Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 272 Clues
Half a month later, Lady Cheng'an sent someone to invite Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu over, saying that the whole family would have a banquet together on the first and fifteenth of the month.

The couple had no idea what she was up to, but they went to the main courtyard on time, sat down at the dining table, and waited for the show to begin.

Marquis Cheng'an had just returned to his residence and was only now washing up.

"Everyone's here, let's eat!"

"Wait a moment..." Lady Cheng'an said with a smile, "My lord, there are still some people who haven't arrived yet, please wait a little longer."

Marquis Cheng'an looked at Zhou Wangshu and Su Yaoguang, puzzled: "We only have these few people in our manor, who else is missing?"

"They've arrived." Lady Cheng'an looked towards the doorway.

A woman dressed simply walked in through the door.

This woman had a pure and innocent appearance, like a willow swaying in the breeze; she was truly a sight to behold.

“This is…” A look of amazement flashed in Marquis Cheng’an’s eyes.

“This is my distant niece,” said Lady Cheng’an. “She had some trouble at home and came to me for help. I saw that she was a weak woman and it wasn’t easy for her to live in this world, so I let her stay. It just so happens that Zhen’er also needs someone to take care of her, so I can rest assured with her taking care of her.”

"Since she is your distant niece, you should treat her well. Why did you send her to take care of Zhen'er?" Marquis Cheng'an frowned.

“She’s not a member of our Cheng’an Marquis’s household after all. We can’t just let her eat and stay here for free, can we?” said the Lady of Cheng’an Marquis. “Even if I don’t mind, others will. Things are different now than before. Now the young mistress is in charge.”

Su Yaoguang looked at Lady Cheng'an with a puzzled expression: "Is Madam speaking? Anyway, it's not like I'm in charge of the household affairs, and she doesn't need me to support her, so I won't mind."

“We Yaoguang people aren’t petty,” Zhou Wangshu said calmly.

The woman first bowed to everyone, then introduced herself: "I'm sorry to have troubled you, my aunt and uncle. I'd like to greet my cousin and his wife."

“Where’s my older cousin…” Su Yaoguang whispered in Zhou Wangshu’s ear, “He’s quite handsome.”

Zhou Wangshu squeezed her palm under the table: "My Yaoguang is the most beautiful."

"Alright, let's eat!" Marquis Cheng'an said calmly.

Tong Qianbi sat beside Su Yaoguang, cautiously trying to be friendly. Throughout the meal, she kept her head down, not daring to pick up any food, and only focused on shoveling rice grains from her bowl.

She mustered her courage, picked up a piece of meat, and put it in Su Yaoguang's bowl, looking like she was carefully trying to be friendly.

Zhou Wangshu took the piece of meat out of her hand, asked the maid next to her to get a new pair of chopsticks, and then served Su Yaoguang food again.

Tong Qianbi lowered her head even further.

This kind of atmosphere really affects one's appetite.

Su Yaoguang didn't eat much. She put down her chopsticks and said to Marquis Cheng'an, "Father, I'm full. Please continue your meal."

Zhou Wangshu put down her chopsticks and pulled her to her feet, saying, "Then let's go back to our own courtyard first."

After the couple left, Lady Cheng'an said to Tong Qianbi, "You should move directly to Zhen'er's courtyard later."

"Yes, Aunt."

After Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu returned to their courtyard, they talked about what had just happened.

"That distant cousin is quite pretty. Could it be that she's trying to use her beauty to drive a wedge between us?"

“We’ll see what they do next,” Zhou Wangshu said. “If that’s the case, they’re even more stupid than we thought.”

The next day, when Su Yaoguang got up, Zhou Wangshu had already gone to the yamen to do his business.

She walked around in the courtyard and heard several maids talking nearby.

"That young lady had just moved in yesterday to take care of the second young master when he knocked over a soup bowl, scalding her beautiful hands with blisters."

"That's not all! The second young master is getting more and more perverted. He whipped her more than a dozen times. I heard that he originally wanted to force himself on her, but the second young master's genitals are already ruined, so it didn't work out."

"Deserved it."

Su Yaoguang raised an eyebrow.

Could it be that they were all wrong this time, and this person really was someone Lady Cheng'an Marquis found to serve her precious son?
Su Yaoguang had to go to the shop to take care of the business, so she went out to eat instead of staying at the mansion for breakfast.

She went out with her maid, and had not gone far from her own courtyard when she saw the young lady walking towards the lake not far away, looking as if she was about to jump into the lake.

Su Yaoguang stood there without moving, watching Tong Qianbi's movements.

Tong Qianbi jumped into the lake, and with a splash, she sank to the bottom.

Su Yaoguang just stared at the lake.

The maid beside her was taken aback. She tugged at Su Yaoguang's sleeve and asked, "If this person dies, you won't say we killed him, will you?"

"Someone come quick! Miss Tong has fallen into the water..." A servant passing by saw Tong Qianbi struggling in the water and shouted anxiously.

"Let's go, looks like we're not going to die." Su Yaoguang led her people away.

That evening, Su Yaoguang had just returned to the mansion and was waiting for Zhou Wangshu to come out of the bathroom when a maid stumbled in and knelt in front of her.

"Young Madam, please save our young lady, Young Madam..." The maid kowtowed to Su Yaoguang. "Our young lady is being tortured to death by the Second Young Master."

Su Yaoguang frowned: "Your young lady is..."

"It's Miss Tong Qianbi!"

“She is the distant niece of the Marquis’s wife. If there is anything, the Marquis’s wife will take care of it for you. Why are you coming to me?” Su Yaoguang picked up her teacup and took a sip. “I don’t manage the household affairs.”

"But the Lady of the Marquis doesn't care about our young lady's life or death at all. The reason she took her in is to make her work like a slave for the Second Young Master. I heard that the Second Young Master has a bad temper and has already killed many maids. The Lady of the Marquis thinks that our young lady is at least his cousin, so he wouldn't dare to kill her like he killed those maids."

"Her thinking is correct. Isn't your young lady perfectly fine?"

“But our young lady is going to be killed by him!” the maid cried. “Young mistress, we are all women, and you have also suffered. You must be a kind-hearted person. Our young lady has a hard life. Her parents died early, and her eldest uncle raised her. But the master wants to sell her to a sixty-year-old county magistrate as a concubine. The young lady had no choice but to come to the Lady of the Marquis for help.”

"Madam Hou appears kind on the surface, but she makes our young lady work like a slave for the second young master. If it were just serving the second young master, our young lady would accept it. But the second young master's methods are just too cruel; she, a weak woman, can't bear it! This time... this time he actually used hot tongs to burn that part of our young lady's body... Our young lady isn't even married yet!"

Su Yaoguang frowned.

Where is your young lady?

“This servant risked her life to bring Miss out, and she is now outside your courtyard gate.”

"Then bring her in!" Su Yaoguang stood up and walked out, instructing the servant, "Please fetch a doctor."

"It would be best if a female physician were chosen," the maid said. "I've heard there's a highly skilled female doctor in the capital; let her examine you, Miss!"

"Then let's invite Doctor Jiang Jing from Taoyaofang over," Su Yaoguang said.

When the servant went to fetch Jiang Jing, Su Yaoguang saw Miss Tong Qianbi. Her face was deathly pale, and she looked like a female ghost.

"Help her to the side room."

After taking a bath, Zhou Wangshu found the room empty. He went outside and asked a servant, only to learn that she had been dragged away by Tong Qianbi's maid. He immediately rushed to a side room. He strode in, and everyone bowed to him.

Tong Qianbi's maid knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Zhou Wangshu: "Please, young master, save our young lady. Please, young master, don't drive her away."

Zhou Wangshu put his arm around Su Yaoguang's shoulder and looked at the person lying on the bed with displeasure.

"Didn't I tell you not to meddle in other people's business?"

“I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her,” Su Yaoguang said. “Alright, she’s just an insignificant person. I’ll save her once on a whim. I won’t be keeping an eye on her forever.”

Zhou Wangshu looked displeased.

"Okay, don't be angry anymore. I'll definitely spend some quality time with you later."

Jiang Jing arrived quickly.

Su Yaoguang pulled Zhou Wangshu out the door.

After a while, Jiang Jing's cursing voice came from inside: "Which beast did this?"

"You all stay here and keep watch. When Jiang Jing is done here, tell her to come to the main courtyard to find me," Su Yaoguang instructed, then pulled Zhou Wangshu back to her main room.

After returning to the main room, Zhou Wangshu removed the hair ornaments from Su Yaoguang's head.

He combed her hair, then told her about the interesting things that happened that day, and they cuddled together.

"Yaoguang, brother-in-law, may I come in?" Jiang Jing called from outside. "If it's inconvenient, Yaoguang, come out and we can talk outside."

Su Yaoguang opened the door and pulled Jiang Jing into the room.

Seeing that the two of them hadn't rested yet, Jiang Jing smiled and said, "Did I disturb you?"

"Even if there was any disturbance, it wasn't you who disturbed us, but some unrelated people." Zhou Wangshu said unhappily, "What happened to that person?"

When Tong Qianbi was mentioned, Jiang Jing's eyes were filled with reluctance.

"She had many wounds on her body, burns, needle pricks, cuts, and most horrifyingly... her private parts were ulcerated, she had simply endured inhuman torture."

"New wound or old wound?"

“New wounds,” Jiang Jing said. “As for old wounds, there are a few calluses from working, but no obvious scars.”

"Jing'er, thank you for making this trip." Su Yaoguang said, holding Jiang Jing's hand.

"You're being so polite with me. I'm going to go back and complain to my godmother." Jiang Jing said, tossing her medicine box around. "Since there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

"Okay, I'll send someone to take you back."

After Jiang Jing left, Su Yaoguang hugged Zhou Wangshu's arm and whispered a few words in his ear.

Zhou Wangshu frowned: "You want to keep her?"

“She’s so pitiful!” Su Yaoguang said. “If I just stand by and watch her die, would I even be human? If word gets out that the Cheng’an Marquis’s mansion abused a distant young lady like this, and no one in the entire mansion spoke up for her, wouldn’t that make us all look bad too? She’s so pitiful, we should at least give her a way to live.”

Zhou Wangshu frowned: "Whatever makes you happy."

Anyway, he'll cover for me.

Zhou Wangshu kissed her cheek: "You've been meddling in other people's business, shouldn't you be minding your husband's business too?"

Su Yaoguang hugged his narrow waist and pressed against his chest: "What do you want, my husband? Tell me, and I'll pluck the stars from the sky for you."

Zhou Wangshu snorted coldly: "You can spout sweet words so easily. Luckily I took you in, otherwise who knows how you would have ruined some innocent, foolish men outside."

The next day, when Su Yaoguang woke up, she heard voices outside.

She opened the door and saw Tong Qianbi standing outside, supported by her maid. When she saw her come out, she immediately knelt down and bowed to her.

"what are you doing?"

"I don't know how to repay my cousin's kindness. I am willing to do anything for her, and I hope she won't look down on me."

Su Yaoguang frowned as she looked at Tong Qianbi's unsteady figure: "Even if you're willing to work like a slave, you should at least take care of your health first. Go back and rest, and we'll talk again once you've recovered."

"But what about my aunt..."

"I'll talk to her about it later."

"Thank you, cousin."

The maid helped Tong Qianbi leave.

Zhou Wangshu hugged her slender waist from behind and whispered in her ear, "I have a social engagement tonight and I'll probably be back late. Why don't you stay at the General's Mansion tonight?"

Su Yaoguang understood Zhou Wangshu's meaning, but had her own thoughts.

"I'll wait for you at home."

“Yaoguang…” Zhou Wangshu looked at her with disapproval.

"Oh, I know what I'm doing." Su Yaoguang nudged him. "You'd better go to your shift or you'll be late."

After having breakfast, Su Yaoguang went to Lady Cheng'an and said that Tong Qianbi was very pleasing to her eye and that she planned to keep her by her side to work.

Lady Cheng'an said unhappily, "It's rare for our Zhen'er to meet someone who knows how to serve others. You've taken her away. What will happen to Zhen'er? Why don't you arrange for two people to serve Zhen'er?"

“The Second Young Master is in such good spirits, there’s no need for servants to wait on him,” Su Yaoguang said. “Here are fifty taels of silver, enough for the Second Young Master to buy a few strong and healthy servants.”

Lady Cheng'an said coldly, "Fifty taels of silver? Is that how you treat a beggar?"

“Madam Hou is right. We’re family, there’s no need to be so polite. Giving money would be too formal.” Su Yaoguang took the money back. “I’ve delivered the message, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Lady Cheng'an watched Su Yaoguang walk away, her eyes fixed on him.

From behind came the sound of Lady Cheng'an Marquis smashing things: "That's my distant niece. I've only been using her for a few days, and she's already taken her away. This Marquis's mansion hasn't even fallen into their hands yet, and they're already acting like they're in charge. Aren't they showing too little respect for their mother-in-law?"

Su Yaoguang listened to the noise behind her.

The maidservant said from the side, "Miss is really unlucky to have such an aunt. In my opinion, she would be better off marrying that old man in his fifties as a concubine, at least she could survive. If it weren't for the young mistress's kindness, given how much the second young master torments Miss, she wouldn't have survived for more than half a month."

“This young lady is indeed a pitiful person, no wonder you feel so sorry for her,” Su Yaoguang said.

"Doesn't the young mistress feel sorry for her?" the maid asked, puzzled.

“I sympathize with her, which is why I helped her out. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in what’s going on in the main courtyard!” Su Yaoguang said. “You should send someone to keep an eye on her and take good care of her.”

As Su Yaoguang passed by the side room, she heard Tong Qianbi talking to her maid.

"Miss, the young mistress has already gone to the main courtyard, so you are finally free from suffering."