Chapter 32 Discovering her escape? He forcefully kisses her!
As soon as he finished speaking, his head was hit again with a shovel with a "bang"!
Xue San swayed from side to side; if He Dayou hadn't grabbed him by the collar, he would have already fallen.
He Dayou was somewhat surprised that Jiang Niangzi had such courage.
If she hadn't been confined to the inner quarters, she might have become a formidable merchant!
Jiang Shiyao held up a shovel, looking at them coldly, "If you don't want him to be beaten to death, then get back!"
And so, everyone was forced out of the grain depot.
A light drizzle was falling outside, and five or six servants retreated into the rain, none of them daring to make a move.
They were genuinely afraid that this woman would kill them!
If Xue San dies, they won't be far from their own demise!
He Dayou, holding Xue San under the eaves, couldn't help but ask, "What should we do now?"
When Xue San finally saw clearly, he was already frozen in the rain, too afraid to move.
His head was also broken, and blood slowly flowed down his forehead and down his cheek.
He raised his hand and wiped it, "Damn it!"
Xue San jumped up instantly, dodging He Dayou's bamboo pole, but Jiang Shiyao mercilessly swung a shovel at him again.
The servants in the rain all shrank back, as if the rain had hit them on the head.
Xue San could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground, swaying unsteadily.
"Third Master! Third Master!"
Do you even know who Third Master is?
"Quickly, go to Minister Xue's residence!"
One of them was so frightened that he turned around and ran towards the Xue residence.
He Dayou, his face pale, touched Xue San's nose and breathed a sigh of relief after a long while.
"He's not dead! He's not dead!"
The nearby merchants had suffered a lot of bullying from Xue San, but they never expected that the person who beat Xue San up today would be a young girl.
They gathered together without even noticing the rain.
Jiang Shiyao's hands turned white as she gripped the shovel. She bit her tongue hard to keep her legs from trembling!
She's someone who's already died once, anyway.
Whether you try to find a way out or not, it makes no difference whether you try in the Duke's mansion or here.
A nearby shopkeeper couldn't help but exclaim, "Well done!"
"Yes! Well done!"
"Xue San has wreaked havoc everywhere; he should have been punished long ago!"
As more and more people appeared on the road, a carriage had to stop because it could not pass.
"Sir, a large crowd has gathered ahead for some reason, and the carriage cannot pass."
Liu Minghan lifted the carriage curtain. "I'll go take a look."
He pushed through the crowd and immediately spotted Jiang Shiyao under the eaves of the grain depot.
He frowned, about to turn around.
A familiar figure pushed through the crowd and rushed to the eaves, picked up the person lying on the ground, and cried.
"Zheng'er!"
The servants, now soaked to the bone, seemed to have found their anchor and began to point the finger at Jiang Shiyao.
"My lord! It was her! She's the one who hit Third Master!"
Xue Hai looked up and saw the bloodstained shovel in her hand.
"Guards! Tie this vile woman up!"
Jiang Shiyao held the shovel horizontally, gritting her teeth, and said, "Let's see who dares!"
"Is there no law left? How can an official of the imperial court condone his relatives and friends to bring disaster to the people!"
Xue Hai's cheek twitched. "What a sharp-tongued girl! Pull out her tongue and see if she dares to spout nonsense again!"
He then pointed at the onlookers, saying, "If anyone dares to utter a single careless word, I'll make sure their family is ruined and they die!"
The surrounding shopkeepers were so frightened that they took a few steps back.
This retreat revealed Liu Minghan's true colors.
Just as Xue Hai was about to order his men to arrest him, Liu Minghan moved the umbrella covering his head up two inches, revealing his face.
"Lord Xue, how impressive!"
Xue Hai's mouth was open, but the words stuck in his throat, neither coming out nor coming down.
After a while, he handed Xue San over to a servant and slowly stood up.
"So it's Lord Liu."
Liu Minghan held an umbrella with one hand, his clothes simple, not even remotely as luxurious as Xue Hai's.
But his aura was so overwhelming that it seemed to engulf people.
Xue Hai had been immersed in the imperial court for many years, and it was through hard work and struggle that he reached his current position.
Liu Minghan was a newly favored official who served in the emperor's inner circle.
He was a protégé of Grand Secretary Li, and countless people were scrambling to curry favor with him.
Xue Hai greeted him as if they had just met after court, saying, "Where are you headed, Lord Liu? My humble abode is not far. Would you do me the honor of having a cup of tea?"
Liu Minghan remained motionless.
He merely raised the corners of his lips slightly, "This humble official will not drink the tea."
In terms of official rank, Liu Minghan was only a sixth-rank official, while Xue Hai was a fifth-rank official.
The title "Your humble servant" is indeed fitting.
However, due to his position, Xue Hai dared not accept the offer.
Liu Minghan glanced at the surrounding merchants and said, "I've long heard that there's a remarkable Master Xue in the guilds of the capital."
"So it's Lord Xue's son."
Xue Hai's heart skipped a beat. "Yes, it's the child of a relative from my hometown. I have no son."
Xue Hai wasn't incapable of having children, but rather incapable of raising them; they all died young.
Even if they are adopted, regardless of gender, they never grow up.
As a result, Xue Hai was nearly fifty years old and had no children.
That's why I thought of directly adopting a child who had already grown up, without thinking about whether we were close or not since the child wasn't raised by me.
Xue Zheng has been in Beijing for more than five years. Xue Hai has kept the adoption a secret, for fear that the family line would end again.
Liu Minghan glanced at Xue Hai and pulled out a bright yellow note from his sleeve.
"Lord Xue, please come with me."
Xue Hai swayed slightly.
At this moment, Xue Zheng slowly woke up and saw Xue Hai as soon as he opened his eyes.
She struggled to her feet, grabbed his leg, and started crying, "Dad! You have to stand up for me!"
"That little bitch is going to kill me!!"
Xue Hai's face turned pale, and he kicked Xue Zheng to the ground, yelling, "Who's your father!"
Liu Minghan glanced at Xue Hai, then his gaze finally settled on Jiang Shiyao.
He then looked around at the merchants and said, "Anyone who has been bullied by the Xue family can report it to the capital's yamen (government office)."
Xue Hai collapsed into the rain.
Xue Zheng was also dumbfounded. What did this mean? He crawled over, trying to grab Xue Hai.
"Get lost! You jinx! You've ruined my life!" Xue Hai kicked Xue Zheng in the chest.
He scrambled to his feet in a flurry, "Quickly, prepare generous gifts! Have Madam prepare generous gifts to send to the Li residence!"
The Xue family members ran away in a panic.
The remaining merchants grew louder and louder, all expressing their hatred for the Xue family.
He Dayou patted his pounding heart, coming back to his senses. "Being an official isn't a guarantee of safety; it can collapse at any moment..."
Jiang Shiyao put down the shovel and realized that her hands were stiff.
She leaned against the wall for a while before she recovered.
"Manager He, tomorrow you will have two people guard the granary. Today it just so happens that the Xue family was being investigated."
"Who knows if there will be any Fourth Master or Fifth Master in the future?"
He Dayou nodded, "Okay, I'll go to the martial arts school tomorrow."
It was getting late, and Jiang Shiyao had to go back.
For safety reasons, she had the driver stop at the intersection of Nancheng Archway.
She passed by the wonton stall from last time, holding an umbrella.
"Jiang Niangzi".
Jiang Shiyao turned around while holding up her umbrella.
It's raining today, so the wonton stall owner isn't out. A tall figure stands under the awning.
A coachman wearing a straw raincoat was repairing a horse-drawn carriage by the awning.
Liu Minghan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the person holding the umbrella through the rain.
It's like seeing that little girl from my childhood, still smiling with a tattered umbrella in hand.
He called out again, "Madam Jiang."
Jiang Shiyao did not move.
Through the misty rain, he bowed and said, "Thank you very much, Lord Liu, for today."
Liu Minghan's lips twitched slightly, then he said distantly.
"It's just a coincidence."
He glanced at the increasingly heavy rain and said, "The wind is strong and the rain is heavy, Madam Jiang, you should go back."
Just then, a horse-drawn carriage happened to pass by.
The wind lifted the carriage curtain.
Zhou Congxian looked up and saw it.
Jiang Shiyao held an umbrella in the rain and gazed tenderly at Liu Minghan.
"Jiang Shiyao!"
Jiang Shiyao looked back and saw him with surprise for a moment.
Zhou Congxian still managed to keenly observe it.
He stood on the frame, surrounded by the rain, his eyes seemingly filled with anger.
"Sir, the car is fixed."
Liu Minghan glanced to the side, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhou Congxian, and then turned and got into the carriage.
The carriage slowly drove away, and Jiang Shiyao lowered her eyes slightly before turning to board Zhou Congxian's carriage.
The rain grew heavier, with large drops pelting the car roof like a stampede of horses.
Inside the cramped carriage, only two soft breaths could be heard.
Zhou Congxian took off his already soaked cloak and threw it at his feet.
His voice was slightly cool, "Another coincidence."
"What excuse are you going to use against me this time? Did your brother write to you? Or are you going to stand up for your brother again?"
Last time, it was Song Jiyun who saw her explanation.
This time, he saw it with his own eyes.
Jiang Shiyao pursed her lips. She had come for the matter of the granary, and her encounter with Liu Minghan was purely coincidental.
"Lord Liu was my brother's classmate and good friend, but I have no impression of him. I have not seen Lord Liu for several years since I entered the Duke's mansion in the capital."
"It was just a coincidence. I only greeted Lord Liu and didn't say a word."
"Heh." Zhou Congxian chuckled lightly, "White Horse Temple, wonton stalls, what other places don't I know?"
Jiang Shiyao looked up, her lips trembling slightly, "Does Your Highness know what you are saying?"
In her previous life, she died for adultery.
In this life, will she still be forced to bear such a sin?
Zhou Congxian's face was so dark it looked like it could drip water. "Then do you even know what you're doing!"
"Or do you think I'm too lenient, which is why you're so brazen?!"
Jiang Shiyao gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with disbelief, "I didn't!"
"No?" His gaze grew even colder.
He grabbed her wrist, and with the movement, the cold bracelet emerged from her sleeve.
This bracelet seems to mock his past attempts to befriend him as a joke.
His gaze shifted from the bracelet to her face, a storm brewing in his eyes.
"Do you think I can believe you?!"
"Leaving the manor alone, disguised, could it be that you did it specifically for me, the young master!"
Jiang Shiyao pursed her lips into a line, and after a long while, she turned her face to the side.
"If Your Highness does not believe me, I have nothing to say."
Zhou Congxian suddenly leaned forward, grabbed her chin, and forced her to turn and look at him.
His eyes darkened, and the anger that had been burning in his chest was instantly reflected in them.
"Is it that they have nothing to say, or that they have no way to refute it?"
Jiang Shiyao looked at the surging emotions in his eyes and uttered each word carefully.
"I have nothing to say."
These four words struck his heart like a hammer blow.
His heart was pounding heavily. The woman in front of him was so close, yet she felt so far away that he couldn't grasp her.
It was as if an unprecedented emotion spread through his body and eventually overwhelmed his reason.
He grabbed the back of her neck and pressed her against the car wall, then pressed his lips down hard, urgently and fiercely, with a domineering possessiveness.
"Ugh! -- Let go!"
Jiang Shiyao felt a sharp pain in the corner of her lips. One of her hands was restrained, while the other was pressed against his chest as she struggled desperately.
"Let go?" Zhou Congxian's eyes were surprisingly dark and bright, his lips met, and the softness in his mouth became hot.
"Where are you going? To find Liu Minghan?"
"Zhou Congxian!" Jiang Shiyao turned her head with bloodshot eyes, and his burning lips landed on her ear.
I said I didn't!
He slowly got up and moved away a short distance. He looked at her lips, which were as red as rouge, and his eyes were filled with desire.
“Jiang Shiyao, as long as I am here, you can never leave the Duke of Ying’s mansion.”
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