Chapter 103: Seeking 2 Paving a Way Back for Her
He remembered that she often read "Slave" and once even recommended that he read the stories in the book.
He was a child of a distinguished family, so how could he be interested in the story of a slave in a dialogue book? He refused immediately.
She must have been disappointed when he rejected her?
He married her out of a "meal" but never imagined that it was that "meal" that would lead her to kill her master and lead him to eternal damnation.
He and she have been together for several months, and they seem to be inseparable, but they never knew each other, and they have been misunderstanding and missing each other.
Xie Wuhen opened the book "Slave" and read it from the first page, page by page, until he reached the last page.
The book tells the story of a woman who lost both her parents and was sold into slavery by her uncle for twenty taels of silver. During her time as a slave, she was repeatedly bullied by her master and suffered extreme insults and beatings, which resulted in her becoming deaf in one ear and suffering from urinary incontinence.
One day, the master started beating her again. She could no longer bear it, so she picked up an axe and killed the master. Then she disguised herself as the master and killed all the evil people who bullied her.
The woman in the book is named Lu Qing.
Lu Qing is also Su He, right?
It seems to be someone else's story, but in fact it is also her own story, right?
He regretted not having read the story earlier.
It was already dawn when Xie Wuhen closed the book.
Wu Sheng knocked on the door: "Boss, are you awake?"
He exhaled heavily and said, "Come in."
Wu Sheng pushed the door open and entered the room.
There was still a candle burning in the room, but the flame was dim and weak, as if it had no life.
Even more lifeless was Xie Wuhen, who was leaning back in the rose chair. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes. His usually cold and sharp gaze now looked like a dim flame that would go out at any moment.
Wu Sheng was a little worried: "Boss, did you not sleep last night... all night?"
He added, "No matter how sad you are, you shouldn't neglect your own health."
He stared blankly at the sky outside the house.
The light was a bit dazzling, and he couldn't help but frown slightly. He ordered slowly, "Tell Xiao Liuzi to go to the Dali Temple and ask for leave. Say that I'm not feeling well and need to rest for a while."
Wu Sheng lowered his head and replied "yes".
He paused, then ordered, "Continue to interrogate Chunlan."
Wu Sheng asked cautiously, "Didn't Chunlan say everything she needed to say last night?"
He was a little impatient: "I told you to go, so you go."
Wu Sheng felt his back tighten and he replied "yes" again.
After two cups of tea, Chunlan was brought to the front hall.
She hadn't slept all night either, and her face was haggard, her eyelids red and swollen. After entering the room, she glanced at the equally haggard man sitting at the front of the table, bowed, and asked, "I wonder if you have anything else to ask, sir?"
Xie Wuhen said in a deep voice: "You really don't know where she went?"
Chunlan shook her head: "I really don't know."
"Then tell me about her past."
"What...what happened in the past?"
"You and she served Li Shuli together in the Li family."
Chunlan burst into tears when she heard this.
That past was difficult and painful, and she didn't want to mention it. Once she brought it up again, she seemed to be falling into that quagmire again.
Wu Sheng couldn't bear to see her cry. When she cried, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
He handed her a towel to wipe her tears and whispered to comfort her: "Don't cry, just talk it out nicely, the boss won't make things difficult for you." After saying that, he glanced at Xie Wuhen guiltily.
Xie Wuhen had a blank expression on his face, waiting for Chunlan to speak.
Chunlan calmed down, finally stopping her tears as she spoke, "This servant has known the young lady for over six years. Back then, we were both young maids serving Li Shuli. Li Shuli... seemed like a lady from a wealthy family, but in reality, she was vicious and cruel. She would insult us servants and even beat us up."
She raised her hand and pointed at her face as she spoke: "This scar on my face was caused by Li Shuli using a hairpin."
Xie Wuhen asked in a deep voice, "Did Li Shuli ever beat up your young lady?"
"Is there even a need to ask? Li Shuli's beating of the young lady is commonplace." Chunlan burst into tears again. "Li Shuli loves to grab the young lady's hair and bang her head against the wall until she falls to the ground covered in blood. Sometimes, the beatings are so severe that the young lady can't get out of bed for days."
Xie Wuhen suddenly clenched his fists and clenched his teeth.
He never thought that such a gentle and quiet girl could survive like this.
"Perhaps you...will not resist?" he asked.
Chunlan shook her head and choked back, "The young lady told me privately that a slave must not rebel against her master, or else she would die. So... we could only endure it. It wasn't until that night when Li Shuli wanted to take our lives that we were forced to... resist."
Xie Wuhen was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where are your young lady's parents?"
Chunlan lowered her head and said, "The young lady lost both her parents when she was young. As for the specific circumstances, she never told me, and I never asked." She couldn't reveal too much about the young lady.
"She killed Li Shuli, but she married the Dali Temple official who handled the case. Aren't you afraid?"
"Miss, of course you are afraid, but for people like us, is fear useful?"
Xie Wuhen fell silent again.
That day he obtained the imperial edict from the emperor, fully believing that he was saving her, but he did not expect that she would marry him with trepidation and treading on thin ice.
No wonder she once admitted that marrying him was no more fulfilling than marrying Zhou Ping.
An unspeakable bitterness spread in his chest, and he asked a few more questions, which made Wu Sheng take Chunlan back to the woodshed.
A moment later, Wu Sheng returned, "Boss, the spy who went to investigate Xishan last night has just returned."
He asked, "How's it going?"
Wu Sheng's face was filled with anger. "The elderly couple who took Li Shuli in were murdered and thrown into the cellar behind the house. Next to the bodies of the elderly couple were found the remains of two women. Based on the documents they carried, we have preliminarily determined that these two women are Zhang Qian'er, the cousin of the third wife, and her maid, Dong Ye."
Finally, he was a little puzzled: "Boss, why did Zhang Qianer also go to Xishan?"
Xie Wuhen pondered for a moment, "It's obvious that Li Shuli's sudden return to the capital is related to Zhang Qian'er." He then asked, "Can we find any clues to the murderer at the scene?"
Wu Sheng shook his head. "According to the spies, the murderer was very cunning and wiped out all traces. There's not a single flaw left to be found."
Xie Wuhen's expression turned cold: "The murderer is undoubtedly Li Shuli. She is killing people to silence them."
Wu Sheng couldn't believe it. "With Li Shuli's size, she managed to kill four people. It seems Chunlan was right. This person is truly vicious and cruel. No wonder the young lady is fighting back." Then he asked, "Boss, what should we do now?"
He ordered: "Notify the third house to go to Xishan to collect the body, and then notify Liu Qinian to handle the case."
Wu Sheng asked again: "Should we hand over the murderer Li Shuli to the Dali Temple?"
He pursed his lips and warned in a deep voice: "There is no murderer Li Shuli, there is only Young Madam Li Shuli." After that, he turned and walked out of the house, scaring Wu Sheng.
Xie Wuhen went straight to the Tzu Chi Institute in Ping'an Lane.
I found Uncle Qing and explained my purpose: "Yesterday, my wife and I had a disagreement, and she ran away from home in anger. I wonder if she has been here before, and if you can tell me where she went."
Uncle Qing naturally wouldn't talk nonsense.
He shook his head repeatedly: "The young lady hasn't come for several days. She actually... actually ran away from home?" Then he pretended to be anxious: "Master Shaoqing, you must send more people to look for her. She is just a girl. What if... what if something happens to her..."
Xie Wuhen replied: "Don't worry, Uncle Qing, I will send more people to look for it." After exchanging a few words of greeting, he said goodbye and left.
Then he went to the Xishan Villa.
Because no one lives there, the yard is deserted, with fallen leaves and dead branches everywhere.
He walked around the yard and went to the main room where Su He had killed Li Shuli. Looking at the tables, chairs, cabinets and couches in the room, he felt complicated.
There was dust everywhere, and it was obvious that there was no trace of the fight that day.
Wang Gui, who was guarding the yard, came in a hurry, his heart pounding. He hadn't cleaned the yard for some time, and he didn't know who dared to trespass.
When he pushed the door open and entered, he saw the majestic Xie Wuhen and was startled. "I don't know why you're here, sir. This is the Li family's annex in the capital, and we're not accepting outsiders for the time being."
Wu Sheng shouted, "How dare you call my master an outsider, you little slave? Listen carefully, my master is Xie Wuhen, the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, and the son-in-law of the Li family."
Wang Gui was so frightened that his body went limp and he immediately knelt on the ground: "It is my fault that I did not recognize the real man. I hope that you will forgive me."
Xie Wuhen said calmly, "Get up now."
He then asked, "Since you are here to guard the courtyard, why is it still in such a mess?"
Wang Gui choked and was speechless for a moment.
He thought that since the eldest son of the Li family had died and the eldest daughter was married, no one would come to this villa for the time being, so he wanted to take a few days off from time to time and go out to have fun. Unexpectedly, he was caught by the son-in-law of the Li family today.
He could only bow his head and admit his mistake: "It was my fault... I was negligent..."
Xie Wuhen didn't want to say much, so he just replied, "There won't be a next time." Then he walked out of the house.
Wang Gui trembled with fear: "I will remember your instructions, brother-in-law, and I will never do it again."
Xie Wuhen went to the Merlin in the back mountain.
He found the big tree where he had sheltered from the rain that day and sat down.
It was autumn, and the ground was covered with dead leaves. Through the sparse branches, one could see the clear blue sky.
The only thing in his mind was that rainy night and Su He, who killed someone and buried the body but lied that he was collecting flower dew.
Perhaps she had never collected any floral essences before? Perhaps she had never drunk any floral tea before that?
However, he believed in her completely and went out of the city several times to collect flower dew for her, and even planted a plum orchard for her in his mansion.
Maybe she doesn't need it at all? Or even disdains it?
A surge of inexplicable resentment welled up in his heart. In her eyes, he was just a joke, right?
Wu Sheng walked around in the forest and even found the half-full, half-empty burial pit.
He was filled with emotion: "Li Shuli is really lucky. She was buried in the pit, but she still survived."
Finally, he asked, "Boss, do you want to find the young lady? Do you want to arrange for someone to look for her?"
Since the master is reluctant to part with the young lady, and since what the young lady did is understandable, it is not impossible to bring her back and live together.
Xie Wuhen shook his head: "She is in the dark, I am in the light. If she doesn't want to come back, even if we send more people, it will be in vain."
He paused and said, "Unless she wants to come back herself."
Wu Sheng looked at the dead leaves scattered on the ground and sighed, "Young Madam, knowing that she has deceived the boss for so long, how can she dare to face the boss, how can she dare to come back?"
Xie Wuhen thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up and said, "Let's go to the Li family."
Wu Sheng was puzzled: "Why go to the Li family?"
He replied coldly: "Give her another chance and pave a way for her to come back."
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