Chapter 41
Duanmu Huaixin hid his little thoughts in his heart and smiled: "I knew that mother would not abandon me."
"Xinxin is so sensible," Wen Weili patted Duanmu Huaixin's back, as if she really was a stepmother. "Then Xinxin, go to your room and pack your things. I will never abandon you. Believe me, okay?"
"Yeah!" Duanmu Huaixin nodded vigorously and returned to his room obediently.
'Knock-knock-knock-'
Just as Wen Weili and others were preparing to evacuate, there was a knock on the gate.
The first reaction of the guards guarding the courtyard was "Enemy attack?!" They quietly drew their daggers from their sleeves and lurked at the door, waiting to deliver a fatal blow to the intruders.
Wen Weili waved at the alert guards, signaling them to retreat, as the newcomers were not enemies.
Sure enough, a voice came from the door asking, "Is Sister Wen here? I'm in Shen Shiquan, coming to visit."
It was Chen Shiquan who insisted on apologizing at that time. Wen Weili had some impression of this person, but she didn't know whether his arrival today was a coincidence or intentional?
Wen Weili did not open the door, and answered Chen Shiquan through the door: "Mr. Chen, I have already made it clear to you that this matter has nothing to do with you, and I do not blame you. Please do not disturb my life anymore."
"Sister Wen," Chen Shiquan's voice was soft and a little weak, "I went back home and thought about it all night long. I feel deeply that rumors can harm people, and a girl's innocence is particularly important. I hope I can do something for you."
"So you are the disturbing lunatic?"
Chen Shiquan smiled happily: "Sister Wen actually knows me? It seems that my efforts are not in vain."
Wen Weili did not answer. When those who were throwing stones and cursing at the door were frightened by an unknown madman and dared only to watch at the alley entrance, she ordered the secret guards to investigate the truth.
Unexpectedly, it was Chen Shiquan who was driving those people away with a wooden stick. Chen Shiquan's family had already cut off ties with him because they felt ashamed. Even the college where Chen Shiquan was studying kicked him out. Just because of his apology to "Sister Wen", Chen Shiquan ended up being deserted by everyone.
"So, what are you doing here today?" Wen Weili did not let down her guard in her heart, and her tone was still cold and hard, like a piece of ice-cold stone, unmoved at all.
"Sister Wen, maybe I shouldn't call you Sister Wen. Are you sure you want to say that here?" The deep meaning in Chen Shiquan's words forced Wen Weili to face it.
Wen Weili opened the door, and the hidden guard beside him took advantage of the situation to suppress Chen Shiquan and held him down. The wooden stick in Chen Shiquan's hand fell to the ground under the hit of the hidden guard. As the door closed, the hidden guard's knife reflected Chen Shiquan's pale face. The courtyard was full of solemn atmosphere, as if the knife would be raised and the head would fall in the next moment.
But Chen Shiquan burst into laughter: "Sister Wen...you really made up a good story. You fooled many people, including me. So the consequences I suffered are nothing but my own fault. Hahahaha."
Wen Weili had a cold face and did not speak. The hidden guard put the knife close to Chen Shiquan's neck as a demonstration. The cold blade carried a lingering smell of blood, which made Chen Shiquan shiver uncontrollably.
"Don't worry," Chen Shiquan held the blade in his hand and placed it lightly against it. "It's too cold. Stay a little further away. I'm here to tell you everything, Wen, big sister."
"Well, where should I begin?" Chen Shiquan tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Let's start with my guilty conscience. My father taught me the ways of a gentleman since I was a child, which is why I have such a reckless heart. Both Mr. Xiao and my teacher are smarter than me. We all understand that Sister Wen's stories aren't necessarily true; they're just for fun."
"I, a fool, took it seriously. After the story of Sister Riwen spread, I ignored my family's objections and insisted on coming to help you. But I was frightened by the horrific scene."
"You know what? Among those old-fashioned people who came to scold you is my teacher. If you were really an ordinary girl, I'm afraid they would break into your house, drag you out and torture you to death."
"If I were smarter, I would have realized that 'Sister Wen' was no ordinary person, instead of overestimating my own abilities and trying to save you. I wanted to clear 'Sister Wen's' reputation, so I ran around everywhere, trying to tell everyone the truth. Even if I was scolded by the Master, I felt that what I did was the right thing to do."
"But, as I tell the story over and over again, and recall it over and over again, I feel more and more that something is amiss with 'Sister Wen'. Rumors spread too quickly, as if someone is secretly pushing them, and 'Sister Wen's' whereabouts don't stand up to scrutiny."
"It would have been fine if I had just pretended not to know and stayed away, but I still didn't give up on finding out the truth. Perhaps because I delved too much, some people came looking for me, and just like that, they took me away."
"It was at this moment that I realized what true terror was like. They seemed to be holding back, using little tricks to inflict pain on me, excruciating pain that made me wish I were dead."
At this point, Chen Shiquan looked at Wen Weili deeply. Seeing that she was unmoved, he became happy instead: "That's great. The things I was afraid of didn't come true."
"It suddenly dawned on me in this moment of life and death. These people came for 'Big Sister Wen', but they weren't sure, and the others treated it as a joke. I didn't listen to 'Big Sister Wen's' kind advice, and ended up on a dead end."
"But I was too stupid. I said nothing when I didn't understand, and I didn't speak out when I figured it out. They became even more convinced I knew a lot, and they kept sporadically spreading rumors, both true and false, to try to scare me. But I was too cold, too cold to feel any pain, so their efforts were in vain. I learned even more about 'Sister Wen'."
"It wasn't until the fire in the Imperial Prison that day that they realized I was actually useless. My family searched for me for days and finally had no choice but to abandon me back home."
"But my disappearance and their threats scared my family. Even my father didn't want to stay. So I had no choice but to pretend I didn't know and continue to run around for 'Sister Wen'."
Wen Weili couldn't help but admire Shen Shiquan's brain: "So you secretly analyzed the situation in Prince Huai's Mansion but kept it to yourself."
"Yes, if I hadn't discovered that you were leaving today, I wouldn't have bothered to bother 'Big Sister Wen,'" Chen Shiquan said with a helpless smile. "I don't want to go back to that place anymore, so I had no choice but to come and seek refuge with 'Big Sister Wen.'"
Wen Weili was extremely cold: "If you want to express gratitude for not telling anyone about this, I would be happy to arrange for someone to take you to a quiet place to live out your days. But you didn't come here today to hide."
A breeze blew by, and Chen Shiquan coughed twice: "Yes, I am not here to escape, cough, because I know that you are not here to escape either. Leaving now is just the process of your future rise."
"Ahem... I'm here to visit Mingzhu Antou, only hoping to follow you and have a bright future."
"How dare you say that," Wen Weili narrowed her eyes and looked up at the glaring sun in the sky. "Even I was just thinking, you're the only one who speaks so openly. From now on, I'll just call you Madam Li, and not use the word 'you'."
"Thank you, Madam Li," Chen Shiquan smiled. He bent down and picked up the stick. "This is my 'Dog Beating Stick'."
"It's up to you." Wen Weili has always been very easy-going with her subordinates. She called the secret guards and took Chen Shiquan away with her, while she and Duanmu Huaixin were going to that "rich family".
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