Chapter Thirteen: Ren Zhonghu's Report

  "My ninth wife, what's with the Casimodo business? You need to be more careful and not cause any more trouble. The old lady and Hu Shao are already showing great mercy by not pursuing the matter of your family's false marriage, and yet you're still flaunting around everywhere. If they find out, I don't even need to say what the consequences will be."

  Liu Qingqing smiled and said, "I'm going to the back garden, no one will know about it, you didn't say that's a forbidden place, did you? Besides, apart from you, I can only trust Casimodo here, although he looks ugly, but he has a kind heart, is loyal, and would do anything for his friends. What's wrong with me going to visit him?"

  "But, you can't know a person's heart by their face, after all he is a man, once"

  "Not once"

  If

  "There's no if." Liu Qingqing said hastily, "He's a straightforward person, I'll meet him, it won't be wrong, don't nag anymore. Take advantage of the night, go to the kitchen and get me something to eat, tell the cook that I'm hungry, send over some delicious food, and then I still need to rest."

  Xiao Lian saw Liu Qingqing ignoring her advice, so she reluctantly went to the kitchen to instruct the cooking. Liu Qingqing thought that this was one of the good things about the Hu family, remembering how strict her mother had been when she was young, not allowing her to go to bed until after brushing her teeth and washing her feet, and not even allowing her to talk back. If it weren't for the summer and winter breaks when she could visit her grandmother in a small village, she would have gone crazy from being cooped up. Her mother had forced her to learn martial arts, piano, painting, and swimming to achieve her own dream of becoming a great actress when she was young, using all the money she earned to pay for various tutoring classes, except for buying herself some wine. Liu Qingqing didn't want to think about these old memories, but couldn't help feeling a pang of longing for her mother as she looked up at the moon in the sky, which was still not fully visible, hazy and indistinct. She touched the jade Buddha pendant on her chest, warm with her own body temperature, thinking that it would one day become a door that would allow her to return to her own world and see her mother and grandmother again, feeling a little sad in her heart. She also thought about what her grandmother had said about her soulmate from another world, wondering if it was true or not, regretting that she hadn't asked more questions about who this person was, what they looked like, and what their family background was like. Now, all she could do was follow her feelings. As she thought, she changed into a tight-fitting outfit, carefully looking around without making a sound, except for the chirping of insects and the fragrance of flowers carried by the breeze in the unpolluted ancient sky. Liu Qingqing went to the back garden, which was familiar territory for her, walking to the side of the ear house, softly calling out: "Dahou!" Dahou suddenly darted out, making a rustling sound, wagging his tail and giving Liu Qingqing encouragement.

  Liu Qingqing patted Da Hu's head, "I'm going to the back garden to meet a friend, if you hear any noise, just shout three times, okay?"

  She didn't even look at Da Hu, nodded and retreated a few meters, then ran towards the large iron gate, jumped up onto it, and was about to jump down when she discovered that a pile of plants had been stacked in front of the gate at some point. In the dark, it wasn't very clear what they were, so Liu Qingqing didn't dare to jump down recklessly. She quickly took out her self-made lighting device - a flashlight. This flashlight wasn't like modern flashlights, but rather a small wooden box with a night pearl stuck to it. Where did this night pearl come from? You guessed it - it was the one from her wedding headdress. She fixed the night pearl in place with an iron wire, drilled a hole in the bottom of the box, and threaded the wire through it, so that one end was wrapped around the night pearl and the other end stuck out of the hole. And just like that, a homemade flashlight was complete.

  Never used before, today, just try it out. Liu Qingqing opened the flashlight, opened the small cover on top of the night pearl, and then gently pulled the iron wire at the bottom, slowly pushing the night pearl out. The night pearl emitted a dazzling light, illuminating the ground below in brightness. When she looked down, it was a withered vine. Liu Qingqing worried that she would hurt herself, decided to climb down from the wall head, which was facing one side of the big poplar tree. The crops below reached her feet, and jumping down should not harm herself.

  Liu Qingqing aimed at the ground and jumped down with a thud. As expected, she landed safely without any harm, passed through smoothly, hid her homemade flashlight, and crossed over the piled-up debris at the entrance to arrive at two small wooden houses. The lights in the small wooden house flickered, indicating that Ren Zhonghu had also returned.

  Liu Qingqing was delighted and went forward to knock on the door ring. The person who came opened the door, and Liu Qingqing called out: "Hu Ge, you're back!"

  "He hasn't arrived yet, Ninth Mistress, is there something going on?" The newcomer wasn't Ren Zhonghu, but his older brother Ren Zhongjie.

  "Is that Brother Jie? Has Hu Ge said when he's coming back?" Liu Qingqing asked as soon as she saw Ren Zhongjie, her purpose for this trip was to see if Ren Huzi had returned. It seems like he hasn't returned yet. She then asked about Hu Ge's news, after all, Yang Liuqing has already come back, and Ren Huzi should be coming back around the same time too.

  "No." Ren Zhijie replied briefly, seemingly uninterested in talking to Liu Qingqing. Liu Qingqing didn't mind either and walked into the thatched hut, looking around at the simple setup inside: a single wooden bed leaned against the east wall, with a huqin (a traditional Chinese instrument) hung on the wall; a black-lacquered wooden table was placed in the center, with one low stool on each side, also black-lacquered. On the table lay a long flute, one end tied with a long yellow tassel that dangled down below the table.

  Liu Qingqing picked up the flute and walked out of the thatched cottage, facing the dark night outside, and played a tune called "Colorful Clouds Chasing the Moon". Strangely enough, it seemed as if the bright moon had a mind of its own, and the dark clouds were filled with emotions. As Liu Qingqing's passionate flute playing echoed through the air, the sky underwent a strange transformation - the dark clouds were blown away by the wind, and the sky gradually cleared up.

  The moonlight is like water, clear and transparent. Against the backdrop of a dim night sky, the clouds and moon chase each other, reflecting each other's beauty.

  Standing on the white sandy beach

  Looking up at a distance, thoughts are endless

  When can you return?

  Waves rolling endlessly without bounds

  My longing tears have dried up

  Dear one, dear one, can you hear me?

  I whispered

  A small tree in front of the door has grown into a green shade

  When will we meet again?

  The bright moon shines in front of the window

  The same longing

  The same melancholy

  The moon is still able to be full again

  Day after day, year after year

  Separated by an ocean, it's hard to meet each other

  Dear one, dear one, I am waiting for you

  Longing for tomorrow when we meet again

  The birds know how to return even when they are tired of flying

  Longing for loved ones to sail back home

  The song ended, and the sound lingered. Liu Qingqing's eyes welled up with tears as she recalled the scene of cooling off under a tree in the countryside with her grandmother. Her longing for her grandmother was expressed through music, pouring out her emotions, causing Liu Qingqing to forget where she was.

  "It's so charming, truly the queen of flute in today's world. There are probably only a few people who can match her skills." Someone applauded and cheered, Liu Qingqing woke up from her reverie, turned around to see that it was Ren Zhonghu, while Ren Zhongjie had already disappeared without a trace.

  Liu Qingqing wiped away the tears on her face with a embarrassed expression, "I don't deserve such praise. Brother Hu, when did you arrive?"

  Ren Zhong Hu said: "You're playing so enchantingly. The sound of horse hooves couldn't even disturb Madam Ji's performance, it seems that you played too mesmerizingly. I don't know what piece Madam Ji was playing, but I've never heard it before?"

  Liu Qingqing said, "This is 'Caiyun Zhuiyue', a tune composed by my grandfather." In fact, this was a song adapted from a Guangdong folk song, but Liu Qingqing thought there was no way to explain it to the ancient people, so she lied and said it was made by her own grandfather. Her grandfather had long since passed away, dead without evidence, and others couldn't ask further questions.

  As expected, Ren Zhong Hu didn't ask any more questions and just praised the good song.

  Liu Qingqing asked: "Brother Hu has been traveling hard all the way, what news have you heard?"

  "Not bad, indeed some news has been received."

  Liu Qingqing said: "Tell me quickly."

  It turned out that Ren Zhong Hu followed Yang Liu Qing all the way to Liu Jia Zhuang. Yang Liu Qing was using the banner of visiting relatives, so he entered the Liu mansion smoothly. But Ren Zhong Hu couldn't enter, so he quickly came up with a plan, disguising himself as a peddler selling rouge and colored silk threads, and entering the inner courtyard. He also bribed the maid Chun Tao to gather some information.

  Chun Tao was the maid who, together with Mrs. Liu, had captivated Liu Qingqing at that time. So it turned out that Ren Zhong Hu's wild guess had hit the mark and he had indeed found the right person. Faced with Bai Hua Hua's silver, Chun Tao told him everything from start to finish. The saying is true: "Money can make a ghost grind a mill, and even more so, money can make a mill push a ghost."

  Here is the translation:

  According to Chun Tao, Liu Qingqing replaced Miss Liu Qinglian and brought two maids as dowry, got on a carriage, and left the Liu Manor on the third day. The matter was exposed, and Old Master Liu was furious. On one hand, he confined Madame Liu to her room, not allowing her to leave the house. On the other hand, he rushed to the capital, planning to take Miss Liu directly to the Hu household to apologize for their mistake. Unexpectedly, when Old Master Liu arrived in the capital, he met Young Master Qingyang and asked about the situation. He discovered that something big had happened - Miss Liu and her servant Bai Fu had disappeared without a trace and never arrived in the capital. Old Master Liu returned home and questioned Madame Liu, who fainted on the spot and fell ill after waking up. Helpless, Old Master Liu and his wife went to the capital together to treat Madame Liu's illness and sent people to search for their eldest daughter everywhere. So, there was no time to deal with Hu household's adopted daughter-in-law. As long as Hu household didn't come to accuse them, Old Master Liu was happy to let things slide. It was said that Hu household wanted to marry the Jade-faced Embroiderer, Liu Qinglian, because her embroidery skills were number one in the country. However, Madame Liu never wanted to marry her daughter to Hu household from the start, as Hu Zhongren had killed his eighth wife, and his evil reputation spread far and wide. Who wouldn't be afraid? As a stepmother, Madame Liu only had this biological daughter, so she risked being abandoned by Old Master Liu and sent the betrothal gifts of her adopted daughter Liu Qingqing to Hu household instead. This way, even if Hu household wanted to make a fuss, they had no reason to do so. After all, Liu Qingqing was still a foster daughter of the Liu family, raised by Madame Liu since she was young, and it was not wrong for her to be married off to anyone.

  Liu Qingqing's eyebrows furrowed in anger. "What do you mean by 'they raised her to be married off, no matter who it is, there's nothing to say'? This is too heartless! They're afraid their own daughter will be bullied to death, so they use someone else's daughter as a substitute? How despicable! If I had known they were this sinister, I wouldn't have agreed to marry into this family and become the ninth wife, no matter what!"

  "Madam, don't get agitated, it's not going to help. Now that you're already the legitimate wife of Hu Zhongren, and you can't go back to Liujiacun, why not think about how to please him? You might as well cling to this big tree and enjoy the shade, right?" Ren Zhonghu took the flute from Liu Qingqing's hand and walked into the grass hut, hanging it on the wall. He then took out a package from under the bed and opened it, revealing a pile of silver ingots. "This is the 500 taels of white silver you gave me, I haven't taken a single coin, take it back. My advice to you is to redeem the pawned items and live a good life with Hu Zhongren."

  Liu Qingqing's big eyes spun around in thought: "Well, I'll take the jewelry and silverware to Beijing, maybe I can sell them for a good price there. Yang Liuqing said he opened a gold, silver, and jewelry store in Beijing, I'll go to his place to exchange them, the price should be fair. But how can I let you help me for nothing? How about this, after I redeem my pawn tomorrow, I'll use pearls as a gift of gratitude for you." Liu Qingqing thought that she might also make a flashlight for Ren Zhonghu's big brother, after all, it's hard to find someone who understands her.

  We highly recommend a fable "Buying a Chest and Returning the Pearl" to everyone. Liu Qingqing really treats pearls like dirt, inlaying a priceless night pearl into a rough small wooden box as a flashlight, what a waste of a treasure!

  "In that case, I'll leave the silver here with you. Tomorrow, after breakfast, I'll come find you and we'll go to the pawnshop together to redeem it. Then, we'll head to the capital city together. I have a score to settle with Madame Liu!"

  Ren Zhonghu said okay. Then, he saw Liu Qingqing wave at him and quickly disappear around the corner of the wall. A moment later, she sat on the wall head, looked around for a bit, and then disappeared again. Ren Zhonghu picked up the silver and still hid it under the bed. He clapped three times towards the outside of the house, and someone came in. He instructed a few sentences and also walked out of the thatched hut, coming to the bottom of the wall. After a while, he arrived at the front door of the east wing.