At dusk in the capital, cats and dogs roamed about, causing an inexplicable commotion.
In the prestigious western district, a group of beggars arrived outside a brothel. They sat on the curb, gnawing on bones and vying to speak, pointing and gesturing.
"These prostitutes aren't pretty at all. The two from the secret passage are much prettier."
"Really? I find these quite alluring."
“What have you seen? Those two are real beauties. Look, so big, so round, so big—” The beggar stood there, comically gesturing to his chest and buttocks.
Two vagrants came over and kicked him: "What are you talking about? Where can you find such a good secret door? Are you shills?"
The beggars, showing their yellow teeth, chuckled and said, "We may not have eaten pork, but we've seen pigs run, right? Those two, oh my, they're not prostitutes, they're young ladies."
A beggar next to him slapped him across the face: "You know she's a young lady, yet you still say it out loud. Be careful you don't get your head chopped off."
"Hehe, I let it slip, I let it slip."
Those two libertines, we must make them tell us who they are and how they were libertines.
The beggars stretched out their hands: "Give me something!"
"Take it, and tell us now, or we'll beat you to death."
Once the beggar had taken the money, he became quite rude, describing the story vividly and convincingly.
"She was knocked unconscious and taken there. The first man paid her a thousand taels of silver... She was the eldest and second young lady of the Pingyang Marquis's mansion, named Gu Jiaojiao and Gu Xuanxuan."
"Sir, listen to this name, it sounds so soft and dizzying..."
What good people can come to a brothel? They hear all this excitement before even entering, and they all end up walking in with duck-like gaits.
The beggars ran off immediately after they finished speaking, and went to another teahouse to continue. However, when they got there, they found people talking about how the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion was now making jokes wholesale.
The crown prince was expelled from the palace by His Majesty for plagiarizing poems and now only has a seventh-rank official position, and has been working for free for several years without any salary.
One of his relatives' children, supposedly his cousin's child, turned out to look exactly like the prince. Think about it, think about it carefully!
The beggars were completely bewildered; someone was actually doing better than them?
The next morning, the whole capital was abuzz with the news that Gu Jiaojiao, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Pingyang, and Gu Xuanxuan, the second daughter, were making a fortune in the secret brothel!
Gu Boyu was a scoundrel to begin with, so he was the first to know about this news.
Enraged, he returned to the Marquis's residence, said nothing, and beat Gu Jiaojiao and Gu Xuanxuan, who had been hiding and dared not come out, to a pulp.
The old lady cried and said, "How can I face your father? You have completely disgraced us. Eldest son, you have been a troublemaker since you were a child. Now that you are a marquis, you have led the family to this state?"
Gu Boyu only said to the old lady, "Don't worry about it, I'll beat these two disgraceful bastards to death."
Madam Tu knelt down and kowtowed, begging him: "My lord, please kill me. It is my fault for not disciplining you properly. Please kill me."
Concubine Wang also knelt down and begged, saying that she only cared about her daughter Xuanxuan, and if she was beaten to death, she would have no hope left.
That day, Gu Boyu went to Sun Bo's residence and insisted on beating Sun Kehai to death. Sun Bo had no choice but to pay five thousand taels of silver and beat Sun Kehai with a hundred strokes in front of him.
The Earl said, “My Lord, if you want him to die, I will kill him immediately. If you want him to live, then let him marry the two sisters.”
Sun Kehai still refused to marry the two sisters: "I won't wear a green hat."
The Earl readily agreed: "Then go die!"
Gu Boyu also disagreed. He would rather beat Gu Jiaojiao to death than let her and her sister marry the murderer who harmed them. It was an utter disgrace.
Unexpectedly, when he returned home, Gu Jiaojiao had run away.
Having no other choice, Gu Boyu restrained Madam Tu and beat her: "How have you managed the household? You've ruined both of your daughters, what's the point of you living?"
When Madam Tu was about to hang herself, the old lady slammed her hand on the table and said, "Stop making a scene! I'm not dead yet. If I die, you can do whatever you want. I won't care if this family falls apart."
"Investigate! Who leaked the information?" the old lady cried. "The entire Marquis's mansion has been utterly disgraced."
Outsiders won't pay attention to the affairs of the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion. There's no conflict of interest, so who cares whether you become an immortal or a demon?
Madam Tu immediately thought of Xie Zhaozhao. It seemed that the Third Madam disliked Jiao Jiao very much. Why was that? Madam Tu didn't know either. Jiao Jiao wanted a piece of jewelry from her so much, but she wouldn't give her a single one.
And the matter of the witchcraft doll, the Third Madam must still harbor resentment.
However, Tu instinctively felt that Xie Zhaozhao would never do such a trivial thing; that person looked elegant and refined and would never stoop to doing such a thing.
Therefore, the focus is on investigating second wives.
At the Chrysanthemum Festival, Gu Xuanxuan and Gu Jiaojiao tried to harm Gu Huanhuan, but failed. That vile woman, Madam Lu, had been plotting something big all along!
Thinking of this, Madam Tu immediately ordered someone to bring Zhang Qing over.
"Zhang Qing, has the Second Madam gone out these past few days?"
“The Second Madam has been out these past two days. I saw it with my own eyes. She went out with two of her personal maids,” Zhang Qing said.
That's right, it's Lu's.
Lu, you wait! A gentleman takes his revenge, even after ten years!
While Madam Tu was raging, Xie Zhaozhao was leisurely watering flowers at the Xie residence.
Mo Yan quietly reported the news from outside.
"Gu Xuanxuan became Sun Kehai's concubine. It seems Sun Kehai's leg is failing, so Gu Jiaojiao ran away."
"The Lady of the Marquis was beaten, and the Old Madam is crying."
Xie Zhaozhao didn't say anything, but cut off the excess flowers one by one.
Gu Jiaojiao, in our past life you made me kneel in the freezing cold as punishment, and in this life you're still hard to change your bad habits, so you might as well spend your whole life in the gutter...
Xie Zhaozhao stayed at the Xie residence for three days before heading back home.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com