Chapter 464: Confrontation

Hearing the family's scheming outside, Li Ruoxi's heart sank instantly.

She was completely dazed.

She thought meeting Zhang Liang meant meeting a good man, never imagining that Zhang Liang was not a poor scholar with only an old mother, but was already married and had a son.

The so-called romance under flowers and moon, flowers beautiful and moon full, is nothing but a ridiculous joke!

She thought she had met a good man who didn't care about her background, never expecting it to be a blood-sucking demon of a family.

Before, Zhang Liang would surely pick a flower for her each day, write her poetry, and even when he had scraped together enough silver to see her once, he would not dare touch her, respecting her and loving her carefully.

She thought she had found the right person, but instead of escaping the hell of the Pleasure Red Courtyard, she fell into another hell.

At this moment, the outsiders' words struck her ears like slap after slap, making her wish she were dead.

Li Ruoxi sprang to her feet, but Gu Kang grabbed her arm.

Gu Kang looked at Li Ruoxi with a sneer and said lightly, 'How to deal with her? Speak!'

Li Ruoxi understood Gu Kang's meaning: to stand up for her.

"Sir Gu, I'll go see him."

Gu Kang frowned impatiently, then rose slowly, patting his sleeves: 'Fine, if you want to confront him yourself, then do so—bring someone! Take Miss Li to the neighboring courtyard.'

The Zhang family argued loudly, unaware that the wall beside the altar in the main hall was strange, and they didn't even hear the faint voices.

Zhang Liang, annoyed by his mother's nagging, shouted loudly: 'Shut up!'

Madam Zhang and Zhang Liang's wife, Madam Wang, were both frightened by Zhang Liang's shout, and his son Tie Zhu burst into tears.

Madam Wang quickly covered her son's mouth and softly soothed him.

Madam Zhang on the side said to her son, 'What's there to fear? It's just that slut hooking up with another man that caused this big mess.'

"Nowadays, for something ridden by a thousand people to take her in is already the blessing of eight lifetimes of cultivation."

"The money she gives our Zhang family is what she owes."

"Anyway, the money earned by a lowly person is ill-gotten; it's perfect for our family to help her spend it, which counts as accumulating virtue for her—our son need not fear, we'll wait for her to come."

"As for Gu Kang, now that he's abducting a good woman, does he still have any justification?"

"That slut is our Zhang family's lawful wife, your wife; even though Gu Kang is a high official, how can he just say he's taking her?"

"Hmph, he now has a weakness in our hands; we can openly demand from him."

"We don't care for village heads; you want a county magistrate? No, an official like that is far too powerful—we aim to be prefect and circuit intendant."

Zhang Liang, listening to his mother's nonsense on the side, felt somewhat vexed and restless.

He never expected Gu Kang to bring his wife and son to Shang Jing, which was clearly a threat.

But by now his mind was already in turmoil.

After all, Li Ruoxi owed him; she was fine in the countryside, yet insisted on coming to Shang Jing and even beating the peace drum.

Now she has rekindled her old romance with Gu Kang; this slut he will certainly not let off lightly.

The family was discussing what to do when suddenly the courtyard gate burst open with a bang, and Li Ruoxi walked in slowly.

Seeing Li Ruoxi enter, the Zhang family fell into disarray.

Madam Zhang was the first to regain composure, rushing toward Li Ruoxi to slap her, but a attendant grabbed and shoved her aside.

Madam Zhang's heart jumped, yet she still stomped her feet and pointed at Li Ruoxi's nose, cursing.

"Well, you still have the nerve to come here!"

"You've been sneaking off with other men behind my son's back, coming to Shang Jing, and now you've locked our family up—what's your intention?"

"Even if Gu Kang is a high official, he can't just abduct a married woman! We'll sue him, and we'll also beat the peace drum!"

"Mother," Zhang Liang hurried over, pulling his mother aside, then stood before Li Ruoxi.

He moved his lips, about to speak, when suddenly Li Ruoxi raised her hand and slapped Zhang Liang hard across the face.

That slap stunned everyone, and Li Ruoxi swung again.

Zhang Liang had never seen such a fierce Li Ruoxi.

He had seen Li Ruoxi's aloofness and her brilliant talent, but indeed never seen her so ferociously abnormal.

Those two slaps left him dazed; he kept stepping back, but Li Ruoxi stepped forward and struck him with several more slaps, actually swelling his face.

Zhang Liang flared with rage, raising his hand to strike back, but then Gu Kang's voice came from behind.

"Seize him!"

Before Zhang Liang could move, Gu Kang's men pressed his arms from both sides and kicked his leg hard.

All that was heard was a crack, likely breaking Zhang Liang's leg.

Zhang Liang fell to his knees with a plop, his face turning white from pain, looking at Gu Kang in disbelief.

Madam Zhang, seeing her son beaten, threw back her head and cried: 'Someone help! He's being beaten! O Great Heavenly Lord, Heaven has eyes, a first-rank official is striking people!'

Gu Kang coldly smiled, made a gesture, and the people on both sides grabbed wooden boards and slammed them into Madam Zhang's mouth.

With the first board, several of Madam Zhang's teeth were knocked out; after a few more boards, she looked in terror at Wu Kang.

The boards were smeared with blood and flesh, yet her mouth was literally beaten to a pulp.

Beside her, Madam Wang, holding her child, gasped and collapsed limp to the ground.

Watching the bloody scene before her, she suddenly felt regret; she should have returned to Cloud Prefecture with the silver she had taken.

This Sir Gu had once sent people to advise them not to pester Li Ruoxi any further.

They returned to Cloud Prefecture to continue their affluent lives; back then they were even given two thousand taels of silver, a huge fortune.

But her husband and mother-in-law were too greedy, thinking that two thousand taels of silver couldn't possibly be spent.

They demanded Gu Kang give money and also give Zhang Liang an official position; now Gu Kang has struck, beating her mother-in-law to this state, and she trembled, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

"Sir Gu, spare my life, spare my life—this wasn't my idea, but my husband's and mother-in-law's."

"Back when my husband went to the capital to take the exams, he met Miss Li."

My husband gradually developed the idea of wanting to cheat Miss Li out of money.

At that time, Miss Li also took a liking to my husband, so the mother-in-law hid us mother and son, and had my husband marry Miss Li.

This really wasn't my idea, really not! Lord Gu, spare my life!