Chapter 18 Deception
The barking of dogs startled the summer insects.
Li Qu knocked on the door late at night, waking up the three members of the Li family.
This was the first time Li Qu had reunited with his family since he had been trapped in the Zhou family mansion in Hezhou, and they inevitably exchanged greetings.
Before she could say more, Huaiqiu urged, "Auntie, Master is still waiting at the alley entrance."
Thinking of Zhou Jin's attack today, Li Qu gripped Li Rong's hand tightly and walked into the house, saying, "Mother, please entertain Granny Xu for me."
"This old servant will go with you."
Wearing a veil, Li's mother, with a soft and pleasant voice, blocked Xu's path: "If you don't mind, please take a seat and have some tea."
When Xu Mama saw Huaiqiu follow Li Qu into the room, she stopped and smiled as she spoke to Li's mother, "No, no, Madam, please take a seat. If you have any instructions, please feel free to speak."
Li Qu led Li Rong to Li's mother's room, where they found a large, flip-top trunk by the bedside, filled with Li's mother's and father's clothes.
Huaiqiu glanced at Li Qu, who was rummaging around inside the house, and then consciously stood outside the door where he could see the Li Qu sisters.
Li Rong glanced at Huai Qiu, who seemed to be monitoring her, then squatted down next to Li Qu and whispered, "What happened?"
Li Qu pulled all the clothes out of the box and handed them to Li Rong.
Li Rong put the clothes on the bed.
"Master Zhou wants to see our real household registration and place of residence."
With Huaiqiu on her back, Li Rong's mouth formed an "O" shape: "What's going on! Didn't we already talk about this before?"
“Master Zhou found out that I disguised myself as a man, swindled money from the homosexual Wu Xubai, and then fled south using a fake household registration and a fake residence permit.”
Li Rong's eyes practically popped out of their sockets, her lips moving silently: You lied to Master Zhou!
"Go get me a pair of scissors."
Li Rong immediately understood Li Qu's intention.
Hurry up and get the scissors, and while you're at it, listen to the conversation between Li's mother and Granny Xu.
In the small living room, less than twenty square meters, Granny Xu sighed, "The concubine is too temperamental. She lost her temper with the master because he was a little rude. This old servant only wanted the concubine to be well, so I shamelessly chatted with the madam..."
Instead of discussing Li Qu's past in Yan, Li Rong handed the scissors to Li Qu with peace of mind, then whispered to her, "I'll go watch over Mother."
Without turning her head, Li Qu waited until Li Rong left before retracting her feigned movement of using scissors to pry open the bottom panel of the box. She then reached out and touched the rivet on the lid, pulled it forcefully, and pried open the thin panel with her fingernail, taking out the silver notes tucked inside the oiled paper.
He put the banknotes into his sleeve, put the box lid back on, then used scissors to pry open the bottom thick plate and take out the household registration and transfer documents.
Huaiqiu, who witnessed the whole thing: Aunt, I saw where you hid your money.
Li Qu took her things and went to the living room, where she heard her mother complaining, "My daughter is very opinionated, and her father and I can't control her. You, sir, will have to keep an eye on her and give her a lot of guidance. If there are any problems..."
Seeing Li Qu come out, Li's mother quickly stopped talking and patted Xu Mama's hand.
Huaiqiu followed closely behind, and Li Qu didn't linger. After passing on the main matters to Li Rong, she felt relieved.
Her gaze lingered on Li's mother's lower abdomen for a moment before she pulled a silver note from her sleeve: "Take good care of yourself during pregnancy."
Li's mother seemed to have a lot to say, but because there were outsiders present, she chose to say a few polite words.
Following Li Qu to the door, she stopped and watched Li Qu leave with Xu Mama and Huaiqiu until the carriage disappeared from sight. Only then did Li's mother murmur:
"If only it were a son."
Li Qu didn't hear her mother's sighs; she was sitting nervously in front of Zhou Jin.
Haoyue, who was in the same carriage, stepped aside.
Zhou Jin didn't even look at Li Qu's household registration and place of residence, and put the things upside down on the table.
Li Qu then took out the 'stolen money' she had prepared: "This is all the silver notes I have left."
The top one is worth a hundred taels, and there are at least twenty of them.
Zhou Jin picked up a silver note, from Tongbao Money Shop, a genuine note.
He put down the silver notes and pushed them towards Li Qu: "Keep them safe."
Li Qu felt relieved and realized that Zhou Jin probably suspected her of having an illegitimate background and harboring ill intentions towards him, which led to the events that had transpired.
Seeing that Zhou Jin seemed to believe her, she became much bolder.
She slowly stretched out her hand, her two fingers crawling forward. When her fingers touched the household registration and transfer documents, Zhou Jin pressed his hand on them and gave Li Qu a cold look.
Undeterred, Li Qu forcefully pulled the household registration and transfer documents toward herself.
The household registration and transfer records remain unchanged.
Li Qu protested, "When do you plan to return them to my parents?"
Zhou Jin remained silent.
Li Qu angrily withdrew her hand, turned her back to Zhou Jin, and sat down in the corner.
Having witnessed everything, Haoyue glanced at Li Qu, who refused to remove her veil, and then at Zhou Jin, who calmly withdrew his hand from the household registration and transfer documents. She sweetly explained to Li Qu, "I begged to see Third Master off, not to upset the young mistress."
"The guests in this building are not all gentlemen. Only by using the name of the Third Master to deter the villains can I have a day or two of peace and quiet."
Li Qu still ignored Haoyue.
Upon seeing this, Haoyue bowed to Li Qu and said, "I promise that this will only happen once. I will never dare to disturb Third Master's carriage again. Please forgive me, Madam."
Among the actors and actresses who are well-known in the four major brothels, none are innocent.
Li Qu did not speculate on Hao Yue's purpose in bringing up her.
No matter what she did, she remained unmoved.
After Haoyue bowed, seeing that Li Qu still ignored her, a bitter and embarrassed expression appeared on her face, and even the tips of Linglong's ears turned red.
She glanced at Zhou Jin with a wronged expression, only to find that Zhou Jin was looking through household registration and records.
After a tea ceremony performance that went unnoticed, Haoyue bit her lip, reluctantly withdrawing her gaze and sitting silently.
The carriage stopped at the gate of the Zhou residence. Before getting out, Li Qu turned to look at Haoyue and said, "I accept your apology. Please do not bother me again. Thank you sincerely."
Having said that, before Huaiqiu could even take the footstool, she lifted the curtain, jumped off the carriage, and hurried toward the gate of the Zhou residence.
The old woman, Xu, who was about to get off the carriage behind, was so startled that she lost her composure and hurriedly chased after her in a low voice: "Madam! You mustn't be so disrespectful!"
Li Qu didn't go very far; she stopped as soon as she entered the gate of the Zhou residence.
She simply didn't want to have any further entanglement with Haoyue, and didn't want to offend Zhou Jin.
Seeing Li Qu stop and wait for Zhou Jin, Granny Xu breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected, Haoyue did not enter the mansion; the carriage turned around and took her back to Baoyue Tower.
Zhou Jin strode in, still clutching the household registration book and the transfer certificate in his hand.
Upon seeing this, Li Qu immediately followed.
She has indeed acted out of line, and if she doesn't remedy the situation in time, who knows if Zhou Jin might snap her neck the next time he goes crazy.
"Although my actions today were out of line, they were understandable."
Li Qu neither inquired about nor investigated the events that occurred on the carriage.
She doesn't deserve it.
She only offered an explanation for her actions: "You are too cold-hearted towards me, sir. I am of good birth. How could you take me to such a place?"
"And he even flirted with Miss Haoyue right in front of me."
"How could I not feel jealous?"
"My mind is in turmoil, so I can no longer care about so many rules."
Zhou Jin was tall with long legs, and Li Qu had to jog to keep up with him.
Seeing that Zhou Jin ignored her, she didn't want to pursue him too closely. After saying what she needed to say, she slowly pretended that she couldn't catch up and stopped to rest.
Only after Zhou Jin's figure disappeared from sight did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Granny Xu, with her old arms and legs, struggled even more to catch up with Li Qu, and was a few steps behind.
Li Qu asked, "Are there sedan chairs available at this time?"
Granny Xu shook her head: "It's already past 9 PM. I didn't tell them to leave the sedan chair, so they've all gone to bed now."
"Then let's go back."
The distance that would take a stick of incense to burn if the sedan chair carriers walked quickly would take them much longer if they walked slowly.
Xu Mama: "Why don't you ask Third Master to speak up? If there are maids to escort you, it will save you a lot of trouble."
Li Qu disregarded Granny Xu's advice: "Granny, do you know the way?"
Li Qu had never been to the front yard before and didn't know the way.
Xu Mama originally planned to have Li Qu stay overnight in Zhou Jin's outer courtyard, but seeing that Li Qu didn't take the bait and that Zhou Jin seemed to be in a bad mood that night, she gave up the idea.
So he led Li Qu into the inner courtyard.
“Madam, you were far too bold tonight. Fortunately, the master has not rejected you.”
"He may have grown tired of it."
Granny Xu smiled and shook her head: "If our master disliked someone, he would never do it like this."
What will happen?
After thinking for a moment, Xu Mama said carefully, "Master is a man who values rules very much."
"There's no family rule that says a concubine can't be jealous, is there?"
"I'm still indulging you. Otherwise, just for disregarding the rules and committing a breach of etiquette in the carriage, you would have been punished."
"Have you ever seen the board used to beat people, nanny?"
"Yes, I have. This old servant even received it on my buttocks."
"ah?"
"Third Master was raised by this old servant and two other wet nurses. The other two were kicked out by Third Master, and this old servant was also beaten by Third Master."
"Is he really that incorruptible?"
Li Qu preferred to describe it as cold-hearted.
"My master is extremely strict about rules."
Li Qu recalled the memory of being whipped by Aunt Li until her limbs went numb, and echoed, "Exactly."
The two chatted idly as they approached the inner courtyard gate, when they were suddenly startled by a person who jumped out from the bushes.
The man held a gleaming dagger and pulled the nearest woman, Granny Xu, towards him.
Seemingly realizing that he had only kidnapped a nanny, he pushed Xu nanny down and charged at Li Qu.
Li Qu turned and ran.
Seeing that they couldn't catch up with Li Qu and hearing footsteps in the distance, the thugs turned around and grabbed the still-shaken Xu Mama, saying, "If she dares to run again, I'll cripple her!"
Li Qu stopped in her tracks, casually removed the gold hairpin from her hair and hid it, then turned to look at the villain: "Who are you, and where did you come from? How dare you attempt an assassination in the Zhou residence!"
She hoped it was a thief sneaking in. Ideally, he'd tell her about a secret passage leading outside.
Unfortunately, Huaiqiu arrived hastily with his guards, and the other party did not have time to utter a single word about the secret passage.
The torches swayed in the wind, illuminating the villain's disheveled clothes and the bright red bellyband that had been hastily wrapped around his waist as clothing.
Li Qu was caught off guard and had a melon smeared all over her face.
"He's a madman!"
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