The Wife of a Loyal Servant - Chapter 23

“What are you doing?! Put him down!!” He went pale with shock. Without thinking, he bolted in the direction where the carriage had disappeared, shouting as he ran, “Kidnapping! Kidnapping! The carriage up ahead—there are criminals kidnapping someone! Stop them!! Stop them!!”

But the carriage was far too fast. Even those who wanted to help hesitated; few dared to get in the way of horses charging at full speed.

Meanwhile, Cheng Shaotang was at Song Chao’s home, where many of the brothers who had once gone to prison with him were gathered. When he explained he didn’t intend to enter Prince Qi’s residence, Tang Jinyuan looked unsurprised. Some of the men were startled, some disappointed, and some secretly relieved that he felt the same as they did. Only Song Chao stared at him with a look of bitter disappointment.

“We’ve survived death together all these years, and I never knew you had a moment of losing your nerve like this. Just because a woman said a few words, you’re really planning to back out.”

Cheng Shaotang smiled. “Brother, you’ve misunderstood. This is my own choice. It has nothing to do with anyone else. After so many years living like I’ve been walking on a blade’s edge, I just want a change. I want to try a different way of life.”

Song Chao shook his head. “Since you’ve decided, there’s no use in anyone trying to talk you out of it. Do as you will.”

He paused, then spoke with bold warmth. “Today I’ve prepared a little wine. Let’s drink together, brothers. After today, we’ll each head down our own path, but no matter what the future brings, you’ll always be my good brothers.”

He lifted the wine jar and filled his bowl to the brim. “I’ll drink first, in respect.”

With that, he threw his head back and emptied the bowl in one long swallow.

“Alright then—let’s toast Brother Song!” The men felt their spirits swell with fierce camaraderie, filling their bowls to the top and draining them in unison.

Cheng Shaotang was no exception.

This group of a dozen or so escort guards had all been trained by Wu Liren, the former chief of the agency. They had worked together since the day the escort bureau was founded. Now, each went his own way—some, like Song Chao and Tang Jinyuan, joining Prince Qi’s residence as guards; some returning to their hometowns to find new work; and others moving on to different escort bureaus to continue their trade.

Everyone had their own aspirations. Though it was a pity that his brothers could no longer work together and would soon part ways, the mountains and rivers remained unchanged; sooner or later, they would meet again.

After leaving Song Chao’s home, the group bid each other farewell. Watching his brothers scatter in all directions, Cheng Shaotang couldn’t help but feel a touch of melancholy.

After today’s parting, he had no idea when they might meet again.

He let out a quiet sigh, lifted his head to glance at the sky, and, seeing that it was still early, he thought of his wife and child who had been away for many days. So he changed direction, planning to head to his father-in-law’s residence to bring them home.

After walking down a street, he suddenly heard someone up ahead shouting, “Kidnapping! Kidnapping!” He froze for a moment, feeling the voice was strangely familiar, though he couldn’t place it right away.

Just then, the man shouting and sprinting wildly came nearer and nearer. Cheng Shaotang’s eyes widened; he finally recognized who it was.

“Brother Dachun, what happened? Who’s been kidnapped?” He rushed forward, grabbing Ling Dachun, who nearly ran past him.

Ling Dachun, shocked, terrified, and furious, chased like a madman after the carriage that had long vanished from sight. Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm, blocking his way. Without thinking, he swung a punch: “Get out of my way!!”

Cheng Shaotang dodged by turning his head aside, and before the next punch could fly, quickly said, “Brother Dachun, it’s me, Cheng Shaotang!”

Ling Dachun finally recognized him. Shocked and relieved, he grabbed him, eyes reddening with panic. “Shaotang, come with me to save her! Xiao Yu’s been kidnapped!”

“What?!” Cheng Shaotang exclaimed.

Wasn’t his wife supposed to be safely staying at his father-in-law’s home? How could she have been taken? And who took her?

Ling Dachun had no patience to explain. He yanked Cheng Shaotang’s sleeve and dashed forward again.

Cheng Shaotang didn’t press further. After roughly figuring out the direction the kidnappers’ carriage had gone, he left Ling Dachun behind and sped off. He ran more than ten miles until he reached the city outskirts, but the official road before him was empty. There was no trace of the carriage.

He forced down his shock and anger, took a few deep breaths, and retraced his steps to find Ling Dachun.

“What exactly happened? How could Xiao Yu have been taken?”

“I…I don’t know—I don’t know what happened. In just a blink of an eye, Xiao Yu and Miss Yang were dragged onto the carriage,” Ling Dachun panted, regret and self-blame crashing through him like a tide.

Xiao Yu and Miss Yang were taken right under his nose. As a man, he couldn’t even protect two frail women—how could he face his second uncle and aunt?

“It’s all my fault! How could I be so useless, so useless!” He slapped himself hard. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. This stubborn man who hadn’t shed a single tear even when his own father cast him out now had remorse swelling in his eyes.

Cheng Shaotang’s fear was no less than his, but he forced himself to stay calm. If even he fell apart, what would become of Xiao Yu?

“Tell me everything that happened—slowly and clearly.”

Ling Dachun messily wiped his tears, afraid to delay, and in a choked voice recounted in full how he and Ling Yu went into town today to look for Yang Suwen.

Cheng Shaotang had no mind to question when his wife ended up going into business with them. He only frowned and calmly began to analyze the situation.

His wife’s dealings with people were as simple as could be. She rarely even went into the county town and had certainly never offended anyone. That she suddenly fell into the hands of kidnappers was truly unbelievable.

Then he thought of the ‘Miss Yang’ taken together with Ling Yu, and a thought suddenly arose. Could the kidnappers’ true target have been Miss Yang, with his wife suffering misfortune only as an innocent bystander?

“Who is this Miss Yang?” With this thought forming, he asked about Yang Suwen.

“According to Xiao Yu, Miss Yang is the daughter of Doctor Yang, the former owner of Huichun Hall.”

Doctor Yang’s daughter… she too seemed to be of a clear and respectable background.

Cheng Shaotang’s thick brows tightened even further.

***

“Shaotang, let’s report this to the authorities!” After a moment, Ling Dachun suggested hesitantly.

“Take me to where they were taken,” Cheng Shaotang ordered, seemingly ignoring him.

Ling Dachun felt somewhat annoyed, but he didn’t say anything more. Forcing back his rising anger, he led him to the scene of the incident.

Watching Cheng Shaotang bent over, searching the surroundings, and then, after a while, thoughtfully stroking his chin, Ling Dachun made a decision.

Whether Cheng Shaotang agreed or not, he would report this to the authorities. He couldn’t let Cheng Shaotang’s concerns prevent him from protecting Xiao Yu and Miss Yang’s lives.

***

Ling Yu groggily opened her eyes, feeling dizzy. After a while, she realized she was in an empty, unfamiliar room. The doors and windows were tightly closed, with only a few rays of sunlight occasionally filtering through the cracks. Beside her lay Yang Suwen, still unconscious.

Startled, she instantly snapped awake and shoved Yang Suwen hard, crying, “Suwen, wake up! Wake up!”

After a few moments, Yang Suwen still hadn’t woken up. In desperation, she reached out and pinched the soft flesh at Yang Suwen’s waist hard.

“Ah—” Before Yang Suwen could cry out, she quickly covered her mouth. “Don’t make a sound.”

Yang Suwen’s eyes were filled with panic. She nodded repeatedly, and once Ling Yu released her, she looked around and shrank toward Ling Yu in fear, asking in a trembling voice, “Sister Yu, where are we?”

“Don’t speak. Listen outside.” Ling Yu made a silencing gesture and strained her ears toward the voices outside.

“…I only told you to capture Yang Suwen. Why did you grab two? Who’s the other one?”

“They were together. Capturing one is harder than capturing two, so we grabbed them both. Think of it as buy one, get one free!”

“Buy one, get one free? Do you have brains?! Yang Suwen has no family left, taking her won’t cause trouble. But what about the other girl? You don’t even know who she is! What if something happens? You’ll ruin my plans!”

“What? Are you thinking of backing out and not paying the rest? Go ask around who I am! Do you think I’m someone you can cheat out of money?!”

The voices grew distant and soon could no longer be heard. Ling Yu frowned, glanced at the trembling Yang Suwen, and finally couldn’t help asking quietly, “Who exactly did you offend?”

“N-no one!” Yang Suwen wailed. She was usually either at home working on formulas or out selling her Jade Complexion Cream. She had no chance to offend anyone.

At most, she had argued a bit with the apprentice at Huichun Hall, but that was only because she was annoyed that he always called her ‘Miss Yang’ in that sarcastic tone.

Ling Yu felt the question was pointless. Though she hadn’t known her long, she understood her well enough; she might speak bluntly at times and be a little irritating, but she had no malice, no bad intentions, and certainly no reason to provoke someone enough to hire help to kidnap her.

“Help… could it be that person?” A chill ran down her spine. She instinctively glanced at Yang Suwen’s deathly pale face, worry deepening between her brows.

In her past life, the Jade Complexion Cream had become famous throughout the capital, yet no one had ever mentioned Yang Suwen. Its creator had become Liang Fang, and during her time working in the Liang household, she had never once heard of any Madam or concubine surnamed Yang.

A bold suspicion formed in her mind.

Could Yang Suwen have already been killed by Liang Fang in her previous life, with the recipe stolen as well? That would explain the words she’d overheard earlier outside: “Yang Suwen has no relatives left, capturing her won’t cause any trouble.”

An orphan girl was the easiest to silence without leaving a trace…

She shivered.

If that were the case, things would likely end badly this time.

The wooden door suddenly creaked open from the outside. Yang Suwen shrank even closer to Ling Yu in fright. Ling Yu, terrified, unconsciously clenched her hands.

The next moment, three masked men appeared before them. The tallest of the three asked, “Which one?”

The thinnest man swept his gaze over Ling Yu and, before she could react, pointed to Yang Suwen. “Her. Bring her out.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the other two strode toward them and reached out to seize Yang Suwen without a word.

Ling Yu tried to pull her back, but one of the men kicked her aside without mercy. “Get out of the way!”

Yang Suwen screamed in terror, scratching and kicking. “Let me go! Let me go! What are you doing?! I don’t have money! Not a single coin! Taking me is useless!”

She struggled so fiercely that the two men couldn’t get control of her for a moment.

Seeing they still hadn’t gotten her out, the thin man snapped impatiently, “What’s going on? You can’t even handle a girl?!”

“It’s you! I recognize your voice—you’re that Liang! Why did you grab me?!” To his surprise, Yang Suwen, who was fighting back with all her strength, actually recognized him.

Ling Yu’s heart gave a hard jolt. A terrible premonition struck her.

This time, she feared she was going to be killed by this dim-witted, foolish girl.

The fact that the man had appeared masked meant he didn’t want them to recognize him—at least, he didn’t want her to. Dragging Yang Suwen out was meant to keep her from learning too much. More precisely, he didn’t want to kill another person just to silence them.

After all, without absolute certainty that he could kill her without leaving future trouble behind, he naturally didn’t want to waste effort creating more problems for himself.

But now, Yang Suwen had revealed his identity, forcing him into a situation where he had no choice but to silence her.

Ling Yu’s face turned pale. Sure enough, she saw the thin man signal the other two to stop. Despair swept through her, her guess had been entirely correct.

Good. No need to separate them anymore. And what did that mean? It meant their fates would be the same.

Yang Suwen crawled and stumbled back to her side, clinging tightly to her arm. Her voice trembled as she tried to bluff, “Y-you’d better… let us go now, or… or when the officials come, th-they won’t… won’t leave you unpunished!”

“Especially you, I recognize you! You’re Liang Fang! The one who’s been pestering me endlessly to buy my formula!”

Ling Yu said weakly, “Shut up, silly girl!”

“Miss Yang truly has sharp ears. It seems I’ve gone to unnecessary trouble.” The thin man slowly removed the black cloth covering his face, and when his entire face was revealed, it was indeed Liang Fang.

At this point, Ling Yu knew there was no way out. Today, she and Yang Suwen were like grasshoppers tied to the same rope. If one lived, they both lived; if one died, they both died.

“What are you trying to do? Is it for my formula? I already said I’m not selling it to anyone!” Yang Suwen glared at him angrily.

“Haven’t you realized your situation? It’s no longer a matter of whether you’re willing or not,” Liang Fang sneered.

“You—”

“You want her Jade Complexion Cream recipe? That’s easy. If you let us go, I’ll make sure she hands it over!” Ling Yu cut Yang Suwen off, not allowing her to say another word.

“Yu—” Yang Suwen, displeased, wanted to say more, but Ling Yu suddenly snapped at her, “If you want to die, then go die! I’m not dying with you! Is some lousy formula more important than your life?”

Yang Suwen was stunned by the scolding and felt a bit wronged.

Ling Yu ignored her and continued grumbling, “If I’d known that lousy formula could save lives, I would’ve jumped into the river that day to fish it out!”

“What do you mean by that? The formula is ruined?!” Liang Fang was shocked and furious.

Yang Suwen wasn’t stupid; she quickly understood Ling Yu’s intention and immediately put on an angry expression, glaring at her. “You still have the nerve to say that?!”

“This isn’t entirely my fault. Who knew you’d forget to take the formula out? I kindly washed your clothes for you, and who would’ve thought…” Ling Yu shrank back as if frightened, and after a moment stammered, “B-but… what does it matter if the formula is gone? The person who created it is still here, isn’t she?”

The tall man who had been silent all this time finally spoke impatiently. “This girl is right. The formula’s gone, but the person is still here. Just have her rewrite it.”

“What do you know?” Liang Fang was inwardly annoyed and scolded in a low voice.

Even the creator himself might not be able to memorize the recipe perfectly. Besides, if Yang Suwen couldn’t remember all of it, he didn’t have the time for her to slowly think and slowly write.

The tall man sneered. “What do you want now? I’ve already brought the person. As for how you get the goods, that has nothing to do with us. Pay up, and we’ll go our separate ways!”

“The job isn’t even done, and you want money already? Things aren’t that convenient!” Liang Fang suppressed his anger, afraid of offending them, then softened his tone. “Go find paper and pen first. Once it’s done, I’ll add another ten percent. How about that?”

“Thirty percent!”

“Don’t be so greedy!”

“Twenty percent at least.”

“…Fine.”

Ling Yu stared at their argument, deep in thought.

It seemed the relationship among these people wasn’t all that steady…

For Liang Fang to believe her so easily, thinking the recipe had truly been destroyed, there was only one possibility: he had once tried to steal it from the Yang family and failed.

She shot a sideways glance at the person beside her, unable to stop a wave of headache.

How clueless could this silly girl be? She didn’t even know her home had been visited by uninvited guests. It was a wonder she had survived safely until now.

But when she remembered what might have happened to her in her previous life, a faint ache rose in her chest.

The door was locked again, and the room returned to silence.

After a long time, Yang Suwen’s low voice pulled Ling Yu from her thoughts.

“I’m sorry, Sister Yu… I dragged you into this.”

Ling Yu sighed and gently wrapped her arms around her. “What are you saying? You didn’t choose any of this.”

“Sister Yu, if I can’t escape death this time… please sell everything in my house and give the money to Uncle Cheng. He’s taken care of me for so many years, yet I’ve never been able to give him a good life,” Yang Suwen said hoarsely.

“Don’t talk nonsense. We’ll both be safe.” Ling Yu’s throat tightened slightly as she comforted her.

Yang Suwen lowered her head, saying nothing more.

Ling Yu didn’t know how much time had passed before she heard her let out a soft sigh, “It’s just a pity… that I won’t be able to redeem Huichun Hall in this lifetime…”

“Two women who can’t even lift a chicken. Why do the two of us need to guard them? Third Brother, you stay here. I’m going up front to relieve myself.”

“Go, go!”

The voices from the outer room drifted in. Ling Yu’s mind stirred, and after a moment, she leaned in to whisper a plan to Yang Suwen.

“Sister—Sister, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me! Someone help!” Zhu Laosan, bored out of his mind at the doorway, suddenly heard a woman’s panicked cry from inside. He sprang up and barked, “What’s all the noise? What’s all the noise?”

“Someone come save my sister!” the woman inside wailed.

Impatient, Zhu Laosan pulled out his key and unlocked the door, grumbling as he pushed it open, “Damn it—”

Before he could finish, a sharp blow struck the back of his head. He let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.

“Go, now!” Seizing the moment, Ling Yu grabbed Yang Suwen and dashed outside.

In their panic, they ran without direction, not recognizing their surroundings. All they knew was that they were surrounded by trees, and behind them, the men’s curses carried through the forest. The shouts drew closer and closer, terrifying them into running even harder for their lives.

“Split up! Every one of us who survives is a winner!” Seeing a fork ahead, Ling Yu made a snap decision.

“Okay!” Yang Suwen responded, and the two split—one left, one right.

Ling Yu gritted her teeth and ran with every ounce of strength she had. In the distance, she thought she heard Yang Suwen scream, but she didn’t dare look back. Her pace only quickened, her vision blurring, with just one thought left in her mind—run!

Her foot caught on something, and she lost her balance, tumbling down a small slope until her lower back slammed into a rock. The pain left her drenched in cold sweat, but she forced herself up and continued running.

“I’ll let you run!!” a man shouted behind her. The color drained from her face. A wooden stick struck her legs, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Run! Go on, run again! Damn you!” A man’s twisted face loomed over her. She tried to crawl away. Seeing that she still wouldn’t give up, and thinking of his brother whose head had been smashed, he was consumed with rage. He lunged forward, pulled out a dagger, and drove it toward her heart…

A cold gleam flashed. One thought flashed in Ling Yu’s mind: Damn it, I’m actually going to die even younger this life than the last!