newbobooks Chapter 245 Behind the Sinking into the River (Part 1)
Chapter 245 Behind the Sinking into the River (Part 1)
The tiny worm, as thin as a cotton thread, struggled outside Master Zhang's mouth. Master Zhang panicked and begged for mercy using ventriloquism.
Lu Zhiyuan stepped forward and gestured for Lu Yun to nail the insect to one side.
"Tell me, what's going on between Cui'er and Cui'er's mother? I have limited patience and a bad temper, and I will never give anyone a second chance to answer."
“She seduced me first. She’s a wicked woman who’s greedy for wealth and loves vanity.” Master Zhang said, “As for Cui’er, Cui’er is her daughter, but an unwanted daughter. She only dotes on her son, saying that her son can take care of her in her old age and see her off when she dies.”
Lu Zhiyuan took off her hood and looked directly into Master Zhang's eyes: "I don't like listening to nonsense."
Master Zhang gazed greedily at her face, wishing he could immediately rise and pull her into his arms. Lu Yun frowned, picked up the silver needle with the insect stuck in it, and plunged it into that spot. After the excruciating pain, Master Zhang's expression changed.
"Medicine, the antidote! I don't want to become that kind of monster. Medicine, give me the medicine now!"
Monster? Medicine!
It turns out that blood is the medium that nourishes these worms. In the inn, the monsters didn't attack them but instead pounced on Madam Liu because she was injured and covered in blood. The worms, acting on instinct, gravitate towards those with blood. Once infected by the worms, a person becomes mindless, only capable of chasing after blood-soaked monsters.
She overestimated this insect; its lethality is far less than those from back then.
The medicine was in a small drawer. Lu Zhiyuan poured out one pill and put it in Old Master Zhang's mouth, giving the rest to Lu Zhiyuan. Lu Zhiyuan sniffed it; the ingredients were very complex and difficult to identify at first glance.
Why was Cui'er chosen as a sacrifice? What secrets are hidden in the Black Goddess Temple?
“Cui’er had a short life; she was sacrificed to my granddaughter. I signed a contract with Cui’er’s mother, in black and white, it was her own choice. According to the agreement, she was to bring Cui’er to my home. Cui’er ran away, and my men couldn’t catch her. What secrets could there be in the Black Goddess Temple? It’s just a temple for sacrifices.”
"Do I look like someone who's easy to fool?" Lu Zhiyuan asked with a sinister look in her eyes.
Lu Yun brandished the knife at Master Zhang's neck, then, fearing Master Zhang wouldn't understand, placed the insect on his neck. Master Zhang froze, his face trembling.
"It's the Black Lady, the Black Lady wants to kill the Liu family." Master Zhang said with his eyes closed, "Not only Cui'er, but Manager Liu, his brother, and everyone in their family are going to die. This is the Black Lady's decree. I was just taking advantage of the chaos and trying to get a little something from that woman."
"Is Cui'er the offering this year?"
"Yes!" Master Zhang nodded, "According to the plan, the selection of offerings for the Black Goddess is scheduled to begin next month, when Cui'er will be five years old. I don't know who caused this trouble, but they spread the news ahead of time, saying that the selection of offerings for the Black Goddess has been brought forward. To confirm this news, they even caused a series of incidents, forcing me to come up with another plan."
The sacrifice was Cui'er, but she was too young. There was no other way but to target her mother. The whole "money for life" and "taking the place of Zhang's granddaughter" thing was just a smokescreen, a performance for those unaware of the truth.
Who is the Black Lady?
"He Niannian, everyone in town knows her."
Is He Niannian alive or dead?
"It was alive at first, but then it died," said Master Zhang. "The grass on its grave has been replaced several times over."
"The people in town say that He Niannian was drowned in the river. She was never seen alive, nor was her body found. How can they be sure she's dead if they haven't even seen her body? And where's the grave if there's no body? Could it be a cenotaph? Who in Chunfeng Town would build a cenotaph for her?"
Master Zhang looked at Lu Zhiyuan, his eyes darting around twice.
Lu Yun held the silver needle and rubbed it against his neck.
Master Zhang's eyes immediately stopped moving.
“He Niannian didn’t die. She was rescued by the steward of the He family.” Master Zhang said, “There’s a secret that no one in town knows. Forty years ago, I was just a child. My parents died early, and I had no grandparents to rely on. The Zhang family’s relatives didn’t care about me and left me to beg on the streets alone. That day, He Niannian came in a carriage, and the carriage stopped in front of me.”
Mr. Zhang squinted as he recalled.
The weather in November was already quite cold. A strong wind was blowing that day, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street. The carriage's appearance seemed rather abrupt. Almost instinctively, young Master Zhang stopped the carriage. He was dressed in thin clothes, shivering from the cold, and his stomach rumbled loudly from hunger.
The carriage stopped, and He Niannian lifted the curtain, revealing a pale but beautiful face.
She gave young Master Zhang a cotton-padded coat, some dry food, and some loose silver. When she handed him the coat, He Niannian said apologetically, "I don't have any clothes for your age in my carriage. This is my cotton-padded coat, new and never worn. Take the silver to a tailor shop, or find an older woman to alter it for you. Winter is coming, at least it will keep you warm."
Unlike the stories in the novels, the young Master Zhang was not grateful. Instead, he coveted the things in her carriage and wanted to take them for himself. He followed the carriage to the Liu family's old house, and after surveying the surroundings, he climbed over the wall into the house under the cover of night.
He failed and was discovered by He Niannian's housekeeper.
The steward made a deal with him, asking him to keep an eye on He Niannian and the Liu family's old residence, and to report any unusual activity immediately. In return, he would give him one tael of silver each month.
For a child who begs all day long, one tael of silver is no less than a huge fortune. For that one tael of silver, he is willing to monitor the Liu family's old house and He Niannian for Steward He.
On the night He Niannian had the accident, he promptly notified Steward He, but by the time Steward He arrived, He Niannian had already been taken to the Liu family ancestral hall by those people from the Liu family.
"Did He Niannian...?"
"No, she fought for her life to preserve her innocence. The Liu family wanted her dead. They didn't listen to what she had to say or look at the evidence. After beating her up, they sentenced her to drowning." Master Zhang scoffed. "I don't consider myself a good person, nor do I have much of a conscience, but compared to those Lius, I'm still a human being."
The river in Chunfeng Town flows downstream. Butler He avoided the crowd and rescued He Niannian about a mile away from where she had drowned. What happened afterward was all planned by the three of them; Butler He was the planner, and he and He Niannian were the executors.
"Who is your mysterious wife, He Niannian?"
“Nominally, I’m not qualified to marry her,” said Master Zhang. “She doesn’t even look at me. Her husband is Steward He, and their two children also have the surname He. They’re just listed in my Zhang family’s genealogy, along with my children. It doesn’t matter. People are often confused. As long as we can get by, that’s fine.”
"Did He Niannian remarry Butler He? Where are their children now?"
"I don't know!" Master Zhang shook his head: "She was taken away by Steward He before she was even a month old. We only corresponded with each other through letters."