Chapter 34 Is Madam not going to live?
In the blink of an eye, Ru Hui had been at the Yan residence for seven days. For the first two days, the other two maids in the courtyard did not allow her to do anything, whether it was food or clothing.
That kind of defense is very subtle and not easily detected.
On the third day, probably after her identity was finally verified, the steward summoned her, wrote her a contract of indenture, and gave her twenty taels of silver along with it.
Without hesitation, Ru Hui pressed her fingerprint on the indenture, and from then on, she was sold to the Yan family.
After that, the two maids' attitude towards her finally changed. As instructed by the steward, Ru Hui was temporarily assigned to serve in the study.
Ru Hui discovered that Yan Liru's life was very regular. Every day after finishing his shift and returning home, he would first have a meal with Fang Yu, and then go to his study.
He went to sleep at 7 PM every night and stayed in his own courtyard, not sharing a room with Fang Yu.
At least during the time Ru Hui had been in the mansion, she had not seen Yan Liru approach Fang Yu's courtyard. Fang Yu, on the other hand, often came over to bring her soup and water, but Yan Liru never drank any of it.
The relationship between the two was completely different from what she had imagined.
Yan Liru treated Fang Yu so coldly, and given Fang Yu's personality, she shouldn't have tolerated it at all, but she did.
What secrets do they hold?
Ru Hui pondered as she cleaned the already spotless study.
The study door opened, and Yan Liru walked in.
Seeing Ru Hui with her back to him, casually dusting non-existent dust off a painting with a feather duster, he felt as if he were seeing his younger self, the young Ru Hui, when he was still a student.
Back then, whenever she made a mistake and the teacher punished her by making her clean the study, she would secretly call me over and ask me to help with the work. She would then lazily take a feather duster to dust off the dust, but then use too much force and ruin one of the teacher's prized paintings.
That time, when the teacher found out, he chased her across most of the yard with a feather duster.
The fond memories of the past softened Yan Liru's serious expression. At that moment, Ru Hui seemed to finally realize that someone had come in. She turned around and saw him, and somewhat flusteredly tried to kneel down: "Master."
Yan Liru stepped forward and took her arm, saying, "There aren't that many rules in the manor, so there's no need to kneel."
"This servant understands."
Yan Liru frowned: "You don't need to refer to yourself as a servant."
Ru Hui paused for a moment before replying, "Yes."
Seeing Yan Liru walk toward the desk, she was about to step back when she was called back: "Come here and grind the ink for me."
"But Ru Hui doesn't know how to grind ink."
"It's alright, I'll teach you."
After Ru Hui walked over, Yan Liru first added some water to the inkstone, then picked up the ink stick and began grinding ink. Ru Hui watched curiously, and before Yan Liru could ask her to do it, she asked, "Sir, may I try?"
"Okay, you can come now."
Ru Hui quickly learned how to grind ink, and Yan Liru stopped looking at her and started writing.
This is a habit he developed in his youth: writing a large character every day, a habit he still maintains to this day.
On his desk lay an open calligraphy copybook, which was quite old, with yellowed paper. Ru Hui recognized the characters on it at a glance.
That was her father's handwriting; his calligraphy was once admired by many scholars.
This calligraphy copybook was originally written by my father for Yan Liru.
She glanced at it once and then looked away, afraid she wouldn't be able to control her emotions.
About half an hour later, Yan Liru finally finished practicing his calligraphy. Seeing Ru Hui staring at the paper spread on the table, he asked her, "Can you read?"
Ru Hui shook her head: "I don't recognize her."
She paused for a moment, then asked hopefully, "Sir, could you write down my name? I'd like to know what the new name you've chosen for me is like?"
"Of course." Yan Liru replied with a smile, then took a blank sheet of Xuan paper and wrote the two characters "Ru Hui" on it.
When Fang Yu brought the sweet soup to the study, this was the scene she saw. It was as if she saw Chen Hui and Yan Liru, who were already engaged back then, being so unabashedly affectionate in front of her.
She stood there smiling, but a fire was burning inside her.
She desperately wanted to sell this little bitch off immediately, but she couldn't. She and her husband had a fight over this bitch last time and hadn't made up yet. If they argued again because of her, her husband might protect her even more.
Fang Yu took a few deep breaths, thinking that there were plenty of ways to deal with this substitute, and she would always find an opportunity.
She raised her hand and knocked on the door. Yan Liru put down his pen and looked up.
Upon seeing Fang Yu, he simply said, "Madam has arrived."
Fang Yu entered the study, placed the sweet soup in her hand on the table, and said with a smile, "This is a sweet soup I specially made for my husband. Please try it."
When Ru Hui saw Fang Yu enter, she quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Madam, this servant will take her leave now."
After Ru Hui left, Fang Yu finally got down to business.
"My lord, Cheng'er has been imprisoned for some time now and has shown some remorse. Shouldn't we release him?"
"What's the rush? Lock him up for another five days and let him temper his temper." Yan Liru picked up another piece of paper, seemingly intending to draw.
Fang Yu was already used to his indifferent attitude; she just happened to love Yan Liru's demeanor.
That was his attitude towards her back then—so distant, so unapproachable—yet he still married her and had a son, Cheng'er, with her.
It's just a pity...
Fang Yu stopped herself from thinking about it and said with a smile, "It's good that my husband has a plan in mind. By the way, my husband, my father will be back in another month."
Upon hearing that the Marquis of Zhenbei was returning, Yan Liru finally reacted: "I understand."
"Then should my husband move to the main courtyard to live with me? If my father finds out that we are living separately, he will probably be unhappy."
Yan Liru did not agree. Instead, he looked at Fang Yu with a deep gaze and asked, "Do you think Father will reprimand me for this?"
Fang Yu unconsciously swallowed. Yan Liru's gaze made her feel like her secrets were being spied on. She quickly looked away and forced a smile, saying, "I was just saying it casually, my husband doesn't need to take it to heart."
In the following days, Fang Yu kept people watching Ru Hui and made them report truthfully everything Ru Hui and Yan Liru had said and done.
On the first day, she learned that Yan Liru was teaching Ru Hui to write in his study.
The next day, Ru Hui made a rather unpalatable radish cake for Yan Liru, and she made him eat it, which he did.
On the third day, Ru Hui entered Yan Liru's bedroom to tidy up his bed. Although she came out quickly, no maid had ever dared to step into his bedroom before.
The fourth day...
The servant in Yan Liru's courtyard, who came to report every day, saw the way the madam looked at him as if she wanted to tear him apart, and dared not say anything more.
Although the master and Miss Ru Hui have not done anything inappropriate, it is obvious to everyone that the master is very fond of that girl, and it is likely that there will be a concubine in the mansion soon.
"You bitch, you bitch, you bitch! Chen Hui, you bitch!" Fang Yu smashed all the furnishings in the room like a madwoman.
The maids only dared to stand guard outside; none of them dared to step forward and dissuade them.
"Uncle Wu, come out here." Fang Yu finished smashing things, tidied his messy hair, and suddenly spoke up.
An elderly man, around sixty years old, appeared silently in the room: "What are your orders, young lady?"
"Go and kill that Ru Hui, make her disappear without a trace."
The old man, known as Uncle Wu, coldly refused, saying, "The Marquis only instructed me to protect the young lady; killing is not within my duties."
After saying that, the person disappeared.
Fang Yu was so angry she almost collapsed. She gritted her teeth and said resentfully, "Do you think I have no other choice?"
If she couldn't deal with that little slut inside the manor, then she could only lure her out of the manor.
Once the person leaves the mansion and is killed, Yan Liru will not pursue the matter further.
She knew this man well. Even if he had cherished Chen Hui for many years, he would immediately give up on her once he saw that she was beyond saving.
This cold-hearted man valued power above all else. And since her father could give him power, he married her without hesitation.
Even if he had loved Chen Hui for many years, what good was it? In the end, he was too late and could only watch her die.
After making up her mind, Fang Yu wasn't so angry anymore. What was there to care about when facing someone who was going to die sooner or later?
The next day was the day the couple had agreed to release Yan Cheng. Fang Yu eagerly awaited Yan Liru's return home, thinking that once he came back, her son would be released from the ancestral hall.
To everyone's surprise, after Yan Liru returned home, he went to the ancestral hall with a dark face and a stick in his hand. After hearing the servant's report, she was so frightened that she hurried to the ancestral hall.
When she arrived at the ancestral hall, Yan Cheng was being held by servants and had already been beaten several times.
Yan Liru had tried martial arts in his youth, but unfortunately, he lacked talent and could only be considered a mediocre martial artist. However, he was still better than Yan Cheng, who indulged in wine and women. This time, he held nothing back; the sound of his stick striking Yan Cheng was chilling.
"Husband, what are you doing? Cheng'er has been locked up for half a month. What did he do wrong?" Fang Yu stepped forward and hugged Yan Liru's hand.
"What did you do wrong?" Yan Liru suppressed his anger, shoved Fang Yu aside, and dismissed the servants before speaking again, "Did this wretched creature tell you that the living corpse is about to advance?"
"How is this possible?" the mother and son exclaimed simultaneously.
"You don't know?" Yan Liru glared at his son.
Yan Cheng shook his head, his face pale: "I don't know, that's impossible. My grandfather clearly said that zombies that only eat the flesh and blood of ordinary people will not advance in rank."
Fang Yu suddenly realized: "Could it be that the zombie is about to advance in rank, which is why it is no longer under Cheng'er's control and ran away on its own?"
Seeing that his son didn't seem to be deliberately hiding the truth, Yan Liru was finally less angry than before.
Then Fang Yu asked, "Husband, what happened that made you so angry?"
Yan Liru sighed: "The Ministry of Justice captured a zombie yesterday and executed it on the spot, but today another zombie attack occurred."
Clearly, the zombie Xue Mingtang caught was not the out-of-control zombie that Yan Cheng and his mother had been raising.
Later, he also summoned Xue Mingtang and asked him about it. The captured zombies were only at the first level, clearly newly created.
The ability to create zombies in a short time, and the knowledge of feints, clearly indicates that the second-tier zombie is beginning to advance towards the third tier.
Regardless of whether they are demons or monsters, after the third realm they enter different levels, and the living corpses will develop intelligence.
He had to deal with the zombie before it advanced to the next level. Fortunately, Xue Mingtang was quite capable. Although he hadn't found any trace of the second-level zombie these days, no one else had died. He was able to barely suppress the case.
Even though Yan Cheng was unaware of this matter, it didn't stop Yan Liru from disliking him. The day when Yan Cheng would leave the ancestral hall was far off, and Fang Yu dared not plead for him anymore.
When Yan Liru returned to the courtyard, two maids were telling Ru Hui what had just happened. The other maid was asking Ru Hui, "Sister Ru Hui, how exactly did you brew the tea? After drinking your tea, the master refuses to drink tea brewed by anyone else."
Ru Hui replied with a smile, "They are all ordinary steps, nothing special."
She touched her wrist, where there was a red mark that looked like a knife cut, but it was fading quickly and was almost invisible.
Upon seeing Yan Liru return, the other two maids dared not speak again, while Ru Hui calmly followed him into the room to serve him.
Once inside Yan Liru's bedroom, Ru Hui helped him change his clothes and poured him freshly brewed tea.
Seeing Ru Hui, whose demeanor was becoming increasingly proper and whose words and actions were becoming more and more like A Hui's, Yan Liru's fatigue from the whole day finally dissipated.
"Master, may I go out tomorrow?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Tomorrow is my father's birthday, and I want to go and pay my respects to him."
“Okay, I will tell the housekeeper.” Yan Liru agreed without hesitation.
"Thank you, sir." Ru Hui smiled and walked behind him to massage his shoulders.
Tomorrow is certainly not her father's birthday, but it is the day Fang Yu will go out.
Ru Hui discovered that Fang Yu would go out every seven days, and she would only take one personal maid with her, without any guards. She discovered this by chance. The guard who always followed Fang Yu was actually still fishing in the mansion when she went out.
The people in the mansion seemed to be used to Fang Yu's behavior. After observing him twice, Ru Hui realized something was wrong.
Ru Hui had also been married before, and the way Fang Yu looked after returning these two times didn't seem like she had just bought her favorite clothes and jewelry.
The next morning, Ru Hui left home early, but did not go too far.
When she saw Fang Yu leaving in a low-key carriage that was inconsistent with his usual luxurious style, she followed him.
The carriage wasn't moving fast, but the journey was quite long, and it didn't stop until it reached Zuozhi Lane.
With the help of her maid, Fang Yu entered the alley and headed straight for a two-courtyard house.
She was the only one who went in; her maidservant escorted her there and then waited in the carriage.
After waiting for a full hour, Fang Yu finally emerged, supported by a handsome young man, her face still flushed.
Ru Hui stood on the other side of the street, her eyes clearly reflecting the actions of the two people opposite her. The young man seemed to be pestering Fang Yu, and Fang Yu seemed to have slipped him a silver note before getting into a carriage and leaving.
After watching the carriage leave, the man returned to the alley.
This was quite unexpected. She thought that Fang Yu, who was so infatuated with Yan Liru, would be devoted to him and stay with him forever.
But what about this young man living in Zuozhi Lane?
Does Yan Liru know about this?
Based on her observations over the past few days, there is very little in the Yan family that can escape Yan Liru's notice. Even she was able to detect Fang Yu's abnormality in a short time, so how could Yan Liru not have noticed?
Perhaps this is why he and Fang Yu lived in separate courtyards.
Then Ru Hui shook her head again, saying there should be more.
Yan Liru is a man of deep cunning. He clearly didn't want to deal with Fang Yu, but Fang Yu could only go along with him, perhaps because he felt guilty.
Could such a skillful manipulation of Fang Yu have been an accident?
Ru Hui glanced at Zuozhi Lane and began to suspect that the young man living there might know Yan Liru.
In the days that followed, the Yan family remained peaceful.
Once, Ru Hui made a rather excessive request to Yan Liru, asking him to buy her some sweet cakes from a shop near Tianjie when he returned home. Yan Liru actually bought them for her.
She took the cookie and fed half to Yan Liru, who then ate it.
Yan Liru doesn't like sweets. Even back then, when Chen Hui tried to feed him, he refused to eat them. Ru Hui, on the other hand, didn't have the nerve to do so.
Ru Hui carefully put away the remaining cakes; the moment she had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Yan Liru was on leave that day, which was also the day Fang Yu was to leave the mansion. Ru Hui thought Fang Yu would go on another day, but to her surprise, she left on time.
Inside the carriage, Fang Yu's maid was still trying to persuade her: "Madam, Master is on leave today, we shouldn't have come out."
Fang Yu scoffed, "My husband is so infatuated with that slut that he can't even see me anymore. A few days ago, he even brought her food from outside."
She was in a bad mood, so naturally she needed to vent to someone.
Ning Lang was young and strong, and although she couldn't compare to her husband in her heart, he rarely shared a bed with her after their marriage. She also had needs, and who knew the bitterness in her heart over the years?
The maid stopped trying to persuade her, and Fang Yu lowered her eyes, thinking that it was time. Two days ago, she had already contacted that wretched woman's relatives in the countryside and asked them to find a way to coax her out of the mansion. In two more days, she would be able to get rid of this scourge.
Meanwhile, at the Yan residence, Hui Niang once again asked Yan Liru for leave, saying she was going to Fu'anfang to pick up the pen she had ordered.
When Yan Liru asked her why she ordered a calligraphy brush, she stammered that it was a gift for him, as next month was his birthday.
"Master, can you come with me?" Ru Hui looked into Yan Liru's eyes. "If you don't like it, we can change it."
“…Okay.” Yan Liru agreed.
He's been having nightmares lately, dreaming about Ah Hui. Every time he sees Ah Hui covered in blood in his dream, he wants to treat Ru Hui even better after he wakes up.
Give her whatever she wants.
Calculating that it was about time, Ru Hui sent Yan Liru to a teahouse to wait for her, while she went to a shop next to Zuozhi Lane in Fu'anfang to pick up the pen she had ordered for two taels of silver.
Fang Yu and Ning Lang walked out of the alley together, her hand still holding Ning Lang's hand, when they happened to run into Ru Hui, who was coming out of a shop next door.
The two exchanged a glance, and Ru Hui's gaze fell on Fang Yu and Ning Lang's hands, her face showing horror.
Fang Yu's expression changed, and he said to Ning Lang beside him, "Quickly grab her. If she tells anyone, we're finished."
Ning Lang also realized the seriousness of the matter, so he stepped forward, grabbed Ru Hui, and covered her mouth.
With Fang Yu covering for them, and seeing that no one was around, they went back into Zuozhi Alley.
Ru Hui was restrained by the strong Ning Lang, and her struggles were not very strong, so no one around was disturbed.
Yan Liru waited in the teahouse for a quarter of an hour, but Ru Hui did not return. So he got up and went to the shop she had gone to.
Seeing that the shop was located outside Zuozhi Alley, Yan Liru glanced at it and a hint of disgust appeared between his brows.
He asked the shop owner and learned that Ru Hui had taken the pen, but had not returned.
As soon as Yan Liru stepped out of the shop, he spotted a broken pen at the entrance of the alley.
He looked up at the carriage parked not far away, his gaze darkened, and he strode into Zuozhi Alley.
Ru Hui was tied up and thrown on the ground, while Ning Lang stood guard outside, leaving only Fang Yu inside.
He thought it would take two days to deal with this bitch, but unexpectedly, she ran right into his hands today. Fang Yu looked down at Ru Hui, whose eyes were filled with pleading, and slapped her without hesitation: "Bitch, when you seduced my husband, did you ever think of this day?"
"I did not seduce the master, madam, please forgive me, I will not say anything."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, I will listen to whatever you say from now on, Madam."
“What a well-behaved girl, no wonder your husband dotes on you so much. It’s a pity…” Fang Yu sneered, “It’s a pity that all he cares about is your face.”
"What?"
"You don't know yet, do you? My husband used to have a childhood sweetheart who looked almost exactly like you." Fang Yu was lost in memories. "She later got married, and my husband would secretly go to see her. So, I secretly told her husband that Chen Hui, that slut, had an affair before marriage. Her husband believed it, and from then on, he beat her every day, hahaha."
Ru Hui quieted down and looked calmly at Fang Yu.
She initially thought she had misjudged people and never imagined that Fang Yu was behind it all.
Just then, the door opened. Yan Liru grabbed Fang Yu's shoulder, trying to push her away.
No one noticed that Ru Hui stretched out her foot and hooked Fang Yu's ankle.
With both of them exerting force at the same time, Fang Yu stumbled and fell backward to the ground, her head hitting the footstool beside the bed.
Yan Liru stepped forward and untied Ru Hui. Ru Hui stood beside him but looked at Fang Yu with concern. Fang Yu's eyes were still open, but a large pool of blood had already flowed from the back of his head.
"Help, help..."
Yan Liru looked at Fang Yu but did not step forward.
"Master, is Madam not going to make it?" Ru Hui asked in horror.
After a long pause, Yan Liru finally said, "Go and call the doctor."
"But...but I heard that Madam's father is the Marquis of Zhenbei. If he finds out that Madam's injury is related to you, he will not let you off the hook."
Yan Liru froze.
“Master,” Ru Hui whispered in his ear, “the lady was having an affair here, but was murdered by her lover and her maid. You can’t be blamed for it.”
Yan Liru took a step forward, then stopped. He didn't know what he was struggling with.
Behind them, Ru Hui's voice still rang out: "By the time Marquis Zhenbei returns, the case will surely be closed."
Fang Yu saw Yan Liru squatting in front of her and thought he would save her.
But then he wrapped the hemp rope around her neck and strangled her tightly.
Ru Hui stood behind Yan Liru, looking at Fang Yu whose gaze shifted from terror to despair, and smiled slightly.
Finally, Fang Yu's gaze fell on Ru Hui.
She saw the smile on Ru Hui's face, and saw her open her mouth and silently call her name: "A Yu".
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