Wife Doting Addiction：My Abducted Tsundere Husband

Chapter 124: Secrets in the Palace

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Su Cheng remained there as he stammered and could not get anything audible out. Judging from the situation, Su Xing seemed to understand what had happened. His older brother was responsible for the issues with the rice in the commercial house a few days ago.

He just could not understand. Why would Su Cheng do that?

The silk business of the Su family was earning well like his family’s tea business. Wouldn’t he be smashing his own feet with a boulder by doing this? It might even implicate their tea business! When Su Xing thought up till this point, he could not help but be overwhelmed with indignation!

“Shopkeeper Su!” Chang Huan made his way over from the main seat, and walked closer to Su Cheng, with glares as cold as ice. “Why did you coerce Little Pan to mix croton powder into the rice bags to sabotage the trade?”

Su Chen’s heart was racing in panic. Under the powerfully cold aura of Chang Huan, he took a step backward and stammered, “I – I did not!”

“Do you still deny your doings, Shopkeeper Su? Then I shall report this incident to the government office right now, and get them to come and investigate. When that time comes, it would not be as easy as putting you under those strokes of cane!” Chang Huan replied coldly and prepared to call out to people as he turned around.

Little Pan crawled over as he kowtowed at Chang Huan’s feet. “Please do not do that, Master Huan! I have told you all I could. I will do whatever you want me to do. Please, just do not report this to the government office!”

Su Cheng quickly stopped Chang Huan as well. “Please do not do that, Master Huan! Let us talk things over peacefully. No matter what, I am the uncle of the Mistress in the Ji family. Please, on their behalf, could we not blow this matter up?”

Chang Huan chuckled coldly. “If I did not think about the Young Mistress, do you think I will still be here negotiating with you based on what you assh*les have done to ruin the business?”

“Yes sir, yes sir!” Su Cheng wiped the beads of sweat away from his forehead and ushered Chang Huan to an empty seat. “This – This was definitely under my instruction. I was not in a clear state of mind. I was blinded by greed!”

Chang Huan looked at him coldly. “Shopkeeper Su, you have no feuds with our business. Why did you put croton powder to sabotage us? Are you still trying to cover up for the mastermind at this juncture?”

“No, there is no mastermind!” Su Cheng denied immediately and blurted out, “I was merely jealous that our business had been doing so well and earning so much, and therefore was seeing green. That was why I did such a silly thing!”

“Since Shopkeeper Su is still not willing to let me know who the mastermind is, I guess I would have to report this to the government office!” Chang Huan replied, as cold as ever.

“Master Huan, even if you were to report this to the government office, and even if Master Fu Yi managed to get wind of this, I would also tell him the same thing. No one had instructed me to do this, and it was merely me being blinded by greed, leading to the silly thing that I have done!” Su Cheng slapped himself. “I deserve a beating. If you are still angry, you can slap me a couple of times as well to vent your anger.”

Su Cheng was over forty years old and was considered a rather mature adult based on his age. However, he had thrown away his pride now!

Chang Huan looked coldly at Su Cheng. “Since Shopkeeper Su had already admitted that you were the culprit who had done this, then there is nothing between us to talk about anymore! Please bring all your goods away from my business with Second Shopkeeper Su!”

“What?” Su Cheng was so flabbergasted at what he had heard that he stopped dead in his tracks. In a state of panic, he said, “How can you do this? This incident had already passed! Please do not pursue it anymore, Master Huan!”

With that, he produced a cheque and stuffed it into the hands of Chang Huan. “Please, just spare us this once, Master Huan! I promise that things like that will never happen again!”

Chang Huan raised his arm and waved his hand away, and took a seat on the main seat, with a knowing look that there was no other way of doing this. “Before the business closes by noon today, please remove all your goods on your own. If you do not do that, I’ll have no choice but to get people to throw everything out!”

“Please do not do that! Let us discuss this again!” Su Cheng only began to tremble with fear. No matter what, the store in this shop was his money-making tool right now. There was no reason he would give this up so easily.

Seeing that his business had been dragged down by Su Cheng, Su Xing, who had been silent all these while, glared at Su Cheng fiercely and stood up as he walked over with a smile. “Master Huan, look at how you are talking! My older brother had done something wrong and betrayed the business. However, I did not. Please, you cannot chase me out as well!”

With a straight face, Chang Huan announced coldly to the brothers, “To prevent such things from happening again in the future, the Ji’s have already instructed that we will not be renting our stores out to outsiders in the future. Therefore, both of you; pack up quickly!”

With that, Chang Huan stood up and walked away.

“Master Huan, this is not fair!”

“Master Huan, let us discuss this again!”

“Master Huan!”

The brothers gave chase but were stopped by the servants who were following Chang Huan. They too did not have good attitudes towards the brothers. “Shopkeepers, please stop harassing Master Huan. Just do as he says!”

The brothers looked crestfallen, as they heaved a sad sigh.

Su Xing, with an expression that spoke of nothing but hatred, grumbled: “How in the world could you have done such a thing, Brother? Look what you’ve done; upsetting the Ji’s and now our income is gone. It is all your fault!”

Su Cheng’s face flushed bright red and did not speak as his brows furrowed.

Chang Huan returned to his study as he saw Su Jiu eating melon seeds while sitting on the chair.

Chang Huan walked over and began helping her shell the seeds as he went, “Su Cheng refused to divulge that it was Zhu Hecheng who had coerced him into doing it. Let us just report this to the government office!”

Su Jiu spat out a piece of shell from the melon seed and chuckled coldly. “I knew he would not come clean!”

Now that Su Cheng had gone through so much to get into the good books of the Zhu’s, he would never tell on Zhu Hecheng, even if he had to lose the stall in the commercial house.

Firstly, he was afraid of losing the protection from the Zhu’s. Secondly, if he were to offend Zhu Hecheng, it would not be as simple as not being able to earn money.

Therefore, it was within Su Jiu’s expectations that Su Cheng did not want to come clean to them.

“It would be useless even if we were to report this to the government office. He would never tell!” Su Jiu rolled her eyes around and raised her eyebrows as she smiled. “Even if we were to report this to the government office, we would not be doing it now!”

The next day, Su Jiu heard that Su Cheng and Su Xing had gotten into a fight. They had fought in the middle of the streets, witnessed by many onlookers.

When they got chased out of the commercial house the previous day, Su Xing, being the younger of the two brothers, could not vent his frustrations as much as he would like to. Even though he was unhappy, as he was in public. When he returned home and ranted about it to his wife, Madam Cao, a frown formed on her lips.

They had finally managed to earn some money and were leading a better life after putting in so much effort in the commercial house. However, because of some nonsense that Su Cheng did now, Su Xing was also implicated and had to lose this business that was bringing them money. How could she take this lying down?

Early in the morning on the very next day, Madame Cao found Su Cheng’s textiles shop and demanded Su Cheng’s family to compensate them for their losses.

Her sister-in-law, Madame Zhang, was not a pushover as well. This caused the two women to argue further, and very soon, began fighting in the streets.

The onlookers also managed to figure out what had happened, upon listening to the content of the argument. They managed to know that the food issues in Qingyu Commercial House were caused by these two families. Therefore, seeing them in a fight felt like a way to vent their frustrations.

Su Cheng had also felt that he had been through a lot after the entire incident. He hosted a scrumptious meal and invited Zhu Hecheng over, and told him all about how he was betrayed by his workers, and how he was being threatened by the in charge of the commercial house. However, no matter how much stress he was under, he did not let the cat out of the bag about Zhu Hecheng.

Then, he continued his story about how this entire incident had implicated Su Xing, and his sister-in-law went to his store and made a scene, leading to the two families fighting it all out.

After he was done, he sighed multiple times.

Zhu Hecheng understood where he was coming from, and produced two pieces of bank cheques. “These cheques are worth four thousand taels of silver in total. You will divide this amount between your brother and yourself. Just take it as my compensation for both of you!”

Seeing the money, Su Cheng felt his mood soar immediately. Although he was smiling happily, he still decided to be humble. “How could I trouble you when it comes to money issues, older Brother?”

“Just keep it, little Brother. It is just a little something from an older Brother!”

“Then, then I shall accept it without guilt!” Su Cheng took the cheque and stood up to give Zhu Hecheng a toast.

The moment the rice became problematic in Qingyu Commercial House, the business of the dried goods store nearest to them, which was owned by the Zhu family, boomed. Zhu Hecheng was over the moon and treated Su Cheng with some alcohol as well.

He had money. However, what he had eventually wanted to achieve was to make Qingyu Commercial House fold its business.

After Su Cheng had returned home, he found Su Xing and shared the money with him. The brothers then went to the brothel together happily.

They had gotten information that the Chunhua brothel had some new girls. Therefore, they headed towards there even before the sun had set.

The moment they entered, they spent generously. Seeing them behaving as such, the brothel keeper was overjoyed. She immediately called for two of the new girls to go and accompany the brothers to have wine and food.

They continued drinking and making merry until deep into the night. The brothers were drunk and brought the girls back to their rooms to have their rest.

The next day, the sun had already risen. Chunhua brothel had become quiet. Leftovers of alcohol could be seen everywhere, and the girls had just turned in for the night.

The doors opened. Zhu Zhi entered the brothel looking extremely angry and headed towards the second level immediately.

“Hello, Master Zhu! Why did you only just arrive? Our Lady Fengjiao had been waiting for you the entire night!” The brothel keeper yawned as she welcomed him, the foundation powder on her face smudged and caked badly. It looked like she was putting on a mask, which would fall off the moment she smiled too widely.

Zhu Zhi scoffed and made his way towards Fengjiao’s room.

He had been staying in Chunhua Brothel for a couple of days now and had spent all his money. He had intended to fetch some money from his home last night but had not expected to run into Zhu Hecheng. On top of not being able to get his money, he got scolded instead.

That was the reason why he was feeling annoyed and upset. On top of that, he was afraid that the brothel keeper would be asking him for money as well. Therefore, he sped up and made his way into the room.

Seeing that he was seemingly escaping, the brothel keeper rolled her eyes at him with disdain and returned to her room for more sleep.

On the other side, Zhu Zhi had entered the room. He saw that the mosquito net was still down, and knew that Yu Fengjiao was still asleep. He was about to go over and wake her up for some intimate action when his eyes landed on the bedside.

There was a pair of men’s boots!

Every single person in Shengjing City was aware that Yu Fengjiao had belonged to him, Master Zhu. To think there was some other man who was daring enough to enter Yu Fengjiao’s room! Zhu Zhi saw red in an instant. He strode towards the bed and opened the mosquito net with one swipe of his arm.

What he saw in front of his eyes was Yu Fengjiao still sleeping soundly, her clothes exposed, on the inside of the bed, while a naked man was sleeping soundly on the outside of the bed. He was facing inwards, and both of them looked extremely comfortable.

Zhu Zhi was trembling in anger. With one swift motion from his leg, he kicked the man hard. “How dare you get intimate with my woman! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!”

The man who was sleeping was jolted awake. He rolled off the bed and looked at Zhu Zhi, who was fuming, with a blank expression. He did not know what had happened. He only knew that he was feeling pain from Zhu Zhi’s kicks, so he was trying to get away from them. “W-what, what is going on?”

The lady in bed had also woken up at this juncture. She saw the man who was naked behind the mosquito net and screamed hysterically, snatching the blanket to cover herself. She turned to Zhu Zhi and asked, “Who on earth is he? Why is he in my room?”

“You b*tch. I merely did not come for one night and you have already gone to serve another man. You truly are a dirty prostitute!” Zhu Zhi roared, as he turned around to whack the lady on the bed.

The lady wailed in pain, and the man who was on the ground took the opportunity to put on his clothes.

Yu Fengjiao felt maligned and upset. After being hit a couple of times by the man, she rammed headfirst onto the headboard of the bed and wailed, “When did I serve other men besides you behind your back! If you do not believe me, I shall just kill myself to prove my innocence!”

Zhu Zhi felt that there was some hidden agenda in her words. He grabbed Yu Fengjiao by her hair and shouted, “Even if you were to die, you have to explain yourself clearly to me before you do so!”

The lady covered her face and cried bitterly. “How can I explain anything to you when I don’t even know anything!”

The man who fell onto the ground had just finished putting his clothes on and intended to sneak out of the room.

Zhu Zhi noticed that and roared fiercely, “Stay there!”

Zhu Zhi strode towards him and pulled him back by the shoulders. He was taken aback as he saw the man’s face. “Su Cheng?”

The Su brothers had been on rather good terms with Zhu Hecheng recently, and Zhu Zhi had met them a couple of times. Of course, they would know each other.

Su Cheng smiled awkwardly and quickly explained, “It is all a misunderstanding, Master Zhu! I had a little too much last night and had gotten drunk. Then I had probably entered the wrong room. However, I most definitely did not do anything to Lady Yu!”

With both of them stark naked and in the same bed for the entire night, who would believe that nothing had happened?

A wave of anger filled Zhu Zhi, as he waved a clenched fist right into Su Cheng’s face!

Su Cheng fully took the punch in the face and was slammed onto the door. In a state of fear, he scrambled away.

Still furious and having no other means to vent his anger, Zhu Zhi would never let Su Cheng off so easily. Zhu Zhi chased after Su Cheng, caught him by the collar. and slammed him onto the ground before sitting atop him and began whacking him all over again.

The two men began fighting along the corridor. Everyone in Chunhua brothel gathered around in an attempt to figure out what was going on. The brothel keeper, who was just about to fall asleep, ran over and screamed, “Goodness! What on earth is going on? Why are you fighting out of the blue now?”

Zhu Zhi was young and therefore was strong. Su Cheng was covered in bruises in no time at all, groaning in pain as he laid on the ground.

As the brothel became noisier, Su Xing was woken up by the noise and headed over to see what was going on as well. When he realized that the person that was being beaten up was his older brother, he did not even make sense of who was hitting Su Cheng. He dashed down and joined in the fight.

The three of them fought from the second story to the first. Blood was splattered everywhere, on shoes and clothes as well. They did not care about pride anymore, and even used techniques that were used by women during fights; scratching, poking and pulling of hair.

The person who was trying to stop the fight could find no opportunity to stop them, so all she could do was be an onlooker just like the others. The girls who were supposed to be resting for the day no longer wanted to sleep anymore. They stood at the railings of the second story, peering down at the commotion.

The brothel keeper continued to shout and hurl instructions.

“Goodness! My government kilns blue and white porcelain! That would cost me almost a hundred taels of silver!”

“Quickly! Bring my jade screen away!”

“Those tea dishes and vases as well! Bring them far far away from the fighting men!”

…

Suddenly, the doors of Chunhua brothel opened. Two women – one plump, and one skinny, entered the brothel. They were none other than the wives of Su Cheng and Su Xing.

Su Cheng and Su Xing did not return home the entire night. When Madame Zhang and Madame Cao had gotten wind that their husbands had gone to a brothel, the women headed there to look for their husbands furiously. Upon their entrance, they were stunned the moment they saw the scene unfolding in front of them.

“What, what is going on now?” Madame Zhang asked, perplexed.

Someone quickly explained, “Can’t you tell? The three men got into a fistfight because of one woman!”

“Su Cheng, you heartless jerk! You deserve to be slashed a thousand times! Aside from looking for prostitutes, you are still fighting with people over a slut? I am going to kill you!” Madame Zhang shrieked and ran forward, hitting Su Cheng everywhere.

Madame Cao had also exploded with anger. She rushed over and began hitting her husband too.

Su Cheng shook Madame Zhang away with one wave of his arm. His hair was scattered, clothes ripped off, and streaks of blood covered his face. He looked horrible. In a fit of anger, he yelled, “Are you crazy now? People are hitting me! Instead of helping me out, you are hitting me as well?!”

Seeing that Su Cheng was bruised all over, Madame Zhang’s heart softened. When she turned around and realized that the person who had hit her husband was none other than Zhu Zhi, she was filled with anger and blurted out.

“Zhu Zhi, you heartless prick. My husband helped your father put croton powder into the rice at the commercial house, and it cost us our stall over there when we got found out. Yet you are still here hitting him! How is that fair at all?!”

When Su Cheng heard this, he got a shock, and quickly covered Madame Zhang’s mouth. “Shut the hell up!”

When Madame Cao heard that, she shouted angrily immediately, “So it was his brother and the Zhu’s that were in cahoots about the croton powder in the commercial house. You implicated us in the business as well! Whatever the Zhu’s gave you to bribe you over, you better share half of it with us!”

Zhu Zhi listened to the conversation, confused. The rest of the people who were watching the fight finally knew about everything.

So it was like that!

Su Cheng panicked as he shouted, “Su Xing! Why are you still not stopping my sister-in-law? What nonsense is she spouting?!”

Su Xing acknowledged softly and went over to pull Madame Cao on her sleeves.

Did you think Madame Cao would give in? Of course not. Instead, she shouted even louder and demanded that Su Cheng give them half the benefits that Zhu Hecheng had given them, in compensation of their losses.

Seeing that he could not stop his wife, Su Xing said quickly to her, “Enough. They had given us the money – Two thousand teals of silver!”

The moment he said that a couple of constables from the government office squeezed their way out from the crowd, along with the Housekeeper of Qingyu Commercial House.

The onlookers who were still noisy a while ago quietened down immediately.

One of the constables said, “Qingyu Commercial House will be suing Su Cheng for putting croton powder into their rick sacks in the commercial house and ruining the trade. I have heard everything that you had said just now. Follow us to the government office right now!”

Su Cheng was already light-headed due to the beatings he had endured. Now that he had heard what the constables had just said, he blacked out right away.

Upon entering the government office, Magistrate Lin began the trial. The constable and the Housekeeper of Qingyu Commercial House narrated what they had heard in Chunhua brothel. Before the interrogation, Su Cheng had admitted to all the crimes, and came clean with every single detail.

Magistrate Lin sent people to bring Zhu Hecheng over immediately for confrontation.

Zhu Hecheng knew that trouble was near, and pretended to be ill to avoid going to the government office. When the attendants from the government office had left, he immediately ordered his servants to prepare a horse carriage and made his way to the government office from the back gate. He waited for Magistrate Lin in the garden of the government office.

A while later, Magistrate Lin returned from the front, and Zhu Hecheng quickly went ahead to welcome him. “Magistrate Lin.” Zhu Hecheng greeted Magistrate Lin with a sly smile.

Magistrate Lin sighed. “Brother Zhu, you were so careless!”

“Yes, yes, I was careless for this. Please, Magistrate Lin, I am sure you would be able to help to turn things around…” Zhu Hecheng smiled awkwardly.

“I feel that the odds are low. Su Cheng and the shop assistant who had added the croton powder had already confessed everything. They are both in the holding cell now. All the evidence is present, and the people from the commercial house had been persistent about this case. How would you expect me to help you?” With that, Magistrate Lin sighed.

Zhu Hecheng placed a stack of banknotes onto the table as he smiled humbly. “Magistrate, sir, all you have to do is to sentence Su Cheng for maligning others. He has no evidence that I was the one who coerced him into doing it anyway.”

Magistrate Lin took a glance at the stack of banknotes, and his face contorted into an expression of dilemma. “Su Cheng had confessed your name. Even if I wanted to protect you, it would be too obvious and people would know!”

Zhu Hecheng produced another stack of banknotes and stacked it on top of the stack that he had taken out just now on the table. He pushed the stack of banknotes towards Magistrate Lin. “Magistrate, sir, as long as you can make just this one exemption, I am sure you would be able to do something about it.”

Magistrate Lin smiled. He contemplated the issue for a while, before making a decision. “Let us do it this way then. You continue to feign illness and insist on not coming to the government office. Then, offer the commercial house some money to compensate them for their losses. I will then announce to the people that Qingyu Commercial House is innocent. Most likely, after receiving advantages, business people would stop going after this incident after you are proven innocent!”

Su Cheng would be sentenced, while Zhu Hecheng would come up with the money. Both of them could be considered punished, and this was already a form of apology to the commercial house.

Zhu Hecheng thought about it before replying to Magistrate Lin, “Sure. Let us go along with the wishes of the Magistrate.”

Two days later, Su Cheng and Little Pan took fifty strokes of the cane each, before being released. Magistrate Lin then gave the commercial house the five thousand taels of silver that Zhu Hecheng had compensated, before putting up an announcement that the issue on the rice in Qingyu Commercial House was intentionally done by Su Cheng, and that he had already gotten fifty strokes of the cane as a punishment.

The villagers, especially the ones who were conned of their money, were furious when they saw the announcement. They made their way to Su Cheng’s textiles shop immediately and smashed it entirely.

Madame Zhang was outnumbered, so she could not stop them. All she could do was sit on the ground and cry.

After enduring the fifty strokes of the cane, Su Cheng was already in extreme pain. Now that he had become the scapegoat for Zhu Hecheng and his shop had been destroyed, his reputation had gone down the drain as well. Upon this realization, Su Cheng became ill.

As for Zhu Hecheng who had been calling him ‘Brother’ earlier, he had decided to cut ties with Su Cheng. He had even instructed his people to retrieve the money for five bags of rice, which Su Cheng had taken from him earlier.

When Su Cheng tried to visit Zhu Hecheng, he was denied entry a couple of times. Eventually, he understood that he had been taken advantage of by Zhu Hecheng, and was extremely angry about it.

That was what happened after. That aside, when Su Jiu saw the announcement from the government office, she immediately knew that Magistrate Lin had been bribed by Zhu Hecheng.

It was nighttime when Su Jiu and Ji Yuxian talked about this incident in the study. “Damn that Zhu person. I shall be gracious and let him off this time around. If he has the guts to piss me off again, I will go to his place in the middle of the night to chop his hand off!” Su Jiu said heatedly.

Ji Yuxian hugged her in his embrace and pinched her tender face lightly as he smiled. “Calm down, my dear. The Zhu family has had a strong foundation in Shengjing City; it would not be an easy task to bring them down. Let us take things slowly!”

Su Jiu nodded obediently. Although she did not manage to bring Zhu Hecheng to justice, the commercial house’s reputation had been salvaged. She had also received silver for compensation, so they did not lose much anyway.

Putting her head against Ji Yuxian’s chest, Su Jiu sighed. “You were right when you did not want me to allow the Su brothers to be tenants in the commercial house. I was too careless!”

Ji Yuxian bent down to kiss the young girl’s forehead, looking at her gently. “It’s okay. You have to experience it so you will remember. It is better this way as well; the people from the Su family will not dare to be so shameless and keep coming to ask for favors from you anymore!”

“If they still have the guts to come, I will kick them out with one swift kick immediately. I will not be soft-hearted anymore!” Su Jiu said angrily.

Ji Yuxian chuckled and kissed her in between her eyebrows. “Madame just needs to be soft-hearted for me. You do not need to be soft-hearted for anyone else!”

As Ji Yuxian’s breath was blown intimately onto Su Jiu’s face, she felt her body go soft as her body relaxed. Looking at her man’s seductive face, she lowered her voice and whispered, “You have helped me yet again!”

It seemed that Ji Yuxian had helped her in the dark every single time she had gotten into trouble. She even had doubts if she would be useful at all should she leave him.

“It is my dear wife who is capable! Your dear husband here had only helped a little!”

The man’s passionate kiss lingered around Su Jiu’s ears. She tilted her head back slightly and pulled onto his clothes on the front of his chest, her breath quickening.

Su Jiu was only wearing a thin dress. The man’s hand crept underneath the thin material and began to arouse her.

Su Jiu had no idea when the winds began to blow outside, but the shadow of the bamboo leaves could be seen, dancing in the night, hitting against their window sills. Su Jiu felt like she had been pulled into the strong winds as well, and her body had turned into one of the fallen leaves amongst the wind. She slowly felt like she could not control her body anymore.

She struggled to remain alert amongst the chaos, as she grabbed hold of the man’s hands that were moving steadily southwards. “Where is Shangguan who has been coming to our place rather frequently these couple of days? I have not been seeing him around.”

Ji Yuxian narrowed his flirtatious eyes, as he bit Su Jiu on her soft and pink lips. “Why would you ask about him?”

With a pout, Su Jiu replied, “I was just asking. What is his relationship between Lady Jinming from Chunhua brothel?”

This was because Su Jiu knew that Ji Yuxian and Shangguan Yunkun had intentionally arranged for the incident between Su Cheng and Zhu Zhi to happen in Chunhua brothel, and put in some effort to know more about that place. She realized that Shangguan Yunkun had an extremely abnormal relationship with one of the ladies named Jinming from that place.

Shangguan Yunkun was the main housekeeper for the Ji family’s business in the Jiangnan region. Each time he returned to the city, it would be because of this lady.

However, Su Jiu could not understand – If he liked that lady, why did he not buy her out of that brothel?

Why did he still let her work there?

Ji Yuxian smiled mockingly as he whispered, “This was because Shangguan used to be a casanova in the past and hurt Jinming’s heart. Now she does not wish to go to him anymore!”

Su Jiu finally understood. No wonder, so this is it!

“This is why he cannot bear seeing couples who are in love. Let us be intimate in front of him the next time he comes so you can vent your frustrations, alright?” Ji Xuan kissed Su Jiu lovingly on her chin as he explained.

Su Jiu knew that Ji Yuxian was talking about that time when Shangguan Yunkun had wrongly accused her of being a thief. He had wanted to take revenge for her.

Su Jiu was happy as she looked at Ji Yuxian. “I realized that Eldest Master Ji is way better at remembering grudges compared to me!”

Ji Yuxian laughed lightly. All of a sudden, he carried her up. “It is already very late, my wife. Let us go to bed quickly!”

“We are merely going to sleep. Do not do anything else to me! “Su Jiu leaned onto Ji Yuxian’s shoulders as she protested.

“You can sleep. I shall do anything I want!”

“How would I be able to sleep then?”

“Then we shall both not sleep!”

“Ji Yuxian!” Su Jiu shouted angrily.

“You should be calling me ‘dear husband’!”

When they came out of the study, the night breeze blew upon them. It managed to get rid of the heat that they had been feeling the entire day and made them feel refreshed.

The cool breeze blew Su Jiu’s last bit of energy away as well. She moved closer to Ji Yuxian’s ear and in an attempt to negotiate, whispered, “Then we shall just kiss. Do not make me give it to you tonight.”

Su Jiu’s face flushed a deep crimson and did not say anymore, but only whispered quickly, “My hands are tired!”

“Then where do I kiss?” The man’s sexy voice mingled with the mysterious atmosphere of the night. His voice was slightly raspy as if he was controlling something.

Su Jiu blushed even further like she had just drunk alcohol. The redness spread to her ears, and she felt the energy in her body slipping away as she remained silent.

Ji Yuxian quickened his pace, as he moved under the moonlight, and strode into their bedroom.

…

After a couple of storms, it was finally July. Whenever it was in the early morning or late at night, it would be chilly.

At the end of the second day of the ghost festival, heavy rain began pouring in the middle of the night.

Yuhu mountain was entirely covered by the rain, as the water moved like a fast-moving river down the mountain.

Only the rain could be seen in the sea of darkness. The only house that was still lit up had belonged to the Zhao family. It was a paper lantern that was being drenched in the heavy downpour, looking like it would be blown away any minute.

Amongst the sounds of the rain, the groans of a lady could be heard. Each groan was more pitiful than the last, as the sounds of the rain engulfed her cries each time.

A man was pacing around in the living hall nervously, mumbling repeatedly, “What do I do? What do I do?”

An old woman exited from the house, with fear and nervousness written all over her face. “It seems that she will be giving birth tonight. However, with the rain being this heavy, how can I go and get a midwife?”

Listening to the cries of the woman, the man turned white with nervousness. He shouted worriedly, “I shall go and look for a midwife!”

With that, he headed off to put on the raincoat that was made of straw.

The old woman pulled him back and shook her head. “No, Sheng’er, you cannot go! With the rain this heavy and sky this dark, and all the roads being flooded by the rain, I would not be able to live if something were to happen to you! Even if you managed to get a midwife, with this heavy rain, she would not be able to come along with you anyway!”

The man squatted down, both of his hands hugging his head. “Then what can I do?”

The old woman turned around and looked into the west room. Her brows furrowed, as she shook her head. “Such is life! It would be her fate to see if she would be able to give birth to the child. It would be our fate as well!”

“Mother!” The man stood up and grabbed hold of the old woman’s arms. “Nothing must happen to her. If I were to lose my wife and kid, I would not be able to live as well!”

Hearing the woman in the room screaming until she was almost out of breath, the old woman furrowed her brows deeply before issuing an order. “Quick! Go and boil some hot water. I will deliver the baby for her!”

“Alright, alright!” The man nodded with overwhelming relief, as he rushed into the kitchen after responding to the old woman.

The old woman opened the curtain and entered the west room. The woman on the bed had messed up hair and was perspiring all over. She squirmed painfully around. When she saw the old woman, the woman grabbed on to her hands and shouted, “Save me! Please save me!”

“Do not worry. Mother and Sheng’er are both around. You will be fine!” The old woman used a towel and dabbed the perspiration away from the woman’s body as she removed the blanket and looked at the woman’s lower body. With a shock, she shouted, “Soon! The baby is coming out soon!”

“Use more strength! Use a little more strength!” The old woman patted the woman’s chest and cheered her, albeit being in a state of frenzy on her own.

“Argh!”

The woman bit down on her jaw to the point that her veins jutted out of her forehead as she screamed her head off.

After an entire hour, a baby’s cry was heard. It was so loud that it spread into the heavy downpour.

The man in the living hall rushed in, his voice slightly hoarse. “Mother, has she given birth already?”

The old woman wrapped the newborn up with a blanket, as tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks. “Yes, yes, she has given birth. The baby is a boy. You are a father now! Our family has finally gotten a descendant as well!”

The man was so happy that he almost jumped into the air. He looked at the old and wrinkly old woman and walked to the bedside. Then, he held on to the woman’s hand and was so happy that he did not even know how to talk properly anymore. “…Given birth… My dear…You have been through so much!”

The lights were dim as the strong winds out there blew. The woman’s face was as white as a sheet. She opened her eyes weakly and heaved a weak sigh, as though a weight had been lifted off her chest. Her eyes looked straight at the baby in the old woman’s arms.

The old woman carried the baby over to her by the bedside and smiled. “Look how handsome he is!”

The man smiled like a silly person happily.

The woman took a look and felt overwhelmed with emotions. This was her child?

Did she really have a child together with an uneducated and uncouth village man?

She allowed her thoughts to drift back to the same time a year ago. She was preparing to enter Shengjing City from Fuyang City, waiting to be married into the Ji family and be a wealthy wife for the rest of her life.

Her mother had told her that she was Su Yuejiu; every single thing that had belonged to Su Yuejiu would be hers from that day on!

She was over the moon and imagined everything that a young and innocent teenage girl would imagine.

She had heard that the Ji Family was so wealthy that their wealth was comparable to the nation. They had an endless supply of money and jewelry.

She had also heard that Young Master Ji was extremely handsome, and no man was able to compare him with looks. Countless ladies in Shengjing City were mesmerized by him.

…

And in the future that was not far away, all these would have belonged to her, just like how the jewelry, clothes and her parents’ love had been after Su Yuejiu had disappeared.

She had thought that she would be so lucky forever.

However, just within a year, why would she be here, lying on a cold and old bed, giving birth to a child for a poor and uncouth man?

Why did it turn out to be like this?

She felt nothing but a sense of hopelessness when she saw everything in front of her!

The woman looked at the pair of mother and son who were absorbed in their happiness with disdain and closed her eyes weakly.

Her only hope was that after she had given birth, the man would keep to his promise and send a letter to Fuyang City for her.

Perhaps she could still be her rich lady, and was still able to get everything that should have belonged to her!

…

After the incident about the rice had been resolved, the commercial house had become busy and popular again. As a result, Su Jiu became busy, frequently traveling between the Ji Manor and the commercial house.

Qiao An would go to the commercial house to help out whenever it was his rest day. He would come back on the fifteenth and the end of the lunar month. Ah Shu would also come back from the Bodyguard Agency. The few of them would meet and catch up over drinks. When they had too much to drink, they would make fun of each other, just like when they were still in the Dragon Conqueror Gang.

The next day, everyone would return to their busy lives, and every single one of them was busy yet enriched.

Su Jiu had never seen Xiao Lie anymore. As time had passed, it felt like this person had never existed before.

Occasionally, when Su Jiu went to the area around Qingyuan Tavern, she would stand at the rooftop, reminiscing how Xiao Lie and herself would drink and have a steamboat together here. She could not help herself but feel slightly disheartened at the thought.

Both of them had hidden their identities from each other in the first place. When they had finally decided to come clean with each other, she thought that they could still be friends. However, it seemed like the trust was gone.

Su Jiu took out a jade pendant that she had worn around her neck all along. She saw the word carved on the pendant and chuckled.

The word ‘Lie’ had been carved on the pendant. Had she knew how to read in the past, she should have known that his name was Xiao Lie long ago, and he was none other than Prince Rui.

He was the third prince and had a respectable position. If it was unintentional, he would not have any opportunities to cross paths with her.

He did not go to the Tavern anymore. Does he not want his jade pendant anymore as well?

Su Jiu took a deep breath and wore the jade pendant around her neck again.

He had helped her immensely. She had always thought that she would have an opportunity to repay his kindness in the future, but now it seems like she would not have the chance to anymore.

However, just when Su Jiu was sighing, it seemed like the heavens knew what she was yearning for. The very next day, the palace had sent some people to bring her in to meet with Empress Dowager Xiao.

With the thought that she might be able to see Xiao Lie, Su Jiu boarded the horse carriage happily this time round.

There were many people along the way, so she was delayed for quite a while. When she had finally arrived at Fushou palace, the lady in charge brought her to the side hall and told her respectfully, “Her highness had waited for Young Mistress for a little too long. She had just taken her medication and fell asleep. I would have to trouble Young Mistress to wait here for a little while!”

Su Jiu nodded. “It’s okay; I will just wait!”

The lady in charge nodded lightly and ordered the maids in the palace to bring some tea and snacks for Su Jiu.

After everyone had left, Su Jiu became bored after waiting in the side hall for a while. She left the hall to go for a walk.

One of the palace maids walked towards her. “Young Mistress, do you need anything?”

“I have had too much water and I feel bloated. I shall walk around before looking for a washroom. You can go and get busy with your things. I can take care of myself!” Su Jiu replied lightheartedly.

“Sure, please make yourself comfortable, Young Mistress!” The palace maid moved to one side.

Su Jiu walked along the winding corridor and went through a crescent-shaped door. There was a garden in front of her. There was a huge acacia tree and its shadows covered the entire area. Since the sun was scorching hot, she wanted to get out of it and walked towards the shadows in the garden.

The moment she entered the garden, Su Jiu felt way cooler as compared to being under the sun. There were interesting plants everywhere, and they had built little hills as well. Little paths made of stones led her deeper into the garden. It was winding and so relaxing.

Su Jiu walked until the middle of the garden. There was a lotus flower pond in the middle, and colorful stones were scattered around the pond. It was so pretty.

She saw a tortoise resting on a stone and basking under the sun. She thought that it was cute, and jogged to the bottom of one of the fake mountains to take a look.

That tortoise was afraid of people. Therefore, the moment Su Jiu walked over, it retracted its head into its shell and refused to come out anymore.

Su Jiu was just about to look for a stick to disturb it when she heard that there seemed to be something moving behind the fake mountain. She had thought that it would be one of the palace maids, so she did not mind too much. However, she made out the whispers to be flirting, giving her a shock. She looked through a crack in the fake mountain to see who there was.

It was indeed a man and a lady on the other side. The man was wearing a light blue outfit with a bat pattern sewn on to it. He was handsome, but his elongated eyes made him look too much like a casanova. He was hugging the girl and being intimate with her.

Su Jiu looked at the lady. She felt that the lady had looked familiar. When she thought about it harder, she was stunned for a while.

She had seen this lady at Empress Dowager Xiao’s before. She was Yu Zhaoyi, the Miss of the Ji Manor; Ji Yu.

The lady was decked in a light blue outfit with golden flowers stitched on to them. Her hair was decorated and held together by branches, adorned with hair accessories made of purple jade. Her eyes were fogged with lust, her skin looking tender. Her lips were interlocked with the man’s, and they were kissing so passionately like no one else mattered.

Could this man be the Emperor?

It cannot be. The Emperor already had a son as old as Xiao Lie. How could he look like he was only in his twenties?

Then could it be that Ji Yu was having an affair behind the Emperor’s back?

Su Jiu gasped. Her eyes sparkled with a newfound curiosity as she looked at the man again.

For someone who was able to go in and out of the palace so easily, and dared to have an affair with a palace concubine; who could it be?

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Other than the eunuch, there was only one man in the palace – the Emperor. The ministers were unable to enter the palace. The only people who were able to enter other than those mentioned prior were… the princes!

So was this the eldest prince, Prince Yu, or the second prince, Prince Zhao?

A son having an affair with his father’s wife!

The more Su Jiu thought about it, the more she felt chills running down her spine.