Chapter 201: Being Her Sister-in-Law

Jinzhi bent over and picked up the sweet cakes that had fallen to the ground piece by piece; the sweet cakes were covered in dust—how could they be eaten?

The sweet cake shop owner hurried out, took the sweet cakes from Jinzhi's hands, and gave her new ones.

Jinzhi was slightly startled; the shop owner sighed and said softly, "Miss, take them and hurry back to the manor!"

Jinzhi quickly nodded, gestured thanks, and took the sweet cakes back to the manor through the west side gate.

She had just placed the sweet cakes on the master's kang table in the warm pavilion when Jiu Yue rushed in, her gaze toward Jinzhi now tinged with something unusual.

"Jinzhi! Come with me quickly!"

"Yun Duo went to the medical hall to summon the master!"

Jinzhi propped herself up with both hands, stunned in place, then gestured that she wanted to change into clean clothes before going to the front hall, but Jiu Yue grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the front hall.

"We're in dire straits—what's the point of changing clothes? Come with me quickly!"

Jiu Yue dragged Jinzhi, running and pulling, to the front hall; as soon as they arrived, Jinzhi saw Xiao Yin seated in the place of honor, with a crowd of people kneeling in a dark mass below.

The leaders among them looked like they came from the countryside, seeming familiar, yet she couldn't place where she knew them from.

She had just been thinking hard when a wave of headache struck, making her whole body tremble.

Unexpectedly, the leading old woman, upon seeing Jinzhi, first froze, then rose and cried as she rushed over, clutching Jinzhi and bursting into tears.

"Miss Su! Miss Su!"

"You're actually still alive?"

The two other middle-aged men also stood up, looking at Jinzhi with expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

Jinzhi was used to such looks, given her horrible facial scars, yet these two regarded her as if they truly had seen a ghost.

"How could this be? That great fire back then reduced Miss Su's residence to ashes, leaving not even a bone to be found!"

"Moreover… moreover… the Zhang family living next door suffered even worse—every old and young member was burned to death!"

"Yes, even the Zhang girl lodged with the Zhang family was burned to ashes together; that little girl was quite pretty, a pity…"

The villagers, once they started talking, chattered on and on, eventually drifting off topic.

At this moment, another batch of kneeling people fared worse than those here.

Yet standing in the very center was a woman of the Fuyu Tribe, dressed in black clothes and robes, her whole body wrapped tightly, wearing a veil that revealed only a pair of sharp-eyed beauties, gazing indifferently at Xiao Yin seated in the place of honor.

At this moment, Xiao Yin's expression had sunk to its depths; he never expected the information brought back by those he'd sent out to be so astonishingly bewildering.

He had always thought the General An's daughter was someone else?

Over these years, what has he actually done? He raised an enemy while letting the true daughter of General An wander outside, and thinking of this fills him with uncontrollable anger.

He was about to speak when hurried footsteps sounded outside; Gu Jiu Ling entered the main hall supported by Yun Duo.

Immediately Xiao Yin rose and helped her sit down; the black-clad woman standing in the center flashed her gaze, a hint of surprise crossing her eyes.

Isn't Xiao Yin the renowned war god? How can he be so afraid of his wife?

I've heard that in Southern Qi wives follow their husbands; where is there a wife entering while the husband bows to serve her?

Xiao Yin watched Gu Jiu Ling's forehead, sweaty from her hurried walk, a fine layer of perspiration appearing; he naturally lifted his sleeve to wipe it, then pushed the warm tea before her.

"Take a sip of water, calm yourself!"

"Thank you, Prince!"

Gu Jiu Ling raised her head and gulped a few mouthfuls, feeling much better, then turned to the black-clad woman and smiled, saying, "Miss, you are…"

The black-clad woman snorted coldly, "Princess Consort, no need for pleasantries; if it weren't for Jinzhi, I wouldn't have come with your people to testify."

"Indeed, Jinzhi was… picked up by our princess consort midway; I was there too—when she was retrieved, her whole body was burned, and she was on the brink of death."

"Moreover, the wound on her head was the worst; had it not been for our lord's mercy in summoning the imperial physician of Fuyu State to attend her, she would have died long ago—how could she be alive today?"

Gu Jiu Ling nodded, then raised her hand toward Jiu Yue on the side and said, "Take… take this miss to the guest quarters to rest first."

The black-clad woman was taken aback; she had been brought back together with those in the main hall all along, never expecting to be told to rest, and no one had used force against her.

She hadn't expected Xiao Yin's people to be so formidable, actually digging out her hiding place by sheer force, resulting in the capital merely being used to have her identify the mute slave… now called Jinzhi this girl.

After Jiu Yue escorted the black-clad woman away, only an elderly couple kneeling on the ground remained; they had long been frightened out of their wits, trembling and unable to compose themselves.

A hint of frost flickered in Xiao Yin's brows and eyes, making anyone who looked feel a wave of dread.

He coldly regarded the nervous elderly couple before him, raised his hand in a gesture, and the guards on both sides seized the old man, dragging him to the ground and began to beat him with boards.

The old man could not withstand such treatment and immediately fainted from the pain.

"Please! Please release my old husband!"

"The common folk all say, just speak it out!"

"Six years ago, a little girl came to the town looking for us; she cried, saying her sisters had died of consumption, and to keep a memento, since her sister's name contained a 'plum' character, she asked us to tattoo a plum on her neck."

"We are well-known tattoo artists in the surrounding villages, usually serving the girls of brothels—where would a proper young lady come asking for tattoo work?"

"But seeing how pitifully the little girl cried, we helped her; frankly, the few coins she gave us back then were hardly worth anything, yet we never imagined it would bring disaster."

"We don't even know whom we offended; it was just a few years ago when someone tried to kill us. In our daily dealings with the girls at the establishments, those girls had many connections and warned us we might have offended some enemies, urging us to flee, which is why we left that town."

"After wandering about, we were brought before you! Please, raise your noble hand and spare us!"

Xiao Yin gestured to Ling Feng, who brought a portrait of Su Wanrou before the old woman: "Is the little girl you're looking for this woman?"

The old woman blinked, then nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's the little girl, it's her! But back then she was very frail, unlike the plump appearance in the portrait now."

"Prince, we really are running an honest business, just a small trade; how dare we offend you, Prince?"

"Prince…"

"Drag them away! Lock them in the firewood room!"

"Lock these few others away too!"

Xiao Yin tapped the hand holding Jinzhi, and the villagers who were noisily chatting were also taken away together.

At this moment the atmosphere in the front hall felt somewhat eerie; with so many people staring at Jinzhi, she felt waves of numbness on her scalp.

Gu Jiu Ling smiled at Jinzhi and said, "Come over! Let your sister-in-law take a good look!"

One moment it's Miss Su, the next the Princess Consort wants to be her sister‑in‑law, and Jinzhi was instantly dazed.