Drive out of Qingzhou
Yao Chengfang returned home dejected. Her eldest son, Lei Jiancheng, asked her about the Fu family's attitude and whether they had forgiven her. Yao Chengfang shook her head and remained silent, a hint of worry in her expression. She didn't tell her son what Fu Zhiqiao had said—that the Fu family would let them go as long as she left Qingzhou City. She couldn't bring herself to say that.
Having moved from a remote rural village to the capital, she felt her fate had changed. Having seen the bustling city, she was unwilling to return to that small village.
Fu Zhiqiao was not kept in the dark about Yao Chengfang's movements. Two days passed, and she showed no sign of returning to her hometown.
"Let's get started!" Fu Zhiqiao gave the order. She had already arranged for someone to pose as a customer and place an order for a batch of tables and chairs at Lei's Carpentry Shop. These past few days, they had been exhausted by the housing problem, and with Fu Zhiqiao deliberately dragging things out, they simply couldn't deliver the goods within the stipulated time.
The Lei brothers worked through the night and hadn't slept for several nights.
Time flew by, and on the delivery day, Meng Kunyao went to pick up the goods and found that three chairs were still not finished.
He flew into a rage: "Mr. Lei, what guarantees did you make to me?"
Lei Jiancheng: "Mr. Meng, please calm down! Please give me one more day..."
"I'll give you one day, but who's going to give me one day? We agreed to deliver everything today, and now the tables and chairs aren't complete, which is delaying my shop's opening. Do you know how much silver I'll lose every day? Tell me, how do you plan to compensate me?"
Upon hearing that he would have to pay compensation, Lei Jiancheng's forehead was already soaked with cold sweat.
When Meng Kunyao approached them, he said he wanted to open a shop and needed to urgently make a batch of tables and chairs. He paid a deposit of fifty taels of silver and gave them a deadline of half a month to deliver the goods. The deadline was tight, but the money was generous, so the two brothers gritted their teeth and agreed.
They thought they would make a fortune, but who would have thought they would be evicted by the homeowner and have nowhere to go? The whole family was crammed into the carpenter's shop, which greatly slowed down their work.
To secure this order, they invested most of the money in their shop. If they fail to complete the order, they will lose money on the cost of the wood. They no longer have enough money to buy more timber and can only take on other customers' orders to make ends meet.
"Boss Meng, please give us another chance. Can we sell to you at cost price instead of making a profit?"
Meng Kunyao pulled his sleeve out of Lei Jiancheng's hand and said sarcastically, "Do I look like someone who's short of money? I entrusted such an important job to you because I trusted you. It's written in black and white that the goods will be delivered today. Where are my goods?"
Meng Kunyao: "Either deliver the goods now, or compensate me with one hundred taels of silver. The choice is yours!"
They can't deliver the goods now, so they're offering to compensate us with 100 taels of silver? They can't afford that much money!
Lei Jiancheng wore a pained expression, unsure of what to do.
At this moment, the younger brother Lei Jianxin rushed out, holding a stool in his hand, "Big brother, I've made another chair."
What's the point of making just one chair if you still have two to deliver? The result is the same.
"Boss Lei, I don't have time to waste here with you right now. If I don't see compensation by tomorrow, we'll see each other at the government office!" After saying that, Meng Kunyao left.
Lei firmly believes: "We should go and beg Boss Meng to give us another day."
Lei Jiancheng shook his head and collapsed to the ground: "I've begged, but it's no use."
"Then what should we do..." Without working capital, the shop will soon have to close down.
Lei Jianxin said in a daze, "No, I have to beg Boss Meng, I'll kneel down for him!" After saying that, he rushed out.
Lei Jiancheng hurriedly scrambled to his feet and chased after him, calling out, "Second Brother!"
When they reached the end of the street, they saw Meng Kunyao with his head down, respectfully speaking to the carriage.
A moment later, the carriage slowly started moving, and the curtain was blown open by the wind, revealing Fu Zhiqiao's profile.
The two brothers stared at each other in bewilderment until the carriage had driven away. Only then did Lei Jianxin snap out of his daze and ask, his face pale, "Brother, was that...?"
Yes! It's Fu Zhi Qiao!
But why would Boss Meng be so subservient to Fu Zhiqiao?
Lei Jiancheng's mind went blank.
The person behind Meng Kunyao is Fu Zhiqiao. She deliberately placed the order and set a trap for herself. It was all her doing. The brothers' years of hard work are about to be ruined by this woman!
Enraged, Lei Jiancheng's eyes flashed with murderous intent. He returned to his shop, grabbed a cleaver, and rushed to the Fu family's door.
After Xie Zhuo helped Fu Zhi Qiao deal with the broker, he was always worried. He constantly sent people to keep an eye on Fu Zhi Qiao's safety. The people keeping watch saw Lei Jian Cheng acting suspiciously at the entrance of Fu's mansion and, sensing something was wrong, immediately reported it to Xie Zhuo.
Upon receiving the news, Xie Zhuo rushed over on horseback and also sent Wang Qianxin with government officials to follow.
After inspecting the shops, Fu Zhiqiao returned to her doorstep. As soon as she got off the carriage, she sensed something was wrong, as if she were being watched by something dangerous.
Her intuition was always accurate; she carefully looked around but found nothing unusual.
Ginkgo asked, "Girl, what's wrong?"
"Nothing?"
Just as Fu Zhi Qiao lifted her foot, a person suddenly rushed out from the corner, holding a knife and shouting, "You bitch! I'm going to kill you!"
Yinxing's face turned pale instantly, and she screamed, "Quick, stop him!"
A person who has lost their mind is full of energy and no one can stop them. Lei Jiancheng brandished his gleaming machete, and no one dared to approach him. He ran unimpeded to Fu Zhiqiao's side.
She raised the knife high, about to slash at Fu Zhiqiao.
Fu Zhiqiao subconsciously turned to the side, instinctively dodging the oncoming danger.
When Xie Zhuo arrived, he saw the knife getting closer and closer to Fu Zhi Qiao. His eyes were filled with rage, but the distance was too far for him to reach her in time.
In a moment of desperation, he saw some pebbles on the ground, stepped forward, and kicked one of them with force. The pebble flew in an arc and struck Lei Jiancheng squarely on the back of the head.
Lei Jiancheng was hit by a stone, cried out in pain, and fell to the ground.
Xie Zhuo seized the opportunity to run up to Fu Zhi Qiao: "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
He heard the sound of wind breaking behind him, and without thinking, Xie Zhuo grabbed Fu Zhi Qiao and rolled to the side, protecting her in his arms.
Despite his timely dodge, his arm was still cut by the knife tip.
Xie Zhuo was furious. He turned around and slapped the knife out of Lei Jiancheng's hand, then restrained his wrist. Lei Jiancheng cried out in pain, feeling as if his wrist was about to be broken. He twisted his body, trying to break free of the restraint.
He was no match for Xie Zhuo. With a "clang," the cleaver fell to the ground.
Xie Zhuo grabbed his collar and threw him outwards with force. Lei Jiancheng landed heavily and passed out.
"Miss, are you alright?" Yinxing rushed over and helped her up from the ground, checking her for injuries.
Even though Fu Zhi Qiao remained calm and composed throughout, she was still terrified when someone tried to stab her with a knife. She was still shaken, and she wasn't sure she could have dodged the blow if it weren't for Xie Zhuo.
"I'm fine." She shook her head, her attention focused on Xie Zhuo, wanting to go over and check on his injuries.
Just as she took her first step, Fu Zhiqiao's legs gave way and she almost fell again.
Seeing that she could barely stand, Xie Zhuo quickly supported her with both hands.
Fu Zhi Qiao, seeing the bloodstains on Xie Zhuo's arm, snapped out of her daze and exclaimed, "You're injured!"
At this moment, Wang Qianxin arrived with government officials. Upon seeing the bloodstains on Xie Zhuo's hands, his eyes widened in surprise: "Young Master!"
Xie Zhuo frowned, signaling Wang Qianxin to be quiet.
After confirming that his young master was unharmed, Wang Qianxin led his soldiers to clean up the mess and, incidentally, imprisoned Lei Jiancheng.
This guy surnamed Lei has some nerve! He dares to bully Miss Fu, who is someone the young master is supposed to protect!
Wang Qianxin was thinking about how to get the people in prison to give him a good "welcome".
The government officials acted quickly, dispersing the onlookers outside the Fu family's house and cleaning up the bloodstains on the ground.
At the Fu residence.
Fu Zhi Qiao took Xie Zhuo back to her courtyard. Xie Zhuo had a cut on his arm from the tip of a knife. Fu Zhi Qiao bandaged the wound for him. Fortunately, the wound was not deep, and the wound medicine stopped the bleeding quickly.
Looking at Fu Zhiqiao bandaging him, Xie Zhuo's eyes softened.
"What do you want to do with that person?"
"You summoned these government officials, didn't you?"
They both spoke at the same time and then stopped at the same time. The moment their eyes met, they both laughed.
"You saved me again." Fu Zhi Qiao's eyes were full of smiles.
Although Xie Zhuo did not reveal his identity, his demeanor and speech already showed his extraordinary nature. The fact that the government officials arrived so promptly must be thanks to him.
What moved Fu Zhiqiao the most was that he selflessly shielded her from a fatal attack.
The first time, he prevented her from being harassed on the street; the second time, he prevented her from falling into the river on the bridge at the lantern festival; and the third time, he shielded her from a knife at her doorstep.
A feeling of guilt welled up inside me.
"Go and make a calming soup." Xie Zhuo instructed Yin Xing to make the soup. He carefully observed Fu Zhi Qiao's pale face, worried that she might be frightened.
Soon, Ginkgo brought a bowl of steaming calming soup into the room. Sensing the subtle atmosphere between the two, she waited at the door after delivering the soup.
Xie Zhuo took the bowl, scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it to cool it down a bit, and then put it into her mouth.
"I'll do it myself!" Fu Zhi Qiao felt a little awkward. He was the one who was injured, but now it seemed like she was the one who was hurt.
Xie Zhuo did not let go.
Seeing his insistence, Fu Zhiqiao had no choice but to drink the calming soup he fed her, sip by sip.
The calming soup worked very well; Fu Zhi Qiao felt drowsy. She closed her eyes, touched Xie Zhuo's slightly cool hand, and mumbled, "Your hand is so cold!"
"I know!" Xie Zhuo replied softly, taking her hand in return.
Staring at her peaceful sleeping face, Xie Zhuo felt as if all the noise of the outside world had disappeared at this moment, and all he could hear was her even breathing.
Fu Zhi Qiao's emotions were in turmoil, and she quickly fell asleep. She didn't even know when Xie Zhuo left. When she woke up, Yao Cheng Fang was already kneeling at the entrance of the Fu residence.
When her eldest son was arrested and imprisoned, Yao Chengfang broke down, seemingly aging ten years overnight.
If her kneeling at the entrance of the Fu family mansion last time had a hint of acting, this time her kneeling at the entrance of the Fu family mansion was completely genuine.
Yao Chengfang's voice was pitiful as she begged Fu Zhiqiao to spare her son. She said she would leave the next day if Fu Zhiqiao would spare her family.
Fu Zhiqiao showed no pity. When Yao Chengfang attributed Yu Roulan to words like "husband-killer" and "jinx," she never considered the harm Yu Roulan would suffer.
Public opinion can be terrifying; rumors can kill!
I will not offend others unless they offend me.
It was all her own fault.
Fu Zhiqiao found Yao Chengfang's crying and wailing annoying. Fortunately, she had sent Yu Roulan to a Buddhist temple outside the city for a vegetarian meal a couple of days ago, which allowed her to avoid these troublesome matters.
The servants of the Fu family came to drive her away. Yao Chengfang was utterly despondent; she didn't even know how she got back.
The next day, news spread through the alley that Yao Chengfang had been sent back to her hometown.
The news was deliberately leaked by Fu Zhiqiao; her purpose was to make an example of someone.
With Yao Chengfang's example as a precedent, the surrounding neighbors could more or less guess what was going on. Recalling what happened a few days ago, they knew that the Fu family was not to be trifled with, and their eyes couldn't help but show some fear when they looked at Fu Zhiqiao.
With the source of the rumors resolved, the Fu family returned to peace.
When Yu Roulan returned from the mountain, Granny Cui vividly recounted the events to her.
Yu Roulan listened with a smile, feeling a sense of peace and a surge of unprecedented strength welling up within her.
She really has a good daughter, a very, very good daughter!
As Yao Chengfang left Qingzhou, her son Lei Jiancheng was also released from prison. After this lesson, the family never dared to return to Qingzhou City again.
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