Chapter 169
169 The Old Lady Watched a Drama
Under Huang Jiaoyu’s horrified gaze, Li Yu poured the Ecstasy Powder into her mouth and said sinisterly in her ear, “This is the Ecstasy Powder you gave Madam Yang. Madam Yang feels that you should have a taste of the Ecstasy Powder. Only then will the Heavenly Tao be completed.”
When Huang Jiaoyu heard this, her body stiffened. Li Yu looked at her coldly. After about fifteen minutes, Huang Jiaoyu let out a blush-inducing moan. Seeing this, Li Yu knew that the drug had taken effect.
The Ecstasy Powder that Haozi had drunk outside also acted up. His face was flushed, and he kept twisting his body.
Zhou Jia carried Haozi into the house and untied the rope tied to Haozi’s hands and feet. He threw Haozi onto Huang Jiaojiao’s bed and turned around to leave with hatred in his eyes. Li Yu cleaned up the traces in the house and looked at Huang Jiaoyu. She was already rolling with Haozi. Li Yu clicked her tongue and thought to herself, “Tsk tsk.” It’s too harsh on the eyes.
Li Yu closed the door and turned around to walk out. The few of them tidied up the house and walked out. When Li Yu and Zhou Jia walked out of the courtyard, Ruyi placed a little of the bar on the door latch and climbed out of the courtyard wall. He whispered to Li Yu and Zhou Jia, who were outside the courtyard wall, “Young Master, Young Madam, go back to where you were and wait for me. I’ll invite the old lady over to see the show inside.”
After a moment of silence, Zhou Jia nodded and said, “Be careful. We’ll wait for you there.”
Ruyi nodded. “I’ll be careful.”
Ruyi watched Zhou Jia and Li Yu disappear into the darkness before going to Old Madam Zhou’s courtyard. He walked to the back window of Old Madam Zhou’s room and knocked on the window door. She pinched her throat and shouted like a woman, “Old Madam, Old Madam, come quickly! There’s a thief in Madam’s courtyard.”
A sharp voice cut through the silence of the Zhou family’s old residence.
Old Madam Zhou rolled over and got up. She pricked up her ears and fell silent again. She asked Granny Ma, “Old Granny Ma, did you hear that? A girl is shouting that there’s a thief in the Jiaoyu’s courtyard?”
Granny Ma replied, “You heard it too? Then it’s true. Old Madam, what should we do?”
Old Madam Zhou berated, “What should we do? I think you’re old and confused! Even if I chided her during the day, she’s still my daughter-in-law and my niece. Hurry up and take a look.”
“Yes.” Old Madam Ma quickly dressed Madam Zhou and walked towards Huang Jiaoyu’s courtyard with her lantern.
Old Madam Zhou followed the lantern in Granny Ma’s hand and looked at the dark garden under the dim yellow light. She recalled the prosperous scene of the Zhou family when Old Master Zhou was still alive. At that time, no matter how late it was, the Zhou family’s courtyard was brightly lit. There were guards and old women on night duty in every corner. Had the Zhou family already declined to this point? Thinking of this, Old Madam Zhou couldn’t help but feel dazed. Old Master Zhou had been gone for almost ten years. She had guarded this place alone for most of her life. Had she won?
Ruyi rushed to the small door of the backyard and met up with Zhou Jia and Li Yu.
Li Yu had already cleaned up the traces in and outside the garden. Seeing that Ruyi was here, the two of them brought Zhou Jia out of the back garden wall and returned to Ten Families Alley under the cover of the night. They looked at each other and smiled before entering the house.
Old Madam Zhou and Granny Ma carried the lanterns to Huang Jiaoyu’s courtyard. Seeing that the courtyard was cold and empty and the courtyard door was closed, they said angrily, “Which bitch tricked us? Grab her and smashed her mouth!”
Granny Ma wrapped herself tightly and looked at Old Madam Zhou. “Old Madam, let’s go back! We might have heard wrongly.”
Old Madam Zhou nodded and turned around to take two steps. She still felt worried and said to Granny Ma, “Go and knock. We’ll go in and take a look.”
“Yes.” Old Madam Ma walked to the door and knocked. Just as she was about to shout for the door to be opened, the bar fell to the ground. Old Madam Zhou’s face was ashen as she said angrily, “These bitches should be punished properly. They’re so flustered that they can’t even close the door properly. They’re rushing to be reincarnated!”
The two of them entered the courtyard and walked towards the main house. Granny Ma stepped forward and gently pushed the door open. Old Madam Zhou felt a chill in her heart. Could something have happened?
A series of blushing and heart-throbbing gasps and the man’s heavy breathing came from the inner room. Old Madam Zhou wanted to turn around and leave, but she felt that her feet were heavier than a thousand catties and could not take a step no matter what.
Granny Ma looked at Old Madam Zhou in fear. She was in a dilemma and felt uneasy. Why did she bump into such a private matter?
Old Madam Zhou widened her eyes and clutched her chest as she collapsed to the ground. Old Madam Ma shouted in fear, “Old Madam, what’s wrong? Madam, someone come quickly!”
Huang Jiaoyu and Hao Zi heard the shouts outside, but they could not control themselves. They could not help but fight to the death.
Qiu Yue was woken up by the shouting and ran out of the house in a panic. She saw Old Madam Zhou lying on the ground. Granny Ma pinched Old Madam Zhou’s philtrum. “Madam, Old Madam fainted.”
Qiu Yue called out to Huang Jiaoyu and pushed open her door. When she saw the two entangled white bodies, Qiu Yue screamed and ran out. The Zhou family was in chaos.
The next day, at dawn, Zhou Jia asked Ruyi to report to the government office that they had caught a few burglars. The government office sent someone to take Qi Hu and the rest away.
Before noon, Zhao Cai returned home and reported to Zhou Jia and Li Yu, “Young Master, Young Madam, Old Madam Zhou had a stroke and was paralyzed in bed. Haozi’s limbs were broken by Master Zhou and he was thrown out of the city. Madam Huang was divorced by Master Zhou and sent back to the Huang family. Master Zhou’s mistress was brought back to the Zhou family last night.”
Li Yu saw that Zhao Cai had learned everything that had happened in the Zhou family’s old residence in half a day. She thought to herself that the Zhou family’s old residence was already a sieve.
When Zhou Jia heard this, he smiled indifferently and said, “Zhao Cai, the old residence is no longer the Zhou family of the past. You don’t have to pay attention to the news of the old residence in the future. From today onwards, I’ll start preparing for the examination.”
“Yes, Young Master.” Moneymaker and Ruyi bowed and left.
In the blink of an eye, it was the eighth of February. The ninth of February was the day of the examination. After Li Yu prepared the things needed for Zhou Jia’s examination, she put them into the examination basket and sent Zhou Jia into the examination hall the next morning.
On the afternoon of the day after Zhou Jia entered the examination hall, the government office sent someone to inform Li Yu that after the government office interrogated a few thieves, they found out that Mrs Zhou had hired someone to kill someone. The government office sent someone to the Zhou family to summon Mrs Zhou, but they were told that Madam Yang had already died. The other Madam Huang had been divorced and returned to her maternal family because of her disloyal act. The government officials had already arrested Madam Huang. Due to the fact that the Zhou family had caught the thief in time, there were no serious consequences.
The government officials believed that although Madam Huang did not cause any actual harm to the Zhou family, her subjective behavior was bad. They sentenced her to 80 strokes of the paddle and three years of hard labor.
When Li Yu heard this, he thanked the magistrate and asked Ruyi to send him away with a red envelope of money.