Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 202: Lady

The scandalous affair between Wu Shi and Liu Dalang, along with his violent revenge, became a hot topic throughout the streets and alleys of Anyi County.

Liu Dalang truly went mad. After a few days back home, he managed to acquire some sedative powder and waited quietly for Wu Shi to make an excuse to visit her family again. He planned to repeat what he had done to Liu Yu in the past. Back then, he had used the sedative to sell off Liu Yu; this time, he intended to kill both Wu Shi and her lover.

He spiked the teapot in Wu’s private chamber with the drug, sneaking it in while the couple was out for a meal. His plan was to knock them out, kill them without anyone noticing, and dispose of their bodies by nightfall.

But Liu Yanan managed to slip in through the back window when no one was watching and diluted the drug by more than half.

Yes, he didn’t replace it, just added enough water to halve its strength.

After discussing in private that day, Liu Yanqing and Lu Chengxiao called over Liu Yanan—the family member most skilled in martial arts—to help ensure nothing went wrong. The three of them hadn’t been going through all this trouble just for the trivial scandal involving Liu Dalang and Wu Shi. Their concern was Liu Yu, and they didn’t want this situation to become a source of guilt for him. Although Liu Yu had merely guided Liu Dalang to discover Wu Shi’s affair, he might still carry this incident as a burden on his heart.

The sin committed by Liu Dalang and Wu Shi would lead them to ruin, and they deserved whatever consequences came their way. However, none of them wanted Liu Yu to be tainted by association with this event. At the same time, they weren’t so morally high-minded as to save those who had almost ruined Liu Yu’s life—especially considering that Liu Dalang needed to be stopped.

So they merely diluted the drug. The two drank a glass each after working up a thirst in bed. It should have rendered them unconscious, but instead, they were only mildly groggy.

Wu Shi’s lover, a hired thug from a gambling house, realized after drinking the water that he had been drugged. Being someone who preyed on others’ wives and daughters, he was no stranger to the consequences, so he immediately tried to escape through the back window.

Liu Dalang, who was waiting to strike until they passed out, saw Wu’s lover about to flee. Seeing his opportunity slipping away, he raised his axe and charged in.

The two men ended up in a brawl, allowing Wu Shi to escape in the chaos.

With only half the drug’s potency, Wu Shi’s lover couldn’t muster his full strength and barely managed to escape after receiving two heavy blows. Liu Dalang, now consumed with rage, turned his focus to chasing Wu Shi, leading to the events of the previous night.

Early the next morning, the seamstresses at the embroidery shop were also gossiping.

“I heard the woman was struck three times—once on the shoulder, once on the leg, and once…in a private area. She’s lucky; there were some constables nearby who heard her cries for help and came running. It’s said that Liu Dalang’s eyes were bloodshot from the rage. If the constables hadn’t intervened, she could’ve been hacked to pieces.”

The seamstresses gasped. “And what about the attacker?”

“He was taken to the county office by the constables last night.”

“How brutal! Now that he’s in custody, how will the magistrate sentence him?”

The women shook their heads. “We don’t know. We’ll have to wait for the magistrate’s verdict.”

Liu Yu heard of Liu Dalang’s actions the previous night only when she arrived at the embroidery shop and overheard the seamstresses gossiping. After listening for a bit, she turned to glance at Lu Chengxiao and her elder brother in the parlor.

To her surprise, her third brother, usually occupied with the weaving shop, was here as well.

Recalling the seamstresses mentioning the conveniently timed constables, Liu Yu began to piece things together.

Seeing her glance, Liu Yanqing and the others smiled knowingly, and Liu Yu instantly understood everything.

For some reason, this outcome allowed Liu Yu, who had been anxious for days, to finally relax. All the tension and unease of recent days faded, and she felt an indescribable sense of relief and comfort. It was as though an invisible shackle that had weighed her down had been lifted, as if a long-standing grudge across lifetimes had finally been avenged.

At noon, Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yu returned home, where they were finally able to speak freely. Liu Yu’s suspicions were confirmed by Lu Chengxiao.

“Liu Dalang? What will his sentence be?”

“For those who attempt murder, three years in prison; for those who cause injury, execution by hanging; and those who kill will be beheaded.”

When Liu Yu heard that Liu Dalang would be sentenced to execution by hanging, she gazed out at the sunlight spilling into the courtyard and murmured, “Good and evil will always be repaid in the end.”

But, if she hadn’t lived another life, would Liu Dalang and Wu Shi have faced retribution?

~

At the inn, Doctor Mo was administering acupuncture to Liu Yanzheng for the third time.

The subordinate who had been following Liu Yanzheng around since yesterday anxiously paced the room. “Doctor Mo, the young master has been in a deep sleep for an entire night. It’s already past noon. If he doesn’t wake up soon, I fear it will be difficult to hide things from the old master.”

Doctor Mo remained silent as he checked the pulse. It seemed stable, though there was an indication of great sorrow.

He couldn’t figure out why this was happening. He had questioned Liu Yanzheng thoroughly about the events of yesterday, even inquiring about the incident on the street with the woman being attacked, and there seemed to be no connection at all.

Why, then, was there such a pattern of sadness in the pulse? And why had the previous two rounds of acupuncture been ineffective? As he pondered, he withdrew the needles. When he removed the last one, Liu Yanzheng’s eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes slowly opened. He glanced at the canopy of the bed, then turned to look at Doctor Mo, his expression one of bewilderment, as if unsure what time it was.

Seeing this, Doctor Mo furrowed his brow. “Young master, did you… have another dream?”

Indeed, it was another dream—a long one that seemed inescapable. In the dream, there was a solitary grave, a thatched hut, and a maid guarding the grave.

The maid hated him with a passion, as if she wanted to consume his flesh and blood. He tried to approach again and again, only to be chased away each time.

The dream felt so vivid, so real, as though he had lived through it himself. But as soon as he woke, the scenes of the dream retreated like a tide, leaving only the maid’s mouth opening and closing. He couldn’t remember what she had been cursing at him.

“Hmm, but it’s mostly forgotten now,” Liu Yanzheng said as he massaged his brow and sat up. He hadn’t forgotten the events of last night and turned to look at his happy subordinate. “What happened to that person from last night?”

After hearing the report about Wu Shi, Liu Yanzheng rubbed his forehead and said, “Go find out more. See where they’re from and whether they’re alive or dead.”

His tone was indifferent, as if he didn’t care at all about that person’s fate, yet he still ordered his subordinate to investigate.

The subordinate nodded and went to carry out the task. As the door opened, another subordinate who had been about to knock saw the first one leave. Upon peeking in, he saw Liu Yanzheng was awake and was overjoyed. “Young master, Yan Si has sent news. He says he has information on the old master’s old friend.”

Liu Yanzheng suddenly raised his head, a hint of surprise in his expression. “Did he really find him?”

The subordinate nodded. “Yan Si says he found the man in a place called Yangshan Village in Xifeng Town. The name and approximate age match.”

Liu Yanzheng immediately threw off the blankets and got out of bed. As he put on his boots, he asked, “Where is he? Have you seen him?”

The subordinate’s expression froze for a moment, and he lowered his head. “Yan Si says the man has been dead for more than a decade.”

Liu Yanzheng froze mid-motion, and even Doctor Mo’s heart skipped a beat. The two exchanged a look. Liu Yanzheng said, “Don’t tell Grandpa about this yet. I’ll go see him first.”

The old master’s health couldn’t handle too much joy or sorrow, and there were countless people in the world with the same name.

~

On the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, a group of seven or eight people arrived in a grand procession at Yangshan Village. There was a carriage followed by a few mounted guards, and they stopped outside the closed gate of the Liu family’s small courtyard.

The people in the carriage were dressed quite grandly, and even the guards were dressed in impressive attire. The commotion quickly attracted the attention of the village head and the patriarch of the Liu family.

The villagers had been living well in recent years due to the Liu family, so they paid extra attention to the Liu family’s matters. With the village head and patriarch stepping forward, they went to inquire about the situation.

The old master of the Liu family had already been in poor health, and this trip had been a struggle for him. When the Liu family patriarch arrived, he was unable to get out of the carriage. Instead, Liu Yanzheng handled the negotiations on his behalf. Upon hearing that the visitors were old friends of the Liu family, the patriarch of the Liu family immediately sent his son to fetch an ox-cart to quickly go to the county and report the news.

He also politely invited the guests to sit in his home, mentioning that the Liu family members were currently doing business in the county.

Liu Yanzheng exchanged a glance with Yan Si, who quickly lowered his head.

Yan Si was content to report that he had learned of the person the old master was looking for in Yangshan Village, but now, learning that the entire family was in the county, he felt the long journey had been in vain. He dared not look at Liu Yanzheng.

Fortunately, Liu Yanzheng merely glanced at him and said nothing.

~

The patriarch’s son was unfamiliar with the embroidery workshop, so he headed straight to the weaving and dyeing workshop. The villagers often brought cloth here or picked up family members, so they were most familiar with the place. They also knew that the Liu brothers were usually at the weaving and dyeing workshop when not traveling for business.

It was a fortunate coincidence. Zhang Wenyin and several women skilled in weaving summer fabrics had just finished making a new, extremely lightweight material from ramie, which was almost as fine as silk. The three Liu brothers, Liu Yu and Lu Chengxiao were all present at the workshop.

When they heard that there were guests at the old house, they were all stunned.

The patriarch’s son was quick-witted and detailed everything: the number of visitors, the carriage and horses, and their clothing. “One of them is an elderly man in his sixties, and there’s a young man in his twenties. The others seem like attendants. I heard they have old ties with your family. The carriage is parked at your door, and my father and the village head asked me to hurry and report it.”

The siblings exchanged looks, and upon hearing that the visitors had old ties with the family, they didn’t delay. They hurried to prepare a carriage to return and see who had come. Since they had opened the weaving and dyeing workshop, Lu Chengxiao had arranged a carriage harnessed with his horse, making it easier for them to travel back and forth.

Liu Yu was concerned about the guests. Since her aunt was still in Yuanzhou City, she might need to entertain the visitors, so she decided to go along.

Naturally, Lu Chengxiao accompanied her.

In the afternoon, they returned to Yangshan Village and indeed saw the carriages and guards at the gate. When they spotted the Liu brothers’ carriage from a distance, one of the guards bowed and said something, lifting the corner of the carriage curtain.

As Liu Yanqing’s carriage neared the gate, they saw a young man dressed in fine clothes get out of the carriage.

Liu Yanzheng glanced at him and immediately recognized him as the descendant of the family he was searching for. He turned to help the elderly Liu family master out of the carriage.

Meanwhile, Liu Yanping and the others got out of the carriage one by one, with Liu Yu being the last. Lu Chengxiao reached out to assist her.

When both sides had alighted, they turned to face each other and froze.

Lu Chengxiao, Liu Yanan, and Liu Yanping almost simultaneously spoke: “It’s you!”

But Liu Yanzheng was clearly not focused on the three of them. He fixed his gaze on Liu Yu, unable to tear his eyes away even when he heard Lu Chengxiao and the others speak.

A flood of memories flashed through his mind—chess games, tea drinking, playing the zither, singing. These countless images, all of a woman he had seen many times in his dreams, yet never clearly enough to see her face. Now, her features aligned with the woman standing before him.

Upon seeing Liu Yanzheng, Liu Yu took two steps back in shock, the color draining from her face.

Liu Yanzheng had already taken long strides toward her. Before he could get close, Lu Chengxiao stepped in front of her, shielding her. He met Liu Yanzheng’s gaze, and the moment their eyes collided from just a few steps apart, there was a flash of cold light, as if metal had struck stone.

The atmosphere was as tense as a bowstring pulled taut, but in the next instant, Dr. Mo let out an exclamation: “Old Master!”

Liu Yanzheng suddenly turned around, only to see the old master’s gaze bypassing him and staring directly at the woman behind Lu Chengxiao.

Liu Yu, who had just heard Dr. Mo’s cry, instinctively leaned forward to see what was happening.

The moment the old master saw her face clearly, his hand trembled as he leaned on his cane and slowly sank to one knee.

Dr. Mo and the others were shocked and rushed to help, but the old master paid them no heed, continuing to kneel.

With one knee on the ground, anyone familiar with military customs would recognize this as a standard military salute. The elderly man looked at Liu Yu, his lips trembling as he called out in a shaky voice: “My Lady!”

Both groups of people froze in disbelief.

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