Chapter 44 Ping'er, let's not be angry yet.
"Mother, she's so pretty, who is she?" Little Baozhu asked nervously, tugging at Jiang Nuanzhi's sleeve behind her.
"Mother?"
The young lady's beautiful almond-shaped eyes showed a hint of doubt as she looked at Xiao Baozhu. Then, she frowned and said, "You're Li Baozhu? The child that Brother Rong adopted? I didn't expect you to have grown so much."
"Shut up!" Li Junping clenched his fist and said firmly, "My sister is my father's child!"
As he spoke, he pulled his younger sister behind him.
Little Baozhu blinked at his mother and brothers, asking curiously, "What does 'adoption' mean?"
The woman seemed to realize something and suddenly looked at Jiang Nuanzhi in disbelief: "You...you wouldn't happen to be that this isn't a maid, but the convicted wife that Brother Rong married, would you?"
Jiang Nuanzhi looked at the person in front of her and suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a character in the story who looked quite similar to her. She asked with a strange expression, "Is Miss's surname Zhao?"
"What? Brother Rong, did you mention me to you?"
"Zhao Xiyue?"
"How dare you! You dare to address my young lady by her given name!"
Jiang Nuanzhi understood and couldn't help but look at her with sympathy.
If we were to name who the main antagonist, Li Junping, killed, the first would be his own wicked stepmother, who died before he rose to power. The second, whom he skinned alive, was Zhao Xiyue, who died after he became wealthy and powerful.
Jiang Nuanzhi remembered it so clearly because this woman's death was truly gruesome. In the end, her flesh was devoured by snakes, insects, and rodents.
No one knew what this pretty girl had done to make the villain hate her so much, and unconsciously glanced at Li Junping.
"What are you doing! You're not welcome in our home!" Li Junping gently patted his sister's head, his dark eyes fixed on Zhao Xiyue.
Zhao Xiyue glanced down at him, her expression indifferent: "I heard that Brother Rong seems to be injured, so I came here specifically to check on him."
"You little bastard, you'd better get out of the way."
After saying that, Cuizhu pushed Li Junping aside and protected her young lady as she went into the house.
Jiang Nuan quickly caught her adopted son and watched as he stared intently at Zhao Xiyue's back like a venomous snake. She couldn't help but swallow hard.
He finally patted his head and said, "Ping'er, don't be angry. Let's see what she's up to first."
Li Junping finally looked away, glanced at Jiang Nuanzhi, and nodded with pursed lips.
Jiang Nuanzhi lit an incense stick for Zhao Xiyue in her heart.
But she was also genuinely curious about what this person was doing at her house.
He kept calling out "Brother Rong, Brother Rong," could he be Li Rong's old flame?
Inside the room, Li Rong saw Zhao Xiyue's familiar face and was momentarily stunned.
At this moment, he once again doubted whether he was dreaming.
Zhao Xiyue is a lady from a high-ranking family, so why would she be here? And how did she find her way here?
Li Rong clenched his fists tightly. Yes, he used to change his residence every six months to avoid being tracked down.
Now that things have dragged on for so long without changing locations, it's time for these people to come looking for them.
He glanced at the arrow wound on his leg and gave a self-deprecating smile.
Or perhaps it could be said that your whereabouts were already exposed?
However, looking at Zhao Xiyue in front of him, a sliver of hope still lingered in his heart.
Although his marriage to the Zhao family was called off, he still felt indebted to them in the past, as she was the father of his, whom he had personally mentored.
If she cares about her father, she will likely remember some of the kindness she received.
Perhaps it can help him get out of his current predicament, or at the very least, it can help him escape that woman's clutches.
At least his three children will be safer.
He must have been conscious for a while, because his fingers had regained some strength.
He tried opening his mouth for a long time, but all he could make was a hoarse sound; he couldn't even utter a single word clearly.
Zhao Xiyue entered, lifting her skirt. She frowned and looked around, then gagged when her gaze fell on the animal hide.
"Miss, are you alright? You have a cough, and this filthy place might make you uncomfortable."
She waved her hand, wiped her nose with a handkerchief, and then looked at Li Rong: "Brother Rong, why do you live in this place?"
After asking the question, she frowned and carefully observed him: "Can you still move now?"
Can you speak?
"He's still injured, unable to move or speak. If you're looking to catch up, Miss, you've come to the wrong place today," Jiang Nuanzhi kindly told her.
Zhao Xiyue frowned: "Sigh, so Brother Rong is already a cripple."
Li Rong had initially held out hope, but seeing the indifference in her eyes and the chillingly nonchalant tone of her voice, an alarm bell rang in his heart, and he had a vague sense of foreboding.
"Since that's the case, I'd like to tell you something. Today, my father asked me to come and see how Brother Rong is doing, and to properly cancel our marriage, so that we can at least make things clear."
"Sigh, thinking back to those days, Brother Li's mother looked down on me, and that little bastard in the family also found fault with me in every way. I humbled myself and served as a concubine in Brother Rong's house for more than three months before the marriage was finally arranged."
Brother Rong, do you still remember what your mother said back then?
After saying that, she suddenly moved closer to Li Rong, raised her eyebrows, and asked.
Seeing Li Rong frown, she suddenly chuckled, seemingly not expecting to hear his answer, and said to herself, "She said we are not a good match."
"Yes, we are indeed not a good match now. In the past, Zhao Xiyue couldn't be with you and had to try to please you in every way. Now, Brother Rong, I'm afraid you can't be with me either."
As she spoke, she covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
“What you say is absolutely right, Miss.” The maid beside her flattered, “In the capital now, even if Miss wanted to enter the palace or a royal residence, she would be qualified. Of course, it’s not something these commoners can do.”
Zhao Xiyue was clearly in a good mood. She patted the maid's hand and then looked at Li Rong.
"Now, Brother Rong, you should go ahead and get married."
As she spoke, she glanced at Jiang Nuanzhi, then covered her face and laughed again, as if she had heard a good joke. Raising an eyebrow, she continued, "Well, the young master of the Shen family has also come to propose marriage to me. You guessed it, it's that incredibly wealthy Shen family. His eldest sister is currently in the palace, ranking first among the four concubines. The whole family is glorious. Marrying into such a family, Brother Rong should be happy for me, right?"
Seeing that Li Rong didn't even look at her and closed his eyes, Zhao Xiyue sneered: "Father originally said that, out of consideration for our past friendship, he would let me help you out. But I see that Brother Rong now has a wife and children and is living a very happy life, so he probably doesn't need my help. However, I dare not disobey Father's instructions, lest people say that my Zhao family is ungrateful."
As he spoke, he glanced at the maid beside him.
Cuizhu immediately pulled a bag of silver from her bosom.
Zhao Xiyue held the silver in her hand, weighed it in her hand, opened it, and took out two pieces of silver, which she then threw onto the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
"These should be enough for Brother Rong to buy some clean clothes. These clothes have started to smell, so it's time to change them."
"Moon, what are you doing! How dare you be so insolent!"
Suddenly, a noise was heard, and a tall man dressed in black entered the house with a frown. He looked somewhat like Zhao Xiyue.
Jiang Nuanzhi: I've found someone who died even more tragically than me.
Li Junping:
(End of this chapter)
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