Two tears welled up in Tao Yao's eyes, and she sobbed uncontrollably, burying her face in Zhu Jiayu's shoulder: "That's wonderful! Thank you, sister! He finally..."
She choked back tears.
Then Zhu Jiayu, with a cold and hard expression, used a dagger to lift her chin: "Don't rush to cry, wait until I finish speaking."
Tao Yao looked at her, puzzled, and asked, "Sister?"
She still had glistening tears on her face, looking timidly at Zhu Jiayu, as if she couldn't understand how she had suddenly changed into such a different person.
"You lost your father and younger brother at a young age, and were later adopted by a kind scholar. It's easy to find out about your background if you're willing to do so. But you probably didn't expect that I, all alone here, could find someone to investigate these matters. That's why you were so comfortable telling me about your past, wasn't it?"
"You call me 'sister,' and even now I want to ask you, my dear sister, was that fire really an accident? Why did it have to start in the dead of night?"
"Why did the fire have to start in your father's room, and why weren't you home?"
"And that poor scholar, how did he fall into the pond and drown after you left?"
Tao Yao pursed her lips and looked at her silently. After a long while, she wiped her tears with her sleeve and asked innocently, "What are you saying? I can't understand a word. Did the scholar drown?"
She clutched Zhu Jiayu's sleeve in panic and grief, ignoring the blade that was inches away: "Sister! Tell me, this can't be true! How could this be... He was perfectly fine when I left..."
Zhu Jiayu's indifferent expression softened. She grabbed Tao Yao by the collar and asked in a gentler tone, "I thought that smart young girls should understand the meaning of 'assessing the situation.' Since you won't shed tears until you see the coffin, do you want me to tell you the whole story?"
"After you used that fire to kill your father and brother, you became an orphan. Many people in your village were suspicious of you and refused to help you. A scholar from a neighboring village took pity on you and adopted you. But later, he heard from your fellow villagers about their suspicions about you, as well as some evidence."
"He dared not take you in anymore, but he was afraid you would retaliate against him and treat him like your father or brother. Just then, a matchmaker from the village passed by his house, saw you, and remembered that the wealthy Wang in the village wanted to take a thirteenth concubine. So he decided to arrange a marriage between you and the scholar. Although you were young, the Wang family was willing to support you for a few years, and they were also willing to offer a generous dowry. Before long, the scholar was moved."
"After you learned about this, you found an opportunity to lure the scholar to the pond, and when he was not paying attention, you pushed him into the pond. After that, you left Lihua Town."
Am I right?
Because Tao Yao has a distinct Yujing accent, Lin Zhi's people have been inquiring around the villages and towns surrounding Yujing for the past few days at her behest, and have finally found out some things.
By piecing together the scattered pieces of information, Zhu Jiayu naturally came to understand the whole picture.
Looking at Tao Yao's bewildered and pale face now, she knew that she was right.
"So what? So what if I killed them! Didn't they deserve to die!" Tao Yao remained silent for a long time before calmly looking at Zhu Jiayu. She tore off her naive facade. "Just because I was born weak, does that mean I deserve to be bullied by them? I refuse!"
"And those women who came here before you, do you know why none of them ever managed to escape?"
She suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard she could barely breathe and even coughing. After a while, she calmed down and said, "Because I did it on purpose. I deliberately gave them hope and then made them despair. They were under my control, struggling painfully, yet they had no choice but to depend on me wholeheartedly. This feeling was as wonderful as that fire."
“There was one older sister who was the most foolish. After I tricked Li Sanba out, I said I would take her away. Halfway there, I lied to her and said that Li Sanba seemed to be catching up, but I didn’t have the strength to run anymore.”
“She could have run away, she could have just left me behind. But she didn’t. She carried me on her back and kept running, until her feet were bleeding.”
“This pampered young lady has probably never suffered like this in her life. Even I couldn’t bear to watch her suffer, so I had to send her to her death to save her from further hardship.”
As she spoke, she started laughing again, as if she had done something extraordinary.
"Beast," someone muttered under their breath.
Who would have thought that a child's heart could be so filthy?
Zhu Jiayu hadn't expected this either. But she still stopped the man who was about to make a move, indifferently raising her hand to pinch Tao Yao's chin: "Have you said enough? If you have, then listen to me."
“In the past, the women you abducted would be taken by Li Sanba to places where they would be traded with people. Tomorrow, you will take me to that place as usual.”
"As for Li Sanba's death, I'm sure you can figure out a way to cover it up. Hmm?"
Staring into her emotionless eyes, even though Tao Yao had long been accustomed to life and death, she still couldn't help but feel terrified at this moment.
Ordinary people, knowing what she had done, would have treated her like a monster long ago. But Zhu Jiayu could still threaten her without batting an eye, which made Tao Yao feel a long-lost sense of crisis.
She nodded reluctantly, and after Zhu Jiayu let go of her hand, she asked her again, "If I take you to that place, will you let me go?"
A smile appeared on Zhu Jiayu's lips, and she asked her in return, "What do you think?"
If Tao Yao had only killed those few people, she would have turned a blind eye, and might even have given her some money to keep her company, or kept her by her side.
But she harmed too many people.
If she lets Tao Yao go, then who will let those young girls in their prime go?
Tao Yao noticed her attitude, pursed her lips, and decided not to make a fool of herself. She took the initiative to extend her hands to Zhu Jiayu and put them together.
"do what?"
"If you don't tie me up, aren't you afraid I'll run away?"
Tao Yao certainly couldn't run away. Besides Zhu Jiayu, there were several other men here. She couldn't outrun them.
She did this simply because she knew that if she behaved obediently, Zhu Jiayu would make her suffer less.
She was naturally very familiar with this kind of thing.
Zhu Jiayu chuckled: "Let's talk about it after you run away."
"Although I am not a good person, I am not so bad as to be able to harm a child."
Upon hearing her words, Tao Yao bit her lip hard with her pearly teeth.
She turned around, watched Zhu Jiayu's departing figure, and shouted, "Don't think I'll be grateful to you for this!"
Zhu Jiayu didn't even turn her head: "Fine, your gratitude is useless to me."
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