Chapter 428: Zhao Ru Jun’s unwillingness

There hadn’t been even a hint of Lian Fang Zhou’s shadow. Instead, he was forced to accept a notorious woman in a daze and his original expectations fell into the void. How could he not be angry?

His wife was also angry. After storming off from her husband, she ordered a servant to bring Zhao Ru Jun to her. Before speaking, she had one of her maids slap Zhao Ru Jun so hard one of her teeth fell out.

Zhao Ru Jun screamed in pain and fury but she knew that the county magistrate’s wife was not someone she could offend before and was definitely not someone she could offend now.

Thus, she lowered her posture and knelt down in front of her, begging bitterly and repeatedly cursing Lian Fang Zhou. She swore that Lian Fang Zhou had framed her.

Now that the county magistrate’s wife had taken out some of her frustration, the anger in her heart had subsided and she believe Zhao Ru Jun a little.

After all, Zhao Ru Jun had conspired with her and had never concealed her resentment of Lian Fang Zhou. The county magistrate’s wife believed that she would never let Lian Fang Zhou go at the last minute.

She believed her a little bit but she still resented her. “Didn’t you say it was foolproof? How could you mess things up to this point? Hmph, Zhao Ru Jun, you are completely useless! This madam has the bad luck of eight lifetimes! I was a fool to trust you.”

Zhao Ru Jun’s heart burned with embarrassment and anger, but her face only showed shame and remorse. Red eyed, she apologized to the county magistrate’s wife: “Madam, I was negligent—”

“Shut up!” She was scolded by the county magistrate’s wife before she could finish her sentence.  The county magistrate’s wife stared at her and said coldly, “Who are you? Who am I? Are you worthy of using ‘I’ in front of this madam?”

Zhao Ru Jun was so annoyed, she vomited blood in her heart. Gritting her teeth, she opened her mouth a few times, struggling to overcome her anger. Biting her lip, she finally spat out: “Yes— this, this servant was negligent. Lian Fang Zhou’s family has a distant cousin with a lot of skill. It must have been him getting in the way!”

She originally wanted to call herself ‘this concubine’ but since she had not officially been recognized by the county magistrate or his wife, rashly calling herself ‘concubine’ would only anger the county magistrate’s wife.

“Distant cousin?” The county magistrate’s wife raised an eyebrow.

Zhao Ru Jun hurriedly exaggerated the story of Ah Jian driving away the wolves and praised him as being incredibly brave.

After all, Ah Jian’s extraordinary skills would only highlight her innocence: she was just a weak woman, how could she have been his opponent?

The county magistrate’s wife frowned. After thinking for a while, she finally said, slowly: “I remember that when we talked before, you mentioned this and there was indeed such a person.” Then she got angry again, “Since you knew, why didn’t you plan ahead? What’s the use of mentioning it now!?”

“It’s this servant’s fault! This servant was negligent!” Zhao Ru Jun cried pathetically, “This servant didn’t expect Lian Fang Zhou to be so cunning!” She hurriedly kowtowed to admit her mistakes while also secretly coaxing the county magistrate’s wife to act again.

There was bitter hatred in her eyes.

There was no going back now. She could only grit her teeth and walk down this unplanned path!

If it wasn’t for Lian Fang Zhou, how would she have ended up like this? She would never let her go!

Even if she went to hell, she would drag Lian Fang Zhou with her!

As long as they died together, she was satisfied.

The county magistrate’s wife rolled her eyes and sneered: “Of course this won’t end so easily! However, it’s no longer any of your business, so you shouldn’t ask about it! Be obedient and stay in your room. Don’t take even half a step outside without my permission! Hmph, if you dare to disobey, just give it a try!”

She was shocked by the this turn of events and would certainly not let Lian Fang Zhou feel at ease, bit she also wouldn’t trust Zhao Ru Jun again.

She had to slowly come up with a concrete idea by herself so nothing could go wrong again.

The matter of Zhao Ru Jun would have to wait. Then she could do whatever she liked when things cooled down. She had plenty of time to plan slowly.

Lian Fang Zhou could not escape her forever, eventually her silver would be hers!

“Madam, this servant—” Zhao Ru Jun started to speak urgently. How could she tell her not to participate? How could she be reconciled?

“Shut up and go!” The county magistrate’s wife would not fall for the same trick twice.

She didn’t have a deep friendship with Zhao Ru Jun and this mess was because she relied too much on her. Why would she still listen to her?

Zhao Ru Jun opened her mouth again but when she saw the cold, stern gaze of the county magistrate’s wife, she closed it again. Bowing her head, she saluted, and silently withdrew.

Soon, the rumors spread that Zhao Ru Jun had schemed against the county magistrate and climbed into his bed for the sake of wealth and power. Such a rumor made the county magistrate appear innocent and generous.

As a result, people were even more convinced.

But soon after, another rumor spread!

With the first rumor as foreshadowing, everyone was even more convinced of the second rumor. Especially the county magistrate! He had already known about Zhao Ru Jun’s talent but when he heard the second rumor, his heart was really moved.

In other words, asking her to help him do business and make money was a way for her to atone for her mistakes and show her generosity, right?

It was a pity that, before the county magistrate’s idea could be implemented, Zhao Ru Jun was beaten half to death by the county magistrate’s wife for being disrespectful and could only lie on the bed and recover.

Since Zhao Ru Jun hadn’t heard the rumor outside, she just thought the county magistrate’s wife was still angry about the last incident.

The county magistrate’s wife had always been aggressive, she was very capable of making trouble.

For the sake of his career prestige and reputation, the county magistrate usually adopted a patient attitude. It had become a habit to let his wife’s moods come and go. Although he wasn’t happy about it, he couldn’t say anything and put his thoughts away.

Now that everything had happened, he needed to show that he did not care about Zhao Ru Jun. So even though she was so injured she couldn’t stand, he didn’t say a word.

Seeing this, his wife’s anger eventually faded.

The county magistrate’s inner courtyard became calm.

However, it was not so calm in the county official office!

In just one month, the Zhao clansmen, relying on their status as the ‘maternal relatives of the county magistrate’s concubine’, did all kinds of evils: bullying neighbors, occupying fertile fields, and fighting with people. They even almost killed some people!

They were so unruly, the villagers did not dare to object.

Master Zhao was very anxious about Zhao Ru Jun. After all, she was his blood. No matter how much he hated her actions and resented her, their father-daughter relationship over the last decade were not fake. He wanted to know if she was alright.

Taking a carriage of generous gifts, Master Zhao went to visit the county magistrate in person to give a few good words. He carefully asked to meet Zhao Ru Jun.

Who would have guessed that the county magistrate’s wife was still wary of Zhao Ru Jun because of those rumors! When she saw Master Zhao arrive with all his expensive gifts, she immediately decided that Master Zhao and Zhao Ru Jun were colluding to undermine her!

The county magistrate accepted the money and good words but dodged every request for Master Zhao to see his daughter. He tried his best but in the end, he was unable to see her.

The result of this was a group of angry wealthy family heads united to sue the county magistrate! The county magistrate was furious.