Chapter 67 If you're so cruel to me, don't blame me for being even crueler.
The next day, morning.
As dawn broke and birds chirped under the eaves, it was a rare and beautiful day.
Dong Rou woke up early and quietly lifted the curtain. She saw Lu Zhaoruo still sleeping with her eyes closed, her plain white nightgown half-covered by the brocade quilt. Her breathing was even and long, as if today was just an ordinary day.
She stood by the bed, her fingertips clutching the hem of her clothes, hesitant to speak.
Until a muffled thud came from the courtyard...
The two servants, who had been bound all night, woke up and were writhing and struggling on the ground like maggots, the hemp ropes rustling as they rubbed together.
Lu Zhaoruo lazily opened her eyes, her gaze still lingering with sleepiness...
Seeing this, Dongrou quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Madam has finally woken up."
She was wringing her handkerchief in her hands, "Today..."
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.
She really couldn't say whether today was a 'good day' or a 'bad day' for her master.
On one hand, she had meticulously planned for a long time and finally managed to lure the unfaithful man back home and take him to court, thus completely escaping the Shen family's cage.
On one hand, she had to watch as her husband, with whom she had once sworn eternal love, led his pregnant wife into the house, laying bare all the deception and betrayal he had committed over the years...
Looking at her master's calm profile, Dong Rou felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
This game of chess has progressed to this point—
It was a victory, but also a heart-wrenching one.
"Why did you stop talking?"
Lu Zhaoruo leaned against the headboard, the morning light filtering through the gauze curtains and casting dappled shadows on her elegant face.
Her tone was gentle, as if she were having a casual chat: "Up so early? Couldn't you have slept a little longer?"
Dong Rou's eyes suddenly reddened, and tears splattered onto the back of her hand.
The more nonchalant her wife appeared, the more she felt her heart was already riddled with holes.
Lu Zhaoruo smiled slightly: "Silly girl, the ones who should be crying are not us."
Upon hearing this, Dongrou quickly wiped her face with her sleeve and said, "That's right, we shouldn't cry, or we'll make them cry themselves to death!"
Lu Zhaoruo got out of bed and sat down in front of the bronze mirror, which reflected her delicate features.
Dong Rou deftly opened the trunk and took out the peach-pink silk jacket with lotus scroll pattern. The morning light shone through the window screen, casting a hazy glow on the South China Sea pearl on the jacket.
“This servant specially fumigated the area with camphor incense for three days.”
With a flick of her wrist, her silk robe cascaded down like flowing water.
Then he turned around and took out a "Four Seasons Fragrance Crown" made of gold thread, and arranged them in order: a gilded dragon-patterned hairpin, a moon-shaped delicate hair ornament, and a silver thread and pearl net...
Dongrou laughed and said, "With a little makeup, even our 'Jade Guanyin of Jizhou,' Wan Miaoniang, would pale in comparison!"
Lu Zhaoruo gazed at her reflection in the mirror and smiled: "Beauty is ultimately illusory. This physical body will decay in no more than thirty years, but good health is the foundation of one's life."
Just as Dong Rou was about to pick up the comb, she saw Lu Zhaoruo take the jade comb herself, her black hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall: "I'll do it myself, you go and take care of something important."
Her voice was very low, but every word was clear, "Prepare some loose silver to invite Mr. Wang, the storyteller at the theater, Manager Liu of Qingfeng Tea House, the calligrapher who writes plays about unfaithful lovers, and Gui'er, who serves Lady Wan..."
“They all came in disguised as deliverymen, and then changed into servants’ clothes.”
In the bronze mirror, a meaningful smile curved her lips. "Stone will meet them; everything has been arranged in advance."
Dong Rou understood and hurriedly left.
Lu Zhaoruo did her own makeup.
She was born with extraordinary beauty, and the past six months of keeping a low profile has shed the timidity and cowardice between her brows, instead forging a dignified and aloof demeanor, making her appear even more elegant and peerless.
I've finished getting ready.
She opened the door, and the morning light shone on her.
The two bound servants in the courtyard looked up at the sound and froze in shock...
They were originally servants newly purchased by Zhang. When they moved into the house, they heard that a dying mistress suffering from tuberculosis lived in the west courtyard. They even dared to leave the food on the stone steps of the courtyard gate.
If the old lady hadn't offered them a large sum of money last night, they wouldn't have dared to come and collect the corpse...
But the lady before me, dressed in a peach-pink silk robe with lotus patterns, had skin as smooth as jade. The delicate hair ornaments swayed in the morning light and shone brightly. Her face, lightly made up and radiant, did not look like that of someone who had been ill for a long time.
She looks like Guanyin Bodhisattva who stepped out of a temple mural.
Upon seeing the wooden stick in her hand, the two men trembled even more violently. It was this very stick that had struck them down instantly last night, like a ghost.
With such skill, how could she be a sickly mistress?
Lu Zhaoruo slowly walked down the stone steps, rhythmically tapping her palm with the wooden stick in her hand, producing a dull sound.
A slight smile played on her lips, but there was no hint of amusement in her eyes: "Did you two sleep well under this stick last night?"
Upon hearing this, the two servants turned deathly pale.
Lu Zhaoruo looked down at the two of them from her high vantage point, the morning light outlining a long silhouette behind her, making her appear even more imposing.
She said, "I'll give you two choices."
"First, I'll break your legs and sell you to mine in Lingnan."
The tip of the stick slowly grazed one of the men's trembling knees: "I've heard that in those mines over there, very few people who go in survive more than three years."
"Secondly, obediently go back and tell the old lady..."
She suddenly smiled and said, “Go back and tell Zhang that the body has been thrown into the sea. You can go and collect your five taels of reward money.”
She deftly twirled the wooden stick, making a beautiful flourish. "When this matter reaches the prefectural government, the officials will come to arrest and question you. You only need to tell the prefect what you saw and heard today, word for word. After the matter is settled, each of you will receive an extra five taels."
The two servants looked at each other in bewilderment.
In the end, I chose the second option.
Lu Zhaoruo untied them, removed the strips of cloth, and the two bowed respectfully before leaving the courtyard.
She returned to her room.
On the left is a copy of the marriage certificate, and on the right is a white jade pendant.
Her fingertips lightly traced the character "沈" (Chen) on her jade-like back, and the night she married into the Shen family flashed through her mind...
The young man she had admired for many years knelt on the snow: "I only ask that you grant me this once, my wife. I swear that I will return in glory. When that time comes, the shop will be thriving, and you will only need to manage the accounts. No one will dare to look down on us anymore. I, Shen Rongzhi, will definitely make sure that you live a good life with my own abilities!"
He kowtowed until his head was covered in blood, saying, "Thank you, my wife. Please take good care of my parents and elder sister for me."
The last vow still echoed in my ears: "I, Shen Rongzhi, swear to the heavens that I will never betray Lu Zhaoruo in this lifetime!"
Lu Zhaoruo suddenly tightened her fingers, the edge of the jade pendant digging deep into her palm. She suddenly chuckled, "What a fine 'Wait for me to come back'... Shen Rongzhi, this promise of yours has cost me my life."
A tear rolled down.
She raised her hand and wiped it away fiercely, her fingertips brushing across the corner of her eye, leaving a red mark on her fair skin, as if she wanted to wipe away all the love she had once felt.
Suddenly, a startled bird flew past the window, fluttering its wings.
She looked up at herself in the mirror, the last bit of tenderness in her eyes finally freezing into ice: "Since you're so cruel to me, don't blame me for being even crueler!"
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