Xie Kuihai held an unshakable position in Yangzhou City and was a powerful figure who could call the shots in the East Market.
Naturally, the mansion he prepared for Tingyu was extremely imposing.
Tingyu was Tinghe's elder sister, the sister who was said to have been tortured beyond recognition.
When Lin Qiao and his group arrived in front of the mansion where Xie Kuihai kept his mistress, an old woman passing by kindly said, "Folks, you'd better not come here. You'll get entangled by that scoundrel, Boss Xie!"
Zou Lvrui smiled and said, "Auntie, don't be afraid. We're even more of scoundrels than Boss Xie."
Seeing that Lin Qiao and the others wouldn't take her advice, the old woman shook her head helplessly. "That lady from the Yuluo Teahouse was just kind enough to give that scoundrel, Master Xie, a drink of water. As a result, she was forcibly taken into the Xie Mansion. Master Xie's first wife has a hot temper. I heard that by the time she was moved to this mansion, she was hardly human anymore!"
Lin Qiao asked, "What do you mean by 'hardly human anymore'?"
"Forget it, forget it. I won't talk to you anymore." The old woman shook her head and quickly waved her hands as if afraid of getting into trouble.
Lin Qiao grabbed the old woman and stuffed a jade bracelet into her hand. "Auntie, we mean no harm, and we won't inform Master Xie. We just want to know the whole story."
The old woman looked embarrassed. "Well, all right. But you mustn't go in and cause trouble. I really don't want to see that scoundrel, Master Xie, do evil and harm you young and beautiful girls."
Then she started to talk eloquently.
Xue Tingyu and Xue Tinghe were originally daughters of a prominent family and a cultivating family in Yangzhou.
Xue Tingyu was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Xue family. She had extremely high talent, was beautiful, and had a kind personality. Even before she reached the age for engagement, matchmakers had almost broken the threshold of the Xue family.
As for Xue Tinghe, although she was also a legitimate daughter, she had poor spiritual roots. And because she was young, she was spoiled by her parents and was extremely willful with a bad temper. By the age when she should have been engaged, there was still no suitable candidate for marriage.
It wasn't that there were no suitors, but those who came were either commoners or ugly men. Among the well - known aristocratic families in Yangzhou City, not a single young master with good looks or talent came to propose marriage to Xue Tinghe.
Over time, Xue Tinghe began to envy Xue Tingyu.
Later, the Xue family declined. Xue Tingyu's fiancé, Pi Fengshan, never left her side. Instead of despising her, he wanted to marry her immediately. Seeing this, Xue Tinghe's envy grew stronger.
She then went straight to a brothel, disregarding her status and dignity, and became a singer - girl in the Songli Courtyard.
What she really wanted was just the attention and love of others, but she never got it.
At first, there were many people who laughed at Xue Tinghe.
Xue Tinghe's performances were always full, but actually everyone just wanted to see her make a fool of herself and enjoy the pleasure and satisfaction of a daughter from an aristocratic family performing for them.
But after all, Xue Tinghe was a daughter raised in a big family. Her temperament and skills were not to be underestimated. It was more than enough to satisfy the entertainment needs of the common people. She became the top - ranked singer - girl in the Songli Courtyard overnight.
At this time, Xue Tingyu was taken into the Xie Mansion.
Just as the rumor said, it was because of a handful of water.
Xie Kuihai was injured and being chased. He collapsed in front of the Yuluo Teahouse. Xue Tingyu kindly gave him a handful of water.
Xie Kuihai fell in love with Xue Tingyu at first sight and doted on her so much that even his first wife couldn't stand it. So there was this mansion in front of them, used to keep his mistress.
The old woman told the story vividly, just like a storyteller in a tavern. "But recently, I heard that no one knows whether Xue Tingyu is dead or alive."
Lin Qiao was puzzled. "Wasn't she doted on so much? How could no one know whether she's dead or alive?"
The old woman leaned closer to Lin Qiao and lowered her voice. "It's because Master Xie has some... special preferences in bed. He's too rough and uses all kinds of props. Xue Tingyu is so delicate and weak that she simply can't bear such torture."
Before she finished speaking, Lin Qiao's ears were covered, and she couldn't hear anything.
Looking back, it was Luo Nanchen.
The arrogant Luo Nanchen, although covering Lin Qiao's ears, was listening with relish and staring intently.
...His earlobes were so red that they seemed to be dripping blood.
Lin Qiao: "..."
So what if it's a special preference?
Can't we listen to it just because it's a special preference?
You're clearly enjoying it!
Li Gusong pretended to cough, his face turning red from choking. His eyes were darting around, but actually he was always looking in Qu Yinghan's direction.
Qu Yinghan looked calm.
Actually, it was because Qu Yinghan was standing the farthest away and didn't hear clearly what was being said...
Dong Peirong didn't understand. "What kind of preference? Why cover your ears?"
Mo Xiujie smiled enigmatically. "I'll tell you when we get back. I'll open a new world for you."
Zou Lvrui was listening with great interest on her own. The story of Xie Kuihai and Xue Tingyu actually had a bit of the flavor of a yandere novel. Because of a favor, there was forced imprisonment and all kinds of pornographic content...
Zou Lvrui was very happy. She was so talented that she could even come up with such a story...
As dusk approached and the cool wind blew gently, the old woman looked around and quickly waved her hands. "I can't talk to you anymore. I have to go home. At night, this mansion often emits shrill screams. It's really creepy. You should go back quickly, too. Don't get involved in this kind of thing."
With that, the old woman was about to slip away.
Luo Nanchen said, "Stop."
"Oh, I've told you everything. What else do you want from an old woman like me!" The old woman immediately put on the act of an old person being bullied. "If something happens to me because I don't get home in time at night, will you take responsibility for me?!"
Luo Nanchen took out a gold ingot from his storage ring. "Give back the bracelet."
Seeing the shiny gold ingot, the old woman's eyes were a bit glazed. "Okay, okay, of course I can, of course I can."
The bracelet had to be taken to a pawnshop to be exchanged for money. If the pawnshop cheated and said the bracelet was fake, she would get nothing. But this real gold was different. It could be spent anywhere.
So she took the gold and ran away quickly.
Luo Nanchen put the bracelet back on Lin Qiao's wrist. "If you need money, just ask me. Otherwise, what am I here for, just for show?"
His tone was a bit harsh, but the action of putting the bracelet on Lin Qiao's wrist was extremely gentle.
Lin Qiao nodded awkwardly. "Got it."
Mo Xiujie imitated him and was very naughty. He said to Dong Peirong, "If you need anything, just ask me. Otherwise, what am I here for, just for show?"
He was slapped back by Dong Peirong.
"Hey, this is not how it should go. You're supposed to say 'got it' to me—"
He was slapped back even harder by Dong Peirong.
Then he was kicked by Luo Nanchen.
Mo Xiujie: "..."
Zou Lvrui was extremely anxious. Although the story of Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan was not particularly complicated, compared with the straightforward love line of Luo Nanchen, it was quite heart - wrenching.
Generally speaking, Li Gusong's father had massacred Qu Yinghan's whole family. At that time, Qu Yinghan was taken in as a disciple by a mysterious organization and was lucky enough to escape this disaster.
Then on New Year's Eve, when she went home to visit her relatives, she witnessed the scene of Li Gusong's father massacring her family. And Li Gusong, who came to stop his father, was also regarded as an accomplice.
Later, Li Gusong's father died. Qu Yinghan was adopted by the owner of the Jinhuan Tower and became the top - ranked singer - girl there.
The owner of the Jinhuan Tower had long had a feud with Li Gusong. The two of them had the same goal, which was to kill Li Gusong.
Now, it should be the time when Qu Yinghan was planning to kill Li Gusong.
It should be within this period of time.
Zou Lvrui of course knew that Qu Yinghan couldn't bear to do it in the end. But the better Li Gusong treated her, the more reluctant Qu Yinghan would be to take action. It would be best if this plan never started.
When she was the author, of course she hoped that the plot in her writing would be more tortuous, more heart - wrenching, because that would make the readers shed more tears.
But now, since she was a character in the book, she naturally didn't want to see the people around her living such miserable lives.
A happy ending would be so much better.
Zou Lvrui nodded in the direction of Luo Nanchen and said to Li Gusong, "There's a good example right in front of you. Why don't you learn from it? Even Mo Xiujie can copy it."
As the "author - mother", she really had a lot on her mind for the happiness of her "son" and "daughter - in - law".
If only she could ignore the strange looks on Li Gusong and Qu Yinghan's faces.
They really looked at her like she was a fool.
Alas, she was really exhausted...