49 Robbery

"You're threatening me? Fine, fine, fine! I underestimated you in the past!"

At the city gate, the Chu family's coachman pulled the reins with a whoosh, urging the horses to the side of the road. Wu felt the carriage stop and lifted a corner of the curtain, only to see a carriage with a lantern bearing the Chinese character "信" passing by, heading toward the suburbs.

The wheels rumbled as they rolled along the official road leading out of the city. The road grew increasingly muddy the further they got from the city gate. Half a quarter of an hour later, the carriage finally stopped in front of the Xuanmiao Temple. Two maids jumped out first. One held up an oil-paper umbrella by the door curtain, while the other set up a footstool and helped Chen Lanzheng down.

The cold raindrops pattered against the umbrella, a dense, muffled sound. As they entered the Taoist temple's main gate, the maid holding the umbrella involuntarily lowered her voice, "Madam, please walk slowly. Be careful of the slippery ground... They say the Xuanmiao Temple is efficacious, and the Taoist priests here are renowned for their accurate fortune-telling. Would you like to ask for a divination later?"

In the dim light, Chen Lanzheng looked a little tired. She shook her head and said, "No need. If your heart is sincere, you will feel it. Just say goodbye."

This trip is more of a relaxation than a worship.

For over a month, the search for Wan's daughter remained stagnant. Officials dispatched by the prefecture discovered that Doctor Wan had not been living with his daughter in Qingzhou for long when, due to her beauty, she caught the eye of a wealthy and powerful local tyrant, who threatened to take her as his ninth concubine. This tyrant was known for his tyrannical nature, having already tortured two concubines in his harem to death.

Doctor Wan naturally fought to the death. In desperation, he hurriedly asked someone to find a husband for his daughter. Within three or five days, she was married off. Since then, there has been no news of her, and no one knows her whereabouts.

Since the end of March, her son's health had been deteriorating day by day, and no matter how much she adjusted the prescription, the effect was getting worse. She was extremely anxious, unable to sleep all night, and when she got up in the morning, the slightest effort when dressing would make her hands covered with black hair.

Even if she occasionally fell asleep, she would be quickly awakened, then run to her son's room in a cold sweat and reach out to check his breath.

Not to mention whether Wan's daughter has superb medical skills, she even doubts whether Chen'er can survive until the day when the person is found.

Stepping into the empty and solemn Sanqing Hall and gazing up at the stone statues of Sanqing, she folded her hands devoutly, prayed, knelt down, kowtowed, and begged for mercy from Sanqing.

At the moment her forehead touched the cushion, a strong wind suddenly blew outside the hall, and the continuous rain suddenly became violent. The raindrops as big as beans almost formed a rain line, hitting the eaves with an alarming sound.

The maid was startled. She walked to the palace gate, stretched out her hand to catch the rain, and turned back and said, "Madam, the rain is falling too fast. It seems we have to wait before we can leave."

Chen Lanzheng slowly straightened up: "It's okay, I've been stuck in the house for too long, it's nice to come out and listen to the sound of the rain." Maybe it was because the palace was too big and empty, her voice seemed a little light and weak.

The rain continued until dark. When we returned to the Duke's Mansion, it was already past 11:00 p.m. The light of lanterns was reflected in the puddle in front of the mansion gate.

As soon as she got off the carriage, her mother, who had been waiting at the door, hurried over to greet her, saying anxiously, "Madam! Madam! There's news from Qingzhou!"

Chen Lanzheng was shocked and suddenly grabbed her hand, his eyes like a torch: "What do you mean!"

Mom swallowed her saliva: "We found the person! But..."

"But what!" Shen Lanzheng's heart skipped a beat.

"But she's not Doctor Wan's daughter! She's his granddaughter, and she's currently in the capital, at Doctor Chu's home in the Ministry of Works!"

-

Outside the courtyard, the night watchman's clapper struck the hour of Xu.

Chu Yufu curled up alone on a low couch by the window. There was no candle lit, and the window was wide open, letting the moonlight pour in and shine on the opposite wall. She held Chuyi in her arms, her fingertips sinking into the puppy's warm fur, stroking from the top of the head to the tip of the tail, over and over again.

In recent days, the Chu family has been as peaceful as a stagnant pool of water, without a single ripple. However, the calmer it is, the more it feels like the oppression before a storm. Currently, the enemy is hidden and I am in the open. If the enemy doesn't move, I can't move either. This feeling of being forced to defend myself... can only be described as terrible.

It's like knowing there's a poisonous snake lurking in the grass beside you, with its tongue spitting out and ready to bite you at any moment.

At this moment, a series of footsteps came closer outside the door, and Yun Sui's voice rang out outside the door: "Miss, are you asleep?"

"Come in." Chu Yufu responded.

The door creaked softly, and Yun Sui stepped in and closed the door tightly with her backhand. She walked closer, her face a little serious, "Miss, I want to tell you something."

Chu Yufu paused petting the dog and looked at her seriously: "Go ahead."

"You know, Yun Xing and I have always been good friends. Last month, she was transferred to Yunxi Hall to do cleaning work. Tonight, while cleaning, she caught a glimpse of three pieces of red paper with names and birthdays written on the table in the mistress's room..."

Yunsui lowered her voice and emphasized the word "three pieces". She knew that the mistress was going to match the horoscopes of the young lady and the future son-in-law soon, but the young lady and the future son-in-law clearly only needed two pieces of paper, but now a third person appeared.

Chu Yufu asked, "Can Yunxing read?"

"I can recognize some numbers, and some simple elements like gold, wood, water, fire, and earth... Yun Xing said that the second character of the names on two of the papers contained the character 'gold'."

Chu Yufu's heart skipped a beat. She had underestimated the shamelessness of the mother and daughter. It turned out that this was their plan!

What else is there to not understand now? She knows that when evil people live in peace, they must be causing trouble!

The Chu family named their daughters Congjin and Congcao, and the three sisters were Jinhe, Yufu, and Linglan. One of the three red papers must have Pei Yue's birth chart, and the other two papers with the word "gold" on them, besides her, Chu Yufu, could only be Chu Jinhe!

She put Chuyi on the ground, stood up and wanted to go find her grandmother, but the moment she raised her foot, she remembered that her grandmother had already left for Wanshou Temple in the afternoon! And Father Chu was also away on business. In such a big family, the only one who could make the decision was Wu!

Her heart sank, and she quickly walked to the dressing table, opened the drawer, took out the purse, took out a few pieces of silver from it and stuffed them into Yunsui's hand.

"Thank Yun Xing for me and tell her I'll take this favor. You and Lan Zhu should leave the house immediately and go to the Lu family. Tell my cousin about this and ask her to send someone to Wanshou Temple to bring Grandmother back! Remember, do it quietly!"

"Yes, young lady!" Yunsui clenched the silver, nodded heavily, and quickly disappeared out the door.

That night, Chu Yufu hardly slept a wink. She got up in front of the mirror and put on her makeup at daybreak. When Lanzhu was tying her hair, a maid came and said: The mistress has something to do today, so there is no need to pay respects to each room.

She suddenly looked up at the mirror, and met Lanzhu's gaze for a moment, both of them knowing what was going on.

After an incense stick of time, the master and servant quietly hid in the rose bushes near the hanging flower gate. Not long after, Wu came in a gorgeous dress. Behind her, besides Mother Meng, there was a maid holding a red lacquer tray with a red paper on it.

When the person approached, Lanzhu took a deep breath, suddenly jumped out from the flowers, and bumped into the maid as she stumbled behind him.

"ah!"

"Bang—"

The two men fell down at the same time, and the tray hit the ground. The red paper in the tray scattered on the ground, landing on the bluestone slabs that had not dried after the rain.

"How reckless!" Chu Yufu appeared at the right time and scolded, but she picked up the red paper soaked with mud and water before Mother Meng, took out a white handkerchief from her bosom, pretended to wipe it, and when her eyes swept over the name written on the note, her pupils suddenly shrank, her face turned pale, and she looked at Wu with shaking hands.

"Mother, what's going on? Why is my sister's name on it?"

Wu was startled by the sudden change. After she recovered, she glared at Lan Zhu fiercely, raised her hand to straighten the non-existent wrinkles on her sleeve, and said slowly, "Oh, I was negligent and forgot to inform you. Yesterday, I went to the Taoist temple and asked the Taoist priest to match your horoscopes with Master Pei. Who would have thought that you and Pei Yue's fates are incompatible, but your sister is a perfect match for him. The marriage between the Pei and Chu families is going to be arranged anyway. If that's the case, let your sister take your place."

She spoke so calmly that Chu Yufu fluttered her eyelashes, a cold smile curled up at the corner of her lips, and she said softly, "Are your fates incompatible? Matching your horoscopes has always been a formality. I've never heard of a Taoist priest directly saying that fates are incompatible and that it would ruin someone's marriage! Mother, you really do love me!"

"How dare you!" Mother Meng stepped forward, blocking Wu's way and shouting, "Second Miss, how dare you speak to Madam like that? Everyone in the capital knows that the Xuanmiao Temple's divinations are effective, how dare you question them here! Besides, it's your parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, how can a young person like you have the right to interfere?"

"I think you are being presumptuous! Who allowed you to scold the master like that?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a breathless roar echoed from the doorway. Everyone turned their heads to see Grandmother Wei, who should have been concentrating on worshipping Buddha at Wanshou Temple, appear at the gate, leaning on a dragon-headed cane and walking towards them, supported by Mother Yang.

Mother Meng fell silent, lowered her head and retreated.

Wu's face suddenly changed, and she couldn't help but take a step back: "Why, why are you back, mother?"

The old lady walked straight up to Wu and said, "What's wrong with what Fu'er said? If you really loved her, how could you break up her marriage because of a single reckless remark! She was already broken off once because of your mistake. If you break off the engagement again, are you going to make the whole capital laugh at her and our Chu family? Are you really going to force her to death?"

Wu clutched her handkerchief tightly, met the old lady's gaze, and gritted her teeth as she said, "Mother, you misunderstood! I'm saving her! The Taoist priest clearly stated that her fate with Pei Yue is incompatible. If they marry, it will be a situation of 'robbing wealth and shortening lifespan,' bringing disaster to relatives and bringing unrest to the family. I'm saving her, and also saving our entire family!"

"Nonsense, all nonsense!" Old Mrs. Wei was furious and slammed the ground with her dragon-headed cane.

Mrs. Wu's chest heaved violently, her voice rising suddenly. "You burn incense and worship Buddha every day, and now you're even going to celebrate Buddha's birthday? How come the divination I sincerely asked for from my daughter-in-law turned out to be nonsense! He'er and Pei Yue are a match made in heaven! A match made in heaven, once established, will bring honor to your family and long-lasting blessings!"

She spoke the last few words with all her might, almost shouting them out.

"You! You--" Grandma Wei raised her hand and pointed at her, her lips trembling, her breath stuck in her chest, her eyes went black, and her whole body fell straight forward.

"grandmother!"

"Old lady!"

The crowd rushed forward and the scene became chaotic.

Last night, the old lady received the news and couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned until dawn, then hurriedly ordered the driver to return home. She hadn't eaten a single grain of rice since morning, and when she returned, she heard what Wu had said. She was so angry that she fainted...

In Cishou Hall, Chu Yufu sat on the edge of the couch, wrung out a clean handkerchief from the basin, and wiped away the cold sweat from her grandmother's forehead bit by bit. Her pretty face was as gloomy as water.

Now that Grandmother has fallen, if Wu insists on having her own way and is determined to get a replacement, who can still make the decision for her? If Father Chu were here, he wouldn't let things get to this point for the sake of his reputation, but unfortunately he's not here!

How long will this life of constantly asking others to make decisions for you last? It's really... rotten!

The fingertips pinched the handkerchief so hard that they almost lost their color.

At this moment, Mother Yang lifted the beaded curtain and walked in. She took the handkerchief from her hand and whispered, "Second Miss, I will serve the old lady here. Please go to the front yard and take a look."

Chu Yufu was stunned and repeated, "Front yard?"

"Yes. Someone came from Duke Xin's Mansion and said that the Duke's wife heard that you are good at acupuncture and invited you to her house to see the eldest son of the Duke's Mansion. The lady is waiting for you in the flower hall in the front yard right now." Mother Yang explained.

When Chu Yufu arrived, the mother from the Duke's Mansion was still making her final efforts.

"… Whether it can be cured or not, we must ask the Second Young Lady to go and see it in person to know the result. Our Madam said that whether it succeeds or not, the Duke's Mansion will accept this favor."

Mrs. Wu said, "Mom's condition is serious. My second daughter's medical skills are indeed mediocre. She only has a superficial understanding of medicine and can only treat minor illnesses such as colds and flu... Besides, she has been feeling unwell these past few days and it is really inconvenient for her to see anyone."

Having said that, all room for maneuver was blocked, and the mother of the Duke's Mansion could say nothing more. She could only remain silent for a moment before rising to take her leave. "Since that is the case, I will report the truth to Madam. I apologize for bothering you."

Mrs. Wu politely said, "Goodbye, Mom."

After the mother's figure walked away, Chu Yufu slowly walked out from behind the corridor column and stopped in front of the door. A gust of wind blew, and her clothes fluttered. She raised her eyes and gave Wu, who was sitting in the main seat, a bright smile with a clear tone.

"The Duke of Xin's Mansion is a more prestigious family than the Marquis' Mansion, right? If you deliberately refuse like this... wouldn't that be too offensive to the Duke's wife?"

Then she lowered her lips and said softly, "Mother, I just want to get back what belongs to me."

Mrs. Wu looked at her, anger rising up in her. With a bang, she swept the teacup in her hand to the ground, and the celadon fragments fell all over the ground. She raised her finger and pointed at her, saying angrily.

"You dare to threaten me? Fine, fine, fine! I underestimated you in the past!"

【Author’s words】

Don't worry, babies, the bad guys will eventually log off.