Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back.
A few stars twinkled in the east, and a banquet had just ended under the night sky. Men and women dressed in their finest attire walked down the marble steps.
The temperature difference between day and night in Shanghai is significant. The exit hall was filled with mist and bustling with noise. Ms. Xia, dressed in an exquisite cheongsam, was helped by her bodyguards to put on her trench coat, while Mr. Gao, standing next to her, made an exaggerated gesture of invitation to her.
Today's banquet is for veterans of the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance) from its early years. Most of these revolutionary elders no longer hold important positions, but when they get together, they inevitably reminisce about the battles of yesteryear.
Ms. Xia was very sorry that Miaomiao was not in good health and could not attend the gathering, but Mr. Gao did not think it was a bad thing. He heard that A-Kui would also be coming, and if he were to mock Miaomiao as a lackey of the Qing Dynasty, the two of them would have a fight on the spot.
"That's nonsense! The two of them have a great relationship," Ms. Xia retorted on the spot. "A-Kui was only fourteen years old back then, and Miao-Miao was just a child at heart. When they were on good terms, they would swear on their lives, but when they argued, it was a completely different story."
As they reminisced about the past, an uncontrollable smile appeared on Gao's face. He knew that A-Kui was straightforward and outspoken, not a bad person. But that boy always cursed her ancestors in front of Miao-Miao; who could be happy about that? No matter how magnanimous she was, she was still a Manchu, and no one could choose their family background.
Upon hearing "Manchu," Ms. Xia's eyes turned cold, and she lowered her voice to ask Mr. Gao how the thief in Miaomiao's household was being dealt with.
"Of course they were sent away!" Mr. Gao glanced at the tall, burly bodyguard behind him before explaining with relief that his son had called Beiping to find outside help.
Using the excuse that the old prince's birthday banquet lacked servants familiar with Manchu customs, all the servants who had accompanied Miaomiao in her dowry were summoned back to Beiping, including the traitor. After all, no matter how close a maid is, she can't be as close as a son; no matter how good a maid is, she can't be as good as a close friend; and no matter how kind Miaomiao was, she was still her mistress.
That makes sense, but Ms. Xia is still a little worried. If the thief is calmly released back, will it turn into releasing a tiger back into the mountains? What if he harms the old prince and the old princess?
Hahaha, she wouldn't dare! Gao's father burst into laughter without warning. He recounted the clues his son had found: Gao Junxiao had caught the eye of a widowed cousin from the Plain Yellow Banner, who wanted him to marry into her family.
Bin's cousin? There are too many factors, and Ms. Xia didn't react for a moment. Haha, is she that stupid! A divorced woman looking for a man, what kind of man is not easy to find, but she deliberately goes looking for a married man.
To steal a man and ruin someone else's happy marriage, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning? And you even demand the handsome guy marry into the family? Be more frugal! Crazy! (Save your breath, you idiot.)
Seemingly sensing Ms. Xia's dissatisfaction, Mr. Gao wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes and added, "That cousin is not only a widow, but also has a ten-year-old and an eight-year-old son. My silly son can become a father as soon as he goes there, hahaha."
"Damn it, are you crazy?!" Ms. Xia rolled her eyes, furious. She didn't understand what was so funny. "How can Miaomiao tolerate such humiliation of a handsome young man being harassed by a crazy woman? If anyone ruins my son's marriage, I'll smash their head in."
"Maybe that widow has good blood and is rich. I heard she remarried, or rather, remarried, bringing with her an entire royal palace and her surname." Father Gao stopped laughing and said, half-jokingly.
Ms. Xia forced a smile and said, "Fine, if you think the head wife of the Plain Yellow Banner is good, then I will bring Chengcheng to break off the engagement tomorrow and introduce her to a promising young man immediately, so that she won't have to suffer the humiliation of a foot-washing maid after marrying into your family."
"Hey! You can't say things like that. Bah, bah, bah!" The sharp words made Mr. Gao's smile fade. He patted his chest and assured him that he would never mistreat Qingcheng after she married into the Gao family.
"You don't manage the inner quarters, so what guarantee do you have? Miaomiao's attitude towards the foot-washing maid is simply indiscriminate. How can I entrust my good disciple to her with peace of mind?" Madam Xia propped herself up on her arm, her tone becoming even more stern.
His temper was still as impatient as ever. Gao's father smiled and advised Thirteen Sister not to rush and to let him finish. It turned out that Miaomiao had followed them around and hadn't really learned about democracy. She only knew the basics, and the braids in her heart had never been completely cut off.
Hearing this, Ms. Xia sighed deeply. They were making a big show of their revolution, but they hadn't even properly educated their closest relatives. No wonder the revolution hadn't succeeded yet.
She thought of Wang Renyong, who was always cheerful. He once said that for the revolution to succeed, the whole nation must rise up and strive for the rise of China. The task of educating 400 million compatriots is arduous and long-term.
"This time, thanks to my silly son, we've finally cut off all the lingering doubts in her mind." Mr. Gao changed the subject. "Doesn't Miaomiao like watching a show?" Mrs. Xia nodded affirmatively, but her attitude remained sharp and confrontational.
Mr. Gao's words brought Ms. Xia's thoughts back to the weekend before last, when their son took them to see a "civilized" play about a kind-hearted peasant girl who, under the dual oppression of her father and the landlord, gradually descended into destruction. Miaomiao was deeply moved and cried her eyes out.
After returning home, his silly son started tutoring Miaomiao. The child patiently explained democracy and freedom, as well as that structural discrimination, a term that was being used by Gao's father for the first time.
Only then did he realize that the child's actions were not a whim, but a genuine desire to get to the bottom of things. If his son or husband knew, his aunt would definitely be kicked out.
So she found an excuse to send her angry son away, but Miaomiao still couldn't understand why the person she trusted most would treat her mother-in-law like that, since the woman was so nice.
She privately summoned her eldest aunt for questioning, but the mole not only did not reflect on her actions, but also frankly confessed her reasons: she wanted the young master to return to the Eight Banners!
"Isn't this just wishful thinking?" Ms. Xia stared wide-eyed, astonished by the mole's wild idea. The Qing Dynasty had completely collapsed, and there would be no reward or privileges for returning to the Eight Banners. What was the point?
“We thought it was meaningless, but Miaomiao was moved for a moment, so it means that she didn’t completely cut off her inner thoughts,” Mr. Gao said objectively.
The Manchus have a custom of uxorilocal marriage, where the man can change his surname to his wife's. For the eldest aunt, this meant the young master had a chance to rejoin the Manchu banner system, and for the young master's "good," she had to make this deal happen.
First, she had to break off the engagement with the Han woman, but she couldn't ruin the young master's reputation. She had to make the Han woman break off the engagement herself. However, she couldn't see the Han woman alone, so she deliberately put pressure on the Han woman's mother, openly and secretly criticizing the daughter for this and that.
It just so happened that the Han woman's mother was a sensitive and somewhat insecure person, and she was always right when she scolded her. So she went even further and gave many unfounded instructions in Miaomiao's tone, including that women should not go out to work in public.
"Wow, how vicious!" Madam Xia couldn't help but interject. "Brother Zhongqing, do you think a maid who stays in the inner quarters all day has the brains to know how to attack indirectly? What if Chengcheng doesn't fall for it? Wouldn't that be a loss?"
"Hmph, someone must have come up with ideas for her. With her rotten head, even a woodpecker wouldn't know where to start," Gao's father mocked.
However, Miaomiao was confused and even felt that her aunt was not doing it for money or profit, but for her son to return to the Eight Banners. She thought that her good intentions had backfired and that she couldn't be blamed. So Miaomiao only deducted a month's salary from her and privately warned her not to do it. She said that once the engagement was made, it couldn't be changed, otherwise it would be unfair to the girl.
"You think you can just let it go with one sentence about unfairness? That vicious woman's actions deserve to be struck by lightning three thousand times over." Ms. Xia rolled up her sleeves, looking like she was ready to fight. "Miaomiao is protecting the foot-washing maid. From now on, she's neither a master nor a servant. She's just condoning the foot-washing maid's insubordination. Miaomiao actually looks down on my Chengcheng like that. I didn't scold her enough last time."
“You have to choose the right time to scold someone. If you scold her too early, it will only embarrass Miaomiao, and she won’t think she’s wrong. To change Miaomiao’s mind from the root, you have to rely on my silly young master.” Father Gao couldn’t help but show a proud look on his face.
After Gao Junxiao's repeated instruction, and with Miaomiao having some basic understanding, she quickly realized that her inexplicable sense of superiority was wrong.
Imagine, no normal matchmaker would introduce a divorced woman with two children to her unmarried son.
Not to mention that her son was already engaged, she used schemes and tricks to get rid of her good daughter-in-law who was a good match for her, and forced her excellent son to marry into the family. She was clearly looking down on people!
The eldest aunt discriminated not only against her daughter-in-law's family, but also against her husband, son, daughter, son-in-law, and even her beloved grandchildren.
Miaomiao was trembling with anger, biting her handkerchief. Her son took the opportunity to push her further, saying that the old Eight Banners had a deep-rooted structural discrimination against us Han people, which must be changed. People should not, at least not, talk about bloodlines, because in our China, only livestock such as cats and dogs talk about pure bloodlines.
Now it's the Republic of China, and everyone is a citizen of the country. We can't use the old system of the Eight Banners to divide people into different classes. Qingcheng is also a citizen of the country and naturally has the right to participate in work. Moreover, her work is precisely to give a voice to the poor and vulnerable women and children, so her family should give her their full support.
He hoped that his mother would not view Qingcheng with traditional eyes in the future. Qingcheng may not be an ideal daughter-in-law, but she is definitely an ideal Chinese.
In front of the elderly couple, Gao Junxiao made it clear that he only recognized He Qingcheng as his wife and would not marry anyone else in this life!
"Hmm, that's a good start for the young man." Ms. Xia lowered her hand in satisfaction.
"Of course, I also have to thank Thirteen Sister for making Miaomiao cry, which dealt the final blow to the defense and made her determined to drive away the traitor in her own home." Father Gao said, bowing to Ms. Xia.
Ms. Xia waved her hand and told Mr. Gao a secret: "Actually, I didn't come out of seclusion at Chengcheng's invitation. It was Liangzai who personally came to the White Tiger Hall to visit me and asked me to persuade Miaomiao to drive away the traitor in the family. Because that traitor was likely instigated by his political enemies, and causing trouble under the guise of the Eight Banners was just the first step."
“I guessed it long ago. After all, my daughter-in-law isn’t officially married yet, and she’s a junior, so it’s not convenient for her to interfere. But she must have given my silly son a talking-to, otherwise he wouldn’t have worked so hard. That brat hates trouble the most. Sigh, that’s just how things are, one thing can subdue another, serves him right!” Mr. Gao said earnestly.
As the two chatted, they didn't realize that the cars in front of the open space had formed a long black line. The guests orderly climbed into their warm cars, while the others stood aside waiting for their drivers to arrive.
A car honked its horn a few times, and the passenger in the back rolled down the window, revealing a face that wasn't young—it was A-Kui, the man the two had been talking about earlier.
Ah-Kui, who was middle-aged, was well-proportioned and well-maintained. He practically leaned out of the car and laughed, "Brother Zhongqing, Sister Thirteen, come back with me and have some fun. We're going to have another pajama party."
"Hey, you bastard, how dare you call me 'Thirteenth Sister'! You have no manners, your father's turning in his grave. Call me that again!" Mr. Gao reacted faster than Ms. Xia, clenching his fist and warning her.
"Tch~~ Always reminding me of my junior status." A-Kui reluctantly switched to his hometown dialect, "Ninth Aunt, come visit me."
"No, I'm not going," Ms. Xia said firmly. "My dear grandson, you're not young anymore. Staying up late every night, take care of your health."
At that moment, a young woman's profile appeared behind the car window. Ignoring everyone's stares, she pulled A-Kui's head down and kissed him. Ms. Xia pouted and whispered that she was A-Kui's newly acquired seventh concubine. Mr. Gao rolled his eyes, shook his head helplessly, and made no comment.
The car lights flashed blindingly; it was Ms. Xia's car. She got in and said goodbye to Mr. Gao, saying she would visit Miaomiao again in a couple of days. Mr. Gao nodded and gentlemanly closed the car door for her. Then, the bodyguard got into the passenger seat.
As the car slowly drove onto the road, Ms. Xia yawned, lamenting how time flies. She used to be able to sleep only two hours a day and still be full of energy the next day, but now she can't. In order to live to be a hundred, she can only obediently go back to sleep.
Because she hadn't yet witnessed the revolution's failure!
Bang! A deafening explosion startled Ms. Xia awake. At the same time, the car jolted, and the driver immediately pulled over, glancing out the window and saying, "Looks like we had a flat tire, madam."
"Madam, please don't get out of the car. I'll go out and check." The bodyguard, with a serious expression, followed the driver out of the car to stand guard.
Xia Wanlan took off the pocket watch from her side pocket and glanced at the time. It was almost midnight. She then turned her gaze to the window. The twilight blurred the sharp edges of the buildings, making them all appear as a large, indistinct black shadow.
The fog enveloped the car, making it bitterly cold. Xia Wanlan pulled her trench coat tighter, yawned, and thought the night view was really boring.
Suddenly, a black sedan sped towards them from the opposite direction. The bodyguard immediately ordered Xia Wanlan to lower her head and not to show her face.
The carriage was silent. She couldn't hear the conversation outside and could only wait for the outcome. Just as Xia Wanlan was looking down, feeling dizzy, there was a knock on the window.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Xia Wanlan was surprised to see A-Kui there for some reason, as the two of them were clearly going in different directions.
The bodyguards who had been on guard gave Wanlan a reassurance gesture, realizing it was a false alarm. She finally relaxed and rolled down the car window: "Ah Kui, what brings you here? Don't you live in the French Concession?"
"Yeah, but Baby wanted to go for a drive, so I went with her. I just happened to see Aunt Jiu's car parked here. What happened to your car?" A-Kui scratched his head in confusion.
Before Xia Wanlan could speak, the driver rushed over in the darkness, shouting, "Madam, something terrible has happened! Our spare tire has been stolen!"
"Huh? What a coincidence." Xia Wanlan felt a mix of emotions, as if a bucket of water was bobbing up and down in her chest. She felt that something was not quite right.
“It’s alright, I have a spare tire in my car, see if you can use it?” A-Kui pointed to his car to the driver and shouted for his driver to come out and help.
The cars were almost identical, so the tires were interchangeable. The two drivers quickly brought over the new tires, one jacked up the jack while the other skillfully removed the tires. It looked like they would be able to change them in no time.
The night breeze was slightly cool, and Xia Wanlan felt colder and colder as she sat in the car. She wanted to get out of the car to stretch her arms and legs, but the bodyguard stopped her, saying that it was safest for her to stay in the car.
Fortunately, A-Kui didn't leave. He smiled and kept her company, talking to her to cheer her up. The two talked about how A-Kui had confessed his feelings to the girl next door, but she had splashed him with feces. He had run back to her crying and complaining.
Xia Wanlan comforted him while pinching her nose and rinsing him, but wouldn't let him get close, clearly disgusted by his strong odor.
Haha, the two of them burst into laughter at the same time. The tacit understanding between family members brought warmth to the cold night.
Suddenly, Xia Wanlan swayed and fell heavily onto her seat.
"What's wrong with you?" A-Kui frowned and scolded, then turned to ask Aunt Jiu gently if she was hurt.
Holding her dizzy head, Xia Wanlan shook her head with difficulty. The driver hurriedly ran over to admit his mistake. They were halfway through the job when, for some reason, the jack's screws came loose. As a result, the tire that had just been installed was thrown off by the falling jack before it could be secured. He hadn't been paying attention to maintaining his tools.
Today was truly a day of bad luck for me! Xia Wanlan sighed helplessly, determined to sweep away the bad luck with pomelo leaves when she got back.
“Sir, we also have a jack in our car,” Aqui’s driver said.
"Then hurry up and get it! Do you want me to get it?" A-Kui said anxiously. "Ninth Aunt, why don't you ride back in my car? Baby and I are younger than you, it's okay if we wait a bit."
"Madam, let's go back as soon as possible. It's not safe outside," the bodyguard advised worriedly.
There were too many coincidences tonight, no wonder the bodyguards were suspicious. Xia Wanlan took a breath and accepted her nephew's kindness, exchanging his car for hers.
At midnight, the driveway to the residential area was almost deserted; those who liked to play hadn't gone home yet, while those who didn't should have already arrived.
The green light ahead was flashing, and the driver instinctively stepped on the gas to accelerate. Unexpectedly, a white sedan with a black roof sped towards them from the southeast.
Bang—
The loud crash echoed across the road, and the strong inertia caused the black sedan to slide several meters away, spinning several times on the ground before coming to a stop.
Thick smoke billowed from the front of the car, and the passengers in the back were covered in blood, already unconscious from the impact. Black gasoline dripped from the fuel tank on the side...
Ring ring~
Inside the room, Qingcheng and Gao Junxiao, who were discussing something, both turned their attention to the telephone. Qingcheng glanced at it and gestured for Gao Junxiao to answer the phone quickly, as it wasn't a place where you could just answer the phone randomly.
"Hello, this is the nurses' station at Chunjing Hospital. Are you a family member of Gao Huaishu?" a gentle female voice asked.
"Yes, I am his son." Gao Junxiao's head was buzzing. A call from the hospital so late at night could hardly be good news.
"Okay, please come to the hospital as soon as possible to check in. Gao Huaishu has been in a car accident and needs emergency surgery." The nurse's words plunged one into a dark abyss.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
