xymnovel Chapter 120 The Lady Arrives
Chapter 120 The Lady Arrives
"Has this day finally come?"
Li Chong was somewhat distracted.
After taking over the identity of the original Li Chong, Li Chong knew that sooner or later he would have to face the test from his family.
Fortunately, the original owner of this body was an orphan whose parents died early; otherwise, he really wouldn't have been confident that he could have fooled his parents.
However, he still had to get past other people, the most important of whom was naturally the original owner's wife.
Whether his partner will recognize him is still unknown.
After a moment of distraction, Li Chong regained his composure: "My family? Bring them to me so I can see who they are."
"Yes."
The constables went down to take the people away.
As soon as the constables left, Li Chong immediately returned to his room and took out a book from under his pillow.
Even last-minute preparation can be effective.
Li Chong dared to kill Cui Shi, naturally because he had already extracted all the information Cui Shi knew.
Li Chong carefully examined the book, determined to deepen his memory of it.
The book is full of crooked and winding characters, interspersed with a few Chinese characters. If it were placed in front of other people, probably even if they worked themselves to death, very few people would be able to understand what it means.
To prevent leaks, Li Chong wrote down the information given by Cui Shi using pinyin, with Chinese characters as clues in between.
He could guarantee that no one else in the world could understand this book except himself, so he naturally didn't need to worry about leaks.
"My wife's name is Xie Wenyu, my sister-in-law's name is Xie Wentang, and I also have a brother-in-law named Xie Wenyou..."
Silently memorizing the original owner's interpersonal relationships, a short while later, the yamen runner led two people to the door.
"Master."
Hearing the noise, Li Chong put down his book, straightened his clothes, and slowly walked out.
Looking at the two servants dressed as young men below, Li Chong's eyes flickered slightly. He nodded first, then looked at the constable beside him and said, "You may leave now."
After dismissing the constables, Li Chong sat down at the table and asked in a deep voice, "Who sent you?"
The two felt something was off; why did their son-in-law seem different from before?
But then they remembered the stories they had heard along the way, and the two immediately understood: personally annihilating mountain bandits was a feat that not everyone could accomplish.
Given that he could do all that, it's not surprising that her son-in-law's temperament had changed somewhat.
"Replying to the young master, it was the young master who sent us to inform you that he is protecting the young lady and that she will be able to reunite with the young master in a few days."
Li Chong jolted, but immediately regained his balance.
To my utter surprise, I was going to run into the original owner's wife so soon.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Li Chong has been in office for several months now, the summer taxes are all done, and autumn is just around the corner. His wife, who is going back to her parents' home, should indeed be coming soon.
Moreover, Li Chong did not expect that his brother-in-law would also be accompanying him.
"Ziyi has come too." Li Chong's face showed surprise and delight. "I was just saying whether we should send some people to welcome Madam. Now that Ziyi has come along, I feel much more at ease."
Li Chong's brother-in-law, Xie Wenyou, courtesy name Ziyi, was the younger brother of his nominal wife.
The two servants exchanged a glance, and one of them cupped his hands and said, "It's all thanks to the young master's skill. If we hadn't heard that the young master led troops to wipe out the mountain bandits, the young lady might not have agreed to let the young master come along."
"By the way, are they safe along the way? Although the bandits of Dafeng Mountain are gone, the journey hasn't been peaceful. We must make sure nothing happens to them."
Li Chong asked with concern, his worry evident in his words.
"Don't worry, young master. The young lady waited for several days in Daming Prefecture, traveling with many merchant caravans. There were probably several hundred people in total. Ordinary petty thieves wouldn't dare to mess with her."
Li Chong then asked a few more questions to express his concern before sending the two away.
"You must be tired from your journey. Go down and collect your reward money and stay here for now. I will send someone else to inform Ziyi."
They would naturally not refuse Li Chong if it would save them some effort, and the reward money would make them even happier.
"Thank you, son-in-law."
After thanking Li Chong, the two turned and left.
After watching the two leave, Li Chong's warm expression gradually turned serious.
He didn't know if there were any flaws in his performance just now. What Li Chong heard from Cui Shi was ultimately just a superficial understanding. Li Chong had never truly witnessed how the original owner of this body interacted with the Xie family.
Although he managed to get by, Li Chong still felt uneasy.
However, logically speaking, the two servants shouldn't be anything particularly cunning; they should be able to fool everyone.
However, servants are easy to fool, but others are a different story.
As the original owner's bedmate, Li Chong wasn't sure if Xie Wenyu could see through him.
But he had to get through this hurdle; he couldn't give up this excellent situation.
"How about I stay out of their sight for a while, and we meet again after they've settled in..."
Li Chong silently pondered.
Just then, a soft voice sounded in his ear: "What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about your wife whom you've never met, and how stunningly beautiful she must be?"
Just as Li Chong was lost in thought, Zhong Mei appeared beside him without him even noticing.
"You knew everything?" Li Chong came to his senses.
Zhong Mei lowered her eyes: "Everyone in the courtyard is talking about this; it's hard not to know."
"Oh." Li Chong nodded absentmindedly. "You came to see me just to talk about this?"
Seeing Li Chong lost in thought, Zhong Mei felt a surge of anger rising within him. For some reason, he suddenly felt like losing his temper.
"Hmph! Didn't you say you'd have Uncle Jia and the others come down the mountain to see you? They'll be here tomorrow!"
A letter was slammed onto the table, leaving Li Chong somewhat taken aback.
"What are you doing...?"
Zhong Mei was also somewhat flustered, and couldn't help but ask herself, "What's wrong with me? Why am I so angry?"
She quickly changed the subject: "Have you thought about how to deal with them? If you give yourself away, you'll probably have to come up the mountain with me."
Thinking of this, Zhong Mei suddenly felt much more relaxed, and her tone even carried a hint of cheerfulness.
However, she was deliberately trying to make herself appear more like someone gloating.
Li Chong was momentarily lost in thought, his eyes falling on the letter on the table.
"Jia Zhuo, Hu Changyong..."
He muttered to himself, causing Zhong Mei to unconsciously furrow her brow.
Suddenly, her eyes narrowed: "Hey, you're not thinking of asking us to kill someone to cover your tracks, are you?"
Hearing Li Chong talking about her two uncles, Zhong Mei couldn't help but have a bad feeling. The simplest way for Li Chong to get out of this predicament was naturally to make the people who might discover his identity disappear.
And this is precisely what Jia Zhuo and his former bandits were best at.
Li Chong chuckled, "You think too badly of me. No matter what, I would never lay a hand on them. To impersonate them and then harm their family—what would that make me?"
Undeniably, Li Chong did have a fleeting impulse in his heart.
However, what makes us human is our ability to control our impulses; it's just a thought, nothing serious.
Zhong Mei was relieved: "So, how do you plan to get through this?"
"I'm preparing to..."
Li Chong drew out his voice, which made Zhong Mei move closer to him, her face showing curiosity.