Resplendent – Chapter 422

Chapter 422 — Returning Grievance for Grievance

“Third Aunt, please stop talking. I watched Ye’er grow up. It was only right for me to take extra care of her.” Faced with the grateful gaze of the heir to the Duke of Zhen, Ninth Aunt didn’t know what to do with her hands or feet. She really hadn’t done much. She had only given the little girl some food whenever she could.

At that time, every family in the village was poor, and with so many children of her own, even they barely had enough to eat. The help she could offer was truly limited!

The steward personally presented the gift and said with deep gratitude, “Our young lady said that if not for you and her Ninth Uncle giving her food every now and then, she would have died long ago. How would she have lived long enough to reunite with her family? By all accounts, you are a great benefactor to our Duke’s household!”

“No, no, I don’t dare accept that! I-I only did what a relative should do!” Ninth Aunt, face flushed, kept retreating and didn’t dare accept the generous gift in his hands.

A benefactor of the Duke’s household? How could she possibly claim such a title?

“Take it. Anyone who helped our young lady will receive a gift.” Since she was a woman and the steward didn’t want to force the gift into her hands, he simply passed it to a young boy standing beside her who resembled her closely.

Next was the Gu clan patriarch. 

The steward took his hand, eyes brimming with tears. “Brother, you truly possess noble character, unmoved by wealth or temptation! Our young lady’s jade lock was the key to recognizing her family. It was made of top-quality warm mutton-fat jade and worth at least several thousand taels of silver. When our young lady finally had the ability to make decisions for herself, you returned it to her without the slightest hesitation. For this kindness, our Duke’s household will never forget!”

Say what? Several thousand taels of silver?! 

The clan patriarch’s sons all stared wide-eyed. They had known the jade lock was valuable, but they had never imagined it was that valuable. But even if they had known back then, what could they have done? Sell it for silver?

That priceless jade lock belonged to the Duke’s household. If anyone dug into its disappearance and traced it back to them, who could afford the consequences? 

Thankfully, they hadn’t known its worth and hadn’t grown greedy. Otherwise, instead of receiving gifts today, they’d be receiving punishment!

After that, every household that had shown Gu Ye extra care in the past received gifts worth more than a hundred taels. The sight made the people of Qingshan Village envious: not only because those families had struck a bit of fortune, but because these gifts represented the Duke’s household’s sincerity.

After all the thank-you gifts had been distributed, the steward straightened his expression and asked, “May I ask where Madam Miao’s grave is located? Our young lady has asked the young heir to light incense at her grave on her behalf, to express her gratitude for Madam Miao’s years of loving care.”

Ninth Aunt couldn’t help speaking up for Miao: “In those years, Miao-shi truly loved Ye’er. She treated her even better than her own son. Even when she was gravely ill, she never forgot to teach her son to take good care of his little sister… You couldn’t ask more of a birth mother. That’s why no one in the village ever questioned Ye’er’s identity.”

“The kindness of Aunt Lanxiang is something our Duke’s household will always remember. As for her son, we will look after him as if he were our own brother.” The handsome young commander finally spoke. 

Back then, when he accompanied his mother back to Yan City to celebrate his maternal grandfather’s birthday, Lanxiang had carried her son—born just a few days before his sister—to kowtow to his mother. 

When disaster struck, the first person his mother thought of was this loyal maid, and she entrusted his younger sister to her care. Sadly, Lanxiang’s life was too short; otherwise, his sister would never have suffered so much!

Fu went to the solitary grave halfway up the mountain and lit incense. Chu Muhua then ordered that Miao’s grave be repaired and a proper monument erected. Mountain folk place great importance on burial rites, and they praised his actions wholeheartedly.

“Village Chief, where is that Mrs. Liu? I must ‘properly thank’ her for how she treated my little sister.” When Chu Muhua said ‘thank,’ he bit down on the word especially hard.

Mrs. Liu, who had been blending into the crowd and eyeing the gifts with envy, instantly sensed danger when she heard this. She quickly turned to slip away, but she was grabbed by Li Zhu’s wife, who had nothing to gain but everything to lose, and pulled back: “Here she is! Liu is right here!”

At the mention of Mrs. Liu, the villagers couldn’t help casting scornful glances at Gu Qiao. 

Gu Qiao had always been all talk and no action. Not only did he put little effort into work, he had also picked up a gambling habit. Although he didn’t gamble heavily in the village, he still lost at least several hundred coins a month.

Bold-faced, Gu Qiao rented two acres of medicinal fields from the field manager. But cultivating herbs wasn’t easy work. 

After managing it once or twice, he let it go entirely, neglecting the fields. It wasn’t until the field manager came to reclaim the plots that he reluctantly made a few more trips. On top of that, he had a young son at home who needed constant care. 

Gu Qiao’s life was in complete chaos. Xiao Zhuang often went hungry one day and full the next. His clothes went unwashed for months at a time, so dirty and smelly he looked like a little beggar. Later, no one knew exactly how it happened, but Gu Qiao ended up getting involved again with the already divorced Liu, and the two of them started living together.

Liu was of corrupt character, but she was capable. She managed the two acres of medicinal fields entirely on her own, and the herbs were growing well. Xiao Zhuang had also started to look like a proper child again. He got two hot meals a day, and although his clothes were old, they were at least clean.

Liu had deliberately curbed her temper and kept a low profile in the village. Apart from working in the herb fields or gathering mountain goods, she hardly ever went out. She was so low-key that the villagers almost forgot someone like her even existed!

Two soldiers stepped forward and held Liu, who tried to run, and brought her to Chu Muhua, where she was made to kneel. She prostrated herself on the ground, trembling like a crow buffeted by the wind.

“I’ve heard that while my little sister was in your care, she received quite a bit of your ‘attention.’ Tell me, how do you expect me to repay you?” Chu Muhua’s voice was like the grim call of the king of the underworld. Liu wished she could pass out the next second, just to avoid facing the wrath of the heir to the Duke of Zhen.

“Don’t you dare faint! My father said he wanted to peel off your skin and stretch it over a drum for my sister to play with. But I think that’s far too bloody, and my little sister might not enjoy it. If you pull that fake‑fainting trick in front of me, I might just decide that skinning a person isn’t such a bad option after all!”

Chu Muhua saw right through her little act. His handsome face had turned cold and sinister, enough to make anyone shiver. Every other sentence out of his mouth was about flaying someone alive. He was like a living messenger of death.

“Spare me! My lord, please spare my life!” A sudden warmth spread down Liu’s pants. She soiled herself out of sheer terror, her soul nearly leaving her body. All she could do was kowtow and beg.

“Forget it. Skinning is too bloody and would harm one’s virtue. My little sister has just been found. Think of this as accumulating some blessings for her. However, abusing a young lady of the Duke’s household—Magistrate Liu, you’re the official in charge of this Nameless Town. How should such a crime be judged?” As Liu kowtowed until her forehead bled, Chu Muhua didn’t even glance at her.

If not for his soft‑hearted little sister specifically reminding him not to take a life, he would have already whipped this vicious woman to death. This vile creature—letting her keep breathing was a waste of grain and a pollution of the air!