My wife has a secret

Chapter 32 Lu's Dowry

Suddenly, a series of footsteps were heard.

Immediately following was the crackling sound of several rubber bands being tightened. Shan Yongpei was quick-witted and pulled Xu Qing to hide behind a wooden pillar.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Several sharp arrows broke through the window and covered the entire room.

Xu Qing looked to the left and right and found that it was simply a rain of arrows that left no one able to escape.

After about a cup of tea, the number of arrows gradually decreased until they finally disappeared.

"so close."

Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief after escaping death, but before he could relax for a moment, Shan Yongpei tightened his arms again and dragged the two of them to the other side of the pillar.

Before Xu Qing could ask the question, another burst of sharp sounds of breaking through the air came, piercing the other side as well.

Xu Qing was stunned, while Shan Yongpei's face turned a little pale.

"What was that thing you just got?"

After the rain of arrows stopped and the footsteps quickly faded away, Shan Yongpei turned around and grabbed Xu Qing's collar and pulled him in front of him.

"These people are not ordinary bandits at all, but professionally trained troops."

"army?"

Xu Qing looked at Shan Yongpei in some confusion, not understanding why the other party was so sure of the identity of this group of people.

In the sneak attack just now, they didn't even meet each other.

"This is a special archery technique practiced by the army, specifically used to clear out the enemies who are resisting stubbornly in the house... The first wave of arrows will come from the north, and the second wave from the southeast. The two waves of arrows will form a horn-like intersection, leaving the people in the house with nowhere to hide."

Xu Qing turned his head to look at where the arrows had landed, and found that, just as Shan Yongpei had said, all of them had fallen behind him and to his sides.

The angle of the second wave of arrows was obviously deliberately controlled so that they could come in at an angle from the window in the house and turn the place where he stood the first time into a hedgehog.

"It is impossible for ordinary people to learn this kind of archery. Moreover, there is no break between their archery sessions. It is obvious that they use the alternating shooting method... This shooting method will have two groups of people take turns shooting arrows. It is impossible to master such a skilled technique without three to five years of training."

Shan Yongpei came from a military background, so he knew very well what an archer of this level of training meant. Xu Qing must have gotten into big trouble.

"People in the military..."

Xu Qing was not frightened by Shan Yongpei's words. On the contrary, thinking about the list of weapons just now, he felt that he had found the opponent's vital point.

Over the past few days, the forces that were secretly plotting to assassinate him have been hiding in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

But this time they really wanted to kill him, which was completely different from their previous cautious approach... Does this mean that what I was investigating was exactly what these guys were worried about?
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Xu Qing's lips.

Since they want to destroy the Xu family and force me into a desperate situation, the two of them are enemies who will never stop fighting.

Young Master Xu must get to the bottom of this case!

Shan Yongpei, who was standing by, saw that there was no movement outside the house, so he stepped forward and hid beside the window, peeking out through the broken window frame.

After making sure that the group of black-clad archers had really left, he rushed out and leapt to the dilapidated door.

In stark contrast to the quiet and dilapidated courtyard walls, the streets outside are full of flowers and there is a constant stream of pedestrians coming and going.

Ox carts and horse carriages of various shapes and sizes came out one after another and drove past Shan Yongpei.

"What's happening here?"

Shan Yongpei could hardly believe his eyes. That group of black-clad archers actually stabbed him and the young master of the Xu family with arrows in broad daylight in Suzhou City.

Then, this large group of people disappeared right before their eyes, disappearing into thin air.

Was this a joke with him?
"interesting."

Xu Qing walked slowly towards Shan Yongpei and he also saw the noisy scene outside the street.

"Where on earth are they coming from..."

Xu Qing patted Shan Yongpei on the shoulder and walked out leisurely. "It's useless to think about that. We have been targeted. Just follow me and continue investigating."

Shan Yongpei looked at Xu Qing in disbelief, wondering if this guy had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

You have just saved your life from the hands of the King of Hell, why don’t you cherish it?
Xu Qing didn't care whether Shan Yongpei would follow him or not, but went to the neighbor's house next door alone and knocked on the slightly broken wooden door.

After a long time, a white-haired old woman opened the door.

She looked Xu Qing up and down, perhaps thinking that he had found the wrong person, and was about to close the door.

"Old lady, please stay."

"you are?"

Xu Qing's clothes were very valuable, especially the jade pendant on his waist, which was as smooth as water and looked very valuable.

Therefore, the old woman who opened the door was very wary, fearing that the other party came to her house for some other matter.

"Do you know the person living next door? He used to be a legal advisor at the government office. He should be quite famous."

The old woman frowned slightly when she heard what Xu Qing mentioned. She was about to answer but was interrupted by a burst of cursing coming from the room.

"Damn it, is there anyone who dares to mention that bastard? Do you really think that I have been killing pigs for so many years for nothing?"

A middle-aged man with bare arms, strong and plump figure walked out of the house.

He held up a machete for chopping pigs and strode towards Xu Qing.

He was followed by a middle-aged woman, who looked anxious and kept shouting, "Sir! Sir!"

"You bastard! I didn't expect that after all these years, someone would still offend me. If you say one more word... I'll chop you off too!"

This sentence was very intimidating, and it frightened the woman so much that she looked terrified and dared not speak.

The butcher actually rushed to Xu Qing and raised the handle of his knife high.

Xu Qing didn't care about the other party's actions at all, because Shan Yongpei, who was following behind him, took two steps at a time, quickly dodged to the side of the butcher, and stretched out his hand to pinch the other party's tiger's den.

With a slight force, the butcher was squeezed to the point of losing all his strength and letting go of the machete.

As the machete fell to the ground with a thumping sound, Xu Qing asked calmly, "It seems like you know something? Tell me."

"Who are you? What qualifications do you have to investigate me?"

Although the butcher lost his knife, he was obviously not convinced.

He stared at Xu Qing fiercely, the burning anger in his eyes seemed to devour him.

"How dare you bully the people? I'm going to report you to the authorities!"

Xu Qing sighed. He didn't want to give his name.

Because good things are not famous, but bad things spread far and wide, if Xu Qing's bad reputation is recognized by the world, he will never be able to wash it off in his lifetime.

"My name is Xu Qing." Xu Qing squatted down, picked up the machete, pointed the tip of the machete at the butcher's nose and said, "Do you believe that if I cut off your nose, no one in the whole Da Qi will dare to uphold justice for you?"

Although the butcher was a hard-working person, he still knew who Xu Qing was.

As the leader of the Four Evils of Suzhou, Xu Qing has committed all kinds of evil... If the other party wants him to suffer a fate worse than death, then he really has no way to survive.

Seeing the butcher's expression change from horror to fear, Xu Qing nodded with satisfaction.

"Master Xu, let me speak for you."

The white-haired old woman came over and looked at Xu Qing with pleading eyes.

Xu Qing made a gesture to Shan Yongpei, who understood his meaning and let the butcher go.

"Go ahead."

"The master's surname is Liu. I know him. He was originally from Peizhou. Later, because his master was promoted, he moved to Suzhou and became a neighbor of my family."

The old woman spoke at a steady pace, and although she was old, she still remembered the past very clearly.

"Jia'er and Master Liu met at that time. They were quite harmonious in the first few years. Master Liu helped Jia'er find a butcher shop at the east end of the street, put his signature on the business, and helped us solve a lot of problems. Jia'er would also send Master Liu a piece of fresh pork belly from the butcher shop."

Xu Qing raised his eyebrows and asked, "That's strange. People helped you, why is your son so angry?"

"because……"

"It's because the bitch in the room couldn't bear the loneliness, so she ran out secretly to have an affair with that master!"

Before the old woman could finish her words, she was interrupted by the butcher's words.

The latter was obviously extremely angry, grimacing and glaring at the woman at the door.

The woman trembled with fear and dared not speak.

"Four years ago, I had to get up early and work late to chop meat and sell it in the shop, so I left the household affairs and my mother to this bitch... But who would have thought that she would ignore my mother, dress up beautifully every day, and go to meet with Master Liu!"

"Three years ago? Are you sure that happened?"

The butcher took a few deep breaths and answered with certainty, "Of course! Because after Master Liu's crimes were exposed, he knew I was going to cause trouble for him, so he fled in fear!"

Xu Qing asked calmly: "Did you see it with your own eyes?"

The butcher was stunned by the question and asked back, "No, but I smelled something wrong with her bellyband that day... Wait, what do you mean?"

Xu Qing answered slowly, "According to the information I got from others, this Master Liu had lost contact as early as the autumn of four years ago, when the new prefect took office... How could he have an affair with your wife if he had disappeared?"

"what?"

When the butcher heard this, he looked at the woman at the door in disbelief, and the woman turned pale, as if her trick had been exposed.

"You bitch! How dare you lie to me?"

As soon as the butcher took a step forward, the woman was frightened out of her wits and crawled to Xu Qing.

"Sir, save me! Save me!"

Xu Qing squatted down, looked at the pale-faced woman and asked, "Why did you lie?"

"I……"

The woman looked hesitant, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare.

Xu Qing smiled faintly and said, "I guess your lover lives near this street. The reason why you didn't mention his name when the affair was exposed is because you still have feelings for him and want to protect his safety. After thinking about it, you used Master Liu who has been missing for many days next door as a cover, right?"

The woman's eyes were blank, her mouth was dry, and she couldn't utter a word.

Because Xu Qing's inference just now was exactly her motive for putting the blame on Master Liu.

"If you don't tell me, I'm leaving... Based on your husband's current attitude, I'm afraid he will go door to door looking for your lover. I believe that within two days, the true identity of your lover will be revealed."

The woman shook her head and said in a lost voice: "I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

Then, she swallowed her saliva and said anxiously: "The reason why I pushed it to Master Liu is indeed the same as what the young master said, I wanted to exonerate my lover... But Master Liu was not really missing, but was involved in a troublesome incident."

"Oh?"

The woman was afraid that Xu Qing would not believe her words, so she ran into the house and searched for a while, and found a box with an ancient shape.

Xu Qing saw that the patterns on the box were delicate and there were small carvings on it, so he guessed that this thing probably did not belong to the butcher couple.

"I have run into Master Liu twice in this alley. If you don't believe me, look here!"

The woman opened the box, which was filled with exquisite and unique hairpins. Each one was inlaid with gold and silver and decorated with tassels and pearls. It was very valuable.

“These ornaments look nice.”

"More than good! These are the ornaments that girls dream of having. They are all from the famous brand in Suzhou, the Exiled Immortal Tower."

Seeing Xu Qing's slightly confused expression, the woman explained, "The Exiled Immortal House is a shop that specializes in jewelry. There are many experts in the field, and the labor fee of a famous master often costs tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"So expensive?"

"Yes, although the ornaments in this box are not heavy, they are priceless... They were all entrusted by Master Liu to me to deliver to Miss Lu, and Master Liu specifically instructed that the things in this box should be delivered after a year. After the task is completed, I can take one of them as a reward."

Xu Qing was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that the things he investigated would match up here.

Originally, Ji Xia and Lu Wanhe agreed that Master Liu deliberately ignored them because of the death of Mr. Lu.

Now it seems that Master Liu not only has not forgotten Lu Wanhe, but has also prepared a particularly generous dowry for her.

"It should have been a year now, why didn't you send it?"

Xu Qing guessed the reason without waiting for the woman to answer, "Because you want to rely on these jewels to run away with your lover."

"I was wrong! I was really wrong!"

The woman knelt down and kowtowed, then looked at Xu Qing pitifully.

"I am willing to share this box of jewelry with you equally!"

Xu Qing touched his nose and the smile on his face became even more intense.

"Let's talk about Master Liu. Haven't you met him twice?"

The woman stopped crying, held her breath, and thought for a while.

Then, she said in a panic, "Yes! The second time was at noon a few days ago. I saw him running out of the yard next door. He seemed to be being chased by someone and ran towards the east end of the city!"

There was a gleam of light in Shan Yongpei's eyes.

Xu Qing had a calm expression and asked, "Who would dare to commit a crime in the street when the sun is at its brightest at noon? Did you see it wrong?"

The woman shook her head like a rattle, very sure of what she said.

"I can't have remembered it wrong! Although those people were wearing hoods to cover their faces, they had knives on their waists and they were all visible to me."

(End of this chapter)