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Chapter 33: Rescued (Part 2)

After Zheng Yuanhao left, the two servant girls looked at Gu Leyou.

One of them, Xiaolian, said, “Xiaoyu, this young lady is really pretty, but now that our Young Master has taken a liking to her, there won’t be any good days ahead for her.”

“Exactly. Our Young Master has a notorious reputation. Girls from miles around avoid him like the plague. This poor lady is really unlucky.”

Hearing the two girls gossip, Gu Leyou joined in.

“You’d be better off feeling sorry for yourselves than for me.”

The two servant girls were confused by her words — what was she babbling about?

Seeing their confusion, Gu Leyou explained,
“Do you think you’re truly safe being servant girls in this wealthy household? Your Young Master acts like that — what if one day you upset him? You might not survive.”

Xiaolian seemed to understand and tearfully said,
“My family was poor, and my parents sold me here as a servant. Girls from poor families like us have no say in our fate. I still have younger brothers at home who rely on the money I earn to survive.”

Gu Leyou looked puzzled.

She asked, “Your parents sold you — why do you still send money back to support your younger brothers? Once sold to this household, shouldn’t you have nothing to do with them anymore?”

It was Xiaoyu who replied,
“We girls from poor families don’t get to decide anything. It’s all up to our parents. Even if they sold us, they’re still our biological parents. How can we just ignore our siblings?”

At that moment, Zheng Yuanhao came back with a group of guards and opened the door.

Standing at the entrance was a tall man — empty-handed and without any helpers.

Zheng Yuanhao thought this man couldn’t possibly take the girl away, so he spoke arrogantly,
“Hey, what are you doing here? Your wife already agreed to stay with me. Go home. You two are done.”

“You took my wife. No matter what you say today, I’m taking her back — or there’ll be consequences,” the man replied.

Though outnumbered, Lu Yan showed no fear.

Zheng Yuanhao sneered, thinking the man was bluffing and not worth taking seriously.

“You’re alone, and we’ve got plenty of people. You can’t win. You should run while you still can. Your wife is here in my house. I’ll treat her well — let her eat and live in luxury. Why should she suffer with you?”

Lu Yan had no interest in bantering. He prepared to fight.

Seeing this, the steward feared his master might suffer and shouted,
“Attack him! Beat him hard!”

Despite the rush of attackers, Lu Yan was fearless — in just a few moves, he had them all on the ground.

Zheng Yuanhao, now intimidated, still tried to maintain his bravado.

“Don’t think I’m scared just because you’re strong! Remember, your wife is still in our hands. If you don’t behave, I can’t guarantee she won’t be harmed.”

Lu Yan was never one to yield to threats. His eyes were cold and fierce.
“If you so much as touch a hair on her head, I’ll make sure everyone in this household pays for it.”

Just then, Gu Hai Xiong arrived with the county magistrate and a large group of subordinates.

The moment the magistrate saw Lu Yan, he dropped to his knees in fear.

This was a man he couldn’t afford to offend.

He had long known there was a powerful general serving in the imperial court. Even before the recent political upheavals, every provincial office had already been sent portraits of this general. The emperor, worried that the general might be inconvenienced while traveling, had made sure everyone knew to avoid offending him.

Though Lu Yan kept his identity hidden, he had met the magistrate once before. It was the magistrate who helped him forge household records.

This magistrate was one of the rare honest officials — upright and uncorrupted.

Gu Hai Xiong had sought him out in the middle of the night for this very reason.

Seeing the magistrate kneeling, Zheng Yuanhao realized he was in serious trouble. The strong-looking man must be someone far beyond their reach.

“Magistrate, please get up. I’m just an ordinary citizen — I can’t accept such honor. Since you’re here, please help me! This man took my wife and says he wants to make her his own!”

The magistrate immediately stood up, enraged.

“You! Search every corner of this estate — turn it upside down if you must — but find the girl and bring her out!”

Realizing he was no match for this, Zheng Yuanhao fell to his knees to beg for mercy.

“Sir, I was wrong! Please, spare my life!”

But the magistrate wasn’t in a forgiving mood. He’d turned a blind eye to Zheng’s past misdeeds because no lives had been lost. But this time, Zheng had messed with the wrong person — if he didn’t handle this properly, he could lose his official position.

So he gave another order:
“Drag this scoundrel away and give him twenty heavy strikes with the paddle for forcibly taking a woman!”

Zheng Yuanhao fainted on the spot from fear.

A subordinate asked, “Sir, Young Master Zheng has fainted. What should we do?”

“Wake him up! Does he think fainting will save him from this punishment?”

Soon, the officials found Gu Leyou.

At the time, she was still chatting with the two servant girls.

“That’s right. Kids from poor families can’t even control their own fate.”

“I don’t know if my parents know what I’m going through now… I don’t blame you two — I know you’d be in serious trouble if you helped me escape.”

Just as she finished speaking, the county officials pushed the door open.

“Young lady, please come with us. The magistrate would like to see you.”

The two servant girls were genuinely happy for her.

Everyone knew their magistrate was a good official. With him involved, the young lady would be safe.

Gu Leyou, puzzled, asked,
“Why does the magistrate want to see me?”

One of the officials replied,
“Just come with us, miss. He’s waiting for you at the front gate — you’ll understand when you get there.”

…

At the front gate.

Gu Hai Xiong suddenly realized:

Their future son-in-law was someone even the magistrate feared — he must be an extraordinary man.

He wondered whether his daughter would be safe being married to someone like that.

Oh well, whatever will be, will be.

They needed to get the wedding arranged as soon as possible. After all, all the wedding supplies had already been bought.

His daughter was sweet and sensible, and now that Zheng’s son had his eye on her, the sooner they married her off, the better. Otherwise, more trouble was bound to come.

As for the son-in-law’s true identity — if he chose not to reveal it, there was no need to ask.

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