Seeing their fearless demeanor, Hu Lianyu directly ordered his men to beat them soundly again.
Emerging from that small courtyard, Yu Niang’s tears flowed like a broken string of pearls. She could never have imagined that her absurd guess would actually be true. The thought that her husband had lost his life because of her filled her with self-reproach.
“Now you can see his true colors. I brought you here today because I want you to stay away from him. He is not a good man,” Hu Lianyu sighed, seeing her heartbroken state, and couldn’t help but advise her.
Yu Niang remained silent. After meeting Hu Lianyu, she secretly inquired about his identity and learned that he was at odds with the Hu family. Fearing she might be used, she resolved to personally visit the First Master of the Hu family to sound him out.
Hu Lianyu knew she suspected him, but he didn’t care, believing he had a clear conscience. He decided to help her if he could, and took out several silver notes from his embrace, handing them to her. “Our meeting is fate. One day, when I bring down the Hu family, I’d trouble you to testify. I’ve inquired about your situation. If you cannot live here, you can go to the neighboring prefectural city. My wife has a courtyard and shops there, and can make arrangements for you to live there.”
Yu Niang looked at him quietly, almost disbelieving what she heard. She had just suspected him, and moments later, he confessed and arranged a way out for her. She couldn’t help but blush.
She quickly returned the silver notes to him, saying somewhat sheepishly, “Thank you, but I don’t plan to leave. I will personally ask the First Master of the Hu family if this is true. If it is, I will avenge my husband. If not, and the murderer cannot be found, I will go down to join him.” Yu Niang smiled at him.
“Why must you do this? You are still young and have a bright future. You can find a new place and start over,” Hu Lianyu urged, looking at the woman’s smile tinged with tears.
“I don’t know if you have ever loved someone with all your heart. Although that person is not your everything, you feel that without him in this world, everything is meaningless. You see through the worldly dust in an instant and cast life and death aside. I am in that state now.”
Hu Lianyu looked at her resolute figure and thought of Wu Caiwei. He suddenly understood her feelings. If Caiwei had died unexpectedly, he wouldn’t want to live on, unable to bear the pain of losing her.
Not long after, he heard the news of the First Master Hu’s death. It turned out that the First Master Hu had just returned and encountered the woman he had yearned for at his doorstep. He was in a hurry to see his mother and couldn’t speak with her. He arranged for his personal attendant to bring her in through the back door of the Hu family.
The moment she stepped onto the Hu family’s grounds, her heart settled. She had come to find him, and he showed no surprise. Moreover, why would he bring a married woman into his courtyard? Her suspicion of him deepened.
Old Madam Hu, seeing her son distracted, assumed he was exhausted from the journey. She let him go after a few words.
As soon as he left his mother’s courtyard, the First Master Hu couldn’t help but quicken his pace. He arrived at his room and saw the woman sitting by the table, leisurely sipping tea. The corners of his mouth involuntarily curved upwards.
Yu Niang nonchalantly poured him a cup of tea. The First Master Hu quickly took it, saying happily, “You’ve come this time, and you’re not leaving, are you? Although I have several concubines, I promise you that from now on, I will only favor you.”
As he spoke, the First Master Hu reached out his right hand to hold hers. Yu Niang instinctively withdrew her hand, feeling uncomfortable. “I’ve come to talk to you about something else today. The tea in your hand was poured by me just now. Taste it and see if it suits your palate.”
The First Master Hu looked at her suggestively, saying, “Any tea you pour suits my palate.”
To show his sincerity, he drank it down in one gulp. Although the taste was a bit strange, with the beauty before him, he didn’t think much of it.
“Several ruffians from East Street said that you ordered them to kill my husband for me. Is this true?”
“Who said that? How could such a thing happen? I admit I have feelings for you, but didn’t I hear that your husband passed away? You are a widow, and I can pursue you. I would never dare to commit murder. Besides, when your husband died, I was out of town.”
The First Master Hu never dreamed that she had come to see him about this matter. Although he appeared calm on the surface, his heart churned. He decided that as soon as she left, he would deal with those ruffians. Those who couldn’t keep their mouths shut were best silenced forever.
He concealed it very well, but his hand paused for a moment, which the sharp-eyed Yu Niang noticed. She decided to test him further and said with a cold laugh, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it. Before you entered, I had already put medicine in the teacup, and you drank it all. In another half an hour, you will go to accompany my husband. A life for a life is not excessive at all.”
“You’re crazy!” Even the First Master Hu, who had weathered many storms, couldn’t stay calm this time. He quickly stood up and tried to force his throat to vomit, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing came out. Thinking of the strange taste he had just had, he was shocked and blamed himself for being too careless. Usually, he was extremely cautious with anything he consumed, but he was too happy to see his beloved and had overlooked it.
“You’ve had it in your system for so long, not even a great immortal could save you. Haha, I’ve finally avenged my husband!” Yu Niang gloated over him.
“Someone, quickly! Go and call a doctor for me!” The First Master Hu, enraged, flung the door open and yelled at the attendant standing guard outside.
Seeing the attendant rush away in a panic, he turned back to look at the woman who had gone mad. “What’s so good about him? He’s just a laborer; he can’t provide you with a comfortable life. But I’m different. I’m the head of the Hu family. I can buy you all sorts of gold and silver, and have servants at your beck and call? In what way am I inferior to him? You’d better pray I’m alright, otherwise, our Hu family will not let you off.”
“So it’s true that you killed my husband.” Yu Niang looked at him with hatred in her eyes, unable to comprehend how such a person existed in this world, resorting to such malicious means to break up a couple simply because he fancied someone else’s wife upon a single encounter.
“Since it has come to this, I’m not afraid to tell you. His death is indeed related to me. He was not worthy of you. I am the one who loves you wholeheartedly. For you, I would even commit murder. But you don’t cherish it. When my poison is resolved, I will make sure you wish you could die but cannot.”
At this moment, the First Master Hu truly regretted it. He hadn’t expected this woman to be so crazy. There were so many women in the world; why was he so fixated on her?
A look of relief spread across Yu Niang’s face. She swallowed the pill in her hand.
“What did you eat?” The First Master Hu looked at her in surprise.
“Your antidote,” Yu Niang replied with ill intent.