Follow-up
"Your niece-in-law is really amazing. With just one word, she changed the story of suicide for love into forced hanging. The whole county and the town were shaken, and Qi Dazhuang's people were decimated."
One morning a month later, on the second floor of a teahouse in Gujing Lane, Zhaohua Town, Lord Wang was leaning against the window with his legs crossed, chatting with Tan Mozhu who was sitting opposite him about the follow-up of the Zou Wuniang incident. His tone was a little frivolous and his expression was full of playfulness.
"And those gentry who originally recommended Zou Wuniang for the title of chaste woman have become the target of public criticism. They're pointed at and criticized wherever they go. I saw a tabloid report saying that Old Lady Fang was the mistress of one of them, and that it was that man who mobilized several other gentry to put pressure on the Zou family to continue the engagement when they wanted to cancel it."
"Mrs. Fang? Mistress?"
Tan Mozhu was stunned. "It is said that she gave birth to her son when she was over 30 years old. Now, she must be almost 60 years old, right?"
"Ah!"
Lord Wang waved his hand and winked at him, "Some people are pedophiles, and some people are obsessed with old people!"
"If you don't return it..."
He stopped there, smiled playfully, and continued, "Another tabloid said that Fang Dalang was the illegitimate son of one of the gentry. It was he who suggested to Old Lady Fang that they have a wedding to bring good luck, and when that failed, he forced Zou Wuniang to commit suicide for love so that they could have a ghost marriage."
"What is the truth?" Tan Mozhu asked with a frown.
Lord Wang took a sip of tea and said, "I heard that Zou Wuniang's chastity arch collapsed twice in a row, the second time just one night apart. Old Mrs. Fang was terrified and thought it was Zou Wuniang's ghost. So when Qi Dazhuang asked her, she confessed everything."
"She directly blamed her son's death on Zou Wuniang, saying that she had overexerted herself on the wedding night and that was why her son died. So she wanted Zou Wuniang to be buried with him. When she refused, she was imprisoned in her room, deprived of food and drink, and left with no hope of escape. Eventually, she was forced to hang herself."
"Mrs. Fang had been monitoring her the entire time, so she saw the entire process of her hanging."
"As for whether she is a certain gentleman's mistress, and whether her son is an illegitimate child, it is unknown. Even with Qi Dazhuang's ability, he probably can't find out. If she hadn't confessed voluntarily, this case would have fallen into my hands."
“Thank goodness, thank goodness!”
He clapped his hands in relief, "To prevent such absurd incidents from happening again, I have ordered all counties to re-investigate the list of chaste women on the chaste women honor list."
"This is a matter of chastity, a serious matter!"
Tan Mozhu was blunt about the old woman's behavior: "Women are the most vicious!"
Lord Wang smiled and said, "Why is power always in the hands of men? It's because we are not cruel to our own sex, while women are just the opposite."
"Thus, throughout the universe, yang is strong and yin is weak."
"But your family..."
Lord Wang chuckled and sighed again, "Zhao Mingyan is indeed the successor chosen by the old lady herself. She should not be underestimated."
Tan Mozhu just smiled without saying anything. He picked up the teacup and was about to sip the tea when he suddenly saw a dead mosquito floating on the surface of the tea. He felt nauseous, but he couldn't pour out the tea that Lord Wang had poured for him in front of him. So he had to put down the teacup and pretend that he was not thirsty.
After finally saying goodbye to Lord Wang, his face, which had been smiling for a long time, immediately fell and his eyes became cold.
He pounded his chest, feeling a tightness there. He didn't know if it was because he was disgusted by the dead mosquito or for some other reason.
After pounding his chest, he flicked his sleeves and walked deeper into the alley.
After winding his way through the alleys with many forks for two incense sticks, he arrived at the door of an inconspicuous house and knocked hard.
"Second Master is well."
The gate was quickly opened, and the maid who answered the door lowered her head and stammered, "Madam hasn't gotten up yet, she..."
"That's perfect!"
Tan Mozhu didn't even listen to her finish her words. He strode towards the inner room. As soon as he entered the bedroom that he was familiar with, he closed the door and began to undress.
"Ji Lang is here."
The pregnant young woman lying on the bed struggled to get up. Seeing his gloomy face, she had to swallow back what she wanted to say. After lying down again, she closed her eyes in pain.
Soon, the naked Tan Mozhu climbed onto the bed, roughly tore open the belt of her underwear, and lay on her bulging pregnant belly as if to vent his desire, taking whatever he wanted.
She bit her lower lip tightly, trying her best to endure the storm, praying that the baby in her belly would not be harmed.
"Well……"
After letting out a long groan of pain and pleasure, Tan Mozhu stopped moving.
The young woman secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was already exhausted, she still tried to speak, her voice hoarse: "Erlang, I'm about to give birth. I'm afraid I won't be able to take good care of you in the next few days."
Tan Mozhu frowned, suddenly got up, got out of bed, put on his clothes, and left.
Looking at his obviously disappointed back, the young woman laughed with tears in her eyes.
“Hehehe…”
Her voice was hoarse, like the weeds growing on the inside of a dry well, without rain or sunlight, dark and dry.
Boom boom boom——
Before she had stopped laughing, she suddenly heard another loud knock on the courtyard door. She was so scared that she clutched the quilt tightly, trembling with fear.
"Why...is he back?"
"Second...who are you looking for?"
The maidservant, who also thought it was Tan Mozhu who had returned, hurriedly opened the gate and took a closer look. She was stunned to find that it was a strange woman.
"Looking for my husband." The woman raised her chin and said with annoyance in her eyes.
"Husband?" The maid was even more confused.
The woman pushed aside the person blocking the door and went to the inner room while shouting.
"Husband, I know you are here, come out now!"
"Hey hey hey...your husband is not here."
Seeing the other person enter the house, the maid finally reacted and turned around to chase after him.
Bang--
But the woman had long legs and was quick. She kicked open the bedroom door and started staring at the young woman sitting on the bed.
"you……"
But when she saw the other person's bulging pregnant belly under the silk quilt, she was shocked and stunned. She froze on the spot, and her face seemed to have been dipped in a dye vat, red, green and blue.
“You…you are…”
The young woman went from being stunned to being embarrassed and angry, and then to being incredulous. "Are you the second master's new wife?"
The sky is low, dark and windy, and it is another starless and moonless night.
However, Zhao Mingyan was in a good mood and was not affected by the gloomy weather at all. After eating supper, he lay on the bed and chewed betel nuts.
After taking a bath, Tan Linshuang also felt refreshed, especially when she thought of Tan Mozhu's dark face during dinner, she felt even more refreshed.
"It is said that Zou Wuniang's body was taken back by the Zou family for reburial. Although digging up the grave is not auspicious, it is better than being buried together with the person who indirectly killed you." Tan Linshuang lay down on the bed.
"Yeah! The part of the archway that remained on the ground was also pried away. I just don't know when a new archway will be built there." Zhao Mingyan nodded.
"It won't be yours anyway." Tan Linshuang muttered softly.
Zhao Mingyan smiled but said nothing.
"Madam, you have made an indispensable contribution to clearing Zou Wuniang's name." Tan Linshuang said seriously again and turned to look at her.
Zhao Mingyan shook her head. "This is everyone's achievement, not just mine. How can one person shake a big tree?"
Tan Linshuang thought about it carefully and felt that this was the case.
He had already learned the whole picture of the matter from other channels. Although Zhao Mingyan was the instigator, without any one of the links, the truth of Zou Wuniang's suicide for love would be difficult to uncover.
"But my lady, how do you know that the collapsed archway is the wronged spirit of Zou Wuniang crying out for justice?" he asked curiously.
"How can I tell?"
Zhao Mingyan spread his hands and shrugged, "I don't have a third eye."
"As for why the archway keeps collapsing, I don't understand."
"That……"
Tan Linshuang hesitated for a moment, then smiled suddenly, "You're being mysterious!"
Zhao Mingyan shrugged again, neither admitting nor denying.
"I just heard something unusual in Aunt Xiulian's words, and Aunt Xiulian doesn't think Zou Wuniang would commit suicide for a man she doesn't want to marry."
"She said that the Zou and Fang families were indeed very close in the past, but by the time of Fang Dalang's father, the two families had gradually drifted apart. However, this child marriage was arranged by their grandfathers, so it would be difficult to break off the engagement."
"Before marriage, the two had never met each other and had only seen each other's portraits. How could there be any deep feelings between them?"
"Even if Zou Wuniang wanted to be a chaste woman, couldn't she just go to the Chastity Hall? Why would she commit suicide for love?"
"When a person dies, everything is gone. What's the point of building a grand and magnificent chastity arch?"
Tan Linshuang frowned and nodded, "The most hateful one is Old Lady Fang."
"Yes! The daughter-in-law becomes the mother-in-law and then turns around to become the daughter-in-law." Zhao Mingyan was full of emotion.
Hearing this, Tan Linshuang couldn't help laughing.
Zhao Mingyan glanced at him and suddenly found that his complexion was rosy at the moment, and his eyebrows and eyes were gentle when he smiled, giving him a fresh and clear look.
"Do you know what excuse Old Lady Fang used to force Zou Wuniang to death?"
Tan Linshuang put away her smile and shook her head.
Zhao Mingyan spat out the betel nut in her mouth, wrapped it in a handkerchief and threw it on the ground, saying, "It's Zou Wuniang's fault that she tortured her son to death in the bridal chamber."
The corner of Tan Linshuang's mouth twitched, and he vaguely felt that there was something else behind her words.
Zhao Mingyan didn't hold back and spoke frankly, "Luckily, I didn't force you on our wedding night. Otherwise... I might have been another Zou Wuniang."
Tan Linshuang's chest tightened and her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
"Mingyan."
"ah?"
Zhao Mingyan was stunned for a moment when he suddenly called her that. Then she lowered her eyes and looked at him, "Do you want to chew betel nut too?"
The corner of Tan Linshuang's mouth twitched again, and he quickly reached out to cover her mouth, fearing that she would say something even more disappointing.
The time, the place and the people are all right, tonight, no one can be left behind!
"Huh?" Zhao Mingyan blinked, looking confused.
Tan Linshuang didn't let go of her hand. She used her other hand to support herself on the bed and sat up. Then she leaned close to Zhao Mingyan's ear and whispered, "Don't talk, okay?"
Zhao Mingyan blinked again and nodded.
Tan Linshuang slowly let go and smiled when he heard it.
"My lady, I am not Fang Dalang, and you are not Zou Wuniang."
so what?
Zhao Ming was in a fog.
If he doesn't let her speak, then what incomprehensible things is he saying?
"You can't torture me to death." Tan Linshuang said again.
Zhao Mingyan was confused, and then she reached out her hand to touch his forehead, wanting to see if he had a fever, but she didn't expect that as soon as she stretched out her hand, he held it tightly, and then heard him say: "My lady, I will lie down obediently tonight and let you pick it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
