Chapter 273: Preserving It
Tong Qianbi cried with sobs, “Cousin-in-law’s kindness, I will never forget in this lifetime. In the future, I will be an ox or a horse for cousin-in-law, serving her well.”
Su Yaoguang listened to the conversation inside and left from there.
From that day on, Tong Qianbi really did as she said, being an ox or a horse for Su Yaoguang, always following her and serving her.
She frequently entered and exited Hui Yuan.
When Zhou Wangshu returned to the mansion, she did not make Tong Qianbi avoid suspicion, and even often walked away, leaving Tong Qianbi and Zhou Wangshu alone.
At night, Zhou Wangshu hugged Su Yaoguang’s slender waist from behind and said, “Are you deliberately testing Tong Qianbi?”
Today, Su Yaoguang used the pretext of going to the kitchen to check the soup, leaving Tong Qianbi and Zhou Wangshu alone together.
“Is my purpose that obvious?” Su Yaoguang said.
“Fine, using me as bait.” Zhou Wangshu nibbled on her cheek.
“Lightly…” Su Yaoguang pushed away this puppy. “After thinking it over, if she approached me with a purpose, you should be the biggest temptation. But now it seems I might have overthought it.”
Perhaps she really was just a simple, unfortunate person.
If that was the case, then it was good, meaning she had really saved a pitiable person who could be saved.
Su Yaoguang’s testing of Tong Qianbi ended.
“Temple?” Su Yaoguang was puzzled, “Why suddenly want to go to the temple?”
“Did cousin-in-law forget? There’s a temple fair today. I rarely go out on normal days, but this temple fair is very lively, making one want to go see it.”
“I haven’t strolled a temple fair in a long time.” Su Yaoguang got interested, “Then let’s pack up and head out right away.”
An hour later, Su Yaoguang and Tong Qianbi took a horse-drawn carriage from Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion to the temple fair.
It was indeed lively today, with the temple fair packed with people. Their horse-drawn carriage couldn’t enter at all and had to walk from the entrance.
Tong Qianbi pulled Su Yaoguang and squeezed into the crowd.
Su Yaoguang looked back and found her maidservant and Tong Qianbi’s maidservant had been separated by the crowd.
“Too many people.” Tong Qianbi pulled Su Yaoguang and squeezed in, then entered the very quiet temple.
Compared to the liveliness outside, there was only a merciful Buddha statue here, not even anyone burning incense.
No, it should be said that no one was burning incense in this small temple hall, but other temple halls did have people burning incense.
Bang! Tong Qianbi delivered a hand chop.
Su Yaoguang’s head sank, and she fell down.
At this time, two monks appeared and dragged Su Yaoguang into the entrance of the nearby secret chamber.
In the secret chamber. A man wearing a mask stood there. After Tong Qianbi appeared, she said to that man, “Begin!”
“Are you really willing to swap her face?” the mysterious man asked. “Although this isn’t my first face-swapping, every time carries risk. If you give up now, it’s still not too late.”
Tong Qianbi said, “I won’t give up, take action!”
The mysterious man was satisfied with her answer.
In fact, he didn’t really want her to give up.
He wished more people would come for face-swaps, so his face-swapping technique could get better and better. The reason he asked her was to see how firm her resolve was. Only with firm resolve did his face-swapping technique have greater chance of success.
The mysterious man stood before Su Yaoguang and took a shiny silver small knife from the box nearby.
“I’ll first give you a pill to eat; that pill will help you fall into a coma. When you wake up, the face-swapping will be complete. If it hurts at first, I’ll give you a pain-relief pill, so it won’t hurt anymore. About five days later, your wound won’t hurt as much. In another ten days or so, you can go out and see people with your new swapped face.”
Tong Qianbi stood before Su Yaoguang and said viciously, “To gain your trust, I’ve sacrificed so much. Since you’re so kind, you surely wouldn’t bear to see me suffer so much. Give me your face, and I’ll help you enjoy glory and wealth. Your father is mine, your mother is mine, even your man is mine. You know? Your man is really alluring; I like him so much.”
“Less nonsense, lie down! I’m starting.” the mysterious man said.
Tong Qianbi lay at Su Yaoguang’s side.
She looked at Su Yaoguang’s appearance, her eyes full of mad fervor.
The mysterious man fed her a pill.
After taking the pill, Tong Qianbi gradually lost consciousness.
At this time, besides the mysterious man and the two lying women in the secret chamber, there were also two monks.
The mysterious man first cut open Tong Qianbi’s face.
The sound of the knife cutting skin was exceptionally clear in this quiet space.
The two monks had been expressionless earlier, but upon hearing this sound, the two stood there stiff like wooden logs.
“Urgh…” Someone retched on the side.
The mysterious man said mockingly, “Truly useless.”
He held the knife and walked toward Su Yaoguang, clearly about to take action on her next.
“Stop.” Bang! Someone kicked open the secret chamber door and rushed in.
The mysterious man saw the person rushing in, and his expression changed drastically: “Zhou Wangshu.”
Zhou Wangshu looked at Su Yaoguang lying there and lightly exhaled.
Fortunately, he arrived in time.
The mysterious man grabbed toward Su Yaoguang, trying to use her to threaten Zhou Wangshu. However, as soon as he extended his arm, the supposedly comatose Su Yaoguang opened her eyes, grabbed and restrained the mysterious man, controlling him completely.
Those two monks had already been subdued.
Zhou Wangshu brought his subordinates rushing in.
“Yaoguang, are you alright?” Zhou Wangshu supported Su Yaoguang’s shoulders, “Didn’t I tell you not to take risks? Tell me if there’s anything, let me handle it. You actually knowingly risked it despite knowing Tong Qianbi had issues.”
“I didn’t know she had issues. In fact, she disguised herself too well; I never caught her handle.”
“Then what’s the situation now?” Zhou Wangshu said.
“Just in case! Before coming to the temple fair, I arranged subordinates to follow me. I told them to follow first without alerting anyone, and if something happened at the temple fair, immediately seek your help. Looks like the two I arranged are quite smart; you arrived very timely.”
“You! Really trying to anger me to death.” Zhou Wangshu said, then looked toward that mysterious man and reached to remove his mask.
That mysterious man suddenly attacked, stabbing a needle toward Zhou Wangshu. Zhou Wangshu countered, but the needle shot toward Su Yaoguang. To protect Su Yaoguang, Zhou Wangshu released the mysterious man. The mysterious man quickly escaped the control of two subordinates, leaped into another hidden door in the secret chamber—clearly the mechanisms here were more complex than imagined.
“He actually got away.” Zhou Wangshu frowned. “Search the hidden door, see if we can capture him.”
“Lord, how to handle this woman?” a subordinate nearby asked.
Tong Qianbi’s facial skin had been peeled off, now a bloody mess, looking extremely terrifying.
“Take her back and give her to the Cheng’an Marchioness.” Zhou Wangshu said, “Hope she likes this gift I’m sending.”
Su Yaoguang muttered, “Only a madman would like this gift!”
“After we get back, I’ll tell father-in-law and mother-in-law about this, let them judge your actions.”
Su Yaoguang held Zhou Wangshu’s hand, interlocking their fingers: “Husband, I was wrong. I swear this is the last time; there won’t be a next.”
The bloody smell in the secret chamber was too heavy. They left immediately.
“Wait…” Su Yaoguang stopped and looked at the secret chamber door. “A temple actually has such a secret chamber; we must investigate what’s inside, what secrets it holds. Who built this place, what it’s used for, and whose people are the monks in this temple.”
“Urgh…”
The subordinates saw Tong Qianbi without facial skin; even though they had seen much bloodshed, they were still disgusted.
In the horse-drawn carriage, Su Yaoguang leaned on Zhou Wangshu.
Zhou Wangshu held her tightly, feeling both annoyed and angry, yet unable to say a harsh word to her.
He recalled her death in the previous life.
He had already seen her die once and couldn’t imagine going mad if, because he failed to protect her, she died unjustly.
Before, he could calmly be an onlooker, but now she was his wife, the woman he deeply loved; he couldn’t stay calm.
From An Yuan. The Cheng’an Marchioness had just returned from a banquet and was removing her hair ornaments.
“How was Second Young Master today?” the Cheng’an Marchioness asked, “How was his appetite?”
“This servant just asked a few words; Second Young Master was in a good mood today and ate a lot.”
“He’s finally come around.” the Cheng’an Marchioness said, “I told him long ago, as long as he recuperates his body, I’ll definitely find a way to treat his injuries. Now that he’s willing to eat, that’s good; once his body is strong, treatment can begin.”
“Madam, Eldest Young Master sent a gift, saying Madam must open it personally.”
Two servants carried a box in.
A hesitant look flashed in the Cheng’an Marchioness’s eyes: “Would he be so kind-hearted?”
Even if he had no memories from before, his current behavior showed he wanted to fight for Marquis Cheng’an’s Mansion’s title, viewing them mother and son as thorns in his side, wishing to kill them with a glare—how could he be so kind as to send her a gift?
Though thinking this, the Cheng’an Marchioness still opened the box lid.
“Aaaaah…” The Cheng’an Marchioness saw Tong Qianbi without facial skin and screamed loudly.
Tong Qianbi’s facial skin had just been peeled, a bloody mess; the box had already seeped much blood, and now that blood seeped out along the box, filling the room with a thick bloody smell.
“What’s going on?” The Cheng’an Marchioness didn’t dare look that way.
“Madam, it seems to be… Miss Tong.” the old woman nearby said, “This is the outfit she wore when going out today.”
“Yes, yes, it’s Miss Tong; the hair ornament on her head is still the one Madam rewarded.”
The Cheng’an Marchioness retched on the side: “Is she dead?”
A servant boldly checked her breathing and said, “Madam, she’s not dead yet.”
“But with so much blood lost and no facial skin, even if she doesn’t die, she’ll likely wish she were.”
The Cheng’an Marchioness realized: “That dog couple deliberately sent her here to warn me. Just don’t know how much they know. Do they already know we’re plotting to swap faces with that husband-and-wife pair?”
Xia Zhen’s appearance was ruined, with multiple burns on his body, beyond ordinary medical skill.
Not long ago, a mysterious healer appeared, claiming he had a face-swapping technique that could swap skin between two people, even turning one into another.
The Cheng’an Marchioness was of course willing; after all, Xia Zhen’s current state made it impossible for him to go out, let alone inherit the title.
Thus, she had Tong Qianbi approach Su Yaoguang, planning for Tong Qianbi to first swap into Su Yaoguang’s appearance, then at some point swap Xia Zhen into Zhou Wangshu’s appearance. Only then could the two seamlessly replace those two.
Tong Qianbi had used the misery ploy this time, not only to make Su Yaoguang believe her so she could get close, but also to observe her up close, learn her preferences, watch her every move, to avoid slip-ups when impersonating her.
“Failed… failed… With those two’s personalities, they definitely won’t let it go.”
“Madam, don’t panic first; as long as you insist you know nothing, they can’t find evidence.” the old woman reminded.
“You’re right. I’m in the inner chambers all day; how would I know what happens outside? Besides, what face-swapping technique—saying it out loud would just make others laugh their heads off.”
Zhou Wangshu brought Su Yaoguang back to his Hui Yuan.
“Come, prepare hot water.”
Servants immediately began preparing bath water for Su Yaoguang.
Su Yaoguang had erred today, angering Zhou Wangshu; she was as obedient as could be, doing whatever he said.
While Su Yaoguang bathed, Zhou Wangshu wiped her back, massaged her shoulders, wiped every inch of her skin.
Today’s events were still a bit thrilling. Su Yaoguang lay in the bath pool, fully relaxed, and began to doze off.
She vaguely heard Zhou Wangshu talking to someone.
“Xia Zhen still doesn’t know Tong Qianbi’s true face has been exposed by us. Calculating the time, that one in An Yuan should have seen Tong Qianbi by now; next, it’s time for Xia Zhen to see. If he doesn’t see Tong Qianbi’s current state, how to make him despair?”
“This subordinate will handle it immediately.”
Zhou Wangshu lifted Su Yaoguang out of the water.
He looked at her sleeping against his shoulder, eyes full of heartache: “Relying on your bit of strength to act recklessly; to those who kill without blinking, your innate divine strength isn’t enough. Running wild all day, are you trying to scare me to death?”
Zhou Wangshu placed Su Yaoguang on the bed and tucked her in with the quilt.
A subordinate’s voice came from outside. He went out and closed the door.
“Master, that mysterious man escaped; we didn’t catch up.”
“The mysterious man escaped, but the secret chamber won’t; what did you find?”
“The secret chamber is very large, leading into the city; don’t know which courtyard it connects to—they’re still investigating.”
“Nothing at all in the secret chamber, no clues?”
“Does treasure count?” the subordinate asked, “Lots of treasure.”
Zhou Wangshu had a playful look: “Oh? If there’s stuff, then it’s easy to trace.”
