Mo Sang – CH 245

Chapter 245. Both Have Family Backgrounds

“What benefits did the Ye family promise you?” Old Concubine Wu asked with a smile after a moment of silence.

“No benefits. I am a person of the martial world; I act as I please.

Master Ye dared to raise assassins to plot the assassination of the Emperor for Zuo Rou-niang. Although it was a bit naive, how many people like him are there in the world? I admire him greatly.

After all, Zuo Rou-niang’s parents and family only used Zuo Rou-niang to exchange for enough benefits.” Li Sangrou put down the ginger and stood up.

“So-called wealthy families raise daughters; it is no different from raising assassins. They are pampered and precious in ordinary times, but when it is time for sacrifice, they just pull one out and use her as an offering.

If she’s lucky enough to survive, it is not because her parents or family passed her down, but simply because the offering was lucky,” Old Concubine Wu said coldly.

“Is the Yang family like this, too? You married your eldest granddaughter to Ye Ningjiang, and you’ve also chosen good families for your other two granddaughters?” Li Sangrou asked casually.

“How dare you speak to me like that?” Old Concubine Wu turned around, facing Li Sangrou directly.

“Does someone like you, Old Madam, not deserve to be told the truth?” Li Sangrou asked, spreading her hands in surprise. “Does speaking to Old Madam mean I have to think twice and remain silent, like speaking to an unreasonable and unwise person?”

Old Concubine Wu leaned back slightly, paused for a moment, then snorted coldly and turned back to look at Zhong Jiang.

“You little brat, just like Nanxing, sharp-tongued and full of twisted logic.”

Li Sangrou did not reply.

After a moment of silence, Old Concubine Wu continued, “My granddaughter does not need to be like this.

“The Ye family does not even have as much money as the Yang family; they do not deserve to receive offerings.

I sent them away, not because I knew it was a dead end, and not because I did not want them to die.

The road ahead is not a dead end, but rather an uncertain fate. If they all die, that’s fine. The problem is that they do not need to die, but they need sacrifices. My granddaughter can die like a man, but she cannot be offered up as a sacrifice.”

“Then why not kill them?” Li Sangrou leaned forward, carefully examining the piece of ginger the woman was planting.

“You little brat, how can you be so cruel? Why die when there’s a way to live?” Old Concubine Wu glanced at Li Sangrou sideways.

“Ye Ningjiang is a good boy,” Li Sangrou praised.

“You little brat, are you about the same age as Ningjiang’er?”

“I am older than him. I am on the same level as his father, Master Ye. He treats me with the respect due to a junior.” Li Sangrou smiled.

“The fifth-generation ancestor of the Ye family was on the same level as my late husband,” Old Concubine Wu snorted.

“Even in this, Old Madam, you are so insistent?” Li Sangrou raised an eyebrow at Old Concubine Wu and scoffed.

Old Concubine Wu slightly raised her chin and snorted.

“I heard the late Master of the Yang family lived to be over ninety?” Li Sangrou asked casually.

“Yes, ninety-six. My late husband’s parents were both over seventy, and his eldest and second sons were both over eighty. The Yang family is known for its longevity,” Old Concubine Wu said slowly.

“Is it the Yang family’s longevity, or is it the beauty of these mountains and rivers that makes people here so long-lived?” Li Sangrou looked around; the surrounding scenery was beautiful and pleasing to the eye.

“Yes, wealthy people tend to live longer. For poor people, longevity is a torment,” Old Concubine Wu said bluntly.

“That’s true. From birth, people are divided into different classes, with different social strata,” Li Sangrou sighed.

“Someone like you is considered very fortunate. Why are you sighing?” Old Concubine Wu glanced at Li Sangrou.

“Being a woman, I can only be considered average, not the best,” Li Sangrou sighed.

“Hmm,” Old Concubine Wu hummed after a moment.

“When I was little, before I started menstruating, I never felt any different from men. Boys my age, even in terms of brute strength, could not beat me.

Then, after I started menstruating, sigh!” Li Sangrou sighed deeply. “It was so annoying. Sometimes I thought, how wonderful it would be if everyone were born exactly the same, without distinction between men and women.

I’ve heard there’s a kind of fish in this great river that can be male or female. If there are too many females, some will become male, and if there are too many males, some will become female. If only people could be like that!”

Old Concubine Wu smiled. “You really dream.”

“Later, as I grew older, I became increasingly depressed. When I was extremely depressed, I would think very carefully: Why does everyone think women are bad and men are good?

Later, I came to understand. Women are not as strong as men. Women bleed every month; they carry babies; they raise children. For half their lives, they cannot even take care of themselves.

Comparing women and men is like two men fighting; one is complete, the other only has one hand and one foot.”

“You are thinking too much. For families that earn a living through manual labor, that’s true. But for families that do not rely on manual labor, like you and me, are you inferior to men?” Old Concubine Wu glanced sideways at Li Sangrou.

“Well, so, I thought, what if, at some point, the world was like paradise, where everyone could travel on clouds, till the land with a mere gesture, and build roads and bridges with countless mindless laborers at their disposal, all done with a flick of the finger?

Then…”

“That’s a nice dream too,” Old Concubine Wu interrupted Li Sangrou.

Li Sangrou smiled at Old Concubine Wu, then looked away to watch the woman planting ginger.

The two were silent for a moment. Old Concubine Wu looked at Li Sangrou and asked, “Who else is in your family?”

“I have no family.” After a pause, Li Sangrou smiled. “I was raised as a suicide soldier.”

“Hmm, that’s good.” Old Concubine Wu was silent for a moment.

“Free and unrestrained,” Li Sangrou smiled.

“When you get married, you can marry into the family whole, without having to be split in two.” Old Concubine Wu leaned on her cane, staring blankly into the distance.

Li Sangrou looked at Old Concubine Wu but did not reply.

“Stay for two days and then go back. You’ve already seen me; you do not need to come into the city again.” Old Concubine Wu had been lost in thought for a while, then regained her composure, said coldly, brushed past Li Sangrou, tapped her cane, and walked away.

Li Sangrou watched Old Concubine Wu’s retreating figure, watching her walk away, and slowly exhaled.

This old lady, split in two, still harbored resentment towards her parents’ forced marriage years ago. She was shrewd enough, but overly stubborn, only knowing how to move forward, never retreating.

Old Concubine Wu walked past the inn, sat in her sedan chair, and coldly ordered the middle-aged woman standing by her side, “Surround the inn. If the Ye family boy wants to leave before dark tomorrow, send them away.”

“…”

After a pause, Old Concubine Wu continued, “From now until nightfall tomorrow, anyone who leaves without permission will be killed on sight. If they do not leave by nightfall tomorrow, burn the inn down.”

“Yes,” the middle-aged woman replied, her hands at her sides.

……………………

Around midday, Ye Anping returned to the inn, looking disheveled. He sat down next to Li Sangrou and meticulously recounted how he had entered the city that morning, how he had met Elder Yang, what he had said, why Old Concubine Wu was not there, and how he had waited—leaving no detail unmentioned.

Li Sangrou listened intently, glancing at the anxious Ye Anping, and smiled. “They can see you if they want, or not if they do not. At worst, it is a wasted trip. You’ve done your best.”

“Old Madam is not here. If she were, she would at least give me face and see you. Do not worry, I will go into the city again first thing tomorrow morning,” Ye Anping said, though beads of sweat trickled down his forehead from anxiety.

Li Sangrou poured him a cup of tea, then poured herself half a cup, sipping it slowly as she watched the crimson sun slowly sink westward outside the window.

As darkness gradually fell, around dinnertime, Meng Yanqing leaned close to Li Sangrou and said softly, “This morning, after you returned, the inn was surrounded. They searched the area thoroughly, and everyone was driven back.”

“Hmm, let them surround it. Be prepared,” Li Sangrou calmly instructed, sipping her tea.

“Yes.” Meng Yanqing looked at the composed Li Sangrou. Although he did not know if she was resigned to her fate or simply confident, her calmness made him think it was nothing serious.

After dinner, the innkeepers tidied up, extinguished the torches, and, carrying small oil lamps, yawned as they went to rest in the back. Li Sangrou, dressed in black, sat in the darkness of a corner in the lobby, her eyelids slightly lowered, intently listening to the sounds around her.

In the distance, the hollow sound of the night watchman’s gong echoed from Longbiao City.

It was past the hour of Zi¹.

Outside the inn, the wind rustled the treetops, seemingly blowing off a dead branch that scratched the wooden plank of the window.

Li Sangrou immediately raised her hand and gently tapped twice on the spot where the branch had scratched.

A moment later, another branch scratched the plank, and Li Sangrou tapped twice as well.

After another branch scratched, Li Sangrou tapped twice, and then a hand reached in from outside the window and beckoned.

Li Sangrou, like a light leaf, leaped out of the window, landed on the ground, rolled to the side, and snuggled close to a dark figure crouching against a wooden pillar of the inn.

The dark figure pointed forward with a finger, then ran swiftly, bent over. Li Sangrou followed closely, heading straight for the storeroom at the back of the inn. She rushed past a corner of the storeroom, and the dark figure suddenly disappeared. Li Sangrou followed closely, leaping into a dark hole in the corner of the storeroom.

The cave reeked of mildew. Li Sangrou slid down about ten feet from the entrance until her feet touched solid ground.

“Here!” a voice whispered ahead. Li Sangrou followed the voice, and behind her, she heard the soft sound of planks falling. Looking back, the faint light that had shone through the cave entrance was gone; the breathing and footsteps that had led her there now followed her.

The cave was only four or five feet high. Li Sangrou bent over, closed her eyes, and followed the footsteps ahead, breathing in the fresh air and sensing the change in direction as she ran forward.

After running for about half an hour, she rounded a bend, and a dim, soft light appeared ahead.

The dark figure ahead beckoned to Li Sangrou and quickly climbed up the ladder.

Li Sangrou followed closely behind.

The place they emerged from was a small stone house. Shelves around the house were piled high with some dark, unidentifiable material. Near the roof ridge, two small, round holes let in the dim moonlight.

Standing in the darkness between the two beams of moonlight was a slender woman.

Li Sangrou emerged from the hole, stopped, and bowed slightly to the woman. “Young Madam.”

After exchanging greetings, Li Sangrou took a small white jade butterfly from her purse, held it in her palm, and offered it to Lady Shi.

The dark figure who had just led Li Sangrou through the hole stepped forward, took the white jade butterfly from Li Sangrou’s hand, and handed it to Lady Shi.

Lady Shi took the butterfly, held it up to the moonlight, and slowly turned it, examining it. After a moment, she held the butterfly in her hand and looked at Li Sangrou.

“What did she send you here for?”

“She sent me to help you,” Li Sangrou said gently.

“What can you do?” Shi asked again.

“Many things, like murder,” Li Sangrou said softly.

“You saw her this morning. What did she say?” Shi asked, looking at Li Sangrou after a moment of silence.

“The old lady has made up her mind. There’s no room for negotiation. You know her temper,” Li Sangrou sighed softly, full of sympathy.

Lady Shi clenched her fists tightly, her body trembling slightly.

“What right does she have? What right does she have?!

What right does she have to drag the entire Yang family, my child, all of us, the Yang family, the Shi family, everyone—into a dead end?

What right does she have to drag us? The Yang family, the Shi family, all of us, to be buried with the Wu family?

What does the Wu family have to do with us?

What right does she have to make our Yang family, our Shi family, all of us, die for the Wu family?

What right does she have?!” Lady Shi seemed like a burning flame of rage.

Li Sangrou stared at her silently.

Lady Shi staggered back half a step, then stopped, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, trying to calm herself.

“She’s willing to drag the entire Yang family, the Shi family, and the entire Jiuxi Shidong tribes to their deaths for her Wu family, all for the sake of her ‘Wu’ name.

What she can do for her own family, I can do too, can I not?” Lady Shi looked directly at Li Sangrou.

Li Sangrou met Shi Shi’s gaze with a resounding “Yes!”

“My father, my Eldest Brother, and my Third Brother are all in Xiangxiang, waiting for her order to die for the Wu family. Why?

Our Shi family serves the Yang family, not the Wu family! Why should my father and brothers die for the Wu family?” Lady Shi’s tone was filled with resentment.

“My father and brothers, my family, should die for the Yang family, fight for the Jiuxi Shidong, not the Wu family!

My son, the pride of heaven, my daughter, a flower of worldly riches, she wants to sacrifice them to the Wu family! The Wu family is unworthy!”

Lady Shi’s anger subsided, replaced by a growing coldness, gradually transforming from incoherent rage into clear reasoning.

“I will kill her!”

“Good.” Li Sangrou nodded. “You’ve arranged everything? After her death, can you control her? Is killing just her enough?”

“Can you kill her?” Before Lady Shi could finish speaking, she felt a blur before her eyes, and Li Sangrou was already beside her, a finger pressed against her neck.

“Yes,” Li Sangrou answered with a single word, stepping back to where she had been standing.

“You’ve arranged everything? Is one death enough?” Li Sangrou asked again.

Lady Shi’s face was pale. After a long pause, she answered softly, “Not enough; there’s also her son.”

“Alright.”

“Afterwards, take Ah Nan away and give her to Nanxing. The eldest son is a boy; he will be fine.” Shi’s voice choked slightly.

“Your plan is to end it all? What about your husband? What does he think about supporting the Wu family?” Li Sangrou raised an eyebrow, looking at Shi.

“He does not approve. He has no choice; he does not dare say much.”

“Send me to the Yang residence and draw me a map. As for the rest, pretend you know nothing.” Li Sangrou paused. “Even without you, since I am here, I would still kill them. I can kill them just the same way. Their lives are in my hands, not yours. This matter has nothing to do with you.

Also, choose a suitable person and immediately recall your father and brothers; the sooner the better.

After this is done, both you and your husband will need your father, brothers, and the army to support you and stabilize the situation.”

“When?” The woman looked directly at Li Sangrou, her lips quivering as she asked in a trembling voice.

“Tonight. Who knows about this tunnel?”

“Me, Nanxing, and Nanjie’s father. We were very naughty when we were little, and we dug a tunnel to sneak out of the city to play. We have not used it for many years, and I never thought it would still work,” Lady Shi said, subconsciously avoiding the words “tonight,” speaking unconsciously.

“After this is done, I will fill the tunnel back up from the other end, and we will return immediately.” After a pause, Li Sangrou looked at Lady Shi and said, “Do not speak of death lightly; you have a child.”

“Alright!” Lady Shi took a deep breath.