Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
It went without saying that the ‘immersive tour’ Yan Liqiang prepared for Lu Beixin wasn’t limited to only Ye Xiao’s grand manor which had been seized.
But of course, Lu Beixin had no idea what a chain of custody was.
The next day, Yan Liqiang brought Lu Beixin to visit a few residences in Pingxi City. They ‘expressed their sympathy’ to the families that lost their children and gave each clan ten taels of silver out of good will.
Seeing those families that lost their daughters and witnessing their pain of losing a family member, Lu Bexin was extremely disturbed as she listened to the parents, siblings, and neighbors of those commoners recount the scene of identifying their own daughter’s remains being dredged up from the bottom of the well. The impact of this was slowly gnawing away the firm belief in her heart that Wang Haofei was a good person.
On the third day, Yan Liqiang disguised himself as a wealthy young lord and brought a cross-dressing Lu Beixin to the most crowded place in Pingxi City — the Heavenly Fortune Tearoom.
Both of them eavesdropped on all sorts of discussions between patrons who were enjoying their in the tearoom for the whole day.
In that tearoom, nearly everyone discussed the shocking case which involved the Prefectural Governor’s son, Ye Xiao. However, since the Prefectural Governor now shifted all the accusations of that case to the Wang Clan of Huanglong County, people were uncovering all sorts of information either intentionally or unintentionally.
The few degenerates who colluded with the Shatu people to devastate and abduct girls in the city were from Wang Clan. The Shatu man that Yan Liqiang and the others caught admitted that everything he did was with the people from the Wang Clan. For the most part, he was acting under the Wang Clan’s direct instructions.
Needless to say, the responsible person for leading Ye Xiao astray was of course, still the Wang Clan. Not only that, he was the most remarkable representative among the younger generations of the Wang Clan — Wang Haofei.
A piece of information which came from the Law Enforcement Office indicated that one of the Wang Clan’s servants confessed that Wang Haofei had sent people from his clan to abduct two girls from Huanglong County. Then he personally delivered them to Ye Xiao’s manor…
…
By evening, when the sky was about to darken, the tearoom grew even more crowded. Lu Beixin’s countenance grew uglier and paler as she listened to more conversations in the tearoom regarding the Wang Clan and Wang Haofei. In the end, she couldn’t bear it anymore and rushed out of the tearoom.
Yan Liqiang settled the bills and then hurriedly chased after her. “What’s with that? You can’t stand it anymore, Lady Lu? Didn’t you insist on proving me wrong and wanting to gamble with me? Didn’t you insist on proving Wang Haofei’s innocence? Now you can’t stand it just from listening to the things that others are saying?”
“Those are all gossip. They can hardly be considered information…” Tears were already welling up in Lu Beixin’s eyes. Even so, she still bit her lip and stubbornly argued.
“Hahaha, now you’re telling me that was just gossip. Let me bring you to another place so you can see for yourself!”
“Where to?”
“You’ll know when we get there!” Yan Liqiang beckoned forth a horse carriage after he finished speaking, and headed off to a certain place in Pingxi City with Lu Beixin.
The place Yan Liqiang brought Lu Beixin to was the most luxurious pleasure quarters for men in Pingxi City — the ‘Crimson Tower’.
By early evening when the lanterns were first lit, Yan Liqiang and Lu Beixin arrived at the Crimson Tower. After a brief formal exchange, they met the madam of the Crimson Tower.
Before even saying anything, Yan Liqiang handed over five taels of silver. In response, the madam smiled until her eyes were narrow slits.
“Can you summon the same lady Young Master Wang requested during my last visit with him here?”
“Young Master Wang? Which one?” The madam was still smiling as she asked prudently. “There isn’t only one Young Master Wang among our patrons here.”
“What? You don’t even remember who I came with last time?” Yan Liqiang grimaced as he pretended to be displeased.
“Cease your anger, Young Master, cease your anger! The Crimson Tower is busy entertaining all sorts of patrons every day. This old me indeed has blurry vision and a bad memory. Please forgive me, Young Master…!” In reality, the madams in these kinds of places would meet countless people every day. Unless it was a regular customer, it was impossible for her to remember the patrons who came here to enjoy the service.
“Hmph, I’m talking about Young Master Wang Haofei!” Yan Liqiang deliberately exclaimed in an angry tone.
“Oh, now that Young Master mentioned it, I remember! Young Master Wang’s favorite lady was Lady Xiangxue. Every time he visited, he’d fool around with Xiangxue the entire night. Back then, Young Master Wang was the one who deflowered Lady Xiangxue. Two months ago, when Xiangxue heard something had happened to Young Master Wang at the Plum Gardens, she cried for a few days. When Young Master Wang was still alive, Xiangxue and her two servants were all specially reserved by him and they never had to receive other patrons. Now that something bad happened to Young Master, Xiangxue lost her benefactor and had no choice but to receive other patrons to earn a living. Unfortunately, just a few days after Xiangxue started receiving other patrons, she was chosen by one of our patrons who stopped by Pingxi City and she’s no longer works at the Crimson Tower. I heard she became a concubine…”
Before the madam even finished talking, Lu Beixin turned around and dashed out of the Crimson Tower.
By the time Yan Liqiang found her, she was hugging a tree by a river not far from the Crimson Tower, weeping and heartbrokenly crying her heart out.
After three whole days, this was the first time Yan Liqiang had ever seen Lu Beixin cry.
When he saw Lu Beixin, he asked himself if everything he had done over these three days was a little too cruel. He had completely crushed the most beautiful memories of a young girl in the darkest and cruelest way, then threw the pieces into a manure pit and told everyone to spit on it.
Lu Beixin went on crying for about half an hour before her weeps slowly reduced into sobs.
“Compared to those ladies who turned into the skeletons that were dredged up from the well, you should be rejoicing.” Yan Liqiang sighed again. “It’s actually not that big of a deal for your feelings to be cheated once. Just treat it as a lesson learned. In this world, things are black and white, evil and good, and beautiful and ugly; these are the vicissitudes of life. During your lifetime, you will encounter many people and many incidents. Not everything will go as you wish. You will find many people that will approach you with the intention of harming you from the beginning. But some people will also love you unconditionally, care for you, and stand by your side regardless of what you do to them. Therefore, you should forget about those pieces of trash and any bad relationships. Just treat them as the pain of growing up in life. It’s exactly because those disgraces and evils exist that beauty and kindness become extremely precious. Hence, the most correct path is to live a good life for the sake of those who love you dearly and care for you. Break free of your cocoon and turn into a butterfly…”
Lu Beixin’s sobs slowly ceased. She turned her head around and looked at Yan Liqiang in surprise with her eyes that were as puffy as peaches. She didn’t seem to expect Yan Liqiang to tell her these kinds of words because they didn’t sound like things people of his age could say at all.
“If the things I have done to you these few days have hurt you in any way, please believe that it is not my intention. Think of this as bitter but good medicine!” Yan Liqiang gave her an indescribable carefree smile. “I have just sent someone to inform people from the Lu Clan in Pingxi City. They will probably arrive anytime now and they will send you back to the Lu Residence tonight. Old Master Lu and the rest have been worried about you!”
A few minutes later, a lavish horse carriage and a few soldiers armed with weapons from the Lu Clan’s trading business appeared before Yan Liqiang and Lu Beixin. Then they took her away.
“Yan Liqiang…!” Lu Beixin suddenly lifted her head up before she climbed into the horse carriage. She gave Yan Liqiang a complicated look before she shouted his name.
“What is it, Lady Lu?” Yan Liqiang smiled at her.
Lu Beixin bit her lip. “I DESPISE YOU…!”
“I’m honored!”
Lu Beixin lifted up the curtains and entered the carriage.
Yan Liqiang finally let out a sigh of relief as he watched the horse carriage slowly disappear into the distance. After taking a look at the sky, he walked toward the western side of the city.
…
Five days later, when it was snowing heavily, Yan Liqiang stood topless in the loft of the small courtyard which he was renting in Wuyang Village. His entire body was red as though he was on fire. He watched the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth manifest into the images of one big red bow and four smaller red bows. The images sank into his legs, arms, and spine. Soon after that, Yan Liqiang felt his dantian explode. A strange image of a giant, crude cauldron with four legs caged his entire body within itself and then sank into the midst of his dantian Qihai acupoint.
Yan Liqiang had finally progressed as a Martial Warrior…!
