Chapter 540: Wolf Cub's Ambition

Zhao Lang immediately ordered the surrounding servants to obey Gu Jiu Ling's management and commanded his personal guards to seize those two stewards.

Soon, a large amount of the finances hidden by the two stewards was found, and even some items that the emperor had bestowed upon Zhao Lang.

It's unclear from which storehouse they were stolen; if not for the imperial mark on them, they might have already been sold for money.

Precisely because they bore the imperial seal, they dared not sell them casually, so they hid them in their own rooms.

Zhao Lang's expression changed instantly; he wished he could go up and beat those two bastards to death.

His wife treated them with exceptional kindness; compared to the servants of other noble families, the Zhao family's servants lived a life that was heaven and earth apart.

His parents and his wife were all good people, and they had never encountered any trouble.

They even made four sets of new clothes each year, while other noble families only made two; yet even this failed to warm their hearts, and they actually stole so much from the inner residence.

He immediately ordered the two stewards' waist belts' keys to be removed, and then Zhao Lang gave them a fierce beating before they were taken to the government office.

For servants who greedily covet their master's property, the punishment, if judged, would still be severe.

Those two stewards, their faces covered in blood, kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, but to no avail.

The servants and maids who had just been standing outside, watching and commenting on the master's affairs, were each struck ten times by Gu Jiu Ling alone; the entire Zhao household, up and down, was weeping and wailing, like hell.

Zhao Lang transferred his personal guards from outside into the mansion; those who should be beaten were beaten, those who should be scolded were scolded, those who should be dealt with were dealt with. In a moment, the Zhao household's servants, up and down, knelt one by one in the front courtyard, trembling with fear.

Gu Jiu Ling turned around, fixed her stare on Chen Yiyi kneeling on the ground, and said: 'Speak! Where did you hide the Zhao family's eldest daughter?'

A look of confusion flitted across Chen Yiyi's face; she instinctively glanced at the moon gate to the side, then quickly lowered her head and still tried to excuse herself: 'My older cousin is heavy; these days the eldest daughter has been constantly leaning on her, which isn't good for my cousin either. Just yesterday the eldest daughter suddenly flung herself onto my cousin, who accidentally fell, and that's why she was sent to the Princess Consort's clinic.'

'My older cousin has always treated me very well; I am extremely worried, and I also feel that the eldest daughter ought to be disciplined. How could this be? If anything were to happen to my older cousin, what would we do? This child is very mischievous... his temperament really needs to be straightened out.'

'Nonsense!' Gu Jiu Ling couldn't help but mutter under her breath, her face darkening to the extreme.

'She is the Zhao family's eldest daughter, the legitimate daughter of the general's mansion; what are you, to think you can discipline her?!'

'A child born of a concubine woman—what, do you still want to rebel against heaven?'

'Your father is merely an eighth-rank minor official, while General Zhao is a Pillar of the State Grand General; his daughter—do you, a ruined commoner, think you have the right to manage her?'

'Speak! Where exactly did the eldest daughter go? If you can't give a clear answer, today I'll skin you alive!'

Chen Yiyi hadn't expected Gu Jiu Ling to be so shrewish; she could no longer endure it, and hurriedly crawled on her knees toward Zhao Lang.

'General! General, save me! I'm so scared! General!'

'Zhao Lang, if you dare to speak for this lowly person today, tomorrow I will take Jinzhi and have her divorce you—we'll part ways, each going our own way.'

'Jinzhi married into your general's mansion to enjoy blessings, not to suffer; you decide what to do.'

Zhao Lang didn't need Gu Jiu Ling to say these things; he also noticed that Chen Yiyi was acting strangely.

Since yesterday they had been busy rescuing Jinzhi, never thinking of their own daughter; after all, the mansion still had a wet nurse and a grandmother.

He never imagined that he would now be unable to see his own daughter; his heart sank instantly as he walked over to Chen Yiyi and said coldly, 'Not striking women is my bottom line—don't force me to act. Speak! Where is my daughter?'

Chen Yiyi hadn't expected Zhao Lang to shout at her like this; her heart suddenly felt sour and unusual, and she couldn't help but feel resentful.

What is Jinzhi? Just an ugly freak with half her face ruined, yet she managed to marry such a handsome, graceful man.

Originally, her grandmother sent her to the Zhao residence, having taken a fancy to Zhao Lang as a money-making tree.

Indeed, in less than two or three years, Zhao Lang leapt to become Southern Qi's Pillar of the State Grand General, his power in the court shining like the midday sun.

Yet such a handsome, martial young general who wins hearts at first sight actually married such an ugly freak.

He also understood his maternal grandmother's meaning: as long as he was sent into the Zhao family, even if he first became a concubine there, his future would still be limitless.

If she were later lifted into the Zhao family, even as a concubine, within a few years she could leave Jinzhi with no place to be buried.

By then, if she could also bear Zhao Lang a son and a daughter, she might even rise to become a phoenix.

Now, the man she constantly longs for actually wants to beat and kill her without end; her heart sank and she burst into tears and cries.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Lang not only failed to cherish and protect her, but also held his sword's edge to her neck.

The cold sword edge touched Chen Yiyi's neck; she could no longer cry, and a look of extreme terror flashed in her eyes.

She looked at the man before her—not only his former aloofness, but waves of killing intent.

Chen Yiyi opened her mouth, but found herself unable to speak.

Zhao Lang's sword edge advanced a fraction more; a thread of blood flowed down her fair neck, and Chen Yiyi repeatedly begged for mercy.

'General, spare me, spare my life—the eldest daughter was disobedient, so I had the maid take her to play in the rear garden.'

Gu Jiu Ling turned and walked toward the moon gate; not long after, she heard a little girl's crying and shouting from among the trees.

Gu Jiu Ling's heart became anxious; Jinzhi's daughter, delicate in appearance, was like a porcelain doll.

Every time she held the child in her hands, she couldn't bear to let go, and even joked that they would arrange a childhood engagement, marrying Jinzhi's daughter to her son.

Upon hearing the child's tragic cries, Gu Jiu Ling's heart felt as if it would break.

She almost ran over, but Zhao Lang, after all being the father, surpassed her speed.

Soon the child's crying stopped abruptly; she hurried a few steps forward, only to see the grandmother kicked to the ground by Zhao Lang.

At that moment, the grandmother was so frightened she couldn't utter a word.

Zhao Lang, heart aching, lifted his daughter into his arms; the daughter was, all told, still under a year old.

Her two arms clung to Zhao Lang's neck like lotus roots, and at this moment her arms were even bruised purple from the grandmother's twisting.

The sun outside was blazingly hot, yet it was already the start of winter; in such cold weather, that plump model happened to be wearing a padded coat.

Yet they gave the family's eldest daughter only a thin jacket; the little girl froze until her nose ran, and if this mistreatment continues, the child might not live long.

Gu Jiu Ling hurried over and snatched the little girl Ru Yue into her arms.

She gently patted the child with care; the child's body felt light, probably from hunger.

At that moment, the grandmother looked in terror at Zhao Lang, who was approaching step by step.

'Even the general's old grandma can't speak properly, can't even make sense.'

Zhao Lang pulled out the waist from his waist, raised the sword in his hand.

'Zhao Lang!' Gu Jiu Ling warned in time, but it was still a bit late.

Fortunately, Gu Jiu Ling gave a reminder, and Zhao Lang's sword veered slightly, stabbing into the grandmother's ribs.

Blood poured from the grandmother's mouth, and she fainted.

"Send them to the medical clinic!" Gu Jiu Ling certainly didn't want this old hag to die so easily; she dared to mistreat the master—who gave her the gall?