Chapter 30: Seek Another Opportunity Later

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Chapter 30: Seek Another Opportunity Later

Once the two brothers had calmed down, they too felt that their mother had a point, and together they agreed to think the matter through carefully.

Madam Li then sent them both back to their rooms to rest.

The two brothers were young men, their minds not as delicate and perceptive as those of women. Neither had experienced much of the world. Seeing no unusual expression on their mother’s face, they thought nothing more of it.

Little did they know that, having been robbed of her honor, Madam Li considered herself too disgraced to go on living. That very night, she hung a rope from the roof beam and followed Old Fool Stone into the hereafter.

A perfectly good family had fallen apart just like that.

When Yun Jiao had first arrived, she had accidentally overheard the household servants discussing the matter in private. Later, once she had resolved to avenge her grandmother, she sent Gu Youzi to investigate the whereabouts of the two brothers.

Gu Youzi spent his days running about outside and had his own ways of getting things done. Before long, he uncovered the truth.

As it turned out, the brothers had never abandoned their plan to avenge their parents. They had simply been unable to find the right opportunity. There were many servants in the Qian household, and if they charged in, they would gain no advantage.

Nor would it help to wait for Shen Changdong to leave the house. He likely knew that he had committed countless misdeeds, for whenever he went out, he was surrounded by attendants. The brothers could not get close to him, let alone take revenge.

They were not cowards who clung fearfully to life. But before their mother died, she had earnestly instructed them always to put their own lives first. A mother’s final command could not be disobeyed. Even if they did not care about their own lives, they still had to honor her last wishes.

Besides, if they failed to avenge their parents and threw away their own lives first, they would have no face to meet their parents in the underworld.

With no other choice, the brothers could only wait patiently for an opportunity—until Gu Youzi came looking for them.

Shi Shan was a year older than Shi Hai, but he was hot-tempered. Pushing aside the grass, he asked anxiously, “Do you think that fellow might be tricking us?”

Though Shi Hai was the younger brother, he was steady and composed, never prone to impatience. “From the way he looks, I don’t think he’s deceiving us. Besides, we’re already in this state. What would there be to trick us for?”

“But I still don’t understand why he wants to help us. Last time, I followed him and watched him enter the Qian residence. He’s clearly one of the Qian family’s people. Could this be a trap set by that beast Shen, meant to lure us into it?” Fear suddenly crept over Shi Shan.

“No.” Shi Hai shook his head with certainty. “Judging from his clothes, he looks like a servant. I suspect there may be internal strife within the Qian household.”

“Then we’ll wait and see.” Shi Shan clenched his fists.

As they spoke, there was indeed movement in the privy pit outside.

Splash, splash—

It sounded as though someone were struggling in the water.

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The brothers exchanged a glance.

They had arrived.

Stooping low, they crept over and saw Shen Changdong bobbing up and down in the sewage of the privy pit. Whenever his head broke the surface, he hurriedly drew a breath before sinking beneath it again, only to emerge moments later.

Shi Shan found the sight immensely satisfying and opened his mouth to roar with laughter.

Shi Hai reacted quickly, clapping a hand over his brother’s mouth and signaling for silence.

Shi Shan nodded repeatedly to show that he understood.

“Help… help me…”

Whenever Shen Changdong’s head surfaced, he cried out for help at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, he was already at the end of his strength, utterly exhausted. Even his shouts came out as little more than faint whispers.

At that moment, a branch as thick as an arm was extended toward him. Without a second thought, he seized it with both hands and clung to it desperately. It was his last chance at survival.

“Pull… pull me up…” Shen Changdong raised his head and saw only a figure above him. Backlit by the sun, the person’s features were indistinct.

The figure above said nothing and simply began hauling on the branch. Shen Changdong’s clothes had become swollen and waterlogged, making it exceedingly difficult for one person to pull him up.

“Wait for me!” Shen Changdong shouted upward, afraid that the person above might lose patience, abandon him, and leave. “I’m Shen, the son-in-law of the Qian family! Pull me up, and I’ll give you a hundred ounces of silver!”

As he spoke, he held on to the branch with one hand and stripped off all his clothes and trousers with the other, leaving only his undergarments. Though he shivered violently from the cold, he felt far more at ease than before.

“Pull me up!” he shouted.

The man above began to exert himself. Shen Changdong desperately used that force to climb upward, and at last he managed to scramble over the edge by the narrowest of margins.

The moment he touched the ground, he collapsed like a dead dog, sprawled limply on the earth. His entire body was smeared with filth and urine, reeking horribly, barely clinging to consciousness.

Before he could recover, a dung ladle came down over his head.

As its name suggested, a dung ladle was specially used for scooping excrement. It was larger than an ordinary ladle and fitted with a long handle, making it convenient to scoop waste from a privy pit.

Shen Changdong had only half uttered a cry when the back of his head was struck hard with a blunt club. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted completely.

“You used that thing to cover his face. He can’t see who we are, but when we start beating him, what if he shouts and brings people running? Then all our effort will have been wasted!”

“Besides, there’s no need to show mercy to someone like him.”

Shi Hai waved the iron club in his hand.

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“You’re right, little brother. Let’s do it.” Shi Shan tossed aside the dung ladle and grabbed another iron club.

Just then, Gu Youzi came hurrying over. He whispered a few words into their ears, then hurried away in a panic.

Though the brothers were unwilling to give up, all they could do was kick Shen Changdong several times in bitter frustration. Then they gathered up their things and hurried away, intending to seek another opportunity later.

…

Yun Jiao and Qian Xianglan were chatting idly in the room, yet Yun Jiao could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. She feared that matters might not proceed as smoothly as they had hoped.

As she was pondering this, a woman’s loud cries suddenly rang out from outside. The commotion was considerable.

“Who is it?” Yun Jiao asked, glancing at Qian Xianglan, her heart faintly uneasy.

Qian Xianglan gritted her teeth and rose to her feet. “It sounds like Yang Suhe. Let’s go and see!”

Yang Suhe was the concubine Shen Changdong had taken earlier that year. She was now three months pregnant. Shen Changdong had always treated his concubines well, and this new arrival was fairly attractive and knew how to wheedle and flirt. She had been living quite comfortably in the Qian household.

Yun Jiao had never had any dealings with Yang Suhe. They had seen each other a few times, but had never exchanged a word.

The two cousins went out together. Yun Jiao recognized that the noise was coming from the rear courtyard and cast a glance at Gu Youzi.

Without drawing attention to himself, Gu Youzi quietly retreated. Once the two women had turned into the alley leading to the rear courtyard, he found a place to climb onto the wall, jumped down on the other side, and went to carry the news.

As they entered the rear courtyard, a foul stench reached them from afar.

Yang Suhe was covering her nose with a handkerchief and ordering several maidservants about. The moment she saw Qian Xianglan, she hurried over.

“Sister, Brother Dong has fallen into the privy pit! Quickly call the servants to pull him out!”

“How could that have happened?” Yun Jiao asked in confusion. “My brother-in-law clearly said he was going to the front courtyard on business. Why would he come here?”

Yang Suhe regarded Yun Jiao with undisguised displeasure and rolled her eyes disdainfully.

That old woman Qian Xianglan was already past her prime, yet she wanted to use this cousin of hers to compete for favor. What a fantasy!

“I saw Brother Dong come to the rear courtyard with my own eyes. He didn’t come out for ages, and I grew impatient waiting, so I came to look for him. But there wasn’t a soul in sight.” Yang Suhe was growing anxious. “The privy seat has broken through. He must have fallen in! Hurry and call the servants to rescue him!”

If anything happened to Shen Changdong, she would have no protector left in the Qian household.

End of Chapter