Chapter 784: Get out, Miss Zhishuang
“Young Master Ouyang, actually, this female knight used to be just like you, fearless and confident that she could do it all, and that she could overcome any obstacle.”
"Including when I lived in the courtyard by Xingzi Lake and saw you and the young master being so loving and happy, I also felt that as long as you are a man and not a coward, and as long as the young master is determined in this love, the two of you, even if you are of different statuses, will have a chance to be together."
"Of course, I didn't know you were Ouyang Lianghan back then. But unlike my older sister's initial skepticism, I truly believed that your love could overcome all difficulties."
"Shengnan!"
"Sis, don't interrupt me, let me finish. I've been holding this in for so long."
After a pause, the loud, boisterous female voice seemed to continue speaking to the quiet person opposite her:
"Young Master Ouyang, I'm not afraid to laugh at you, but I'm just a sentimental person. I'm easily empathetic, and I'm prone to tears when I see a crippled beggar on the street. When I see corrupt officials bullying people, I grit my teeth, get furious, and wish I could tear them apart."
"The same applies to you and my lady, because for a long time I have subconsciously believed that I can overcome all obstacles and become a great heroine who is famous throughout the martial arts world and eliminates evil. Of course, I have the same expectations for you."
"But the greater the self-expectation, the greater the disappointment and loss after being utterly defeated."
"Young Master Ouyang, do you know what the most despairing thing is for someone like this?"
Before the other person could answer, she had already started speaking to herself:
"In the past, I actually despised women like my mother who stayed at home all their lives, taking care of their husbands and raising their children. They never went out of the house. To put it bluntly, such self-restraint was no different from that of a countrywoman. Not only were they conservative and old-fashioned, but they were also somewhat ignorant. All they knew was to use rules and regulations to restrict their children at home."
"Compared to my seemingly obedient older sister, I was the least obedient to her. From childhood to adulthood, I was also the one she hit the most with a ruler. I never paid any attention to her nagging..."
"But, Young Master Ouyang, ever since I came out and traveled through the Jianghu in the south, and was caught by you and Father with a bruised and swollen face and confined for half a month... I suddenly realized with a panic that all the nagging things my mother used to say were actually true!"
"Young Master Ouyang, do you know how painful this feeling is? In your most youthful, ambitious, and proud years, the nagging words of an elder you looked down upon most suddenly become clear to you years later, completely and utterly right, like an inconspicuous arrow shot years ago, which, after a long time, suddenly hits you right between the eyebrows..."
"I feel ashamed and embarrassed, but I have no choice but to accept it... That's how I feel about my mother."
Inside the carriage, which was bumping along the rugged mountain road, Fang Shengnan's tone became somewhat dejected.
Fang Juxiu, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but glance at her younger sister.
The reason why Fang Shengnan, who is always full of fighting spirit, was dealt such a heavy blow was actually due to another matter, which neither of the sisters told Ouyang Rong.
That is, after the two ladies arrived at Fang Family Manor and, on behalf of Yunmeng Sword Marsh, requisitioned it as a secret base, the first person in the entire manor to calmly stand up and deal with the situation was not the father, who was always generous and magnanimous and loved to talk about his past glories, but the frail and quiet mother.
It was Mother who stood at the forefront, speaking fluently with the two ladies that day, and taking on the heavy responsibility of arranging for the subsequent people from Tiannan Jianghu to stay at the manor.
On the contrary, his father, Fang Yiwu, seemed worried, and his smile was forced.
However, Fang Juxiu and Fang Shengnan remembered that before the two ladies arrived, their mother was the first to stand up and firmly oppose whether to accept the Yunmeng Token of Yunmeng Sword Marsh and get involved in this major event in the martial world.
Now that the situation has come to this, and the Fang family manor is about to "become a den of thieves," it is actually the mother who is the most calm and composed in dealing with the female ruler, while the father is indecisive and begins to regret his actions.
Fang Shengnan discovered this after returning home, which is why she reacted so strongly and learned such a profound lesson...
Fang Shengnan gripped her sleeve, lowered her head, wiped her cheek, and whispered:
"Young Master Ouyang, I'm sure your family or friends advised you before you came here. If they knew the young lady's identity and what you were about to do... Young Master Ouyang, let me reiterate, this heroine is always presumptuous, and this time is no exception. These words are spoken from a friend's perspective. I don't want you to be like a moth drawn to a flame, experiencing the feelings this heroine went through again, which were truly empty and desperate."
This time, Ouyang Rong only glanced at Fang Shengnan before lowering his head again and gently patting the zither case.
The carriage was on the official road south of the city. The constables outside had also assembled, about fifteen men, each with a cold and stern expression, mounted on horseback, with knives and tokens at their waists, and carrying instruments of torture for apprehending bandits.
They were all elite fighters among Yan Liulang's men, and also his most loyal confidants.
Fang Juxiu shifted his gaze from the group of constables outside the carriage, lowered the curtain, and sighed softly.
“Ouyang Lianghan, this number is far from enough. Stop the car now, let us out, and don’t go any further.”
Upon hearing this, Fang Shengnan also lifted the curtain and glanced outside. She noticed the carriage was very close to her manor and immediately looked anxious.
“Young Master Ouyang, listen to your older sister. It’s not too late to stop now. If you get any closer, you won’t be able to leave and we’ll find out you were here. Then it will be difficult for your older sister and me to keep it a secret. You’re just hurting us.”
Ouyang Rong remained silent, then heard the second young lady of the Fang family, no longer caring about keeping quiet, speak directly:
"I don't know if the Second Lady is still here, but the First Lady is definitely here. She's not as easy to talk to as the Second Lady. Back in Xunyang City, the Second Lady was already being very kind by letting you come to her. The First Lady is different. She's like a goddess, but her temperament is as fierce as the Yangtze River. Apart from Mother, who can barely say a few words to her, even Father and I get weak in the knees from just one look at her, let alone your frail body."
As she spoke, she grew increasingly impatient and agitated.
“Ouyang Lianghan, you don’t actually think that the female rulers of Jianze will abide by the laws of the court and be taken away by you with a team of constables, do you? What a childish joke! Didn’t I just tell you repeatedly? Are you deaf…”
Suddenly, Yan Liulang's cold voice came from outside as he was driving:
"Prefect Ming, should we shut them up?"
Ouyang Rong didn't answer, but raised his eyes and asked Fang Juxiu, who was pursing his lips:
“Who said there’s only one team of constables? Aren’t there also me and Liu Lang? We need to add two more.”
Fang Juxiu and Fang Shengnan were both stunned for a moment. They subconsciously looked at Ouyang Rong's face carefully and found that his calm tone did not seem like he was joking.
The two women were both amused and exasperated.
The carriage eventually arrived at Fangjia Manor, located deep in the mountains south of the city.
Ouyang Rong was the first to stand up, and after passing the Fang sisters, he jumped off the carriage.
Yan Liulang took the initiative to pick up the long zither case and led a team of elite constables behind him.
The Fang sisters, who were reluctant to get off the carriage, saw the tall, slender figure of the young governor standing outside their grand mansion gate with his hands tucked into his sleeves.
On his second visit here, Ouyang Rong tilted his head back and squinted at the plaque of the Fang residence.
He touched the map scroll with his hand hidden in his sleeve.
The reason he previously guessed it was the Southern Prefecture of the city was not only because of the connection between the Fang sisters and Yunmeng Sword Marsh, but also because on the map, with the location of Xunyang Grottoes as the center and a radius of 100 li as the radius, the location of the Fang family was just right, exactly a little over 100 li away from Xunyang Grottoes.
This explains why the previous manifestation of the zither's sound did not reveal the spiritual energy cultivation pillars of the rebel army in Tiannan Jianghu.
It wasn't because there was any special way to hide it; it was simply because it wasn't within the range of the music.
The main gate of Fangjia Mountain Villa was empty and unattended.
The young governor spoke in a gentle and refined manner:
"There are many people inside, including young women. Be polite and knock on the door."
Yan Liulang nodded, led the two constables forward, drew his sword with a "whoosh," cleaved open the door lock with one stroke, and then kicked the door open with a "bang."
Under the somewhat glaring expressions of the Fang sisters, Ouyang Rong lightly patted the hem of his robe and strode in with the "polite" Yan Liulang and other constables.
...
Deep within the Fang Family Manor, since the library's doors were tightly shut, Xue Zhongzhu and the others have not come out again, and no one outside dares to knock on the door to disturb them.
In the open space in front of the building, everyone gathered, including Fang Yiwu and his wife.
There was a pavilion in the open space, and the couple waited patiently outside the pavilion.
Their sons, nephews, relatives, and all the maids and stewards in the mansion were waiting in a large hall not far away, and were not allowed to leave even a step. This was arranged by Madam Fang.
Today, everyone in the entire mountain villa is gathered here and no one is allowed to leave the villa.
Xue Zhongzhu and Yu Nianyuan seemed quite satisfied with Madam Fang, the director. Not long ago, Yu Nianyuan even publicly praised her, saying that Madam Fang was more suitable to join Jianze as a Yue woman than her two daughters.
Outside the pavilion, Fang Yiwu clenched his fists nervously, frequently looking past the pavilion at the library not far away.
This building was originally where he read and stored his belongings, and it was also the most private place in the entire manor. However, after the Second Lady came and released his two daughters who were under house arrest, this building, along with the entire manor, was requisitioned and became the First Lady's secret place for plotting. Fang Yiwu and the others never went near it again.
Fang Yiwu suddenly felt his hand being held; it was Madam Fang beside him.
The latter wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
Fang Yiwu felt a warmth in his heart and forced a smile.
Madam Fang gestured to the pavilion next to them, and then the couple looked into the pavilion together.
There were two or three monks inside the pavilion.
In the very center is a middle-aged Zen master and a chubby little novice monk.
The middle-aged Zen master sat in the main seat, his face grim, his eyes closed, palms raised, and his other hand faintly gripping two bronze short swords.
The two Yunmeng tokens were somewhat special, with more dark red bloodstains, and their specifications seemed to be higher.
The young novice monk Juzhi, along with his fellow disciples, stood silently guarding the pavilion.
Juzhi looked somewhat worried.
He only discovered today that his master, Zen Master One-Finger, seemed to be a hidden master.
The seemingly powerful and goddess-like Yunmeng Grand Queen, before entering the library, calmly ordered her master to stay outside and look after the library. She also gave him an extra Yunmeng Token of high quality, left by a noble Taoist priest in a yellow and purple robe before leaving that morning.
My master already had one, now he has two, though I don't know what they're for.
However, Ju Zhi has been in the manor for so long and has come into contact with some people in the martial arts world. He has heard from them that the Yunmeng Token is given the same status as the holder in the Tiannan martial arts world.
Moreover, the stunningly beautiful second lady had previously visited the master to discuss Zen and Taoism, and her attitude was quite respectful.
His master was undoubtedly a great monk; his Zen teachings commanded the respect of the Yunmeng Queens… Ju Zhi couldn’t help but feel a little pressured.
I originally thought that my master was just fooling his followers into imagining things by raising one finger every day, using one trick to make a living and swindle some money. It would be easy for him to learn, inherit the mantle, and continue to raise one finger, living a life of ease and waiting to die. How simple is that?
Now, things have gotten complicated. As the master of a peerless monk, surely it won't be difficult to inherit his mantle? It must be quite a feat.
Juzhi scratched his head, but his worry didn't last long. The chubby little novice was all smiles again. Anyway, it's always a good thing for his master to be more powerful.
Outside the pavilion, the Fang couple's gaze fell on Zen Master Yizhi and the two Yunmeng Tokens in his hand, then quietly moved away.
Fang Yiwu looked around, beckoned his guards, and asked:
"Where is that Master Li?"
"Reporting to the master, Master Li was trying to escape, but he was caught by our men in the main hall."
The couple exchanged a glance, and Mrs. Fang spoke:
"Bring him here quickly and make him stay here obediently. This is the First Queen's order. No one can leave our sight today; everyone must stay here obediently."
"Yes, madam."
The guards withdrew.
Just as the Fang couple were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a series of orderly footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the outer residence. Soon after, the main hall, where the maids and stewards were confined, also became chaotic.
Fang Yiwu frowned: "What's wrong?"
A guard came running in, trembling with fear, and reported: "Reporting to the master, it looks like soldiers! Soldiers are here! They're breaking down the door!"
Upon hearing this, neither he nor Mrs. Fang showed any signs of panic.
The couple turned around in unison, glancing at the Zen Master One-Finger meditating in the pavilion and the library not far away.
Fang Yiwu sighed, not out of fear, but out of worry that things and conflicts were getting worse.
Madam Fang observed for a while. The library was quiet, and the middle-aged Zen master in the pavilion sat still without lifting his eyelids.
She frowned slightly, took a tray of tea from the maid beside her, and calmly walked into the pavilion. She whispered to the withered, closed-eyed middle-aged Zen master, "Master, someone's here, but please show mercy; they are soldiers after all..."
Just then, a squad of constables rushed into the open space and surrounded the pavilion.
The Fang couple and the monks, including Juzhi, all turned their heads, their gazes drawn to a familiar, slender figure outside.
The young governor walked calmly, followed by two young women with furrowed brows. They were being held by a cold-faced, sword-wielding constable in blue. The three of them followed the young governor to the pavilion and stopped together.
Madam Fang looked at her daughter in surprise: "Raise your sleeve, Shengnan!"
Fang Yiwu's voice trembled slightly: "Prefect Ouyang!"
The young governor ignored him and looked around. At this moment, two agile constables rushed over from the hall where there was a mess of crying not far away. They carried a wooden chair together and placed it steadily behind the young governor. One of the agile constables leaned close to his ear and whispered a report. After listening, the young governor glanced at the library in the distance.
The crowd, their expressions complex, watched as the young governor leaned back in his wooden chair, slumped down, and tapped the wooden handle lightly with his knuckles.
"Perfect timing, they're all here."
He greeted them politely, then, smiling and facing the direction of the library, he called out loudly:
“Let’s just call her Xue something else… Get out here, you little mistress Zhi Shuang.”
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
