Chapter 97 The Qi-Liang Border (09) Even heroes find it hard to resist the charms of a beautiful woman. ...
Logically, after Enoki and several servants came out of the yamen to report the case, they were about to get into their sedan chair when they noticed that Chen Zifang's wife, Liu, had not come out with them. They asked the maid in front of them and learned that Liu was still in the morgue crying over her husband's body.
Enoki glanced at the gate of the government office and nodded, saying, "She's heartbroken because her husband died, so let her be."
After speaking, she climbed into the sedan chair, sat down, her expression hardening, her eyelids slightly drooping. After a short while, she suddenly drew back the curtains and called the old woman in charge of population management to come forward. "Zhang Mama, Madam is currently frightened and ill, so there's no need to trouble her with these small matters at home. I can handle it. Give Liu Shi a leave of absence for now, without setting a date. Find someone else to fill her vacancy in the kitchen, and we'll see when she has finished handling the funeral arrangements."
Zhang Ma nodded at the window, "What about Chen Zifang's vacancy?"
"Chen Zifang's vacancy—" Enoki glanced at her, "Just have your son come into the manor to fill the position. I heard he's not young anymore, so teach him more, he'll be successful in the future."
Zhang's mother was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.
Liu was truly at a loss, losing both her husband and her job. Although Enoki said so, when she returned to the manor after her funeral, there would be no place for her. At most, out of consideration for their years of friendship, she would be given a hard job. There would be no more lucrative and easy jobs like purchasing goods in the kitchen.
She was still unaware of what was happening inside the yamen, wailing and making a scene. Two yamen runners half-pushed and half-persuaded her out, pushing her to the gate. Just then, the doctor Xu Qing, who had also come out as a witness, saw the woman sobbing and crying so heartbrokenly and guessed that she was a relative of the deceased Chen Zifang. Xu Qing's mind raced, and he waited for the woman to cry in the street before going over to speak to her.
Before long, Zhang Da and A Liu also came out of the yamen. Xu Qing hurriedly pulled Liu Shi into the alley and said with his chin in hand, "Did you see that? They're going to the Yu family to arrest someone. There are only two constables, and they're not even in shackles. Tsk tsk, this is not the style of arresting someone. It's more like they're inviting someone to be a guest."
"You don't know this, do you? This Yu Qi is Lord Yan's advisor. As the saying goes, officials protect each other. Your Lord Qi usually relies on Yu Qi to help with cases," he said, while tucking his hands into his sleeves and raising his round elbows. "You and your husband are just servants of the Qi family. Do you think Lord Qi would really offend Yu Qi for your sake?"
Liu pondered this in secret and realized that this was true. Although the Qi family had burned down one house, they had plenty of empty rooms in their mansion. As long as Yu Qi was willing to pay compensation and the two families reconciled, the matter would probably be over. But would Yu Qi actually pay her compensation?
She wiped away her tears and said, "Dr. Xu, what should I do? You're so kind-hearted, you've even given me some advice."
Xu Qing laughed and said, "This matter is easy to handle. Go and ask someone to write a petition, saying that Yu Qi killed your husband. Write the words in big and thick characters, hold it high all the way to the gate of the Censorate, kneel down and cry for justice. As long as the Censorate finds out, even if Lord Yan and Lord Qi want to show favoritism, they won't be able to."
Liu thought this was a good idea. Once the news spread, the government would naturally have to find a way to quell the situation, and then Yu Qi would have no choice but to pay compensation!
So Liu hurriedly curtsied and thanked him, then went out of the alley to ask someone to write a petition.
Xu Qing also walked out of the alley, smiled at Liu's back, and went to the other end to go home for lunch.
Meanwhile, it was lunchtime at the Yu family's house. Jiuli's heart raced at the thought of facing Yu Qi, her face flushed. She opened the door and called for Xiuzhi, asking her to bring her lunch to her room. Xiuzhi did as she was told, going into the main room. While she was picking up food from empty bowls, the others entered one after another. Yu Qi immediately recognized the three bowls as being a special meal for Jiuli. She had been avoiding him all morning, and now even he couldn't tell if she was shy or angry.
"She's still not coming out to eat?"
Xiuzhi looked at him and nodded, then hesitated, holding the tray, "Shouldn't you send it to her, sir?"
Yu Qi took the opportunity to take the table and told everyone to eat first. He then went to the west wing and knocked on the door. Jiu Li thought it was Xiu Zhi. When she opened the door and saw it was him, her face turned red and then white. She lowered her head and walked in, letting him in.
He placed it on the round table in the outer room and saw Jiuli still walking into the bedroom, sitting in front of the dressing table so that no one could see her expression. He had no choice but to follow her in, standing behind her and looking at himself in the mirror. "Is she angry with me or something else?"
Jiuli glanced at the mirror, her expression almost resentful. In fact, she didn't know what she was resentful about. She just felt that she had suffered a bit last night. After all, she had endured some pain, but he had vented his anger. It was unfair, and she wanted him to make up for it more.
However, she couldn't bring herself to say those words, so she lowered her head again.
Yu Qi smiled and moved to the side, "If you don't eat, it will get cold soon."
She quickly looked up and glared at him, then looked down again.
He had no choice but to squat down and look at her. "Is it still in pain?"
Her face flushed, and she puffed out her cheeks to glance at him, but she still refused to turn around and face him.
It turns out she was just shy. A woman's tendency to be pampered makes her feel like she's been taken advantage of in these situations, so even if she's happy, she has to suppress it and act like she's been bullied. Perhaps this is just how women are by nature; even someone as carefree as her is no exception. That's why men always have to say the best things.
However, when he saw the bruises on her wrist, he remembered that he had indeed made her suffer last night, and although she had disobeyed him first, he felt a pang of sympathy for her.
He held her wrist, his thumb tracing the purplish bruise, and lifted it to give it a light kiss. "Who told you to be so immature at your age, going wherever you want and following anyone? It's no use trying to make up for it later when you suffer. It's better not to suffer at all."
She was about to say that Xu Bai wasn't as bad as he made him out to be, but when she glanced down at his somewhat sinister smile, she immediately remembered that he had become even angrier last night because of these kinds of words. She couldn't afford to provoke him now, or she would suffer even more.
She snorted, pulled her wrist out of his hand, and muttered under her breath, "You make it sound so nice, but you're just making me suffer."
"You're not willing to endure this 'hardship'?" He looked at her with a smile, his gaze tinged with a hint of malice.
After a while, he stood up, pulled her up, and hugged her tightly, gently patting her back. "You always have to eat."
Jiuli felt like he was coaxing a child, much like before. She felt confused and he dazedly led her to the table. As soon as she sat down, she heard Zhang Da's voice asking if Yu Qi was home.
Both men were puzzled. Yu Qi opened the door and went out, and Du Zhong led Zhang Da and A Liu over. Zhang Da recounted the story with an annoyed expression, and Jiu Li listened for a while before putting down her chopsticks and running to the corridor.
Before Yu Qi could say anything after he finished speaking, Du Zhong jumped up in a panic, "Why is the Qi family throwing all sorts of accusations at us?! Who would believe that Master set the fire?! Brother Zhang, do you believe that?!"
Zhang Da looked helpless. "I think the two ladies of the Qi family are still upset because they were rejected by the master, and they just happened to run into this incident, so they wanted to take it out on them. But the master did go to the Qi family yesterday in a huff, and coincidentally, the Qi family caught fire right after he left. And that Xu Qing, of all times, came to join in the fun! Lord Yan had no choice but to send us to invite the master. The innocent are innocent, and the master has nothing to fear. Let's go to the yamen and come up with a solution together."
Jiuli squeezed next to Yu Qi, "Xu Qing has always been jealous that my uncle's medical skills are better than his. He was always picking on us when we were at Liyuan. Can we take what he says seriously?"
"Isn't that right? He spoke with absolute certainty, swearing to heaven that he passed by the Qi family yesterday evening and saw the gentleman carrying a torch coming out of the side gate. We went to look for it this morning and actually found a torch in that alley."
Unexpectedly, Yu Qi said, "That was indeed what I lost. Yesterday, I was at the Qi family's house and it was getting late. I was thinking that I still had to go find Yu'er. I saw that they had torches and tung oil in their house, so I lit one. However, because I used too much tung oil, it was dripping all the way, so I just threw it away when I came out."
That's true. No wonder even the servant at the Qi family's side gate testified that he was indeed carrying a torch when he went out. Zhang Da fell silent for a moment, then smiled, "I see—"
Yu Qi raised his hand to stop him, saying, "I'll go to the yamen with you. Has the body been examined?"
"When we came out, the coroner was examining the body. By now, the evidence will probably have been confirmed."
As everyone headed outside, Jiuli hurriedly followed, "Brother Zhang, can Uncle go home now? Are they going to imprison him? That won't do. Those prison cells are messy and filthy. Uncle can't stay there; what if he gets lice?!"
Du Zhong tugged at her in frustration, "Are you only thinking about lice right now?! Your master's in trouble with the law!"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't you know if my uncle would commit arson? Besides, if my uncle wanted to kill or set fires, he would do it without anyone noticing. How could anyone see him?"
Zhang Da coughed twice, "You can't just say things like that."
Seeing that she seemed determined to follow, Yu Qi stopped, worried that it would be difficult for her to walk. "Don't worry about it, go and eat first."
Jiuli, stubborn as a mule, looked up and said, "No! I want to go! I'm allowed to investigate cases that have nothing to do with our family, but you won't let me investigate cases that involve you? That's not fair!"
He had no choice but to leave these people behind, pull her back into the room, close the door, and whisper, "Are you not in pain now? You should rest at home. I'll be back in a couple of days. It's nothing serious."
It was somewhat dark behind the door. When he asked her a question, she remembered the slight, tearing pain again, and blushed, remaining silent for a long time.
Yu Qi tilted his head to look at her for a while, then lifted her chin and kissed her gently twice. "Be good, Feng Qiao isn't home, so this shop needs someone to look after it. Just have Zhong'er come with me."
This kiss seemed to melt her heart; she threw herself into his arms, clinging to his shoulders with both hands, her voice trembling with tears, "I was afraid you wouldn't eat or sleep well in the yamen."
Over the course of their conversation, the meaning of the word "suffering" had changed in countless ways. Yu Qi couldn't help but laugh. He put an arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground, looking her in the eye. "What suffering could I possibly endure? The only thing I can't do with in this life is dealing with you. I can handle everyone else."
Thinking about it, what he said makes sense. Du Zhong's medical skills are not as good as hers. If he stays at home to take care of the shop, the business will probably fail in a few days.
She felt she could finally share his burdens and responsibilities, and she chuckled close to him, "Alright, you can send Du Zhong back every day to tell me about the situation at the yamen. If you need anything, just have him come back to get it. I'll take good care of the business."
Yu Qi suddenly felt a completely new and inseparable feeling, as if the past ten years or so didn't count, and today was their starting point again, and they would be walking together for many, many years to come.
Even though he knew that leaving her at home would ensure her safety, sheltered from the wind and rain, many unexpected thoughts still flashed through his mind. He anxiously stroked her forehead and the top of her head again and again, unable to utter a word. He thought to himself, "No wonder people say 'even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman.'"
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Author's note: Thank you for reading.
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