Even the threshold of this house was much higher than that of other houses. Since Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan transmigrated here, this was the first time they had seen such a magnificent mansion.
The two stood at the door, gazing at the two large, gilded characters on the lintel—"Zhu Mansion." The two ebony doors, inlaid with bronze lion-head door knockers, exuded an oppressive aura, as if they were about to collapse.
Unfortunately, it is somewhat dilapidated, and one can only vaguely see its former grandeur.
"Does anyone really live here? Yao Chunlan still lives here?" Gu Fengyan looked around and saw that it was deserted and there wasn't even a passerby. He couldn't help but doubt the accuracy of the information.
Huo Duan had already taken a few steps up the stairs and knocked on the door. "I'll know if anyone's here by knocking."
Gu Fengyan followed them up. They stood on the steps, and beside them, a hibiscus flower peeked out from behind the wall, blooming brightly. The ground was unswept, dotted with red spots—
"Knock knock"
Huo Duan gently knocked on the door knocker. After a moment, there seemed to be a sound from inside the door, like something passing through the grass with a rustling sound.
“There really is someone,” Gu Fengyan said.
Just as Huo Duan was about to knock again, the door creaked open and a figure emerged... She was a middle-aged woman, dressed in an inappropriate light purple shirt, her gray hair tied into a spiral bun, adorned with a flower and butterfly hairpin that swayed gently.
"No..." The woman's eyes lit up for a moment, but then became lifeless upon seeing them, and she lowered her gaze woodenly, asking, "Who are you looking for?"
The moment Gu Fengyan saw her, he knew that this person was Yao Chunlan.
"Daughter of the Yao family, Chunlan." Gu Fengyan bowed with a smile.
Judging from her appearance alone, Yao Chunlan was not a madwoman as Zhao Sanniang claimed.
"Looking for me..." Yao Chunlan stared at her toes, then suddenly looked up, grabbing Gu Fengyan excitedly, her eyes wide, "Was it...was it Tanlang who sent you to pick me up?!"
"Tanlang" naturally refers to Zhu Kuo.
Gu Fengyan felt a sharp pain in his wrist from being pinched by her bright red nail polish, and his heart was filled with sorrow.
"Let him go," Huo Duan frowned and pulled Gu Fengyan back, afraid that this crazy woman would hurt him again. "If the man you're talking about is Zhu Kuo, then you're going to be disappointed again..." he sneered.
Yao Chunlan had clearly lost her mind; her face was ashen, her chapped lips, painted with lip rouge, moved slightly, and tears welled up in her eyes, washing away the cheap makeup on her face…
"It must be him! He said he would come to pick me up, he said he would!" Yao Chunlan cried hysterically, repeating to herself.
Once the most beautiful woman in Yunze County, with a charming smile and beauty like a crabapple tree in the rain, she is now like a faded mural, only relying on bright rouge and powder to maintain her last bit of color... so that her lover can recognize her.
Huo Duan was about to speak again, but Gu Fengyan stopped him. He shook his head and said, "She has misplaced her affections. She is a pitiful person. Don't upset her. We just need to take her to Zhu Kuo... It will fulfill one of her wishes. If she is willing to come to her senses, let her see what kind of person Zhu Kuo, whom she has been waiting for for decades, really is."
“Madam, we were sent by Lord Zhu to take you to see him,” Gu Fengyan said.
Yao Chunlan immediately stopped speaking, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and looked up at them, "Really?"
"Really." Gu Fengyan nodded bitterly.
Yao Chunlan, like a young girl, quickly touched her face, straightened her sleeves, and picked a row of flowers from the trumpet creeper trellis to adorn her hair. "He loved it when I wore lotus root color, he loved seeing my red lips and manicured nails, and in spring he would pick a large bunch of hibiscus flowers to give to me."
She twirled happily, then touched her face anxiously, trying to smooth out the wrinkles that had weathered the years. "Do you think I'm ugly? Will he not recognize me?" It seemed that no matter how she tried to smooth it, it would be in vain, and she was quite disheartened.
When you meet the wrong person and give your heart to the wrong person, you are filled with fear and trepidation, afraid that if she is not careful, she will be cruelly abandoned.
She had waited far too long in this lifetime.
Gu Fengyan smiled and said, "Lord Zhu said you are as elegant as ever, you haven't changed at all."
Yao Chunlan widened her eyes, smiled faintly like a little girl, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm old, I'm old... I'm nowhere near as good as I used to be."
At this moment, hibiscus blossoms fell all over the ground, landing on her shoulders, as if it were the spring when she first met Zhu Kuo, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy standing under the flowering tree, saying to her, "You are so beautiful, I will definitely marry you."
What happened next? Yao Chunlan tried hard to recall, but her head ached and she couldn't remember anything.
Why has she gotten so old? Why doesn't Zhu Kuo come looking for her? Why... why, so many whys.
She was too lazy to think about it anymore.
She's going to see him.
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan, along with the excited Yao Chunlan, drove towards Qianmo County.
Yao Chunlan has lost much of her memory, having forgotten half of her forty years of life, and only remembers things about Zhu Kuo.
Zhu Kuo said he would go back to pick her up once she was settled in Qianmo County.
But he didn't come even after waiting for a long time. At this point, Yao Chunlan lowered her head and smiled slightly, explaining to Zhu Kuo that he was busy.
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan listened all the way and guessed most of the matter.
When Yao Chunlan entered the Zhu family, she became the eleventh concubine of Master Zhu. Zhu Kuo was unwilling to accept this, so he had a secret relationship with Yao Chunlan behind his father's back. Later, the affair was exposed. Master Zhu, for the sake of the family's reputation, donated money to Zhu Kuo to get an official position in another place and kept Zhu Kuo's whereabouts a secret from the outside world. As for Yao Chunlan, she was originally going to be sold off, but Master Zhu died, and the matter was delayed.
Zhu Kuo promised Yao Chunlan that he would take her away, but fearing that her presence would affect his reputation, he never came.
Gu Fengyan sneered, "Most people in this world are fickle. Today's glory is like a withered flower in the west wind tomorrow... Zhu Kuo would be better off just killing her with a packet of poison. It gives people something to think about, but also makes them despair."
"Yao Chunlan is a stain on Zhu Kuo's reputation. How could he possibly keep a stain by his side to constantly remind himself of his past misdeeds?" Huo Duan analyzed calmly.
Yao Chunlan applied makeup in front of the mirror, not caring what they were saying.
Gu Fengyan watched for a while, then sighed deeply and remained silent for a long time.
Huo Duan laughed and said, "Zhu Kuo's stain on his record gives us leverage. He had an affair with his husband's concubine and then abandoned her. Ethical principles and laws are paramount, and the laws of the dynasty are strict... If this matter is exposed, Zhu Kuo will be ruined."
“Ayan, there’s no need to feel guilty,” he said, seeing through Gu Fengyan’s thoughts at a glance. “Zhu Kuo brought this upon himself. The knife wasn’t handed to us by him, nor would it have reached our hands.”
The carriage sped along, and Gu Fengyan looked out the window at the sky... Birds flew without leaving a trace. "I feel sorry for Yao Chunlan. Half her life has been ruined by Zhu Kuo," he said.
Huo Duan pulled him into his arms and gently coaxed him, "Nothing in life is perfect; it's all a matter of personal choice."
Gu Fengyan nodded, deciding to stop thinking about it.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan led Yao Chunlan to the entrance of the house.
As soon as the carriage stopped, they realized something was wrong.
It was midday, much cooler, and the peddlers who would normally be packing up and calling out their wares in the streets and alleys would have been there long ago. There was a road outside the Huo family's house, a necessary route to bustling, prosperous areas, and this place was usually extremely lively.
Today is strange; it's completely silent.
The carriage was hidden in the darkness. The two people inside exchanged glances for a moment. Gu Fengyan lifted the curtain and looked out... He saw that the Huo family mansion was surrounded by county government soldiers like an iron barrel. A few passersby only dared to glance at it briefly before hurrying away.
Zhu Kuo sat upright in a grand chair, wearing a blue long robe, holding two walnuts in his hands and turning them around. His advisor and a flamboyant young man stood on either side of him.
Zhu Kuo would tease the boy from time to time, and the boy, shy and timid, with a reproachful look in his eyes, would massage Zhu Kuo's shoulders and rub his legs in an ambiguous manner.
Zhu Kuo's household has many concubines and lovers, and that young man is probably his recent favorite.
“I told him that a sachet wouldn’t hold out for long… but he reacted quickly.” Gu Fengyan frowned and lowered his voice, “Father is still inside…”
Feeling panicked, Gu Fengyan dared not think any further if something happened to Father Huo because of them.
Through the gap in the curtain, Huo Duan also saw it. He reached out and placed his hand on Gu Fengyan's hand, "Zhu Kuo is looking for us, so he won't do anything to Father for the time being..."
"She stays here, we'll go down first." He glanced at Yao Chunlan, who was smiling faintly with her eyes downcast, muttering something unintelligible.
Gu Fengyan nodded and got out of the car with Huo Duan in his hand.
...
As dusk settled, Zhu Kuo, draped in the cloak handed to him by his concubine, rubbed a walnut in his hand, looking rather impatient. "Master, is this the brilliant idea you came up with for me?" He lifted his eyelids, his sharp eyes glancing at the master. "Waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump... how long have you been waiting? Where are those two little brats?!"
The clerk felt a chill run down his spine at the sight and hurriedly knelt down, saying, "Yes, yes, I misjudged, sir, please wait a little longer... They may run away, but they can't hide. His father is still here; they won't not come back..."
Before the clerk could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Zhu Kuo's charming young man beside him, "Which vixen has the master taken a fancy to this time?" He crossed his hands, raised his eyebrows, and spoke in a coquettish voice, his foxy eyes half-flirting and half-scolding, "It seems that there will be another person added to this mansion."
The young man was Zhu Kuo's newly acquired concubine. At eighteen years old, he was charming and alluring. He often threw tantrums, which Zhu Kuo indulged. This was not for any other reason than that he was different from other respectable men. He was uninhibited in bed, his waist swaying wildly, and he could make noises, thus serving Zhu Kuo well.
"Is my darling angry?" Zhu Kuo narrowed his eyes mischievously, his large hand resting on the woman's waist, pressing the concubine onto his knees. "Shall I coax you?"
As he spoke, his hands began to grope around.
The concubine was quite uninhibited; she glared at Zhu Kuo and said in a seductive voice, "Master, you're so annoying!"
The surrounding government officials and soldiers looked up at the sky and pretended not to see anything, while the clerk knelt on the ground, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
After playing for a while, Zhu Kuo was satisfied and looked at the clerk, "What are you still kneeling here for? Do you want me to go find the person myself?!"
The clerk's knees were stiff and sore, but he felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He yelled at the group of yamen soldiers, "Are you all dead?! Go and find them for me right now! Dig three feet into the ground and bring them to the magistrate!"
The yamen officers and soldiers fell silent, quickly grabbing their weapons and moving about in all directions.
Just then, a voice came from deep within the alley, "Is Lord Zhu looking for us?"
The clerk looked up and saw two figures walking towards him. Immediately, he sneered and shouted at the constables, "Fine! Seize them and bring them here!"
Instantly, a series of snapping sounds rang out, and the gleaming blades surrounded Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan, bringing them before Zhu Kuo.
Zhu Kuo sat up straight, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I've been looking for you two for ages..." He glanced around, then fixed his gaze on Gu Fengyan, and said sternly:
"You dared to lie to me back then, did you ever imagine this would be your fate today!"
With a "smash," the walnut in my hand was smashed to the ground and shattered into pieces with great force.
Those present had been by Zhu Kuo's side for a long time, and now they were all silent and trembling, knowing that Zhu Kuo was truly angry.
Only Gu Fengyan, Jin'er, and Huo Duan remained calm and unmoved.
"Master, why are you so angry... Whether you want to kill or torture me, it's just a matter of your approval. Don't upset me." The little boy in Zhu Kuo's arms hadn't been with him for long and was favored. At this moment, he stretched out a pair of soft, boneless hands and gently stroked Zhu Kuo's chest.
His eyes kept glancing at Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan... Although both of them were extremely handsome, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that they were a couple. Could it be that the master had a new hobby?
Huo Duan was strong and powerful, with broad shoulders and long legs. The young man was exactly the type who liked him. He glanced at him and, in front of Gu Fengyan and Zhu Kuo, began to flirt with Huo Duan.
Zhu Kuo was in a fit of rage and didn't have time to pay attention, but Gu Fengyan was furious after just one glance.
"You vixen!" he cursed Huo Duan viciously, stepping aside to block the boy's view.
Huo Duan was preoccupied with figuring out how to deal with Zhu Kuo when he was stunned by this nonsensical remark.
What's wrong now? How did he become a vixen again?
Huo Duan was puzzled and asked Gu Fengyan several times, but Gu Fengyan did not answer. It wasn't until he glanced up and saw the boy's smiling eyes looking at him that he understood everything.
Huo Duan ignored it, thinking about dealing with things here and going home to coax her husband.
"What constitutes deception?" He continued the conversation, raising his eyes to look at Zhu Kuo slowly and deliberately. "Does Your Excellency know who we've met these past two days?"
He remained calm and composed, his smile a mixture of amusement and disdain, as if he truly knew something.
Zhu Kuo was stunned for a moment, then suddenly became frightened. He subconsciously reached for his purse, only to find it empty. From that day on, he took off the purse and never wore it again.