0054 054 Grand View Garden
The Guan family estate in the south of the city, which spanned the entire hilltop, was in a state of utter devastation. In their dazed state, everyone was jolted awake by a loud bang.
Before taking a nap, Guan Xiang was holding a beautiful young girl in each of his arms. As he slept, he fell asleep and, in his dream, he disliked the scent of the girl on his right. So he stretched out his leg and kicked the girl off the bed.
The girl on the left was sleeping even more soundly than him, but she jumped up suddenly after hearing the noise and landed on his arm. Luckily, Mr. Guan was in a good mood today and didn't get angry. He even hugged her and coaxed her for a few words.
A murmur of discussion broke out in the courtyard. Guan Xiang slapped the bed board in dissatisfaction. The old housekeeper hurriedly went outside to coax the women to be quiet, but the favored second wife didn't care about any of that. She rushed in from her courtyard with her hair disheveled, shoved open the door, pushed aside the pitiful little girl, and sat down next to Guan Xiang, raising her hand to calm her wildly beating heart.
Guan Xiang was also jolted awake by the noise. He got up, leaned against the headboard, and used his knee to brace against the back of his second wife.
"You're scared over such a small thing? Where did your skill in rushing into the casino with an axe to save me go?"
"Still laughing? You can still laugh? I'm just worried about you! Have you forgotten how your right ear was blown out?"
"Okay, okay, it's my fault. Come here, madam, let me hug you."
They embraced each other without restraint, ignoring the increasing number of women entering the room, all of them weeping. Guan Xiang looked at them with longing, and with a wave of his hand, he said he would tell them all about the past.
"That was six years ago. Lin Ya's spendthrift younger brother, Lin Shang, came to me for help. He said he had consulted a fortune teller and that all his wealth in this life was trapped in the mountains. He was just too timid to move out, which is why he was so poor. But it's not surprising that he was afraid. Six years ago, Jingyang was still dominated by the Pei family. The fact that he came to me for help meant he was so poor that he couldn't afford to eat. I gave him a shell company and sent him and a lot of workers to the mountains in the south. A thunderclap sounded, but instead of money flying out, a Buddha statue was blown out."
As he spoke, he raised his pipe, and his second wife leaned over to light it for him, then lay down in his arm.
Guan Xiang exhaled a large puff of smoke, and found it amusing to recall Lin Shang's frightened appearance, foaming at the mouth.
"Lin Shang is most afraid of ghosts and gods, especially Buddha statues. He was so scared that he ran away in a panic. The workers also ran out and left the machines I was carrying for him behind. I was abroad at the time. When I came back, Lin Ya was crying in front of my house while Lin Shang was there. She even blamed me. If she hadn't left in anger, do you think you would have ever risen to power?"
He pinched the second wife's delicate skin between two fingers and rubbed it hard, making half of the woman's face turn red.
The second wife dared not struggle, and could only gently slap his wrist with the handkerchief in her hand, appearing weak and helpless.
"You still like that woman who only has eyes for her brother. Do you expect me to thank her? Because of her, I've been living in this courtyard for years, and you haven't even glanced at me once."
Guan Xiang laughed and took another drag of his cigarette. Another woman clung to his right, her voice seductive and alluring.
"Master Guan, what's in that cave?"
"What's there? That place is full of treasures. Just one item would be enough to exchange for all of you."
The giant Buddha lies horizontally in the middle of the mountain, on its right side, with its right hand under its head. Half of the Buddha statue is exposed outside, while the other half is still stuck in the mountain. The color of the Buddha statue has become the same as that of the mountain, with an earthy yellow hue. The Buddha's left hand is outstretched, with fingers longer than its entire body. The upturned curve seems as if it is about to crush anyone who passes by.
There is a clear door at the fingertips of the Buddha's right hand, leading to an empty little room.
Guan Xiang still doesn't believe there's nothing inside. He thinks someone had already come and emptied the place before this.
Following the Buddha's body down to his feet, a long staircase leads to a lower level. Each step is lit with an oil lamp, perhaps indicating that there are truly eternal lamps in the world. These lamps are still burning, suggesting that the air here is rich in nutrients. Going down the stairs, you find that the lower chamber has indeed been emptied.
"Aren't these businessmen all superstitious? How could Guan Xiang dare to steal everything from here? Isn't he afraid of retribution?"
"He's already died ten times over, this is still a short time."
"So he took everything out to sell? He can't just keep it all at home, can he?"
"Of course he sold it. He has no shortage of customers, and his customers include idiots and lunatics who collect everything."
Qi Yu walked ahead, while Qi Shuyao and Shi Heyu chatted behind him, one sentence at a time. Finally, they found the source of the air by following the narrow path. They stood at the exit and looked out at the waterfall that had just been blasted out.
"So, you're going to arrest Guan Xiang?"
"It'll be soon. He's been showing too much of his true colors lately; he won't be able to keep up this for much longer."
According to Guan Xiang's account, he was not a plunderer, but a hero who liberated the Buddha from its confinement. He was entitled to keep the treasures behind the Buddha. He saw out of the corner of his eye that the little girl he had taken a liking to last month was playing with a handheld bronze mirror, but he did not tell her that it was brought back from the Buddha's pillow.
The butler walked in, bypassed the women scattered all over the floor, and went to the bedside. He whispered a few words to Guan Xiang, and his hand that was stroking the second wife's arm suddenly tightened, leaving five very deep red marks.
"Qi Yu, it's him again. He just loves to go against me. Well then, let's play this game to the end and see who has the last laugh."
He waved for the steward to leave, then sat up and began fastening the buttons of his shirt, which exposed his breasts. The room had just quieted down for a moment when the chatter outside resumed. After a while, two servants ran over to report.
"Master, the Third Miss and the Fourth Miss are fighting again."
Before Guan Xiang could speak, the second wife exploded. She sat bolt upright in bed, ignoring her disheveled hair and disregarding her image, and shouted towards the floor below.
“There are two mistresses fighting every day, turning the house upside down. If she’s so capable, she should have killed the adults too. What’s so great about her just aborting her baby?”
The servant knelt at the door, not daring to utter a sound. Guan Xiang didn't respond either. He just sat behind the second wife, stroking her back and coaxing her with sweet words.
"Oh dear, what's wrong? Your temper has been getting worse lately, is it acting up again?"
He reached out to touch her stomach, but she slapped his hand away.
"What's wrong with that? The disobedient son I gave birth to for you two years ago still makes my back hurt. If you want to have another child, go find someone else. You've recently taken a fancy to Cheng Jie's son's daughter-in-law, running to that widow's door every few days. That young widow is indeed beautiful, with a slim waist and plump hips. Maybe she can give you another son."
She was half-jokingly complaining, hoping to get some comfort, but unfortunately it was time for Guan Xiang to go for tea in the afternoon. The maid in charge of the house came in directly to help him change his clothes. The two of them were pressed together, which made the second wife so angry that she threw her handkerchief down again.
She dared to complain about the young widows outside, but she wouldn't dare to confront the head maid in the house. This woman was extremely ruthless and was trained by Old Madam Guan. All the masters and young masters in the house were at her beck and call, and her words carried more weight than those of the pretentious First Madam.
However, while Guan Xiang was still there, she remembered another person she couldn't stand.
"Master, who exactly is Yang Pingping, the one you've been keeping at home? She always has a stern face and never smiles. She's never friendly with anyone, and she even rolls her eyes at me."
"Did you go and provoke her?"
Guan Xiang finally reacted, but in a cold, questioning tone, which frightened the second wife so much that she immediately turned around and knelt down.
"No, no, no! I don't even dare to go into her yard. I just sometimes run into her..."
"Ignore her. What she does is none of your business. Don't provoke her."
After saying that, he turned and left, leaving behind a room full of women moaning and groaning. After he left, the third and fourth young ladies were still lying on the ground, twisted together. He glanced at them and turned away in disgust.
"Let's send it to the casino sometime; it's too noisy."
"Yes, sir."
The car drove out of the yard, and Guan Kang, who was walking back from the gate, ran into it. Guan Kang glanced at his father's car, but didn't even raise his eyelids, and went straight back into the house.
Inside the room, a woman wearing only a thin shawl sat on the bed, her long, bare legs stretched out behind her. She leaned against the windowsill, watching the car drive away.
Hearing the voice, she smiled and turned around, catching Guan Kang's embrace.
He bit her shoulder hard, scaring the maids around him into silence. In his ear, the woman spoke rapidly in a voice only he could hear.
"Guanxiang came into the house this morning and said he's been quite busy lately, but he'll take me out next Saturday, probably to the casino."
She finished speaking and groaned in pain as the father and son repeatedly pounded into her lower body, causing her excruciating pain that felt like it was being torn apart.
The little maid wrote all of these scenes down.
After quickly packing their luggage at the Fairy Gathering, Qi Yu and his group set off back to Yangcheng. He briefly changed his clothes at home before heading to Jingyang. Just as the car drove off, Qi Shuyao emerged from the backyard, flagged down a car, and went to Yangcheng East Women's Prison.
After the verdict was handed down, she visited Li Qing in prison twice. She didn't know if Qi Yu had pulled any strings inside, but the first two meetings went very smoothly. Li Qing seemed normal and in good spirits.
This time was no different. After the gatekeeper took her certificate, he went to verify it. When he came out, it was another leader she had never seen before. He said with a serious expression that this prisoner was not allowed to visit him at the moment, and then slammed the door shut.
Qi Shuyao was stunned by the sound and stood there for a while, staring straight at the large iron gate in front of her.
Her first thought was that something strange had happened to the Mai family again, but the gossip about their family that the young ladies had been discussing lately was about the old lady finding a new wife for Mai Hong, which was rejected by all the other families.
She saw the taxi off and walked home dejectedly, ignoring the constant honking of cars on the side of the road.
"Yao Yao! Yao! Qi Shuyao! Sister, turn around!"
She finally snapped out of her daze as she was called out, and turned to see Xiang Zhiyu waving frantically from her car by the roadside.
Why are you back?
"Get in the car first, it's hot outside."
Qi Shuyao got into the passenger seat, took the tissue he handed her and wiped the sweat from her forehead. There was only one prison inside this road, so it was obvious why she was there.
"Why the long face? Did the conversation go wrong?"
"What crashed? I didn't see it at all. Everything was going smoothly before, so why is it not working this time? What exactly are those people up there messing around with? It's so annoying."
"Leave this to me, I'll take a look at it for you."
"Huh? You even have connections in prison?"
"Of course, my connections are all over the world!"
Qi Shuyao looked at Xiang Zhiyu in disbelief, and seeing his smug expression, she told him the truth.
"Oh, actually, my dad used to do all sorts of things, and many of his buddies ended up in jail. The men's and women's prisons are part of the same system in the leadership's eyes, and they all got to know each other there."
"Amazing, it can turn anything into a system."
"See, this is exactly what we need! Don't worry, little sister, I'll find out for you in a couple of days. Let's go for a drink today!"
The sports car roared to life and sped off.
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