Chapter 9 Faking Death
At midnight, the sound of weapons clashing suddenly came from outside the cellar. Someone shouted, "How dare you!" and then the sound immediately stopped.
Wen Youqing took the opportunity to tear off the buttons on her clothes. This was a special mechanism made by the Wen family's secret guards, which contained steel needles tempered with snake venom.
When the man from the Guo family kicked the door open, she pretended to hold on and yell, but when the man leaned over, she stabbed the steel needle into the side of his neck.
"You..." The man fell down with bloodshot eyes. Wen Youqing grabbed the bronze key from his waist. The chain peeled off, tearing off a piece of flesh, but she felt no pain. She sneered coldly, "Women like me are very toxic, far less delicious than young girls."
Climbing up the blood-stained stone steps, I found myself right outside the Guo family compound. How dare they be so bold!
Under the moonlight, more than a dozen corpses lay scattered about. Si Shi stood at the doorway, sword in hand, a rat, sensitive to scent, resting on his shoulder. Seeing Wen You Qing safe and sound, Si Shi's eyes still reddened as he whispered, "Miss."
There was a neighing sound coming from the stable at the post station. Wen Youqing collected the keepsakes of all the major families, but kept only the Cui family's. When she untied the reins, she felt the gold stamp on the inside of the saddle.
The uneven lines she felt from her fingertips made her shiver all over. This was the emblem she was very familiar with - the double-headed eagle of the Longxi Li family.
When the sound of horse hooves startled the night, she finally figured out everything. As the morning mist drifted over the mountain stream, Wen Youqing reined in her horse and gazed at Cangwu Mountain in the twilight.
The bronze tripod in the courtyard glowed green, like a huge mouth with its mouth open greedily, and it was unknown how many people had been cooked there.
Although she didn't know what they were planning, she presumably shared the same purpose as the Confucianist movement—to manipulate people's minds. Since the nine aristocratic families were using the names of ghosts and gods to devour human flesh and blood, she would be the demon who tore through this outrageous lie.
"Even if they stay there, those boots can't prove anything." Sishi said with some concern.
Wen Youqing gripped the reins tightly and rode towards the Shen residence. "Of course."
The Holy Envoy had the audacity to speak so openly, so surely she alone couldn't break this trap. But if she couldn't, it would be better for the person who set up the trap to slip in. "Write a letter to the Cui family, saying... the Wen family girl was boiled and eaten."
—
"They're still looking for you outside," Shen Zijie took the food out of the bookcase, "The news has reached your parents, how long are you going to hide?" The jumping firelight in the copper basin cut light and dark cracks on Wen Youqing's face.
The hot steam from the Hu pancakes creates a charming mist in the dry and cold air.
Wen Youqing did not reveal everything that happened that day. He just said that he had caught the Cui family and was waiting for them to come to negotiate and get rid of these dirty things.
Shen Zijie didn't mention Wang Rong's affairs, but he looked for Wen Youqing for a long time that night, and he almost mobilized people from the government office.
After staying in the study for a few days, Wen Youqing lost her previous reserve. She smiled and stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth, "Ignore them, wait for the Cui family."
Shen Zijie hit her hand and handed the chopsticks to her. He wanted to say something, but his eyes fell on the scabs on her neck. He was distracted for a moment and said nothing.
It wasn't until Wen Youqing waved her hand in front of him that he came back to his senses and said, "Be careful not to provoke them or they'll get into trouble."
"They can do it, but I'm already dead. How can they settle accounts with a dead person? They can't just come and destroy the body and cover up the evidence."
Shen Zijie was unsure, but his wife always had her own opinions, so he said nothing more. Before he could finish his meal with her, a servant came through the door and said, "Sir, Cui Yulan from the Cui family wants to see you."
Cui Yulan was the eldest son of the Cui family's second branch and Cui Junji's cousin. While not particularly outstanding, he was a shrewd individual, deeply trusted by the Cui family elders. Their personal presence seemed to indicate this was indeed a significant matter.
"You came so quickly, remember to spread the smell of rice." Wen Youqing curled her lips and went behind the screen.
When Cui Yulan stepped into the courtyard, he happened to see a servant who was taking food out. He glanced at him, closed his fan, and bowed as he entered the door: "I didn't know that Brother Shen was still having his meal. I'm sorry to disturb your good appetite."
Shen Zijie hurriedly wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "It's just plain food, not as important as meeting my cousin. How could my uncle be willing to send you all the way to this remote place?"
The room was simply decorated. Cui Yulan sat down on an ebony chair nearby, leaning forward slightly to express her anxiety. "Isn't this about my sister-in-law? The whole capital is in an uproar. We've got to find someone who can help."
Stared at by those slender almond-shaped eyes, Shen Zijie sighed: "To be honest, this marriage is not what I want. Besides, Wen's behavior was strange before she disappeared. I don't know what happened to her. I haven't seen her for a few months, so I don't know...right."
"Her father is an official. You should look for him." After these words were spoken, the two looked at each other. After a moment, Cui Yulan opened her folding fan and waved it slowly, shaking away the meaning of the words.
But this inexplicable silence was like sand mixed in the dry air, stinging Wen Youqing's ears behind the screen.
"I'm looking for the same thing, little brother." She was just a wife with no power, and the sons of the noble families knew it well.
After finding out the truth, Cui Yulan chatted for a while and then asked Shen Zijie to have tea with her another day. Naturally, this made Shen Zijie, who was very cautious, feel scared.
After finally seeing Cui Yulan off, the moment she got into the carriage, the lightheartedness and laughter disappeared in an instant. The attendant beside him asked in confusion, "The Wen family's wife will definitely not be coming back, why are you so unhappy, sir?"
"What do you know? Those who died were our own people. Don't even think about it. This little bitch is so powerful. I don't know where she ran to hide." The early summer raindrops hit the roof of the carriage directly. The sandalwood wrapped in cold air filled the carriage, covering the sound of the two people's conversation.
"At least her husband doesn't help her," the attendant consoled her.
Cui Yulan kept turning over the name Shen Zijie. As a child in school, she hadn't had much of an impression of this classmate. Was he really just an ordinary person? Did he really appear in Xunyang by chance?
He always felt uneasy.
Inside the room, Wen Youqing was lying on the couch in broad daylight, "You acted well."
Shen Zijie was reviewing the documents, and without even looking up, he said, "Don't take it lightly. Besides, how can you talk to him? You don't even have a reason now."
"I..." Before he could finish his words, the footsteps and shouts of the servant outside gradually approached, "Master Cui, did you forget something? It's just a small matter, I can find it for you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Cui Yulan had already stepped into the house. Wen Youqing, hiding in the bookcase, forced herself to breathe steadily and counted the rhythm of raindrops hitting the window frame.
"Brother Chen, have you seen my sachet?" The sound of the jade belt jingling was like a night watchman urging death.
Cui Yulan rummaged around without any regard for etiquette, as if she wanted to turn the whole thing upside down.
Shen Yite, who had quickly gotten on the bed, stood up and said, “I’ll help Brother Cui look for it.”
Seeing Cui Yulan was about to flip through the bookcase, Shen Zijie quickly blocked her way and said, "How could it be inside? Brother Cui didn't even open the cabinet."
Cui Yulan looked at Shen Zijie deeply, slowly retracted his hand, and said with a smile, "I was too impatient and lost my manners. Please forgive me."
Shen Zijie's intervention made Cui Yulan completely certain that Wen Youqing was still alive and in the Shen Mansion.
At night, the killers who specialized in handling dirty deeds for the noble families would sneak into the Shen Mansion with silver bells tied around their waists with red threads soaked in cinnabar, but they would make no sound when they walked.
It's like their masters are feeding border refugees with human blood wrapped in some kind of weird religion, and they even want the people to kneel down and express their gratitude.
It was still daytime in the study. A killer was knocking on the wall like a woodpecker. The secret compartment suddenly vibrated and the altar was split in half by the sharp blade.
Wen Youqing rolled out, the short blade in his sleeve grazing the incoming man's throat, restraining him. In a split second, the remaining four assassins were pierced through the skull by the pre-set trap, and crashed to the ground.
With only one assassin left, Wen Youqing brought her dagger closer and said with a smile, "Let me talk to Master Cui. Just a few words."
The tone was pleading, but the actions were deadly.
The killer was still thinking of a desperate fight, but Wen Youqing said, "Once I die, the letter and evidence will be sent to the capital. Can your Cui family really take that risk?"
The killer didn't know the inside story, and got goose bumps on his back. He nodded and said in a deep voice: "Please be patient, Madam Shen."
"Tomorrow at 1:00 PM, gather in the Tianzi Room at the An Pavilion. See you there."
The killer disappeared into the night with a leap of a pigeon. Shen Zijie slowly walked out of the shadows and asked, "Madam, how confident are you now?"
"Three points." Wen Youqing could only make a rough guess, but he had no idea what conspiracy the aristocratic family was planning.
"Three points are enough to bring down the aristocratic families?" A serious expression appeared on Shen Zijie's face for the first time.
"My dear husband, do you know something? Tell me about it." Wen Youqing suddenly acted like a spoiled child, climbing up Chen Zijie's neck and getting closer. "What is the household registration book that my dear husband asked for on the first day for?"
Shen Zijie lowered his eyes and stared at his wife in front of him. He had never understood her, and she had never understood him. He thought they lived with mutual respect, but he didn't expect it.
Suddenly, Shen Zijie laughed out loud, and the sound was like the weeping dew of Kunshan, breaking through the bloody and weird night.
"Ma'am, you are truly a treasure I found."
"Picking it up?" Wen Youqing narrowed her eyes, slightly displeased.
"No, no, no, it's a treasure God gave me." The always steady and self-possessed Shen Zijie hooked his arm around Wen Youqing's waist, their breaths mingling as several bleeding corpses lay beside them. "I'd like to have a long chat with you tonight, Madam."
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