TGCFNM -Chapter 533 Getting a Bit of Revenge

As the last person was killed, Mei Gao ordered his men to pile the bodies together and set up a wooden frame.

Chu Ling and the others took this as their cue to leave first.

Mei Gao still seemed dazed, like he had lost his soul. He barely registered Chu Ling’s farewell words. But when Chu Ling and the others were really about to leave, he stepped forward and blocked their path.

“Lord Chu… help me!” Mei Gao was on the verge of tears. “How can I get out of this unscathed?”

Chu Ling let out a strange “huh.” “This has nothing to do with you. Didn’t you contribute to eliminating the bandits?”

Mei Gao’s expression twisted in pain. “But so many unknown people were hiding on the outskirts of the capital… who knows how long they’ve been there. If the Emperor finds out, I’ll definitely be in big trouble.”

Chu Ling suddenly understood. “Ah… I see, Lord Mei. You’re done for.”

Mei Gao: “…”

Wan Sanjin jumped forward and looped his arm around Mei Gao’s neck, acting like a close buddy.

Just when Mei Gao thought Wan Sanjin was coming to console him, Wan Sanjin held up five fingers: “Five thousand taels.”

Mei Gao: “…”

What kind of lousy ‘friendship’ is this! He had no such friends!

Chu Ling cleared her throat. “Lord Mei, just let the trouble go eastwards.”

Seeing Chu Ling fall silent, Mei Gao closed his eyes and said, “Fine, I’ll pay!”

Chu Ling’s smile was radiant. “Tonight, on the outskirts of the capital, the ground suddenly shook. I sent my troops to investigate and discovered a giant dragon breaking through the earth. Its presence was awe-inspiring, its head held high. With a mighty roar, the ground trembled continuously, forcing hundreds, even thousands, of strange people out into the open.”

Mei Gao was stunned.

Chu Ling continued, “When the tremors ceased, the dragon appeared sorrowful and shattered with a crash. Slowly, a single character—‘Yan’—appeared. I suspected that something was off about this character… But for the strange people the dragon risked its soul to force out, I vowed to eliminate every one of these toxic threats. Yet as I was doing so, I noticed something peculiar: these strange people seemed to be controlled by some kind of Gu… So I wondered, could someone be trying to use Gu to harm our Great Zhou? Perhaps the dragon appeared as a warning.”

“You must speak with sincerity, eyes brimming with tears, wishing you could strike down the villains immediately.”

Mei Gao bowed deeply, his face full of gratitude. “Lord Chu, thank you. I’ll record the five thousand taels for now.”

Chu Ling nodded slightly. “Fine—but remember to repay it.” Saying this, she waved her hand and led her people away first.

Meanwhile, Mei Gao began arranging the remaining men to finish the cleanup. Once everything was handled, he could enter the palace to meet the Emperor.

After a day and a half of chaos, Chu Ling and the others returned to the manor.

Steward Liu had already heated water for them, letting everyone clean their wounds. After applying medicine, each went back to rest.

Early the next morning, Steward Liu had the carriage ready to take the five of them back to the Wan Residence.

When Chu Ling and the others returned to the Wan Residence, Wan Xing also hurried back.

“Big brother, how did it go?” Wan Sanjin asked nervously.

Wan Xing let out a slight sigh of relief. “We were faster and cleaned up everything. On top of that, Prince Rui took the opportunity to deal with a batch of people, putting all the deployable forces in the capital under his control.”

Chu Ling looked at Young Master Wan. “So… Young Master Wan was cooperating with Prince Rui?”

“Something like that,” Wan Xing said, unwilling to elaborate. He just glanced at everyone’s injuries and frowned. “You all should rest quickly. If you’re short on medicine, go to the pharmacy.”

Chu Ling didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she looked at Wan Sanjin, Su He, Zhang Dong, and Xiao Hua, and the smile on her face couldn’t be suppressed. “So… we directly hit Chu Yue twice!”

Wan Xing couldn’t help but laugh. “And don’t forget the hunting forest. We helped take care of quite a few people there too.”

Wan Sanjin clapped excitedly, but it pulled on his wound, causing him to grimace. Still, the smile on his face only grew wider.

“Is there anyone left in Chu Yue’s camp? None, right?” Wan Sanjin asked joyfully.

Wan Xing chuckled but warned, “Don’t celebrate too early. We didn’t even know before that Chu Yue could get her hands on the Gu insects.”

Chu Ling’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “That’s exactly why I’m so happy—I’m certain Chu Yue can’t get any more Gu insects.”

“Why?” Wan Xing asked curiously.

Chu Ling explained, “As far as we know, Bai Zhuoxing was loyal to the Empress Dowager, and Bai Zhuoxing is dead. So the Gu insects he left behind are limited. Second, although Gui Wushuang is still alive, he isn’t Bai Zhuoxing. He’s had too little time to experiment, so he can’t make powerful Gu insects quickly. The Empress Dowager’s Gu insects are one less with each one used.”

“If you firmly link the Gu insects to the Empress Dowager, then the ones Chu Yue got must have come from her hands,” Wan Xing reminded.

Chu Ling nodded. “That’s exactly what I think. Besides, I don’t know why the Empress Dowager chose Chu Yue, but since she wasted so many Gu insects, it’ll be hard for her to get more.”

Wan Xing nodded in agreement.

Wan Sanjin spoke softly, “Fu Qingyu’s status was also recognized by the Empress Dowager, so Fu Qingyu, Chu Yue, and Grand Tutor Fu are all under her influence… The Emperor can’t really trust them, so why pretend to favor them?”

“Acting,” Su He said. “Otherwise, the Emperor must be losing his mind.”

Wan Xing muttered, “…Don’t repeat this outside from now on.”

Su He nodded seriously, signaling that he had taken note.

Wan Xing found them amusing. These people were obedient, true—but when they stirred things up, they really stirred things up.

“The matter with the Giant Dragon and Yan Zi has already spread. Now all the streets of the capital are buzzing with discussion—it’s quite lively,” Wan Xing said with a smile to Chu Ling. “Rest assured, sir, I doubt anyone from the second branch can come out now.”

Chu Ling looked at Wan Xing. “Chu Yue even tried to claim that my destiny is ill-fated, that I bring disaster. Can I just swallow that? I definitely can’t!”

Wan Xing tilted his head and smiled lightly. “Sir, what do you intend to do?”

“Just spread this… The reason the Chu family never let the eldest young lady appear in public is because her destiny is extremely strange—she absorbs the fortunes of others. When the Grand General was alive, he could keep it under control, but after his unexpected death, even the Chu family fell under the eldest young lady’s influence, plagued by bad luck and never recovering. The second young lady, Chu Rou, even died protecting her from misfortune.”

“Moreover, the elder young lady thrives on others’ suffering. The worse others fare, the better she does. So those who get close to her either die or are injured.”

Wan Xing laughed heartily. “Sir, you really believe in instant revenge.”

Wan Sanjin chimed in opportunely, “This kind of destiny can’t be broken—there’s no way except to stay away.”

Wan Xing shook his head slightly, smiling. “Got it. I’ll go back and make arrangements, and it conveniently ties into the Giant Dragon incident…” Saying that, he left the room.

In that instant, Chu Ling and the others felt a huge sense of relief, as if a long-held grievance had finally been vented—their bodies and minds were refreshed!