyone's eyes immediately turned to Zhu Kuo furtively.
Twenty years ago, everyone in the Zhu family knew that this was the only son of the Zhu family in Yunze County. Could it be that Zhu Kuo had some kind of connection with his stepmother?
The secret was so profound that even the advisor who had served Zhu Kuo the longest was unaware of it.
Seeing Zhu Kuode's face turn as black as the bottom of a pot, and his hand tightening around the concubine's waist, causing her to cry out in pain, "Master, you're hurting me!"
Zhu Kuo snapped out of his daze and flung the concubine aside, yelling, "Get out of here!"
The concubine was sensible, but Zhu Kuo, who had always indulged him, had never seen his master lose his temper like this before. When she was thrown to the ground, her eyes immediately reddened, and she stammered for a long time, only rubbing her arm, "Why did you take your anger out on me..."
The advisor was very perceptive. The man on the ground was Zhu Kuo's new favorite. He might be angry now, but once he calmed down, he would still have to treat him like a precious treasure.
“Young Madam, Master isn’t angry with you. He was just in a hurry and made a mistake. It’s chilly at night, shall I send someone to take you home first?” He made a quick decision and went up to help the boy up from the ground through his sleeve, remembering the favor he had shown him when he was favored in the past.
Anyone who could win Zhu Kuo's favor was a shrewd person. This young man, helped up by the clerk, readily accepted the offer, his eyes red and brimming with tears as he gazed at Zhu Kuo before leaving, saying, "Master, I'll go home and wait for you..."
I felt pity for him.
Such a beauty was given to that wretched old man Zhu Kuo. It's a real shame, a beauty with a beast, a flower stuck in cow dung. Gu Fengyan sighed to himself, having already forgotten how this young man had just been exchanging flirtatious glances with Huo.
Zhu Kuo still liked the boy after all; his eyes softened, and he waved his hand before the boy left.
Then, his gaze met Huo Duan's, cold and sinister, "Are you threatening me?!"
Huo Duan smiled and raised an eyebrow. "If Lord Zhu hadn't forced us to do this, how would we have dared? Fortunately, our trip to Yunze County not only allowed us to see the local customs and culture, but also brought us many other gains."
When Zhu Kuo heard that he had gone to Yunze County, his face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, turned deathly pale.
The clerk, adept at reading people, knew the matter was serious and immediately rebuked the bewildered constables and soldiers standing by, "What are you waiting for?! Arrest them and gag them!"
Everyone snapped back to their senses and was about to make a move again when Huo Duan, holding Gu Fengyan back, showed no fear. "Doesn't Lord Zhu want to know where this person is now?"
With just one sentence, Zhu Kuo's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly stopped the group, "All of you, get out of here!"
No one dared to move again; their blades were sheathed, and they remained silent as cicadas in winter.
The clerk, puzzled, asked with a fawning smile, "Sir... are we not going to arrest this person?"
"Take these people and retreat ten meters outside the alley. Do not approach them without being summoned. The same applies to you!" Zhu Kuo's expression was grim. He saw a carriage parked in the darkness not far away, and fine beads of cold sweat had already appeared on his forehead.
For twenty years, he had been unable to bring himself to deal with Yao Shi out of consideration for their past relationship. He only sent someone to administer a medicine that made her mentally impaired.
But she never expected that her momentary compassion would give these two good-for-nothing bastards a handle to use against her.
Zhu Kuo was filled with resentment... If this matter escalated, all his hard work over the years would be in vain!
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan both wore cold smiles.
Upon receiving the order, the clerk was stunned, then smiled obsequiously, "Sir, I'll keep them. In case these two fools turn against you..."
"Get out!" Zhu Kuo's face was ashen, brooking no argument.
The clerk trembled, and could only vent his pent-up frustration on the yamen soldiers. "Didn't you hear the magistrate's orders?! What are you still standing here for? Go back and each of you receive thirty strokes of the cane!"
The crowd dared not speak out in anger, and followed the clerk out of the alley... Many busybodies had already gathered outside the alley, but they only dared to watch the excitement from afar and none of them dared to get close. When they saw the large group of heavily armed officials, they assumed that Zhu Kuo was going to punish them, and they hurriedly scattered and fled.
Before long, the entire alleyway was completely silent under the moonlight.
Zhu Kuo met the two men's gazes, and at this moment he actually took them seriously, no longer daring to underestimate them in the slightest.
"Speak! What exactly do you want?!" he sneered.
Huo Duan stepped forward slowly and deliberately, a snort of laughter escaping his nose. "Lord Zhu is indeed a clever man; he speaks so concisely. Since we've brought the person here, let's meet him first and then discuss it further..."
He glanced at Gu Fengyan and said, "Ayan, please bring her here."
"You're always ordering me around." Gu Fengyan said unhappily, but still walked to the carriage and lifted the curtain. "Madam Yao, Lord Zhu has come to see you."
Zhu Kuo shuddered, almost losing his balance. Accompanied by Gu Fengyan's voice, his gaze was fixed on the carriage as if he had encountered a venomous snake.
Inside the car, Yao Chunlan took off and put her hairpin back on, her eyes and brows beaming with uncontrollable laughter. Listening to Gu Fengyan's voice outside, she tidied her hair several times before getting out of the car, rubbing her hands together.
The two emerged from the shadows into the bright light of the lantern, and Zhu Kuo immediately spotted Yao Chunlan.
She was still wearing that lotus-root-colored dress, but with the passage of time, it had lost its luster. Her hairpins, earrings... even her hairstyle was exactly the same as before.
But Zhu Kuo felt a chill in his heart... Yao Chunlan was a burden, his death warrant.
After a moment of stunned silence, his eyes turned icy. "You've really gone to the trouble of digging up old grievances from twenty years ago to blackmail me!" he said with a sneer to Huo Duan and the other man, refusing to look at Yao Chunlan again.
Yao Chunlan seemed oblivious. Like a young girl, her skirt fluttered in the wind, and she walked slowly toward Zhu Kuo with a shy and timid air. "My love, why... why didn't you come to pick me up?"
She reached out and tugged at Zhu Kuo's sleeve—
"Who are you? How dare you be so insolent!" Zhu Kuo suddenly flung her away, his gaze condescending, and even took two steps back, avoiding her like the plague.
Yao Chunlan was stunned, her pupils contracted slightly, she never expected her beloved to treat her like this.
Gu Fengyan stepped forward and helped Yao Chunlan up, then sneered, "Lord Zhu, you truly have a short memory. The Yao family has waited for you for twenty years, and now all we get in return is 'Who are you?' I've seen it all today..."
"The Yao family? I only know that my father's eleventh concubine's surname is Yao... What are you waiting for me for, Yao family?" Yao Chunlan's appearance had already startled Zhu Kuo. He was eager to get away, so he said to the two of them, "Don't you just want the document that allows you to privately cultivate medicinal herbs? I can give it to you..."
His gaze swept over Yao Chunlan, whose face was filled with disbelief, and he pulled out a piece of paper with his signature and seal from his pocket. "As long as you send her back... and know what she should and shouldn't say, I can give this to you."
Although Zhu Kuo was impatient with dealing with Yao Chunlan, he dared not harm her right then and there. Firstly, with so many eyes watching, he couldn't guarantee that none of his subordinates might have ulterior motives and take advantage of the situation... This was also the reason he sent everyone away.
Secondly, Yao Chunlan has already been poisoned into a daze by his medicine, and no one will believe what she says anymore... As long as she is sent back, whether she lives or dies is just a matter of his word.
Besides, these two people have made such a fuss just for a document. As long as he agrees, the matter will be over. When he takes action... there will be no way to prove anything, and who will know about what happened back then?
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan would never refuse such a generous offer, and Zhu Kuo smiled slyly.
However, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan knew perfectly well that he was nothing but a cunning old jackal from the mountains, and not a single word he said could be believed.
Huo Duan smiled slowly and deliberately, "It seems that Lord Zhu has not yet understood that this is no longer a situation where you can make demands... It's just a document. If you won't give it to us, then we'll just find another magistrate. As for how to find one, Lord Zhu must know perfectly well..."
"Don't push your luck!" Zhu Kuo's expression changed drastically, and he trembled with anger.
As they said, Yao Chunlan was in their hands. Replacing the magistrate with someone else would be a piece of cake. All they had to do was expose his affair with Yao Chunlan and ruin his reputation.
Zhu Kuo glanced at Yao Chunlan, his eyes filled with venom. "What are you doing here? I should have ended you back then. I only regret my womanly compassion, which allowed me to leave a blade pointing at myself!"
Gu Fengyan continued, "This is outrageous! How dare Lord Zhu utter such words?"
Yao Chunlan was still immersed in the sadness that Zhu Kuo did not recognize her. When Zhu Kuo yelled at her, she trembled with fear... How could her beloved be like this?
She suddenly threw herself at Zhu Kuo's feet, crying almost hysterically, "My love, Zhu Kuo, it's me, Lan'er! Don't you recognize me?... I've waited for you for twenty-two years, how can you not recognize me?" She touched her hair, pulled off the faded butterfly-and-flower hairpin, and held it up to Zhu Kuo. "My love, look, look at this! This is what you gave me back then. You said that after Master died, you would marry me in a grand sedan chair... You said it! How could you forget! How could you forget!"
The alley was utterly silent. Yao Chunlan cried out hysterically, desperately and sorrowfully. A gust of wind blew by, and her questioning voice echoed.
Zhu Kuo's last bit of patience was worn down. He kicked Yao Chunlan away and yelled, "Get out of here! I only played with you because you were pretty and easy to fool. You actually believed what I said casually... If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have just killed you!"
After saying that, he didn't even bother to give her a single glance.
Yao Chunlan was kicked to the ground, her crying stopped abruptly, and her gaze towards Zhu Kuo began to become unfamiliar, gradually turning into sober disappointment. Something shattered, and when Zhu Kuo looked at her again, he found her gaze extremely cold and terrifying.
"Just playing around..." Yao Chunlan's hair was disheveled, and her knuckles, which were white as she gripped the hairpin, suddenly burst into laughter, one laugh after another. She was clearly laughing, but tears kept streaming down her face. "Just playing around... My love, my love, twenty years!"
"This is outrageous! How could such words come from Lord Zhu's mouth? It's utterly ridiculous!" Gu Fengyan felt a surge of sorrow and resentment.
“Madam Yao, please get up…” he said, stepping forward and bending down to pull Yao Chunlan up.
"It's just that she's too stupid; she's held onto a joke for so many years!" Zhu Kuo sneered, shaking his sleeves.
Yao Chunlan stood up with a smile, but suddenly froze. She looked at Zhu Kuo with tears in her eyes, "Just a joke..."
Slowly and firmly, she straightened up, looking up at Zhu Kuo, still holding the token of their love from their youth in her hand... The pair of butterfly hairpins on her head shone slightly under the lantern.
After silently reciting it, she suddenly reached out and pushed Gu Fengyan away—
"Ayan! Grab her!" Huo Duan suddenly realized what she was about to do and hurriedly took a few steps forward.
However, before Gu Fengyan could react, Yao Chunlan shoved him away. He reached out to grab her sleeve, and the sharp hairpin that had been brushing against his hand grazed the back of his hand, drawing beads of blood...
Yao Chunlan had already lunged at Zhu Kuo, and before he could react—"plop!"—she used the force to pierce the hairpin into Zhu Kuo's heart.
Zhu Kuo bumped into the door frame, his eyes wide with disbelief, "You..."
"My love, you are so heartless... In heaven, we wish to be birds flying wing to wing; on earth, we wish to be trees with intertwined branches," Yao Chunlan said, her eyes filled with tenderness as she gently stroked Zhu Kuo's cheek. "You said it, let's die together!"
Suddenly, she pulled out the hairpin again and stabbed several times.
Zhu Kuo tried to push her away, but was held tightly... Yao Chunlan's maniacal laughter echoed in the wind.
This attracted the clerk and soldiers who were waiting at the entrance of the alley.
"My lord! Quick! Pull this madwoman away!" the clerk shouted, and everyone scrambled to pull Yao Chunlan away. She had completely lost her mind, wildly brandishing her hairpin and stabbing indiscriminately; those who tried to capture her were all injured to varying degrees.
Blood was everywhere in the alley; it all happened in the blink of an eye.
By the time Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan realized what was happening, they and Yao Chunlan had already been taken back to the county government office as suspects.
A note from the author:
The story will end within fifteen chapters after the character gets pregnant and gives birth! (Just setting a small flag, *fist bump*)
As we all know, every promise you make will eventually backfire...
In heaven, we wish to be birds flying wing to wing; on earth, we wish to be trees with intertwined branches.
—"Song of Everlasting Regret" by Bai Juyi