novelden Chapter 201 Azhu - Zhu Qing
Chapter 201 Azhu - Zhu Qing
Meanwhile, at the Imperial Preceptor's residence.
Inside an empty room.
Ah Zhu slowly woke up.
When he woke up, his eyes were still moist and he was still confused.
"Sister?" Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, A-Zhu felt very uneasy, so she called out to Lin Shu in her still somewhat hoarse voice.
"Ouch...! Ah Zhu, it hurts so much! Sister, where are you?" Ah Zhu covered the back of his head, sobbing pitifully, his voice faintly echoing in the empty room.
After calling out for a long time, no one paid any attention to him except his own voice. A-Zhu felt even more aggrieved, so he sat up, hugged his legs, buried his head in them, and tears streamed down his face.
His first thought was: Lin Shu really doesn't want him anymore, she's abandoned him.
"Squeak..."
With a sound of pushing open the door, the door was pushed open from the outside.
A woman with a good figure, leaning on a rattan cane about half her height in one hand and supported by a maid in the other, slowly walked in against the light.
A-Zhu looked up, unable to see the person clearly. Tears streamed down her pink cheeks as she looked at the other person with a dazed expression, murmuring, "Sister? Is that you?"
"Hehehe..." A faint, aged laugh rang out. The woman slowly approached, revealing a face that was both pure and beautiful, yet strangely incongruous. Looking at Azhu, she deliberately softened her voice and said:
"It's been a year since I last saw you, Qing'er, and you've become much more obedient than before! Come here! Let 'older sister' take a good look at you!"
As she spoke, the woman reached out to touch Ah Zhu.
"Snapped."
A crisp slap rang out.
Ah Zhu quickly withdrew her hand from hitting the person, arched her back, half-squatted on the bed, and bared her teeth at the two people in front of her.
If Lin Shu and Ji Wan were here, they would know that A Zhu's action was the posture of a wild beast sensing a threat and preparing to attack at any moment.
The woman who was beaten, Zhu Yao, looked down and saw a red welt on her newly changed clothes. A murderous glint flashed in her eyes.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Ke, the maidservant who was supporting her, quickly pleaded, "Clan leader, please forgive me! Qing'er is young and doesn't know any better. Please forgive her!"
As she spoke, she kept giving Ah Zhu meaningful glances, trying to get her to admit her mistake.
A-Zhu tilted her head and looked at Zhu Ke. She didn't recognize him, but he seemed strangely familiar. Fragments of memories flashed through her mind, and two words involuntarily escaped her lips: "Cousin..."
After saying that, he covered his mouth in surprise, blinked his big eyes, and looked completely innocent.
Seeing that Azhu refused to admit his mistake, Zhu Ke became anxious. In the past, his cousin had relied on the clan leader's favor to act arrogantly in the Imperial Preceptor's mansion, and everyone in the mansion kept their distance from him!
But now he's getting bolder and bolder, daring to treat the clan chief like this. This is tantamount to digging his own grave!
"Qing'er?" Zhu Ke urged.
A-Zhu seemed not to hear, staring at Zhu Yao, who made him uncomfortable from head to toe. After all, the other party called her 'Qing'er,' what did it have to do with him, 'A-Zhu'?
Zhu Yao, who had initially intended to give him a chance, could no longer bear it upon seeing the disgust and contempt in his eyes. She raised her rattan cane to the ground and struck it, causing numerous rattan canes to appear out of thin air, binding A-Zhu tightly...
Then he grabbed his neck again and warned him:
"Did you really think that just because I've spoiled you in the past, you can act with impunity?"
Clearly, Zhu Yao's movements were fluid and graceful, indicating that she was very clear about A Zhu's fighting ability.
"Cough...cough...let...let go of Azhu!" Azhu was already having trouble breathing, and finally used all her strength to ram her head against Zhu Yao.
Caught off guard by Zhu Yao and Zhu Ke, the man knocked the person to the ground and even bared his fangs, biting Zhu Yao's arm hard. With a 'ripping' sound, he tore off a piece of flesh.
"Ah!" Zhu Yao cried out in pain, her face contorted in agony, seemingly in extreme pain, yet strangely, she couldn't make any expression on her face.
"Chieftain, are you alright?" Zhu Ke finally snapped out of her daze after what she had just witnessed and hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, her face showing a worried expression. In reality, she was truly concerned about A Zhu's safety.
Zhu Yao stood up and saw A Zhu, who was tied up tightly, wriggling on the ground like a caterpillar. Noticing their gaze, A Zhu spat out the meat in her mouth with disgust: "Pah! Stinky! A Zhu won't eat it!"
"Zhu Qing, you're courting death." Zhu Yao's lips turned white, and her eyes, full of vicissitudes, glared fiercely at A Zhu.
Ah Zhu turned her face to the other side, seemingly not wanting to talk to her.
"Guards! Take this wretched woman away..."
"Chief, please have mercy!"
Before Zhu Yao could finish speaking, Zhu Ke, who was supporting her, interrupted her. Zhu Ke knelt heavily on the ground, looked at the indifferent Zhu Yao, and then at A Zhu lying on the ground looking bewildered, and said:
"Clan leader, Qing'er certainly didn't mean it. His behavior today is so abnormal, there must be something strange about it! Please, clan leader, spare his life! This servant is willing to take the punishment in his place!"
After saying that, Zhu Ke began to kowtow on the ground. With Zhu Yao's methods, Qing'er would surely suffer a fate worse than death, but in the clan, Qing'er was now her only remaining relative. How could she bear to see him like this!
Every time Zhu Ke bumped his head, blood splattered on the ground, making it extremely bloody!
Seeing that Zhu Ke's attitude was so firm, and that Zhu Qing was indeed behaving strangely today, and most importantly, that both of them were still useful, Zhu Yao pretended to help Zhu Ke up and said:
"Enough! Get up quickly. You are, after all, my only remaining descendants. How could I bear to let Qing'er suffer? I'll call a doctor for him later..."
Zhu Ke listened to Zhu Yao's caring words, but dared not take them seriously.
Speaking of which, she and Zhu Qing are the fourth generation of Zhu Yao's lineage, so Zhu Yao trusts her a lot. Only she has the honor of serving him closely by his side, and even the servants have to respectfully call her 'Miss Ke'.
Zhu Qing was pampered by Zhu Yao from a young age, which fostered his domineering and ruthless personality. They didn't know this until he came of age, when they realized that their ancestor, who was related to them by blood, had been raising Qing'er as a male concubine all along!
A year ago, it was because this old patriarch, who usually doted on Qing'er, tried to force Qing'er that he chose to flee the Imperial Preceptor's mansion and disappeared for more than a year...
However, while that's what I think in my heart, I can't say it out loud.
Zhu Ke lowered his head and said respectfully, "Thank you for your mercy, Clan Chief!"
Immediately afterwards, Zhu Yao hurriedly left with Zhu Ke, rushing to get the skin and flesh on her shoulder repaired...
After everyone left, the vines wrapped around A-Zhu disappeared.
A-Zhu lay on the ground, blinked in confusion, and then her eyes fell on a piece of meat covered with strips of cloth in front of her. Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she rolled over and got up.
He dusted himself off, then took out a tattered strip of cloth from his pocket and wiped the blood from his mouth, muttering to himself:
"Ah Zhu isn't dirty! When will you come to see Ah Zhu, sister!"
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[Would you like to make a bold guess about who Zhu Yao is? (Hint: She appeared a long time ago!)]