Chapter 63 Chapter 63 Retribution
The sun in May is scorching, illuminating the earth with bright white light.
Xiaoman squinted her eyes and looked at the Zhang family's gate. It must have not been cleaned for a long time. There were spider webs on the top of the doorway, and the red lanterns hanging there were faded and dark as if covered with a layer of dirt.
The door was closed and the place was deserted.
In just half a year, the Zhang family became so ruined.
Xiaoman couldn't describe how she felt. She raised her hand and was about to knock on the doorknob, but the door opened from the inside.
"Third sister!" Zhang Bi couldn't believe his eyes, and his voice changed with excitement.
His reaction was completely different from what Xiaoman expected. He was stunned and suddenly couldn't say what he had prepared.
"You're coming back? That's great. I knew you would. You're my biological sister. You left home in a fit of anger. It doesn't matter. The Zhang family's door will always be open to you. I'll keep your yard for you. Nothing has been touched."
Zhang Bi became more and more excited as he spoke. "Now that you're back, your wife will be back too, right? Our family can go back to the way things were before."
Xiaoman frowned, "Master Zhang, we will not return to the Zhang family, ever!"
Zhang Bi's smile froze and gradually melted in the sunlight.
Xiaoman took a deep breath and said seriously, "I'm going to find Zhang Anyi and ask her to come out and talk."
Zhang Bi: "She's not home."
"Where did she go?"
"have no idea."
Don't know? Xiaoman laughed, "When will she come back?"
"have no idea."
Xiaoman was a little angry. "Where is she? If you don't tell me, I'll have to report her to the police."
"I really don't know. She didn't like coming home last winter, and she didn't come back for the New Year either." Zhang Bi's voice was filled with indignation. "Her aunt embezzled so much money, she must have left her a way out. She must have taken the money and ran away long ago. Who knows where she's eating, drinking and having fun. She wouldn't care about me, her own brother."
Xiaoman didn't get the questions she wanted to know, so she became impatient and turned away listening to his complaints.
Zhang Bi kept on rambling, "It's fine if she doesn't care about me, but my grandmother doesn't care about me either. I'm the only male in the Zhang family. Even though I'm a concubine's son, I'm just as good as a legitimate daughter. How could my grandmother abandon me?"
Xiaoman stopped and asked, "You said the old lady is gone too?"
Zhang Bi laughed, "They're gone, all gone. Now it's just me and my aunt at home. Haha, my aunt has always wanted to be the mistress of the Zhang family. Now she really has what she wants."
Xiaoman felt something was wrong. The old lady treated her eldest grandson as her lifeblood. Anyone could die, but she couldn't.
"When did the old lady pass away?" she asked.
"I don't know, I don't know. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. The Zhang family is down, down."
His voice sounded like crying and laughing, and Xiaoman's scalp felt numb.
"Big brother." Xiaoman looked at his not-so-shabby clothes and called him by his old nickname again. "You have the title of Juren, so you won't have to worry about food and drink. When the Jinyiwei raided the Zhang family's house, they didn't take away the things you're used to. Even if life gets tight, you can still make ends meet."
Zhang Bi wiped away the tears of laughter and said, "The Zhang family's reputation is ruined. With a criminal father, what future do I have? Juren? Apart from thirty taels of silver for tuition every month, nothing."
Hearing this, Xiaoman's previous sighs vanished instantly. "Thirty taels is enough for a small family's expenses for a year. You and your aunt only make thirty taels a month... You know that things are different now. If you keep maintaining the pomp of a rich young man, it will only make you feel worse."
She glanced at the house behind Zhang Bi and said, "Don't you think it's too big for two people to live in?"
Zhang Bi stared blankly at Xiaoman's carriage as it went away. Only when he could no longer see it did he close the door in a daze.
Due to lack of care, the originally elegant house became dilapidated and in disarray. Zhang Bi looked at the half-man-high wormwood and the doors and windows covered with cobwebs, suddenly stomped his feet, and immediately went to the pawnshop.
What the third girl said made sense. There was really no need for him and his aunt to live in such a big house.
Land is very expensive in the capital, and the Zhang family has a good location. The wood used to build the house is of the best quality, and it can be sold for tens of thousands of taels.
With the money, he moved to the countryside, bought 500 acres of land, built a medium-sized yard, and devoted himself to studying, no longer paying attention to those messy things.
He had the title of Juren, and although he was not well-known in the capital, he was admired in small places, and those country people did not dare to cause trouble for him.
If he fails once, he can still pass it twice or three times. He just doesn't believe that he can only be a juren in his whole life!
Thinking of himself wearing red and colorful ribbons and riding a horse in a parade through the streets, Zhang Bi felt excited. He felt his ears and eyes sharp and his whole body was filled with energy.
Since the house was sold in a hurry, it naturally could not be sold at a good price. The buyer was only willing to pay 6,000 taels. Zhang Bi did not want to stay here any longer. He calculated that there would be a lot of surplus after buying the land and building the house, so he immediately signed the contract and went to the government office to transfer the ownership that day.
When he came back, he urged Aunt Yao to pack up her things.
This sudden news made Aunt Yao's head spin. "Sell the house? Why sell it? Where will we live if we sell it?"
Zhang Bi confidently stated his plan, "Instead of being stuck in the Zhang family's quagmire, it's better to get out as soon as possible. Look at Xiaoman and Junyi. Since they left the Zhang family, their lives have been getting better and better. I finally understand that staying in the Zhang family will bring bad luck, while leaving the Zhang family will bring smooth sailing."
He showed Aunt Yao the banknote, "A banknote of four thousand taels from the Xing Money House. Cash on sight."
"Only four thousand taels? You've been ripped off! This piece of land is worth eight thousand taels, plus the house and garden. I wouldn't sell it for less than fifteen thousand!"
Aunt Yao gritted her teeth and said, "No, I'll go find whoever bought it. This deal doesn't count!"
Hearing that he had lost so much money, Zhang Bi felt a pang of pain, but he said, "The house has been transferred to someone else. There's no point looking for it again. Forget it, four thousand taels is enough for us. Hurry and pack up your things. They'll come to take possession of the house tomorrow morning."
So fast!
Aunt Yao gasped. Seeing that she could no longer hide the truth, she had to tell her son about the old lady's death.
"Killed by the fifth sister?!"
Zhang Biru was hit by a club, his vision went dark and his head almost exploded.
"How could this happen, how could this happen..." He muttered, his body collapsing backwards.
Aunt Yao hurriedly helped him sit down and said, "Son, don't scare me. Let's return the money quickly. No one will find out."
"It's too late, too late. How could they let go of such a great bargain?" Zhang Bi held his head, twitching in pain. "That's why she ran away, that's why Grandmother disappeared..."
He suddenly jumped up, grabbed Aunt Yao by the collar, and roared with bloodshot eyes, "We should report her, report her. Why did you help her destroy the body? You've implicated me. You've implicated me to death!"
Aunt Yao cried, "It's easy for you to say that, but you will be implicated in the crime of parricide! You will be stripped of your official title and exiled a thousand miles away, and your life will be over! If we keep this a secret, we mother and I still have hope of turning things around."
Who knew you actually sold the house!
"Zhang Anyi, I'm going to kill her, kill her!" Zhang Bi paced back and forth in the room like a trapped animal. "Where did she go? Where did she go? I'm going to kill her, and Zhang Xiaoman too. Does she know something? That's why she asked me to sell the house."
Aunt Yao wiped away her tears and said, "It's no use talking about this now. Let's pack up and leave now. We should leave the city tonight."
Zhang Bi had no idea what to do and just did whatever Aunt Yao said.
But they were caught before they left the city - it was simple: they were carrying large and small bags, looked panicked, and were trying to leave the city just before the city gates were closed, which naturally aroused the suspicion of the soldiers guarding the city.
During the interrogation, Aunt Yao remained calm, but Zhang Bi could not bear it and almost fainted from fright.
He was sent to the Wucheng Bingmasi for trial, and there was no need for torture. Zhang Bi confessed everything.
The next day, the police fished out the rotting body of old lady Bian from the Zhang family's old well. Immediately, notices for the arrest of Zhang Anyi were posted all over the streets and alleys.
When they heard the news, Xiaoman and Mrs. Jiang were stunned for a long time.
"She actually killed the old lady. That's too..." Mrs. Jiang didn't know what to say. After a long while, she shook her head. "She must have endured it for too long. She didn't have her mother to protect her. Sigh, I shouldn't have abandoned her to the Zhang family."
Xiaoman hurriedly said, "Mother, please don't think that. She and Aunt Sun are the same kind of people. If you take her in, you'll become a farmer and a snake. From childhood to adulthood, Zhang Anyi has taken so many benefits from you, but has she ever said a word for you? Think about how her aunt treated you."
She snorted coldly, "Auntie Sun is quite cunning. She must have noticed Chen Ling'an's allergy to soy long ago, but she kept it to herself, waiting to use this trick to change Zhang Anyi's future. Humph, after all her scheming, her daughter didn't get any advantage. It's a pity that she died too early, otherwise I really want to see the expression on her face right now."
Fang's mother also said: "The girl is right. Such villains don't deserve sympathy. They deserve it."
Madam Jiang sighed, "Jun Yi's aunt and brother must be feeling bad after what happened to them. I asked her if she wanted to go and see them. I'll also give her five hundred taels of silver to bury the old lady and perform a ritual."
Mother Fang went and returned, saying, "The fourth young lady refused to go. She said she would send her aunt and brother off when they were about to leave. She had money and other things, and she returned all the money that was sent. She also said that her aunt forced Aunt Sun to become a concubine, and now she has been implicated by Aunt Sun and her daughter. This is karma."
Xiaoman's brow ridges began to twitch again. "What does she do when she stays in the house all day long?"
Fang's mother: "She studied Buddhist scriptures and copied a whole shelf of them. She wouldn't want to become a nun, would she?"
Mrs. Jiang was anxious. "Keep a close eye on her. If she goes to the temple, stop her."
Xiaoman hurriedly said, "Don't worry, mother. Let me find her something to do. When people are busy, they won't have any random thoughts."
What should I do?
Xiaoman thought about it and said, "Let me talk to someone about it."
That person was naturally Chen Lingan.
Without further ado, Xiaoman jumped on the carriage and went to Chenjia Lane.
Wu Yong was sitting under the corridor, holding a broom, with a look of deep hatred and resentment on his face.
Xiaoman was amused. "Did Brother Wu annoy him again?"
Wu Yong sighed and said, "Don't mention it. I just passed on a message, but the adults scolded me and made me sweep the yard as punishment."
Xiaoman laughed and said, "He's always like this, acting like a cat for a while and then acting like a dog for a while. You can't tell what he said wrongly, but he got mad."
"No, no, this time we've really run into a tough situation." Wu Yong glanced towards the study. "My Lord is really upset. Alas, this is a dilemma!"
Xiaoman wanted to ask what was going on, but she heard a strange man's voice coming from the study: "Master Chen, this is your father's life's work, are you really not going to care?"
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