Chapter 107 Small White Fish Becomes Small Yellow Croaker
Her heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down. Rong Yin could no longer hold on, her body softened, and she fell backwards into Zong Zheng Xiao's arms.
Zong Zhengxiao smeared everything in his hands on Rong Yin's waist and began to knead it like a massage.
After waking up, the anger from being teased surged up, Rong Yin turned around and glared at Zong Zheng Xiao: "Get out."
Zong Zhengxiao refused to give in, hugged Rong Yin tighter, and said coquettishly, "No, Ah Yin, please be kind and let me stay for a while, okay?"
Rong Yin was furious: "You just bullied me like that, and you still dare to ask me to be kind, Zong Zheng Xiao, you stinky hooligan!"
Zong Zhengxiao saw that he was so angry that his eyes were red, and it was obvious that he was really angry, so he quickly comforted him, "Ayin, don't be angry, I didn't mean to tease you, it was just a kind of interest, didn't you also taste the taste of it?"
Rong Yin wanted to refute, but when he recalled the moment he was released, when fear and taboo mixed with overwhelming desire attacked him wildly, he did feel a stimulation that was different from the ordinary way.
But Rong Yin quickly reacted and argued, "I enjoyed the fact that you teased me. There was no conflict between the two, so is there anything wrong with me being unhappy?"
"No problem, no problem." Zong Zhengxiao quickly comforted him, "Blame me, it's all my fault. I let you, Ayin, take revenge. Ayin, please forgive me and stop being angry with me, okay?"
Hearing what Zong Zhengxiao said, Rong Yin also felt that revenge would be a good way to vent her anger, so she turned her head and looked at him, "Don't regret it."
Zong Zheng Xiao heaved a sigh of relief: "I will never regret it."
There was still a chill wind outside the window, and the little tree was so tortured that it started to get a little angry.
The small tree used its branches to entangle one end of the strong cold wind, and the twigs moved and kneaded this end as it pleased, watching it jump and swell, as if it was playing with some interesting toys.
The cold wind wanted to struggle, but was ruthlessly suppressed by the small tree.
This end was filled with thick snow, and some of it would occasionally fly out while the branches were being played with, which actually added a bit of fun to the play of the little tree.
As the branches moved for longer and longer, this end of the cold wind had expanded to the point of exploding, and the snowflakes inside were also very dishonest, crashing wildly in an attempt to escape.
It was a pity that the branches firmly controlled the exit, and the snowflakes could only rage helplessly and return to torture the cold wind that trapped them.
Zong Zhengxiao forced out a plea from his throat: "Ayin, please spare me."
Rong Yin was concentrating on his studies and ignored Zong Zheng Xiao.
The cold wind's instinctive struggles became stronger and stronger, and it was about to get out of control. The little tree decided to stop while it was ahead, and after hard pressing through the exit, it witnessed with its own eyes the cold wind trembling and releasing the snowflakes that had been imprisoned for a long time.
The snowflakes were free and scrambled to escape. Some fell to the ground, some fell back on the cold wind, but more of them flew towards the small tree.
After recovering from the shock, Zong Zhengxiao pulled Rong Yin into his arms, face to face, kissed the dirt off his face, and then kissed him on the lips, sharing the fruits of his efforts with him.
"I didn't even know that Ayin's skills are so advanced now?" Zong Zhengxiao whispered softly in Rong Yin's ear in a low voice.
Rong Yin snorted, "After all, I've practiced for so many years. Even a fool would have learned it long ago."
Zong Zhengxiao suddenly laughed softly, and the vibration of his chest was transmitted to Rong Yin along the two people's tightly pressed skin.
Rong Yin was puzzled, "What are you laughing at?"
Zong Zhengxiao's eyes were full of smiles: "I was thinking, my little white fish has now turned into a little yellow croaker."
Rong Yin understood what he meant and said angrily, "Who did this?"
Zong Zhengxiao actively admitted his fault: "It's my fault, it's my fault. I'm such a bad person that I also brought bad luck to A Yin."
"You are quite self-aware." After Rong Yin finished speaking, he suddenly felt a pain in his waist. He hissed subconsciously, and then lay on Zong Zheng Xiao's shoulder without any hesitation.
"My waist is hurting. Please rub it for me." Rong Yin called Zong Zhengxiao naturally.
"Okay." Zong Zhengxiao agreed, his hand already on Rong Yin's waist.
Rong Yin enjoyed his service and gradually became sleepy. She said lazily, "I have been focusing on this matter since I came here. I even forgot to ask you, have you finished reviewing the memorials?"
Zong Zhengxiao glanced at the table and said honestly, "There are still some."
Hearing this, Rong Yin suddenly woke up from his doze. He pulled away Zong Zhengxiao's hand that was pressing on his waist, stood up and got off his legs, picked up the outer robe on the ground beside him, and put it on while saying, "Then you continue to criticize, I'll wait for you, we'll go back and rest together."
After changing clothes, Rong Yin sat down next to Zong Zheng Xiao, picked up a book and slowly read it, like a well-behaved cat, and did not disturb Zong Zheng Xiao again.
With him by his side, Zong Zhengxiao felt very comfortable. Thinking about taking Rong Yin back to the room to rest early, his work efficiency improved more than a little.
Half an hour later, Zong Zhengxiao put down his red brush, put away the last memorial, turned around, picked up Rong Yin, let him sit in the crook of his arms, and took him out of the study.
Si Xi was always paying attention to the movements inside. When he heard the footsteps, he stood still. When the two came out, he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the hot water in the bath is ready."
Zong Zheng Xiao hummed, and after carrying Rong Yin to clean her up, the two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.
Not long after, the Cui family, having recovered from their grief, held a funeral for Cui Xin.
Because the body could not be found, they could only build a cenotaph. I don't know whether it was out of pity for Cui Xin and wanted him to pass away in a dignified manner, or whether the Cui family just liked grand ceremonies, but in any case, the scale of Cui Xin's funeral was extraordinarily grand.
The coffin was of the highest specification that the aristocratic class could use. They invited many masters from Buddhist temples to chant sutras for three days and three nights just to pray for the soul of their son who died in a foreign land. On the day of the funeral, the procession filled the entire street, and paper money fell like snowflakes, even more than at the Chen family back then.
It was quite a coincidence that the funerals of Chen Ershao and Cui Xin were held only a few days apart. It must be said that they were indeed destined to be together, but it was an ill-fated one.
When Cui Xin was buried, Cui Ershao, as the elder brother, had to go and carry the coffin whether he was willing or not.
Looking at the paper money flying all over the sky, he wondered quietly in his heart, I wonder what kind of funeral I will have when I die?
If the head of the Cui family discovered his true identity, I am afraid he would not even be willing to buy a coffin board, but would just wrap him in a roll of cool mats and throw him on the grave.
But it doesn't matter if he is a wandering ghost. At least he is free. He doesn't have to be trapped in this family even after death and can't escape even if he wants to.
While the Cui family was waiting and attending the funeral, the Chen family was celebrating behind closed doors. The eldest and third sons of the Chen family were drinking and laughing until tears came out.
"In a few days it will be the anniversary of the death of the second brother. Let's go together and tell him the good news. We are not cowards. We have avenged him."
Mr. Chen was holding the wine glass with his hands shaking.
Third Master Chen shed tears, but the corners of his lips were raised: "The Cui family has also experienced the pain of a loved one's death unjustly. Karma and retribution are inevitable. This is what the Cui family deserves."
The brothers expressed their joy outwardly, while Mr. Chen and Mrs. Chen were more reserved.
The head of the Chen family wrote in the study for several hours, and he was extremely satisfied with every word he wrote. Mrs. Chen, who had been ill all day since the death of her son, drank an extra bowl of soup at dinner today.
The entire Chen family was immersed in the joy of successfully taking revenge without the other party knowing the truth.
During the New Year's Eve, the Chen family, unlike the sad silence of previous years, not only visited relatives everywhere with smiles on their faces, but also specially invited a troupe of actors to perform at their home, which formed a sharp contrast with the bleakness of the Cui family.
By the beginning of the following spring, the lives of the people in the disaster-stricken areas in the south had returned to normal, and the tragedy in Anchang County had gradually faded from people's sight. The Chen family withdrew their troops from the south, secretly rejoicing that they had assassinated Cui Xin without anyone noticing, but an accident occurred.
On this day, a steward who was most trusted by the Cui family had just finished checking the accounts of a store and was about to get on a carriage to go to the next store when a dark shadow suddenly rushed out from behind him like a cow and bumped into him directly.
The steward and the black shadow fell to the ground together.
The servant following the steward cried out in surprise, then hurried forward and pulled away the "thing" that was pressing on him.
At this point, everyone realized that the person who knocked the manager down was an individual, or to be more precise, a male beggar.
Because this man was ragged, skinny, his face was so dirty that his original appearance could not be seen, and he had a lame leg. He did not look like a normal person at all.
The steward was helped up by the servant. He was grimacing in pain and was about to ask the servant to beat up the ignorant beggar. But the beggar suddenly said, "I have a plan. Steward Cui, do you remember me?"
When these words were spoken, the steward was stunned on the spot. He stared at the beggar in shock, as if he could see through his face.
"You are..." The manager started speaking subconsciously, but halfway through his words he suddenly realized the seriousness of the matter.
He no longer felt any pain, and he didn't mind the beggar's filthiness. He grabbed the beggar's hand and took him to the carriage, shouting to the driver, "Go home, right now, right now!"
The beggar was brought back to the Cui Mansion, and before he could even tidy up his appearance, the steward brought him before the head of the Cui family.
The hermit has his own tricks - this is one of the code words used by Cui family guards to verify their identities, and only the few guards who were sent to protect Cui Xin that year would use this sentence.
That's why Manager Cui was so shocked after hearing the beggar's words, because they all thought that those guards had died in the flood along with Cui Xin.
On the way back, Manager Cui already knew which guard the beggar was, but the beggar refused to mention the truth about Cui Xin's death, saying that he would only speak after meeting the head of the Cui family.
In the study, wisps of white smoke rose from the incense burner, and the expensive spices exuded a light and charming fragrance.
This was the type of incense that Patriarch Cui liked the most and burned the most. However, after hearing what the guard said, he was so angry that he smashed an inkstone, which happened to knock over the incense burner. The incense burner rolled over and the incense ashes were scattered all over the ground.
But no one cared about these things at the moment. The steward and the guards were so frightened by the angry expression of the head of the Cui family that they lowered their heads.
When Cui Xin was assassinated, his guard was seriously injured and passed out during the fight. The assassins did not check him carefully and thought he was dead as well, which allowed him to escape.
When the guard woke up, the flood had already broken out. He grabbed a piece of driftwood and drifted on the water for several days. Finally, he was fortunately rescued by people in a small village.
Out of caution, the guard did not dare to say that he was a survivor of the Anchang County flood, but randomly mentioned a nearby place name. At that time, floods broke out in more than one place, Anchang County.
The villagers were kind and did not doubt his words. The guard used his own money to hire villagers to take care of him. It was not until the end of last year that his injuries began to improve.
He was afraid of being discovered by the assassins, so he waited until spring, then disguised himself as a beggar and wandered all the way to the capital. Finally, he stopped Manager Cui at the door of Cui's shop.
Patriarch Cui suppressed his anger and looked at the guards: "Are you saying that before the assassins took action, they told Xin'er that this was a blood debt to be paid with blood?"
The guard knelt on the ground, trembling, and said, "I swear on my life, these are their exact words."
Patriarch Cui clenched his fists until they creaked, and he closed his eyes in deep thought for a while, then suddenly laughed in anger: "What a blood debt to pay with blood, I underestimated your Chen family."
Why can the Cui family head now confirm that the assassin was sent by the Chen family? Because in recent years, the only family that has a life debt with the Cui family and has the ability to assassinate Cui Xin is the Chen family.
He knew from the beginning that the Chen family was certain that it was the Cui family who killed the second young master Chen, but the Chen family had not made any major moves in recent years. He thought that the Chen family was afraid of the Cui family, so they swallowed their anger and dared not take revenge.
But he never expected that the Chen family was not afraid to take revenge, but they were enduring it with the idea of blood debt must be paid with blood, waiting for an opportunity to deal a fatal blow to the Cui family.
And they succeeded.
If Cui Xin died, the Cui family would lose half its life.
Patriarch Cui took a deep breath. His eyes were already red with sadness and anger.
He ordered the steward: "Check for me. The Chen family knew Xin'er's whereabouts. It must be the Cui family who leaked the information. I must tear this traitor into pieces!"
The steward agreed tremblingly and left with his guards. After a while, the head of the Cui family also left.
The servants came in to clean up, and a maid lifted up the incense burner, cleaned up the ashes on the ground and in the burner, and lit the incense again.
The servants in the Cui mansion had a clear division of labor. This maid was specifically responsible for managing the incense burner in the Cui family's study. So even though she was busy running around, no one came to help her. She was the only one who touched the incense burner and incense ash throughout the whole process.
In the courtyard west of the Cui Mansion, the second young master Cui was taking a nap alone on the soft couch in the bedroom.
Perhaps he had vaguely sensed that a storm was coming, for he slept very uneasily. His dreams were full of bizarre things, and he even dreamed of his younger brother Cui Xin.
Cui Xin said to him, "Brother, you will be coming down to accompany me soon!"
"Knock knock!" There was a knock on the door, and Young Master Cui woke up from his dream with cold sweat on his forehead.
"Master, are you awake?"
Outside was his personal servant. If it wasn't an urgent matter, knowing his own temper, he wouldn't be bold enough to disturb his rest.
Young Master Cui recalled his dream and seemed to have some feeling. He called the servant to come in in a hoarse voice.
The servant opened the door and said hurriedly, "There's news from the master's yard..."
The servant quickly told the story of what happened in the study of the Cui family. Knowing that his death was approaching, the second young master Cui did not show any panic or fear on his face, nor did he have any thought of escaping.
He has been waiting for this day for a long time.
He calmly asked the servant: "Your mouth should be strict enough, right?"
Upon hearing this, the servant immediately knelt down and said sincerely, "It was you, Second Young Master, who showed mercy and chose me from the human traffickers, so that my family and I could have a chance to survive. My life belongs to you, Second Young Master, and I will follow you until death."
Young Master Cui leaned over, patted his shoulder, and said, "While there is still time, go say goodbye to your family."
The servant's body stiffened, and he understood what Young Master Cui meant. After kowtowed twice, he left the room.
Young Master Cui walked to the window, looked at the new grass sprouting in the yard, and smiled very softly: "Little brother, little brother, I won in the end."
Whether it was the eldest brother who harmed him, the younger brother who replaced him, or the head of the Cui family who ignored him, they all fell victim to his revenge.
"I am the real heir of the Cui family. I am..."
This extremely light whisper gradually faded away with the spring breeze, and in the end only Young Master Cui could hear it.
Two days later, all of Young Master Cui's past deeds and related evidence were laid out before Patriarch Cui. The steward was able to find out all this so quickly and smoothly because Young Master Cui no longer concealed the secret.
Otherwise, the manager will most likely end up empty-handed every time he investigates Young Master Cui, just like before.
At this time, the Second Young Master Cui was still competing with the head of the Cui family.
It's not that I lost to you, but that I don't want to fight with you anymore.
The Cui family head's expression showed no emotion. Amid the incense smoke, he said to the steward in a cold voice, "Go and bring me that rebellious son."
The steward nodded in agreement.
As a result, he went there in high spirits, but returned in panic.
The butler rushed into the study with a pale face, his eyes wide open as if they were about to burst out of their sockets, and trembled as he said, "Master, the second young master has committed suicide by taking poison!"
When Patriarch Cui heard this, he felt a buzzing in his ears, and he couldn't even hear what the steward said later.
Young Master Cui and his servant drank poisoned wine and died together in the room. The poison in the wine had also killed Young Master Chen before.
As for Mr. Cui, even his death was full of provocation and ridicule.
Everything he did was just to take revenge on the Cui family and drag the Cui family into hell with him.
The head of the Cui family agreed to his son's provocation, and until the second young master Cui was hastily buried, the head of the Cui family never went to see him.
The second young master Cui is the sinner of the Cui family, but family shame should not be made public, especially for a family as noble as theirs.
So despite their anger, the Cui family still gave the second young master Cui a proper funeral and buried him in the Cui family's ancestral tomb, but in a deserted corner, far away from the center of the ancestral tomb.
To the outside world, the Cui family announced that the second young master Cui died suddenly of an acute illness.
With two legitimate sons dying in succession, people who didn't know the truth were lamenting that the Cui family was in such a bad luck, while people who knew the truth had already revealed expressions of panic, because the Cui family's revenge was about to come like a storm.
The Chen family had an informant in the Cui family. Although the informant was just a servant, he had also found out that the head of the Cui family got furious after seeing someone again, and then sent a steward to investigate something. Then the second young master Cui committed suicide by taking poison.
After receiving the news, the head of the Chen family quickly sorted out what had happened.
Cui Xin's whereabouts were revealed to them by Cui Ershao, and Chen Ershao was killed by Cui Ershao. To some extent, they were just pawns of Cui Ershao to take revenge on the Cui family.
For so many years, their Chen family has always been suppressed by the Cui family, and in the end they even became a tool for revenge by a child of the Cui family.
Patriarch Chen smiled sadly, his emotions were extremely complicated.
Zong Zhengxiao also had spies in the Cui family, so the moment the guards stepped into the gate of the Cui Mansion, he anticipated what would happen next.
After he told Rong Yin that the second young master Cui had committed suicide by taking poison, Rong Yin frowned with a look of disgust, "He didn't have the courage to face the trial of his family, so he sent himself to hell in advance. His death would be the end of everything, but who will pay for the sins he committed?"
After falling off his horse, Cui Ershao went mad and his behavior was several times worse than Li Ao. Countless innocent people died at his hands, but his death was easy. Unlike Li Ao, he did not end up in disgrace, letting everyone know that he was actually a sinner.
Zong Zhengxiao hugged Rong Yin from behind and comforted him, "He is dead, but the Cui family is still there. When the Cui family falls, all their sins will be exposed to the sun, and they will be cursed and judged by the world, and the innocent will be redressed."
Rong Yin turned around and hugged Zong Zheng Xiao tightly, whispering firmly, "I look forward to that day."
The truth behind Choi Shin's death is revealed, and the battle between the Choi and Chen families officially begins.
Zong Zheng sat on the high platform, watching the two wild dogs that had been eyeing him covetously tear each other apart for their own interests. Blood and flesh splattered all over the ground. The number of people affected kept increasing, as if the entire capital was about to be overturned.
Patriarch Cui originally thought that it was all the work of foreign enemies, but he did not expect that the real mastermind was one of his own family members. The pain of being stabbed in the back by his loved ones filled his heart, aroused his anger, and made him lose all his composure.
The second son of the Cui family committed suicide, leaving the head of the Cui family with nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only turn his anger towards the Chen family.
The head of the Cui family hypnotized himself. He thought that if the Chen family had not had the intention to oppose the Cui family before, the second young master Cui would not have taken the opportunity to kill the second young master Chen, stir up hatred between the two families, and finally kill his beloved son Cui Xin.
The source of all this trouble is the Chen family, they deserve to die.
Therefore, even though Patriarch Cui knew that the only one who would benefit from the fight between the two families would be Zong Zheng Xiao, he had no intention of showing any patience and swung his sharp blade of revenge directly towards the Chen family without any hesitation.
When two aristocratic families are fighting, other small aristocratic families cannot stay out of it and are forced to take sides.
Anyone with a clear mind knew that the Chen family could never defeat the Cui family, so even those who were originally on the Chen family's side switched to the Cui family one after another, fearing that if they were a second late, they would be regarded as accomplices of the Chen family and be killed by the Cui family.
The Cui family is a prominent family, and this move was a major move that could disrupt the officialdom in the capital, and rumors about the Chen family soon spread.
The Chen family and their allies were corrupt and accepted bribes, and created many false and wrongful cases.
Because of a political disagreement, Master Chen beat to death a sixth-rank official from a poor family after getting drunk. He then used his power to intimidate the official's family not to report the incident to the authorities and concealed the official's real cause of death.
In order to compete with a wealthy businessman from another place for business, Chen Sanshao forced local officials to accuse the businessman of false charges and put him in jail. In the end, the businessman went bankrupt, his wife and children left him, and he jumped into the river and died in despair.
And this is not an isolated case. Young Master Chen has done such a big business over the years, and there are countless deaths on his hands.
There is solid evidence for each and every one of these things, and the Cui family has made all the necessary preparations.
Memorials impeaching the Chen family and their allies filled Zong Zhengxiao's desk, and every word in the memorials was aimed at bringing down the Chen family.
The Cui family's attack is fierce, and the Chen family dare not show weakness. If my Chen family is not clean, your Cui family will not be much better.
If you release the charges and evidence, my Chen family will also release them.
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