Miss and farmhand

Huang Chu lacked the filter of regret that lingered over what hadn't come to fruition when she thought of Zhu Xiaoxu. Aside from understanding that he was a complex and unfathomable person, and that her father disliked him, her other impressions of him were actually quite vague. Recently, she had even less contact with him; he didn't visit, and she had almost forgotten about him.

Her first concern was that her father must not be harmed. She had been hiding behind Huang Xingtong, but now she grabbed his arm and stepped forward, saying, "Father, it's alright. My aunt and I made a mistake, we'll just go and be reprimanded together. What more can they do to two women like us?"

Huang Xingtong knew that he and Zhu Xiaoxu had broken off relations. Zhu Xiaoxu wouldn't directly confront him, but with Huang Chu in his hands, it was as if Zhu Xiaoxu had his weakness in his grasp, and the consequences would be dire. Therefore, he refused to give in.

Zhu Xiaoxu wasn't in a hurry. Tonight, he seemed particularly considerate, sympathizing with their family's confinement, and had come specifically to play the role of comforting them. In reality, however, he was the one who arranged the confinement and arrest.

He leaned back slightly, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall, even seeming to take in the servants who were hiding and watching the commotion outside.

He asked, "Where did Brother Huang go?"

The Huang family members remained silent.

He laughed and said, "After such a big incident, he's engaged to his junior sister and they've even changed their surnames. They're family; we can't just stand by and do nothing, can we?"

Huang Xingtong opened his mouth, wanting to say that the person was resting upstairs, but then realized he was overreacting. He couldn't just confiscate Zhu Xiaoxu's property, could he? He couldn't just call out names to see him. This kind of lie was useless; it would only expose their inability to give a proper testimony.

However, they didn't say anything, and there was no reason given. How do you explain someone being missing from the house in the middle of the night?

Quick wit was not Huang Xingtong's forte, but it was Huang Chu's.

As if suddenly remembering something, she glared at Zhu Xiaoxu and asked, "By the way, I wanted to ask this this afternoon. You just sealed off my house like that. Changzhi wasn't home at the time, and he hasn't returned. Did you take him away? Losing the stone wasn't enough for you, now you have to drag someone else down with you!"

This was the first time Zhu Xiaoxu had focused his attention on Huang Chu since entering the room.

Just as Huang Chu almost forgot about his unfamiliar senior brother, Zhu Xiaoxu also forgot about his junior sister at an incredibly fast pace after he stopped visiting the Huang family.

From an outsider's perspective, their relationship was actually quite ridiculous. They even reached the point of discussing marriage and spent a considerable amount of time together, yet they seemed to know absolutely nothing about each other. Huang Chu could also attribute her suffering in her previous life to needing a beautiful image as a form of solace, but an image is just that—an image—and has absolutely nothing to do with Zhu Xiaoxu himself. What Huang Chu cherished in her previous life was merely a stable future she fantasized about, a future that had never been bought or sold, existing only through the shell of Zhu Xiaoxu.

Zhu Xiaoxu simply never took Huang Chu seriously from the very beginning.

Huang Chu went from being a little girl to the master's daughter, to the person he wanted to replace, to a tool he could use as a stepping stone. After possessing her, he could use her as a shell to occupy a place beside Huang Xingtong.

It seems they are a perfect match, each only needing the other's shell, with no interest in the soul within the other.

Zhu Xiaoxu recalled many times before, such as the matter of Zhao Dong and the matter of Luo Shutao. He had always overlooked the power she wielded behind the scenes, yet it had played a role in some corners he had ignored. Now, he realized that these were some inconspicuous but crucial roles.

It all started with her mouth.

Huang Chu was still blocked behind Huang Xingtong, her small, pale face peeking out from behind her father's arm as if she were being interrogated. She was a very willful young lady, but her pale eyes remained calmly hidden behind her long, sparse eyelashes. A cunning observer.

This was the first time he had developed any interest in Huang Chu himself.

He smiled at her and said, "Junior Sister."

He didn't intend to engage with Huang Chu. Since he already knew that Huang Chu was merely trying to influence things and exert some influence through words, he didn't need to care what she was saying. He would simply pretend not to hear it.

He smiled and said to Huang Xingtong, "I'm taking my junior sister away." It was as if he wasn't there to interrogate someone; his tone was more like that of a new son-in-law welcoming his wife to his father-in-law's house.

Huang Xingtong felt a little uncomfortable. He suddenly felt goosebumps rising on his arms under his clothes, and the bristling hairs were licking the inside of the fabric. He shouldn't have been able to feel such a subtle sensation.

He couldn't let Zhu Xiaoxu take Huang Chu away.

However, before he could even utter a word of rebuttal, Huang Chu himself stepped out from behind him.

"Don't worry, Father. With you here, my senior brother won't do anything to me. He'll just ask me a couple of questions."

Then Huang Xingtong understood. Huang Chu wasn't unaware that Zhu Xiaoxu could really hurt her, but Huang Xingtong herself was even more untouchable than Huang Chu herself.

He sighed inwardly.

Huang Chu was still wearing his mud-stained clothes, and since he didn't have time to change, he only changed his shoes before following Zhu Xiaoxu. They walked towards the front courtyard, where Zhu Xiaoxu's men were holding Luo Shutao down and waiting. Huang Xingyu was still standing there awkwardly, holding his breath, waiting to say something to Zhu Xiaoxu. However, as Zhu Xiaoxu got closer, he realized that he wasn't even being looked at. The mouth he opened only let out a strange murmur before it got stuck in his throat.

As they passed Luo Shutao, Zhu Xiaoxu suddenly seemed to remember something. He stopped and waved his hand, saying, "Let this go."

Then he stepped out the door without stopping.

His men didn't ask any more questions, released Luo Shutao, and left with her.

Luo Shutao's arms were twisted behind her back for a long time, causing poor blood circulation. Her fingertips felt numb and cold, and her arms felt like they didn't belong to her anymore when they relaxed.

She looked towards the doorway.

Zhu Xiaoxu didn't even glance at her.

She stared blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing. As if trying to shake off something that shouldn't have been there in the first place, she shook her head, rubbing her aching arms.

As Huang Chu passed by her, he made a downward gesture and then gave her a fawning smile. She didn't know what she was thinking, but she certainly didn't want to have a conflict with Huang Chu for the time being, so she nodded vaguely and forced a smile. Only then did Huang Chu leave, relieved.

She breathed a sigh of relief, then walked to Huang Xingyu's side and asked, "Master...we—slap!"

Huang Xingyu slapped her.

The commotion was quite loud, especially for someone as tall and strong as Huang Xingyu. Hearing the beating from inside, Shen Xuying screamed, "Big brother, what are you doing!" She wanted to come over and stop them because she felt guilty that their unruly daughter had dragged Luo Shutao into this mess.

Huang Xingtong was also startled. He had never seen Huang Xingyu fight anyone before. His older brother was a tall, imposing figure, with a fierce appearance, but he never actually laid a hand on anyone. In the Huang family, hitting a woman was unheard of, not even in their parents' or grandparents' generation.

"I'm fine!" Luo Shutao covered her face, lowered her head, and shouted loudly to stop them from walking.

Because her cheeks swelled up rapidly, when she opened her mouth, the corners of her mouth were pulled, and the entire red and swollen skin from the corners of her mouth to the corners of her eyes felt numb and dull. When she raised her voice, even her temples hurt, and she couldn't help but frown.

She just frowned. She was actually a little surprised that she wasn't sad.

The side of my face that was hit felt a little cold; it was just tears falling naturally, not from sadness.

"Brother, Aunt Luo was also harmed because of Yi Niang. She is an elder, and we can't just ignore Yi Niang. If you're angry, I'll have Yi Niang kowtow to you when we get back. Don't take it out on Aunt Luo!" Shen Xuying said, clutching her sleeve.

Luo Shutao even felt like laughing. She knew that Huang Xingyu was indeed taking his anger out on her, but not for Huang Chu, but for Zhu Xiaoxu.

Thinking further, it's clear he wasn't jealous because of her past relationship with Zhu Xiaoxu; of course not, you can tell from the start whether a man is jealous or not. He was jealous because he embarrassed Zhu Xiaoxu, but couldn't physically hit her, and had no other servants available, so she was the one he took. There's no complicated background or emotion involved; he was just someone who took his anger out on someone.

Huang Xingyu glanced back at the couple. Across the courtyard, moonlight streamed in, forming an icy blue curtain. Huang Xingyu suddenly felt a strong sense of being on stage. Opposite him were the audience members below, and he was a clown performing on stage, his laughter, anger, and curses all clearly visible to them.

He turned around and walked away without saying a word.

Luo Shutao bowed to him on his behalf and hurriedly followed.