Chapter Ten: The Wind Destroys the Beautiful Tree
Cui Jiulang's "sentencing" was like a sword hanging over her head. Liu Bao'er knew all too well that this fictitious debt of three thousand strings of cash was just the beginning, a pretext for the other party to force her into submission or to completely crush her. The real storm would descend with overwhelming force after she returned to the Dou family from Zuixianlou.
The first blow came from the official sources, precise and ruthless.
The following morning, city officials, accompanied by constables, stormed Yongchong Ward, shutting down the hideout where Hu Liu and his associates were operating under the pretext of "forging salt permits and disrupting market prices." All unsold glutinous rice salt permits were confiscated, and Hu Liu and several of his core brothers were chained and thrown into the Jingzhao Prefecture prison. Their crimes could be minor or serious; their fates were entirely at the discretion of their superiors. Liu Bao'er, having overheard the news at the Dou family home, understood that the Cui family had used their official power to cleanly and swiftly eliminate her allies.
The second strike targeted the Dou family's foundation, cutting off their lifeline.
Almost simultaneously, a group of constables from the Jingzhao Yin's yamen "politely" invited the old lady of the Dou family for questioning. Although she was released the next day, when she returned, her face was ashen, her mouth and eyes were crooked, and she could only walk with the help of a strong servant. The doctor diagnosed her with old age and weakness, sudden internal heat attacking her heart, and wind-evil invading her meridians.
With the old matriarch gone, the Dou family's pawnshop was left leaderless. Dou Dehai and other clan members vied for power, resulting in endless infighting. Liu Bao'er's greatest backer was already teetering on the brink of collapse with the slightest push from those in power.
The third blow, the most devastating, came from her undeniable "original sin."
Her aunt, who had sold her into the Dou family for money, appeared at the Dou residence gate at just the right moment, beating her chest and stamping her feet, wailing and lamenting:
"You jinx! You widow! Not content with killing your parents, now you've caused your grandmother to have a stroke! Even your short-lived husband was killed by you! The Dou family keeps you around to bring ruin to the entire family!"
The vicious curse, laced with ignorance, spread rapidly through the streets. In this age of fervent belief in fate, the label of "misfortune" was enough to crush any woman, let alone a helpless orphan like her.
Overnight, Liu Bao'er went from being the somewhat special "Madam Dou" of the Dou family to a jinx that everyone avoided. Wealth, allies, backers, reputation—everything she had won with her wisdom crumbled like a sandcastle in the face of real power.
She was dragged out of the house by Dou Dehai and his men, the clan elders not even giving her a chance to defend herself. Under the combined pressure of being labeled a "jinx" and the Cui family, she was locked in the back storage room, the door heavily locked. The clan elders would decide her fate the next day—the strongest suggestion was to throw her into a well.
The storage room was cold and damp, with moonlight casting eerie shadows on the floor through the broken window. Liu Bao'er huddled in the hay, experiencing a bone-chilling cold for the first time.
She lost.
A complete and utter defeat.
It wasn't a matter of strategy that led to defeat, but rather the rules of this era—the rules of powerful clans, the rules of power, and… the rules of ignorance.
She thought she could become a chess player with her advanced knowledge, but little did she know that in the eyes of a true chess player, she was nothing more than an ant that had strayed onto the chessboard and could be crushed at any moment.
The whispers of the night watchwoman came from outside the door:
"What a terrible thing..."
"I heard that her paper tickets angered Cui Jiulang..."
"The Cui family? No wonder... What a pity, tomorrow will probably be..."
Her voice trailed off, filled with awe at the disaster and resignation to her fate.
Liu Bao'er buried her face between her knees, blood seeping between her teeth.
I'm not reconciled!
Her mother has not yet been rescued, her enemies have not yet paid the price, and she has not yet been able to live a proper life!
But where is the way out?
In this vast web of power and ignorance, what can an orphan like her do?
Just as despair was about to engulf her, a faint sound came from outside the door. It wasn't the sound of chains, but the rustling of something being slipped under the door.
She suddenly looked up.
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