The Difficulty of Asking One's Heart

"Ah Yue, are you a woman from the Zhou family?"

"I have no idea."

This was A-Yue's answer; she said this while holding her head in her hands.

Master Liu slowly sat up straight, placing his hands on the armrests of the chair.

It's enough that I don't know.

A madwoman doesn't know who she is, so others can decide for her.

"Everyone heard that."

Master Liu waved his hand, and the servants cleared the gate. He looked at the people outside and said, "The person involved is not denying it. The Liu family has always been fair."

As long as A-Yue is still a member of the Zhou family, then today's incident is not everyone's fault; it was just a crazy woman causing trouble.

The village leaders chimed in, "Chen was married into the Zhou household, and the county government ruled on that three years ago. We're not deceiving her."

The local gentry immediately retorted, "If we can just say it doesn't count today, tomorrow every village will be in chaos. Who will be able to live their lives if women can just leave whenever they want?"

The clerk huddled in a corner. Master Liu gave him a signal, and the clerk quickly straightened his askew official hat and called out:

"The witnesses and physical evidence are sufficient! Zhou Dagui of Guhuai Village married Chen, and the marriage contract was stamped and the guarantee was in order. Chen ran away from home four times, and was unfilial, dishonest, and unchaste."

After reading it, he closed the file. "Fortunately, the Liu family magnanimous and persuasive, Chen has come to her senses and returned to the right path. Third Master's compassion is also a blessing for the people."

"Listen to Third Master!" someone shouted from the crowd.

As a result, more people began to nod in agreement, while those who did not want to nod could only silently back down under the prevailing trend.

These voices emerged one after another, like hands reaching out from inside the hall, from outside the door, and from the darkness of three years, trying to push A-Yue back into the Zhou family's home.

Her back was getting more and more hunched, and her mental state was not good. She hummed a nursery rhyme and wanted to retreat into her own world.

"Bullshit!"

Xu Yanqing's voice exploded in the air.

He took a step toward Master Liu.

But before he could move, two thugs from the Liu family pressed him down, one twisting his arm and the other kicking him in the back of the knee.

Xu Yanqing knelt down abruptly, and the thug pressed his knee against Xu Yanqing's back, cursing, "If you say another word, believe me, I'll break your other arm too!"

Xu Yanqing's face was pressed against the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, yet he was still shouting, "She has a name!!!"

The thugs held his head down and pressed his face directly onto the blue bricks.

Xu Yanqing's face was pressed against the ground, his mouth still moving: "Her name is... Chen Ayue."

Laughter broke out again in the hall, the loudest coming from the brokers: "A toad trying to eat swan meat, doesn't it know how to look at itself in the mirror? One's disabled, the other's a madman, they're quite a match."

The words had barely left his mouth when he said them.

Shen Gui opened the county government account book he had brought.

He pulled out a contract from the ledger. The paper was older than the others, and the ink on it had faded a bit, but the words were still clearly visible.

[A woman surnamed Chen from Jiangping Prefecture was transferred to the Zhou household.]

A-Yue stared at Madam Chen of Jiangping Prefecture, and finally, she grabbed the piece of paper.

Master Liu frowned. He hated the constant changes and wanted to suppress the matter as soon as possible, so his tone was a bit harsher:

"Chen Ayue, if you are really from Jiangping Prefecture, then tell me clearly: who is your father, where is your home, which way does your door face, what shops are on the street, what is your mother's name, and how many brothers you have."

Ah Yue's mind was a complete mess.

Master Liu leaned back: "If you can't explain it, then someone else taught you."

Someone outside the hall nodded.

"Yes, it's really our own family, how could we not explain it?"

"That's crazy, it's normal that you can't remember."

The sound came again, and everyone in the hall looked at her.

Holding the contract, A-Yue looked at Shen Gui with a pleading expression.

"Think for yourself," Shen Gui said.

A-Yue shifted her gaze and saw Xu Yanqing lying on the ground.

Last time, it seemed to be the same. She was forced to kneel in front of the court, while the peddler was beaten until his face was covered in blood, surrounded by all sorts of rumors.

A-Yue didn't want to; she didn't want to see it again.

Xu Yanqing's voice came from the ground: "Didn't you want to... go home...?"

The sound was intermittent, but the words "go home" hit A-Yue's ears like bricks.

She heard her mother soothing her to sleep at night, patting her back gently.

"Ah Yue, be good, Ah Yue, don't be afraid."

She heard her brother calling her from the doorway.

"Little sister, hurry up, the osmanthus cake is getting cold!"

She saw a bridge with water under it and fishmongers selling fish by the water's edge.

A blue sign with white lettering hangs at the entrance of the shop. When the wind blows, the sign sways gently: Chen's Silk.

Her father stood behind the counter, calculating on an abacus, the beads clicking and clattering. Her mother came out from the backyard, her hands covered in flour, and scolded her for getting her new dress dirty again.

Some of it is real, some is like a dream.

Some parts are out of order.

But one name is becoming increasingly clear.

A-Yue looked down at the contract in her hand and squeezed out a sound.

"My name is..."

No one heard clearly.

Master Liu's fingers paused slightly.

A-Yue repeated, "My name is Chen A-Yue."

"You call me Chen Ayue!" Xu Yanqing's eyes immediately reddened.

Ah Yue raised her head, her voice clearer than before.

"A native of Jiangping Prefecture."

She paused, then took a deep breath.

My father's name is Chen Shouchang.

"My home is on Nanqiao Street, with a blue sign with white lettering hanging at the entrance: Chen's Silk."

She spoke more and more urgently.

"My mother makes osmanthus cake, but she doesn't put too much sugar in it because she says sugar is expensive. My brother always complains that I run too slowly and calls me 'short-legged,' but I'm not. I can run."

As she said this, she looked down at her leg, which was no longer very agile.

She paused for a moment, then gripped the contract tightly again.

"I am not a Zhou family woman."

She looked at the women at the door.

"I didn't marry into that family."

Look towards the village entrance.

"It's not a village rule."

He looked at the county clerk.

"This is not an old case."

Finally, she looked at Master Liu, her eyes still filled with fear, a deep fear, but she did not bow her head.

"I am not one of your things."

When she said those words, her voice suddenly cracked, as if something that had been stuck in her throat for three years was coughed up along with blood.

"My name is Chen Ayue!"

She gripped the contract and no longer hid behind anyone.

She understood what Mr. Shen meant by "self-rescue".

Xu Yanqing lay on the ground, his shoulders gradually slumping as he stopped struggling, a relieved smile on his face.

The stone pendant on Shen Gui's chest suddenly became hot.

It wasn't the lukewarm heat of before, but a sliver of light seeping from the edge of the crack, like a spark ignited by the wind in the ashes.

Shen Gui glanced down at it.

The crack is still there, not fully healed, but it's almost there.

He reached out and pressed the stone weight, finding his way.

When Master Liu saw Shen Gui's action, he didn't know what it meant. He shifted his gaze and saw that A Yue had stood up a little straighter.

The "heaven" of Changluo County finally frowned.

"Okay, okay, okay."

Master Liu said slowly, "Since Miss Chen says she is not a member of the Zhou family, then I, Liu, have also heard that."

He looked up at the outside of the hall: "But Changluo County is not a place where a case can be overturned with just a few words."

Chief Feng had already gripped the hilt of his knife, and the guards outside the hall took a step forward.

A dense chorus of footsteps echoed all around as armed bandits and outlaws rushed out from the streets, shoving aside onlookers and storming into the courtyard.

The spacious courtyard was instantly filled with people, who brandished knives and surrounded the three men.

Even a fool could see that the three people inside were doomed. Moreover, the reinforcements outside had not been cut off. Some people, unable to squeeze into the house, surrounded the entire outer wall of the Liu mansion, not letting a single fly escape.

Master Liu sat back down in his armchair, picked up a teacup, lifted the lid, and took a sip.

Chief Feng straightened his back; this backup plan was his doing.

He knew better than anyone else that there were a total of seven hundred able-bodied men in the Liu family, many of whom had embarked on cultivation!

While it's true that someone in the Wangyue Realm can fight against a thousand men with all their might, even ants can kill an elephant if there are many of them, and one's vital energy will eventually run out.

Even if that gray-clad man is at the Mountain-Gazing Realm, killing everyone would not end well for him. He would have to consider whether it was worth risking his life for a woman.

As for how big a mess this will cause, that's a matter for later. Third Master's relationships over the years haven't been built up for nothing.

With this in mind, Chief Feng raised his arm, and the encirclement began to tighten inward.

Xu Yanqing got up before the guards could gather.

He stood in front of A-Yue and roared, "It was all my fault last time. If I hadn't been so weak, we might have been able to escape. This time, I won't be afraid!"

"I've never blamed you."

"what?"

Xu Yanqing turned around and saw A Yue's clear eyes, even clearer than they had been three years ago.

"The reason I haven't gone completely insane in the past three years is because of you. You made me feel that there are still good people in the world."

Ah Yue smiled gently, "There aren't many good people left in this world, so I hope you don't die, and I hope you can escape with Mr. Shen."

After speaking, she turned to the side and bowed deeply to the man in gray beside her.

"Mr. Shen, I'm so sorry, you saved me, but I didn't have a chance to repay you. I feel guilty, so I dare not burden you."

"I can only repay your kindness in my next life."

As she spoke, A-Yue stepped forward and charged towards the approaching blades.

Her thinking was simple: Mr. Shen was quite capable, and without her as a burden, if he was determined to escape, he should be able to.

only...

She had only taken one step when a hand pressed down on her shoulder.

Those hands were so steady, giving you an indescribable sense of security.

"Alright, as long as you dare to take this step, that's fine."

Shen Gui's voice rang out from behind, and the lights in the hall flickered at the same time.

"This remaining cage... is quite simple."