Jiang Pengji clasped her hands together, looking comfortable and pleased. “Remember to hide Huijun’s identity so as not to be found by others.”
Liu She’s confidant was startled upon hearing the name “Huijun.” For a moment, he could not remember who the person was.
Jiang Pengji sensed his confusion. She explained, “Huijun is the girl. Get someone to create her identity.”
Liu She’s confidant received the order and said firmly, “Don’t worry. I’ll clean up her identity.”
“Be cautious. Don’t give yourself away.” Having said that, Jiang Pengji exhorted him again anxiously, “Creating a census register out of thin air is the easiest way to reveal our flaws. It’s better to look for a census register that hasn’t been canceled. Let Huijun replace it…”
Jiang Pengji tapped on the table with her fingers. In the current era, the census registration system was very backwards, unlike in her era, when it was almost impossible to create a fake identity. In ancient times, many people had never registered due to backwards technology and inconvenient transportation. Many people who had registered had either died or disappeared. Their census registers had not been canceled for more than a decade. That type of identity was very difficult to verify, and it was also easy for people to take advantage of any loopholes.
Instead of taking the risk to create a new identity for Huijun, it was better for her to replace the identity of someone who had similar experiences as her.
Liu She’s confidant nodded and received the order.
Jiang Pengji said, “That’s all from me. You can leave.”
Since he was a confidant whom Liu She valued, his ability in handling things could definitely not be underestimated. He soon completed the tasks.
******
“Acao’s mother––Acao is back. Go back home quickly to see her…”
The woman who was called “Acao’s mother” wore heavy makeup. Her clothes were frivolous, revealing a significant portion of her fair breasts. She was fanning herself with a yellowish fan. A poor-quality blush was applied on her face, and there was a thick layer of lipstick on her lips. She gently swayed her slender waist and plump buttocks. The arc attracted many local hooligans who were passing by; her motions made the men hot-blooded.
“What are you shouting for? It’s no big deal. That wicked girl left with an aristocrat for three days and has forgotten about me completely. She’s a girl who lives off of me and helps somebody else secretly…” The actual age of the woman was only slightly over 30, but she looked like a woman in her 40s.
Despite the heavy makeup, signs of natural beauty could be seen in her brows and eyes. She had definitely been a beautiful woman when she was young.
However, one’s appearance stemmed from one’s mind. Her eyes always looked sinister and mean, making people feel frightened. People did not dare to get close to her.
“No. Acao’s mother… Acao’s…” The person who came to inform Acao’s mother was also a poor woman living in the slums. Although she looked down on Acao’s mother for not only selling her body but her daughter’s body and the bodies of other girls, she had watched Acao grow up. She still took pity on her.
“She’s just a girl. It’s not a big deal that she has come back. Does she want her mother to kneel down and welcome her?”
The woman had a bad premonition, but she was even more sick of her neighbor.
“…Acao is dead!”
“What?” Her cash cow had died?
The woman was so shocked that her facial expression changed. She hurriedly followed her neighbor back to her house. There were a lot of onlookers surrounding her house.
The woman rudely pushed the onlookers away and walked into the dimly lit house. A girl, who was not fully dressed, was curled up in the room. That was her prostitute. She had just served a customer not long ago, and her face was still numb. She was quivering while she held the few pieces of rags that could not cover her body.
There was a rolled mat in the middle of the room. The mat was rolled into the shape of a spring roll. The woman went forward to have a closer look, and she almost fainted.
She unfolded the mat with trembling hands, only to see a female body lying on the ground with a beaten face whose profile could roughly be seen.
Not to mention the face, but her body was covered with flogging marks and traces of sex.
The woman did not believe that she was Acao. She hurriedly tore the girl’s clothes and turned her over. Her buttocks were a bit red––and she had Acao’s birthmark!
At that moment, she had no choice but to accept that Acao had been humiliated and killed after being taken out by the benefactor.
“Ahhhhh…”
Most of the onlookers lived near the slums. They knew how the woman usually treated Acao. Even enemies would not humiliate someone like that. Now Acao was dead, which was what the woman had wanted. However, the girl was pitiful. She had suffered a horrible death.
What surprised them was that the woman who was supposed to cast the corpse aside ruthlessly did not humiliate the corpse. Instead, she collapsed on top of the body and burst into devastating tears. The veins on her forehead stood out. Her tears and snivel ruined the heavy makeup on the face. The onlookers felt strange watching her.
“Acao’s mother, she had already…” The woman sighed. “My condolences. Clean the child up so she can go decently…”
The woman who informed Acao’s mother could not bear to see it and comforted Acao’s mother gently. “Yeah… Buy Acao a good coffin. The beasts sent her back and even gave ten taels of silver…”
A prostitute cost one or two copper coins. She did not know how many customers she had to serve to earn ten taels of silver.
From the onlookers’ perspective, the compensation was worth it.
The woman’s cries were so heartbreaking, and she almost couldn’t breathe. She was only rescued after a neighbor pinched her philtrum.
“I’m… floating… like… a… duckweed…” The woman only felt that everything in front of her had turned upside down. She mumbled, “B****… Hui… jun… you… make… me… so… miserable…” After that, she tilted her head and died.
With such a huge incident happening in the slums, there were many onlookers. No one knew that four, sticky-fingered hooligans had disappeared quietly. Four corpses were buried in the mass grave outside the city. Someone used a dagger to create holes on all four of the corpses. They eventually bled to death.
“It’s almost time. It’s time to go, Lady Hui.”
Acao, who was supposed to be dead, stood in the vicinity of the mass grave, looking at the four corpses that could not be identified with a complicated look in her eyes. Her bloodstained hands were still trembling, and her two calves could not stop shaking, but she felt unprecedentedly carefree. “Okay. I’m coming.”
She put on the wide hood of the cloak she was wearing. The hood covered most of her face, revealing only her sharp chin. She tightly hugged both sides of her cloak with her hands to block the cold wind. She stepped on the carriage stool and entered the inconspicuous carriage.
The carriage left the mass grave quietly. Acao’s past was also buried there; only Huijun was alive.
******
“Are you sure that… you heard Acao’s mother mention the word Huiyun?” Upon hearing his confidant’s reply, Liu She had a somewhat strange facial expression.
His confidant was originally worried that there might have been an unforeseen incident, so he disguised himself as a poor commoner and blended into the group of onlookers. He did not expect to gain something unexpected.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Huijun… Huiyun… Liu She read the names twice silently. The pronunciation was similar, but the words were different.
The former was the name given to Acao by Lanting. It was impossible for Acao’s mother to know about it.
If so, the name that she muttered before she died could only have been the name of that woman.
“Sigh… I guess what goes around comes around…” His confidant left and Liu She walked to the garden, which was being slowly blanketed in snow. Looking at the snowy landscape, he smiled mockingly. …Haha. There are really a lot of people who are seeking revenge from you…
