Chapter 157
Chapter 157
Jin Bao pulled Zhou Wanting into the courtyard.
The moment they entered, the sounds from the main bedchamber reached Zhou Wanting clearly.
As a married woman, she recognized at once what a man and woman were doing inside.
But this was her elder sister-in-law’s courtyard. Catching her in the act hardly seemed appropriate.
When Zhou Wanting remained motionless, Jin Bao grew anxious.
“Auntie, hurry! The bad uncle is bullying the auntie inside. She’s crying!”
Zhou Wanting picked her up and covered her ears.
“Good girl, it’s filthy. Don’t listen.”
Jin Bao blinked and pulled Zhou Wanting’s hands away.
“Auntie, hurry and save her! The bad uncle took off her clothes and keeps hitting her with his body. She’s crying because it hurts!”
Jin Bao’s shockingly blunt description made Zhou Wanting choke on her breath and start coughing.
The coughing immediately alerted the two people inside.
The creaking stopped abruptly.
Zhou Wanting could no longer avoid the situation. She steeled herself and stepped forward to knock.
She had originally planned to wait until the man left before going inside.
This was not an honorable matter, and it would be best handled privately.
But now that they had been discovered, she could no longer worry about appearances.
“Sister-in-law, are you asleep?”
The people inside panicked when they heard her voice.
Zhou Wanting knocked several more times, but no one answered. She frowned slightly.
Still in Zhou Wanting’s arms, Jin Bao suddenly raised one foot and kicked the tightly shut door open.
The bolt snapped with a crack.
Jin Bao’s sudden action left Zhou Wanting stunned.
“Auntie, the door is open. Hurry inside!”
Zhou Wanting nodded blankly. “All right…”
Her gaze remained fixed on the broken doors. How could such a tiny child possess so much strength? Had she eaten some legendary strength pill?
The violent impact from outside sent the people within scrambling for cover.
Carrying Jin Bao, Zhou Wanting stepped into the room.
Jin Bao immediately pointed at a wardrobe in the corner. “Auntie, the bad uncle is hiding in there!”
Following her directions, Zhou Wanting entered the inner bedchamber.
Clothes lay scattered all across the floor, but every garment belonged to a woman. There was not a single piece of men’s clothing.
The musky scent of coupling still lingered in the air.
Zhou Wanting could not help frowning.
A petite figure lay trembling on the bed, wrapped in a quilt.
With no lamps lit, Zhou Wanting could not see the woman’s face clearly, but she had no doubt it was her elder sister-in-law.
“Sister-in-law?”
She called out tentatively.
The woman did not answer.
Jin Bao climbed down from Zhou Wanting’s arms and scrambled onto the bed without even removing her little shoes.
“Auntie, Baby is here to protect you! This auntie will catch the uncle who hit you.”
Only then did the woman on the bed raise her red-rimmed eyes and bite her lip hard.
Moonlight filtered through the lattice window, revealing the general outline of Jin Bao’s face.
“Auntie, why aren’t you talking? Let’s catch the bad man! Baby is really strong, so don’t be scared.”
Jin Bao’s sense of justice was blazing. She wanted to catch the villain and beat him soundly.
Now that matters had gone this far, Zhou Wanting let go of her embarrassment.
“Sister-in-law, we’re both women. I understand the loneliness of living without your husband. If there is truly someone you love, I can help you leave Qi Family Fort. I will pretend I saw nothing tonight.”
After a long silence, quiet sobs sounded in the room.
Seeing that neither woman intended to catch the villain, Jin Bao grew so anxious that she climbed off the bed and charged toward the wardrobe.
She yanked its door open and dragged out a disheveled man.
Once Jin Bao seized him, Qi Sihai could not resist at all. She dragged him over like a dead dog.
“Auntie, look! This is the bad man who bullied her. Hurry and have someone arrest him!”
Zhou Wanting found the man’s figure extremely familiar.
Her heart slowly sank.
“Nanny, light the lamps!”
Zhou Wanting forced the words through clenched teeth.
The nanny immediately bowed and entered, lighting every lamp in the room. In moments, the darkness vanished.
As the room brightened, Zhou Wanting’s expression grew even darker.
She could never have imagined that the man in her elder sister-in-law’s bed was her own husband.
Only a short while ago, he had clutched her throat in the main residence as though he meant to kill her. Now she had caught him in her sister-in-law’s bed. The irony was almost unbearable.
“Family Head?”
Even the nanny covered her mouth in shock.
Zhou Wanting glanced at the woman wrapped in the quilt. Under the lamplight, red marks covered every patch of her exposed skin.
The violence of what had just happened was plain to see. Zhou Wanting had heard the commotion from the courtyard.
With his secret exposed, Qi Sihai stopped trying to hide it.
He rose from the floor and pulled a jade pendant from inside his clothes.
“Zhou Wanting, the Lushan Qi Family has a custom. When an elder brother dies, his younger brother may marry the widow. Today, I received definite news that Elder Brother is dead. This is the jade pendant he always carried. I will inform the clan tomorrow morning. Begin making preparations then. I intend to marry Sister-in-law.”
“I refuse!”
Two female voices cried out at once.
One held wounded fury, the other unbridled rage.
Anger filled Zhou Wanting’s normally gentle eyes. She turned toward the woman on the bed.
“Sister-in-law, you…”
“I refuse! He forced me. Qi Sihai, that animal, forced himself on me.
“The only reason I remained alive was my belief that your elder brother still lived. Now that he’s gone, there is no point in my living either.
“Leave. I will give you an accounting for what happened today. Qi Family Fort was your elder brother’s life’s work. I won’t let it be destroyed in this generation. I will pretend none of you came tonight. Now get out!”
The petite woman suddenly erupted in a hoarse, heart-rending scream.
Zhou Wanting shot Qi Sihai a look of disgust.
Then she turned and left the room without looking back.
Jin Bao hurried after her.
She needed to find Daddy quickly. It seemed there was nothing left for her to do here.
Xiao Che had searched the entire guest courtyard without finding Jin Bao. He was preparing to ask the steward for help when he saw his daughter ignore every ordinary route and climb straight down from the roof.
“Daddy, Baby is back!”
The sight of her finally settled Xiao Che’s anxious heart.
“Where did you run off to?”
“Nowhere. Baby is sleepy. Baby wants to sleep.”
Afraid Daddy would spank her, Jin Bao fled faster than a rabbit. She vaguely sensed that she might have caused enormous trouble and did not dare tell him anything.
Xiao Che assumed she had merely wandered off out of curiosity. How could he possibly imagine that his daughter had taken a man’s lawful wife to catch him in another woman’s bed? Even a stage play would not dare invent such a scene.
But this night was destined to remain anything but peaceful.
Jin Bao had only just crawled beneath the covers, and Xiao Che was preparing to extinguish the lamp, when the steward knocked.
“Valley Master Xiao, have you retired for the night? Our family head requests your presence. He also asks that you bring Miss Xiao.”
Jin Bao wrapped the quilt around her little body, tucked her head deep inside, and curled herself into a silkworm cocoon. At the steward’s words, she wriggled even farther beneath the covers, chanting silently, I’m asleep. I’m asleep. I can’t hear anything. I can’t hear anything.