Chapter 9.1
Chapter 9.1
Behind the vast and exquisite garden, was the back residence of the palace. The large chic houses were divided into courtyards, where the concubines of the palace lived.
Jingwang’s residence was originally the residence of an affluent and powerful gentry in Lin’an. The entire residence occupied an extremely large area and was overly luxurious and exquisite. The imperial court fled south, and the gentry were afraid of attracting attacks, so they forfeited a lot of properties. This family homestead was also handed over on a silver platter.
Since then, this place became Jingwang’s residence.
Jingwang was not like that magnate, whose family lived under the same roof and thrived for generations. The huge residence was simply dissatisfying. Therefore, although the houses in the backyard were numerous, most of them were empty. They were so empty that after a long time, many houses were left unattended.
As night fell, a few remaining lamps in the corner were lit in an old and dilapidated courtyard.
The door of the room opened with a creak.
The maid carried a food container and strode in after entering the threshold. The main house was not spacious, and the objects inside have not been cleaned for a long time. Upon entering, dust would fly everywhere, causing one to choke.
The maid frowned in disgust and quickened her steps. She walked to the table in the room, and put the container of food down heavily on the table.
“The food is here. Please help yourself, Master.” Her tone was cold and icy, and the word “master” carried a bit of venom, which was quite harsh in the quiet of the night.
The person in the wheelchair in the room did not respond to her.
The maid had already noticed that this man was not only a cripple, but also a mute. As long as people didn’t touch him, he wouldn’t react to any bullying.
He was naturally the best punching bag.
The maid had only been in Jingwang’s mansion for a few months and finally got a chance to serve a master.
Although several people in the house were considered masters, the gap was huge. Madam Xu’s place, for instance, wasn’t an ideal place.
She has long been seeking ways and tried every means to serve Madam Gu in his courtyard, but she did not expect that she would be assigned to this disabled person.
What benefits could she gain by coming here? The cripple himself was living in a dilapidated house that leaked.
The maid had a stomach full of grievances, and when she saw his wheelchair, she felt even more unlucky.
Seeing that the cripple was silent as usual, she sneered and said, “You probably don’t know it yet. After what happened at noon today, Madam Gu’s maid went to His Highness’s courtyard to complain. Once His Highness heard the news, he immediately said that he would go to Madam Gu’s room tonight.”
Huo Wujiu didn’t move a muscle.
The maid’s voice turned a bit sharp: “Do you know what kind of person Madam Gu is? You hit his beloved. Do you think His Highness will let you go? When His Highness punishes you, we might even be implicated. I am truly unlucky to be assigned to such a shabby courtyard: on my first day here, I ran into such a thing.”
After saying that, she coldly snorted, turned around and stomped out.
“A mere cripple, yet you want to fight with others. You really overestimated yourself.”
The door was heavily slammed shut.
Huo Wujiu slowly closed his eyes.
His forehead was burning badly at this moment, and he was already having a fever because of his wounds.
His mind gradually clouded with a layer of chaos, despite himself being sober.
He hid all emotions back into the depths of his eyes.
In those eyes, a savage beast was forcibly shut into a narrow cage by reason, scraped by the iron cage till it bled all over.
He had endured pain and humiliation since he was a child.
He knew that a defeated foe ought to be trampled upon at will; it was rightly so. He also knew that he had to stay in the green hills and lie on faggots and taste gall. So long as he had one last breath, there would always be a day that blood would be paid in blood.
He knew that there was no hardship he couldn’t endure and overcome, but he never realized that to kill a tiger, there wasn’t really a need for a knife.
Just let him sustain some injuries, lock him up, and sprinkle a handful of flies on his injuries that couldn’t be dispersed or avoided.
The tiger would then naturally die, little by little. No matter how strong it was, it wouldn’t be able to fight back.
——
Jiang Suizhou looked at them blankly and saw Gu Changyun stepping forward and asking him to sit down. Then he asked, “Master, what did Pang Shao do in the courtroom today?”
Gu Changyun’s question rendered Jiang Suizhou dumbfounded.
He assumed many possibilities, but never considered that the vixen was not a vixen, and the ideal marriage was not an ideal marriage. These two people were actually the original owner’s staff who were kept in the house under the name of concubines.
For a time, many things became clearer.
It turned out that the original owner’s so-called “homosexuality” was nothing but a guise. It was a no-brainer. It must have been to deceive the emperor and Pang Shao and reduce their reservations against him. The so-called concubines who died because of his brutality and viciousness must have been spies that others sent to test him, and therefore died tragically at his hands.
Jiang Suizhou admired the original owner for a moment.
Bearing disgrace and a heavy burden, while meticulous planning…had he been the one who sat on the throne, the Jing Dynasty wouldn’t have perished so quickly.
He slowly sat down on the Taishi chair1 in the middle of the room while digesting the huge amount of information that came out of nowhere.
In a moment, he deliberated his words and spoke briefly, “He asked me for the right to repair the ancestral hall through His Majesty’s mouth.”
After saying that, he picked up the cup of tea that Gu Changyun just poured for him on the table and took a sip.
He had forgotten to drink water when he was in the study and read through the information earlier. Now that he took a seat, he felt parched.
Jiang Suizhou took two sips of tea, but the room remained quiet. The two people did not speak.
Footnote:
1 Taishi chair – a symbol of the master’s status and identity.
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