A Good Country Wife-Chapter 666 - 659_1

Master Xue returned home, weathered from his ordeal, and found everything he had grown accustomed to over the past few months particularly endearing. Suddenly, he felt a sense of home - a place that could shelter him from the elements and allow him to live peacefully. If in the past his loyalty to Madam was for a good refuge, now he considered himself a member of this family, especially upon returning to the courtyard and seeing his long-missed family. At that moment, tears streamed down Master Xue’s face; when the Hidden Guard of the Yin Family had taken him, he thought he would never see his family again.

"Mother, wife, son, hey!" Master Xue didn’t expect such a pleasant surprise upon returning home; Madam had actually arranged to have his elderly mother, wife, and son all brought over. At first, Master Xue was stunned, then he cried out in joy and even held his son in his arms.

Ever since Master Xue’s family had been brought over by the Zhao Family, they felt uneasy not seeing their son and waited at the entrance of the yard, longing for Master Xue’s return. At that moment, when they finally saw Master Xue, they were overjoyed but somewhat startled, and it took a brief moment before they quickly welcomed him into the courtyard with great joy.

"My son, you’ve finally come back. These past few days we’ve been staying here, well-fed and taken care of, but it was unsettling not to see you. Now that you’re back, it’s good, so good," Mother Xue said happily, incessantly.

"I have been unfilial for not personally fetching you due to my duties, Mother. I pray you don’t blame your son. Now that I have settled in the Zhao Family, though I may not become very accomplished in the future, I am living an honest and stable life. The lord and Madam are kind people and treat us servants well. I have not fulfilled my filial duty by being away from home for so many years, but I will make sure to take good care of you from now on."

Lin Yue had kept the news of Master Xue’s misfortune from his family. Furthermore, since the departure of Mdm. Xu and a few others, many weren’t fully aware of Master Xue’s situation. As a result, his family had remained clueless about his abduction. Master Xue realized from the conversation that his family was unaware, so he decided to keep hiding the truth to spare them from worry and sadness.

"We need not say such things between the two of us, Mother. As for my wife, these years she has not only had to take care of the household but also respect and look after my parents and to care for our child, which has truly been hard on her. If anyone deserves my gratitude, it’s my wife whom I should treat well," Mother Xue, a kind mother-in-law, had always had a good relationship with her daughter-in-law, who was filial. At this time, she did not forget to acknowledge her daughter-in-law’s effort, hoping that her son and daughter-in-law could lead a harmonious life together in the future.

"Mother, rest assured, I am well aware of this; Lian Niang is indeed a virtuous and filial wife. Over the years, I’ve been able to work with a peace of mind because she took care of the household. I will definitely treat her well in the future," Master Xue had always been grateful to his wife, so he had never harbored any other intentions.

Now that Master Xue had been rescued, Lin Yue still needed to go to the city to inform Manager Liu of this matter. After all, Manager Liu had made great efforts in this event, and by all counts, it was only right to do so. Moreover, Lin Yue knew that Manager Liu would surely report everything that had happened here to Jiang Ziqi; informing Manager Liu would also prevent Jiang Ziqi from worrying about her.

Liu, the shopkeeper, had been concerned about the Zhao Family’s situation. Since that time, Madam Lin hadn’t come to Jimin Hall to discuss the rescue of Master Xue. Liu thought Lin Yue had given up, but during this period, Lin Yue had actually managed to rescue the man.

"Madam Lin, is this Master Xue? You rescued him!" Liu, the shopkeeper, asked in surprise as he looked at the person behind Lin Yue. Having met Master Xue once before, he recognized the man with little difficulty and was truly astonished. He thought to himself that Madam Lin was quite capable, wondering how she had managed the rescue. After all, those were the Yin Family’s Hidden Guards. Last time, his own people had suffered quite a loss at their hands, and despite being well-prepared, they had failed to bring anyone back. Eventually, they even lost track of the guards. Yet somehow, Madam Lin had found them and rescued the man.

"Indeed, it is Master Xue. Speaking of it, it was a fortunate coincidence. I didn’t expect that those black-clothed people entering the Capital City would be robbed by bandits, and that Master Xue would be taken up to the mountains by them. I got wind of it, took a silver note to Longhu Mountain, and redeemed Master Xue. Otherwise, who knows where he would still be hidden by those in black. My visit today is specifically to inform you, Shopkeeper Liu, so you needn’t continue to worry about this matter on my behalf."

"The bandits of Longhu Mountain, that’s also..." Liu, the shopkeeper, didn’t know what to say. He was aware of the bandits of Longhu Mountain. Indeed, they were audacious, typically only robbing the riches of wealthy people. This time, they actually clashed with the Yin Family’s Hidden Guards and even robbed them. Not only had they made powerful enemies, but they also gained no advantage, truly an imprudent act.

The more Liu, the shopkeeper, thought about it, the more he felt something fishy about it all. It seemed to him that something was off. How could Madam Lin’s information be so accurate? As soon as Master Xue was kidnapped by the bandits, she knew and redeemed him. Could it be that Madam Lin had secret dealings with the bandits? freёnovelkiss.com

No wonder Liu, the shopkeeper, thought so. The road from Xin’an City to the Capital City passed through Longhu Mountain, and miraculously, the Zhao Family’s people encountered no trouble each time they passed through. Based on the bandits’ usual behavior, knowing that the Zhao Family was transporting valuable goods to the Capital, they would not have refrained from robbing them at least once or twice. Yet they never did, while the Jiang Family’s goods had been robbed by bandits from Longhu Mountain. Sharp and meticulous, Liu quickly sensed something amiss. Moreover, he remembered what Li Xun had told him about the incidents on the road, which made him even more certain of a certain idea.

Lin Yue saw skepticism and astonishment on Liu, the shopkeeper’s, face. However, there were some things she would definitely not share with people like Liu, the shopkeeper. As for Ziqi, she still had to consider whether to tell him the truth. So she continued to feign ignorance. "It was indeed the bandits of Longhu Mountain. I didn’t expect the Yin Family’s Hidden Guards to be so unlucky. Having escaped from Xin’an City, they ended up being robbed by the bandits. But fortunately, thanks to that, I was able to redeem the man simply by spending silver, otherwise I wouldn’t know what troubles I’d have to go through; the waters of the Capital City run very deep."

"Yes, indeed, such a lucky coincidence. And fortunate, too; otherwise, once in the Capital City, it certainly wouldn’t have been easy to rescue Master Xue. In this way, the bandits of Longhu Mountain have indeed done a good deed." Seeing that Lin Yue was reluctant to explicitly state what happened, Liu, the shopkeeper, decided to play dumb while understanding the implications. In any case, in his view, the real skill was in the rescue of Master Xue, regardless of the process itself.