Chapter 454: with translation of chapter title

Zhang Liang stood bowing before Gu Kang, waiting a long time for his response, and beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Li Ruoxi frowned fiercely on the side, the oppressive aura emanating from Gu Kang making one feel suffocated.

Gu Kang coldly stared at Zhang Liang, who stood before him drenched in sweat, then gave a light chuckle that still carried a hint of the frivolity he once had as a spoiled young master.

"You have quite the fortune with women!"

Zhang Liang froze on the spot, not understanding what Magistrate Gu meant.

One felt that an imperial court official should have dignity and solemnity, but Gu Kang lacked even that this time; in that instant it seemed as if time had rolled back a few years, when Gu Kang was still the red‑clad youth riding horses on Changtai Street.

Faced with Gu Kang's remark, Zhang Liang truly didn't know how to respond, hastily smiling and daring not to say anything.

Gu Kang slowly shifted forward, looked at Zhang Liang, and said, "You're not as good‑looking as I am."

"I have more money than you!"

"Why does she follow you just because you wave your hand, while I would tear out my bloody heart and she would still despise its stench?"

"Say it!"

Gu Kang suddenly roared.

Zhang Liang was stunned by Gu Kang's shout, fell to his knees with a thud, his face deathly pale, unable to utter a word.

He hurriedly begged Gu Kang for mercy: "Please, Sir Gu, calm your anger! Please, Sir Gu, calm your anger!"

"I won't contend, I won't contend with Sir Gu, I won't contend!"

"It's fine for Ruoxi to follow you! It's fine!"

Gu Kang snorted coldly: "If that's the case, why are you still pestering her here?"

"Sir Gu! I too have read many books, yet I always failed the exams; I beg Sir Gu to grant me a minor official post, and I have no other request—from now on I will never again entangle Ruoxi, let her stay with you!"

As soon as Zhang Liang finished speaking, Li Ruoxi felt as if struck on the head by a club; she looked incredulously at her beloved husband, unable to believe that a scholar would utter such shameless words.

With a swish! Gu Kang drew the sword from his hand and slowly placed it against Zhang Liang's neck.

"Sir! Sir, spare my life!" Zhang Liang hadn't expected Gu Kang to draw his blade so quickly; he was already trembling with fear.

Li Ruoxi, standing nearby, was completely dazed.

She never imagined Zhang Liang harbored such intentions; she had thought he had come all the way to the capital merely to find his wife.

She had felt a bit guilty, but now that guilt vanished, replaced by deep despair and anger.

Gu Kang slowly turned his face, looked at Li Ruoxi standing bowed beside him, and said, "Is this the man you found?"

Despair surged in Li Ruoxi's eyes.

Gu Kang gave a cold snort, raised his sword to stab Zhang Liang, but Li Ruoxi blocked it.

Li Ruoxi stared fixedly at Gu Kang.

"Sir Gu, he doesn't know what we are planning; please spare his life."

Gu Kang furrowed his brows.

He hadn't expected Li Ruoxi to plead for Zhang Liang at this critical moment.

His face darkened.

It's not appropriate for Li Ruoxi to reveal such matters, lest we startle the snake.

If an outsider were to hear of it now, the whole scheme would be ruined, for it concerns many lives.

No one expected Zhang Liang to appear, barging in on them, which has made the situation somewhat complicated.

Li Ruoxi dropped to her knees with a thud before Gu Kang.

"Sir Gu, this involves my father's case; I will not utter another word, nor will my husband, so he now knows nothing of what happened. I beg you to show mercy and let him go."

A dark current stirred in Gu Kang's expression; in fact, his method would once and for all help Li Ruoxi dispose of this ill‑intentioned husband while keeping their secret.

Yet Li Ruoxi knelt before him, pleading for this man; a surge of anger rose in his chest, his expression turned icy as frost, and he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

"In this world, indeed falsehood masquerades as truth and truth as falsehood; if the false is taken as true, the true becomes false."

"Li Ruoxi, you will surely pay the price for your self‑deception!"

Having said that, Gu Kang raised his sword, rose, and walked outside, but his steps halted at the doorway.

He turned his face to Li Ruoxi and said, "You two talk first; I'll send someone later to take him away."

Li Ruoxin hurriedly said, "Sir Gu! He really knows nothing; please release him!"

Gu Kang smiled: "It's impossible to let him go; I have my own arrangements."

Having spoken, Gu Kang strode out.

At this moment, Zhang Liang, kneeling on the ground, was drenched in cold sweat; having just walked a chapter through the gates of hell, who wouldn't be afraid?

"Ruoxi, Ruoxi, quickly beg Sir Gu to let me go; I didn't mean to offend him on purpose—release me, and I'll never dare to sway before him again."

"Ruoxi!"

"He likes you so much; he'll listen to whatever you say."

"Please, Sir Gu, let me go!"

Li Ruoxi stared at the terrified, pallid face before her; his once handsome features were twisted by fear, and she couldn't help sighing inwardly at how worthless all her previous efforts had been.

She gave a bitter smile, reached out, and lifted her husband from the cold ground.

"Zhang Liang, from today onward our bond of kindness and righteousness is severed."

"Leave this place; Sir Gu may send someone to take you elsewhere for settlement."

"Wait a few days; Sir Gu is not someone who goes back on his word."

"Once this matter is settled, I will personally arrange for you to be sent to Yunzhou."

"Your future life is not my responsibility to arrange."

"But we must make it clear: from now on, we are no longer husband and wife?"

Upon hearing that he would be handed over to Gu Kang without being told where, Zhang Liang flared up in panic and shouted, "Wife! Please save me—I don't want to go with him!"

"Wife, you keep saying you want to settle things—what exactly do you want to settle?"

Li Ruoxi didn't dare let him know the inside story, and she never expected this person to be so greedy for wealth and honor; in a moment her heart turned completely cold toward Zhang Liang.

Not long after, Gu Kang sent people in, who held Zhang Liang, kneeling on the ground and constantly begging for mercy, and then dragged him up.

Zhang Liang panicked at once; after just a few cries, someone stuffed his mouth with hemp, and he could only make muffled whimpering sounds.

Li Ruoxin stared at Gu Kang before her, opened her mouth but still couldn't say anything.

Gu Kang only glanced at the woman standing before him; the pang of pity in his eyes flashed and was replaced by icy coldness.

"Where's the evidence?"

Li Ruoxi turned around, undid her sash, and immediately took out the thing hidden inside.

She straightened her clothes, placed the sash before Gu Kang, opened it, and revealed the page after page of account books hidden inside.

It was exactly the true ledger from when the Duan family cleared the fields in Pingcheng back then.