Chapter 81 Master Qi's Reputation
It was late at night and Chen Tang was already fast asleep.
Qi Huaijing couldn't sleep, so he lay on his side in the night, lowered his eyes, and looked closely at her eyebrows.
When they first got married, he often looked at her like this while she was sleeping at night. Under the moonlight, under the lamplight, and even in the pitch black night, he could still distinguish her facial features.
She slept soundly, her dark hair loose, covering half of her pale face. Her long eyelashes trembled with her even breathing, and the corners of her lips were slightly raised, as if she was smiling even in her sleep.
He liked Chen Tang's smile the most, especially the way she bent over because she couldn't help laughing.
But she rarely laughed so wildly in previous years. She always smiled, a light smile, very appropriately and dignified.
Sometimes, he would walk through the Shen family's garden to accompany his uncle to the study to get a new copybook, and occasionally he would catch a glimpse of her swinging under the rose trellis.
When other girls were swinging on the swings, they were always laughing and making noises, asking others to push them higher and higher.
She was always leisurely, with a faint smile. Her thin goose yellow satin skirt swayed slowly in the warm breeze. The setting sun of late spring reflected on her hair, casting a light golden halo.
If Xiaoli had not run far and had called her cousin to come over and play together, he would have pretended to be overwhelmed, dropped his school bag, walked over to play with his little cousin for a while, and then talked to her casually.
"Sister Tang, sit tight, I'll push you up a little, okay?"
She was wearing a thin spring outfit. She sat on the swing, swinging slowly and steadily, smiling and shaking her head.
"Cousin, I'm fine like this."
She thought that was good enough.
What's so good about it? He thought to himself that if the swing didn't swing to the highest point, it would be boring.
Just like life, just like love.
But Chen Tang is always so content, gentle yet a little stubborn.
Never mind, maybe it's boring, but as long as she likes it.
…
It was not until the next morning that Qi Chengzhou learned from Qin that Aunt Xue was missing.
He had just recovered from a hangover and when he heard this, he flew into a rage and smashed the teacup on the spot.
"How could a grown man get lost without even leaving his house?"
Qin Jiangyun took a step back to avoid the broken porcelain pieces on the ground, his tone somewhat panicked.
"Yesterday, just after the Second Master left, she came to the main room and said she wanted to go to the Buddhist temple to burn incense. I thought it was something that the Master had agreed to, so I agreed. But who knew she would never come back... I only found out about this today when the two maids came crying and reported it."
In fact, Qin didn't tell the truth.
As early as last night before going to bed, the two maids came crying and reported that they were waiting for their aunt outside the small Buddhist temple. Who knew that they waited for a long time but she didn't come out. When they went in to take a look, the incense and candles in front of the Bodhisattva statue were almost burned out, but the person was nowhere to be seen.
When Qin Jiangyun heard this, he just sneered.
I had just gotten myself back from the chores of the New Year holiday and was just about to tidy up the backyard and deal with this vixen.
Just like, a few days ago, when she was serving the banquet in the main room, she dared to seduce the second master's daughter Taozhi in front of her, and then she made up an excuse of theft and was taken home by her parents to get married.
But today, before he could make a move, Aunt Xue, this vixen, was gone first.
Qin Jiangyun listened to the two maids crying and talking, but he just sat there and cursed them loudly.
"How can a living person just disappear like that? You must be the ones who didn't serve him well enough and dared to come back and make a fuss! You idiot slaves, you are not allowed to sleep tonight. Go back and continue looking. Turn the whole back room over until you find him!"
The two maids were so frightened that they dared not say a word, but they were actually a little guilty.
The two of them were bored and cold waiting at the door of the Buddhist temple. A big opera with loud gongs and drums was going on in the Yujin Hall next door, so they decided to take turns to go watch the opera and leave only one of them waiting at the door.
One person went first, and the remaining person squatted at the door and became increasingly bored, so Aunt Xue showed mercy and let her go and watch for a while...
When the song ended and the crowd dispersed, the two realized that Aunt Xue was nowhere to be seen either.
After the two maids left with tears in their eyes, Qin Jiangyun called Aunt Chun again and asked her to find two reliable confidants, quietly find the person and lock him up in the woodshed, and then call a drunk man in, waiting for the second master to come back and catch the adulterer, saying that she did not return home in the middle of the night because she had gone to meet her adulterer.
A pair of adulterers were caught red-handed, and no one could save her.
Unexpectedly, the two maids didn't find her, and neither did her own people.
It was not until dawn, when the Second Master had finished his breakfast, that Qin realized she could no longer conceal the truth, and she finally told him the truth.
Qi Chengzhou was furious and sent his servants to search the whole house, even to Yujin Hall and Wutong Garden.
Everyone said they had no idea.
He also ordered people to search secretly in the streets of the city to see if anyone had seen her, but on the night of the 16th day of the first lunar month, the streets were full of women who were sick and had various illnesses. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. After asking for several days, he could not find any clues.
Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels far and wide.
This was originally a family scandal. No one knows who spread it, but it was soon discovered by two playboys. These two had competed with Qi Chengzhou for a prostitute in a brothel, and they were holding a grudge against him. So they exaggerated the story and spread it with great pleasure.
Soon, half of the people in Guangling City heard that the second master of the Qi family, who was always a playboy, could not even win over the women in his family and let someone escape.
The woman would rather eat coarse food than be with him.
This bad reputation reached Qi Chengzhou's ears again. He was so angry and furious that he spat out blood on the spot.
He was born with a strong will and would not admit defeat, and he was most proud of his romantic life. Seeing that those who had flirted with him in the past were laughing at him, he gritted his teeth and went out, spending a lot of money in the most popular brothel, recruiting a popular prostitute, and regaining the favor of those bastards, at least to save some face.
It’s a pity that although you can stop people from talking in front of you, you can’t stop people from laughing behind your back.
Just in February, when Qi Chengzhou was still busy looking for people, Qi Huaijing and his wife were already on their way to the capital.
As soon as they were out of the city gate, Chen Tang lifted the curtain and asked Qi Huaijing, who was riding a horse next to the carriage.
"Husband, are we really not going to bring our wives to the capital with us?"
A few days ago, when Mrs. Yue heard that the couple were going to the capital, she immediately said that she wanted to go with them.
Qi Huaijing agreed readily.
Then, while Madam Yue was out for a banquet, he kidnapped Chen Tang and left Guangling, heading north to the capital.
"You don't know, in previous years my wife always said she wanted to go with me, but when the time came, she either had a headache or an appointment and couldn't postpone it. She always had this or that thing and delayed the departure date. In fact, she didn't want to go far away at all."
Chen Tang felt a little reluctant when he thought about how nice Madam Yue had been to him in recent days.
"I think the madam is a little pitiful..."
"Oh, Madam is living a happy life! Don't worry, I have left someone at home. After all, she is my mother, and no one can make her angry except me."
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