Chapter 707 Would you do business that wipes out a family?

Chapter 707: Would You Take a Job That Wipes Out a Family?

Zou Minglei was dragged off by the constables.

Qing Shuang was about to leave as well, but Xingxing, quick on her feet, stepped forward to grab her arm and stop her.

Qing Shuang, quick on her feet, raised both arms and even popped up on her toes!

Xingxing, who was a full head shorter than Qing Shuang: "..."

Totally out of reach!

Xingxing huffed and just went straight for hugging Qing Shuang’s waist instead.

Qing Shuang’s waist was slender and firm, and Xingxing couldn’t resist giving it a little squeeze.

Gotta admit—it was *nice*.

Qing Shuang stiffened. "L-Let *go*!"

"No!" Xingxing’s face flushed slightly. She didn’t want to be so shameless, but… this was for her Da Xi grandma!

Though Da Xi scolded Qing Shuang as a "heartless brat," Xingxing could tell her grandma still cared about her.

"At *least*, shouldn’t you properly bid farewell to Da Xi grandma in person?"

Qing Shuang remained rigid for a long moment before finally murmuring, "...I will go back to see her. But not now."

Before Xingxing could ask when, Qing Shuang swiftly shook Xingxing’s arms off her waist, darted away, and was *gone* from the inn.

Zhao Ying stared, dumbfounded.

Pouting, Xingxing took out another piece of silver and placed it on the table, addressing Yu Yonggui, who was disguised as a waiter. "This is for the chairs and tables damaged during the fight earlier." Then she left.

...

Zou Minglei’s arrest caused an uproar through the Zou family.

He was the apple of their eye of the entire household.

Even Master Zou, who had been out carousing, rushed to the Shuntian Prefecture smelling like a brothel.

As for Zou Wan Shi, she was beside herself.

Fearing Zou Minglei might suffer the slightest mistreatment, she hurriedly gathered her people and headed straight for the Shuntian Prefecture.

By the time she arrived, Zou Minglei had already received twenty lashes. His buttocks were raw meat, and he lay sprawled on the ground like a limp rag.

Zou Wan Shi’s mind went blank. Wailing, "My son!" she rushed forward.

Zou Minglei had long since blacked out from agony. No matter how much Zou Wan Shi cried and called to him, he remained unresponsive. If not for the occasional pained twitch of his body, he might as well have been dead.

Her heart aching, Zou Wan Shi glared furiously at the constable nearby. "What law did my son break to deserve such punishment?!"

The constable shot back. "Your son had the *nerve* to harass and insult Princess Fusui in broad daylight! If not for Her Highness’s mercy, he’d be rotting in prison for days with even worse to come!"

"Princess Fusui?" Zou Wan Shi was bewildered, but it was clear her son had offended someone way out of their league. In disgrace, she and her husband could only carry their son, a bloody wreck, home.

Once home, a physician treated Zou Minglei’s wounds, but he remained unconscious. Seeing Yan Shou, Zou Wan Shi saw red. Without a word, she grabbed a teacup and chucked it right at Yan Shou’s head.

Blood streamed down Yan Shou's face.

Yan Shou swayed unsteadily but didn't dare fall.

Zou Wan Shi fumed with rage, "Speak! Minglei has always been well-mannered—how could he offend that damn Princess Fusui?! Tell me! What exactly happened?! If you dare lie even a single word, I’ll flay you alive!"

Yan Shou trembled slightly as she recounted the events after Zou Minglei encountered Princess Fusui.

Zou Wan Shi, seething, paced around the room. Unable to bring herself to blame her son, she instead kicked Yan Shou again, "It’s all because of you, you little temptress! Dragging men to bed in broad daylight!"

Yan Shou was sent sprawling across the floor by the kick, her head smacking against the leg of a table. Dazed and seeing stars, she lay sprawled on the ground for a long while, the blood on her temple drying before she could just barely pull herself together.

Zou Wan Shi had long stormed off to the front courtyard to confront Master Zou—though she had been preoccupied with her son, she hadn’t forgotten the cheap rouge clinging to him!

Yan Shou turned over on the floor, her empty stare fixed on the ornate ceiling.

Every part of her ached.

No one treated her as human.

How much longer would this go on?

...

After a fierce brawl with Zou Haigui that left his face clawed up, Zou Wan Shi sat by the unconscious Zou Minglei for half an hour before finally making a decision—

She would send her son to an academy to study!

Her Minglei had once been praised as a clever boy, learning under a tutor in the local schoolhouse!

Now that they were in the capital and life was back on track, it was time to consider which academy to enroll him in!

With this thought, Zou Wan Shi was too restless to stay put. She went out to ask the neighbors about good schools in the capital.

After gathering information for most of the day, Zou Wan Shi felt confident and decided to go see Yu Mingzhu.

However, Yu Mingzhu had previously told her that if she needed to meet, she should have the doorkeeper pass a message to arrange a time outside the mansion, avoiding suspicion.

Mindful of her future prosperity, Zou Wan Shi heeded Yu Mingzhu’s instructions and dutifully sent a note to the doorkeeper, setting up a meeting at a teahouse at a specified time.

Upon receiving the note, Yu Mingzhu tossed it into the coal basin to burn and instructed Qi Huang to inform Zou Wan Shi that she was unavailable at the proposed time—if they were to meet, it would have to be the next day.

Zou Wan Shi pondered this and conceded that a highborn miss like Yu Mingzhu wasn’t exactly free to come and go, so she agreed.

When Qi Huang returned to Yu Mingzhu’s quarters, she found her mistress holding a lacquered box filled with jewelry and a stack of silver notes beneath.

Over the years, the Duke of Xinguo’s household had gifted Yu Mingzhu countless priceless heirlooms.

Last year, on her birthday, Jiao Shi had even given her land and shops to run.

By now, Yu Mingzhu’s wealth was considerable.

However, most of those rare treasures were logged down to the last detail, making them easily traceable if audited. Yu Mingzhu had no intention of touching those.

What she could use were only untraceable, common trinkets.

Fortunately, Yu Mingzhu had also amassed a sizable sum in silver notes.

After counting them just now, she found she had a good ten thousand taels.

Qi Huang noticed Yu Mingzhu counting her assets, hesitated for a moment, and said softly, "If Miss is strapped for cash, I can also write to ask my master to send some over..."

Yu Mingzhu's expression softened as she smiled. "Don't say that. What kind of person would I be if I took your master's money?... Your master has already helped me so much, and I am deeply grateful."

Her expression turned wistful again. "My own kin want to treat me like a blood bag, sucking me dry, while your master remembers our old friendship and helps me selflessly... Sometimes, I truly wish..."

She skillfully trailed off, leaving the thought hanging.

Qi Huang replied gently, "My master also thinks fondly of you... What does Miss plan to do now?"

Yu Mingzhu glanced at the items in her hands and pushed them toward Qi Huang. "Change your appearance and help me sell these. They should bring in at least twenty thousand taels of silver."

"Yes."

Yu Mingzhu's eyes turned cold. "...Then find me a contact from Chaoyang Tower and ask if they take jobs like faking a fire or eliminating a family."

"Yes."

Qi Huang paused before adding, "There’s one more thing. This servant just received word."

"Go on."

"Our people watching the Zou family reported that Zou Minglei was publicly caned twenty times by the Shuntian Prefecture for offending Princess Fusui."

Yu Mingzhu jerked her head up. "Yu Xingxing?"

Her eyes gleamed with barely concealed excitement as she paced the room, the idea pleased her more and more. "...Good. Now that he’s offended Yu Xingxing, if his whole family were eliminated, who would people suspect?"

The more she thought about it, the more exhilarated she became.

For the first time, she found herself eagerly anticipating her meeting with Zou Wan Shi.

...

The next day, Zou Wan Shi arrived early at the teahouse’s private room, waiting for Yu Mingzhu.

Yu Mingzhu arrived right on the dot.

As she entered, she placed a jar of wound medicine on the table, pretending concern. "I only just learned that that lecher everyone’s been talking about in our circles was actually Minglei..."

Suppressing her disgust, she called Zou Minglei "little brother" for the first time.

"This is premium wound medicine, highly effective for external injuries." Yu Mingzhu scolded insincerely, "That Princess Fusui is truly excessive. How old is Minglei? She'd pick on a child!"

The previous night, Zou Minglei had developed a high fever, and Zou Wan Shi had stayed up late tending to him, railing against Princess Fusui's cruelty all the while. Now, hearing Yu Mingzhu share her outrage, she grew even more agitated and grabbed Yu Mingzhu’s hands. "Exactly! You understand! That Princess Fusui is a wicked woman! Minglei was just expressing his admiration—what’s wrong with that? Was it necessary to beat him half to death?"

Zou Wan Shi continued to hurl crude insults at Princess Fusui.

Yu Mingzhu listened with pleasure, the corners of her mouth twitching upward, forcing her to hide her smile behind a handkerchief.

Once she had heard enough, Yu Mingzhu "kindly" reminded her, "That Princess Fusui has the emperor's special favor and has grown quite domineering. You must be careful when speaking outside."

Zou Wan Shi’s face fell, her bluster fading.

Yu Mingzhu’s eyes showed disdain, though she maintained a gentle smile. "By the way, what did you wish to discuss with me today? Was it about Minglei’s injuries?"

"Yes and no." Zou Wan Shi hurriedly explained. "It is about Minglei, but I was hoping you could help get him into an academy. With a tutor to discipline him, he won’t be so easily targeted outside."

Yu Mingzhu kept her expression neutral. "Oh? That’s one solution. Do you have any academy in mind?"

Zou Wan Shi revealed a smile, "I think the Zhi Zhi Academy is quite good."

Yu Mingzhu's expression changed drastically; she was so furious she nearly choked on her rage!

She held back her rage and sneered, "Oh? And why not the *prestigious* Imperial College?"

Zou Wan Shi failed to detect the sarcasm in Yu Mingzhu's tone and even added with a hint of regret, "...I've inquired about it. At the Imperial College, aside from needing scholarly talent to pass the entrance exams, one also requires a letter of recommendation. Our Minglei is clever, no doubt, but as for the recommendation letter... I didn’t want to trouble you too much..."

She said this in a tone as if she’d done Yu Mingzhu a *huge* favor.

Yu Mingzhu nearly lost control of her expression!

...The *audacity*!

Zou Wan Shi continued in a put-upon tone, "...After our last conversation, I reflected on it. We should indeed keep a low profile. That’s why, if Minglei goes to study, we won’t aim for the Imperial College. The Zhi Zhi Academy is fine—it has produced many scholars who ranked in the top three in the imperial examinations!"

She smiled ingratiatingly, "Miss, once our Minglei passes the imperial exams and becomes the top scholar, won’t he be a great asset to you?"

Yu Mingzhu inwardly scoffed. An asset? *As if!*

Forget whether Zou Minglei’s brain could even pass the lowest-level exams—what good’s a *soon-to-be* dead man at an academy?

But outwardly, Yu Mingzhu couldn’t say that.

She made a show of thinking and said, "There’s some truth to what you say. However, Madam, *surely* you’re aware that the Zhi Zhi Academy also requires an entrance examination."

Zou Wan Shi beamed confidently. "That’s no problem. Miss, you might not know, but our Minglei was often praised by his tutor for his intelligence!"

Yu Mingzhu’s contempt deepened.

Yet, on the surface, she nodded with a gentle smile, appearing to agree with Zou Wan Shi’s words. She sighed softly, "It’s just a pity that Minglei suffered those twenty strokes of the cane. I imagine his injuries will take at least a month to heal. During this time, Madam, you should let him rest well at home. Once he’s recovered, he can take the Zhi Zhi Academy’s entrance exam in March."

Zou Wan Shi finally relaxed, her face lighting up with joy. "I *told* you our Miss would come through!"

But Yu Mingzhu then adopted a worried expression. "...However, Princess Fusui is young and arrogant, riding high on her status. Even I dare not oppose her. If she refuses to let Minglei off, she might strike again and make him suffer further. Madam, you must keep a close watch on Minglei these days."

Zou Wan Shi’s face paled slightly, clearly frightened. She swallowed hard. "Y-you don’t think she’d...?"

Yu Mingzhu sighed gently. "It’s better to be cautious."

Zou Wan Shi nodded hastily.

This time, before Zou Wan Shi could speak, Yu Mingzhu took out a silver note and slipped it into her palm. "...Minglei is injured and needs nourishment. Use this to help him recover."

With this mix of intimidation and coaxing, Zou Wan Shi gazed at Yu Mingzhu like she’d hung the moon!

Her eyes practically gleamed!

Deeply moved, Zou Wan Shi tucked the silver note into her sleeve and, with her clouded, teary eyes, looked at Yu Mingzhu, saying emotionally, "Ming Zhu, your kindness... *truly* moves me."

Yu Mingzhu sighed. "You’re my family too. Of course, I’ll treat you well. It’s just that sometimes, my status means I can’t show it *too* openly..."

Zou Wan Shi nodded repeatedly. "I understand, I understand! I know it’s not easy for you. Don’t worry, I’ll *never* step out of line again!"

Yu Mingzhu’s eyes glinted, but her smile remained gentle. "*Good.*"