Lu's daughter (revision)
"You have a grudge against Li Nu, and you want her life. You know the young man I'm traveling with is no ordinary person, and a girl from a brothel is just a word away from him. Yet, you say we can't kill her and refuse. I didn't care at first, but now I think it must be that you knew what it was all along. How about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal do you want to make with me, sir?"
"I'll help you kill the raccoon slave, give you her body, and redeem you."
These few soft words carried a lot of weight in Nianhua's ears. Yuanli was about 70% sure that she would agree.
When they went upstairs just now, although Nianha and Yu's mother seemed to be in harmony on the surface, there was some hostility in Nianha's expression and their eyes.
Yu's mother knew that Nianhua had her own affairs. As for the money tree, no matter how much she disliked it, she wouldn't harbor any grudges against it. Therefore, it was highly likely that Nianhua and Yu's mother had already fallen out.
The money lost by a syphilitic cannot be redeemed by the money earned from redeeming her. The biggest way to make up for the loss is to trade her to another unsuspecting brothel.
"Sir, please don't be ridiculous. How can mortals like you and me fight against a monster, even if it's powerful? I know it well, but I can't kill it, let alone you."
"Since I can sit here and tell you this, I'm confident. I see you're looking haggard, Miss Nianhua. I'm sure you're worried about these two things, too."
Seeing her hesitation, Yuanli added, "If you don't take a chance with me, what chance do you have of turning things around? If you go against the demon, I'll be dead if the cat demon doesn't die, and anyone who knows your secret will disappear from this world. But redeeming yourself is a sure thing. You should understand the principle of picking flowers and keeping the green mountains alive, right?"
"I understand, but after being in this flower business for so long, it's inevitable that I'll be more wary of others. Tomorrow, Mother Yu will sell me to an underground flower kiln. You must redeem me first. Once you get the indenture, I will tell you everything."
With the good foundation of the previous transaction, Yuanli naturally trusted her a little. Even if she guessed wrong and found the wrong person, it would not be a loss. She could just consider it as a reward for the Sanlang case.
"make a deal."
After deliberately staying at the Moon-Viewing Platform for two hours, Yuanli loosened her collar and rubbed some lip balm around her neck before leaving.
Seeing her leave, Mother Yu hurried over, her eyes quickly brushing across Yuanli's neck as she said with an apologetic smile, "Young Master, are you leaving? But was there anything wrong with Nianhua's service?"
"That's very thoughtful, but my wife should be awake by this time. I have to go back quickly to avoid being discovered. I'll come again at this time tomorrow."
Hearing this, Mother Yu stood there in a daze, her eyes evasive and awkward. She tentatively said, "I have a new girl here. She's as pretty as a flower, and most importantly, she's still a virgin. Why don't you try to arrange for her tomorrow?"
Yuanli put away her smile and angrily said, "Chi'er knows nothing. How can she compare to my charming and charming way of picking flowers? Did Mama Yu turn around to greet other guests?"
"No, no, even if we have guests tomorrow, we'll turn it down and wait for you. Sir, take care."
Stepping out of the door, Yuanli threw away the heavy bag of reward money, and got into the carriage without looking back under Yu Mama's greedy smile.
"Madam, your neck..." Qiuyue handed her the handkerchief with a strange look in her eyes and pointed at the lip balm on her neck.
Yuanli was still immersed in the pain of today's "huge consumption" and did not notice Qiuyue's thoughts that were wandering to the end of the long street.
Three donation boxes were used up, three donation boxes, what a sin, what a sin!
"Wipe it clean for me, don't let the master see it."
"It turns out that domestic flowers are not as fragrant as wild flowers. Madam, you asked me to buy the Flower Room Records not for the wedding with the master of the family, but to play in the flower shop."
Qiuyue pulled the sleeve of the angry Chunyue and whispered, "This is my wife, Chunyue, don't talk nonsense."
"I'm not talking nonsense. I'm just standing up for the Patriarch. He's one of the most handsome men in the capital, rich, powerful, and deeply in love with you. How could he be any less than a wild chicken out there? Madam, you're so confused!"
Yuanli was so amused by Chunyue's protection that she couldn't help but say, "If your master heard this, he would definitely reward you for your eagerness to protect him."
"Madam, please don't blame Chunyue for speaking rashly. In fact, what Chunyue said is not without reason. Even if her words are rough, her logic is not rough."
"Do you two really think I was going there for some fun? I was going there to do some serious work and look for clues. I just put the lip balm on."
Upon hearing this, Chunyue and Qiuyue's expressions relaxed a lot.
In front of Qi Mansion.
Speak of the devil, here he is. As soon as Yuanli got off the carriage, Chu Xiao's horse galloped towards Qi Mansion from afar.
After he finished reporting the case to Qi Heng as usual and came out of his bedroom, Yuanli immediately called him over mysteriously and gave him numerous instructions.
At night, the wind blows.
Chu Xiao was very efficient and brought the person quietly into the backyard room of the mansion in the middle of the night.
She was dressed modestly, her brow furrowed with worry. She looked around to see if there was anyone around. She waved to him to come closer, leaning forward to whisper in his ear, and asked seriously, "How much did you spend?"
Chu Xiao was speechless. Seeing her serious look before, he thought she would ask about important clues, but she asked this.
"Don't worry, Madam. Before I left, you told me to buy the most beautiful girl as quickly as possible with the least amount of money. I have been very careful and prudent, and I haven't spent a cent."
The result was beyond Yuanli's expectation. Upon hearing that it was free, the dark clouds on Yuanli's brow disappeared, and she became in a good mood. There was even a bit more appreciation in the look she gave Chu Xiao.
Everything was said without words. Yuanli patted his shoulder solemnly to show her approval, turned around and pushed open the door of the wing rooms.
Before closing the door, Yuanli held the door with both hands and instructed: "The chicken and duck that the adults brought yesterday were excellent. The master ordered braised duck to be made. You can take some back."
After saying that, Yuanli closed the door. Nianhua was sitting there with some restraint and caution.
Sitting beside her, Yuanli listened to the footsteps outside the house gradually receding until they completely disappeared. She smiled faintly and said, "I've sent him away. You must have observed this place when you came. It's a remote location with few servants. Now it's just the two of us."
"What does the girl want to know?"
"Why do you want the skin of a raccoon? What's your grudge against her?"
"Because that skin doesn't belong to it in the first place. To be more precise, it's the head on her neck. She can't do this business with my sister Lu Ning's face."
As Nianhua said this, she clenched her fists, her eyes filled with resentment, veins bulged on her fair skin, her nails were pinching so hard that they were almost digging into the flesh, and her eyes were filled with resentment.
"You're right." Nianhua's empty eyes met Yuanli's, and she focused, "My sister's identity is just as you thought. However, the Lu family has been wronged, and it's our Yuan family who owes her."
Nianha took out two old envelopes from her lapel. The handwriting on each envelope was different, and the cover of both envelopes was written: From Yuan Pei himself.
He had seen the name Yuan Pei in the case records. He was the key witness in the case of embezzlement of disaster relief funds.
When dealing with the flood, Yuan Pei was in charge of searching and rescuing people and handling emergencies, while Lu Yongquan was in charge of the follow-up resettlement of the victims, complementing each other.
Rather than saying it was a witness, it would be more accurate to say that the deposed prince was in a panic and sacrificed his rook to save his king.
The quick action resulted in many mistakes and omissions, which just happened to help the emperor to seize the opportunity and preserve his clan membership, but it also lost the hope of regaining the throne of crown prince forever.
However, this chess piece of the deposed prince was promoted after the deposed prince was defeated.
Without opening the two letters, Yuanli had already figured out the Lu case in her mind.
"A new official takes office with three major responsibilities. After the emperor ascended the throne, my father was wrongly exiled, and I went from being a courtesan to a prostitute. It was also around that time, after being sold several times, that I met Lu Ning, who had been captured in an underground black kiln. She was smart and kind, open to others and treated me well. It was also because of her wisdom that we escaped and became homeless again. But my sister always found a way to fill her stomach every now and then. She said that she wanted to live. She carried hatred on her shoulders, and she had to redress my father's injustice."
Picking flowers and preaching, even though Lu Ning's family was broken up at that time, he was unwilling to sell himself to survive.
While fleeing, they were taken in by an elderly widowed woman who was mute, childless, and lived in a dilapidated wooden house left behind by her deceased husband, making a living by sewing and washing clothes for others.
The two sisters learned to help so that they could earn more and have enough food to eat.
When Lu Ning grew up a little, she went out to collect old clothes that needed to be sewn and washed for the old woman. Several kind-hearted people living in the next room knew that the old woman had picked up two refugee girls, so they took better care of them and gave her the clothes without hesitation.
But her face became more and more beautiful as she grew older. She didn't dare go out for fear of attracting thieves. In comparison, Nianhua's face was much more ordinary, so she took over her job.
Later, Lu Ning fell seriously ill and needed money.
It was also at that time that Nianha learned of Lu Ning's true identity and the hatred within her.
The evidence to overturn the verdict was in her possession, but she dared not give it to Lu Ning. The emperor had already ascended the throne, and if she gave it to him, she would be so bent on revenge that he would not let her live.
Nianha found a way to get the money to save her. She lied to Lu Ning that she was a night watchman in a wealthy family. She went out to work every evening to support her family and returned home tired in the early morning.
Nianhua had a selfish idea, she wanted Lu Ning to live. So she secretly vowed to climb to the top, become Lu Ning's cash cow, and let her live a good life.
When she was sixteen, her mother-in-law died, and Lu Ning became a walking corpse without any emotions, sewing and washing clothes sent by the villagers day and night.
Until one day, Nianhua met a wealthy customer who offered her a hundred taels of gold to spend three days with her. A hundred taels of gold was enough for Lu Ning to live a wealthy life for a while.
As soon as the big customer left, Nianha ran home with some of the gold. She was eager to take Lu Ning to live a good life.
But when he got home, there was no trace of Lu Ning except a scary-looking dead cat and a strange circle of tobacco ash on the ground.
Later, Nianhua became the most famous courtesan in Kyoto and had many powerful patrons. She asked them to help her find Lu Ning, but to no avail.
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