Chapter 68 [VIP]
By the time the Zhao family discovered that Mi Yao was not in Yizhou, it had been five days since she had left.
Zhao Balang was the first to discover this. After the Shangsi Festival, he took a liking to Mi Yao and regarded her as his goddess.
Knowing that Mi Yao was doing disaster relief, although he didn't understand why those lowly people who were of no use whether they lived or died were worth saving, he still busied himself with helping her so that he could see Mi Yao more often.
Who knew that before he could even meet Mi Yao a few times, he never saw her again.
He had originally inquired about Mi Yao out of concern that she might have contracted the disease, but his investigation revealed that she might not be at the Xiao residence, and that her sister-in-law and several of the Xiao family's children had also left with her.
Are you sure?!
Zhao Tianyang was surprised that the Xiao family had already fled before they even made a move against the Xiao family. Several leaders of the Zhao family's collateral branch frowned deeply.
One of them panicked: "If the Yu family leaves, does that mean Xiao Chuan already knows about our plan? If he knows about our plan, what will happen to the military governor...?"
"Now that things have come to this, what's the use of being afraid?! Are you just going to give up like this and wait for Xiao Chuan to take the throne, then let him slaughter our Zhao family?"
"If Madam Yu hadn't left, were you planning to harm her?"
Aside from a few elders of the Zhao family, the main hall was also filled with the young members of the Zhao family whom they had their eye on. Zhao Balang understood Zhao Tianyang's meaning, and his face turned ugly. "Madam Yu has not done anything wrong. She is beautiful and kind. Why would you want to harm her!"
Before Zhao Tianyang could speak, Zhao Balang's father, Zhao Tianyu, slapped his son.
"We're talking about serious matters, what nonsense are you spouting! If you're lusting after Yu Shi's beauty, once you've killed Xiao Chuan, you can have your way with her if you want. She's just a woman, why are you acting like she's some kind of damned goddess?!"
After being slapped on the head, Zhao Balang wanted to argue, but when he heard Zhao Tianyu say that he would give Mi Yao to him after the matter was settled, he immediately suppressed his resentment and looked at his father with shining eyes: "Father, if there is anything you need me to do, I will do it immediately!"
"There is indeed something I need you to do."
Zhao Tianyang knew that Zhao Balang had been busy with the flood recently and thought that he had a plan and wanted to use it to build his reputation. Now it seems that he was just trying to please a woman.
So be it, I'll try to please women. After all, I've already done my job, and it'll come in handy now.
Since the Shangsi Festival, many people have been saying that Mi Yao was a fairy descended to earth, but since Mi Yao did not do anything substantial, these rumors had no real effect, at most they spread the word about her beauty.
Because of the floods, legends began to circulate that Mi Yao was an incarnation of a goddess who descended to earth to save people from suffering.
As a result, Xiao Chuan's reputation also began to soar. Within ten days, many stories were circulated among the people, saying that the couple were a divine couple who saved all living beings.
It is said that Zhao Tianhe adopted Xiao Chuan as his son and groomed him to succeed him as the military governor of Jiannan because he knew Xiao Chuan was a divine son.
He wouldn't believe any of this without someone pushing him to.
"Kill some civilians and reverse the rumors in the streets. Yu can only be a witch, not a goddess."
"Listen to your uncle. I brought you here today because you are my legitimate son. If you are useless, I will have more than one son like you."
Seeing his son's hesitant expression, Zhao Tianyu laid out the unpleasant truth upfront to shut him up.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Balang dared not utter another word. He was not particularly outstanding among the Zhao family members, and the reason he was invited today was because of the achievements Zhao Balang had made in dealing with the floods.
Upon receiving the task, Zhao Balang immediately prepared to take action.
Killing someone is easy, but choosing who to kill is an art.
After thinking it over, he decided to target the common people who had seen or spoken to Mi Yao.
"My lord, Madam Pan is here again, and she's even more insane than before. She says that if you don't listen to her, you'll die at the hands of Commander Xiao..."
The servant who delivered the message looked grim. He didn't want to offend his master, but Madam Pan had been offering him money and threatening him, and his master hadn't allowed her to leave completely, tolerating her repeated visits. He had no choice but to relay the message truthfully.
"This time, instead of saying you have high hopes for me and think I can achieve great things?"
Zhao Balang looked at him with disdain.
He used to think that Pan was quite beautiful, but who knew that Pan was a crazy woman. After being driven away from Yizhou by Zhao Tianhe, she secretly ran back. Instead of pleading with Zhao Tianhe, she came to find him, looking like she was infatuated with him.
She usually praised him, which pleased him so much that he didn't order her to leave. But now that he heard her say that he would die at Xiao Chuan's hands and that he would have to rely on her to escape, he became impatient.
"Give her a good beating and throw her out of Yizhou. Make sure she gets a good beating so she knows who she can and can't mess with, and that she'll never bother me again."
After giving the instructions, Zhao Balang paid no further attention to Pan Shi.
Already furious with her new husband and already emaciated, Pan Shi could hardly withstand the beating from Zhao's servants. When she heard the servants say that Zhao Balang had given the order, she was shocked.
Pan's eyes were filled with resentment: "Zhao Balang kept saying he loved me and showered me with sweet words when he asked me to marry him, but now he treats me like this!"
"You crazy woman, you're really crazy. How could my Eighth Prince ask to marry an ugly widow like you? If he were to say sweet words to a crazy woman like you, his mouth would probably get sores."
"Hahaha, that's right. Right in front of you, Hachiro-kun immediately covered his mouth as if he was about to vomit. She grabbed his clothes and dragged him back into the house."
Pan was concerned about her reputation; although her hair had turned quite white from worry, she still came to see Zhao Balang.
She never expected that the dignity she tried so hard to maintain would be so unbearable in Zhao Balang's eyes.
Memories kept flashing through her mind. Previously, Pan only hated Mi Yao and Xiao Chuan, but now she also hated Zhao Balang.
If he hadn't been so useless and lost to Xiao Chuan, she wouldn't have died so tragically in her previous life. If it weren't for fate, she would have become Zhao Balang's second wife, which would have been Xiao Chuan.
"The Zhao family...you just wait!"
Zhao Balang ordered his servants to be ruthless, and these servants naturally did not hold back. Pan coughed up several mouthfuls of thick blood. Seeing the broken teeth in the blood, the resentment in her heart burned in her internal organs. She looked at the Zhao family's plaque with a sinister look. She could not deal with Xiao Chu, but could she not deal with the Zhao family, who were originally losers?
In her previous life, Zhao Balang died before her, and it should be the same in this life.
*
Because she felt that none of the Zhao family's collateral branches were good people, even though Zhao Balang laughed every day, didn't mind the mud and dirt, and rolled up his pants to help clean the streets and transport goods, Mi Yao was still wary of his smiling face.
After being reminded by her, Yan Yun also became wary of Zhao Balang after taking over the disaster relief work.
After discovering that Mi Yao was no longer present, Zhao Balang stopped working on the flood. She realized that Zhao Balang had two faces. When Zhao Balang reappeared, she did not think he had changed for the better, but instead sent people to monitor his every move.
Because they were keeping an eye on Zhao Balang, they naturally discovered that he had poisoned the people and spread rumors that were detrimental to Mi Yao.
Before Yan Yun could retaliate, the private residence where Zhao Balang was staying caught fire. Knowing that it wasn't Xiao Chuan who was responsible, she was stunned with surprise.
In his letter to Mi Yao, he couldn't help but ask her with suspicion whether she was truly a deity sent down to earth by Guanyin Bodhisattva, and whether those who harmed her would automatically be punished.
Upon receiving Yan Yun's letter, Mi Yao couldn't help but smile, wishing she were truly that lucky.
Just then, the scorching "giant python" wrapped around her as usual, rendering her unable to move. Xiao Chuan hugged her tightly from behind, his lips close to her ear, flicking his tongue: "What did the letter say? You look so happy."
Xiao Chuan was fairly well-behaved. Although he could see the contents of the letter clearly, he didn't glance at it. Instead, he focused intently on Mi Yao's crystal-clear earlobes.
But Mi Yao would rather he break the rules, not focus his attention on her, and do something wrong so that she could have a big fight with him.
Almost half a month has passed since Mi Yao left Yizhou, and she no longer struggles to get close to Xiao Chuan.
At first, Xiao Chuan said he would be very relaxed recently, and that he didn't need to deal with the conflicts in Yizhou. She thought he was joking to scare her. How could he be relaxed at such a critical moment?
But in reality, he really stayed at home every day, only occasionally going out to run errands at night. Each time he did errands, he would quickly return to the mansion and then hug her like a giant python, just like now.
If it were winter now, it would be fine, but after the summer solstice, he still doesn't seem to mind the heat, which she can't stand.
When faced with her anger, he simply said it was because she thought he was too dark-skinned, so he wanted to hug her more often to get some fair skin on his body.
"My lord, you're really funny. If skin color could be dyed, you're only thinking about becoming whiter, what if I become darker?"
"You're beautiful even when you're a little dark-skinned, but I'm ugly when I'm dark-skinned."
Mi Yao was so exhausted by Xiao Chuan's pestering that she could only go along with him and coax him: "What's ugly about you? In my eyes, my lord is handsome and mighty. Whether you are black or white, you are incomparably heroic."
"So that's how good I am in your eyes."
Xiao Chuan grabbed Mi Yao's hand and touched the trembling in his chest. After touching it, he naturally touched other excited places, and then he broke out in a sweat again.
Finding that Xiao Chuan couldn't be praised, Mi Yao changed her strategy and tried to pick a fight with him. In the past, if she had argued with him, Xiao Chuan would have given her the silent treatment.
Now that she's finding fault, Xiao Chuan believes in the saying that couples quarrel in bed and make up before they get out of bed. He sullenly corners her on the bed, and when she cries and says no, no, his face disappears.
He was completely infatuated right now, and no matter what she did, he couldn't bear to hold her for even a moment longer.
I wonder when he'll stop causing trouble and go back to normal.
Feeling the heat behind him begin to change, Mi Yao suspected that Xiao Chuan's evolution was not complete, and that he still had a fever period like animals, and could get an erection at any time.
"Sister Yun said that Zhao Balang's private residence caught fire, and Zhao Balang was burned on his arm while he was sleeping. She also said that someone posted many of the Zhao family's complaints at the government office's petition booth, exposing many of their family's shady dealings."
Mi Yao was afraid that Xiao Chuan would be dishonest again, so she quickly brought up serious matters with him, "Did you arrange for these things to be done?"
"No, it's the Pan family."
Xiao Chuan got the information faster than Mi Yao. When she asked, he said directly, "I don't know where she got so much information about Zhao Tianyu and Zhao Balang's secrets. Many of the things she wrote down are true, and some of the untrue things, upon closer examination, seem to be things that the father and son would do."
Pan's lawsuit has added fuel to the fire in Yizhou. In order to avoid being held accountable by Zhao Tianhe, Zhao Tianyu will join forces with the Ji family of Jingzhou to take action as soon as possible, and his leisurely days will soon come to an end.
Thinking of this, Xiao Chuan reluctantly nuzzled Mi Yao's neck: "Although she has some use, that's all. You're much better. You turn all the gold and silver you earn from the shop into rice and porridge to give to the people. Knowing that some people are trying to damage your reputation, some people even erected a statue of you to let the evildoers know how much they believe in and love you."
Upon hearing this, Mi Yao did not smile; instead, she felt as if she had gained an aura that had nothing to do with her.
"Now, Sister Yun is doing all the work."
"Faith is needed in times of chaos."
Xiao Chuan said calmly that no one deliberately regarded Mi Yao as a benchmark, but by chance she became a "goddess". He did not intend to use her, so he took her away from the chaos early on.
However, the rumors circulating in the streets afterward were beyond his control.
Mi Yao remained silent for a moment; she truly didn't know how she had gotten to this point.
How did a pleasure-seeking idler become so extraordinary?
Is Qi Niang coming back?
Mi Yao grasped Xiao Chuan's hand, which was slipping into her clothes, and changed the subject.
A few days ago, Xiao Chuan had something he needed Qi Niang to do, and since Qi Niang was now his person, he consulted her opinion.
Knowing that Xiao Chuan had sent Qi Niang to find Xiao Rou, she released her after hearing about Xiao Rou's situation.
I never expected that Qi Niang would be gone for seven or eight days.
"They're coming back."
Mentioning Xiao Rou did indeed dampen Xiao Chuan's enthusiasm, but men often can't distinguish between anger and lust, so after a while, Mi Yao still couldn't escape the sweltering summer heat and was covered in sweat.
*
Are you going to find a third man to rely on this time?
After returning to Yizhou, Qi Niang found Xiao Rou early on, but she did not appear in front of Xiao Rou for a long time.
Xiao Chuan's feelings for his older sister Xiao Rou were complicated. In the past, he would not care about Xiao Rou's life or death, but would only avenge her by killing the person who killed her after her death.
But because of Mi Yao's words, he implicitly accepted that he had a responsibility to take care of his siblings and relatives.
So he gave Xiao Rou a second chance at life.
He ignored Xiao Rou, and other forces wouldn't go to great lengths to control her. But because he helped her divorce from the Dong family, the Zhao family started to have designs on her.
The neighbor who took great care of Xiao Rou was a deliberate arrangement by the Zhao family.
After discovering that Mi Yao was not in Yizhou, the Zhao family thought of Xiao Rou and had someone they had arranged to get information out of her.
Xiao Rou realized that her lover had ulterior motives. She felt heartbroken but had nothing to say. Xiao Chuan had never contacted her, so how could she know where Mi Yao had gone?
Because she couldn't reveal any information, the attempts to elicit information turned into interrogation.
Qi Niang did not stop Xiao Rou's lover from attacking Xiao Rou; she only appeared when Xiao Rou was covered in injuries and spoke:
"What's wrong with someone like me? Why do I have to rely on men? Don't you know that all men are scoundrels? Take your brother for example, you're his own sister and he's cold and indifferent to you. No man in this world can be trusted!"
“You always say that the town magistrate won’t care about you, but the fact that I’m here proves that the town magistrate still considers you family. Since that’s the case, why don’t you take advantage of this relationship and live a good life instead of choosing to live a miserable life to prove that you’re unlucky and have a bad fate? It’s such a waste.”
"If you like men's embrace, then make good use of your status and let men serve you, make them your servants, instead of feeling sorry for yourself and making others feel that they are losing out if they don't step on you."
"You know in your heart, don't you? If you don't do well, if you don't embarrass the town magistrate, or even if you make him feel guilty about you in the middle of the night, then you feel good, don't you? You are weak and incompetent, so you hope to be even worse off, so that the only family member who cares about you will have more dark clouds in their heart when they think of you."
Qi Niang dared to speak ill of her former master behind his back, only because her new master gave her the courage.
When she arrived, Mi Yao provided her with many arguments, mainly to let Xiao Rou know that men are unreliable, that she can use men and play with their bodies, but she must never give her heart away.
Hearing this, she couldn't help but worry about her former master, wondering what kind of treatment Mi Yao would give him.
However, being played by Mi Yao is an honor for the former master.
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