When Miao Wan and Qiao Ruichen arrived home, it was already past midnight.
Normally, it would be a time of complete silence, but now it was already the first day of the new year, and the Qiao family was located where the powerful and wealthy people outside the imperial city lived.
The constant rumbling of carriages, the corresponding voices of the doorman, and the red lanterns in front of each house made it not quiet even late at night.
After getting off the carriage, Miao Wan looked at the red lanterns, her nose felt sore, and tears fell. She was so emotionally overwhelmed that she was a little caught off guard.
"Husband, I miss Taotao, Dongdong and Ningning, and my parents." When Qiao Ruichen looked over, Miao Wan said in a hoarse voice.
The tighter Qiao Ruichen held her hand, the uncomfortable she felt.
She looked up at Qiao Ruichen pitifully. "Ever since Dongdong and Ningning were born, I haven't spent much time with them. Do they still remember that they have a beautiful mother who can make or break the family business?"
It was almost time for Ruan Qin and his wife, and Ruan Jiasheng and his wife to come out and greet them: "..."
Qiao Ruichen knew that his wife was upset, and he was not a qualified father. Even after returning to the northwest, when the war broke out, he had no time to accompany his wife, children, and parents.
He understood the guilt and knew that Miao Wan didn't need to do this. She regarded the Northwest as her real home.
Watching over the Ruan family, he couldn't say too much, only whispering comfortingly, "When they grow up, they will be proud to have a mother like you."
Miao Wan didn't say anything. She wiped her tears and smiled at her uncle and aunt who came to greet her. She was crying so hard on New Year's Day.
But compared to the capital city where even breathing requires calculation, she really prefers the northwest, which is where her roots are.
Ruan Qin's wife, Li, stepped forward and took Miao Wan's hand. "Are you hungry? I asked someone to make chicken soup. A bowl of noodles will be quick. The dishes are all ready, so we have enough time to cook them now."
Miao Wan followed everyone inside and whispered to her aunt, "They must be hungry. My husband and I only ate a small piece of compressed biscuit that night. We didn't even dare to drink a sip of tea, for fear of being tricked by others.
I don't know how His Majesty and His Majesty can live in the palace. No wonder everyone in the palace is so slim. I guess they are hungry."
Li was at a loss for words, but she didn't refute it.
She also experienced that kind of nervousness and caution when she entered the palace to testify for the saint. Otherwise, why do they say that once you enter the palace, it is like entering a deep sea? Those who can live there are indeed not good people.
Miao Wan lost control of her emotions at the door. She didn't want to make everyone unhappy during the New Year, and soon she started chattering.
In the dining room, the whole family was laughing as they listened to Miao Wan complain about the things in the palace in her slightly hoarse voice.
At the same time, the couple who were the most unruly were still furious, after all, they had seen blood on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
In Chongde Hall, which was far away from Taiji Hall and Ganlu Hall and almost diagonally opposite, the Sage and Qi Wangshu were sitting on soft couches with expressionless faces, each holding a plate of snacks to eat.
Outside the door came the muffled screams that couldn't be blocked even by blocked mouths, and the people inside were all lying on the ground like mud, which didn't affect the appetite of the two men at all.
When they were almost done eating, the Saint put down his plate and looked down at one of the eunuchs who was still able to kneel. "I don't ask who ordered you. I just want to know what you have done and what you are going to do."
The eunuch hung his head as if dead and said nothing.
Qi Wangshu wiped the corner of his lips and stood up. He took a sharp knife from his palace maid, walked forward, and stabbed it into the back of his hand that was pressed to the ground without hesitation. As expected, he heard a scream.
"Let me guess, you poisoned me and the Qiao family, what did the virtuous concubine allow you to do?
You are a rootless person. All we can promise you is an adopted child or a future for your family. You won't be able to enjoy anything else. If you don't want to tell me, I'll just make a random guess."
Qi Wangshu put on a light smile, his eyes as cold as ice. "If I guessed wrong, please bear with me. It's better to kill by mistake than to miss the opportunity. I don't need to tell you more, right?"
As if she didn't expect him to speak, she stood up and ordered Sun Cheng, "Go and investigate. Eliminate all those who have any connection with him. Leave no one alive."
The eunuch suddenly raised his head, his eyes almost bleeding from the pain, and his voice was hoarse, "Your Highness, you are so cruel and ruthless in killing innocent people. Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
Qi Wangshu sneered, "Speaking of justice, you want to poison the imperial concubine and the Qiao family, affecting the overall situation in the northwest. I don't know how many people will bear the blood debt for this. You are not afraid of retribution, so what should I be afraid of?
To put it mildly, I swear to heaven that I can bear the consequences of every person I kill. Can you?"
The eunuch's pupils struggled violently for a moment, but he was unable to speak.
Qi Wangshu scoffed, "Cowards, you are just pawns, how dare you question me? Even if it is your master, who disregards the world and the people for his own benefit, he has no right to do so.
The old man said that it is hard to leave one's homeland, and one can even abandon one's family and country. If they take you hyenas with them, they will not even be able to be reborn as animals in the future. How dare you talk about retribution with me here?"
After saying this, she glared at Sun Cheng and said, "What are you waiting for? Go now! If anyone slips through the net, you'll bring them to me with your heads."
Sun Cheng quickly agreed and turned to walk out.
Fear and struggle flashed across the eunuch's eyes. Before Sun Cheng stepped out of the door, he shouted, "No! No! I'll tell you, I'll tell you..."
One person said that the other people who had been tortured could no longer hold on, and several of them whimpered and were willing to confess.
After everyone left, the saint stood up and wiped Qi Wangshu's hands, sighing softly, "I have already said that I will take care of everything from now on. You don't have to be like before..." and be a knife for me, doing things that will bring you sin after your death.
Qi Wangshu cupped the saint's face and kissed him, interrupting him. "I do. I know Your Majesty is in a bad mood today. Your Majesty only wishes what I wish for. Whoever did it first is not a big deal. Are you still going to be estranged from me?"
The sage looked at Qi Wangshu intently.
The heartache and guilt caused by the blood-written stele, the boredom and anxiety caused by various calculations inside and outside the palace, and the heavy pressure caused by the instability of the country, at this moment, all disappeared in Qi Wangshu's eyes.
His Shu'er may not be as gentle and sensible as other women. She is so beautiful that she can be considered arrogant, but she is the one who understands him the best.
The sage embraced Qi Wangshu and walked out, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, "I just feel sorry for you. When the northwest is settled, I want to make you my queen. From now on, I will serve the queen, okay?"
Qi Wangshu's voice lost its harshness and returned to its usual charm. "That depends on his performance. His ability to serve others is really not that good."
"Then I'll let him learn more from Qiao Zicheng."
"That's fine. I won't ask him to pay the tuition. I just hope he won't bully the Qiao family in the future."
"Look at what the Imperial Concubine said. Aren't you also a member of the Qiao family? Who dares to bully you..."
The two people's voices faded farther and farther away in the night, leaving only the vermilion sheep-horn palace lantern, still swaying, covering up the blood-red color that should not be seen on New Year's Day.
The second day of the Lunar New Year is the day to visit one’s parents’ home.
But in the Qiao family, Qiao Rui is not yet old enough to get married and is looking after her children in the northwest.
As for the Ruan family, Li no longer has her family home, but Ruan Jiasheng's wife Bai's family home is still there, but it is in Jiangnan Road and she can't go back.
It would be better to just close the door and refuse visitors, and have fun together as a family.
That's what Ruan Qin and Li originally thought, but when it got light, they heard a lot of noise outside, as if someone was trying to go out.
During the Chinese New Year, Ruan Jiasheng, a scholar, would not go out to visit friends. Ruan Qin and his wife did not like to go out when they were not doing business. Naturally, it would be Miao Wan who would go out.
If Qiao Ruichen went out, there wouldn't be such a big commotion.
Where can Miao Wan go when she goes out on the second day of the junior high school?
Ruan Qin and Li looked at each other, and remembered the dowry list that Miao Wan had asked for. They didn't even bother to eat breakfast and hurried out to find Miao Wan.
"Awan, are you going to the Jingyang Marquis's residence?"
Miao Wan changed her outfit today. She wore a Hu costume that is common in the northwest. It was a long, tight-fitting robe with a large slanting collar, a tan base with black accents. She wore a pair of pointed deerskin boots with three-centimeter-thick soles made of Eucommia ulmoides.
This outfit made her look neat and tall. She even had a copper bracelet on her wrist and eight rings on her hands: one, two, three, four... eight rings. Except for the thumb, all other fingers were used.
The style of the ring is also very strange. The ring face is as big as a small steamed bun with a small pointed tip on it. When you clench your fist...hiss.
Ruan Qin couldn't help but take a deep breath and quickly advised, "It's New Year's Day. No matter how reasonable you are, if you go to their house and make a fuss, you're bound to be ignored. If someone reports you to the prefect of the capital, even a saint won't be able to protect you."
Miao Wan smiled brightly, "Who said I was going to hit someone? These rings are not for hitting people."
Li didn't believe it, "What's that for?"
Miao Wan smiled and twisted the ring open, revealing what was inside. "It's just for show, so they don't come up and slap it for no reason. They'll think it's just a suit of armor and won't think there's something hidden inside."
Ruan Qin looked at the black balls, his expression becoming even more horrified. "Are you going to poison the Miao family?"
"I'm not stupid, uncle, don't worry. I don't intend to do anything to them, so you can rest assured." Miao Wan continued to order people to load things onto the carriage, carrying boxes one by one. "At most, I'll let God teach them a lesson."
Ruan Qin and his wife: “…” No, you can even control God???
But Miao Wan obviously didn't intend to say more to them, and the Jingyang Marquis's family didn't come to her house to annoy her again.
But Miao Wan had been sending people to keep an eye on the Marquis of Jingyang's mansion. Wang called her father, mother and cousin over and asked them to pay someone to spread rumors.
Rumors say that Miao Wan is possessed by an evil spirit and uses some kind of five ghosts fortune-making technique to make money. In fact, all she earns is other people's fortune, and maybe even the fortune of Dayue Kingdom.
Wang wanted to use the method of public opinion to make people burn her or the Qiao family to death.
Since the other party dared to bring up gods and ghosts, if she didn't fight back, she would be really sorry for that pair of scumbags.
Miao Wan had forgotten which novel she had read about it in, but the earliest use of gunpowder was actually used by someone to blow up someone else's house, and it was heralded as a punishment from heaven.
She didn't have gunpowder, but she had a musket. If used well, this "divine punishment" would be no worse than gunpowder.
After preparing everything, Miao Wan and Qiao Ruichen finished their breakfast, and the couple prepared to go back to her parents' home (to find trouble).
Ruan Qin still couldn't figure it out, "Why do you have to bring so many gifts when you come to visit?"
He thought he had enough to worry about, which was why the Marquis of Jingyang's mansion was still thriving. Who would have thought that his niece would worry even more than him? She even brought gifts when she came to pick a fight?
Li pulled him aside and said, "Why do you care so much? Is Awan going to suffer any loss?"
She had just asked the driver, and he said that the boxes were filled with rubble that several Kunlun slaves had brought back from the mass grave last night. This gift would be just right to be sent to the Marquis of Jingyang's mansion.
Miao Wan felt that she had no bad intentions. She was just expressing her best wishes and sincerity to the scum in the Marquis of Jingyang's mansion.
That wooden box with red diamond-shaped carvings and silver corners is worth a lot of money. If you take it apart and put it back together, it can be used as a coffin without losing its dignity.
Qiao Ruichen listened to his wife's words and nodded seriously, "They got it for free. If I had known, I would have asked someone to bring back some locust wood boxes with iron corners yesterday."
It is more appropriate to use locust wood to pretend to be a ghost.
Miao Wan pinched the tip of his nose. She was never stingy with her praise for Qiao Bailao's tact. "My husband, you're becoming more and more like me in your evil ways. Isn't this what we call a wife following her husband's lead?"
Qiao Ruichen: “…” As long as you are happy.
Unfortunately, Miao Wan’s happiness did not last long. After she met up with the people she was supposed to meet, she went to the Marquis of Jingyang’s mansion in a very polite and sincere manner to show her filial piety.
The problem was that the coachman knocked on the door for a long time, but the Marquis of Jingyang’s house refused to open.
The doorman had only one thing to say, "We don't have any married women coming home today, so don't come asking for money from anyone, just get out of here."
Miao Wan laughed in anger. "What's going on? In just two days, you've returned to the ancestral hall and expelled me from the family tree? The Miao family's ancestral hall is quite casual."
The doorman remained silent. The maid at the door, who was trying to intimidate Miao Wan, could no longer hold back and cursed, "There's no such bastard in our Miao family who's so heartless as to sue his own father, and yet he still wants to be listed on the Miao family tree? Pah! Even I, a servant, know that such an unfilial thing should have been strangled to death in a urine bucket when it was first born."
Qiao Ruichen's face turned cold when he heard this, and he took a step forward and wanted to kick the door.
Miao Wan held him back, not caring about what the nanny said. This was just the beginning. Wasn't it said that the old lady from Wang's family was even more talkative?
Why should she bother with such a person who can only spit shit? If she gets angry, the other person will feel proud. It will also be bad for her breasts. She will be at a loss then.
So she smiled and waved at A Dun, "My parents may not recognize me, but I still have to fulfill my filial duty. One thing at a time, if I fulfill my filial duty now, I won't feel guilty when I ask His Majesty to ask the Imperial Guards to come to my house to help me get my dowry."
At this time, many people had gathered around to watch the fun, but seeing the huge crowds of people around them, they didn't dare to say anything. They just watched Adun carry more than a dozen decent boxes off the carriage and also brought down two ladders.
Then Kunlun Slave led his men to climb up the wall swiftly and threw boxes into the Marquis of Jingyang's mansion. The servants guarding the door and the back room were almost hit and screamed in surprise.
"What's this?"
"They're all stones! Is this the filial piety of that bastard?"
"Throw them all out."
A Dun laughed and said loudly, "These are all fine stones carefully selected from the mass grave. They are most suitable for building grave mounds. We gave them to the elders of the Bo Mansion in advance. They will be useful sooner or later. Our wife said that the elders should not be too moved by this little bit of filial piety."
As soon as he finished his first sentence, he heard the maid's scream from inside.
The stones in the mass grave carry so much evil and bad luck. If you get touched by them during the New Year, you will have bad luck for the whole year.
The nanny also took a stone and wanted to throw it out. She threw the stone in a panic and asked someone to open the door in anger.
"Someone come here——" She wanted to ask the servants in the mansion to capture Miao Wan and her group.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the door opened, the people inside were kicked open. The bronze-armored Yulin guards walked in with swords in hand. A dozen Kunlun slaves lined up in two rows, protecting Qiao Ruichen and Miao Wan as they slowly got off the carriage.
Miao Wan stepped on the fallen nanny and smiled brightly, "Who told you that I would invite the Yulin Guards next time? Weren't you all in a hurry to reincarnate before the New Year? I am a married woman who was expelled from the clan. I will show my filial piety for the last time. I must satisfy you no matter what."
The sun was already high in the sky, and the sunlight made the smile on Miao Wan's face look extremely warm, but it also made the nanny shiver all over, and a chill burst out from the bottom of her heart.
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