northernbook Chapter 123 Plot
Chapter 123 Plot
In the dark night, outside on the beach, Shen Peiqing was dressed in black that could blend into the night. He crossed his arms over his chest, listening to the waves and feeling the sea breeze, his eyes fixed on the house not far away with dim lights flickering.
Suddenly, a dark shadow came from not far away. Under the dim moonlight, Shi Tou walked in front of him, put one hand on his chest, and lowered his head slightly to Shen Peiqing.
"Master, Li Anguo has been unable to get out of bed for three days."
After listening to this, Shen Peiqing nodded. If he had not arrived in time today, she would have been injured.
The thought of this possibility made him feel uneasy, and when he thought of Li Anguo, a layer of vigorous and cold murderous intent covered his eyes.
Shi Tou clearly felt the murderous intent emanating from Shen Peiqing and swallowed his saliva. His master was angry, so it was a good thing that Li Anguo didn't lose his life. His master only ordered him to cut off one of Li Anguo's hands.
But Shitou remembered something and reported it to Shen Peiqing truthfully: "Master, Li Anguo seems to have been poisoned. When I went to look for him, I found that he kept banging his head against the pillar. He didn't stop even when his head was bleeding. But after a quarter of an hour, he was fine."
Shitou also hated Li Anguo in his heart, so he naturally didn't care whether he was bleeding from hitting the pillar or not. It would be better to kill this beast, who was worse than an animal, so that he wouldn't have to bother a poor girl like Lianxin.
After hearing what Shi Tou said, Shen Peiqing understood what was going on. Perhaps this was Rong Su's work. Only she could poison someone without anyone noticing.
Seeing that Shen Peiqing didn't answer, Shitou looked up quietly and saw that Shen Peiqing curled the corners of his mouth. Although it disappeared quickly, he did see it.
Why did the master suddenly laugh?
Shen Peiqing cast his gaze towards the house over there again, his eyes far-sighted. Yes, how could she let herself suffer any loss?
Rong Su was in the room, preparing some medicine pills, when she suddenly heard some noise in the inner room.
She put down what she was holding and looked into the inner room. She saw Lianxin walking out with red eyes and traces of tears. She must have been crying for a long time.
Lianxin was slightly stunned when she saw Rong Su. She probably didn't expect that Rong Su hadn't rested yet so late.
She just stood there without moving, looking stunned and embarrassed.
Seeing her like this, Rong Su thought for a moment and then said, "Is your wrist okay? I have some pain reliever here. Come here and I'll apply some on you."
She didn't even care about the wound, but she didn't expect Rong Su to pay attention to it. Lian Xin suddenly felt like crying again, her eyes turned red, and tears couldn't be stopped from bursting out again.
Seeing her crying again, Rong Su sighed lightly, stood up and walked over, reached out his hand to pull her over to sit down, then turned around to find the medicine.
After sitting down, he looked at Lian Xin: "Can you show me your wrist?"
Lianxin cried silently, her eyes red, and she raised her hand obediently. When Rong Su saw it, she lifted her sleeve and saw that her wrist was swollen. How much force did that evil man Li Anguo use!
He carefully applied medicine to Lianxin. When the wound was touched, Lianxin's face showed an expression of pain, but she endured it. Only her wrist was trembling slightly, which must have been very painful.
Rong Su slowed down her movements and applied the medicine even more gently: "Bear with it. This medicine may cause you pain for a while at first, but it will be very soothing after that. The swelling will be gone by tomorrow."
Lian Xin looked at Rong Su with emotion, her eyes moist, and gestured with one hand: "Thank you. I'm sorry, I have implicated you and humiliated you."
After applying the ointment to her, Rong Su put down the ointment and asked calmly, "Li Anguo came to you and asked you to get married. What do you think?"
As soon as these words were spoken, sadness and loneliness appeared on Lianxin's face again.
"It is said that a woman's marriage is arranged by her parents. Your parents are not here, and you only have an elder like Li Anguo. It is normal for him to arrange your marriage." Rong Su looked at Lian Xin calmly.
When Lianxin heard Rong Su's words, the sadness in her eyes deepened, and she gestured: Yes, you are right, my uncle is qualified to propose marriage for me.
Seeing her thinking this way, Rong Su's eyes darkened slightly, and he suddenly felt a sense of frustration as if he had let a person down.
"Lianxin, do you really think so? Are you really willing to marry the person chosen by Li Anguo? Do you understand that so-called Lord Jiang? Thirteen concubines, is this the kind of life you want?"
For some reason, Rong Su now hates Lian Xin's character of not daring to resist and having to obey. She is so kind, why is the ending that fate gives her so unfair!
Lianxin widened her eyes in astonishment, looking at Rong Su who was questioning her in such an excited tone. The grievance and uneasiness in her heart, as well as the fear of the future were all pulled out from the depths of her heart.
She burst into tears, shook her head and gestured: No, I don’t want to, I don’t want to be a concubine at all!
Lianxin shed tears and expressed the pain buried in her heart one by one.
She gestured with trembling hands: "I've heard Xiaoye say that concubines have even less control over their own fate than children from poor families. They're like their masters' pets, coming and going at will. Beatings and scolding are commonplace, and even death is not their own decision."
Lianxin's tearful eyes were filled with determination: Even if I die, I would rather not be someone else's concubine!
Knowing about Li Anguo's affairs, Rong Su naturally knew who Xiaoye Lianxin was talking about.
Li Xiaoye is Lianxin's cousin. She is the child born out of difficulty in giving birth by Li Anguo's first wife. She was sold to a merchant as the tenth concubine by that beast Li Anguo a few years ago.
Looking at her miserable expression with tears streaming down her face, Rong Su felt sorry for her. As long as she had a mission, she would not ignore it.
"I understand. I will definitely help you with this matter."
As she spoke, she took out a handkerchief and handed it to Lianxin. Lianxin took the handkerchief, a little surprised. Some hope appeared in her eyes, but it dimmed in an instant.
She was silent for a moment, then gestured: "This will bring you trouble. I've heard rumors about Mr. Jiang from Anping Town. He's ruthless, and I'm afraid he'll get you into trouble."
Hearing her say this, Rong Su stared at the determination that flashed across her eyes, and had a guess in his mind. He reached out and held her hand. Lian Xin looked up at her in a daze, and forced a smile at him: It's okay, I don't want to trouble you with these things.
"You want to die, don't you?" Rong Su revealed Lian Xin's thoughts in one sentence. She was stunned for a moment, and then tears welled up in her eyes again. She bit her lips and sobbed silently.
There was a time when she herself had thought about dying, but someone in her previous life told her that only by living could there be hope, and only by living could there be a chance to defeat the enemy.
It's a pity that she was eventually killed by someone, but she never regretted surviving at that time. Although everything she experienced later was full of endless suffering, it tempered her life.
"Lianxin, remember, being alive is hope. I said I will help you, I will help you, and this is not a big deal for me. Believe me." Rong Su looked at Lianxin with a serious and firm gaze.
Lian Xin cried even harder at this moment, hugged her and cried for the whole night...
On the other side, Li Anguo was wandering around the casino.
Since he had no cash on hand, he had to borrow money from someone, still using his future uncle who was about to become the magistrate of Jiang County as an excuse.
The casino was bustling with noise, with everyone gathered around one gambling table after another. On both sides of the table were piles of silver or mountains of copper coins.
"This is going to be big for sure!"
"That's not necessarily true! I think it must be small!"
Li Anguo looked at the two sides, big and small, gritted his teeth, and slapped the only remaining ingot of silver to the small side.
The dice player shook the dice cup in his hand and shouted, "Buy it and leave it! Buy it and leave it!"
The dice cup was slammed on the table, and when it was opened, all the dice were big!
"What bad luck! It's actually big!"
Li Anguo was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He lost again. He reached out and shook his wallet. It was cleaner than the rice jar at home.
At this moment, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder. Just when he was in a bad mood, he was interrupted and turned around angrily: "Who is the bastard patting me?"
Unexpectedly, it was the casino's gambling boss. Li Anguo's expression changed immediately and he said with a smile: "Oh, it's the gambling boss, what can I do for you?"
Li Anguo was actually a little nervous. After all, he owed the casino a lot of money, and he had borrowed a lot before. If he was asked to pay it back, he would definitely not be able to, and he would be beaten again. Thinking of this, he shuddered all over, and hated that dead girl Lianxin even more.
The gambling boss glanced at him and waved for him to follow.
Ah, this, Li Anguo was puzzled, but he still followed wisely.
Arriving at a quieter, more empty place, Li Anguo became even more uneasy. He lowered his waist slightly and said with a smile, "Hey, gambling boss, I owe the casino a lot of money. Please give me a few more days. I will soon be the future uncle of County Magistrate Jiang, and I will definitely pay it back then!"
The gambling boss let out a cold sigh, which made Li Anguo break out in a cold sweat.
"You owe the casino fifty taels of silver. Where do you get the confidence that you will become Magistrate Jiang's future uncle?"
Seeing the gambling boss's obvious disbelief and disdain, Li Anguo was angry, but after all, he was still inferior to others because he owed money. He showed an awkward and flattering smile, rubbed his hands together, and said, "I have already made an agreement with County Magistrate Jiang. When my niece enters his backyard, he will give me eighty taels of silver. Then I will pay off all the money owed to the casino!"
When talking about the fact that he was going to be Jiang Dong's future uncle, Li Anguo looked very proud and was obviously proud of it.
The gambling boss felt that Li Anguo, a gambler, was completely untrustworthy and his heart was filled with contempt. However, he revealed a shrewd look and said to him, "I have seen too many people like you trying to get close to County Magistrate Jiang. I am not sure whether your niece can become County Magistrate Jiang's concubine, but I have a wealthy man here who has taken a fancy to your niece and is willing to pay a gift of 100 taels."
"That wealthy man's surname is Yan. He's in the jade business."
As soon as these words came out, Li Anguo's triangular eyes lit up, revealing a greedy and excited look. In the jade trade, jade is generally only used by nobles, so he must be a rich man in the mining city!
The gambling boss looked at Li Anguo's greedy face with disdain, but continued, "If this goes through, you will have the money to return to my casino, plus an extra fifty taels of silver. I'm helping you, Li Anguo. Because you frequent the casino, I'm introducing you to such a wealthy man."
Li Anguo became increasingly excited and quickly bowed his head to thank the gambling boss: "Thank you so much, gambling boss! You still thought of me when you had something like this. I will definitely treat you to a drink at Zuiyinglou later!"
"I must drink this wine. So what do you say? If you are willing, you can start submitting your application for employment." The gambling boss crossed his arms and glanced at Li Anguo.
But when Li Anguo heard that he had to apply for a letter of employment, he immediately became discouraged. This was not possible. If he applied for a letter of employment, he would have to face Jiang Dong, and he would definitely be furious then!
He looked at the gambling boss again, his triangular black eyes rolled around, and he began to make plans in his mind.
"Hey, boss, actually, I already agreed to County Magistrate Jiang's proposal right from the start. So, you have to give me some time to politely decline the offer, right? Even if I want to apply for a marriage proposal later, it still has to go through County Magistrate Jiang's hand, and it can't be too embarrassing."
After hearing this, the gambling boss thought for a moment and waved his hand: "Then do it as soon as possible. Don't waste time. The rich man doesn't like to wait."
Seeing that the gambling boss had left, Li Anguo narrowed his triangular eyes and calculated in his mind, this damn girl is quite popular, eighty taels, one hundred taels, since she is so popular, I might as well make more money!
Suddenly, his bad mood due to losing money improved a lot. Li Anguo turned around and bought a box of cakes on credit, humming a little tune as he walked towards Lianxin's house.
The man who had just made a mess of the house yesterday came again. Lianxin was feeling uneasy, but Li Anguo came with a smile on his face, and she had no reason to chase him away. After all, this man was her blood relative.
After pouring water for Li Anguo, Lianxin sat aside, without a smile on her face, and gestured to Li Anguo anxiously: I wonder why my uncle is here?
Li Anguo naturally understood Lianxin's gesture. He was too angry before and had no intention of looking at her. Now he was in a good mood and immediately bowed his head to admit his mistake to Lianxin: "Uncle was wrong yesterday. It was my uncle who said something unpleasant. Now my uncle apologizes to you."
Lianxin looked at Li Anguo and found that he actually apologized to her. She suddenly panicked and thought that Li Anguo was really repentant. She felt uncomfortable and waved her hands repeatedly to gesture: Uncle, there is no need to be like this.
Li Anguo smiled brightly. Seeing that Lianxin had forgiven him, he pushed the box of cakes to her with a smile: "I still remember that when you were a child, you loved this cake made by Zuiyinglou. I bought it for you."
Lianxin never thought that Li Anguo would still remember her favorite pastries. Looking at the box of pastries, she felt somewhat touched, but not so sad about what happened yesterday.
Li Anguo noticed that Lianxin was showing signs of being moved and felt that the time had come. He began to persuade her earnestly: "Lianxin, you are now of marriageable age. In two years, you will become an old sister-in-law. Your uncle is doing this for your own good. If you can get married, that would be great. I know you don't want to be someone's concubine, and your uncle won't force you."
Upon hearing these words, Lianxin's eyes turned red. She looked at Li Anguo and gestured: Uncle, are you really not going to force me anymore?
A shrewd look flashed in Li Anguo's eyes, and then he sighed: "But child, you must find a husband to ensure your future. My uncle's friend introduced me to a businessman who is willing to marry you. This way you don't have to be a concubine. Are you willing?"
Lianxin was stunned. Is there anyone willing to marry her as his legal wife?