Chapter 006: Rain Bell (VI)
The rain fell all night and only stopped when dawn broke in the east.
As soon as the news from the Ni family's ancestral home arrived, Ni Zong hurriedly put on his clothes and got up, taking his wife Liu, daughter Ni Mizhi and daughter-in-law Tian to the ancestral home.
"When did the sister-in-law go?"
Ni Zong looked sad and stood outside the door asking the old housekeeper.
"My wife passed away at the hour of Mao." The old lady answered while wiping her tears with her sleeves and sobbing.
Ni Zong looked up and saw Liu sitting on the edge of the bed sobbing. He glanced again and saw only Qian Mama standing beside her. He frowned, and then he remembered that since he entered the courtyard, except for this old lady and Qian Mama, he had not seen a single servant.
Even his niece Ni Su did not show up.
"Where are the servants in the mansion? And where is my niece Ni Su?"
Ni Zong felt something was wrong.
"Madam dismissed all the servants in the mansion before she died," Madam Qian heard the voice, came out of the room, bowed to Ni Zong, and continued, "As for the young lady, Madam couldn't bear to see her die in front of her, so she sent her to Dazhong Temple yesterday. The young lady is now praying for Madam in the temple. We have just sent the news here, and I am afraid that the young lady will not be able to return until later."
Ni Zong didn't know where the affection between this fake mother and daughter came from, but at this moment, he couldn't say anything. He could only nod and waved to the eunuch in his mansion to come with his servants to arrange the funeral.
Ni Zong was angry. He was angry that Cen Zishu had caused him trouble before her death. He knew that someone would need to take care of her funeral, but he still dismissed the servants first.
But on second thought, Cen Zishu must have known that after she left, the family business that she had always held tightly in her hands would rightfully fall into the hands of Ni Zong, and she couldn't swallow this, so she did this on purpose.
Ni Zong was somewhat pleased with himself, but his face was still sad. Seeing a servant walking by with a low voice, he kicked the servant and said, "Where is Qingwen? Where did he go at this critical moment? Take someone to find him for me!"
"yes!"
The boy was kicked in the lower back and fell to the ground, but he quickly got up and ran away.
Ni Zong was busy in the ancestral home for half a day. He did not wait for Ni Su to come back, but heard from the insider that Ni Qingwen was in the Ni family clinic.
When Ni Zong rushed to the clinic, his daughter-in-law Tian was crying and wailing, "Who the hell could be so cruel to the master!"
What cruelty?
Ni Zong walked into the hall. The sunlight coming in through the window shone on Ni Qingwen's festering hand. He only took a glance, his pupils shrinking slightly, and asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"
The doctor on duty was a discerning person. After the mistress of the Ni family's main house passed away, he became more respectful to the second master, "Second Master, this young master Qingwen has been soaked in the juice of cat's eye grass."
Cat's eye grass is the common name called by local herbal farmers. Its formal name is Wufeng Lingzhi. When it is dried and used as medicine, it is called Qi Ze.
"I was drunk and didn't know where I fell, and that's how I got it," Ni Qingwen said, his face turned pale with pain and his voice was shaking.
With his fierce wife beside him, Ni Qingwen trembled and dared not reveal the truth at all.
"Why did I raise someone like you..." Ni Zong was furious and pointed at Ni Qingwen. Seeing his bloody hand, he turned his head away, swallowed his unfinished words, and urged the doctor, "Hurry up and give him some medicine!"
The doctor said yes repeatedly, cleaned Ni Qingwen's wound, and then called the medicine boy to get medicine.
"master!"
The eunuch in Ni Zong's mansion ran in sweating profusely, not even taking a break, "I followed your instructions and went to the farm of the eldest wife to check the accounts and collect the land, but I didn't know that all the land and farm of the eldest wife had been sold!"
What?
Ni Zong felt a black screen before his eyes, and the housekeeper hurried forward to support him.
"Sold them all?"
Ni Zong murmured in disbelief.
"Yes, they were all taken away by Mr. Li, using proper means. I even sent someone to the Li residence to inquire, and they said that it was Ms. Qian who was beside Cen who personally handled these matters a few days ago."
Neizhi was panting.
"Cen Zishu!"
Ni Zong came back to his senses, his face was blue with anger, he brushed away the housekeeper's hand, paced back and forth in the hall, and yelled at the housekeeper again, "Where is Ni Su? Where is Ni Su? Who else can Cen Zishu give the money to except her?"
"Master, the people we sent to Dazhong Temple have returned. No one from the ancestral home went to Dazhong Temple to pass on the message. The most important thing is that Su Niang didn't go to Dazhong Temple at all!"
Neizhi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said angrily.
"Didn't go?"
Ni Zong's heart was pounding in his chest, and the bad feeling in his heart became stronger and stronger.
"Why did she go to Dazhong Temple? I saw her outside yesterday!" Ni Qingwen looked at his father's increasingly gloomy face. In addition to feeling extremely painful, he did not forget to add fuel to the fire with a trembling voice, "She and Ni Qinglan have a study outside, and she went there yesterday! I also saw her packing a few things. If she didn't return home last night, I'm afraid she ran away with the money!"
"Since you saw it, why didn't you come back and tell me? What were you drinking outside for? If your hand wasn't injured, I would have broken your leg!" Ni Zong was so angry that he kicked Ni Qingwen, who was sitting on the chair, to the ground.
Ni Qingwen had been beaten in the study last night, and was kicked by Ni Zong under his clothes. He did not dare to say anything. Seeing his wife Tian leaning over, he wanted to reach out to borrow her strength to get up, but she grabbed his collar and glared at him fiercely: "Ni Qingwen, did you go to drink wine?"
"No, no..."
In fact, Ni Qingwen did drink before going to the study, but he didn't dare to tell the truth to Tian.
Relying on the financial support from her mother's family, Tian was used to bullying Ni Qingwen and was not willing to give in to him. The clinic was in great commotion and Ni Zong was too lazy to care. He walked out of the door quickly and leaned against the door frame, apparently so angry that he could not speak.
"Master, according to my husband's idea, Su Niang left last night, but it was raining heavily at that time, so I'm afraid she couldn't get far. Now it's only past noon, so it's not too late to send someone to chase her."
Neizhi followed out and whispered.
"Call someone?" Ni Zong stopped rubbing his eyelids and asked, "Who do you mean?"
Neizhi smiled mysteriously, "I heard that there are strong men on Jinque Mountain outside the city. They are all people who do things for money. If the master is willing to spend some money and let them go, they will definitely be able to bring the person back."
Ni Zong pondered for a moment. Even though he was usually very stingy, at this moment, as soon as he thought of how much the farms and fields sold by the eldest wife were worth, he clenched his hands and said, "Hurry up and do it, but you must not tell those people what she has. Just say that she ran away from her marriage, and make sure they bring her back to me."
"Yes," the clerk replied, and after looking at Ni Zong's expression, he asked cautiously, "But now, should we still hold Cen's funeral?"
Upon hearing this, Ni Zong's face turned even worse.
Who let his elder brother Ni Zhun cure the county magistrate's stubborn illness? The county magistrate had always taken good care of the Ni family's eldest branch. Now that Cen had passed away, the county magistrate would probably come to pay his respects. If Ni Zong wanted to take control of the Ni family's clinic, he couldn't just let it go.
The muscles on his cheek twitched, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Do it, and do it in a grand and glorious way. Do it for her."
…
After seeing Zhang Bo and Xingzhu off last night, Ni Su did not leave immediately. Instead, she asked two servants to go back and find a carriage. She first went to Zaohua Village to find a medicine lady. The medicine lady had detailed records of the hidden illnesses of women that she had seen in her lifetime, as well as some folk remedies that she learned from another medicine lady when she was young.
Ni Su had paid her some money a month ago and asked her to hire a literate person to dictate and record what she had seen and heard in her half-life. In her entire life, Yao Po had never seen a girl so young and unmarried who dared to associate with people like them. In addition, she was introduced by a familiar Zuo Nu, so she readily agreed.
After getting the things from the medicine lady, Ni Su immediately left by carriage. However, the rain fell heavily at night and the carriage got stuck twice on the muddy mountain road, wasting a lot of time.
At dusk, two servants stopped the carriage by the stream, untied the horses, and let them eat grass and drink water by the stream. Ni Su took a few bites of the dry food brought by the servants and stared at the setting sun reflected on the water in a daze.
This place was still some distance away from the nearest Qiao Town, but it was getting dark, so the two servants did not dare to delay, so they fed the horses and set off again.
It was midnight when they were about to reach Qiao Town. The coachman pulled himself together and woke up the people around him. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the sound of galloping horses approaching.
Another servant boy woke up and looked back. Under the moonlight, a dark shadow immersed in the light was approaching with the sound of horses neighing. For some reason, the servant boy's heart tightened and he hurriedly called out, "Girl, there are many people coming from behind!"
Upon hearing the sound, Ni Su lifted the curtain and leaned out of the window. As expected, she saw the black shadow approaching. She felt something was wrong, but there was no time to say anything. Those people were lightly armed and riding horses, which were much faster than the swaying carriage. They quickly ran up and surrounded the carriage. There were more than a dozen people.
Ni Zong was really willing to give it up this time.
"Miss..." The two servants had never seen such a scene before. When they saw the knives in those people's hands, they were so scared that they quickly shrank back into the carriage.
Then, the bearded leader cut off the curtain with a knife, and then took down the lantern hanging under the hood with the blade and leaned into the car. Another tall and thin man on horseback unfolded the portrait and squinted his eyes. "Come on, brother, it's her."
The bearded man stared at Ni Su's face, unable to move his eyes away. "They say that the more you look at a beauty under a lamp, the more beautiful she becomes. This is indeed true. You are a lady from a wealthy family. You have never been out of Que County, and you don't know if there are any mountain roads that are closer than the official road. We brothers have been chasing you and finally caught you."
"How much money did Ni Zong give you?" Ni Su leaned against the innermost side, staring at the sharp blade with a lantern hanging on it, forcing himself to remain calm.
"What? You have money to give, young lady?" The bearded man looked at her with a pair of fierce eyes while riding on horseback. "We are not people you can get rid of with just a few dollars."
"If Ni Zong can afford it, I can afford it too."
Ni Su's palms were full of sweat. "As long as you don't make things difficult for me."
"Brother, how much money can a girl who ran away from her marriage get?" The thin man looked at Ni Su's dress, which was still stained with mud, and her hair was only decorated with a pearl flower. But when he moved his eyes to her face, he laughed, "If you ask me, I have never seen a girl as beautiful as her. If she is sold, I am afraid the price will be higher than what the rich man offers!"
"You dare."
The bearded man was a little shaken by what the thin man said, but then he heard the female voice coming from inside the car. He raised his eyes and saw that the young woman had a dagger in her hand, which was against her neck.
"Let's talk it over nicely..." The thin man was dumbfounded. He had never seen anything like this before. When facing a group of people like them, she, a weak woman, could actually hold the dagger steadily.
"I know all you want is money. I can afford a higher price than Ni Zong, and I am willing to spend this money to keep me safe. But if you dare to have other thoughts, I will make you lose both your money and your life."
As Ni Su spoke, she observed the bearded man's expression. Seeing that he was indeed in trouble, she knew that her guess was right. Ni Zong wanted a living person.
She immediately said, "If I die, you won't know where the money I hid is, and neither will my two servants. You won't be able to get the money from Ni Zong."
"Brother...it seems to be true." The thin man scratched his head, and then saw a bloodstain on Ni Su's neck. He was a little annoyed, "I say, you little girl, you are really fierce!"
The bearded man's sharp eyes swept across Ni Su's face. He seemed to be still in thought, and the silence at this moment was undoubtedly torment for Ni Su. She stared at him in silence, not daring to relax even a little, but her back was already drenched in cold sweat.
The two servants held their heads and trembled, not daring to move.
"That's what you said."
The bearded man sneered, "But I hate women's threats the most. Since I can't kill you, I'll kill one of your servants and wash my knife first!"
If there is no blood, I'm afraid this little girl will never know what fear is. As long as she is scared, she won't have so many conditions.
“Stop it!”
Ni Su saw the bearded man turn the blade of his knife, and the lantern rolled into the car. The sharp blade went straight to the back of the neck of one of the servants.
The light of the lantern went out.
The night wind that blew at this moment was extremely cold. The thin man riding on the horse was blinded by the dust. He rubbed his eyes, and for some reason, he felt a chill on his back. He turned his head and saw a figure appearing in the midst of their encirclement under the bright moonlight.
“Brother!”
The thin man was so frightened that he shouted, but the cold wind rushed into his mouth and nose, blocking his voice. The sword in the man's hand slipped out, passed by his cheek, and pierced the bearded man's waist and abdomen.
The bearded man was completely unprepared, and his blade was half an inch away from the back of the servant's neck when it suddenly stopped. One of the servants looked up and saw the sword piercing his abdomen, and the servant screamed in fear.
Ni Su's whole body was stiff and cold. She watched the burly bearded man with wide eyes fall off the horse with a heavy thud.
The dark black cloak moved with the man's steps, revealing the snow-white sleeves underneath. He wore a silver crown to hold his hair together, his profile was pale and flawless, his thick eyelashes were half-drooped, and he leaned over the dead body to draw back the sword.
The thin man saw blood dripping from the edge of his sword.
He is so weird.
He appeared silently, but his method of killing did not seem like that of a ghost. The thin man became more and more afraid, but since other people around him had already rushed forward, he had no choice but to rush forward as well.
The sound of horse hooves was chaotic and the screams were even louder.
The two servants were trembling all over and didn't dare to stick their heads out to look, while Ni Su lay on his stomach beside the curtain door of the carriage and saw the bandits falling off the horses one after another.
The world suddenly became quiet, the cold wind died down, and the cicadas began to chirp.
Ni Su saw the frightened horses running away, and there was a man standing among the bandits who were lying on the ground, motionless.
She bravely got off the carriage, her knees went weak and she barely held on to the carriage to slow down, then moved forward.
The moonlight is silvery white,
The cloak he was wearing was dark black, with flowing embroidery.
Ni Su stopped suddenly.
All the scenes of the cypress forest in Dazhong Temple lingered in my mind.
Ni Su couldn't help but take two steps back, but saw that he turned his face slightly, his eyelashes blinked, the sword in his hand was still dripping with blood, and his half-closed eyes were empty without any spirit.
