Chapter 315: Revenge from Du Ruo

Duan Xiu was already troubled by nightmares and restless, and hearing this made him furious. He didn't wait for the book boy to react, opened the door himself, and scolded sharply, "What's all the noise? Bringing bad luck early in the morning, you deserve a beating!"

The servant knelt down with a *thump*, pointing toward the courtyard, his voice shaking uncontrollably, "Dea, dead person..."

Duan Xiu frowned and stepped out of the room.

Behind him, the book boy hurriedly took an outer garment to drape over him to prevent him from catching a cold.

Several servants and old women had already gathered in the courtyard, all looking terrified. Seeing the master come, they hurriedly made way.

Duan Xiu's gaze fell to the ground.

There lay a young girl, dressed as a low-level maid responsible for watering and sweeping the courtyard.

"How did she die?" Duan Xiu pointed at the maid and asked in a deep voice.

"Scared to death... oh no, she hasn't died yet, just fainted."

The servant pointed to the sky tremblingly, "The dead person is, is up there!"

Duan Xiu looked up in confusion.

What met his eyes was a person wrapped entirely in black, hanging from the big locust tree in the middle of the courtyard, disheveled, covered in blood.

He couldn't see the face, nor the age, only judging from the figure.

It was a man.

And a man with no consciousness, probably already dead.

A cold wind blew, and the man's corpse swayed back and forth like a pendulum, making everyone below feel cold and their hearts tremble.

Duan Xiu's eyes went black, and if it weren't for the book boy supporting him, he would have almost fallen to the ground.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen dead people.

Like their big family, there were many shady things in the inner house. How many wouldn't die in the house every year?

But those were either servants who made mistakes or concubines who lost favor, beaten to death, drowned, or poisoned. Although the deaths were miserable, none were as shocking as this scene.

He remembered the nightmare just now.

In the dream, Jiang Zhan died the same way, covered in blood, hanging from a branch.

Could it be that this was some kind of omen...

"Young Master, should we report to the authorities?" the servant asked tentatively.

Report to the authorities?

Duan Xiu suddenly thought of something and hurriedly stopped him, "No, the matter hasn't been figured out yet, and we don't even know who this person is. Report what? If it spreads that someone died in the Duan mansion, is the reputation good?"

The servant nodded timidly.

Duan Xiu scanned the few servants present and warned coldly, "No one is allowed to talk about this. If I find out anyone is gossiping outside, I'll take their dog life!"

Several servants lowered their heads, silent as cicadas in winter.

Duan Xiu ordered them to take the body down and told someone to invite Duan's second uncle.

Duan's second uncle also didn't sleep well for half the night.

Reasonably speaking, with the ability of the family's dead soldiers, dealing with a small Jiang Zhan should be easy.

But he waited and waited, from midnight until dawn, but didn't wait for anyone to come back to report.

Instead, he waited for Duan Xiu's book boy.

The book boy told him about the strange things that happened in Duan Xiu's courtyard.

After hearing this, Duan's second uncle was shocked and hurriedly rushed over.

When he saw that familiar and terrifying dead face, Duan's second uncle retreated repeatedly, staggering and sitting on the ground.

It was really the dead soldier he sent out last night to plot against Jiang Zhan—Seven Steps!

How could this be? Seven Steps had solid martial arts foundations and was considered clever. How could he die?

Who killed him??

"Second Master, there's a note on this person!" the sharp-eyed servant suddenly called out.

Duan's second uncle hurriedly took the note and opened it.

His face turned pale instantly.

The note was written in blood, with only a few short words.

"If there is a next time, heads will roll!"

He stared blankly and passed the note to Duan Xiu.

Duan Xiu was calm now, first calling people to take the body away and throw it into the mass grave, then giving Duan's second uncle a look, and the uncle and nephew entered the study and bolted the door.

"This is too scary!" Duan's second uncle spoke first, his tone full of lingering fear, "Although our Duan family can't compare to those powerful families in the capital, we are still considered a solid household. So many guards, and not one discovered the thief's shadow. It's unbelievable."

Such a person, if he was really aiming at him, he would have already seen Yama last night.

Duan's second uncle was used to smooth sailing. Before, if he didn't like someone, he would arrange for a few dead soldiers to deal with them.

This was the first time he had encountered such a hard nut to crack, not even knowing who the person was.

He couldn't help but feel scared in his heart.

"A-Xiu, didn't you say that Jiang Zhan was just a farmer's son? Why would there be such a powerful master protecting him?"

"Yes, I had people inquire before. The Jiang family is indeed just an ordinary farming family, nothing special." Duan Xiu was also puzzled, "There are three people who came with Jiang Zhan: one is his third uncle, but he's just a scholar with no strength; one is his sister-in-law, Madam Du, a woman who is not to be feared; and there is an old servant surnamed Tie, who would fall over if you pushed him, even less likely to have any martial arts..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Could it be someone arranged by Su Qingyao?"

"That's it, it must be!" Duan's second uncle suddenly realized, so angry he gritted his teeth, "Su Qingyao has quite a few good hands under him, like that Xiong Chaoyan who manages the prison, whose kung fu is quite good."

He sneered, "Su Qingyao is planning to go hard against our Duan family for Jiang Zhan."

Go hard? *Heh*.

Duan Xiu curled his lips contemptuously, "Don't worry, Second Uncle, he won't be proud for long. Since the conspiracy doesn't work, then let's have a fair and open plot. Once Master Education Commissioner arrives, Su Qingyao will be about to step down."

Not just Su Qingyao, but also Jiang Zhan's Prefectural Top Scholar position.

Things snatched from others will eventually have to be returned!

Getting up the next morning, Old Tietou found an opportunity to call Du Ruo aside and told her about the man in black last night.

He didn't tell Jiang Zhan and Master Jiang because he was afraid it would affect their exam today.

After hearing this, Du Ruo was furious.

Before, she only thought Duan Xiu had bad intentions, coveted Jiang Zhan's beauty, and was a bit arrogant—all bad habits from being spoiled, not really a big deal.

Now it seems she had thought of the Duan family as too kind.

For the sake of a Prefectural Top Scholar title, they were unscrupulous to this extent, even sending out dead soldiers. One could guess that they either intended to cripple Jiang Zhan to make room for Duan Xiu, or they were prepared to do it once and for all and just kill him.

Truly vicious to the core!

Du Ruo rolled her eyes and soon came up with a nasty idea to retaliate.

So she whispered a few words into Old Tietou's ear and secretly stuffed a bag of good things into his hand, asking in a low voice, "How is it, Old Tie Uncle, can you do it?"

Old Tietou carefully tucked the bag into his sleeve and patted his thin old chest to guarantee.

"Leave it to the old man; I will definitely handle it properly for the Madam. Isn't it just a hidden weapon? This is the old man's specialty; I'll just treat it as a flying knife and shoot it out."

Du Ruo laughed *pfft*.

"Then you must grasp the strength well; don't shoot the person to death, so as not to cause trouble."

Old Tietou stiffened his neck, "The old man knows; the old man isn't stupid."

After saying this, it was about time to set off for the exam hall. ===== CHAPTER 316 =====