A glimpse of the nine
Ever since Su Lingzhao felt that after her trip to Da'an Town with Wang Pan'er, she had told her father in detail about opening a branch store and managed to get information about either herself or Wang Pan'er's ideal husband, her father was very satisfied and praised her lavishly. After that, Su Lingzhao became attached to Wang Pan'er.
He suddenly realized the value of his father's view that "a legal wife is someone who brings resources and connections, while a concubine is someone who brings feelings."
Because of his wealth and good looks, many women would take the initiative to get close to him and drink with him, but in the dead of night, he would feel a sense of absurd loneliness and desolation, as if he could not control his fate.
At first, he always felt that the Su family controlled the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce, and with such a large and powerful family business, he, as the only son in the family, was naturally entitled to inherit the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce, thanks to the protection of his ancestors. However, his father's words, "Find a son-in-law for your sister to manage the family business," were like a bucket of ice water poured over his head in winter, the chill seeping into his bones and impossible to shake off.
Su Lingya was no pushover. Lacking her father's favor and being a woman, she had never harbored any designs on the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce. If Su Lingya knew that her father intended to take a son-in-law into the family, she would surely plot to crush him mercilessly.
Knowing he was no match for his father, Su Lingzhao dared not compete and could only plot in a corner, trying to figure out how to please him. As for love, wives, and concubines, he cast them all aside in the face of absolute benefits. Moreover, Wang Pan'er was understanding, and after much consideration, he actually became satisfied with this marriage.
He finally gained his father's approval through Wang Pan'er, and his restless heart finally found a moment of peace. However, desire took root in his mind, making him want to acquire more. He had to marry Wang Pan'er, then successfully inherit the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce, and then have Wang Pan'er help manage the chamber. Taking in a son-in-law carries the risk of three generations of the family line being destroyed, but once Wang Pan'er gave birth to a son and there was a next-generation heir, why would the Su family have to worry about its foundation being cut off?
The candlelight flickered, and Su Lingzhao turned over again.
Hearing the commotion, the servant called out from outside the door, "Young master, would you like some calming tea?"
"No, thank you," Su Lingzhao replied. "I have some things I need to think about. Just wait for me."
"yes."
He gazed at the deep blue-green bed curtains, recalling his father's encouragement during the day to continue visiting the surrounding counties and his request to analyze the differences in the business and cultural environments of each region and their impact on running a shop. Su Lingzhao felt a headache coming on, fearing that his thinking wasn't far-reaching enough and would incur his father's disdain.
They still had to keep Wang Pan'er by their side.
Greed gleamed in Su Lingzhao's eyes, and he tossed and turned all night without sleeping.
*
Today, the kitchen made some sesame seed cakes, filled with scallions and minced meat. The combination of crispy and juicy flavors was incredibly satisfying. Paired with a bowl of fried rice cakes and thick, smooth white porridge to cleanse the palate, I could feel like a happy little girl all day long.
Wang Pan'er was happily eating her porridge and sesame seed cake when the gatekeeper came up to report, "The second young master of the Su family has arrived."
Wang Pan'er paused in her chewing and said indistinctly, "So early? You've already come at such a young age."
“One-fifth of the hour of Chen,” the young woman replied, “but the second young master of the Su family looks listless.”
I guess something must have happened.
Wang Pan'er instructed, "He probably hasn't had breakfast yet. Please invite him to the dining room."
After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Mu Chuan again.
Mu Chuan pursed his lips, then discreetly picked up another piece of sesame seed cake and placed it on his empty plate. He then licked up a bowl of porridge, put it all on his plate, and carried it into the courtyard.
Wang Pan'er watched him walk away. Mu Chuan walked a short distance away and deliberately turned back to give her an unpleasant look.
What a disappointment!
Wang Pan'er looked gloomy. Realizing her state, she quickly composed herself, put on a smile, and welcomed Su Lingzhao, whom the young lady had brought, to the dining table: "Young Master Su has not eaten yet, has he? The kitchen made some sesame cakes today, which were quite good."
Su Lingzhao didn't even have time to eat. As soon as she saw Wang Pan'er, she started sighing, "Miss Wang, you have to help me!"
"What happened?"
Su Lingzhao explained his father's arrangements in detail, and then helped Wang Pan'er find a reason to travel together: "Miss Wang is about to open a branch store, so why don't we go together to visit some of the surrounding towns?"
Su Lingzhao's reasoning was valid, but Wang Pan'er's thoughts went beyond simply opening a branch.
Searching together would inevitably lead to communication, which would build rapport and allow them to infiltrate the enemy ranks sooner. Besides, Su Lingzhao wasn't particularly clever, nor did he believe that she, as a woman, could surpass him in status. If he were to become a liability along the way, or if she managed to extract information that led him to reveal clues, it would be a case of sacrificing his child to catch the wolf.
Wang Pan'er replied, "That's a good idea. I was planning to visit the surrounding towns anyway. Since Young Master Su has invited me, how can I refuse?"
"Good! Good! Good!" Su Lingzhao exclaimed three times.
Upon receiving Wang Pan'er's affirmative reply, Su Lingzhao immediately shed his worried expression and wanted to invite Wang Pan'er to set off.
Wang Pan'er quickly waved her hand: "Young Master Su looks tired. He probably didn't sleep well last night. If he goes today, he'll probably just be rushing through the sights. Why don't you go home and rest first, and think about which town you want to visit first? We'll meet at the manor gate at Chenshi tomorrow."
"good."
Su Lingzhao was emotionally agitated, but because he hadn't slept all night and was physically exhausted, his mind was in a state of confusion. He was shivering and forgot to greet anyone. Like a drunkard, he stumbled out of the manor gate.
He rested well for a day, and dared not break his promise. The next morning, he drove his carriage and waited at the gate of the manor.
Wang Pan'er hurriedly finished washing up, ran out, and got into the carriage.
Although getting up early requires a lot of willpower, leaving late means spending the night outside, and she didn't want to dawdle with Su Lingzhao while they were out.
He nodded to Su Lingzhao and watched as the servant placed the morning tea and snacks on the wooden table.
Wang Pan'er shook her head, refusing breakfast. It wasn't her usual mealtime yet, and she had no appetite. She found a comfortable position on the soft stool and closed her eyes, intending to catch up on some sleep.
The mountain path rattled the carriage, making a creaking sound. Wang Pan'er, who was not a sound sleeper, felt, in her half-awake state, that the carriage seemed to have stopped.
The servant called out from outside the sedan chair door: "Second Young Master, there are people halfway up the mountain."
Su Lingzhao lifted the sedan curtain, and the wind carrying the scent of mountain dew blew onto Wang Pan'er's face. She comfortably opened one eye, slightly adjusted her posture, tilted her head, and was about to fall asleep again.
"There really is an old farmer." Su Lingzhao's muttered voice came from beside him. "He's waving. Has something happened to him?"
The servant replied, "Shall we go take a look?"
Su Lingzhao said, "We can't just stand by and watch someone die. Get some water and dry food, and we'll go up together to check the situation."
The two rummaged through their bundles, gathering water bags and a variety of snacks and fruits, before heading up the mountain.
Wang Pan'er frowned, annoyed by the noise. She thought to herself, "Where does this spoiled young master Su Lingzhao get so much kindness? He's probably just putting on a show for her."
She lifted the curtain and, still half-asleep, looked at the farmer they were talking about, halfway up the mountain.
The farmer, wearing a small brown hat, stood steadily halfway up the hillside, waving towards the carriage.
He saw people get off the carriage, but they didn't make a sound or call out; they just kept waving their hands, which was indescribably eerie.
Wang Pan'er was suddenly startled. Goosebumps rose from her back to her limbs, and in an instant, she broke out in a cold sweat. Her sleepiness vanished, and her mind became infinitely clear.
Something's not right!
Where did this farmer wearing a small hat come from halfway up the mountain? He stood there motionless, not looking like he was injured and asking for help. It was probably a scam.
She called out to Su Lingzhao and the servant, "Where did these people come from in this deep forest? Don't go up, be careful, it might be a trap."
Su Lingzhao was indeed showing off his kindness, retorting to Wang Pan'er, "It's precisely because it's deep in the mountains and forests that we can't stand by and watch someone die if they need help!"
I haven't seen your poor employees receive any extra monthly allowance, nor have I seen you give any charity to the poor people, yet you're putting on a show in this desolate place.
Wang Pan'er inwardly complained, but she couldn't just watch Su Lingzhao climb the mountain with the servant.
If something happens to Su Lingzhao and she goes back alone, Master Su will definitely be able to find out the clues that she traveled with Su Lingzhao, and then he will let her go.
This is absolutely infuriating! To run into such an idiot.
Wang Pan'er was so angry that her eyes almost bulged out. She gritted her teeth, quickly jumped off the carriage, and followed.
She climbed more than ten steps when she suddenly remembered a picture she had seen online about pinhole imaging—pinching your thumb and forefinger together, then placing your middle finger on the knuckle of your thumb, the three fingers forming a small triangular hole, which is like a telescope built into the human body.
Wang Pan'er raised her hand and looked through the hole, her face turning pale with shock.
This isn't a farmer at all; it's a bear pretending to be a human!
Bears have poor eyesight and are not sensitive to inanimate objects. Moving objects often catch their eye, while when they are still, they often rely on sound to locate objects. So when they encounter people, they often pretend to be human, putting cow dung on their heads as a hat and waving to lure food to their door.
Wang Pan'er called out in a low voice to Su Lingzhao, who was about 20 or 30 meters away, "Come back, it's a bear!"
"Are you crazy? This is no bear." Su Lingzhao turned around and saw Wang Pan'er coming up with him. She grinned and reached out to her, "Don't scare yourself. Come on up with me."
His voice was quite loud, and the brown bear halfway up the mountain twitched its ears.
Wang Pan'er exclaimed in alarm, "Come back right now!"
“If you’re scared, just press Enter yourself…” Su Lingzhao said, turning around as he spoke, but before he could finish, he froze in place.
Suddenly, the farmer he was talking about shook his head, flung off his "hat," bent down, and landed on all fours before charging towards them.
The servant realized what was happening and pulled Su Lingzhao back immediately. Unfortunately, the young master, who was used to being waited on hand and foot, was lazy and, while being dragged along, tripped over the vines and roots that covered the ground.
Wang Pan'er was inwardly furious. They had no weapons at all, so how could they protect themselves? Were they supposed to sneak back while the brown bear was eating them?
Can we go back? If we do, Master Su will probably stage an accident to silence us.
Su Lingzhao fell, his left foot getting caught in the vines. He frantically tried to pull them off, but the vines were more resilient than he had imagined, remaining completely unmoved. He panicked, his hands trembling, and he broke down in tears, having long since lost the ability to untangle himself from the vines.
Seeing this, the servant made the decision to abandon Su Lingzhao in a flash, and he let go of Su Lingzhao's hand.
Unfortunately, he was like a piece of driftwood for a drowning person. The moment he let go, Su Lingzhao instinctively leaned forward and hugged his leg to prevent him from leaving.
The servant panicked and struggled. The mountain path was sloping, and in the struggle, the servant lost his balance and fell down.
Su Lingzhao wasn't very strong and couldn't hold onto the servant who was rolling down. The servant's legs slipped out of Su Lingzhao's arms, rolled around many times, and finally managed to grab hold of a small tree root. Unfortunately, he was unlucky; when he landed face down, he hit his head and bled profusely.
The brown bear was drawn to the smell of blood and immediately turned its head from the direction of the sound to the direction of the scent.
The brown bear slowed down as it approached. Su Lingzhao struggled to get up and caught a glimpse of Wang Pan'er standing about twenty meters away, shaking her head with her finger to her lips. Su Lingzhao didn't know how long Wang Pan'er had been gesturing to the two of them, but she hadn't run away and looked anxious; her intention to save him was genuine.
Do not make a sound, do not move.
Su Lingzhao understood what Wang Pan'er was trying to say: she was the only person he could trust now.
With his last shred of reason, he forced himself to stop struggling, closed his eyes tremblingly, and stopped breathing, tears streaming down his face, awaiting his fate.
A brown bear passed over him, its paws stomping on the dry branches and leaves, the slight crackling sound particularly clear in the quiet mountain forest.
It didn't linger at Su Lingzhao's location, but bypassed him, sniffed at the servant's front, and like the Grim Reaper descending, bit the servant's neck.
The servant twitched a few times and then died instantly. What followed was the sound of flesh being torn apart, bones being chewed, and the sounds of food being chewed and swallowed.
The brown bear was eating heartily and hadn't yet noticed Wang Pan'er crouching down and groping her way closer.
Wang Pan'er touched Su Lingzhao's side and reached out to untangle the vines wrapped around Su Lingzhao's calves.
With someone coming to his rescue, Su Lingzhao breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground. He looked down and saw the cloth boots the servant had slipped from his arms during his struggle. He couldn't help but turn to look in the servant's direction.
Wang Pan'er immediately grabbed Su Lingzhao's chin and turned his head back, but it was too late.
Su Lingzhao looked terrified, her courage completely gone. Then, a fishy, foul smell rose from below, and Wang Pan'er couldn't help but frown, sensing something was wrong.
Sure enough, the brown bear put down the leg it was half-eating, turned around, and twitched its nose.
Wang Pan'er cursed out every swear word she knew in her life in her mind, but she couldn't stop it from turning around.
She carefully tiptoed backward, creating distance between herself and Su Lingzhao before the brown bear arrived. She thought to herself: If I really have to die, I can't die in the bear's jaws. At worst, I can pack up and leave as soon as I get back, dismiss the girls before the Liuyun Chamber of Commerce finds out, and take my sisters and Mu Chuan to a new location. That way, I might still have a chance to survive.
As she retreated, a branch from the dense forest caught on Wang Pan'er's hair. She felt a sharp pain on her scalp and raised her hand to untangle her hair from the branch, continuing to retreat slowly. Unexpectedly, she touched the hairpin in her hair bun.
Hairpin!
This is a sword hairpin that Mu Chuan gave her for self-defense. The blade is also infused with poison, which can kill a person in an instant!
Thank goodness! She habitually wore this hairpin in her hair, having long forgotten that it was also a highly lethal weapon.
Su Lingzhao still remembered Wang Pan'er's signal for him not to make a sound or move, so he obediently held his breath.
Unfortunately, he wet his pants this time; the bear's sense of smell hadn't failed him.
The brown bear followed the scent to the source, stuck out its tongue and licked the man's crotch, feeling the warmth unique to animals.
Su Lingzhao could no longer help but struggle. As soon as he moved, the bear paw immediately slapped his chest and easily pinned him down.
It had just eaten quite a bit and wasn't hungry now, so it wasn't in a hurry to kill its prey. The way the prey struggled made its fierce eyes reveal a hint of interest.
The brown bear, intrigued, began to toy with Su Lingzhao. Su Lingzhao, oblivious to everything else, let out a mournful howl that echoed through the mountains. But the louder the howl, the more amused the brown bear became.
The brown bear was completely captivated by Su Lingzhao and became so engrossed in playing that, coupled with Su Lingzhao's constant howls, successfully led Wang Pan'er to circle around behind the brown bear.
She raised her sword and thrust it into the brown bear's neck with a single strike.
The brown bear was shocked that something dared to attack it. It turned around angrily and slapped Wang Pan'er's arm, which was still not pulled back. Wang Pan'er's arm went limp and broke at an odd angle in an instant.
It bared its teeth at Wang Pan'er, who immediately backed away. When she saw it crouch down again, her heart pounded.
Fortunately, the poison took effect quickly. The brown bear only charged a few steps before staggering to the ground and dying completely.
As the adrenaline receded, a sharp pain shot through her elbow, and beads of sweat trickled down her cheeks. Wang Pan'er's vision went black, and before she collapsed, she used her last ounce of consciousness to raise her left hand and grab a tree.
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