“There now, don’t be afraid. Today we not only collected dendrobium, we also killed a wild wolf. Once we carry it back to town, it should fetch a good price.”
Hearing that, the tension in Ah Zheng’s heart finally eased. He nodded, “Alright, then let me carry it.”
With a few swift moves, he processed the wolf and tossed it into their basket.
Truth be told, earlier Gu Heng had been so startled by the wolf that it overwhelmed everything else—but now, seeing the pool of blood on the ground, her tendency to faint at the sight of blood was acting up again.
Her steps faltered, and she leaned against a tree to rest.
Unexpectedly, Ah Zheng scooped her up in a princess carry.
In that instant, Gu Heng felt embarrassment outweigh her fear.
“What are you doing… I can still walk.”
“I know.”
Then Ah Zheng glanced around and lowered his voice. “But wolves are pack animals. They rarely roam alone. This one must have gotten separated, but the others are likely nearby.”
Gu Heng’s face instantly went pale with fright.
There were only the two of them on this mountain—barehanded. Even if Ah Zheng was brave, they couldn’t possibly take on a whole wolf pack.
“Then… let’s hurry back.”
Hearing her voice tremble slightly, Ah Zheng held her more securely.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you. Of course we’ll go back—but we also have to gather the dendrobium.”
With that, he suddenly used qinggong, and within a few steps, reached the cliff where the dendrobium grew. After picking it, he accelerated his pace and brought her down the mountain, back to the manor.
Along the way, people saw them both covered in blood and started whispering and pointing.
But the two ignored them. They changed clothes and headed straight for town with their goods.
Yet the moment they entered town, Gu Heng felt something was off.
It had only been a day, but the town felt noticeably more deserted than before.
Following the familiar route in her memory, she quickly arrived at the medicine hall she had visited last time.
Unexpectedly, although there were few people on the streets, the medicine hall was packed to the brim, and even the apprentice boys were running about frantically.
Seeing Gu Heng, the shopkeeper hurried over.
“Miss, you’ve come to sell dendrobium again today?”
Gu Heng nodded and placed the goods on the counter. The transaction was completed quickly.
But seeing the wound on Ah Zheng’s hand, the shopkeeper kindly asked, “Did you get hurt while harvesting dendrobium?”
Gu Heng sighed. “Yes, we encountered a wild wolf in the mountains. Luckily, my brother here has some skills, or else… we wouldn’t be standing here now.”
The shopkeeper shook his head. “You’d best not go picking anymore. Things aren’t peaceful out there. It’s better to stay indoors.”
Gu Heng’s smile froze. “Shopkeeper, what do you mean?”
After putting away the dendrobium, the shopkeeper glanced at the patients filling the hall. “You see for yourself—so many patients have come these past couple of days. It started with just coughing, then fever, then full-body aches. At first I thought it was a common cold, but judging by the trend… I fear an epidemic is coming.”
Gu Heng’s heart dropped.
She remembered her Yiniang once telling her that when she was young, their town had been hit by a major epidemic. The situation was so dire, only one in ten people survived. You couldn’t walk a few steps without seeing corpses everywhere.
It began with just a few sick families, but in the end, nearly the entire town was wiped out.
Her Yiniang’s family had luckily been visiting relatives out of town at the time and avoided the disaster. Otherwise, they too might have perished.
Snapping back to the present, Gu Heng couldn’t help but frown.
If things were truly as the shopkeeper said, then something big was about to happen.
After selling the dendrobium, they went to the slaughterhouse in the west market and sold the wild wolf. Altogether, they earned one hundred taels today.
They set aside the unpleasant thoughts and strolled through town for a while.
If an epidemic really was coming, they’d just have to take things one step at a time and live well in the present.
First, they stopped by a clothing shop and bought several outfits made of silk.
Gu Heng especially liked a pink dress. Even though it cost a full tael, she gritted her teeth and bought it.
Ah Zheng chose a black robe, saying black didn’t show dirt.
Gu Heng didn’t quite believe that, but she didn’t argue. After all, they hadn’t seen each other in years—it was natural that preferences would change.
They bought roast chicken, three oil pancakes, and happily returned to the manor.
But upon arrival, they saw some unfamiliar faces.
A group of burly men in servant garb were loitering around, casting glances at Gu Heng from time to time.
Clearly not good people.
Seeing the looks in their eyes, Ah Zheng felt a fire of rage burn inside him.
But after staying here a few days, he understood that Gu Heng’s position in this manor wasn’t great. Unless these men made trouble first, he didn’t want to cause problems that might bring her harm.
Gu Heng grabbed a passing maid and frowned, asking, “Do you know what those people are here for?”
The maid was startled. Seeing Ah Zheng, she turned pale.
Ever since he beat Miss Chunhua the other day, his bad reputation had spread through the manor—everyone knew about him.
But now the second young miss was asking. She didn’t dare not answer.
After bowing respectfully, she lowered her voice. “I only know they were sent from the county magistrate, by our own household. I don’t know anything else.”
Seeing how frightened she was, Gu Heng didn’t push further. “Alright, I understand. You may go.”
The maid scurried off as if escaping.
Staring after her, Gu Heng furrowed her brows, a sense of foreboding rising.
“This group… they’re probably here for us.”
***
Back in their rooms, the two prepared to bathe and wash off the blood from the mountain, then eat the delicious roast chicken.
But just as Gu Heng came out from her bath, drying her hair, she saw that the roast chicken she had left on the table was gone. Only a few greasy wrappers remained on the floor—some even stomped on.
Looking up, she saw Chunhua wearing the pink dress Gu Heng had just bought, smugly leaning against the door.
The roast chicken had been torn apart and eaten by the same unfamiliar men from earlier.
They were the ones Gu Heng had seen before.
Now, they were all greasy-faced, and the one in front looked at Gu Heng with mockery. “Second Miss, we’re all rough folks. Never had such good food before. We thought what was on your table was meant for us. It’s all gone now—hope you don’t mind!”
After that, they all burst out laughing like petty bullies.
Though Gu Heng was annoyed, she wasn’t someone petty over a roast chicken. It wasn’t expensive, and if they wanted it, so be it. But she still didn’t know what these men were really up to, so she had to tread carefully for now.
“You’ve already eaten—so get going! This is my boudoir. You men crowding around here—isn’t that inappropriate?”
Gu Heng stepped forward and shoved Chunhua. “And you—take my clothes off your body!”
Chunhua had sent word to the main house yesterday, and today a few household guards had come. It was obvious that the Madam had instructed them to back Chunhua up and give Gu Heng a hard time.
Chunhua had been feeling smug, but Gu Heng’s sudden shove reignited her fury.
“You think just because you have a man protecting you, you can act all high and mighty? Let me tell you—if you two dare lay a hand on me again, I’ll have these guards teach you a lesson! Just the two of you—how could you possibly fight off all of us?”
Gu Heng had always despised those who bullied others by relying on power. She’d planned to tolerate things, but hearing this made her blood boil. She directly started tearing Chunhua’s clothes off.
“Since you won’t take them off yourself, I’ll help you do it!”
Seeing the growing crowd of spectators, Chunhua’s face flushed red with humiliation.
But Gu Heng felt nothing at the sight.
If Chunhua had even a shred of remorse, Gu Heng wouldn’t have gone this far. But Chunhua was clearly one of Qin Rou and Gu Yue’s people, here deliberately to target her. She’d been stirring up trouble for days—even a previous beating hadn’t taught her a lesson. Gu Heng was thoroughly fed up.
Today, she was determined to teach her a real lesson.
“You dared to touch my belongings? The moment you put on that outfit, you should’ve known this would be the outcome!”
Chunhua struggled hard, but Gu Heng held on tightly. Enraged and humiliated, Chunhua shouted at the guards, “Are you all dead?! Why aren’t you helping me?!”
At her cry, the guards wiped the grease from their mouths and moved toward Gu Heng.
They had come to the manor under the Madam’s orders.
She’d told them to find a way to kill the Second Miss—or if that proved impossible, then to ruin her reputation.
Now, fresh from the bath, her hair still damp and her face bare of makeup, Gu Heng was still breathtakingly beautiful.
The guards ogled her with lewd stares.
“Second Miss, you’d better let Miss Chunhua go. You’ve already lost favor with the master. If word gets back that you’re being arrogant here and bullying the servants, you’ll never return to the main house.”
Gu Heng looked up and saw the men surrounding her—she knew this was bad.
A scar-faced guard stepped forward and yanked Chunhua away from her.
Then he began to close in. Gu Heng backed away until her back hit the wall—there was nowhere left to retreat.
“Second Miss,” he sneered, “I heard you brought some pretty boy with you to the manor. But playing with one man—how fun could that be? Why not let us all have a turn?”
As he spoke, he reached out to touch her face.
In that instant, Gu Heng seized the opportunity and kneed him viciously between the legs.
A scream of agony tore through the air as the man collapsed, writhing on the ground.
The other guards’ eyes filled with rage.
“This little b*tch dared to hurt our boss?! If we don’t f**k her to death today, we’re not real men!”
