Chapter 22 Trapped in the Woodshed (Minor Revision 0907) Young Master Chen is angry...

With tears streaming down her face, Zhao Di kept repeating, "Something's happened, something's happened," her sobs drowning out her shouts.

Chen Junbo's narrow eyes were tightly furrowed as he scanned the room. Listening to Zhao Di's words, his brows furrowed. "What exactly happened!"

Perhaps it was because Zhao Di's cries were so penetrating that they attracted Zi Yan and Bi Fang, who were busy directing the maids to clean and tidy up the west wing.

Chen Junbo stood by the door with an unfriendly expression, while Zhao Di knelt on the ground. The two stopped and looked at each other.

Ziyan reacted first, quickly entering the room and pulling the person to sit up. "Zhaodi, what happened? Why are you kneeling on the ground?" As she spoke, her gaze swept across the room. "Where is your young mistress?"

Upon hearing her question, Zhao Di cried even louder, "Young Madam... Young Madam..."

The crying was irritating, and Zhao Di's sobs made it difficult for her to speak coherently. Seeing this, Zi Yan frowned slightly, squatted down beside her, gently patted her back, and looked up at Chen Junbai.

Young Master Chen's eyes flashed like blades. "What exactly happened to the young mistress? Tell me!"

The cold words were like icicles, freezing the air in the room.

Zhao Di swallowed her sobs, stood there stunned for a long while, and then sobbed, "Young Madam, she's been taken away."

Chen Junbo: "Where were they taken?"

“…I don’t know…” Suddenly, she burst into tears again.

Chen Junbo seemed to have no more interest in entanglement with her. He turned and strode out, with Bi Fang following closely behind, glancing into the house out of the corner of her eye.

Seeing this, Ziyan quickly patted Zhaodi's back, "Stop crying, can't you see how angry your young master is? If you keep crying like this, you'll bring bad luck." As she spoke, she helped Zhaodi up and followed the man's footsteps.

In an instant, Lanxin Pavilion was deserted.

Inside the woodshed, Li Yang's wrists and ankles were tightly bound several times with thick hemp rope. If he wanted to move, he had to curl up into a ball or stretch out like a caterpillar.

But her waist was bound with a hemp rope as thick as a wrist. The method of binding was extremely ingenious. First, the rope was wrapped around her waist several times, and then it was tied around the pillar in the corner of the room.

As a result, she was unable to move and could only sit curled up against the pillar. After sitting for a long time, her buttocks started to hurt.

So she swayed from side to side, moving her hips back and forth between the two sides, alternating the most strenuous parts.

Not only that, she's also extremely hungry right now!

After having breakfast today, she set off back to Songshan Town. When she arrived at the Chen residence, she took Zhaodi directly to the Fang family teahouse. She had been running around all afternoon, but her stomach was empty.

She had thought that the Chen family's dinner would be plentiful, which would save her the money of eating out on the street.

Who would have thought that upon returning home, I would encounter such a thing? If I had known, I would have eaten something on the street this afternoon, even just a steamed bun would have been better than this.

More than feeling wronged, angry, or indignant, her mind was now filled with images of roast chicken, roast duck, and roast fish...

"Open the door!"

Just two short words were enough to make Li Yang stand up straight: It's Chen Junbo! He's here, thank goodness, he's finally here!

Oh my, thank goodness... Hehe, I'll be able to eat a hot meal soon! My roast chicken...

While she was chanting the incantation in her heart, the door to the woodshed was kicked open. This wooden door had been in disrepair for many years and could not withstand the force of a grown man's kick. Dust fell from the joint between the door frame and the earthen wall, and the door hung on the door frame, teetering on the verge of falling.

Moonlight streamed into the room from the man's side, and dust particles danced and shimmered in the beams of light.

The man's eyes shone like fireflies in the dimly lit room, and Li Yang's eyes welled up with tears. "Chen Junbai..."

The newcomer looked her up and down and then ordered the people behind him, "Untie the young mistress."

Immediately, someone entered the woodshed to untie Li Yang from his bonds.

"stop!"

Having somehow gotten wind of the situation, Madam Chen Zhang, accompanied by Granny Sun, hurried over from afar.

Chen Junbo: "Mother."

Madam Chen: "What is Bai'er trying to do?"

Chen Junbo: "Take people back to Lanxin Pavilion."

The mother and son locked eyes. Chen Junbai's face was as cold as iron, and Chen Zhangshi's face was no better.

Everyone left the woodshed, leaving only the mother and son with Li Yang on the battlefield.

The room was silent, except for Chen Junbai's deep voice: "Mother, as I said, all of Li's money came from my son."

Madam Chen laughed and said, "It seems you have no idea what shameless things she has done."

“Mother, please be careful with your words,” Chen Junbo interrupted coldly.

Madam Chen ignored him, saying, "Your new wife is having an affair with the owner of that banquet hall in town, and not only that, she's accepting money from him. Has she told you all this?"

Then, her tone softened, "Bai'er, if it weren't for that, why would your mother have gone to such lengths to capture her? I think this woman is not one to behave herself. Let's sell her off before she causes even more trouble for the Chen family. Your mother is doing this all for your own good, for the good of the Chen family."

"You're talking nonsense! I already said that I do business with Manager Zhou in a completely honest way! How can you say that we have something going on?" Li Yang was tied up and lacked energy, pausing twice before he could finish his sentence.

She immediately turned to look at Chen Junbai, "Don't listen to her. Last time she framed me for stealing money from the Chen family, and this time she's throwing mud at me again, saying I have an improper relationship with Manager Zhou. There's clearly no evidence at all."

Instead of speaking to her, Madam Chen Zhang said to Chen Junbai, "This time I'm not making things up. Mo Lian is your maid, right? You also assigned her to stay by Madam Li's side. Mo Lian witnessed Madam Li's affair with the shopkeeper with her own eyes; she is a witness."

"You only need to send someone to search this woman and see if there's any money of dubious origin to know the truth. The evidence is there; are you really going to protect her? Don't you care about the Chen family's reputation? Is this entire Chen family less important than this girl?"

These words placed the entire Chen family on Chen Junbo's shoulders, as if his daring to release Li Yang today constituted a betrayal of the Chen family.

Upon hearing this, Li Yang angrily retorted, "Don't try to fool him. How can you disregard the Chen family's reputation? I clearly did nothing wrong. Manager Zhou and I were just standing at the entrance of the banquet hall discussing matters. What improper behavior could we have done?"

Mo Lian secretly followed us from a distance, unable to see or hear us clearly, and only spoke her own guesses. "My silver is the settlement money from my business partnership with Manager Zhou..."

"Don't make yourself a laughingstock. You think you can do business?" Madam Chen interrupted her loudly, then turned to Chen Junbai and said, "Bai'er, don't worry about this. I absolutely cannot allow such a woman who doesn't uphold traditional virtues to stay in the Chen family. I'll find you a good marriage later."

Upon hearing this, Chen Junbai's brows twitched, and he looked at Chen Zhangshi with a frown, remaining silent.

Seeing this, Madam Chen walked to the door of the woodshed and loudly announced, "Keep a close eye on this person. If this Li woman escapes today, none of you will need to stay in the Chen family." After saying that, she helped Granny Sun and left.

"No, Chen Junbo, you don't believe her, do you?" Li Yang was speechless. "Chen Junbo, say something! She's framing me, setting me up, and talking nonsense!"

The other person didn't answer her, but walked up to her and squatted down, as if he had made up his mind, and said, "You can stay in the woodshed for one more day, and I will definitely find a way to get you out."

Li Yang was stunned: "What do you mean? Aren't you the young master of the Chen family? You could have just said a word and let me out, right? What do you mean by finding a way to get me out? You didn't believe that nonsense, did you?"

Seeing that the man remained silent, Li Yang's voice rose even higher: "Chen Junbai! Speak up! You bastard, speak to me!"

The man simply stood in front of her, frowning and looking down at her, without uttering a single word.

Outside the door, Ziyan heard the argument inside and gracefully entered the woodshed, walking to Chen Junbai's side.

She glanced at the two of them, then squatted down to check Li Yang's body. Turning to the standing man, she said, "Mr. Chen, let's untie her first. Look, her wrists are all chafed."

Seeing that Chen Junbai agreed, she called over a servant to untie Li Yang's hands and feet. The servant dared not untie the rope around Li Yang's waist, and, meeting Chen Junbai's icy gaze, froze on the spot. "Young Master, if we untie her completely, what if the Young Madam runs away? We won't be able to explain it to her..."

Ziyan stepped forward and carefully examined the woman, saying, "I'd be so kind as to make things a little easier for the young mistress, so that she can get some rest tonight. How about that?"

After listening to this, the maidservant pondered for a moment and did as she was told.

Only then did Li Yang realize that the delicate skin on his hands and feet had been marked with red welts from being tied with hemp rope, and that several places had been rubbed raw and bleeding from the struggle. A sharp pain, like tiny needles, throbbed through him, and a surge of grievance welled up inside him, bringing tears to his eyes.

The person in front of him seemed helpless and sighed, "My mother is adamant about today's matter. If she insists on letting you go, it will become a conflict between mother and son, which will be even more disadvantageous for you. We cannot let you go now. Please stay here for one more day and I will think of a way."

Chen Junbo crouched down and looked at her with eyes as calm as a deep pool, drawing her in completely.

Hearing these words, the anger in Li Yang's heart subsided considerably, but the lingering resentment still made her stomach ache, causing her to curl up in a ball.

She frowned, tears welling in her eyes, and looked up at the person in front of her, asking earnestly, "Then tell me, do you believe what they're saying? Do you think I'm having an affair with Manager Zhou?"