Chapter 79 hints at how you should thank me.

Qingduo craned her neck and looked around. When she saw Wu Yan walking out of the yamen with tears in her eyes, she quickly went up to her and called out, "Sister Wu Yan!"

Wu Yan stood there, stunned for a long while, before bitterly saying, "Qingduo..."

Qingduo held her cold hand tightly and comforted her, "Don't be sad. Although Sailinfu escaped punishment by feigning illness this time, the murderer is about to be executed, which can be considered as avenging your husband!"

Wu Yan looked at Qing Duo, her lips trembling uncontrollably, unable to speak for a long time, tears streaming down her face. She choked out, "Good sister... I hurt you all before... I thought you would never forgive me... I..."

Qingduo knew which matter she was referring to. Last time, when they confronted Sailinfu at the guild, Sailinfu suddenly produced the sales contract for the storybook signed by Wu Yan, almost causing them to lose everything.

Qingduo sighed and said gently, "My husband once said, 'Even with good intentions, things may not go as planned, and the unforeseen circumstances are beyond anyone's control.'"

"Sister Wu Yan, I think you might have meant well but ended up doing something wrong. I've done things like that before. We learned our lesson this time, but we'll know what to do next time and we'll change our ways! You don't need to keep holding a grudge." She affectionately shook their clasped hands.

Upon hearing her words, Wu Yan could no longer hold back and cried, "Back then, when I heard Brother Zhu Yi say... about how you asked the Dong family for thirty taels of silver, I was really afraid that you would be beaten by the Dong family... My brother has been asking for it for so many years and he has been beaten by them... Our family can't afford for anyone else to suffer like this! You, you were trying to help me, how could I let you risk your lives for nothing!"

"So I was thinking of returning the money to you as soon as possible, and that's why I was confused and signed that contract, just for the sake of those ten taels of silver... I never expected that it would harm you!" She couldn't continue and started to sob.

Qingduo comforted her: "Sister Yan, heaven has eyes! Look, this person killed someone and fled to another place, but he just happened to come back at this time, and he just happened to steal my things. I punched him to the ground, and he tried to sneak away, but Brother Zhu Yi caught him red-handed. He was still not behaving himself in the cell, showing off this kind of thing as a skill. He deserves to go to the execution ground!"

"Just you wait! Good deeds will be rewarded, and evil deeds will be punished; it's all predetermined! If you have a kind heart, the Bodhisattva will make your life better and better. Some people, no, some are utterly worthless. They may escape this time, but they might not next time. Sooner or later, they will suffer the consequences!"

She comforted Wu Yan for a while before she gradually calmed down. Zhu Yi was originally standing beside them, but seeing Wu Yan's sadness, he also felt a little sad, so he walked to the side with his hands behind his back. Just then, he suddenly saw a familiar figure.

Even in his dreams, he wouldn't mistake that figure; he even dreamt of his own fist landing hard on that back.

Zhu Yi frowned and muttered to himself, "What's that guy surnamed Chen doing loitering around here?"

He gestured with his lip and said sarcastically, "Tsk! A grown man, and he really enjoys watching the show!"

*

That evening, Qingduo and Zeng Zhengqing were invited to visit Liu Ke's home. As soon as they stepped out of the Liu family's gate and boarded the carriage, Qingduo let out a heavy sigh.

"oops!"

Zeng Zhengqing turned his head to look at her, his lips moved, but he swallowed the words back. Once the carriage started moving, Qingduo sighed sadly again:

"well……"

Zeng Zhengqing could no longer contain himself and asked, "Why are you sighing so often?"

Qingduo tugged at the fur on the silver fox cloak and whispered, "It's nothing."

“No,” Zeng Zhengqing stared at her, his gaze sharp. “You’ve been forcing a smile all evening. You don’t look like this when you’re truly happy. A-Zhao, what’s wrong?”

He paused, then said, "Could it be... that Li Miaowan is pregnant?"

Zeng Zhengqing whispered to comfort her, "Didn't we say that we shouldn't have children for now, and that we should take it slowly?"

"Oh no!" Qingduo tugged at her feathers in frustration. "They have a child, and I'm happy for them!"

"Sigh!" she said, her face full of worry. "That's not why!"

Zeng Zhengqing stopped speaking and just watched her quietly. Under his gaze, Qingduo gradually calmed down. She hesitated for a moment, then raised her face and asked, "Qingqing, is it really true that good people are rewarded and bad people are punished?"

Zeng Zhengqing was taken aback, completely unexpected that she would ask such a question. His expression turned serious, and he pressed, "What exactly happened? Who made you feel wronged?"

Qingduo briefly recounted what she had seen and heard at the county government office during the day. After finishing, she curled her lip and muttered, "Anyone with eyes can see it! If the murderer wasn't acting under Sailinfu's orders, why would he beat people for no reason, severely injuring Wu Yan's husband to death!"

"But this case is terrible! After all the trials, they just said there was no solid evidence and only sentenced Sailinfu for lax discipline, giving him a few lashes. He lied and said he was sick, so he didn't even have to be flogged; he just had to pay some dirty money."

"He seemed perfectly fine to me, only coughing a few times when the final results came out. What illness! He probably bribed those corrupt officials with money!" Qingduo said angrily, "You bastard!"

She grew angrier as she spoke, raising her head and clenching her fists, speaking with increasing force: "This is outrageous! Sailinfu has done so many bad things and hasn't been punished! Although his 'Shouzhentang' is not doing well on the surface, I've heard from others that he has other shops in private, so it doesn't affect his ability to make money at all!"

"He was the mastermind, he took other people's lives, yet he wasn't punished. How can this be called 'evil begets evil'?" Qingduo was truly indignant. "Sister Wu Yan and her brother are honest and hardworking, making a living by performing shadow puppetry. She is strong and kind, why did she have to suffer like this? This is not 'good begets good' either!"

"What 'good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds are punished'? It's all just talk to fool honest people! Heaven is biased! And this corrupt official can't tell right from wrong!" Qingduo shouted indignantly, her eyes blazing with anger.

"Mmm!" Before she could finish speaking, Zeng Zhengqing covered her mouth with his hand, refusing to let go no matter how hard she pulled. Her eyes widened, filled with both confusion and anger.

"Don't talk nonsense," Zeng Zhengqing scolded in a low voice. "There are gods watching over you. Even if you have grievances in your heart, you should still have some respect and not speak carelessly."

"But..." Qingduo mumbled, her face full of dissatisfaction.

Zeng Zhengqing released his grip: "Take your favorite 'Journey to the West' as an example, why are some monsters killed by Sun Wukong's staff while others manage to survive?"

"Because some of them are the mounts of immortals, and others are some kind of attendants..." Qingduo said, her mouth agape.

"Yes, they have powerful backers."

Zeng Zhengqing said slowly, "In this world, there is no such thing as absolute fairness and justice."

“Selin has been committing evil deeds here for many years. The fact that no one exposed him before may not be because no one noticed, but because he has powerful backers and no one dares to touch him. The reason we were able to gain the upper hand in the guild this time is because he was too greedy, touched the interests of others, and incurred the wrath of the masses. Now that I think about it, our move was also extremely dangerous.”

He looked tenderly into Qingduo's eyes: "Azhao, we have done enough about Sailinfu. Your sister Wu Yan may seem weak, but she is actually more resilient than you think. She has children and a younger brother, and she has long since learned to support herself. When you get along with her, just treat her as a friend. You don't need to be nice to her in every way, or you will be underestimating her."

Upon hearing this, Qingduo slowly nodded. Zeng Zhengqing seized the opportunity to say, "Everyone has their own path to walk. Lu Nong has already begun writing a new storybook. What about you? What are you going to do?"

"Me?" Qingduo asked, bewildered.

"The most important thing right now is that you should focus on yourself," Zeng Zhengqing said, emphasizing each word.

Qingduo immediately replied, "I've been focused on drawing the whole time!"

Absolutely! Her charm has spread throughout Wuzhou City!

Zeng Zhengqing thought helplessly, and said calmly, "Of course I know that. But I recently thought of a way. Since Lu Nong is writing about your heroic stories, why don't you draw illustrations for her storybook?"

"Illustrations?" A hint of doubt flashed in Qingduo's eyes.

“That’s right.” Zeng Zhengqing nodded. “You can personally illustrate your own story, and even draw the heroine Changying in your own likeness. In this way, the story itself can already make you famous, and with your superb drawing skills, wouldn’t that be doubly famous?”

Qingduo's eyes suddenly lit up. She clapped her hands excitedly and exclaimed, "That's it! How come I didn't think of that!"

"Qingqing!" She leaned forward, her eyes full of admiration. "No wonder you're the owner of Qingyuan Bookstore, you actually came up with such a brilliant idea!"

She rubbed her hands together, looking eager to try: "Then I have to hurry up and ask Brother Zhu what kind of clothes real female knights wear! The outfit I wore at the last guild meeting, Brother Zhu said it didn't look like a female knight at all, but rather like a female opera singer on stage!"

"Oh right, I also need to choose a suitable weapon for myself!" Qingduo counted on her fingers. "And then there are the moves and techniques. I need Brother Zhu to teach me more powerful moves; I also need to meet more real martial arts practitioners so that I can draw my opponents realistically; um! I have to beg Brother Zhu to take me to his martial arts school to broaden my horizons..."

"Alright, alright!" Zeng Zhengqing affectionately took her hand, leaned closer, and said, "I came up with such a great idea for you, how are you going to thank me?"

He stared intently at her, his expression revealing his true feelings.

Qingduo tilted her head and hesitated, "What kind of thank-you gift do you want?"

Zeng Zhengqing leaned forward and murmured, "I don't lack any of those things."

His lips were about to touch hers; he couldn't believe she didn't understand!

She didn't understand.

As Zeng Zhengqing stared in disbelief, Qingduo straightened up and respectfully performed a fist-and-palm salute:

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Zeng."

Zeng Zhengqing opened his mouth slightly, momentarily at a loss for words. But in an instant, he seemed to see a sly glint in Qingduo's eyes. Just as he was wondering if he was seeing things and was about to rub his eyes, he saw the smile growing stronger and stronger, gradually filling Qingduo's eyes.

She finally couldn't hold back anymore and burst into laughter, bending forward and backward.

"Hahaha, I'll just do as you wish!"

"You're something else!" Zeng Zhengqing was both annoyed and amused. "You actually tricked me!"

He reached out to grab her, but Qingduo giggled and slipped away like an eel. He spread his arms to stop her, but she slipped under his arm.

Zeng Zhengqing quickly turned around to look back, but before he could see the cunning figure clearly, the carriage suddenly slowed down, and a dark figure rushed towards him. He instinctively opened his arms and held her tightly in his embrace.

With a cry of "Ouch!", the two of them collapsed inside the carriage.

Hearing the commotion inside, the coachman outside exclaimed in surprise, "Young Master, Young Madam, are you alright?"

He hurriedly explained, "It was all because of that drunkard who suddenly ran out and startled me, that's why..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qingduo's clear laughter rang out from the carriage. The laughter grew louder and louder, like a string of bells, jingling and clanging along with the sound of horses' hooves, stirring up the quiet night.

The driver breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the tune that had been interrupted earlier to hum along, but the laughter suddenly disappeared.

It seems that something has taken it away.

The slow, deliberate sound of hooves disrupted his rhythm, and the coachman sang haphazardly:

"Lovesickness has made me look like a completely different person."

"Upon closer reflection, this is a classic case of a clever person being fooled by another clever person!"

*

As soon as the steaming hot casserole was placed on the table, Qingduo's eyes were glued to it. Lu Nong carefully lifted the lid, and the aroma of meat wafted out with the rising steam.

Qingduo took a deep breath and exclaimed, "It smells so good!"

Without saying a word, she picked up her chopsticks and tried to pick up the meat, but she didn't dare to use too much force, for fear of breaking the tender meat. So she held her breath, steadied her wrist, and then picked up the meat and put it in the bowl.

The meat trembled on the rice, the thick sauce spreading down the meat and making the rice grains glisten. She bent down and eagerly shoveled the meat and rice into her mouth.

As the caramel and meaty aroma spread across her tongue, she puffed out her cheeks and hummed as she chewed, "It's so delicious!"

Lu Nong looked at her affectionately, picked up another piece of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, put it in her bowl, and said with a smile, "I'm glad you like it."

Zhu Yi sat opposite Qing Duo, watching her wolf down her food, and teased, "Hey, you glutton, eat slowly. Look, I brought a pot of wine today, it's sweet, I guarantee you'll like it."

"Drink less. Didn't your Qingqing say last time that you can't hold your liquor?" Lu Nong advised.

Qingduo said coquettishly, "What? I'm drunk, and you're afraid I'll stay here and not leave, aren't you?"

Lu Nong affectionately poked her forehead: "I wish you would stay and keep me company!"

The three chatted happily while eating. Lu Nong suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Qing Duo, I told Brother Shen about Sister Wu Yan. He heard that Sister Wu Yan can perform shadow puppetry, so he specially came up with a way to make money. He adapted my storybook 'The Everlasting Heroine' into a shadow puppet story and had Wu Yan and Wu Jiang perform it."

"That's a great idea!" Qingduo immediately agreed. "With more performance options, the story will become more famous, and Sister Wu Yan can earn more money. It's a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone!"

“That’s right, thanks to Brother Shen,” Lu Nong said with a smile. “I was able to figure out many things after talking to him. He’s helped me so much, I should thank him properly someday.”

"snort!"

Lu Nong looked across at him in surprise, while Zhu Yi's face remained icy: "Who knows what he's up to!"

"What do you mean by that?" Lu Nong's face darkened.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Yi asked irritably. "I said he has ulterior motives!"

“Brother Shen is an upright man and would never have any ulterior motives,” Lu Nong said coldly. “On the other hand, there are some people who are full of ulterior motives, and I can see that clearly!”

"I don't think you understand at all!" Zhu Yi sneered. "If he wasn't interested in you, why would he keep helping you? You're a woman, you don't know the fickle hearts of men, but I'm a man, I know it very well!"

"You're just judging others by your own petty standards," Lu Nong said, turning her face away with anger.

"After knowing each other for so long, how could you think of me like this?" Zhu Yi glared at her, his voice trembling with anger. "I thought you were clever, but it turns out you can't even tell the difference between a good person and a bad one! What good are a few months more than him? In the end, the old is no match for the new!"

Lu Nong blushed at his words and retorted angrily, "Since you think I'm a fickle woman, what are you still doing here? Leave! Don't waste my time, and don't let my humble place defile your precious body!"

Zhu Yi regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth, realizing he had spoken too harshly. Hearing Lu Nong's order to leave, he immediately wilted.

He didn't want to leave, but he felt embarrassed to apologize immediately. Just as he was wondering what to do, he suddenly heard a loud "thud".

Both of them were startled and looked in the direction of the sound. They saw Qingduo's head resting on the table, her eyes closed, and she had fainted.