Chapter Ninety-Three: Is Green Bamboo Getting Married?

The villa looked much the same as before, and the servants who ought to have been there were all still in place.

Yet compared with the time before he left, the atmosphere inside was so dismal it could almost be called desolate. What puzzled him most was that, on the gatepost, someone had somehow pasted two bright red symbols of celebration.

Was there to be a wedding in the villa?

Li Kong’s mind went blank. He strode inward.

But just as he was nearing the main hall, Lai Fu suddenly darted out from the side and said in a low voice, “Young Master, you’re finally back. If you’d delayed any longer, Cui Zhu would have been lost!”

A jolt went through Li Kong. His face flushed crimson at once. He seized Lai Fu by the collar with one hand and hauled him up before him, grinding out through clenched teeth, “What do you mean?”

Lai Fu was startled by the force of his aura, but he also knew very well that Li Kong would never harm him, so he swallowed and said, “After you left, word suddenly came from the main residence that a marriage had been arranged for Cui Zhu. It seems they were afraid to leave room for complications, so they moved quickly. Ten days ago they already sent over the betrothal gifts, along with those two big celebration notices for the gate, and they also fixed the wedding day for the day after tomorrow.”

“Good. Very good. So they’re treating my place like the slaughterhouse of the Wang family, are they? Good. Good! Very good indeed!” Li Kong was truly enraged this time.

Though he had always kept Cui Zhu outside his inner chamber, it was not because he did not cherish her. It was only that before marrying Chang Le, he had no intention of entangling himself with any woman at all. Besides, Cui Zhu was indeed still a little young.

But whatever the case, who in all of Chang’an did not know that Cui Zhu belonged to him, Li Kong?

And now what was the Wang family doing? Slapping his face? No—using a shoehorn for the slap.

In both his past and present lives, Li Kong had never been the sort to repay injury with kindness. Besides, even Confucius had said: repay kindness with kindness, and injury with justice. Thus this time, Li Kong decided he would no longer indulge the Wangs. Since they wanted to play, then he would play for real.

Lai Fu sensed his fury and lowered his head immediately. “Young Master, the match the main residence arranged for Cui Zhu is with a collateral branch of the Zheng family. His name is Zheng Qian.”

“The Zheng family? Hmph!”

Li Kong gave a cold snort, flung Lai Fu aside, and headed straight for Cui Zhu’s room. Though revenge need not be delayed, what he wanted most at this moment was to comfort Cui Zhu, that little girl who had worked tirelessly for him for so many years. If, by some chance, she were to think the wrong way, Li Kong would regret it for the rest of his life.

In the dim room, Cui Zhu sat hunched over on the soft couch, her hair hanging loose. She looked as though all vitality had been drained from her, limp and listless, her eyes vacant, her face pale. Faint traces of dried tears still marked her cheeks. Her lips opened and closed, letting out soft breaths, as if she were muttering to herself, though it sounded more like the final words of despair.

Looking at this little girl so utterly unlike her former spirited self, Li Kong felt as though something had struck his heart hard. His eyes reddened, and he hurried forward, grasped her shoulders, and said, “Cui Zhu? Young Master is back.”

“Young Master?” As if she had found her anchor at last, the haze in Cui Zhu’s eyes instantly brightened. She lifted her head to look at Li Kong before her, but days of grief and weeping had blurred her sight, and for a moment she was still a little dazed.

She laboriously raised one hand, wanting to touch Li Kong’s face, and at last some sound came from her throat. “Is it really Young Master? No, it can’t be. Young Master is still in Liaodong, how could you be back? Cui Zhu, ah, Cui Zhu, you’re only a maid. Young Master has the grace of heaven itself; how could you ever hope to cling to him? But perhaps this is for the best, from now on I...”

Before she could finish, Li Kong caught Cui Zhu’s hand in his own and pressed that pale, bloodless, icy hand fiercely against his face. Then he said in a deep voice, “Cui Zhu, wake up for Young Master. Look carefully—Young Master is back. Look at me.”

Li Kong’s heart hurt terribly, so terribly that he could almost not breathe. He knew Cui Zhu liked him, but he had never imagined her feelings could run so deep.

He was never a gentleman to begin with, nor had he ever thought of spending his whole life with only Li Lizhi. After all, this was an age when one husband and many wives were the norm. To come here and still suppress the deepest desires of his heart would have been pure stupidity.

So the resolve that had once been to delay matters was utterly defeated and extinguished beneath Cui Zhu’s boundless devotion.

The pain in her hand roused Cui Zhu somewhat, and the blur before her eyes cleared. When she finally recognized Li Kong’s face, the grievances and suffering she had endured over these many days collapsed at once like a breached riverbank. A shrill, heartbroken cry burst from the room in that instant, sweeping across most of the Duke of England’s estate.

At the same time, in the inner chamber of the rear courtyard of the Duke of England’s residence, a richly dressed woman who looked to be only in her thirties sat in a chair with a dark expression. Before her stood a middle-aged man who looked like a steward.

The woman was Li Ji’s lawful wife, the current Duchess of England, Lady Wang. The steward before her managed the inner household of the ducal estate, a man she had brought from her natal home. Over the years she had treated him as her confidant, and almost all her private affairs were known to him in detail.

Had Li Ji not always refused to give up on Li Yue’e, leaving Lady Wang too wary to act rashly, it was quite possible that a green cap might already have been sitting on Li Ji’s head.

“Are you certain? Li Kong really came back?”

“My lady, I saw it with my own eyes—how could it be false? It seems we must withdraw this time, otherwise if we provoke that stubborn brute, your position may not be secure. After all, that little bastard is now favored by Li Shimin.”

If those words were ever to spread, they would cause an immense uproar. A mere steward daring to speak Li Shimin’s name aloud, with not the slightest trace of respect in his tone—how audacious would that be?

Yet Lady Wang paid it no mind. Her eyes narrowed as she said coldly, “Withdraw? It is too late to withdraw now. We have already accepted the betrothal gifts from the Zheng side, and news of this affair has spread among the great clans as well. Although Zheng Qian is not a direct descendant of the Zheng family, he is the most outstanding young man they have at present and is much favored by Old Master Zheng. If we suddenly break the engagement, it will surely create a rift between the Zheng and Wang families. That is absolutely not acceptable.”

“But my lady, Li Kong is no small matter now, and he is also the future husband of Li Lizhi, the daughter Li Shimin treasures most. The Tang Empire is in the height of its military strength at present; offending Li Shimin will bring us no benefit whatsoever.”

“The Tang Empire is in the height of its military strength? Then we shall see that it cannot remain so.” A savage look twisted Lady Wang’s face, and a thread of cold laughter slowly surfaced upon her lips.