The steward hurriedly entered Madam Zhou’s courtyard.
“Is everything packed up?” Madam Zhou asked.
“Master, Madam,” the steward said awkwardly, “They won’t let us in.”
“What?” Madam Zhou suddenly sat up and asked sternly.
“It was hard to find the lady’s house. There’s a young servant guarding the door, and it seems they won’t let us in no matter what we say,” the steward explained.
Madam Zhou snorted.
“We didn’t dare to force our way in. They shouted about reporting to the authorities,” the steward said, lowering his head, embarrassed.
They had already caused a stir on the street once with City Watch. If they caused another stir, it would really make the Zhou family too noticeable.
“Then forget it. I kindly tried to help her arrange things, but if she doesn’t want it, that’s fine,” Madam Zhou said. “Has she come back? Once things are packed, go over and don’t come to bow to me. I won’t even look at her.”
The maids exchanged glances, looking at the lady sitting in the hall.
The lady’s expression was blank, making it hard to tell whether she was happy or angry.
“Miss, don’t overthink it. To live here long-term, it really needs some repairs. The house is small and we can’t let you feel cramped. It’s just that you’ll stay somewhere else for a while, and once the repairs are done, you can return,” the maid said with a smile, trying to comfort her.
“I’m not overthinking it,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied, smiling faintly at them. “It’s just that I came the way I came, and I’ll leave the same way.”
Came the way I came, and leave the same way?
The maids exchanged another glance.
“Sixth Your Master kidnapped our mistress, so get him send us off as well,” the maid said.
Madam Zhou threw the medicine bowl in her hand directly at the ground.
Outside the door, under the light, the maids were frozen in fear.
“Really shameless, always stirring up trouble between Liu-lang and me!” Madam Zhou shouted. “She doesn’t want to leave with dignity, then don’t blame me for not showing mercy! Come, tie her up and drag her out!”
“What are you saying?” Master Zhou shouted. “You’re tying her up today, and tomorrow? She’s already well-known in the capital. If this gets out, how can we face others?”
“Face others? She isn’t afraid of embarrassment, why should I care!” Madam Zhou shouted, wiping away tears with a handkerchief. “I kindly took her in, even planned to care for her for life, but instead, I let a wolf into my home. She seduced my son. A woman like this deserves to be scorned and cursed to death! She brings dead back? Immortal? No, she’s an evil spirit! This calamity, this calamity!”
Master Zhou was so pained by the shouting that he stood up.
“Why air our dirty laundry in public! I’ll go talk to her,” he said.
The maids in Cheng Jiao-niang’s courtyard all left, and the bundles in the room remained untouched.
The two of them sat quietly, neither anxious nor angry.
Master Zhou sat down and pondered for a long time, thinking of a thousand ways to approach the situation.
“The house needs some repairs. It’s not good to be cramped with the other sisters,” he said, raising his eyes to look at the lady’s blank expression, but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come out.
“Jiao Jiao, just go live somewhere else for now. It’s inconvenient for you to stay here. But don’t worry, whether you’re at home or outside, it’s the same. I am here,” he said, biting his tongue and speaking directly.
Cheng Jiao-niang looked at him upon hearing this.
“You’re sending me away now, but will you force me to come back later?” she asked.
If they had known it would be so troublesome to bring her in back then, they would never have forced it. They would have just sent her to a house and had them take care of her properly. Wouldn’t that have been better?
They truly regretted it!
“What are you talking about? How can it be called ‘forcing’?” Master Zhou chuckled awkwardly. “This is your maternal family, and I am your uncle. This is your home. You can come and go as you please. Who would dare to force you?”
Cheng Jiao-niang smiled faintly upon hearing this.
“That’s good, Uncle. I hope you remember these words,” she said, standing up. “Then, I’ll take my leave.”
Just like that, she agreed?
Master Zhou was a little stunned.
Well, perhaps it was better this way. At home, it was unrestful anyway—his wife was unhappy, and this lady wasn’t happy either. Trying to ease the situation might only make things more awkward. Perhaps it would be better to keep some distance.
After all, he was her real uncle. He could give her more money and visit her more often, showing concern. People’s hearts grow with affection, and as a young girl, she would surely soften. There would be no more awkwardness.
“Come, someone, take the mistress to the house,” he said as he stood up.
The maids outside hurriedly rushed in.
“No need,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “Everything is already prepared over there. I’ll just take my things and leave.”
The maids were momentarily stunned.
The maid only picked up a bundle and got up to follow, but then paused, rummaged through it, and took out a book, holding it in her hand.
“Miss, let’s go,” she said.
Cheng Jiao-niang nodded, reached up to adjust her hood, and stepped out of the room.
The spring night breeze blew through, causing the lanterns in the corridor to sway.
“Madam, she has been sent away,” two maids entered and greeted.
Madam Zhou let out a sigh and relaxed, lying down.
“…She didn’t want to take anything… not even the money we gave her…”
Listening to the maids speak, Madam Zhou half-closed her eyes and snorted coldly.
“Does she not have money? Does she care about our family’s money?” she said.
“…She refused to take anyone with her. The master personally sent her, but once they got out of the carriage, she shut the door. In the end, no one was let in, and they all had to return,” the maid continued, her head lowered.
“She can take it or leave it!” Madam Zhou huffed, opening her eyes. “Where is the master?”
“He went to the study,” the maid replied.
“Let him go wherever he wants,” Madam Zhou waved her hand, dismissing the maid. She sighed slowly, looking at the girl beside her. “As long as that girl is gone, I can finally feel at ease.”
She said this and looked out the window, feeling the quiet of the night.
As the morning light broke, the Zhou family’s training grounds were missing Zhou Liu-lang for the first time.
“Is Sixth Brother unable to get up because he’s too sad?”
“What are you talking about? Yesterday, Mother asked us to take him out for drinks to avoid the situation. We made sure to get him drunk and carried him back. He probably hasn’t woken up yet.”
“I really didn’t expect it. Sixth Brother is so young, but he has such thoughts.”
“Looks like he’ll be troubled for a while…”
The brothers joked and sparred with each other as they spoke.
With a loud bang, the courtyard door was kicked open again. But this time, inside the room, there was neither the lady’s indifferent gaze nor the maid’s angry scolding.
Everything inside remained as it was, quiet and empty.
Zhou Liu-lang’s clenched fists creaked as he raised his foot and kicked the small table in front of him. The table crashed into the wall and shattered, falling to the ground.
“This has nothing to do with her! Father, Mother, this has nothing to do with her, it was my own decision!”
Zhou Liu-lang shouted, “I owe her! I’ll repay her for the rest of my life!”
“What do you owe her?” Madam Zhou snapped, her eyebrows raised in anger. “You need your whole life to repay her? You owe her? It’s me who owes you! For her, you dare to speak to me like this! I’m telling you, she will never enter this house again, no matter what you say!”
Zhou Liu-lang’s face tightened as he knelt down.
“Go back. Your marriage will be decided by us. Don’t act so recklessly again!” Master Zhou’s voice was deep and stern.
Zhou Liu-lang stood up and left.
The horse galloped out of the gate, almost colliding with Young Master Qin, who was just about to disembark from his carriage.
“Liu-lang!” he called out as he saw the young man on horseback.
The horse didn’t stop and continued to race away.
“What’s going on now?” Young Master Qin shook his head and said.
“Should we wait for him at home?” the servant asked.
Young Master Qin looked at the Zhou family’s gate, then glanced in the direction where Zhou Liu-lang had fled.
“It seems he won’t be back anytime soon. Let’s go back,” he said.
The servant nodded, lowered the curtain of the carriage, and turned the horse’s head.
Young Master Qin’s carriage drove into the gate, and a servant was already there to carry a soft sedan chair over, helping Young Master Qin into the chair as they headed inside.
A few maids were gathered around a magnificent noble lady as she walked gracefully toward them. Seeing the group, the lady stopped in her tracks.
“Why has Shi’san come back so early today?” she asked with a smile.
“Yes, he just mentioned he was going to find Zhou Liu-lang,” a maid said.
The lady took a step forward, her face still smiling.
“Speaking of Zhou Liu-lang,” she suddenly remembered something, “I vaguely heard someone say that someone from the Zhou family can cure Shi’san’s leg?”
