TRBDM -Chapter 13 Catching the Turtle in the Jar

It was already time for bed, yet Wei Zhaorong was still fully dressed.

She had long expected that something major would happen tonight. She had not gone to sleep at all and had been waiting.

Supporting her arm, Nanny Qi said, “Madam, something has happened in the miscellaneous courtyard. Liu Yi’er and Fang Sheng were caught by the servants there—on the same bed.”

“Mm.”

It was exactly as Wei Zhaorong had anticipated.

Nanny Qi had already learned the inside story from her. “Madam, you really guessed right. Liu Yi’er and Fang Sheng truly were up to something.”

That afternoon, Nanny Qi had arranged for a few people to tidy up the miscellaneous courtyard.

“Tidy up” meant only the bare minimum—just one bed, one quilt, and one pillow.

The courtyard had long been used to store unwanted items. The air was thick with the smell of mold and decay, mixed with all sorts of odors. From time to time, large rats would scurry out.

It was early spring, and the nights were bitterly cold. The thin quilt Nanny Qi had prepared would hardly be enough to endure the chill.

Aside from that one barely livable room, the rest of the courtyard was piled high with junk, leaving not even space to step.

Wei Zhaorong did not believe that in such an environment, Liu Yi’er would be willing to let Fang Sheng freeze outside alone.

Sure enough, she had invited him inside.

Wei Zhaorong rose to her feet. “Go to the Eastern Courtyard and bring the eldest young master as well.”

“Rest assured, Madam. I already sent someone just now.”

Nanny Qi knew perfectly well that tonight’s grand performance had been arranged by the Old Madam for the eldest young master. If he were not present, no matter how dramatic the show, it would be meaningless.

Soon, the usually deserted miscellaneous courtyard was ablaze with lantern light, filled with hurried footsteps and noisy commotion.

Xie Chuan, dressed in his sleeping robe with only a cloak hastily thrown over his shoulders, had not even properly put on his shoes. He shoved his feet into them and ran out.

The sight before him sent his blood rushing to his head.

The Liu Yi’er he had cherished and doted on was now wearing nothing but a dudou, while her lover Fang Sheng was completely bare from the waist up. The two of them desperately tried to shrink beneath the quilt.

“You two!!!!! Adulterous scoundrels!!!!”

Xie Chuan trembled with rage.

Suddenly he turned around, grabbed a cleaver from somewhere, and raised it to strike at them.

“Chuan’er, stop at once!”

At the sound of Wei Zhaorong’s voice, the servants hurried to restrain him.

“Young Master, please calm down! Don’t act rashly!”

Xie Chuan’s eyes were red with fury. Even with three servants holding him back, they could barely restrain him.

If Wei Zhaorong had not shouted again in anger, that blade would have certainly come down.

The sharp edge hovered right before Fang Sheng’s eyes. He turned pale with fright, and warmth spread beneath him—he had been scared into wetting himself.

Liu Yi’er, who had been pressed close to him, first gasped in shock. When the pungent stench reached her nose, she nearly gagged.

Ignoring everything else, she pleaded, “Young Master, please listen to me! It was him—Fang Sheng! He took advantage of the empty courtyard and tried to force himself on me. How could I, a mere woman, be his match? Young Master, you must believe me. It truly wasn’t my doing—I was forced!”

“You wretch! Even at a time like this, you still refuse to admit it!”

Xie Chuan threw down the cleaver and began slapping Liu Yi’er repeatedly, left and right.

He was strong. After only five or six slaps, blood seeped from the corner of Liu Yi’er’s mouth, and her cheeks swelled visibly like steamed buns.

Fang Sheng trembled like a leaf, not daring to utter a single word.

Only at this moment did Liu Yi’er realize that Fang Sheng was utterly unreliable.

All those sweet promises in the heat of passion had been lies.

Just now, when she had immediately shifted the blame onto him, Fang Sheng had not even tried to defend her.

Clearly, they had once agreed that if their affair was discovered by the Eldest Master, they would push all the blame onto Fang Sheng.

Liu Yi’er touched her belly. Inside was the child she shared with Fang Sheng—yet he hadn’t even considered the baby.

“Someone come. Tie up this adulterous pair and throw them into the woodshed.”

Wei Zhaorong gave the order.

Very soon, Liu Yi’er and Fang Sheng were bound and dragged into the woodshed.

Nanny Qi brought over a grand armchair for Wei Zhaorong, who sat upright in the center of the room.

Aside from Xie Chuan and the hurriedly arrived Dou Shuyao, Wei Zhaorong dismissed everyone else.

“Speak. When did your affair begin?”

Fang Sheng was filthy from head to toe. He lay sprawled on the ground like a dead fish.

Liu Yi’er’s face was swollen beyond recognition. She struggled to crawl forward, begging Xie Chuan to save her.

“Get lost. Don’t touch me.”

The hat on Xie Chuan’s head felt greener than ever. The former warmth, tenderness, and vows of eternal love had all become a cruel joke.

Wei Zhaorong shot Nanny Qi a glance.

Receiving the signal, Nanny Qi seized a long whip and lashed it mercilessly across Liu Yi’er’s back. “The Old Madam is asking you a question. Answer at once.”

The strike was excruciating. Liu Yi’er had never endured such suffering before. Terrified of pain, she could only confess.

“Fang Sheng and I grew up together, scraping by in Flower Alley. I was chosen by the madam to be trained—selling art but not my body. In truth, I had already given myself to Fang Sheng. Later, I was fortunate to meet the Eldest Master. He redeemed me and set me up in a separate courtyard. I couldn’t bear to part from Fang Sheng, so I found an excuse to persuade the Eldest Master to let him enter the household. Whenever the Eldest Master was away, Fang Sheng and I…”

“Wretched woman! Dog slave! So when I wasn’t around, it was convenient for you to fornicate? I must have been blind not to see through your filthy affair!”

The more Xie Chuan listened, the more furious he became. The rage within him nearly burst out.

Through gritted teeth, he declared, “I want you both dead!”

For a marquis household, killing one or two people was nothing.

But death would be too merciful for them.

In the previous life, these two had plunged the already precarious marquis residence into chaos. Wei Zhaorong had died full of resentment, and they bore responsibility for it.

“Eldest Master, please, spare me! There’s your child in my belly—the child you’ve longed for so desperately. Can you truly bear to give it up?”

The child in her womb was Liu Yi’er’s final bargaining chip.

“I’ve been pregnant for two months. In just eight more, you’ll have your own child. Please, Eldest Master! For the sake of my devoted service before, spare my life. I’ll serve you as an ox or horse and remember your great kindness forever.”

Xie Chuan was lustful by nature, but at this moment, a man’s pride outweighed all desire.

“My child? Bullshit!” He kicked Liu Yi’er over. “The bastard in your belly, like you, is shameful, vile, and base. I will never allow it to be born.”

His eyes were bloodshot, his fists clenched with cracking fury. Physician Xiao’s words from yesterday echoed in his ears—his kidney essence was deficient; he was incapable of fathering children.

It was obvious whose child Liu Yi’er carried.

That wretched woman still dared to mention it.

At the thought, he lunged forward and grabbed Fang Sheng by the collar, pounding his fist into the man’s face.

Once. Twice. Countless times.

Only when Fang Sheng was beaten into unconsciousness did Wei Zhaorong speak and order Xie Chuan to stop.

“Chuan’er, tell me—how should the two be dealt with?”

“Mother, I want them dead.” Xie Chuan wished he could flay them alive to vent his hatred.

Wei Zhaorong’s expression did not change.

“Chuan’er, remember this. Killing someone is as simple as lowering your head—too simple. But can the humiliation they have caused be so easily erased?”

“That’s true. Killing them would be too merciful. Mother, what do you suggest?”

“Nanny Qi, you know a eunuch in the palace. Invite him here to castrate Fang Sheng.”

“What?!” Liu Yi’er lifted her head in terror.