Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 208: Are you afraid of me?

Lu Chengxiao’s face darkened, and in the next instant, Liu Yu pressed down on his hand.

“Don’t mind them. It’ll only be two more days. After that, they’ll be gone no matter what.”

The smile that had been on Liu Yanzheng’s face stiffened. From a distance, his expression was clear enough, though his voice couldn’t be heard. When he saw Liu Yu and Lu Chengxiao walking away hand in hand, there was almost a storm brewing in his eyes.

In the following two days, Liu Yanzheng didn’t appear before Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yu again. On the day they were supposed to meet with the Liu family, Liu Yanping and Liu Yanan went off to handle their tasks, while Wei Shi and Liu Yanqing informed Old Master Liu of the family’s decision.

Upon hearing about the situation with the island people, Old Master Liu’s lips trembled. For a brief moment, there seemed to be moisture in his eyes, but it quickly faded as he suppressed it.

Since the Liu family didn’t want the money, Old Master Liu, with his temperament, wasn’t going to simply follow their wishes. How the communication went is not detailed, but after returning to the inn, he instructed Liu Yanzheng to return to the island and make arrangements.

The ship that had been docked at the Anyi County pier for several days was finally preparing to leave. Wei Shi and Liu Yanqing personally went to see them off.

Yan Si stretched his neck, trying to spot Liu Yu, but nervously surveyed Liu Yanzheng instead. He didn’t notice any significant emotional change in him.

However, this made Yan Si’s heart feel more uneasy.

~

When the Liu family left, Lu Chengxiao watched the ship sail off into the distance, finally feeling a sense of relief.

The business at the warehouse wasn’t particularly flashy, but its profits were just as good as, if not better than, the fabric shop in the county. In fact, due to the high turnover, the money earned was even more considerable than at the fabric shop.

The first warehouse had successfully opened, and with some capital still in hand, the next step was to quickly open a second and even a third warehouse.

Once the Liu family left, everyone got busy. Liu Yanqing went to surrounding towns looking for shops, Liu Yanping focused on the weaving and dyeing workshop, and Liu Yanan was responsible for escorting Wei Shi back to Yuanzhou.

Only Lu Chengxiao, feeling a slight unease that he couldn’t quite explain, stayed close to Liu Yu. He took care of the accounts from the various shops and brought them back to the embroidery shop for processing.

The embroiderers couldn’t help but gossip privately, admiring Liu Yu, the shopkeeper. The love between the couple was well-known in the northern street area, and whenever they encountered familiar faces on the road, it wasn’t unusual for them to stop and exchange a few words, their teasing clear in their eyes.

Liu Yu felt sweet in her heart but also a little embarrassed. Liu Dalang had been punished, and the Liu family had already left for three days. She advised Lu Chengxiao, “Why don’t you go ahead and take care of what you need to?”

Lu Chengxiao looked innocent, pointing at the pile of ledgers in front of him. “I’m busy too, just with a different task.”

Liu Yu had no way to argue with him, so she let him be.

On the third evening, not long after they returned home, Lin Huaigeng hurriedly arrived.

Lu Chengxiao was startled when he saw him. “You’re back already?”

This year, both Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping had focused on the fabric shop, embroidery shop, weaving and dyeing workshop, and the warehouse, so they hadn’t been running trades themselves. Lin Huaigeng and Liu Zhang had helped with the work. At the beginning of the month, they had taken money according to Lu Chengxiao’s instructions and gone along the usual routes to restock for the warehouse, with Qin Er and his men providing protection.

Lin Huaigeng looked anxious. After greeting Liu Yu, he turned to Lu Chengxiao and said, “Chengxiao, one of our ships was detained along with the cargo when we tried to enter Yuanzhou. Liu Zhang and Qin Biao and his men are still there waiting. I hurried back to report.”

“What happened?” Lu Chengxiao instinctively asked. Not wanting Liu Yu to worry, he added, “You go inside and rest. I’ll talk with Huaigeng in the outer courtyard.”

Liu Yu nodded and entered the inner courtyard, calling for Xu’er to brew tea and bring it over.

Standing in the courtyard anxiously for a while, she finally headed toward the main house.

By then, the sky had darkened, and the lights hadn’t been lit in the house yet. As Liu Yu walked in, about to take the fire starter to light the lamp, she suddenly had a strange feeling, and before she could cry out, she was struck on the back of the neck and fell limp.

~

In the outer courtyard, Lu Chengxiao remained unaware as he asked about the reason the ship was detained.

“They found private salt mixed in with the goods when we entered Yuanzhou. Chengxiao, I swear this wasn’t us, and I have no idea where the salt came from,” Lin Huaigeng said, his brows furrowed in distress. “The authorities won’t let us go, and even Qin Biao has no way to handle it. They’ve only released me to bring back the news.”

When Lu Chengxiao heard the mention of private salt, his brow twitched.

He knew Lin Huaigeng and Liu Zhang well enough to be sure they wouldn’t do such a thing. As for Qin Er, he was strict with his men and would never let them smuggle goods, especially something as sensitive as private salt.

“Where did the ship dock before the salt was discovered? Was anyone else aboard?”

Lin Huaigeng shook his head. “It did stop at a few places, but there was always someone on board. No one could have boarded without us knowing. Besides, what would anyone want with our ship?”

“What would they want?” Lu Chengxiao’s heart skipped a beat as a thought suddenly crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as unlikely.

“Let’s get the people and the goods out first. I’ll write a letter. You take it straight to Yuanzhou and ask my father to get Yang Cunxu’s help.”

Relieved that Lu Chengxiao had a plan, Lin Huaigeng exhaled deeply. “Alright, I’ll hurry. I don’t know who’s trying to frame us like this.”

If it weren’t for the unfamiliarity of the area, he’d be eager to help with the work himself.

Lu Chengxiao grabbed some paper and a brush to start writing, but for some reason, he suddenly felt uneasy.

Frame…

Lu Chengxiao’s mind flashed with the image of Liu Yanzheng raising a cup days earlier. His expression changed, and in a sudden motion, he threw the brush aside, stormed out of the room, and gradually broke into a run toward the inner courtyard.

The main room was dimly lit, with only the kitchen and the hall illuminated.

Lu Chengxiao’s heart felt as though it were being gripped by an invisible hand. He tried several times to call out Liu Yu’s name, but all that came out were his rapidly quickening steps and labored breathing.

~

When Liu Yu regained consciousness, she was lying on an embroidery bed. The memory of being struck and knocked unconscious rushed back to her, and she suddenly sat up, attempting to get out of bed. The pain in her neck made her wince slightly, and she massaged her neck before hastily putting on her shoes. She hurried to the door and had just pulled it open when her steps faltered, and she took a step back.

“Awake now?”

Liu Yanzheng’s gaze briefly swept over Liu Yu’s face before settling on her neck. He handed her a porcelain bottle. “Apply the medicine yourself.”

Liu Yu didn’t take the bottle. “Why did you tie me up?”

“Tie you up?” Liu Yanzheng’s brow furrowed. “You truly don’t remember me?”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Don’t understand…” Liu Yanzheng muttered the words again to himself, giving a self-deprecating laugh. He casually set the bottle aside, reached into his sleeve, and took something out. With a slight movement of his hand, a faint glow slipped out. The light flickered, and Liu Yu clearly saw that Liu Yanzheng was holding a chain with a pendant in his fingers—a transparent ornament dangling from it.

“Do you recognize this?”

Before Liu Yanzheng spoke, Liu Yu hadn’t recognized the object. The color of the pendant was different, but upon hearing Liu Yanzheng’s words, she felt a sense of familiarity. Except for the color, the design was the same as the forehead pendant Liu Yanzheng had given her before his departure years ago.

Liu Yu shook her head. She hadn’t expected Liu Yanzheng to be crazy enough to abduct her from her home, and at this moment, she couldn’t afford to acknowledge it.

“Don’t recognize it?” Liu Yanzheng seemed either skeptical or indifferent, continuing to speak to himself. “Chen Fang received three thousand taels for it, claiming it was a treasure from the immortal realm, and said I should give it to my beloved later.”

“When I heard ‘immortal treasure’ at the time, I only laughed it off, but giving it to a lover… You know, don’t you? This thing was later given to you.”

As he spoke, Liu Yanzheng continued on without waiting for a response. Liu Yu grew increasingly anxious. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Liu Yanzheng watched her closely, his gaze intensifying as he moved closer. He stared into her eyes. “You’re afraid of me.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

She had been afraid from the moment they first met.

“Why wouldn’t I be scared? You broke into my room and tied me up.”

Liu Yanzheng didn’t answer directly but let his gaze fall back onto the forehead pendant. He spoke again, “Immortal treasure? I used to laugh it off, but now that I think about it, Sister Liu, on the day of your debut, were you wearing this?”

Liu Yu finally realized that Liu Yanzheng truly had memories of their past lives and had convinced himself that she remembered as well.

Instinctively, she stepped back. Liu Yanzheng didn’t approach her any closer, but leaned against the table and asked, “Do you know why I can remember the past life?”

The question was impossible to answer.

Liu Yanzheng didn’t expect her to respond. He grasped the pendant tightly in his hand and continued, “This forehead pendant—because of this life—Chen Fang bought it back. From the night I got it, I began to dream, dream after dream, all the same dream. Sister Liu, do you want to know what I dreamed about?”

Liu Yu really didn’t want to know.

But Liu Yanzheng clearly wasn’t giving her a choice. He began to describe his dreams.

Wei Lianxing was personally delivered to the Huainan Wang’s residence by a man named Meng. The Meng family was destroyed, and Wu Shi was sold into a low-class cellar. Liu Dalang had his limbs severed…

“You see, because of the suffering they endured, I’ve made them suffer a thousand times more.”

Liu Yu froze, her blood seemed to have stopped flowing. She didn’t know whether she was shocked by his words or by the indifference in his tone.

The Liu Yanzheng from her past life, or rather the one she remembered, felt like an entirely different person from the one before her now.

Liu Yanzheng furrowed his brows slightly. “Are you afraid of me?”

This time it was a question.

His expression darkened. “Right, I forgot. You don’t know anything yet. The Meng family and Wei Lianxing deserve to die!”

Liu Yu truly didn’t understand the connection between Wei Lianxing and the man named Meng. But Liu Yanzheng’s next words cleared her confusion.

“In my past life, I didn’t break my promises, and I never went to Jinling. I did come to Yuanzhou, but before coming here, I instructed Chen Fang to buy your freedom.”

Liu Yanzheng’s face twisted as he recalled the truth he uncovered later. “The man Wei Lianxing was involved with, this Meng, had learned about our situation from other merchants. He had always wanted to connect with the sea merchants. While I was in Yuanzhou, he was tricked by Wei Lianxing into revealing our plans, which led her to sell information about Chen Fang to the officials. Chen Fang was arrested, and you, Liu Yu, were handed over to the Huainan King through that official’s intervention.”

“Liu Yu, I’ve never let go of you.”

“Chen Fang once said this thing had some origins, and I didn’t believe him. Now I do, because the more I remember, the fainter the color of this forehead pendant becomes. How could an ordinary object change like that? With that as a foundation, many things make sense.”

“The day you left the house waiting for me to buy you back, you must have been wearing this pendant. So, you’ve lived another life, or perhaps, like me, you have memories from the past life? That’s why you weren’t sold, didn’t fall into the hands of Liuxian Pavillion. That’s why you were afraid of me when you first met me. So, you remembered me from the start, didn’t you?”

Liu Yu never imagined that her rebirth could be connected to this forehead pendant. She recalled the moment when she had been struck, and indeed, the pendant had been on her forehead.

But how could she acknowledge this?

Liu Yanzheng kept staring at Liu Yu, but she didn’t show any sign of fear. She calmly glanced at the pendant before meeting his eyes again.

“Brother Liu, you must have hysteria. Does Old Master Liu know you came back to Anyi County and abducted me?”

“Hysteria?” Liu Yanzheng looked at her, his eyes turning red.

Liu Yu suppressed the fear in her heart and held his gaze.

Liu Yanzheng suddenly let out a low laugh, then looked at Liu Yu. “Then explain to me, Sister Liu, where did your maid, Xu’er, come from?”

Liu Yu’s heart skipped a beat. She and Lu Chengxiao had both overlooked Xu’er.

Liu Yanzheng’s eyes were bloodshot. “Liu Yu, I’ve never wavered. Even if we talk about who came first, it was me. Lu Chengxiao came later.”

His eyes were now blood-red, and in that moment, his expression turned fierce. He grabbed Liu Yu’s chin, leaning in to kiss her.

But just as quickly, his movements froze, his body stiffened, and he slowly pulled back.

Liu Yu held a hairpin in her hand, pointing it toward her own neck. The sharp tip was pressed into the most vulnerable spot of her neck, and with a little more force, it could pierce right through.

Liu Yanzheng stared at Liu Yu, his eyes filled with tears that quickly welled up.

The hairpin was pointing at her, not at him, and the answer was clear.

Liu Yu remembered him.

She had always remembered him.

Liu Yanzheng laughed, but it was more pitiful than a cry. His eyes were filled with tears, rolling down his face. His blurry vision cleared, and his heart was pierced by the deep wariness reflected on Liu Yu’s face.

“Do you still deny it?” His voice was hoarse as he asked.

Liu Yu stared at Liu Yanzheng in front of her, gripping the hairpin with a steady hand. “What if it’s true? What if it’s not? Even if, as you say, you came first, what does it matter? Aren’t you a sea merchant? With millions of taels, can’t you break the rules of a small place like Liuxian Pavillion? Did you really have to wait until the night of my debut to buy me back?”

“In the end, you don’t care for me as much as you think.”

“You never treated me as a treasure before so why are you’re here now, talking about deep feelings?”

Sansukini: The next chapter would be the end of the main story and then there would be some Extras.

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