"No need." Chu Qiao smiled faintly and said, "I'll be fine after a rest."
"Oh." Huan'er nodded and left the room. As soon as the door closed, the child's face suddenly darkened.
Can't this bring him down?
Then, I'll have to do it myself. Chu Qiao bit her lip slowly and sat on the chair. It seemed that all the plans needed to be redeployed.
The gate to the courtyard of Zhu Shun, the chief steward of the outer mansion, was closed, but even from a distance one could still hear the screams of a man like a pig being slaughtered from time to time. The servants passing by lowered their heads, and no one dared to look at them rashly, but they could not hide their gloating expressions, and were happier than when they had received their wages during the New Year.
Zhu Shun lay on the bed with his bare buttocks, howling like a ghost and cursing the two servants who were applying medicine to him, as if they were the ones who beat him into this state.
"Fuck you! Do you want to hurt me to death?"
One of the servants was sweating all over his face. He couldn't help but said while trying to be careful: "Butler Zhu, you have to be patient. The skin and the pants are stuck together. You have to tear it off."
The room faced the water on the east side and had a few sparse bushes. A sharp dagger was inserted through the window, and the window bolt was quietly opened while the man was screaming. Chu Qiao slowly stood up holding a homemade folding crossbow and aimed it at the man's head.
This crossbow originated in South Africa from a jungle tribe. It has an exquisite design, can be disassembled and folded, is accurate when fired at close range, and is silent. When Chu Qiao was on an undercover mission abroad, she once used this crossbow to sneak into a heavily guarded private party and eventually killed the target person. This crossbow is not only easy to carry, but also extremely lethal. A skilled hunter can use this crossbow to kill an adult tiger, which shows its amazing lethality. In the era of cold weapons, this was a weapon tailor-made for assassins. Zhu Shun was very lucky, as he was about to become the first person to die from this super weapon that transcended time and region.
At this moment, a man suddenly ran in in panic and shouted, "Butler Zhu, Butler Zhu!"
"What are you yelling about?" Zhu Shun cursed, "Are you yelling about mourning? I'm not dead yet!"
The servant said quickly, "Butler Zhu, someone has come from the other courtyard. The second old master wants to ask you why the little slave girl who was promised to be sent has not been sent yet?"
Zhu Shun was stunned and jumped up immediately, but he forgot about his butt that was beaten to a pulp. He fell back on the bed with a plop, howling like a ghost. As he called out, he said, "I'm afraid that girl is in trouble. The fourth young master won't let her go. I have prepared ten newly bought little slaves in the Joy House. You can take someone to pick them up."
"Yes, I understand." The man agreed, turned around and ran out.
Zhu Shun shouted, "Remember to tell the second old master that I am seriously ill. I will go to visit him after I recover."
The crossbow outside the window was gradually lowered. Chu Qiao's eyes turned and another idea came to her mind.
Perhaps, there is another way to get rid of this person, cleanly and efficiently without getting your hands dirty.
As soon as the dungeon of Xileyuan was opened, an unpleasant and foul smell hit us in the face. The steward of the other courtyard who came to pick up the person frowned and pinched his nose and said, "What are these things? Can such stuff be presented to the old master?"
The servant who had been there before nodded and bowed his head and said, "It's hard to buy slaves recently. When they heard they were being sold to our Zhuge Mansion, they all tried their best to raise the price. Even these few were found by our boss with great effort. Don't worry, they are cleaned up and are absolutely beautiful girls. The old master will be very happy to see them."
"Come on, stop talking nonsense and pull it out."
The children inside haven't seen the sunlight for a long time. They have been locked up there ever since they were bought. Everyone is disheveled, looks frightened, covers their eyes, and huddles together like a group of puppies.
The steward of the other courtyard took a look and then frowned and said, "Didn't they say there were only ten? How come there are eleven?"
"Really?" The servant counted them quickly and said, "Maybe Butler Zhu remembered it wrong. I'll go back and ask."
"Come on, stop asking. I don't have the time. Take it away!"
Several strong men came forward, pushed a child, and shouted angrily: "Follow me!"
The children were frightened and some of them started crying quietly.
"Whoever dares to cry again will be killed with a knife! You are rebelling!" The servant shouted like a bully, while grabbing a child who looked relatively clean.
At this moment, the child suddenly turned around and bit the man's wrist hard. The man screamed and let go. The child immediately ran away quickly like a rabbit.
"Ah! One ran away! Chase him and catch him!"
When the servants of Zhuge Mansion saw the direction the child ran, they were immediately horrified and grabbed the steward of the other courtyard, shouting, "Steward Zhu, that's the Fourth Young Master's Qingshan Courtyard, you can't go there!"
"It's just capturing a slave, what's the problem?" Manager Zhu shouted angrily, pushed the servant's hand away, and chased in the direction the child escaped.
The gate of Qingshan Courtyard was kicked open, and Old Master Zhuge's men rushed into the yard like wolves and tigers. Huan'er and other maids were squatting in the corridor wiping vases and were startled by the noise.
Zhuge Yue had just been summoned by Zhuge Huai to the Red Mountain Courtyard, and Zhu Cheng and several other servants and guards were not there. Zhuge Yue was very quiet. There were not many people in the courtyard to begin with, and at this moment only these few maids were left.
Huan'er was considered the oldest of the maids. She stepped forward tremblingly and said, "Who are you? How dare you? Don't you know that this is the fourth young master's yard?"
"My lady, we are here to catch escaped slaves. Please forgive us if we have offended you."
"Why did you capture slaves here?" Huan'er heard the other party's polite tone, so he became bolder and said confidently, "Which courtyard are you slaves from? Why don't you have any rules at all?"
"We are the people of the Second Old Master of the Outer House. If you want to complain, just go to the Fourth Young Master. We will inform the Old Master later."
Upon hearing the name of the Second Old Master, Huan'er fell silent and said weakly, "We didn't see any slaves. You...you don't mess around."
A servant came forward and said, "It's that house. I saw her get in through the window with my own eyes."
Huan'er was startled and said hurriedly, "That's the young master's personal maid's room, you can't go in."
Manager Zhu looked at Huan'er suspiciously and said in a deep voice, "Go in and arrest him."
"No!" Just as Huan'er was about to step forward, he was grabbed tightly by a big man. He watched as the crowd rushed in like wolves and tigers.
"Butler Zhu, that's her!"
"Xing'er!" Huan'er yelled, turning around and shouting, "You've caught the wrong person. This is a maid in our yard, not the slave you're looking for!"
Manager Zhu glanced at Huan'er coldly and said, "I've seen many little servants like you who protect each other. I advise you to be honest, otherwise it will be bad for you if the matter gets out of hand." After that, he called a group of servants and took Chu Qiao out of Qingshan Courtyard.
“Xing’er!” Huan’er shouted, and when she saw the last servant of the Zhuge Mansion, she hurried forward and said, “Aren’t you a servant of housekeeper Zhu Shun? Did you bring them here? Hurry and bring Xing’er back!”
The servant was completely confused. He had also seen the little slave jump into the room with his own eyes. He had never expected that this maid from Qingshan Courtyard would be familiar with her. He frowned and said, "Don't make a fuss. They are all the female slaves that Butler Zhu has decided to give to the old master. If you keep making trouble, I will send you along as well."
After a while, the room was empty and Huan'er stood there in amazement. The maids all stood timidly at the back and none of them dared to come forward.
"By the way, let's go find the fourth young master!" Huan'er wiped away her tears and ran quickly towards Hongshan Courtyard.
Zhuge Yue was discussing matters in Zhuge Huai's study when he suddenly heard Zhu Cheng say outside: "Fourth Young Master, Huan'er just came to report that he has something important to discuss with you."
Zhuge Yue frowned and said in a deep voice, “Why can’t we go back and talk about it? This is even more unreasonable. Let her go back and wait.”
There was a sudden silence outside the door, but who would have thought that after a while, Zhu Cheng knocked on the door again and said, "Fourth Young Master, it's... it's Xing'er, she was taken away by Zhu Shun's housekeeper's people."
With a swish, the door was pulled open, and Zhuge Yue asked coldly, "What did you say?"
Zhu Cheng's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He glanced at Zhuge Huai who was full of suspicion, licked his lips, and said slowly: "Butler Zhu's people said that one of their slaves escaped, and they insisted that Miss Xing'er was the escaped slave, and forcibly took her away from Qingshan Courtyard."
"Take it away? Where?"
"They said they sent it to the Second Old Master's villa."
For a moment, Zhuge Yue’s expression was as ugly as it could be.
“Perhaps we have caught the wrong person. Ever since Zhu Shun was injured, he has been behaving inappropriately.” Zhuge Huai stepped forward, patted Zhuge Yue on the shoulder, and said with a faint smile, “Fourth brother, since you are being sent to the Second Master’s residence, forget it. You are just a maid. Later, I will pick out a few smart ones and send them to your courtyard as compensation. I promise not to let you suffer any loss.”
“How long have you been walking?” As if he hadn’t heard Zhuge Huai’s words, Zhuge Yue stared at Zhu Cheng and spoke in a low voice.
"I left... for about half an hour."
Zhuge Yue pushed open the door without saying a word and strode out. Zhu Cheng and the servants of Qingshan Court had expected this to happen and followed behind him.
Just when Zhuge Yue learned that Chu Qiao was captured by Old Master Zhuge, Wei Guang personally handed a golden arrow to Wei Shuye in the Changmen Ancestral Hall of the Wei Clan. The old man looked solemn and spoke in a low voice, "Ye'er, don't let your uncle down, and don't let the ancestors of the Wei family down."
Wei Shuye raised his hands and looked at the golden arrow, with a fierce light in his eyes. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but like a fish out of water, he just moved his body but couldn't utter a word.
"Ye'er, the ancestors of the Wei family are watching you, and your father is also watching you. You have to decide for yourself what to do."
Wei Shuye frowned for a long time before he slowly asked, "Who?"
Wei Guang smiled faintly, dipped his finger in the teacup, and then slowly wrote a word on the incense table.
Wei Shuye's eyes suddenly widened, his brows furrowed, and he looked at the elderly man uncertainly, as if seeking an answer.