good season

Chapter 154 Three Hook-Nosed Men (Two chapters combined)

Zhao Shiqing stared at the legendary hooked nose, momentarily lost in thought.

The dead Xu Kun and the present-day Xu Lin probably never dreamed that their hooked noses would become family heirlooms.
Xu Lin had already seen the people walking towards him, and among them were two pretty young girls.

Of course there are young girls in the village, but the daughters of the villagers either work in the fields like men or spend all day cooking for the family. How can they compare to these two young girls with their delicate skin and exquisite features?
Xu Lin's cloudy old eyes were glued to Zhao Shiqing's face, unwilling to look away.

Zhao Shiqing immediately felt as if she were being swarmed by flies, their gaze sticky and disgusting.

Jiang Han also sensed something was wrong and instinctively stepped forward to shield Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo behind him.

Xu Lin sensed the hostility coming from the other side. He coughed lightly, put on a stern face, and adopted the air of a manager: "Who are you three? Who let you in? Do you know where this is?"

With Jiang Han blocking her way, Zhao Shiqing whispered, "Stop him."

Jiang Han laughed and stepped forward, acting like a close friend, and put his arm around Xu Lin's shoulder: "Xu Lao Er, you're so forgetful, you don't even remember me? Have you forgotten that year when you stole someone's wife and were chased and beaten by her husband, it was me who saved you!"

Xu Lin was taken aback. Really? When was this? He couldn't remember. Perhaps it was because he was getting old and his memory was failing?

But the next moment, Xu Lin felt a pain in his shoulder. Jiang Han's arm was like an iron clamp, making Xu Lin unable to move.

Xu Lin realized that the visitor was up to no good and was about to call for help when he heard Jiang Han say, "Xu Lao Er, why are you coughing again? Here, use my handkerchief, I don't mind that you're dirty."

Before he finished speaking, a handkerchief was handed to Xu Lin's mouth, and a hemp seed was forcibly stuffed into his mouth. Almost instantly, his tongue became unresponsive, and then his lips went numb, and he couldn't even open his mouth.

Jiang Han still had his arm around Xu Lin's shoulder, and they walked forward together.

Manager Jin had told them that every day at this time, Xu Lin's two sons would play dice at Gao Lao Er's house. Gao Lao Er was also a tenant farmer in the village. He broke his leg last month and couldn't work in the fields, so he simply gave up and left all the heavy work at home to his wife and son. Every day, he would sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) and call over a few lazy men from the village to play dice.

At this time, Gao Lao Er's house was very lively. In addition to Xu Da and Xu Er, there were two other people, both of whom were well-known lazybones in the village.

Lingbo called out from outside the door, "Brother Xu, someone's here to buy mountain produce. Everyone in the village has gone to the threshing ground. People from the Marquis's mansion have also come. It's quite lively there. Do you want to go?"

The room fell silent for a moment, then Gao Lao Er said to Xu Da with a grin, "Your voice is quite sweet, who is this girl now?"

Xu Da said smugly, "This woman is too clingy. She can't stand not seeing me for a moment. You wait here, I'm going out to talk to her."

He was wondering to himself, "Judging from his voice, he's not very old. The girls here treat him like a thief. Who is he?"
The thought had barely formed when he stepped out of the house and saw his father, Xu Lin, as well as Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo.

As for Jiang Han, who was hugging his father, he didn't pay any attention to him, and didn't even notice that his father's expression was a little strange. His attention was on Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo's faces.

This tender young girl has skin so soft it looks like you could squeeze water out of it; she's a hundred or even a thousand times better than those lazy, flabby old women in the village.

He rubbed his hands together, drool practically dripping from his mouth: "You're the ones looking for me, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lingbo's slender hand touched his face. He was overjoyed, but before he could utter any lewd words, that hand removed his jaw!

He stared in astonishment at the girl in front of him, his mouth agape. Zhao Shiqing stepped forward and, together with Lingbo, bound Xu Da's hands behind his back with leather rope before he could react. Lingbo held a dagger to his back and said, "Behave yourself, or I'll stab you!"

Xu Da had never seen anything like this before, and his legs trembled with fear. If he could speak at that moment, he would already be begging for mercy.

Zhao Shiqing called out into the house, "Second Brother Xu, you should come too!"

This time, not only Xu Er came out, but also two other lazybones. Gao Lao Er's leg was broken and he couldn't get off the bed, otherwise he would have come out with them.

Seeing Xu Lin and his son standing outside, Xu Er had no suspicions. His gaze fell on Zhao Shiqing's face, and his eyes lit up: "You are maids from the Marquis's mansion, right? Tsk tsk tsk, the Marquis's mansion really knows how to raise people. Even a random maid is so beautiful."

Zhao Shiqing laughed and said, "Oh dear, let's talk on the way. Let's hurry up and go. The steward of the Marquis's mansion specifically asked to see you."

Xu Er was overjoyed. He and his father were living quite well in the manor. Except for not being able to leave the manor, everything was good. They also received a share of the things that were sent from the Marquis's manor. It seemed that they were sending things again. No wonder his father and brother wanted to go.

He said to the two lazy men, "You two keep playing, I'll go check on things."

As he spoke, he stretched out his paw and reached out to touch Zhao Shiqing. With a slap, his paw was hit, but he wasn't angry. He grinned and said, "Hitting is a sign of affection, little sister. How much do you like me?"

Zhao Shiqing ignored him and turned to leave. Xu Er quickly chased after her. The two lazy men saw this, laughed loudly, and turned to go back inside to continue gambling.

Seeing that there was no one else around, Zhao Shiqing kicked Xu Er in the knee. Before Xu Er could even cry out, she followed suit and also removed his chin.

Just like he had dealt with Xu Da, he did the same thing, binding his hands behind his back with leather rope, holding a knife to his back, and following Steward Jin's directions, he left the manor via a side path.

The buying and selling of mountain produce continued at the threshing ground, with men and women from all walks of life haggling over prices, creating a lively atmosphere. No one noticed that the Xu family father and son had already left the village.

Judging that it was about time, Zhen Wuduo and Shen Wangxing drove their mule cart, loaded with mountain goods, out of the village.

Half an hour later, Manager Jin arrived at Gao Lao Er's house as planned: "Where are Xu Da and Xu Er?"

"Manager Jin, if you want to find them, go to the threshing ground. His father just called them away," said Gao Lao Er.

Manager Jin grunted in acknowledgment, turned and left, then turned back to the three people playing dice inside and said, "All you do all day is gamble. How much do you earn to keep gambling? You're all so bad!"

He had said these words countless times; they came out of his mouth effortlessly. Gao Lao Er and the others were so used to hearing them that they were practically calloused. They saw him off with smiles on their faces.

After leaving Gao Lao Er's house and walking a distance, Manager Jin picked up a stone from the ground, gritted his teeth, and smashed it against his forehead. Blood gushed out immediately, and he fainted... Haitang was doing needlework at home when her youngest son ran home crying loudly: "Mother, please come quickly! My father is bleeding a lot, he's about to die!"

Haitang's heart sank. She dropped her needle and thread and ran out with her son. When they arrived at the scene, a crowd had already gathered, all talking at once: "Who did this? They're so bold! They even dared to hit Manager Jin!"

"Thank goodness Manager Jin is lucky, a truly fortunate person!"

……

Haitang squeezed through the crowd and saw her husband, whose face was covered in blood: "Quickly, go and get a doctor! Get a doctor!"

Half an hour later, after seeing the doctor off, Haitang looked at Steward Jin, who had already woken up, and asked, "Who did it?"

Manager Jin touched his bandaged head: "It was Xu Lin! He and those two troublemakers were getting involved with the men in the village, not working properly, and spending all their time gambling at Gao Lao Er's place. I said a few words to him when I saw him, and he picked up a stone and threw it at me... I'm useless, I'm not a man, and he bullied me again and again! Haitang, I'm sorry, I've made you feel ashamed to be with me!"

Recalling all the losses he had suffered at Xu Lin's hands over the years, Manager Jin's true feelings were revealed. He took Haitang's hand and started sobbing like a child.

Haitang gritted her teeth. Although she was sent by Madam Wei to monitor Steward Jin and Xu Lin, she had been married to Steward Jin for more than ten years and had two children. They had feelings for each other. Now that her husband had almost died at Xu Lin's hands, how could she not be angry?
"The doctor told you to rest for a few days and stay in bed. Leave this to me."

Haitang gave a few more instructions, telling the two children to take care of their father, and then she called a few young men to go find Xu Lin together.

But after searching the entire village, they could not find Xu Lin, nor could they find Xu Lin's two sons.

Gao Lao Er and those two lazybones can testify that the Xu family father and his two sons left with two young and beautiful girls, and that the girls were maids in the Marquis's mansion.

Haitang reported the matter truthfully to Madam Wei that very night. Madam Wei cursed, "Lustful scoundrel! This is a lustful scoundrel! Which maid in the Marquis's mansion would have anything to do with them? This is clearly nonsense, a cover-up. Find them! Even if they hide in a rat hole, find them for me!"

At this point, Old Madam Wei still assumed that the father and his two sons were hiding somewhere, indulging in pleasure. After all, they had lived in the manor for many years and had never left it, nor did they dare to.

Therefore, Madam Wei did not believe they had the courage to leave the estate, and as for whether someone would arrest them, that was even more impossible.

Apart from their son, Lord Zhu, no one else in the world knew their true identities.

Who would arrest the three hooligans kept on the estate?

They offended quite a few people, but only within the village. Those men whose wives had been stolen from them would at most beat them up or ask for some money. Since those men still needed to make a living from the Marquis's mansion, they naturally wouldn't go too far.

As for outsiders, that's even more impossible; in the eyes of the world, Xu Lin is already a dead man.

Yes, Xu Lin is Xu Kun's twin brother. The two brothers look exactly alike and have similar personalities. One is a romantic, but he only loves young girls in their late teens and early twenties, and his love is always earth-shattering and eternal. The other is also a romantic, but he is indiscriminate in his love for women. He was ordered by the clan elders to drown him and his cousin's wife in a pond because he got her pregnant.

His father didn't want his son to die so young, so he bribed his clansmen to do something that resulted in his cousin's death. However, he escaped death and traveled all over the country with a merchant caravan until he was found by Old Madam Wei many years ago.

At that time, he had stolen someone else's wife and was extorted for a lot of money. He had no choice but to sell his wife to pay off the debt, but he still couldn't raise enough money. He was like a rat in the street, hiding here and there.

The people sent by Old Madam Wei found him, helped him get rid of the creditors, and told him that his younger brother had offended many people. Now his younger brother was burned to a crisp, and even his own mother couldn't recognize him. His enemies didn't believe that the charred remains were his younger brother, and now they even mistook him for his younger brother and were trying to capture him everywhere.

That enemy was powerful and influential, and had killed his brother's wife and children, and even his in-laws were not spared. So now, death was the only thing facing him.

Xu Lin willingly hid in this remote village. At first, he was uneasy, but he soon discovered the joy of living in the village. So he settled down without any worries about food or drink, didn't have to travel around, and could even gamble a little and have some casual sex when he had nothing to do.

So how could Xu Lin possibly run away?
However, Xu Lin did indeed run away.

Lord Zhu personally went to Tong'an to search. After all, he was an official and had many connections. He quickly found the whereabouts of Xu Lin and his son.

Someone saw three men who looked like a father and sons hire a carriage and travel south along the official road.

Why is it so memorable?

Because all three of them have the same hooked nose, it's hard not to take a second look.

Lord Zhu could not stray too far from the capital; Tong'an was the limit. He could only send people south to pursue them, while he himself remained in Tong'an to continue the investigation.

He soon found another important clue. The fortune teller on East Street confirmed that three men with the same hooked nose had come to him. The older one was looking for a woman. He told the fortune teller her birth date and time, and the fortune teller calculated that the woman was still alive in a place with water.

The man with the hooked nose paused for a moment, and the other two men with hooked noses asked him if he knew what place it was.
The hook-nosed man thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh: "I remember now, it must be there! Let's rent a carriage, we'll definitely find her!"

All signs indicate that the father and his two sons went south to find someone, and specifically, to find a woman.

If you said they were going to find men, Madam Wei would never believe you, but if you said they were going to find women, Madam Wei would believe you.

Old Madam Wei didn't sleep all night. Xu Lin, who looked exactly like Xu Kun, was her trump card and also a shield for the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion.

But now the shield is gone...

Just then, the men sent out by Lord Zhu brought good news: they had found the place where Xu Lin's carriage had stopped and were chasing after it, and would catch up soon.

Madam Wei gritted her teeth: "Find these three ingrates and send them to the Marquis's residence. I want to see them in person!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than a maid rushed in: "Madam, a nun has arrived outside. She says she's from Qingjing Nunnery and has something important to tell you!"

(End of this chapter)