Chapter 308 – Three Years in Langya (Part 8)
Jiang Pengji interlaced her fingers, sitting comfortably at ease.
“Remember to conceal Hui Jun’s identity; we don’t want anyone digging into her background.”
Liu Zhi’s confidant paused at the mention of Hui Jun, momentarily unable to recall who she was.
Jiang Pengji noticed his confusion and added, “Hui Jun is the girl from earlier; get someone to manage her identity.”
The confidant took the order seriously, affirming, “Young Master, don’t worry. I will handle her identity meticulously.”
“Be cautious about it; don’t leave any traces.”
With that, Jiang Pengji reiterated her concern.
“Creating a fake registration is the easiest way to get caught. It’s better to find one that hasn’t been canceled yet and let Hui Jun assume that identity…”
Jiang Pengji tapped the table. In this era, the household registration system was woefully outdated. Unlike her time, where faking it was nearly impossible, in ancient times, many hadn’t registered due to underdeveloped technology and inconvenient travel. Many registered people had died or gone missing, and their registrations remained unresolved for years. Such identities were hard to verify and easy to exploit.
It was less risky to let Hui Jun take on the identity of someone with a similar background rather than creating a new one.
The confidant nodded in affirmation.
Jiang Pengji said, “I have no further matters here; you may leave.”
As someone favored by Liu Zhi, the confidant had considerable capabilities and soon got everything sorted.
“A Cao’s mother, your daughter A Cao has returned; you should hurry back to see her…”
The woman referred to as “A Cao’s mother” was heavily made up, dressed provocatively, and revealing ample skin. She waved a yellowed folding fan while sporting cheap makeup, her lips smeared with thick lipstick. Her slender waist and ample hips swayed enticingly, drawing the eyes of several nearby ruffians, who felt a heat rise in their throats.
“What are you shouting about? So what if she returns? That wretched girl has been with a noble for days, completely forgetting about me, the one who raised her. What a money-grubbing little wretch…” Though the woman was barely in her thirties, she looked like she was in her forties.
Despite her heavy makeup, traces of her former beauty were faintly visible, suggesting she must have been a stunning woman in her youth.
However, her demeanor—reflecting her thoughts—showed hints of malice and bitterness that left others hesitant to approach her.
“That’s not it, A Cao’s mother… A Cao…”
The one delivering the news was also a poor woman living in a cave dwelling. While she looked down on A Cao’s mother for selling herself and her daughter, she still felt a pang of sympathy for A Cao, who had grown up in front of her.
“She’s just a little girl; why should I, as her mother, kneel to welcome her back?”
The woman felt an ominous premonition but was more annoyed by her neighbor.
“…your A Cao is already gone!”
“What?”
Her money tree was dead?
The woman’s expression shifted in shock, and she hurriedly followed her neighbor home, where a crowd had gathered around the dilapidated door.
She rudely shoved onlookers aside and entered the dim room, finding a disheveled girl curled up inside; her starling, just finished entertaining clients, still wore a dazed expression, clutching a few tattered rags for warmth.
In the center of the room lay a rolled mat; as the woman approached, she nearly fainted.
With trembling hands, she rolled back the mat, revealing a corpse with a decayed face, barely recognizable.
Forget the face; the body was covered in whip marks and signs of abuse.
Disbelieving it was A Cao, she quickly tore off the clothes from the corpse and flipped it over, revealing a small crimson spot.
That was A Cao’s birthmark!
It dawned on her that A Cao had been taken by her client, humiliated, and tortured to death.
“Ahhh—”
Most of the onlookers were locals who knew how this woman usually treated A Cao. Nobody deserved to be degraded like that, and now that A Cao was dead, it served this woman right, though they felt pity for the girl who had suffered such a tragic fate.
To their surprise, instead of denouncing the corpse, the woman collapsed onto it, wailing and crying, her forehead swelling, tears and snot smearing her painted face, leaving the crowd bewildered.
“A Cao’s mother, the child is already gone… sigh, please grieve and let this child go with dignity…”
A woman who had shared the news approached and gently advised her.
“Yes… let’s buy A Cao a decent coffin. Those scoundrels returned her and even gave ten taels of silver…”
Given that a starling fetched only a couple of coppers per encounter, ten taels meant a significant number of nights worked.
To the onlookers, this compensation seemed fair.
The woman cried as if her heart would shatter, almost unable to breathe until a neighbor pinched her pressure point to help her.
“…Floating duckweed… life like… duckweed…” The woman felt as if the world around her spun, mumbling, “Wretched… Hui Jun… you… ruined my life… so severely…”
With that, her head tilted, and she took her last breath.
The commotion at the cave drew many spectators, but nobody noticed that four unscrupulous ruffians quietly disappeared, leaving four corpses at the mass grave outside the city, each punctured with knives, blood completely drained.
“It’s almost time to leave, Hui Niangzi.”
The supposedly deceased A Cao stood vivaciously by the mass grave, gazing at the four wholly unrecognizable corpses, her expression complex.
Her blood-soaked hands trembled, her calves shaking uncontrollably, but inside, she felt an unprecedented exhilaration.
“Yes, I’ll be right there.”
Pulling the large hood of her cloak over most of her face, revealing just her slender chin, she tightened her grip on the fabric, shielding herself from the cold wind and stepped onto the carriage.
The cart quietly departed from the mass grave, burying A Cao’s past alongside her; only Hui Jun lived on.
“Are you certain… you heard A Cao’s mother mention Hui Jun’s name?”
Upon hearing his confidant’s response, Liu Zhi displayed a peculiar expression.
The confidant had mingled among the crowd, initially worried about potential trouble, but unexpectedly stumbled upon this revelation.
“Yes, I’m certain.”
Hui Jun… Hui Jun…
Liu Zhi repeated the names twice, the same pronunciation but different characters.
The former was the name Lan Ting had newly given A Cao; A Cao’s mother certainly wouldn’t know.
Thus, the name she uttered at the end could only refer to that woman.
“Sigh—this must be karma at work…” The confidant withdrew, while Liu Zhi slowly strolled into the snow-laden courtyard. Gazing at the vast snowy landscape, he chuckled mockingly, “Hehe, there are indeed many people out for revenge against you…”
