Chapter 225: Taking Orders
Su Yaoguang tugged at her clothes, but Zhou Wangshu held them tightly, and she couldn’t pull them free no matter what.
She gently patted his back and lowered her voice. “Alright, it’s too late. Rest first today. We can talk about anything tomorrow.”
Since returning, Zhou Wangshu had been sticking to her like taffy, and she couldn’t free her arm no matter what. Now that her hair was dry, she wanted to rest, but he still wouldn’t let go.
She called to him, but he ignored her.
If one said he was drunk, yet she couldn’t pull away.
“If you don’t want to move, just sleep here. Shall we go to bed and sleep now?” Su Yaoguang coaxed.
Zhou Wangshu, who had shown no reaction, hummed in response, hugged her neck, opened his drowsy eyes, and led her toward the bed.
At the bedside, he pressed her onto the bed and hugged her tightly, refusing to let go.
Su Yaoguang pushed him, but she, who always had boundless strength, surprisingly couldn’t break free from this drunkard’s grip. She was exhausted and didn’t want to struggle anymore, so she resignedly closed her eyes.
When she closed her eyes, she didn’t notice the person beside her with upturned lips and opened eyes.
In the following days, Zhou Wangshu had more and more socializing, and every time he returned from socializing, he sought out Su Yaoguang. Even if Su Yaoguang bolted the door, he would knock outside.
When the drunkard knocked on the door outside and called her name aggrievedly, to avoid others saying she was a heartless woman who started but didn’t finish, she had no choice but to resignedly take him in.
Over time, Su Yaoguang prepared hangover soup for him every day and let him stay by her side. The next day when waking, either she was in his arms, or he was in hers.
Habit is the most terrifying thing. From initial discomfort to later taking it for granted, it only took five days. In those five days, she grew accustomed to Zhou Wangshu’s scent and even to his taffy-like clinginess.
In a certain side courtyard, Zhou Wangshu hurried over upon receiving the news. As soon as he arrived, his subordinate reported the latest situation.
“Hall Master, someone wants to buy your life. Isn’t that rare?” A brother from the provincial capital branch said with a smile. “I asked the other party for five hundred taels of silver. You’re the local imperial examination first place now, so you’re worth at least that much, right? That person said to give him three days, and in three days he would gather the silver, then have us deal with you.”
The brother beside said, “Not only that, the other party also proposed a condition: to deal with you in front of your madam, letting you die before your madam.”
Zhou Wangshu sneered coldly. “There aren’t many people in this world who hate me so much, and now only that one knows where I am. Did he come forward personally?”
“No. If he came forward personally, we would have dealt with him first. Following our hall’s rules, he directly placed the invitation to hire a killer under the statue in the God of Wealth Temple. Our people have been staking out there and didn’t see how he took away our message. This person has some ability.”
“If he wants me dead, then fulfill him.” Zhou Wangshu said, “Tomorrow I will take Madam to burn incense. You pass this news to him, then wait for him to take the bait.”
“Good.”
Chen Buyu married a new daughter-in-law and wanted to take her back to see his parents-in-law, so he returned to the county town first.
Zhong Chushan had finally achieved such good results, so of course he wanted to travel mountains and play with his classmates, and thus did not travel with them.
After the others left, Zhou Wangshu told Su Yaoguang that he wanted to pay respects to the local Bodhisattva. After paying respects, they also had to hurry back to the county town.
Su Yaoguang rented a horse-drawn carriage and had the coachman take them to the most famous temple in the area. The mountain where that temple was located was extremely high, and after reaching the foot of the mountain, they had to climb up.
Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu climbed the mountain.
Half a quarter-hour later, several people suddenly appeared blocking their path.
Seeing these people looking fierce, Su Yaoguang protected Zhou Wangshu and looked sharply at the people opposite. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Not far away, Xiao Yanci watched the commotion here, his eyes full of madness.
All the changes were because of Zhou Wangshu. As long as Zhou Wangshu disappeared, the top scholar position would still be his. Therefore, before the imperial examination, the first one he had to deal with was this variable, Zhou Wangshu.
He went to the temple yesterday to draw a lot, and it was the best lot. The Bodhisattva wanted to tell him that as long as he resolved this obstacle, his life would be the best lot.
The location Xiao Yanci chose had a very good view, and the fight over there was clearly reflected in his eyes. He even saw Su Yaoguang protecting Zhou Wangshu’s every move.
At that moment, he really wanted to see how heartbroken and devastated Su Yaoguang would be when Zhou Wangshu died in front of her.
“Enjoying the show?” An ice-cold voice rang out.
Hearing this voice, Xiao Yanci stiffly turned around and saw Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang standing not far away.
“How could you…” Xiao Yanci looked at them, then turned back to glance at the direction of the fight opposite.
At this time, those fighting people looked over. When those few faced him directly, he realized that the ‘Su Yaoguang’ and ‘Zhou Wangshu’ over there were all fakes.
“You bribed Ming Ye Hall’s people?” Xiao Yanci said angrily. “Doesn’t Ming Ye Hall complete every order they accept? Why did they go back on their word and betray their trust?”
“Ming Ye Hall also has principles; their principle is not to work for petty people. Xiao Ci, we have no deep hatred, yet you bought a killer to murder us.” Zhou Wangshu said. “Let me analyze what you’re thinking. Do you think I’m blocking your path, and if you kill me, you eliminate a competitor? Xiao Ci, then should you also kill the second place? After all, you have more than just me as an opponent. If you want to be top scholar, you’d have to kill many people, all the regional first places, otherwise you still have no chance of winning.”
“It’s different…” Xiao Yanci looked coldly at Zhou Wangshu. “As long as you’re dealt with, the others aren’t my opponents. In that dream, you were the only variable.”
“Why waste words on him? He bought a killer to murder. Let’s grab him and take him to the government office, let him spend his life in prison, and see how he can still take the top scholar exam.”
Su Yaoguang rushed toward Xiao Yanci.
Xiao Yanci knew Su Yaoguang’s fighting ability. Seeing his plan to buy a killer exposed, he knew staying would be death, so he turned to run.
Several people emerged from the side, wearing Ming Ye Hall’s clothes.
“You took one hundred taels of silver as deposit, but now not only do you not complete the task I entrusted, you even help the person I wanted to kill to counter-kill me. Ming Ye Hall is truly shameless.”
“From the beginning, we never truly accepted your task; it was all just to lure you out. You didn’t disappoint us; you really were peeking nearby.”
Xiao Yanci swung his arm, scattering a handful of medicinal powder.
The several Ming Ye Hall brothers originally grabbing him inhaled a large amount of the medicinal powder, coughing from their mouths, their eyes burning painfully.
“Ah…”
Xiao Yanci took this chance to escape.
The others hurriedly chased after him.
Su Yaoguang also wanted to chase but was held back by Zhou Wangshu.
“This mountain is hard to climb, and with so many people chasing him, unless he grows wings, he can’t escape this deep mountain.” Zhou Wangshu said. “Leave this matter to them.”
“These Ming Ye Hall people are quite reliable. They don’t kill good people, only bad ones. They must have investigated your usual behavior before refusing to take the task to kill you.”
Zhou Wangshu felt a bit guilty.
Ming Ye Hall wasn’t that righteous. In fact, they didn’t act against him simply because he was Ming Ye Hall’s master. Unless there was internal strife in Ming Ye Hall, it was impossible to accept that order.
Several Ming Ye Hall brothers chased after Xiao Yanci.
Xiao Yanci was just a weak scholar, with poor martial skills and legs not as good as a practitioner’s. Seeing so many chasing, Su Yaoguang didn’t join the excitement and slowly followed with Zhou Wangshu.
Not long after, the people tracking Xiao Yanci returned.
“Mr. Xiao jumped off a cliff.” Ming Ye Hall’s people returned to report the latest situation on Xiao Yanci.
They carefully glanced at Zhou Wangshu, saw no special reaction from him, then said to Su Yaoguang, “But rest assured, the cliffs here are so steep; if he jumps from here, he can’t possibly survive.”
“I don’t want to hear hypotheticals.” Zhou Wangshu said. “Arrange some people to search at the foot of the mountain. If alive, bring the body; if dead, bring the corpse.”
“Yes.”
Su Yaoguang looked thoughtfully at Zhou Wangshu.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Wangshu’s heart tightened.
He had ordered too naturally just now, and Ming Ye Hall’s people had responded too matter-of-factly.
“I spent a fortune hiring them to deal with Xiao Ci. Now that Xiao Ci jumped off a cliff and it’s uncertain if he’s dead, of course they have to handle this properly before I pay the balance.”
“You’re right. This Xiao Ci is truly mad, actually buying a killer to murder. Luckily you know Ming Ye Hall’s people, and they didn’t truly accept this business, otherwise we might not withstand Ming Ye Hall’s assassination.” Su Yaoguang said. “Xiao Ci dared to murder; jumping off the cliff now is his own fault. He’d better be dead, otherwise I’ll personally finish him off.”
Ming Ye Hall’s people didn’t find Xiao Yanci.
Zhou Wangshu first sent Su Yaoguang up the mountain to the temple to pray, and that night they stayed there. When he sent Su Yaoguang to the temple, he continued searching for Xiao Yanci’s whereabouts with Ming Ye Hall’s brothers.
“Hall Master, this mountain is too big, and there are swamps below. That person might have fallen directly into the swamp; if so, I’m afraid we won’t find his corpse.”
“I said, even if we turn the whole mountain over, we must find that corpse.” Zhou Wangshu said. “This person is very cunning; we absolutely cannot let the tiger return to the mountain.”
At this moment, Su Yaoguang stood by the window, watching the sudden heavy rain, her brows deeply furrowed.
Zhou Wangshu hadn’t come up the mountain yet.
Was he still looking for Xiao Yanci’s corpse?
“Idiot, if you can’t find it, forget it. Could it be more important than your own safety? With such a sudden heavy rain, and this mountain so treacherous, what if you encounter danger in the mountains?”
Rumbling! Thunder rolled.
The passing little monk said while running, “What’s going on? Yesterday Master checked the weather signs and said the next half month would all be good weather, no sign of rain. Our Master has never been wrong before; why this unexpected this time?”
“Don’t talk, quickly take those medicinal herbs back. Those medicinal herbs are so precious; it’d be a pity if they got soaked.”
Su Yaoguang called to the two little monks. “Excuse me, has my younger brother returned?”
The little monk said, “Not yet.”
When Zhou Wangshu sent her up the mountain, the temple monks had seen him. They also knew he wanted to go into the mountains to find something, so they settled Su Yaoguang here first, and he would come later.
Now thunder rolled and rain poured, and this rain came cleverly and suddenly, as if deliberately bailing out Xiao Yanci.
“This idiot Wangshu, why hasn’t he…”
“Female Benefactor… Young Master Zhou was suddenly hit on the head by a falling stone from above and bled a lot.” Ming Ye Hall’s brothers carried Zhou Wangshu back.
Hearing their voices, Su Yaoguang rushed into the rain regardless, looking at Zhou Wangshu whose head was bleeding profusely.
“Master Yixing, quickly call Master Yixing.”
There was a master skilled in medical skill in the temple, none other than this Master Yixing.
As soon as she spoke, Master Yixing hurried over upon hearing the news.
After all, when Ming Ye Hall’s people carried Zhou Wangshu in, many monks saw, and they immediately notified Master Yixing.
Master Yixing was a fat monk with a benevolent face, smiling like Maitreya Buddha. But at this moment, there was no smile on his face.
“Injured like this, whether he lives depends on his fate.” Master Yixing said. “Benefactor, rest assured; this poor monk will do his utmost.”
“Master, you must save him. He’s so young, just passed the local imperial examination first place.”
Su Yaoguang trembled as she grasped Zhou Wangshu’s hand.
Zhou Wangshu was soaked by the rain, his whole body drenched, hands and feet ice-cold. Su Yaoguang sat beside him; she too, just soaked in the rain, had not a clean spot on her body.
She tightly held Zhou Wangshu’s hand, breathed on his palm while holding it, trying to warm him a bit this way.
Su Yaoguang recalled first meeting Zhou Wangshu; his injury back then was similar to today’s. He survived then, so surely today too.
“Wangshu… Wangshu, wake up…”
Why had it suddenly become like this?
Could it be because Zhou Wangshu acted against Xiao Yanci?
It was said that those who became top scholar were incarnations of the God of Literature. Zhou Wangshu snatched the first place originally belonging to Xiao Yanci and even forced him to jump off a cliff; could this be punishment from heaven?
Su Yaoguang knew she shouldn’t think randomly, but having died once, she believed in gods and Buddhas. Without them, how did she rebirth?
She regretted it.
If she had known acting against Xiao Yanci would implicate Zhou Wangshu, she would rather let him prance in front of her for life than have Zhou Wangshu trade one life for another.
Basin after basin of bloody water was carried out and dumped, followed by clean water brought in. Master Yixing first treated the wound on Zhou Wangshu’s head, and after bandaging, had two monks change his wet clothes.
“Female Benefactor, his injury is on the head; I’ve bandaged it. But whether he pulls through depends on him. With such a severe injury, this poor monk is powerless.”
