章 24: Chapter 24
編集者: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"It's okay." Chu Qiao said with a mild smile, "I'll be fine after some rest."
"Oh." Huan'er nodded and left the room. As soon as the door closed, the face of the child instantly changed. She thought to herself, even such a scandal is not enough to get rid of Zhu Shun? Alright, I will end him with my own hands then.
Chu Qiao bit her lips slowly, while sitting on her chair. It seemed like she would have to come up with brand new plans now.
The doors of steward Zhu Shun's courtyard were closed shut, but the sounds of a man screaming like a pig-slaughter could still be heard in the distance. Peasants passing by walked with their heads down. No one dared to take a look at what was happening, but their gloating expressions still beamed on their faces—seeing Zhu Shun suffer made them even happier than getting their salary at year end.
As he lied on the bed butt-naked, Zhu Shun wailed and howled, constantly yelling at the servants who were applying the medicines on him, as if they were the ones who caused the pain. "Screw you! You want to hurt me to death?"
Face covered in sweat, one of the servants said carefully, "Steward Zhu, you have to endure this. Your skin is sticking to the pants, we have to tear them apart!"
The east side of the room was along the water with a few sparse shrubs around. A sharp dagger sliced along the edges of the window. Nudging open the window latch quietly as Zhu Shun screamed, Chu Qiao stood up slowly while holding a self-made foldable crossbow, aiming the arrow at the Zhu shun's head. The crossbow originated from a local forest tribe in South Africa, with intricate designs. It was able to be dismantled, folded and capable of stealthily firing at close range with great accuracy.
Using this crossbow, Chu Qiao once sneaked into a highly-secured private party, taking out the target during an undercover mission overseas. This crossbow was easy to carry but at the same time very lethal, such that a skilled hunter could kill a fully-grown tiger using it. In the cold weapon era, this weapon was very suited for assassins, almost as if they were custom-designed for them. Zhu Shun was very lucky to be the first to die under this cross-spacetime superweapon.
At this moment, a man ran into the room frantically, yelling, "Steward Zhu, steward Zhu!"
"What are you crying about?" Zhu Shun screamed, "You think this is a funeral? I am not dead yet!"
The servant frantically said, "Steward Zhu, sir, people from the other courtyard are here. The Second Grand Master sent someone asking why the female slave hasn't been delivered yet as promised?"
Stumbling, Zhu Shun shot up, forgetting about his wounded butt. He laid back on the bed again, howling and wailing in pain. Amidst the screams, he said, "I'm afraid that the girl slave I promised will not make do. The fourth young master will not release her. I have prepared ten newly bought slaves in the Xi Le hall. Get someone to bring them out."
"Yes sir, I understand," the man answered, turning around and running.
Zhu Shun yelled, "Remember to let the Second Grand Master know that I am very sick. I will visit him when I've recovered."
The crossbow outside the window was lowered slowly. Chu Qiao looked around, coming up with another idea.
Maybe there was another way to kill this man without staining her hands with blood.
As Xi Lei hall's dungeon doors opened, an unbearable fouled smell escaped. The man sent by secondary household frowned and said with his nose covered, "What is this? You think that girls of such standard can be offered to the grand master?"
The servant from before immediately responded respectfully, "Slaves have not been so easy to buy recently. Once the dealers hear that it's for the Zhuge household, the prices are raised significantly. These few were brought after much effort from my boss. There's nothing for you to worry about. When they are all cleaned up, I'm sure they are all young beauties. The Grand Master will sure to be elated once he sees them!"
"Okay, no more nonsense, just release them."
The girls inside the dungeon had not seen the sun in a long time as they were locked up. Once they were brought back, looking unkempt, distraught, and their eyes shut, they appeared like a group of pups tightly squeezed together.
The man from the other courtyard looked and said with a frown, "Shouldn't it only be ten slaves? Why are there eleven here?"
"Really?" The peasant counted the numbers again hurriedly and said, "Maybe steward Zhu remembered wrong. I'll go back and ask."
"Save the trouble, I don't have the time, just take them away!"
As ordered, a few well trained brawny guys stepped forward, pushing one of the girls and yelled, "Follow up!"
The kids were intimated. One of them even started whimpering.
"Whoever dares to cry again will be dead! Outrageous!" one of the men yelled as he reached to grab onto one of the cleaner girls.
At this moment, the girl he grabbed turned and bit the man's wrist without hesitation, forcing him to release his hands with a yell. The girl took the chance and sprinted away.
"Ah! One got away! Get her!"
Servants from the Zhuge Residence turned frantic as they looked in the direction of the girl running away. Pulling back the servant from the other courtyard, they yelled, "Butler Zhu, the area there belongs to the fourth young master's Qing Shan court, we can't go there!"
"It's just an escaped slave, what's there to worry about?" Butler Zhu exclaimed, pushing away the servant's hands and running to chase after the girl who got away.
The doors of Qing Shan court were kicked open. The men of the second Grand Master of Zhuge ran into the court like scavengers, shocking the maidservants such as Huan'er who was cleaning vases in the corridor.
Zhuge Yue was just summoned to Hong Shan court by Zhuge Huai, and guards like Zhu Cheng were also not around. Zhuge Yue adored the tranquillity, hence the court was rather sparse with not many people around. Now only the maidservants were left behind.
Huan'er, being the older one among the maidservants, went forward and asked while trembling, "Who are you people? How dare you step in here. Don't you know that this is the fourth young master's courtyard?"
"We are here in pursuit of an escaped slave. We are sorry if there's any inconvenience caused, we hope you understand."
"Why would you be looking for a slave here in our court?" Since the person who was talking to her was somewhat polite, Huan'er's courage grew stronger and she asked confidently, "Which court are you from? Do you not know the rules?"
"We are with the Second Grand Master. If you want to complain, you can go tell your fourth young master. We'll inform the Second Grand Master later as well."
Upon hearing the Second Grand Master's name, Huan'er shushed up and said without much confidence, "We didn't see any slave. You guys…you guys better not mess around."
One of the servants came up and said, "She's in the house over there! I saw her climb in through the window."
Shocked, Huan'er said, "You can't go in there. That's the room for the young master's maid in charge."
Butler Zhu looked at Huan'er suspiciously and in a deep voice said, "Go in and get the girl."
"No!" Just as Huan'er was about to step forward, she was held back by one of the brawny men, and could only watch the men stomp into the room.
"Butler Zhu! That's her!"
"Xing'er!" Huan'er exclaimed. She turned around and yelled, "You have the wrong person! That's the maidservant from our court, not the slave you are looking for!"
Butler Zhu looked at her with a cold stare and said, "I've seen many slaves like you trying to cover up for each other, I'd rather you keep quiet. It won't do you any good if anything was to happen." With such a threat a bunch of servants hollered, bringing Chu Qiao out of Qing Shan court.
"Xing'er!" Huan'er exclaimed. Spotting the last servant from Zhuge residence in her hindsight, she went up and said, "Aren't you Steward Zhu Shun's men? Are you the one that brought them here? Get Xing'er back!"
The man was confused, he also saw the slave girl jump in the room with his own eyes. He did not expect the maidservant from the Qing Shan court to be so close with her. He frowned. "Don't mess things up here, they are all female slaves offered to the second grand master by steward Zhu. if you continue to interfere, I'll send you with them as well."
In a moment's effort, the men left and the room was empty. Huan'er stood in shock, the younger maidservants hid behind her, with no one daring to come forward.
"Oh right, go and find the fourth young master!" Huan'er wiped away her tears and ran towards the Hong Shan court.
Zhuge Yue was in a meeting with Zhuge Huai in the study room. Suddenly Zhu Cheng said from the outside, "Fourth young master, Huan'er just came to report that there is an urgent matter to be discussed with you."
Zhuge Yue frowned and said, "What matter is it that cannot be discussed when I get back? This is getting outrageous, ask her to go back and wait."
It grew dead silent outside the door, but after awhile, Zhu Cheng knocked and said again, "Fourth young master, it's…it's Xing'er. She's being taken away by Zhu Shun's men."
The door to the study room was immediately opened. Zhuge Yue said coldly, "What did you say?"
Zhu Shun started perspiring, while looking inside the room at the confused face of Zhuge Huai. He licked his lips and said slowly, "Steward Zhu's men said that one of their slaves escaped and said Xing'er was the escaped one. They took her away from Qing Shan court by force."
"Took her away? To where?"
"Erm, they said it's to the other courtyard of the Second Grand Master."
At that moment, the face of Zhuge Yue cannot be more gloomy.
"Maybe they got the wrong person. Ever since Zhu Shun was injured, he started handling things inappropriately." Zhuge Huai went forward, patting Zhuge Yue on the shoulder. He smirked and said, "The fourth brother, since it's to the Second Grand Master's court, let's forget about this matter. It's just a maidservant. I'll pick a few quick-witted ones and send them over to your court later. I'll be sure to not let you down."
"How long since they left?" Zhuge Yue's eyes were still locked onto Zhu Cheng and he asked him in a deep voice as if he hadn't heard Zhuge Huai.
"They've…they've been gone for almost an hour."
Zhuge Yue pushed open the study room doors without a word and straddled out. Zhu Cheng and other servants from Qing Shan court knew that this would happen and followed behind.
Just as Zhuge Yue received the news that Chu Qiao had been taken away by the grand master in Wei's ancestral hall, Wei Guang passed a single golden arrow into the hands of Wei Shuye. With a serious look, the old men said slowly, "Shuye, do not let uncle down and do not disappoint the Wei family's ancestors."
Wei Shuye laid both hands flat, looking at the golden arrow. His eyes glistened. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but just like a fish out of water, no words came out.
"Shuye, Wei family's ancestors are watching you, your father is also watching you. You know what to do."
With his brows locked, he slowly said, "Who?" after a long while.
Wei Guang smiled mildly and slowly wrote a word on the altar after he dipped his finger in the teacup.
Wei Shuye's eyes widened and brow locked. He looked at the old man as if he was looking for an answer.
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