Chapter 324 - 314: Concubine (2)

Chapter 324: Chapter 314: Concubine (2)

After a long moment, she suppressed the turmoil in her heart. Her gaze on Li Yuniang grew heavier. "The news you’ve brought is very useful."

After a pause, her tone softened slightly as she asked, "The Chen Family sent you back. What, specifically, did they want you to investigate?"

Li Yuniang felt the intangible pressure ease slightly. "The Chen Family doesn’t believe the Sun Family would actually sell at such a low price. They suspect a trick. They sent me to find out what the Sun Family is plotting."

The woman in white gave a faint smile. "And... what do you yourself think about it?"

Li Yuniang replied, "I dare not think otherwise. The Young Master paid for my freedom and treated me with immense kindness. Now, I am poisoned and under another’s control. My innocence is lost, and I have already resigned myself to death. I only ask that if you, Eldest Miss, can destroy the Chen Family and avenge my Young Master, I can follow him to the grave in peace."

As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks.

The woman in white watched her quietly for a moment. "Rest assured, the poison in your system may not be incurable. Once this is over, I will find a way to procure the antidote for you. For now, since you’ve returned, just stay here in the Sun Mansion. I will have Aunt Zhuo inform you of what to do next."

Li Yuniang hastily bowed her head. "Yes. I will do as you command, Eldest Miss."

"Yes. You may go. Aunt Zhuo, please see Miss Li out."

The woman in white raised her teacup, a clear gesture of dismissal.

Zhuo Yuan acknowledged and led Li Yuniang out of the small courtyard.

After Li Yuniang had boarded the carriage, Zhuo Yuan told her to wait a moment.

She turned and gently tapped the door knocker again.

Inside the courtyard, the woman in white had not moved, as if she had known all along that Zhuo Yuan would return.

She did not turn around. Her cool, clear voice drifted over, "Is there something else?"

Zhuo Yuan asked, "Eldest Miss, about this Li Yuniang... what are we to do with her?"

"Do with her? We let her settle in for now, of course."

The woman in white said nonchalantly, "Her story just now was half-truth, half-lie. I suspect she hasn’t genuinely turned against them. She’s likely trying to play both sides."

"Then why would she reveal her identity?" Zhuo Yuan asked, confused.

"Why?"

The woman in white sneered. "She probably knew ordinary tricks wouldn’t work, so she did the opposite and used this ruse of self-injury to infiltrate our ranks. Hmph. Trying to play mind games in front of a Grandmaster? She has sorely miscalculated! And so has the Chen Family!"

Zhuo Yuan hadn’t expected such a deep scheme. A chill ran down her spine. "Then... what should we do?"

The woman in white waved her hand dismissively. "Keep a close watch on her. When the time is right, I’ll give you some information for her to pass along."

Zhuo Yuan hesitated, showing no sign of leaving.

"Still here?"

The woman in white arched a fine eyebrow.

Zhuo Yuan let out a soft sigh. "Eldest Miss, I only hope we can finish with these tedious affairs quickly so I can leave this nest of vipers in Liyang."

The woman in white glanced at her coolly. "Aunt Zhuo, when one is fishing, impatience is the greatest weakness. This is especially true when you’re trying to land big, devilishly cunning fish like the Chen Family and the Zhou Family. You must be patient. Rest assured, my goal is simple: to unload this hot potato in Liyang and settle the karma here. As for my promise to you, once the transaction is complete, the money the Chen Family pays will be yours. I won’t take a single coin. You can set your mind at ease on that."

"...Yes, Eldest Miss. I understand."

Zhuo Yuan lowered her head, hiding the complex emotions in her eyes as she replied deferentially.

"Go on. Reassure her, and don’t let her grow suspicious."

"I will take my leave."

Zhuo Yuan gently pulled the door shut.

The night wind was cool against her skin, but it felt more refreshing than chilling.

The Eldest Miss’s gaze always left her feeling unsettled.

After Zhuo Yuan left, the woman in white’s expression grew solemn. From the inner folds of her robes, she retrieved a palm-sized Copper Mirror of ancient design.

The woman in white extended her right index finger and, as if dipping it in ink, began to write carefully upon the dark golden surface of the mirror.

Clear characters appeared on the mirror’s surface wherever her finger passed.

"Situation has changed. Enemy strength exceeds expectations. One Void Transformation Grandmaster, four Divine Hall Grandmasters."

The words lingered on the mirror for several breaths before slowly fading, leaving the surface pristine once more, with only a dark golden light shimmering across it.

After a moment, the dark golden surface of the mirror suddenly vibrated almost imperceptibly, emitting a nearly inaudible BUZZ.

Immediately after, a line of crooked script slowly materialized on the mirror’s surface, growing from faint to dark.

"Transaction proceeds."

The woman in white’s pupils constricted. After a moment of silence, she carefully tucked the Copper Mirror back into her robes.

...

Zhuo Yuan had just returned to the carriage when she heard Li Yuniang’s intermittent sobs.

Startled, Zhuo Yuan quickly moved closer and gently patted her on the back. "Everything was fine. Why have you started crying again?"

Li Yuniang didn’t answer, her sobs only growing heavier. After a long moment, she stared blankly at the dancing shadows in the corner of the carriage, her voice low and hoarse. "Aunt Yuan, the Eldest Miss doesn’t believe me at all, does she? She thinks... I’m deceiving her, doesn’t she?"

Zhuo Yuan’s heart leaped, but she forced a gentle smile and comforted her in a soft voice, "Don’t let your imagination run wild. If the Eldest Miss didn’t trust you one bit, why would she have had me bring you here?

She’s always cautious, and you just escaped from a treacherous place like the Chen Family’s estate. The Eldest Miss is just worried they might have done something to you in secret. That’s why she has to be careful and check—it’s for your own safety. You mustn’t read too much into it."

Li Yuniang shook her head, her eyes filled with self-deprecation and sorrow. "Aunt Yuan, you don’t have to comfort me. Deep down... I know the truth."

"Someone of our station... what are we in the eyes of a true lady of noble birth like the Eldest Miss? You’re better off. At least you’re a concubine officially recognized by Master Sun, in charge of household affairs. You have some measure of dignity. But me?"

She gave a bitter laugh. "I was just a plaything Young Master Zhangqiu kept on the outside on a whim... not even qualified to enter the family gate, without even the status of the lowest-ranking concubine. In her eyes, what other reason could someone like me have for approaching them, other than to covet their wealth and position? I was born common, so I deserve to be scorned..."

Her voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear, striking a chord in the listener’s heart.

Zhuo Yuan’s gentle smile faltered, then stiffened and faded away.

’Wasn’t Li Yuniang’s self-loathing just an echo of the same fear and self-pity that she herself kept buried deep inside, never daring to voice?’

The air inside the carriage seemed to congeal.

After a long pause, Zhuo Yuan let out a deep sigh. "This world has always been harsh to women like us. We have no one to depend on, we can’t count on our own families. What else can we do but use our youth to save up some gold and silver, hoping to have something to fall back on in the future so we don’t starve or freeze to death? What else is there to hope for?"

"Gold and silver?"

Li Yuniang gently shook her head, her voice as faint as a whisper in a dream. "Aunt Yuan, for people like us, how much can we really protect? Ten or several hundred taels... perhaps no one would look twice. We could hide it, sneak it away. But what about several thousand? Or tens of thousands of taels?"

Zhuo Yuan’s body gave a slight shudder as she looked at her.

Li Yuniang turned to look Zhuo Yuan directly in the eye. "We don’t know any Martial Arts; we’re as helpless as babes. If we were to come into such a vast fortune, the road ahead is long and perilous, with bandits lurking everywhere. As weak women, I fear we wouldn’t make it a hundred miles before being targeted.

Losing all the money might be the best-case scenario. What if we lose our innocence, or even our lives, abandoned in the wilderness to disappear without a trace? Who would care?"

Zhuo Yuan felt a BOOM go off in her head, as if something had just shattered.

Her face instantly turned white as a sheet. Fear washed over her like an icy tide, submerging her completely, leaving her limbs cold as if she had been plunged into a freezing cavern.

’That’s right! How could a weak woman like her protect a fortune large enough to drive countless people to desperate measures?’

The carriage continued to sway along, but the inside was deathly still.

Zhuo Yuan leaned against the carriage wall, turning her head to stare blankly out the window into the night.

Li Yuniang said no more, lowering her head once again.

Zhuo Yuan remained silent all the way until the carriage stopped at the Sun Mansion and the driver softly announced their arrival.

She disembarked in silence, even forgetting to help Li Yuniang.