frightfiction Chapter 023 Never die in peace
Chapter 023 Never die in peace
Xie Chaoyun called out several times before Lu Huai came to his senses. He avoided Ji Wanwan's gaze and turned to Xie Chaoyun: "I'm going to see my mother. I'll leave things here in your care, Yunniang."
Ji Wanwan stepped forward, but was stopped by Xie Chaoyun.
“Brother Huai won’t abandon me; I am the most important person in his heart.”
"Really?" Xie Chaoyun raised an eyebrow. "But I think he's the most important one in his heart."
Ji Wanwan pursed her lips: "Then I am the second most important, far above you, my wife."
Xie Chaoyun smiled: "It doesn't matter, because whether outside or inside the Marquis's mansion, I am the rightful Madam Lu. It's getting late, the people from the Commandant's Office are waiting, cousin, you should hurry on your way."
Ji Wanwan's face paled, and she bit her lip, saying, "Xie Chaoyun, don't be so smug. I'll be back soon."
The group, in a grand procession, carried the coffin to the Commandant's residence.
After the onlookers dispersed, Liu Ying snorted coldly and said, "This Ji Wanwan is really arrogant! She still thinks we're going to save her."
Lu Zhiyuan yawned: "She's not counting on us, she's counting on the master of this manor. Don't forget, her two children are my father's. Pulling up a radish brings out the mud, even if she doesn't want to, my father will find a way to save her."
"Should we do something?" Liu Ying asked anxiously.
Lu Zhiyuan said lazily, "Go and send a message to Leng Ru, saying that the Zhu family has arrived and will hold a public trial at the Commandant's Mansion."
Han Ting stepped down the stairs: "What happened back then was also related to my Han family."
Lu Zhiyuan grabbed him: "Why are you in such a hurry? The Han family's affairs are matters of the martial world. Do you want to settle them in the courtroom of the Commandant's Mansion?"
Han Ting frowned: "Ji Wanwan is going to die! She plotted to murder her husband, she should be executed immediately."
Lu Zhiyuan sighed: "She won't die. She's the main character. Even if Leng Ru intervenes, she can turn the tide. I sent the Zhu family here and put Leng Ru in court just to give her some hardship and pave the way for the later plot. It's not your turn to appear yet, so why the rush?"
Main character? Plot? Appearance?
Han Ting didn't know what Lu Zhiyuan was saying, only that she was extremely sleepy and was lying on top of him, making it impossible for him to move.
Lu Yun touched his nose and stepped forward: "You are a servant that Miss bought, so you should obey Miss's orders. Miss has her reasons for not letting you go."
Han Ting glanced at Lu Zhiyuan, who was clinging to his neck, and said in a low voice, "Move aside, I need to take Miss back to her room."
Lu Yun followed behind: "Can you, a half-grown boy, carry her? Give me the young lady, don't let her fall."
Han Ting, fourteen years old, was quite tall, about the same height as seventeen-year-old Lu Yun. He had practiced martial arts since childhood and was very strong, so carrying the sick and weak Lu Zhiyuan was not difficult for him.
Liu Ying followed Xie Chaoyun, muttering, "Miss, what kind of taste do you have? Lu Yun and Han Ting, how do they look like servants? And our Marquis, of all people to mess with, he had to mess with Ji Wanwan. A woman who cheated on her husband and poisoned him, what wouldn't she do? In my opinion, that Lu Jinyao may not be the Marquis's child."
Xie Chaoyun also had this concern.
Lu Jinyao, in terms of appearance, temperament, and way of dealing with people, has nothing in common with the Marquis or the Lu family.
As evening approached, news arrived that Ji Wanwan had been imprisoned by the Commandant's Office.
Besides Madam Zhu, there was another person who testified in court. That person was Leng Ru, whom Lu Zhiyuan had bought from the slave market. Her father had served as the magistrate of Weinan County. The bottle of poison that Ji Wanwan used to kill Zhu Guozhi was taken from the county government's treasury, and the person in charge of the treasury key was Leng Ru's father, Leng Feng.
Leng Feng and Zhu Guozhi were good friends and often ate together. When Leng Ru was young, she often visited the Zhu family and was quite liked by Old Madam Zhu.
It was Leng Feng who delivered the letter to Madam Zhu that year, saying that Zhu Guozhi had died an innocent and sudden death.
According to Leng Ru, her father, Leng Feng, met Ji Wanwan through his friendship with Zhu Guozhi. Their first meeting was at Leng Ru's home, a typical family dinner, with four people including Leng Ru, and no maids serving them.
Zhu Guozhi was in high spirits and drank too much, spending the night at the Leng family's house. Ji Wanwan took the opportunity to flirt with the more handsome Leng Feng, but was immediately reprimanded by him. To avoid further trouble, Leng Feng had Ji Wanwan sent home.
After Zhu Guozhi sobered up, Leng Feng subtly probed him, and seeing that Zhu Guozhi didn't understand, he spoke plainly. Zhu Guozhi didn't believe him and went home to question Ji Wanwan, only to be falsely accused by Ji Wanwan, who said that Leng Feng had tried to take advantage of her because she was pretty.
Zhu Guozhi didn't believe Ji Wanwan would flirt with a brother of a different surname in front of her husband, nor did he believe Leng Feng would take liberties with her. He knew Leng Feng's character and had even met Leng Feng's wife; to Leng Feng, there was no one in the world more beautiful than his deceased wife.
Although Zhu Guozhi did not believe that Leng Feng would do such a thing, he could not resist Ji Wanwan's pillow talk. In addition, Leng Feng disliked Ji Wanwan and often reminded Zhu Guozhi, which caused Zhu Guozhi and Leng Feng to drift further and further apart.
Leng Ru stared at Ji Wanwan.
Zhu Guozhi was a businessman who often traveled out of town; he was away from Weinan for seven or eight days out of ten. Ji Wanwan would always take advantage of Zhu Guozhi's absence, using the excuse of a brother asking her to go to the Leng family to find Leng Feng. No matter how cold and sarcastic Leng Feng was, she would always smile and shamelessly stick to her guns.
She threatened Leng Feng that if he didn't become intimate with her, she would badmouth him to Zhu Guozhi, saying that he had taken advantage of her while drunk.
Leng Feng locked her out, so she went to the government office to look for him.
To substantiate the accusation that Leng Feng had sexually assaulted her, she cornered him in a side alley, deliberately disheveled his hair, and pinched marks on his body. Leng Feng, a scholar, had never encountered a woman behaving this way. Knowing the power of gossip and the inability to defend himself, he begged Ji Wanwan to let him go.
Ji Wanwan asked Leng Feng to do three things for her, and Leng Feng had no choice but to agree.
The first thing she asked was for Leng Feng to drink with her.
The second thing she asked was for Leng Feng to buy her a hairpin. After being refused, she asked Leng Feng to stay with her for the night. After being refused again, she asked Leng Feng to coax her to sleep.
Thirdly, give her the poison from southern Xinjiang that Leng Feng confiscated, so she can use it for self-defense.
Ji Wanwan repeatedly assured him that she would never use poison to harm anyone. Just in case, Leng Feng asked her to write a guarantee and put her fingerprint on it.
Leng Ru accused, "Father knew Ji Wanwan's true nature, but he never expected her to be so vicious. Upon hearing of Uncle Zhu's sudden death, Father immediately thought of the bottle of poison and rushed to the Zhu residence, which was the house where Uncle Zhu and Ji Wanwan lived outside."
Ten years ago, Leng Ru was still young and did not live with her father. She only knew that her father locked her in his study after returning from the Zhu residence, and she stayed there for a whole day and night.
The next day, he opened the door, called Leng Ru to his side, and carefully instructed her. If he could not return safely, Leng Ru should take the guarantee to Old Madam Zhu.
Leng Feng died. Less than fifteen minutes after leaving home, he was attacked by several beggars and stabbed multiple times. That was the only route Old Madam Zhu took to get to the Zhu residence. Old Madam Zhu's carriage happened to pass by when Leng Feng collapsed.