Black Belly Wife

byきつね-January 31, 2022

Continued from the previous chapter-->

If anything in this world could make the sensible, calm Murong Yunshu irrational and agitated, it would be this one thing in front of her⸻Chu Changge collapsing without warning before her.

So, without hesitation, Murong Yunshu chose Chu Changge's life. "I can give you the mechanism map, but you must find someone."

The woman in purple: "You are not qualified to negotiate any other terms with me."

"I am not negotiating terms with you. It's just that I don't have the mechanism map in my hand. I wasn't the one who set the mechanism. Only if I find the one who set it can I get that person to give you the mechanism diagram." Murong Yunshu explained.

The woman in purple: "Don't try to play tricks. I won't believe you."

Murong Yunshu: "If you must ask me to hand over the mechanism diagram to you right now, then I can only draw one with my own hands. As for whether it's right or not, that will depend on your luck."

The woman in purple frowned. "Do you truly not have a sample of the diagram in your hand?"

"You can search my body if you don't believe me." Murong Yunshu had a do-whatever-you-want look on her face.

After a moment of silence, the woman in purple said, "I still don't believe you. If you don't have the mechanism map in your hand, how can you enter the silver warehouse without any problem?"

"I don't usually go in." Murong Yunshu replied.

"Don't go in? How can that be!" The woman in purple looked disbelieving and mocked, "Merchants like you are the most money conservative. It's already rare that you haven't moved your bed into the silver warehouse. How could you not go in?"

"You are mistaken." Murong Yunshu said, "It is true that I am a miser, but it is only limited to guarding my own wealth. For other people's wealth, that is not my business. All the silver in the silver warehouse belongs to the people of the Daye Dynasty. It has nothing to do with me. I don't need to spend that effort to guard it. If it is stolen or washed away by a flash flood, that is also not my business."

"You run a private bank. Aren't you afraid that when the time comes where someone takes a silver ticket to cash in the silver, you won't be able to give it?"

"If I can't give them the silver, then I'll declare bankruptcy. A few private banks will be used to cover the debts, and whoever demands them will take them. As for the rest, even if they kill me, I don't have any money to give them." Murong Yunshu spoke breezily. Please read this chapter at xinshou blogspot com.

But the more the woman in purple listened to her words, the more she couldn't believe it. "Then what about your food and clothing after you go bankrupt?"

Murong Shu raised her eyebrows slightly and said faintly, "Out of millions of the beggars' sect disciples in the Daye Dynasty, I haven't seen many of them die of starvation."

The implication was that she prepared to join the beggar's sect after her bankruptcy? The woman in purple was full of suspicion.

"Besides, I just lost a silver warehouse. It's not like I've lost my family fortune. Food and clothing is still not a problem for me."

"What do you mean by that? Did you not keep your family fortune in the silver warehouse?"

"If you had a hundred taels of silver, would you hide a hundred taels of silver together in the same place?" Murong Yunshu asked instead of answering.

It suddenly dawned on the woman in purple. "No wonder you are so calm. It turns out you already have a backup plan." At the end of her sentence, she gave a cold laugh and said, "The world says that Miss Murong is a good person, who is kind and charitable, but I never thought in reality, she would be cold and heartless. She even takes the people's money as a child's play."

Murong Yunshu's head dropped slightly at her words, and a cold light appeared in her eyes, but on her lips, she spoke indifferently, "I am not Buddha, and I do not need to deliver all living creatures out from their suffering. When it is difficult to protect myself, of course, I have to think of a way to save myself first. What's more, people are all selfish."

"You are quite frank." The woman in purple snorted coldly.

Murong Yunshu did not retort and turned the conversation back to its original topic as she stated, "After I find the person who set up the mechanism, I will ask that person to hand over the mechanism map to you. Before that, I want to know when Chu Changge will be able to wake up."

"It seems that you don't care about anything else either." The woman in purple was snorting with laughter as she said, "I'll give him a daily dose of qi to keep him alive but only for seven days. After seven days, if you still refuse to hand over the mechanism diagram, I will no longer renew his life, and then you will not know when he will ever wake up."

In other words, if she did not get the diagram within seven days, Chu Changge would never wake up. Murong Yunshu felt that the sky was spinning, and her body seemed to have lost its fulcrum. But there was a voice in her head telling her that she could not fall. If she did, no one would be able to save Chu Changge.

The cart would find its way around the hill when it got there. Murong Yunshu, calm down. You must calm down. You have to believe that there is nothing in this world that you cannot solve. Even if you can't solve it, you have to find another person or God who can solve it and fix it.

After taking a deep breath, Murong Yunshu said, "If you want the mechanism diagram, you must first find the person who set it."

The woman in purple said, "Do you think that no one else has grown a brain except for you? Not to mention that your death will not ruin the reputation of Murong Mansion. Even if you are not afraid of being a sinner of Murong Mansion and ruining the foundation built by your ancestors, you will never do so. For you still have a son who, coincidentally, happens to be the Emperor of the Daye Dynasty. Think about it, if the Murong Mansion, which is known as the treasury of the Daye Dynasty, were to fall, would his Dragon Chair still be secure?"

Murong Yunshu was alarmed when she heard her words. How could this woman know about the current Emperor's life?

The woman in purple added, "Women all think one way but act the opposite way. The more they don't care about anything on the surface, the more they care in their hearts. The more open-minded they are on the surface, the more you can't see their hearts. The reason why they put on an appearance of being unconcerned with the world is just that they understand that things in the world are unpredictable and paralyze themselves with resignation."

An unprecedented sense of shock came over Murong Yunshu like a flood. She looked at the woman in purple in a daze, the surprise on her face undisguised.

"Surprised? Women always know women best."

"You misunderstand." Murong Yunshu said indifferently, "What I am surprised by is your powerful imagination."

The woman in purple froze. "Did I say it wrong? "

"You're not wrong, but it won't work with me. If I care about a person or a thing, I never pretend not to care, such as Chu Changge's life. Likewise, if I don't care about something, I genuinely don't care about it, such as silver." Taking a deep breath, Murong Yunshu looked at her and continued, "I am a strange person. I only cherish things that are hard to come by. Unluckily, silver is the easiest thing for me to get. Someone who has never been short of money doesn't care much about it because she doesn't know what it's like to be without it. What's more, if I lose one silver warehouse, I can just build another one. Why bother yourself over a small amount of silver?"

The woman in purple was half convinced. "What about your son's throne? You don't care about that either?"

"What you may not know, he has been wanting to give the throne away all the time." Murong Yunshu said lightly.

The woman in purple: "Impossible! How could anyone want to give up the throne to someone else?"

Murong Yunshu: "Let's just say that everyone has their own ideas. The Daye Dynasty has a large population, so it's not strange to see one or two people who are out of the ordinary."

The woman in purple was silent for a moment before asking again, "Do you honestly care about nothing but Chu Changge's life?"

"For now, yes. If you insist on not believing that I don't have the mechanism map in my hands, then I can only die with him." Murong Yunshu had a firm face on.

The woman in purple was persuaded by her, yet her heart was still reluctant. She pondered for a moment but could not think of any other way before asking, "Who is the person who set the mechanism?"

"No comment."

The woman in purple was furious as she wrung Murong Yunshu's collar and roared, "How dare you trick me?"

"I'm not fooling you. I'm just guarding myself against you." Murong Yunshu's expression didn't even change. "The person who set up the trap has no integrity and is as timid as a mouse. If I tell you that person name, you can then go straight to him and force him to hand over the mechanism diagram. Then I will have no use for you. I don't think you would show mercy to a person who has become useless for you."

The woman in purple broadly smiled as she let go of her hand. "Your mind is indeed amazingly meticulous. Well, since I can't overpower you and you can't fool me, then we'll see how it goes. Let's see if Chu Changge turns into a living dead first or if I find the mechanism diagram first. Men, tie them up and put them in the dungeon." With that, she left with a flick of her sleeve.

In response, Murong Yunshu secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Although it took some talking, it was worth seeing things go the way she wanted them to go in the end.

There was not even a single straw in the dark dungeon, and the damp ground was so cold that even standing on the ground made the soles of her feet feel cold, let alone sleeping. Murong Yunshu took off her outer clothes, folded them into four layers, spread them against the wall, then let Chu Changge sit on the clothes with his back against the wall while she hugged his body and snuggled up to the side.

"Chu Changge, you don't blame me, do you?" Murong Yunshu asked. After a long time, she sighed lightly and continued to mumble to herself, "Although I do not have the ambition to save all the people from extreme miseries, it is just my bottom line not to be the guilty person of the world. Since the woman in purple knows about Little Murong's life, she must have conspired with one of the important officials in the court. If I give her the mechanism map, she will surely find out that the silver inside the warehouse has been stolen. If they take advantage of this opportunity to start a war, there will be another bloodbath. I can't stand by and watch the world turn into chaos."

After taking another breath, Murong Yunshu added, "But don't worry. Someone will come to save us soon, very soon."

If she guessed correctly, the woman in purple would start with the people around her next to find out the whereabouts of the person who set up the mechanism. The first one would be Lu-er, who had followed her for many years.

Thinking about this, Murong Yunshu could not help but sigh in her heart, hoping that Lu-er was with North, South, East and West. Otherwise, Murong Yunshu's efforts would have gone to waste. With that girl, Lu-er's simple mind, she would never be able to guess her intentions.

Murong Yunshu's guess was right. The woman in purple was the first to find Lu-er. At that time, Lu-er was listening to Li Wunai's lecture on meditation inside the carriage and was feeling drowsy. Outside the carriage, the quartet South, East, North and West were unbearably grumpy and whipped the horses as if they were Li Wunai. When they saw someone blocking the way, they were overjoyed as if they had seen a saviour. North Guardian, in particular, flashed his red tasselled spear and asked smilingly, "Do you want to rob us of our money or valuables? We have neither money nor valuables. We only have our lives. Let's go straight into battle and see who lies down first!" [T/C]

The maids of Lihen Palace, disguised as men, did not say anything and directly took action.

"Oh. How obedient! " North Guardian gave a playful laugh and flew out to answer their move.

"Do you need help?" asked East Guardian.

North Guardian waved his hand as he exchanged strokes with the visitors. "No, no, just these few little playthings. I can handle them all by myself." The tone of his voice was very relaxed.

West Guardian, however, said, "After whipping the horses for a few days since it's already hard to find other people to lash on, how can I just let him enjoy it alone? I need a change of pace too." He said as he jumped off the carriage and walked over with a smile on his face. He was flinging the Jiu Qu's Linglong Chain in his hand while saying, "If my chains don't see some blood, they will rust."

Seeing this situation, South Guardian watched the battle for a moment, then calmly said, "We should share the blessings together. Old East, let's go too."

Lu-er's face was immediately full of black lines when she heard these words as she was about to leave the carriage. Share the blessings together? This situation was obviously a misfortune! It was a fatal misfortune for them. Lu-er shrunk back fearfully and lay waiting at the carriage door for a while, observing the condition in the battlefield. When she saw that their side was clearly dominant, she felt slightly relieved. Then she turned her head back into the interior of the carriage and spoke to a motionless Li Wunai, "Great Master, it's so lively outside. Don't you want to come out and join in the fun? Maybe after listening to your lecture on meditation, they will fall asleep, and they will be in our mercy."

The corners of Li Wunai's mouth slightly twitched as he said, "I will chant for them when they are dead."

Lu-er was speechless. "A monk is supposed to be merciful. Great Master, you are not merciful at all."

"You mean, you want me to persuade them not to fight? "

"......it's not an impossible thing to do." Despite herself not even believing her own statement. 

Li Wunai gave her a blank look and said, "If you want to persuade them, you might as well take your own time to do so. I still want to live a few more years."

"Great Master, I heard that your martial arts skills are very high."

Li Wunai grunted and said, "No matter how one's martial arts is, one can still die." He just didn't feel like doing something arduous and thankless task like that!

Lu-er bristled resentfully and looked at the battlefield again, and the winner was already decided. All the men in black had been taken down. When the veils were lifted, South, East, North and West gasped. They were all women! Each of them was delicate as a flower and refined as a precious jade! "Who are you people?" asked East Guardian.

"If you want to kill us, then just kill. We will not reveal our identities!"

East Guardian smiled warmly. "I never kill women."

"Me too." South, North and West spoke in unison. Killing women was an extremely cheap act.

If they didn't kill women, then who should do the job of using torture to extort a confession from them? South, East, North and West looked at each other and finally unanimously turned their sight at Li Wunai, sitting inside the carriage.

Sensing the four people's eyes, Li Wunai immediately made his position clear, "I never kill anyone." Not to mention women, I don't even kill other people. Let's see what else can you use to entrap me! Li Wunai thought smugly in his heart. [+]

When Li Wunai did not cooperate, the four had to drop their sight on the last person and only female in their group.

Lu-er's heat instantly shook, and she was even more helpless than Li Wunai, "I never take the life of living things!" [T/E]

"......" Could she be even more dramatic? The corners of the South, East, North and West's mouths twitched simultaneously. "I don't believe you haven't trampled on ants."

"Er." Lu-er was at a loss for words. Without any better option, she could only drive a duck onto a perch. She carefully jumped off the carriage and walked over to the mass of black-clad people tied up into a dumpling and spoke weakly, "You know, you might as well be honest. Don't ever believe these men's nonsense. These four guys who claim they won't kill women are actually more active in this killing business than anyone else. In their eyes, there was only a distinction between not a sinner and a sinner, with no distinction between man and woman. And for the monk, cannot be trusted even more. In his eyes, he already considers women as skeletons, which is why he says he does not kill."

South, East, North and West and Li Wunai were stunned. When did this girl become this smart?

The black-clothed people remained indifferent, with the sad look of heroic sacrifice.

Lu-er scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and added, "Killing is against the law, and my Miss never advocates it. My Miss also said that the best way to torture someone is to let them survive, then make them beg for their lives instead of death. I can't make them break the law, so I'll have to make you beg for your lives instead of death." she said, and then asked North Guardian, "You always have the worst ideas. What do you think will make them beg for their lives instead of death? "

Being named, the North Guardian answered very cooperatively, "Destroy their faces."

Lu-er shuddered and shook her head. "No, no, that would be too cruel."

"How about breaking their limbs? " South Guardian made a rare positive comment.

West Protector: "I suggest cutting their tongue and piercing their eyes......"

"Stop! " Lu-er gave him a blank look, then looked at East Guardian. "What do you think? "

East Guardian thought seriously for a long time and spat out a resounding sentence, "Listen to the Great Master's lecture on meditation."

"Old East, you are too cruel! " South, North and West spoke in unison. Lu-er also nodded heavily. That was too cruel, exceptionally too cruel.

Li Wunai's face turned dark. How dare they say that listening to his lecture on meditation was even crueller than disfiguring, breaking arms, cutting tongues and stabbing eyes!

East, South, North, West and Lu-er gave Li Wunai an affirmative look. That's right. It was simply inhumane and extremely brutal!

Li Wunai was instantly petrified. Only after a long time did he say, "Alright, since you all agree that bloodless persecution is worse than bloodshed, then I will give it a try. But I can't guarantee that it will work."

South, East, North and West immediately looked up at the sky. I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I can't hear you......

On the other hand, Lu-er covered her ears with a horrified look. "Okay, you can start."

"Aren't your reaction too exaggerated? I think when I listened to the abbot's lecture on meditation back then, although there were times when I felt my life was worse than death, in general, I benefited a lot from it." Li Wunai said with a hurt look on his face.

Lu-er pursed her lips and said quietly, "That's because you have a destiny with Buddha. We are all mere mortals and cannot withstand that kind of torment."