Chapter 8

The 3,000 guards of Fancheng had all died in battle.

Fancheng was plunged into hellish suffering. This was beyond Fu Yu’s expectations.

Knowing Fancheng had fallen, Yuan Jun immediately burned the important military documents in Zijun Villa, dispersed the old, weak, women, and children, and led the remaining five hundred estate guards, ready to fight to the death.

Upon realizing that the forces attacking him truly belonged to Fan Dalong, Fu Yu sucked in a breath of cold air.

He knew that since Fan Dalong had already made his move, he definitely wouldn’t let the matter rest.

He had carefully considered all of An Zhentian’s potential moves, and all of Wu Xiang’s potential moves, but he had overlooked Fan Dalong. He assumed Fan Dalong was merely sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight! He hadn’t expected him to strike personally.

Fu Yu accelerated his return to Fancheng.

News came from the front: Fancheng had fallen, City Commander Li Junying was dead, and his head was hanging at the city gates!

A mouthful of hot blood surged up Fu Yu’s throat. His heart ached intensely; Li Junying was only twenty-one!

This was his mistake! He had taken the bulk of his forces to the battlefield, intent on annihilating the An Family Army and Wu Family Army in one fell swoop, leaving Fancheng’s defenses far too weak!

Yuan Jun’s men fiercely defended the villa. Zijun Villa was situated at the foot of a hillside with only one entrance, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.

Hearing the gunfire at the entrance, Chen Yuwei knew they had already broken in, though she couldn’t be certain whose troops they were.

Her belly was already very large, her steps faltering. She told Xiao Yue she wanted some water. As Xiao Yue lowered her head to pour it, Chen Yuwei picked up a nearby stool and smashed it over the maid’s head.

Xiao Yue fainted.

Chen Yuwei tied Xiao Yue up and gagged her.

Seeing their prolonged assault yielding no results, An Zhentian directly called for the artillery.

Wu Xiang stopped him. “My person is inside!”

“Brother Wu, what time is it now? That person of yours is completely unreliable! She’s the one who gave us that intel last time, wasn’t she? Look how badly she screwed us over!” An Zhentian flew into a rage just thinking about it.

“No matter what, I don’t believe she would lie to me. She has to live; I need to ask her personally!” Wu Xiang insisted.

“Then I’ll just use the artillery to blast open the gates. Your lover can’t be lying right at the doorway!”

An Zhentian’s artillery blasted Zijun Villa open, and in an instant, their men swarmed inside.

The estate guards defending Zijun Villa fought to the last man! The courtyard was littered with corpses, splattered with black soot and blinding splashes of crimson.

Yuan Jun’s whereabouts were unknown.

Wu Xiang led his men inside, only to find Zijun Villa was empty. Aside from the corpses of the fallen soldiers, there wasn’t a single soul.

“Chen Yuwei! Yuwei!” Wu Xiang shouted.

Hearing the shouts from the basement, Chen Yuwei realized Wu Xiang had indeed come. She stepped out of the basement and saw Wu Xiang standing there, covered in blood.

“You’re finally here!” Chen Yuwei walked toward him.

“What happened to your eye?” she asked in surprise, noticing the eyepatch over his left eye.

Wu Xiang didn’t answer. He raised his sword and pointed it at her. “Stop right there!”

“Wu Xiang, what’s wrong? It’s me,” Chen Yuwei froze.

“The intel you gave me was fake! We were ambushed by Fu Yu. My entire army was nearly wiped out, leaving only these few men! Tell me, did you conspire with Fu Yu?!” Wu Xiang’s eyes were bloodshot.

Chen Yuwei’s head buzzed. *The intel was fake… That means Fu Yu already knew about Wu Xiang and me. So everything Fu Yu did to me afterward was just an act?*

She had actually been feeling a bit guilty lately, never imagining that Fu Yu was simply using her.

And now, Wu Xiang was actually doubting her too!

Chen Yuwei’s face paled. “Wu Xiang, the intel I gave you was real. If we were deceived, then Fu Yu must have deceived me. He might already know about us and used me to trick you. I… I didn’t lie to you!”

An Zhentian rushed over. “Wu Xiang, don’t let a woman soften your resolve! This woman is Fu Yu’s wife. Everyone knows she racked her brains to marry him. It’s entirely possible she set a trap with him to wipe us all out! There are plenty of women; why get tangled up with one whose loyalties are so unclear!”

An Zhentian looked utterly contemptuous.

“If you can’t do it, I’ll finish her for you!” An Zhentian’s teeth itched with hatred; he just wanted to shoot Chen Yuwei dead.

“Stop! The child in her belly is mine!”

“Ha, how do you know? Did she tell you that herself?” An Zhentian was convinced she had played them.

“Fu Yu is such a shrewd man; how could he keep your woman by his side for so long? Use your brain!” An Zhentian was frustrated by Wu Xiang’s stubbornness.

Wu Xiang looked at Chen Yuwei. “Yuwei, how can you prove to me that what you said is true?”

Chen Yuwei’s face was deathly pale. “You bastard, Wu Xiang! You don’t believe me?”

“How do you expect me to believe you? I deployed my forces exactly according to the intel you gave me. You told me Fu Yu trusted you completely! Now my army is nearly annihilated—is this the result you wanted? I’m truly starting to believe you’re still in love with that heartless Fu Yu!” Wu Xiang said harshly.

“Wu Xiang, you really are a bastard!” Chen Yuwei wanted to cry, but she had no tears left.

Knowing Fancheng had fallen, Fu Yu ordered Jiang Yuanqi to hurry back to defend Qinglong Mountain. The An and Wu armies had already garrisoned Fancheng. If Fan Dalong sent another force to flank them, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

“What about you?” Jiang Yuanqi asked.

“I’ll take a few men and slip back into the villa through the secret passage. I have to save my mother. You guys head back to Qinglong Mountain to regroup, and we’ll figure out our next strategy!”

Jiang Yuanqi led the troops back to Qinglong Mountain.

Fu Yu somewhat regretted not moving his mother to Qinglong Mountain sooner. To keep Chen Yuwei completely oblivious, he had deliberately left his mother at Zijun Villa, never expecting Wu Xiang and An Zhentian to arrive so quickly.

Jiang Mei followed Gu Ming back to Shiyang Mountain once again.

This time, she knew she and Fu Yu were completely finished. She had spoken so resolutely. She hadn’t expected Fu Yu to let her go, and even less so to spare Gu Ming.

Gu Ming tried every trick in the book to make Jiang Mei happy every day. Today, he was taking her hunting.

Seeing him come in with such high spirits, she couldn’t bear to refuse and finally agreed to go with him.

Gu Ming only brought Jiang Mei along. He gave her an exquisite little pistol—a Browning M1910.

“Here, for self-defense!”

He had also specially made a compact crossbow for her to use for hunting.

Jiang Mei focused intently on learning to hunt from him, and her mood improved significantly.

By late morning, they had bagged ten pheasants and two wild hares.

A smile finally returned to Jiang Mei’s face. Gu Ming set up a barbecue grill, plucked two of the pheasants, washed them clean in a nearby stream, and began roasting them.

Jiang Mei ran over with a large handful of mushrooms she had picked. “Brother Gu, there are so many mushrooms here! Can we roast them?”

“Sure, do you want to eat them?”

“Yes, I do.”

Jiang Mei washed the mushrooms, and Gu Ming stuffed them into the pheasants’ cavities. In no time, a mouth-watering aroma filled the air!

Seeing her rosy cheeks, Gu Ming felt a soft, warm tenderness in his heart. *If only you could keep this smile forever!*

Eating the roasted chicken wings and mushrooms Gu Ming handed her, Jiang Mei felt she hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

*If… if I had never met Fu Yu, would I have lived a simple life, married someone who loved me, and raised children together?* As she thought about it, her eyes grew dim.

Gu Ming sharply caught every shift in her mood.

He suddenly leaned in and gently kissed her forehead.

“Jiang Mei, be my woman. Marry me, be my wife!” he asked suddenly, his gaze burning intensely.

Jiang Mei lowered her head. “Brother Gu, I’m still so entangled with Fu Yu. It’s not fair to you!”

“I don’t care!”

“But I do. Besides, I haven’t even figured out my own heart yet, so…”

“It’s okay, I can wait! Look at those persimmons over there, there are so many. Let’s go pick them!” Gu Ming smiled and changed the subject.

A day later, Gu Ming took Jiang Mei down the mountain.

He brought her to the Confucius Temple to burn incense. Jiang Mei noticed that whenever Gu Ming prayed and offered incense to Buddha, he was exceptionally devout. Perhaps because he killed so much normally, he sought peace of mind.

While burning incense, Jiang Mei noticed a girl nearby who kept staring at them—or rather, staring at Gu Ming.

The girl was dressed simply, clearly a commoner, but she was very beautiful, with fair skin, curved eyebrows, and watery eyes.

When they came out, Jiang Mei nudged Gu Ming. “Does that girl know you?”

Gu Ming glanced back and shook his head.

Stepping out of the temple gates, Jiang Mei saw the girl following them out as well.

She trailed behind them at a distance.

Jiang Mei had brought a young maid named Yezi this time. She secretly told Yezi to go ask the woman who she was looking for.

Yezi returned shortly, her lips pouting high.

“What’s wrong?”

“That woman actually claimed she’s the Boss’s woman!” In Yezi’s eyes, Jiang Mei was already Gu Ming’s bandit bride. Anyone could see Gu Ming liked Jiang Mei; he had never paid so much attention to any other woman.

Jiang Mei paused for a moment, then quickly told Yezi to bring the woman over.

Seeing the woman, Gu Ming frowned. “Who are you?”

The woman trembled in fear.

Jiang Mei said softly, “She says she’s your woman.”

Gu Ming, who was drinking water, spat it out.

“How come I don’t know you! Even though I have many women, I still recognize them!”

“My name is Lin Wan’er. A year ago in Linjiawan, you even had a meal at my house, you drank wine, and you even… After you left, my father got sick and passed away. I didn’t know where to find you. I still kept the safety buckle you gave me…”

As she spoke, she pulled out a jade safety buckle. Gu Ming took one look at it. “I have too many women, I don’t remember. But this thing looks vaguely familiar. Men, buy a house and some land for her here. You live here, and I’ll provide for you. If you want to marry someone else, I absolutely won’t interfere. Consider this your dowry!”

The woman began to cry.

Jiang Mei looked at Gu Ming. What a scoundrel!

One of Gu Ming’s confidants whispered a few words in his ear. Gu Ming’s expression changed, and he stood up and walked outside.

Jiang Mei asked Lin Wan’er, “Do you like Gu Ming?”

“I do. He is my man.”

Gu Ming returned shortly and looked at Jiang Mei. “Let’s go. We’re heading back.”

“The mountain is too quiet, and I have no one to talk to. This girl is all alone in the world. Let her come up the mountain to keep me company?”

Gu Ming glanced at Jiang Mei and agreed.

On the way back, Gu Ming’s expression was grave. Jiang Mei knew something must have happened to him.

As soon as they arrived up the mountain, they heard a bandit report to Gu Ming: “Boss, Fu Yu has been captured!”

Gu Ming’s face changed, and he looked back at Jiang Mei. She was deathly pale.

At Zijun Villa.

Chen Yuwei knew Wu Xiang no longer trusted her.

Wu Xiang actually questioned her, “Why should I believe you?!”

Chen Yuwei sneered, “I also know a secret: Fu Yu’s mother is still here!”

Wu Xiang’s eyes lit up. If Fu Yu’s mother was here, the heavens were truly helping him.

“Where is she?” Wu Xiang asked.

“I don’t know exactly where. I told you, Fu Yu made us hide separately. But I am absolutely certain she didn’t leave. You can completely use his mother to threaten Fu Yu!” Chen Yuwei said.

An Zhentian thought for a moment and said, “Spread the word that Fu Yu’s old mother has been captured! I don’t believe Fu Yu won’t be moved! I want him to walk right into our trap!”

Wu Xiang nodded.

“You’ve already occupied Fancheng. I’m certain that if Fu Yu wants to get in, he will definitely use the secret passages. As far as I know, Zijun Villa has many secret passages,” Chen Yuwei said.

At this moment, Chen Yuwei desperately wanted to capture Fu Yu. Whether it was out of hatred or revenge, she couldn’t clearly say; she just wanted to see him suffer.

Arriving at the entrance of the secret passage, Fu Yu’s guard looked at him and said, “Commander, how about we go in and rescue the Old Madam? It’s too risky for you to go.”

“Very few people know about this passage. If we get in and out quickly, there shouldn’t be a problem! Let’s go quickly!” Fu Yu ordered everyone to hurry.

One of Zijun Villa’s secret passage entrances was located at the West Gate.

There was an artificial lake and a rockery at the West Gate. The entrance to the secret passage was right inside the artificial lake.

Wu Xiang and Chen Yuwei’s men had turned Zijun Villa upside down but still couldn’t find Fu Yu’s mother.

Fu Yu’s mother was indeed in a basement, but this basement was built right underneath Chen Yuwei’s Xing Courtyard.

Chen Yuwei could never have imagined that the person she was racking her brains to find was right beneath her own room.

The basement was stocked with enough food and water for a month.

But Fu Yu still wasn’t at ease.

He entered through the secret passage that night. The moment he pushed open the cover of the passage and popped his head out, a gun was pressed against him!

Wu Xiang held the gun with both hands, pressing it against Fu Yu’s head. Instantly, men rushed up from behind and seized Fu Yu.

“I never expected this, Fu Yu! To think you’d see this day!” Looking at Fu Yu, Wu Xiang wanted nothing more than to eat his flesh and drink his blood!

“Using your schemes, you wiped out nearly ten thousand of my troops! Today, I’m going to slice you into a thousand pieces!” Wu Xiang kicked Fu Yu.

An Zhentian roared as he walked over. “You punk, you wanted to wipe me out? Hahaha, I never imagined you’d fall into my hands!” An Zhentian trembled with excitement and delivered a barrage of punches and kicks to Fu Yu.

“What do we do with him? Hand him over to the Military Governor?” An Zhentian asked.

“No! He cannot leave here alive!” Wu Xiang disagreed.

“But the Governor said if we capture Fu Yu, we have to hand him over for him to deal with!” An Zhentian said.

“Just say he was shot dead in the chaos!” Wu Xiang said impatiently.

Seeing that Fu Yu had actually been captured, Chen Yuwei’s face paled, and she walked out, trembling all over.

Fu Yu saw Chen Yuwei. He looked at her and smiled faintly.

“How are you, my wife?”

Looking at this former lover, Chen Yuwei’s heart was a tangled mess of love and hate.

“When did you find out?” she asked.

“Find out what?” Fu Yu asked back.

“That I leaked your operation plans to Wu Xiang!” Chen Yuwei grew anxious.

“Yuwei, what are you talking about?” Fu Yu’s expression was indifferent.

“Fu Yu, stop pretending! You must have known my heart was no longer with you. You deliberately used me to pass them fake intel, didn’t you?!”

Fu Yu sighed. “Yuwei, what’s wrong with you?”

Wu Xiang watched them coldly.

Seeing Fu Yu act this way, and fearing Wu Xiang would misunderstand her, Chen Yuwei said with hatred, “Fu Yu, you don’t have to pretend! Let me tell you, weren’t you always wondering how your father died? I’ll tell you—it was me! I did it!”

Fu Yu jolted, looking up at her.

“Not long after you got married, I was in a bad mood one day and went to your house to find you. But you weren’t there. I went into your study. I heard Wu Xiang say your study had the layout map of Qinglong Mountain. You never let outsiders into Qinglong Mountain, and everyone rumors there’s treasure hidden there!”

Chen Yuwei looked at him. “But right as I entered your study, your father arrived. He called me into his study and interrogated me! I cursed him, I told him I hated him, that he was the one who tore us apart!”

“As a result, he had a heart attack. He took out his medicine, but dropped the pills on the floor. At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind—I just hated him, I wanted him to die! So I took the medicine away, and sure enough, he died!”

“Chen Yuwei, you are so vicious!” Fu Yu could finally pretend no longer. He had always thought Jiang Mei was arguing with his father! He had always blamed Jiang Mei for his father’s death!

“I had Xiao Hong spread the rumor that she heard Jiang Mei arguing with your father! I bought Xiao Hong off before you even got married. She is my person!”

Fu Yu stared quietly at Chen Yuwei, a smile on his face. “What else?”

“Also, taking a bullet for you on your mother’s birthday—I arranged that too. If I hadn’t done that, how could you have abandoned Jiang Mei to marry me?”

Fu Yu looked at Chen Yuwei coldly. *It turns out I, Fu Yu, have been such a fool!*

“And Jiang Mei eloping with Liang Yu? I arranged that as well. Just like Jiang Mei said, she never wanted to go out; Liang Yu kidnapped her. I hired him.” Chen Yuwei’s face was flushed red.

“I also took the layout map of Qinglong Mountain from your study.”

“Wu Xiang killed Nanny Zhou. That night, I originally wanted Wu Xiang to take Jiang Mei away. I couldn’t make a move in Zijun Villa, so I had to have Wu Xiang take her out and finish her off outside. I just never expected her to run out on her own, overhear my conversation with Wu Xiang, discover our affair, and find out that the child in my belly isn’t yours!”

After saying this, Chen Yuwei felt a sudden sense of relief in her heart. Yes, she never had to walk on eggshells around Fu Yu again, never had to live her days in fear.

Fu Yu’s face was cold, lacking the furious outrage she had anticipated. Just as she suspected, he had known all along!

“You knew all this long ago, didn’t you? Didn’t you?!” Chen Yuwei was on the verge of breaking down.

Fu Yu looked coldly ahead, never casting another glance at her.

“Fu Yu, did you hear me?! I gave you a massive green hat! Aren’t you angry? Are you really not angry? Are you even a man?!”

“Enough talking! Take him away! I’m interrogating him tonight!” An Zhentian was so excited he could jump.

He had never imagined he would actually capture Fu Yu. He wanted the layout map of Qinglong Mountain; rumors had always swirled about treasure hidden there, though he didn’t know if they were true. More importantly, he wanted Fu Yu’s army; he wanted him to surrender his official seal!

When interrogating Fu Yu, Chen Yuwei insisted on tagging along. Wu Xiang looked at her. “An interrogation room is no place for a woman, and you’re pregnant!” Wu Xiang refused.

“I provided the location of the secret passage. Without me, how could you have caught him! I’m going!” Chen Yuwei insisted on watching them interrogate Fu Yu.

But when she saw them brutally whipping him with a brine-soaked lash, she left immediately.

—