(Because there are two chapters labeled 345, to avoid ongoing errors, this chapter is marked as 348. Until the previous chapter titles are corrected, there is temporarily no chapter 347.)
Lei Ting thought for a moment and said calmly, "I will give an explanation." As for what that explanation would be, Lei Ting did not specify.
Nevertheless, it managed to shut Tong Xi up.
However, after that, Lei Ting noticed that Tong Xi had started occasionally casting strange, inexplicable looks at him from time to time.
In truth, Tong Xi was quite wronged. Who would have thought Lei Ting was so perceptive and sensitive, with eyes and ears everywhere? Tong Xi was merely trying to secretly figure out what outstanding qualities this man, who might become Prince Xian's grandson-in-law, possessed.
"Have they been captured?" Lei Ting asked Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua had previously participated in the rescue of Ren Yaohua, and now that he was standing here, it meant the situation with Zeng Kui had been resolved.
Xiao Hua nodded. "Yes, it wasn't easy."
Others hearing this would likely assume Xiao Hua meant that Zeng Kui and his men were difficult to deal with. However, Lei Ting knew that Xiao Hua, who had once been Xiao Jingxi's personal shadow guard, was one of the four top experts of the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, and none of those under his command were weak. So what Xiao Hua meant was that pretending to be ordinary martial artists, snatching two people from Zeng Kui's group, and keeping them all under control was truly no simple task.
"How do you plan to deal with Zeng Kui?" Lei Ting had previously thought that since Zeng Kui had become an adversary because of him, it was only right that he handle the aftermath. But now that Tong Xi was also here, Lei Ting wondered if perhaps Xiao Jingxi had some arrangements in mind.
Xiao Hua also glanced at Tong Xi.
Although in terms of position and seniority, Tong Xi was far inferior to Xiao Hua, Xiao Hua felt that Tong Xi's current status was akin to that of an imperial envoy sent by the court or the chief eunuch by the emperor's side—his opinion was necessary when making decisions.
Unaware that he had been silently compared to a chief eunuch, Tong Xi stroked his chin and said with a grin, "We'll follow Master Lei's lead."
Lei Ting frowned. "Follow my lead?"
Tong Xi winked and said, "Yes, didn't your subordinate say we should disguise ourselves as Wu Yiyu's people and take something from Zeng Kui? Then we can watch the Wu and Zeng families fight like dogs, right? Master Lei's plan is brilliant!"
Lei Ting now remembered that it was his subordinate who had joked earlier about Wu Yiyu wanting to keep Zeng Kui's "thing."
Xiao Hua silently glanced at Tong Xi, thinking to himself, As expected of the master's close attendant—even when he wants to deal with someone, he has to drag the head of the Lei Family into it. How on earth does this person's mind work? He's truly cunning! No wonder, since ancient times, few who rose from being eunuchs turned out to be good people—too many twisted thoughts...Seeing Lei Ting lost in thought, Tong Xi sighed, "Originally, I also felt a bit reluctant. After all, the Zeng family only has this one heir. To cut off someone's lineage invites divine retribution! But after hearing Brother Xiao Hua and the others describe the tragic state of Third Miss Ren, I truly couldn’t contain my grief and anger! What has our Third Miss Ren ever done to anyone? Does she deserve to be bullied like this? What kind of scum are the Zeng and Wu families? They dare to run wild on the territory of our Yanbei Prince’s Mansion as if they please. Do they think Yanbei has no one left? If we don’t teach the Zeng and Wu families a lesson this time, it would be an affront to heaven’s justice!"
Xiao Hua: Why drag him into this?
Lei Ting recalled Ren Yaohua struggling to crawl toward the slope with her injured leg earlier, and anger also stirred within him. Although he knew Tong Xi’s words were partly meant to involve him, he still nodded and said, "Since heaven’s justice cannot tolerate it, then let us act on its behalf."
Lei Ting had learned that Zeng Kui had previously abused and tormented many innocent women. Castrating him would indeed be acting on behalf of heaven’s justice.
Seeing Lei Ting agree to take the lead, Tong Xi couldn’t help but feel a greater sense of goodwill toward him. His actions were also partly a test of Lei Ting. As a man, if one shied away from trouble and hesitated, he would look down on them. Fortunately, this Lei Ting seemed quite responsible. Moreover, even though he knew Tong Xi was scheming against him, he agreed without hesitation, showing a broad-mindedness.
"I’ll escort Third Miss Ren away from here first," Lei Ting said, boarding the carriage parked nearby and retrieving a long cloak.
Tong Xi thought for a moment and said, "Why not return together? Although we have quite a few people, Third Miss Ren doesn’t know any of them. Having just faced danger, she’s probably feeling unsettled right now. Having someone familiar like you around would help put her at ease. Besides, dealing with Zeng Kui won’t take long. We’ll wait here with Third Miss Ren for you."
Hearing this, Lei Ting remembered how Ren Yaohua had hesitated earlier when asking why he wasn’t returning with them. He inwardly scolded himself for being too careless, failing to consider this point, and nodded, "That’s a good idea. I’ll go and tell her."
At that moment, both of them forgot that Tong Xi was also an acquaintance of Ren Yaohua’s, having known her even before Lei Ting.
Seeing Lei Ting go back inside, Xiao Hua couldn’t help but whisper to Tong Xi, "Were those words just now all instructed by our master?"
Tong Xi looked puzzled, "Which words?"
Xiao Hua was referring to how Tong Xi had immediately pinned responsibility on Lei Ting upon arrival and had just urged him to deal with Zeng Kui. However, although Xiao Hua was inwardly lively and expressive, outwardly he was reserved and not good with words. He could only try to convey his meaning with his eyes.
Tong Xi suddenly understood with an "Oh," then gave Xiao Hua a somewhat disdainful look. "If we had to wait for our master’s instructions to know what to do, what would be the point of having people like us? To anticipate our master’s intentions and act on their behalf—do you understand?"
Xiao Hua silently forced out a sentence, "No, I don’t."
Tong Xi nodded understandingly, "That’s why I’m the indispensable attendant by our master’s side, who knows their needs and cares for them, while you can only be the blade in our master’s hand."
Xiao Hua: "..."Actually, Xiao Hua was cursing inwardly: Sure enough, personal eunuchs and the like always love to act high and mighty in front of the chief guard! Just because they lack heroic spirit, damn it, this is absolutely jealousy!
Tong Xi didn’t hear Xiao Hua’s inner roar. Seeing him silent, he thought he was being taught a lesson and felt this head of the secret guards was quite decent, so he continued to speak with him: “Moreover, this matter involves the Zeng Family. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for us to take action ourselves? After all, there’s a big difference between matters of state and personal grudges?”
Xiao Hua frowned and said, “If the royal manor takes action, it can be considered a matter of state. Why would it be a personal grudge if the Lei Family takes action? Is there any relationship between the Lei Family and the Ren Family?”
Tong Xi patted Xiao Hua on the shoulder and smiled mysteriously: “You’ll find out later.”
Xiao Hua: Chief eunuchs and the like all love to act profound, making others think they’re superior. They really are too annoying!
After Lei Ting entered, he found Ren Yaohua had gotten down from the earthen bed herself and was slowly walking while holding onto the edge of the bed. Seeing Lei Ting come in, Ren Yaohua nearly lost her balance and fell.
Lei Ting quickly stepped forward to help her sit down. He handed the cloak he had brought to Ren Yaohua and then sternly scolded her: “Do you want to walk with a limp for the rest of your life?”
Ren Yaohua said awkwardly, “I thought you were going to be busy. I can’t have someone else carry me to the carriage again, can I? So I wanted to see if I could walk out on my own. Actually, if I had a crutch for support, it would be possible.”
Lei Ting sighed and then said, “Wait here for me. I’ll go take care of some business nearby and come back right away. Then we’ll return to Yunyang City together. There are highly skilled martial artists guarding outside, so don’t be afraid.”
Ren Yaohua stroked the cloak in her hands and draped it over her skirt, nodding: “Alright, go ahead and take care of your business.”
Lei Ting then went out again, reassured. Just as he was stepping out the door, Ren Yaohua quickly said, “Be careful.”
Lei Ting paused for a moment before walking out.
When Lei Ting, Xiao Hua, and Tong Xi returned to the area near the woods, Zeng Kui and his followers had indeed been tied up and thrown on the ground.
As they approached, they happened to hear Zeng Kui sneering: “What? How does your employer plan to deal with me?”
Tong Xi couldn’t help but sneer and then said loudly, “The young lady said she wants to cut off your manhood so that even if you marry her, you won’t be able to consummate the marriage!”
Zeng Kui’s men immediately cursed: “How dare you! Our master won’t let you off!”
One of the masked men angrily said, “Why wouldn’t we dare! You severed the tendons in our eldest and second brother’s hands and feet, turning them into cripples. We are people of the jianghu. Even without Miss Wu’s orders, we would seek revenge for grievances and settle debts!”
Lei Ting changed to a hoarse voice and said, “The employer said that once we deal with this toad who wants to eat swan meat, she’ll arrange for us and our families to leave. What can your Zeng Family do? The employer is very generous—she gave us half of her dowry silver.”
Xiao Wei only had one daughter, Wu Yiyu, and had been preparing her dowry for a long time. The Wu Family was wealthy, so Wu Yiyu’s dowry was naturally quite substantial. With such a heavy reward, there will always be brave men willing to take risks, so it’s not surprising that Wu Yiyu could hire so many martial arts experts to do her bidding.The men Zeng Kui had brought with him began to curse. They had been specially chosen by Zeng Pu to protect Zeng Kui. If anything happened to Zeng Kui, they would certainly not survive.
Zeng Kui himself also paled, inwardly cursing Wu Yiyu a thousand times over. He swore that if he managed to leave this place alive, he would make sure that bitch would find life unbearable and death impossible!
Lei Ting gave his subordinate a meaningful glance. "It's getting late. Hurry up and get it done. We still need to reach Zhuozhou as soon as possible."
Understanding the hint, Lei Ting's subordinate stepped forward with a sharp dagger in hand, grinning wickedly. "Don't be scared, young master. I've seen my father castrate livestock many times. One quick cut and it'll be over." The man had originally come from the streets, and his words carried a strong, roguish tone, making him seem like a true ruffian.
"No..." Zeng Kui couldn't help but shuffle backward, trying to avoid the dagger in the man's hand.
Any man would fear becoming a eunuch. No matter how twisted Zeng Kui's mind was, he was still a man.
The man moved with startling speed. With one swift slash, Zeng Kui let out a piercing, agonized scream.
Update for January 9th.
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