Rebirth: Not Being a Waste - Chapter 110

Could it be that Zhang Huai and Wu Liniang conspired to kill Master Wang? Maybe what he said yesterday scared them, so they struck first.

Zhang Shu felt a tinge of regret in his heart. Master Wang’s fate wasn’t much different from his own in his past life. This just proved that villains remained villains no matter where they were. They wouldn’t spare you because of your character, family background, or moral standing.

If they really succeeded, didn’t that mean he was their next target? After all, they believed he knew the truth. If he exposed them, they would surely be arrested. Zhang Shu felt it was time to take action.

Sitting in the courtyard, he pondered for a long time before coming up with a plan. He heard that Madam Wang was locked up in a separate estate. If Master Wang really was murdered, then she could report Wu Liniang and Zhang Huai to the authorities and have them arrested.

After informing Li Mujin, Zhang Shu immediately set out with a horse-drawn carriage. He knew where the estate was—it lay in a neighboring village next to the town. The Wang family owned a large piece of land there, and that was where Madam Wang was confined.

However, when he arrived, Madam Wang was nowhere to be found. The estate’s gates were tightly locked, and not a single person was inside. Zhang Shu found this very odd. Did Wu Liniang and Zhang Huai already take Madam Wang away? Or did they imprison her somewhere else? But it didn’t seem possible for them to act that fast. The whole situation escalated so suddenly that something about it felt off.

Unable to figure it out, Zhang Shu snuck into town and arrived at Tianshui Lane. The Wang family’s main estate, perhaps due to the unexpected nature of the incident, still kept its decorations untouched—lanterns and banners remained the same as before. However, the servants guarding the entrance looked nervous, a clear sign that something did happen.

Zhang Shu debated whether to secretly report the matter to the authorities. If the officials got involved, they could investigate and handle everything. But if he personally went to report it, he would be dragged in for questioning as well. If Master Wang died of natural causes instead of being murdered, he could end up getting himself into trouble.

This turn of events was something Zhang Shu didn’t anticipate. But what he was about to see next was even more shocking.

While he was observing from the shadows, he suddenly saw Master Wang himself walk out of the estate!

For a moment, he felt like he saw a ghost in broad daylight. His first instinct was to grab Yu Xiaoliu, who spread the false rumor, and give him a good beating—wasn’t Master Wang supposed to be dead?!

Master Wang walked at the front, followed by a group of house guards. The guards escorted three prisoners—Mister Yang, Wu Liniang, and Wang Hao.

Wang Hao, held in the arms of one of the guards, flailed his arms and kicked his legs, screaming, “Let me go! Mother, save me! Grandpa, help me!”

Neither Wu Liniang nor Master Wang responded. He then turned to Zhang Huai, who walked beside Master Wang, and cried out, “Uncle, save me!”

Zhang Huai glanced at him with a complicated expression but ultimately turned his head away, ignoring him.

Wang Hao’s lips trembled, and he placed his last hope on Mister Yang. “Teacher, save me! Tell them to let me go!”

This one sentence made both Zhang Huai and Master Wang’s faces darken with fury. Without a word, they quickened their pace. Wu Liniang and Mister Yang, on the other hand, looked ashen. Mister Yang’s face twisted with despair, knowing his fate was sealed. Wu Liniang, however, seemed more bewildered—everything unfolded too quickly, like a drama, leaving her no time to react.

Just that morning, she was still asleep when she was suddenly woken up. Opening her eyes, she saw Mister Yang, beaten black and blue.

“You… what happened to you?”

“Don’t waste time! The thing I gave you—did you add it to the soup and make that old bastard drink it?” Mister Yang’s expression was terrifying as he grabbed Wu Liniang’s shoulders and questioned her urgently.

Wu Liniang hesitated for a moment, but the sharp pain from his grip made her nod quickly. “I did, I did! Just as you said, a small spoonful each time.”

“I need you to dump the rest in today.” Mister Yang’s voice was cold and devoid of emotion.

“N-No… You said we’d take it slow!” Wu Liniang panicked. Why was he suddenly rushing? Wasn’t the plan to gradually poison Master Wang so that his death would seem natural? If they did it all at once, wouldn’t people suspect?

“If you don’t do it, we’re the ones who are going to die! Don’t you see my face? That old bastard had me beaten last night! He must’ve heard something but isn’t certain yet. Otherwise, I’d already be dead! If we wait any longer and he digs up more evidence, do you think he’ll let us off?”

Mister Yang lowered his voice, whispering urgently into her ear. Wu Liniang’s face turned pale with fear. Seeing that his words were working, Mister Yang pressed on.

“If we don’t act, we’re all dead—you, me, and our son Hao’er!”

Seeing the determination grow in Wu Liniang’s eyes, Mister Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief. The old bastard didn’t give any orders yet, so he could still move freely in the Wang estate. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to get close to Master Wang anymore. That meant Wu Liniang had to be the one to do it.

As soon as Wu Liniang nodded, Mister Yang hurriedly left her room.

For the sake of his own affair with Wu Liniang, Master Wang kept security lax in these courtyards. This made it easier not only for himself but for others to meet with Wu Liniang in secret.

Mister Yang thought no one noticed his visit apart from the gate guards. But little did he know, someone secretly watched him the entire time. The moment he left, that person immediately went to find Zhang Huai.

Zhang Huai stayed at the Wang family’s house after finishing his work the day before. He paid a dime to an 11- or 12-year-old child in the kitchen to keep an eye on Wu Liniang’s room and inform him immediately if anyone went in or out.

Upon receiving the news, Zhang Huai was thrilled, thinking that this time, Wu Liniang’s fox tail was exposed. From what he overheard the day before, Wu Liniang and Master Yang must’ve had a backup plan. They were now in a panic, and he was sure they were about to take action. The easiest way to kill someone was poisoning, and fortunately, when he was with Wu Liniang, she asked him to be patient and wait for the old man to die with her. Who would’ve thought that she and another adulterer were plotting to murder him? Women really could be the most vicious!

He couldn’t wait to rush to the outside of Master Wang’s yard and claimed he had urgent news to report. Master Wang, thinking it had to do with the lesson from the previous day, instructed his servants to let him in. However, when Zhang Huai said someone was trying to harm him and advised him not to eat anything, Master Wang became skeptical and questioned him. But when he heard Zhang Huai’s story, there were no flaws to be found. Zhang Huai explained that although he didn’t know who exactly wanted to harm Master Wang, he overheard a conversation behind the rockery about poisoning him, and so he came to warn him immediately.

Master Wang pretended to believe him but secretly ordered someone to invite Zhang Huai inside to watch. Zhang Huai, unfazed, hid inside, eagerly waiting for the adulterous couple to be exposed.

Soon, the servant came to deliver the meal for the day, which looked the same as always. The servant, however, showed no emotion and seemed completely unaffected by any guilt.

Master Wang dismissed everyone else and sat at the table, then pulled out a cage from under it, containing a little white mouse. Most wealthy people were wary of their safety, so he used the mouse to taste the food before every meal. Even when he dined out, he wouldn’t touch his chopsticks until the mouse tasted the food.

He picked up a bit of each dish to feed the mouse. After testing, he found nothing unusual. He thought Zhang Huai just acted on a whim. But just as he was about to pick up his chopsticks, he stopped and instead scooped a spoonful of soup.

The mouse drank the soup, walked a few steps in the cage, and then collapsed, lifeless. Master Wang waited for a moment, feeling something was off. He prodded the mouse with his chopsticks and discovered that it was already stiff.

His hands trembled uncontrollably. Someone really wanted to harm him! The first person he suspected was his first wife, the vicious woman.

“Someone, come here—” he started to shout, but before he could finish, someone suddenly covered his mouth.

It was Zhang Huai. “Master, you can’t alert the enemy. If you call for help now, they’ll be prepared. Let’s turn their own tricks against them.”

Master Wang considered it for a moment and agreed, lying down on the table. Zhang Huai then yelled, “Oh no, the master is dead! The master is dead!”

He and one of Master Wang’s confidants carried him to the bed. By the time others arrived, they found him lying there, “peacefully,” on the bed.

The news spread quickly. Wu Liniang, who was feeding Wang Hao, heard the news and dropped her rice bowls, her mind in turmoil.

Master Yang, who was drinking tea at a teahouse outside the alley, couldn’t contain his excitement when he heard the news. He felt sure that a future of wealth and glory awaited him.

Shaking with excitement, he slapped a dime of silver onto the table, dismissing the need for change, and hurried to the Wang family compound.

The old man who ran the teahouse knew Master Yang and was puzzled by his sudden generosity.

Master Yang walked through the front yard and made his way to Master Wang’s yard. There, he found a large crowd and heard the sounds of mourning inside. It was Wu Liniang crying.

Master Yang waved others away with an air of authority. Some were reluctant to leave, but they were quickly ushered out. Only Wu Liniang and Master Yang were left in the room.

“Liniang, we can rest easy now. Soon, we can live freely with Hao’er, and we won’t have to serve that old man anymore!”

Wu Liniang smiled, but in her heart, she was already planning her next move. She already decided the next person she would deal with was him. She didn’t trust these men, and rather than being controlled by someone else, she’d take control herself. Being second-in-command was nothing compared to being at the top.

Meanwhile, Master Wang lay in bed, his hands shaking uncontrollably beneath the quilt. He couldn’t stop the realization that it wasn’t his first wife who wanted to harm him, but the woman and the man he always trusted!

That child, the one he always thought as the savior of the Wang family, was not his at all. How could he allow these two shameless people to fool—what did he ever do to them to deserve this? Why were they so eager to put him to death?

Zhang Huai hid inside and smiled sarcastically. Now, the room was filled with people involved in the scheme. If she didn’t betray him first, he wouldn’t have done this. For her, he even rejected the marriage his family arranged for him, yet she made him wear the green hat, one he could never take off.