Chapter 46

Li Yifu left the Shen Family somewhat sullenly.

Only then did he know why he had suffered a complete defeat.

All his secrets were shaken out by that servant who was kept around for show.

"My defeat is not due to lack of strategy; it is heaven that dooms me!"

Li Yifu beat his chest and stamped his feet, regretting his earlier actions.

If he had not come to the Shen Family for the sake of so-called face, traveling alone, his plans might have succeeded.

However, things have come to this.

There is no way to turn the tide!

Li Yifu left Liu Cheng gloomily, carrying the return gift prepared by Shen Shen.

No expectation, no disappointment.

But before coming, Li Yifu had great hopes; now everything has come to nothing, and this disappointment is beyond words.

"You wretched thing, did the master short you on food or on clothing?"

"Eat something, drink some wine, and you don't even know your own surname!"

On the way back, Li Yifu occasionally whipped the servant who had leaked his secrets.

At first, this servant also regretted it deeply.

After all, he had ruined his master's important affair.

But as Li Yifu kept whipping him along the road, the servant could no longer bear the harsh treatment, and wickedness grew from his gall.

He was originally a home-born servant of the Li Clan.

When the Li Clan declined, many were dismissed, but his whole family, due to their background, were not dismissed and continued to serve the Li Clan.

He originally worked on the manor.

Because of his outstanding appearance, Li Yifu took a liking to him, brought him to the Li Clan, and had him run errands and do odd jobs, counting him as one of the Li Clan's public faces.

But his monthly wage was truly meager.

Li Yifu himself was especially stingy.

The servant actually harbored dissatisfaction deep inside, but he had suppressed it, after all he was not alone; he still had his parents and siblings in the Li Clan.

For this reason, the servant endured the whippings from Li Yifu.

But upon realizing that Li Yifu had no intention of letting him go, the servant realized that if he remained in the Li Clan, he would surely have no good days, possibly even being worn to death.

Thus, the servant exploded!

For a young, strong man like him, killing the aging, wine- and sex-depleted Li Yifu would be no trouble.

Only after Li Yifu had completely stopped breathing and ceased struggling did the servant, terrified, release his hands from around Li Yifu's neck, retreat backward, and curl up in a ball.

A typical crime of passion!

But killing is killing!

A slave who kills his master incurs a crime one degree higher, implicating the whole family!

Having come to his senses, the servant panicked.

He quickly fled the scene, intending to go home and confess everything to his parents, so they could flee together with him.

But after fleeing a few hundred steps, the servant suddenly came to his senses.

There was no one around nearby.

If no one knew he had killed his master, who could define his guilt? If he were innocent, how could his family be implicated?

Thinking this, the servant turned back to the scene.

He placed Li Yifu's corpse onto the cart, then drove the cart back onto the road.

But he did not take the official road back to the Li Clan; instead, midway he entered a small path leading into the mountains.

He walked until the cart could go no further, then dragged Li Yifu's body from the cart and dug a pit to bury it directly.

After burying the corpse, he also dug up a small sapling from the surroundings and planted it, and moved some wild grass, planting them similarly on the soil above the burial site.

Finally, he drove the cart back along the same route.

Along the way, he did not forget to erase the traces left by the cart's passage.

The cart returned to the official road and headed straight back to the Li Clan.

However, when the cart passed the bridge that was a necessary point on the return to the Li Clan, the servant stopped the cart at the bridge's edge, used a stick to pry open the cart compartment, and the cart together with the old horse plunged down from the bridge.

He himself was also ruthless; after dealing with the traces on the bridge, he too jumped down from the bridge.

……

That evening, the servant reappeared outside the Shen Family's main gate, looking quite disheveled.

His hair was disheveled, his clothes were ragged, and he bore numerous wounds.

"Sir, my family, my grandparents, they're gone!"

When the servant was brought by the Shen Family's gatekeeper before Shen Shen, as soon as he opened his mouth, tears streamed down.

"What happened?"

"Tell me in detail!"

"Sir, I was taking my grandparents home; when we reached the Three Stone Bridge, the horse pulling the cart suddenly startled, and the cart fell into the river……"

"Grandparents, grandparents……"

The servant beat his chest and stamped his feet, "It's all my fault; I lacked the ability to save my grandparents!"

"I am sorry to my grandparents!"

"Enough!"

Shen Shen shouted angrily, cutting off the servant's wailing.

「Come here, first take him away, and also send someone to the county office to inform the magistrate! 」

「Elder Master, the Old Master's corpse is missing; we have to go look for it! 」

While the servant was being taken away, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

「Shut up! 」

Shen Shen glared at the other party just the same, and waved his hand dismissively.

After the servant was taken away, Shen Shen furrowed his brows tightly and sat down.

「Go summon the Second and Third Masters! 」

「Right, don't tell Wenxi Hall about this for now! 」

「Yes! 」

The steward guarding nearby quickly replied, "I'll go warn the people below right away, to make them keep their mouths shut!"

「Go! 」

Shen Shen waved his hand.

Although he doesn't like this uncle Li Yifu, the person just disappeared like that—isn't that a bit too childish?

Could it really just be an accident?

Even if he believes it's an accident, will his mother believe it?

What on earth is all this!

What a troublesome autumn!

Shen Shen felt that recent events were truly too many, and none of them were good—one after another, leaving him exhausted!

……

By the time Shen Yunyao learned of Li Yifu's demise, it was already noon the next day.

This was only because Cuiyu's second brother Zhao Xiang specially came running to deliver the news; otherwise, Shen Yunyao would still not know.

「Miss, this... 」

「Isn't this too much of a coincidence? 」

Even Cuiyu felt that this matter was a bit too coincidental.

「It really is too much of a coincidence! 」

「Did the horses pulling the carriage get startled? 」

The servant came running to our manor covered in wounds, looking quite disheveled—how could I not have a sense of foreboding?

「Right, has the office sent someone to investigate? 」

「No news yet! 」

Cuiyu shook her head and said, "My second brother said the county office had already sent constables over early this morning; we'll have to wait for them to return to know the details."

「Miss, do you think it's possible that the servant is responsible? 」

「Hard to say! 」

Shen Yunyao shook her head and said, "The person is gone, the carriage has sunk to the riverbed, and I don't even know if it can be fished out…"

「However, your suspicion is not without basis. 」

"Our uncle's scheme was thwarted by that servant; the servant surely won't earn the uncle's favor. You said the servant is covered in wounds—what do those wounds look like?"

Shen Yunyao felt that the servant's possibility of killing in anger was great.

But how could he dare to do that?

Having killed someone, he didn't flee but instead ran back to the Shen family, appearing like a derelict loyal servant.

If it really was him who killed the person, where does he get his confidence?

(End of chapter)