Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 242
Chapter 242 - Someone Playing a Malicious Hand
In the capital, fourth-rank officials could be found in abundance, so the Hu family—a household of the fourth rank—was by no means particularly prominent in the city.
In the rear courtyard of a four-entry grand mansion, Tingyu was kneeling on the ground while an older maidservant stood before her, dealing slaps across her face.
After twenty slaps were administered, Tingyu's face swelled up, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, making her look utterly tragic.
Seeing Tingyu in such a state did not lessen the anger in Madam Hu's heart by much.
The concubines in this household were all her dowry maidservants, and she had believed that she held her husband completely in the palm of her hand. Unexpectedly, last night she had caught this wench rolling in bed with her husband on the spot.
She saw that her husband's first reaction was to shield this wench, and only secondly did he offer an explanation to her, his primary wife.
She knew that this wench possessed a bit of skill, having captured her husband's heart.
If she were to fly into a rage and make a scene, her husband would only be pushed far away from her.
Thus, she had no choice but to take the initiative to speak up and make this wench a concubine.
When she inquired clearly about this wench's identity, she truly wished she could strangle her own husband to death.
A widowed concubine of the Xie family—a low-class concubine from a ruined household! Her husband actually dared to lay hands on such a person. If word got out, the Hu family's reputation would be completely ruined. To make matters worse, this wench even knew how to use the affair to threaten and blackmail him for silver, so she had to die!
Fortunately, the deed of indenture was already in hand. Whether to beat her to death or sell her off was all a matter of a single word from her.
Madam Hu stood up: "Aunt Tingyu has offended her superior and defied her mistress. Lock her in the woodshed."
She would torment her for a few days first, and then disposing of her cleanly would be easy.
Giddy and disoriented, Tingyu was tossed into the woodshed.
She lay on the ground for a good while before slowly recovering her senses.
She could not believe that she had actually become a concubine of the Hu family... Although the Hu family was better than the present Xie household, this was not what she wished for.
She only wanted to scoop up a bit of silver and pull herself out, then live a good life together with Yun-ge'er. How on earth had she ended up as a concubine in the Hu family?
The look Madam Hu gave her made it seem as if she wanted to devour her alive; she feared she would not live long in the Hu residence.
Tingyu curled up in the woodshed, pondering the situation with utmost care.
This matter naturally reached Yun Chu's ears.
Yun Chu shook her head.
She had specially instructed people to inquire about the Hu family. Madam Hu was a tiger of a woman, famous throughout the capital; Lord Hu had once bought a concubine and brought her home, only for Madam Hu to find an excuse to beat her to death.
Ever since then, Lord Hu never dared to take another concubine.
Now that Tingyu had fallen into Madam Hu's hands, one could easily imagine what kind of life she would lead.
Iniquities committed by Heaven may still be survived,
but sins brought upon oneself leave no way to live.
Yun Chu finished dealing with the day's routine affairs early, and then settled down to read books with Changsheng.
She would read a sentence, and the little girl would read a sentence after her. Over the course of a few days, they had nearly finished reading the Three-Character Classic.
Although Changsheng did not speak very fluently, being able to recite the entire Three-Character Classic with pauses was already a vast improvement.
Before long, Yu'er returned from his studies. After playing with his younger sister for a while and having dinner, he returned to the adjacent courtyard to continue studying with his tutor.
Yun Chu felt helpless. This little rascal was still angry over the matter of practicing martial arts this morning; he truly was a child with a fiery temper.
Once the tutor finished the lesson, Chu Hongyu raised his head only to see Yun Chu standing at the doorway of the study room.
He intentionally turned his head away, refusing to look at Yun Chu.
"Yu'er, look what this is."
Yun Chu set a small earthenware jar on the study desk.
The little guy fought back his curiosity and refrained from looking, crossing his arms and letting out a heavy hmph.
Yun Chu uncovered the jar, speaking with deliberate exaggeration, "What a huge cricket! Ah, Yu'er definitely won't like it. I'll just take it and give it to Jiang-ge'er."
"Who said I don't like it!"
The little guy turned around instantly and hugged the earthenware jar to his chest. Looking at the cricket inside the jar, his eyes immediately lit up with joy as he began to tease it.
Yun Chu sat down beside him, speaking in a gentle voice, "Yu'er, Mother has thought it over. Once you turn six years old, I will take you along to practice martial arts. How about that?"
"Mother, you must keep your word!"
Chu Hongyu hooked pinkies with Yun Chu, and his anger vanished in an instant.
After coaxing the two children to sleep, Tingxue quietly stepped into the inner chamber and said softly, "Miss, Aunt Guilan suddenly fell ill and said she won't be able to go to the tea shop and cloth shop tomorrow."
Aunt Guilan was Cousin Yun Qin's birth mother, who had taken over the tea shop and cloth shop from Fourth Aunt Yun just this morning.
Before a single day had even passed, she fell ill?
Could there truly be such a coincidence?
Yun Chu pressed her lips together. She had merely tested the waters slightly, and Fourth Aunt had walked right into the trap.
It seemed that in her previous life, sister-in-law's miscarriage was eighty to ninety percent related to Fourth Aunt.
She spoke up: "Make a trip personally to check whether Aunt Guilan's condition is serious. Regardless of the actual situation, announce to the outside world that Aunt Guilan merely caught a mild chill and it is no big deal."
"Yes."
Tingxue accepted the order and left to carry it out.
Yun Qin's family resided in the western part of the city in a tiny two-entry courtyard. Apart from bearing the surname Yun, they appeared no different from ordinary commoners.
Aunt Guilan's husband was the manager of a Yun family farm estate on the outskirts. Aunt Guilan usually stayed home to care for her husband and teach her child. Hearing that Yun Chu was short-handed, she immediately stepped forward to help.
Back then, her daughter was able to secure a divorce all because of the main family's support. Otherwise, her Qin'er might still be suffering at her husband's home.
Therefore, as long as Yun Chu needed help, she would be the first to stand up.
Yet just after taking over a mountain of responsibilities, she became so sick that she could not even get out of bed.
Seeing Tingxue, who was by Yun Chu's side, arrive, she forced herself to sit up: "I have let the Eldest Young Lady down; my body is truly failing me..."
Tingxue leaned in close and whispered a few words into her ear.
Aunt Guilan's eyes filled with utter disbelief.
This matter seemed to exceed her comprehension.
News of Aunt Guilan falling ill reached Fourth Aunt Yun's ears.
She let out a cold laugh: "Her bones are quite sturdy; it seems I still put in too little."
She would absolutely never hand over the cloth shop and tea shop to anyone else.
Since Guilan dared to take them over, she had to bear the consequences.
Now that Guilan was sick, Yun Chu would naturally come back to beg her to manage these two major enterprises.
Unless Yun Chu examined the accounts herself; however, Yun Chu was so lazy and clearly lacked real capability, so she could only come to beg her.
Earlier, when handing things over to Guilan, she had slipped something into her tea. Now, it seemed necessary to pay a visit to Guilan's home.
Early the next morning, Fourth Aunt Yun went to Aunt Guilan's house.
Aunt Guilan was dragging her sick body, sitting in the reception hall going through the accounting ledgers—specifically, the ledgers for the cloth shop.
Fourth Aunt Yun sneered inwardly.
She had gained a bit of power and was already reluctant to let go.
Stepping forward with a smile, she said, "Aunt Guilan, since you are sick, get some proper rest. Don't ruin your health from overwork."
Aunt Guilan coughed and said, "The Eldest Young Lady instructed that the itemized accounts of the cloth shop must be sorted out. I cannot delay it."
"Have some tea first." Fourth Aunt Yun poured a cup of tea, shielded it briefly with her hand, and then handed it over. "If your body breaks down, everything is gone."
Aunt Guilan took the cup.
Looking at that cup of ordinary-looking tea, she truly could not bring herself to believe that there was something inside it.
"Drink up, what are you standing there frozen for?"
Fourth Aunt Yun wore a beaming, cheerful smile.
The more brightly she smiled, the more Aunt Guilan knew there was definitely something wrong.
It was merely the right to manage a tea shop and a cloth shop, and merely reviewing ledgers at that—the funds were not even held in her own hands. She could not fathom why Fourth Aunt Yun would play such a malicious hand against her just for a little bit of authority...
"Fourth Aunt came as well?"
Yun Chu's voice suddenly rang out from behind.
Fourth Aunt Yun's entire body froze instantly.