Matriarch Rules, Scumbag Begs - Chapter 23

Chapter 23 The Crafty Heir

The wind grew stronger.

The sun, which had been shining brightly, was now covered by thick clouds, and fine snowflakes began to fall.

Shen Qiuci looked at the bloodstains on the snow being quickly covered by the white snow, her voice cold and clear: “A useless person like him doesn’t need your protection.”

She raised her eyes and met the gaze of the elegant woman in front of her: “Ruo Xing, how’s the deployment of Tian Ji in the capital?”

Ruo Xing replied: “Many sisters from the twelve pavilions of Tian Ji have taken on identities and gone undercover in the capital, either in brothels, inns, or as servants in noble households.”

“These are all places where prominent figures in the capital frequent, making it easier to gather information.”

Shen Qiuci nodded in agreement: “Recently, the authorities have been cracking down, so tell the sisters to be careful and not expose themselves.”

“Yes,” Ruo Xing responded respectfully, then pulled out a document from her bosom: “Just now, a scout handed this document to me. The eldest son of the Minister of Rites, Lu Yan, defiled a peasant woman, driving her to despair and causing her to commit suicide at his doorstep.”

“Because the woman’s parents sold her to the Minister’s household as a concubine, the authorities likely won’t pursue the matter.”

“The Minister’s household doesn’t have any of our people planted there, and with the capital on high alert, this situation will be difficult to handle.”

Shen Qiuci took the document from Ruo Xing’s hand and examined it carefully.

The Tian Ji office always handled matters with meticulous care.

Looking at the records in the document, Lu Yan had been on Tian Ji’s radar for more than just a day or two.

The document recorded that in just the past three months, he had defiled eleven women.

However, these women had chosen to endure, and hadn’t met the same tragic fate as Pan Di.

Shen Qiuci’s mind involuntarily flashed back to the scene of Pan Di’s tragic death at the Minister’s doorstep, where she was treated like an animal. Shen Qiuci’s thoughts trembled with emotion.

Her gaze slowly moved across the document, finally landing on Lu Yan’s birthdate: “December 2nd. There are five days left.”

She closed the document and said in a determined tone: “He will host a grand banquet on his birthday, and Pei Yuanzhou, being acquainted with him, will likely attend. I’ll go with him.”

Ruo Xing was slightly surprised: “Master, are you planning to take care of that beast personally?”

Shen Qiuci looked at the white camellia flower stained with blood, struggling to stay visible in the snow.
After a moment of silence, she nodded firmly: “With Master handling it, it will be twice the result with half the effort.”

Ruo Xing bowed and said: “There’s another matter to report to Master. Regarding the cause of death of your elder sister, I’ve been secretly investigating for many days, but due to the passage of time, there are few useful clues.”

“All I know is that the day she met with misfortune at the Misty Rain Pavilion was the same day your ‘death’ was reported back to the Qi dynasty.”

She carefully observed Shen Qiuci’s expression, her voice fading away: “I speculate that perhaps she went to the pavilion alone that day… to mourn for you.”

“Misty Rain Pavilion…” Shen Qiuci murmured softly, and a tender spot in her heart suddenly ached.

She remembered when she was young, she often went to the Misty Rain Pavilion with her elder sister to play. They would climb to the top of the pavilion and look out over the entire capital.

The old man said that if you wrote your wishes on red paper and let the wind carry them away from the high platform, your wishes would come true.

At that time, Shen Qiuci had so many wishes. She wanted the most beautiful clothes, the most interesting toys, the most beautiful jewelry… There were so many that even the smallest spaces were filled with words.

But her elder sister only wrote a few words. Shen Qiuci was curious, so she snatched the paper to read it. She still remembered that on the large red paper, her elder sister only wrote two short sentences: “One wish is for the family to be safe and sound.”
“The second wish is for Ah Ci to be as happy and safe as she is now, forever.”

The snow was getting heavier, and snowflakes like goose feathers drifted into Shen Qiuci’s collar, biting cold.

She slightly raised her eyes, gazing in the direction of the Marquis of Danyang’s mansion, and complex emotions flashed in her eyes: “The railing of the Misty Rain Pavilion is waist-high. I don’t believe my elder sister would fall off so easily.”
“Even if everyone in the Marquis of Danyang’s mansion has an alibi, it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t hire someone to kill, just like today.”

Her eyes turned bloodshot, and she slowly clenched her fists: “I won’t let them die easily. Death is the easiest escape in this world, and they don’t deserve it.”

Ruo Xing glanced at her face from the side, and although Shen Qiuci’s expression seemed normal, like a calm lake, an invisible pressure emanated from her bones, heavy as a mountain crushing an egg, almost making the surrounding air condense.

Ruo Xing couldn’t help but shiver, and her breathing became cautious.

After a while, when Shen Qiuci’s expression had softened a bit, she said: “Tell the sisters of Tian Ji to help me with something.”

“In one day, I want to know the locations of all the dens in the capital that sell opium.”

“Yes.” Ruo Xing responded respectfully, then looked at the man’s corpse and asked: “Master, what should we do with this person’s body?”

Shen Qiuci’s face was expressionless: “Go investigate and if he really has a wife and children, secretly give them 50 taels of silver.”

“A woman’s place is in the home, and she shouldn’t have to struggle to make ends meet. As for him…”

Her gaze was cold and piercing, looking straight ahead, her footsteps unwavering as she walked away.

After stepping over the man’s corpse, she casually dropped a sentence: “Make him disappear from this world, flesh and bone.”

–

The distance between the alley and the Shen residence wasn’t far. After turning onto the main road and taking a detour, the entrance to the Shen residence came into view.

Shen Qiuci saw Xia Shang walking towards her from afar, holding up a hand with a braised duck and waving: “Why are you back so late?”

Shen Qiuci smiled: “The road was muddy, and I got dirty, so I spent some time cleaning up.”

As they spoke, Shen Qiuci caught sight of the Shen residence’s gate slowly opening. Cai Shu, the accountant, came out and caught her eye.

He was the accountant of the Shen family’s gold shop and rarely came to the residence except to report on finances.

“What brings you here today?” Shen Qiuci asked.

“The mistress needed silver urgently, so she sent someone to fetch me early in the morning to bring 1,000 taels of silver notes to the residence,” Cai Shu replied.

“What is it for?” Shen Qiuci asked.

“I don’t know,” Cai Shu scratched his head, equally puzzled. “But when I left, I happened to see Dr. Xu, who was treating you, arrive at the residence. The mistress sent all the servants away and is now talking to Dr. Xu in private.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiuci’s eyes darkened. She quickened her pace, heading towards the courtyard of the Madam of the Manor.

Outside the room, she vaguely heard the conversation inside: “This amount of silver will only last me a month or so.”

“Alright, from now on, every 15th of the month, don’t make me ask for it. Just send 1,000 taels of silver notes to my home.”

“After all, the Shen family is wealthy and influential. A little silver won’t make a difference.” The speaker chuckled awkwardly for a moment before continuing in a threatening tone: “You wouldn’t want everyone to know… that your eldest daughter is dead, and your second daughter, the fake, has taken her sister’s place and returned to the Marquis’s mansion to enjoy a life of luxury, would you?”