After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Chapter 249 Enemy or Friend (Part 2)

It's that smell again, and that feeling of being spied on again.

Lu Zhiyuan looked up and saw a pair of eyes shrouded in black. Just as she sheathed her dagger and prepared to approach, the eyes vanished. At the same time, Master Zhang, lying on his bed, heard a slight noise. Thinking his servant had returned, he endured the dull pain in his abdomen and called out, "Doctor..."

no respond.

The sound faded, and a faint fragrance lingered in Master Zhang's nostrils. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a face he had longed for. Trembling, he reached out his hand, but the face recoiled. Master Zhang smiled bitterly, looking at that face, and said, "I knew you were still blaming me!"

"It's not strange, it's hatred!"

“Hate?” Master Zhang still smiled. “Then hate me, at least it’s better than not hating me. Hate means you still have me in your heart.”

As he spoke, he turned to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Knowing he was not going to live, Master Zhang reached out to touch that face. So close, yet to him, it felt like an eternity. Seeing that he could not touch that face, Master Zhang dejectedly lowered his arm.

Lu Zhiyuan stood outside the door watching them.

Fourth Sister knew Lu Zhiyuan had arrived, but she didn't turn around and quietly continued her narration.

When Mr. Zhang was eighteen, he met the girl he loved most. Although their marriage was not arranged by their parents, a matchmaker was there, and he happily married her. Their married life was ordinary yet warm, and soon they had a child.

When she was four months pregnant, Mr. Zhang went on a business trip. Before leaving, he promised his wife that he would return before she gave birth. However, she was gone for three years, and when he returned, his daughter with his wife was already over two years old.

He didn't come back alone; he brought a woman with him, and ironically, that woman was also four months pregnant.

Her husband had been away from home for three years, and when he returned, he was accompanied by a beautiful woman. This was something that Master Zhang's wife simply could not accept. It was normal for a man to take a concubine, and Master Zhang couldn't understand why his wife was so stubborn. In his eyes, even if he brought someone back, his wife was still his legal wife, and she would always be the one he loved most.

His wife couldn't accept his idea, but she also understood that there was nothing she could change.

The woman was pregnant, and they couldn't just kick her out. She was a woman too, and had been pregnant herself; she knew how helpless one felt when their husband wasn't around to give birth. She vacated the main courtyard for her husband and his mistress to live in. The mistress was smug, but Mr. Zhang, unaware of the situation, assumed his wife had come to her senses and was willing to accept her.

From pregnancy to childbirth, over a period of six months, Mr. Zhang's wife arranged everything for her and her daughter. On the night of her delivery in a concubine's room, Mr. Zhang's wife took her daughter and the money she had saved, preparing to leave the Zhang family.

Perhaps feeling guilty, Mr. Zhang happened to think of his wife and daughter that night.

He ordered his men to give chase, and seeing the carriage about to plunge into the river, in desperation he ordered them to shoot arrows. His intention was to kill the horse, but his men misunderstood and instead killed his wife and daughter.

On his deathbed, his wife stroked his face and asked him if he still remembered the promise he made.

At the time of their marriage, he promised to be with her for life. If he broke this promise, he would set her free.

His wife looked into his eyes and saw no resentment, only joy.

She was leaving him, taking her daughter with her, to the afterlife, never to see him again.

He went mad, believing that the deaths of his wife and daughters were all due to his mistress. He imprisoned her and drowned his newborn child. He transformed from a man into a demon, only to revert to human form at dawn.

He didn't cherish his wife and daughter when they were alive, but now that they're dead, he wants to make amends. How? By finding people who resemble his wife in some way. Whether it's their eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, or even the tone of their voice or their gait.

Just as Mr. Zhang was busy looking for a substitute, Miss He returned.

Outsiders were unaware of the deaths of Mr. He's first wife and daughter; they only knew that he had been married before. Since Miss He's identity needed to be concealed, Mr. Zhang and Butler He followed the outside speculation and obscured her background.

Right, all right.

She had been curious why the townspeople weren't curious about Madam Zhang's identity, and even she, who kept to herself, thought it normal. It turned out that Mr. Zhang and his wife had this past.

The wife was pregnant, and the husband left home. Three years later, he returned with his pregnant mistress. It's understandable that the wife was heartbroken and refused to leave the house. As for the mistress who was imprisoned, Mr. Zhang could easily claim that she died in childbirth, along with her unborn child.

Master Zhang's first wife was the cause, and Fourth Sister was the effect.

Fourth Sister was a native of Western Shu who grew up in Northern Liang. When her mother fell ill, she went out to find work and met a merchant caravan from Northern Liang. The leader told her that if she went back to Northern Liang with her, she could not only earn enough money to pay for her mother's medical treatment, but also renovate and build a new courtyard for her family.

She believed it to be true and signed the agreement with the foreman in the presence of local officials and gentry. She was illiterate, only recognizing silver. The foreman gave her parents some silver, telling her it was advance payment for their wages. Thinking she had met kind people, she happily followed them away.

She only realized halfway there that she had been tricked by the caravan; they had brought her to the capital not to find her work, but to sell her.

The Zhou family was the largest supplier in the slave market. They supplied the slaves openly, with official documents. They also supplied the slaves secretly, with genuine documents. The slaves were obtained through various deceptions, and she was one of those deceptions.

Fourth Sister was half-Sichuanese, which was a selling point in the slave market. Upon arriving in the capital, she was spotted by a brothel matron who wanted to buy her as a prostitute. Coincidentally, Master Zhang was also there that day. Using his connections with the Zhou family, he brought Fourth Sister back to the Zhang family.

In Mr. Zhang's words, she was the woman who looked most like his first wife.

Lu Zhiyuan stared at Fourth Sister's face. While not exactly a beauty that could topple kingdoms, she certainly possessed a unique charm. Many people are born good-looking, but few have that charm, especially someone who combines aloofness and allure.

The old woman has a good eye, but Master Zhang has an even better eye.

He lowered his gaze, walked up to Fourth Sister, and asked, "Master Zhang has connections with the Zhou family. You weren't bought by him, but brought back with him?"

Fourth Sister nodded, saying that at first she also thought that Master Zhang had bought her, and out of gratitude, she treated him like a father. Half a year later, he took advantage of her while drunk, and afterwards claimed that he had treated her as his first wife. She had seen the concubines in the mansion, and indeed, they all resembled her in some ways.

Knowing full well that she was just a substitute, and knowing that he shouldn't have taken advantage of her while drunk, she still softened when she saw how affectionate he was. After he dismissed some of his concubines and maids who had no children, she voluntarily became his fourth concubine.

As she got closer, she learned some of his secrets, such as that he was a subordinate of the Zhou family and that he used rumors in the town to traffic children. She could not live with the person who had harmed her and tried every means to escape, but he imprisoned, whipped, and humiliated her until she became pregnant.

Looking at the dying Master Zhang, Fourth Sister said, "He deserves to die! His hands are stained with the blood of too many innocent people!"