Chapter 62 Improves the First Publication on Jinjiang
Afterwards, the Yang family arrived, and Mrs. Yang collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Fu Mingzi couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he turned to Li Wei and said, "Keep an eye on the Yang family and proceed according to the previous plan."
Li Wei looked somewhat hesitant: "Fifth Master, can it really succeed?"
Fu Mingzi glanced at Miss Yang, who was being supported by her maids and servants, and Mrs. Yang, who was following behind Miss Yang, clutching the suicide note tightly and stumbling as she was helped along. She said in a deep voice, "The sudden death of a daughter from a wealthy family is a news that would never be allowed to spread. In the end, she would probably just die of illness, and most likely she wouldn't be able to be buried in the ancestral graveyard. Now, being at Huguo Temple is a perfect excuse. Mrs. Yang is a smart woman. Once she has recovered from her grief, she will know what to do."
After speaking, Fu Mingzi paused and said, "Once she's in the coffin, switch her back. Don't delay."
When Zhou Xiaoyan gave him the medicine, he told him that the longer he took it, the greater the damage to his body would be after he woke up. Although it was Miss Yang's choice, Fu Mingzi still couldn't help but give her a word of advice.
"Take this medicine with you. Once you rescue her, give it to her. The carriage is waiting at the foot of the back mountain. Be careful."
Li Wei nodded and took the antidote: "So, how do we clean up the mess after that?"
“I previously hired someone to transport a corpse over from Huguo Temple under the guise of performing a ritual. That corpse will be cremated tonight. Before that, steal that corpse and replace Miss Yang’s corpse.” Fu Mingzi had already arranged this matter clearly over the past three days.
Li Wei glanced at Fu Mingzi with a complicated expression; he really didn't know about this.
"Yes, I understand." Li Wei accepted the order and left.
Fu Mingzi stood there and looked in the direction the Yang family had left, then finally headed towards the back mountain. Whether it would succeed or not depended entirely on Li Wei's abilities. Man proposes, God disposes; let fate decide.
Fu Mingzi waited in the carriage on the back mountain from dawn until dusk before finally hearing any movement outside.
Someone knocked on the carriage: "Fifth Master, the person has been brought back."
Fu Mingzi finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Come in quickly!" His voice became a little hurried. He reached out and lifted the curtain. Only then did he realize that his back was soaked and his palms were covered in cold sweat.
Fu Mingzi's first sight was of Yang Liu, who was being carried on Li Wei's back. She was still pale, but her breathing was steady; she was not yet fully conscious.
"Is she alright?" Fu Mingzi asked anxiously.
Li Wei helped Miss Yang into the carriage: "She's alright. She was conscious for a while just now, but she's fallen asleep again now."
"Alright, let's go quickly, head straight to Yunde Town." Fu Mingzi got out of the carriage and sat on the other side.
Li Wei paused for a moment, then sat down next to Fu Mingzi. With a flick of his whip, the carriage sped off towards the town a few miles away.
Once they were on the road, Fu Mingzi finally had the time to ask, "You didn't leave any loose ends behind, did you?"
Li Wei thought for a moment and then recounted his experience.
“I have been hiding in the temple. Later, just as Fifth Master said, they did not take Miss Yang back, but placed her directly in the meditation room.”
"Then Madam Yang sent someone back to the Yang family to report the news. In the afternoon, the head of the Yang family came to the temple with a group of servants and old women. They discussed with the abbot for a long time, and finally the temple brought out a coffin and placed Miss Yang there."
"While they were arguing about the contents of the suicide note, I sneaked in, replaced the person, and left immediately. During this process, absolutely no one saw me and I didn't give anything away."
Li Wei spoke in a very organized manner, and Fu Mingzi also realized that this matter had indeed been realized step by step as he had thought. However, he still frowned and was not relaxed.
"Did you hear them talking about how to bury Miss Yang?" Fu Mingzi asked.
Li Wei paused for a moment before finally saying, "I only overheard a little bit. That Master Yang said he wanted to cremate Miss Yang and then use the excuse of dying from illness to build a cenotaph. But Madam Yang is unwilling and strongly resists. However, judging from the situation, I think we should just do as Master Yang wishes."
Fu Mingzi frowned, lifted the curtain and glanced at Miss Yang again; she still had her eyes closed and hadn't woken up.
"Don't tell Miss Yang about this," Fu Mingzi whispered.
Li Wei nodded.
Although this result was exactly what she had expected, Fu Mingzi wished she hadn't guessed right.
In this world, a family's reputation is far more valuable than a girl's happiness.
The two remained silent on the way thereafter, until they reached the town. They found the house that Songyan had previously chosen that night. Fu Mingzi had hired an old woman to look after the house beforehand, so as soon as they entered, they handed Miss Yang over to that old woman to look after.
"Take good care of Madam." To avoid suspicion, Fu Mingzi made a household registration certificate for Miss Yang as a married woman, so that she, a woman, could have a place to stay.
The old woman had just fallen asleep when she was woken up to open the door. Because her eyesight wasn't very good, she could only respond tremblingly when she heard this. She didn't even get a clear look at Fu Mingzi's face. She just helped Miss Yang into the inner courtyard.
Fu Mingzi and Li Wei went to the front yard.
As soon as the two entered, Fu Mingzi spoke up: "Take care of Miss Yang for the next few days. I'll leave you three thousand taels of silver here. If you need more, feel free to come to me."
Li Wei was taken aback, not expecting Fu Mingzi to assign him this task.
"Wouldn't this be a bit inappropriate? After all, Miss Yang..." Although Li Wei looked composed, he was actually not married yet, and he was quite embarrassed by this situation.
Fu Mingzi waved his hand: "Don't show yourself in public yet. Just ask Miss Yang. If she agrees, then take care of her openly. If she doesn't, then take care of her secretly until she settles down. Then you can come back."
Now that things had come to this point, there was no way to persuade Li Wei, so he could only awkwardly reply, "Your subordinate obeys."
Fu Mingzi nodded: "I'll rest here for the night and leave after I've finished explaining things to Miss Yang tomorrow."
Li Wei nodded.
“However, I won’t see that old woman tomorrow. Please make arrangements.” Fu Mingzi thought for a moment and then said.
Li Wei nodded in agreement again.
They said they would rest for one night, but in reality, they only rested for two hours. It was still dark when Fu Mingzi woke up.
"Go to the backyard and see if Miss Yang has gotten up yet?" Fu Mingzi instructed Li Wei while wiping her face.
Li Wei nodded and went out, returning shortly after: "Miss Yang is waiting behind the door."
Fu Mingzi frowned and threw down the towel in her hand: "Please come in quickly."
After a short while, Miss Yang Liu finally came in.
She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, her face looked a little pale, but she seemed to be in good spirits.
"Young Master Fu, thank you very much." She looked at Fu Mingzi with a sincere expression as soon as she came in.
Fu Mingzi smiled and said, "Sixth Miss, there's no need for that. In fact, I should thank you. With this matter resolved, I think I can finally relax for a while."
Miss Yang smiled lightly, this was the first time Fu Mingzi had ever seen her smile so cheerfully.
Fu Mingzi couldn't help but feel a little emotional, and then said in a deep voice, "Miss Yang, I still have some silver notes here. You can take them first. My guard, although he looks a bit dull, is actually quite capable. I'll have him protect you here for now. We can talk about other things after you've thought about your future. What do you think?"
Yang Liu was not a pretentious person. She knew her current situation. It was not easy for a young woman to live a good life outside.
"Very well, I won't thank you enough. If there's anything I can do to help Young Master Fu in the future, I will do my utmost."
Seeing how straightforward she was, Fu Mingzi admired her even more.
"This is the household registration certificate I made for you, Miss, and some other things. Please take them." Fu Mingzi handed everything to Miss Yang.
Miss Yang Liu didn't seem to be ignorant. After looking at it carefully, she smiled and said, "I had asked around about how people outside live before. Now that I've seen it, I realize it's more complicated than I imagined. Young Master Fu must have gone to a lot of trouble for me."
What Miss Yang said was true. Just this household registration alone required Fu Mingzi to ask many people and borrow favors from three or four different people to get it done.
However, it's worth it for the sake of secrecy.
"Miss, you don't need to be so polite. It's just that I've written 'married woman' on your household registration without your consent, which may have put you in a difficult position," Fu Mingzi said with a hint of apology.
Miss Yang looked at the name Li Yangshi written on the household registration and smiled softly.
“It’s alright, this is good. Although he is dead, in my heart he is indeed my only husband. I am very happy with this status now.”
Fu Mingzi looked at Miss Yang and remained silent.
Miss Yang immediately came to her senses and said somewhat apologetically, "I'm sorry to have made Young Master Fu laugh. It's getting late, so I won't keep you any longer. Please take care, Young Master."
Fu Mingzi nodded. He was indeed busy today, as he had to rush to the palace and deal with a lot of things at home. He didn't know if he could manage to get through it all.
"Alright, I won't stay any longer. You stay here and take care of yourself. I'm leaving now."
Li Wei followed Fu Mingzi out the door and whispered, "Young Master, let me escort you back."
Fu Mingzi shook his head: "I'm a grown man, I'll be back in no time on horseback. You take good care of Miss Yang, and I'll keep the carriage for you."
After saying that, he turned and went out the door, put down the horse pulling the carriage, mounted the horse, and headed towards the capital.
Fu Mingzi felt much lighter on the way and couldn't wait to go to the palace to tell Zhou Xiaoyan about it, to tell him that she had no more worries and that there would be no one else between them in the future.
A smile spread across his face.
**
Zhou Xiaoyan had also gotten up by this time. He sat in the main seat in his courtyard with a sullen face, looking at Wei Baocheng with a deep gaze.
"What did you say?"
Wei Baocheng was trembling with fear, feeling as if his life was about to end here, but he dared not disobey Zhou Xiaoyan.
"Your Highness, His Highness the Crown Prince has suggested to His Majesty that the young lady from the Empress Dowager's family should be betrothed to you as your princess consort."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoyan couldn't help but let a cold glint flash in his eyes. It sounded nice, but the young lady from the Empress's family, Empress Du, was just a girl from a poor family. The late emperor disliked the current emperor, so he casually arranged the marriage. The emperor said he was deeply in love with Empress Yuan, but in reality, he looked down on her the most, and even looked down on the crown prince born to Empress Yuan.
The so-called niece of the Empress was nothing more than the daughter of a fifth-rank official. To appoint such a person as his princess was not only an attempt to win her over, but also an insult!
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