Chapter 128: Sizing up the Situation
Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Sizing up the Situation
Liang Wan stared at the newcomer, feeling as though she’d been struck over the head. It was unbelievable.
"You—why are you still alive?!"
Wang Yansheng shrugged, tilting his head with a smile. "Naturally, someone wanted me to live."
"Who?!"
Liang Wan’s eyes turned red.
Wang Yansheng leaned down and chuckled. "Do you really want to know?"
Liang Wan’s voice was grim. "Speak."
He moved his lips. "Lu. Xiu."
The color drained from Liang Wan’s face.
Wang Yansheng burst into unending laughter.
Maniacal laughter intertwined with wails of despair.
A chill spread through Liang Wan’s heart, but she looked at him calmly. "The enemy you want is me. Let them go."
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was firm and resonant.
"I’m the one who harmed your Wang family. It has nothing to do with them. Every grievance has a source, and every debt has a debtor. If you want revenge, come for me!"
Wang Yansheng’s laughter caught in his throat. He stared, stunned, at the woman who was tightly bound before him.
Liang Wan ignored his surprise and pressed on. "I will give you what you want. The condition is that you let them go."
’Yao Jinse captured me for revenge, but Wang Yansheng’s goal is surely more than that. Otherwise, the men in black could have shot me with an arrow the first time they caught me.’
’Wang Yansheng must know about the thing Wang Su was so desperate to find when he was alive.’
Sure enough, when she finished speaking, Wang Yansheng shook his head and let out a choked, loud laugh.
When he’d had his fill of laughter, he stared at her grimly.
"How strange. From what I know, you aren’t on good terms with them. It seems the fall of your Liang Family had quite a bit to do with you, didn’t it?"
Liang Wan’s heart tightened. ’He knows a lot.’
But her expression remained unchanged as she looked at him calmly.
"Whether the Liang Family fell or not is a grudge between them and me. Whether they live or die is for me to decide. My telling you to release them now has nothing to do with those grudges. It’s simply because we are all women."
"Stop putting on an act," Yao Jinse sneered, having walked in at some point, a disdainful smile on her face.
Liang Wan raised an eyebrow. "In my current situation, what need is there for me to put on an act?"
Liang Wan stopped looking at her and turned her head to Wang Yansheng. "Let them go, and I will give you the item."
Before Wang Yansheng could speak, Mrs. Zhang started crying and shouting again.
"I’m old and ugly, not like her! She’s famous in Jinye City! Even the Emperor and high officials are wrapped around her finger. She’s the one you want! Let me go, please let me go—"
"Enough!" The man in the main seat suddenly stood up.
Everyone fell silent.
The village chief looked at Wang Yansheng. "Lord Wang, I kindly agreed to help you out of consideration for our past friendship. But let’s be clear, you got every bit of the reward you were promised back then!"
"In the past, you even had me abduct an imperial consort from the palace, and I didn’t say a word. But your Wang family isn’t what it used to be. You can’t hide this lady’s background from me! What’s her story?"
He was already burly and coarse, with a loud voice. When his expression changed, his face became utterly ferocious.
Liang Wan quickly caught the sinister glint in Wang Yansheng’s eyes and understood the situation a little better.
’A classic case of collusion between officials and bandits.’
’Their relationship was based on mutual benefit, not an unbreakable bond. And now, things are different from how they once were.’
Wang Yansheng’s expression turned ugly. He paused, swallowed his anger, and then forced a hearty laugh.
"Village Chief, we go back many years. My Wang family may have fallen, but we are protected by a powerful benefactor. How else could I be standing here unscathed? If I have the guts to come to you, I certainly have the means to continue our previous partnership!"
The village chief thought for a moment, then asked, "But you told me she was a lady from an ordinary family. How is she now connected to the Emperor?"
Hearing this, Yao Jinse scoffed. "Village Chief, don’t listen to that woman’s nonsense. She’s just trying to trick you. If you don’t believe me, just ask the men who went with me. Did that dilapidated courtyard look like the home of a noble family?"
The village chief immediately looked at the man from before, who truthfully shook his head.
The village chief’s expression softened slightly.
’He doesn’t want a direct confrontation with government officials,’ Liang Wan thought.
But then Mrs. Zhang started shouting again.
"That dilapidated courtyard isn’t where she lives! We tricked her into coming there! She lives in the Master’s Mansion! You must have heard of the Master’s Mansion! The Grand Commandant, she’s his—AH!"
Halfway through her shouting, Yao Jinse slapped Mrs. Zhang several times, silencing her. She curled into a ball, covering her face and sobbing.
Yao Jinse pulled back her hand and turned to the village chief with a smile. "She’s just a concubine, a nobody. The Grand Commandant is getting married tomorrow to the daughter of the Prime Minister’s Mansion. Do you think he has time to care about her?"
Wang Yansheng shook his head, his face full of disdain. "I’m not afraid to tell you, Village Chief, even if Lu Xiu himself were standing right here, I could still do whatever I want to her!"
Liang Wan lowered her eyes. ’He’s not just bluffing,’ she thought. ’Wang Yansheng might actually have the power to back up such a bold claim.’
The village chief’s face was grim. He didn’t reply, but walked over to Liang Wan.
"You tell me!"
His gaze was ferocious and his tone was foul, enough to make one’s heart jump.
Liang Wan slowly raised her head and looked at him. "They’re right. I’m just a concubine, and I don’t expect anyone to come save me. Right now, I’m only of some use to him."
She glanced at Wang Yansheng as she spoke, then turned to the man who was built like an iron pagoda. "But once he gets what he wants, I will surely die. Village Chief, if you wouldn’t find it beneath you, I beg you to take me in. I’m willing to stay here and serve you forever. I only ask that you spare my life!"
"You are truly shameless!"
Yao Jinse was utterly astonished. She seemed to have never expected that Liang Wan, in front of everyone, would not cry or beg for mercy, but instead eagerly seek the favor of a bandit chief.
Liang Wan turned her face, raised her eyes, and gave Yao Jinse a soft smile. "When you can’t even save your own life, what good is face? Look around. Isn’t it obvious who in this village is the strongest, most valiant, tallest, and most heroic? Am I wrong to choose the best man for myself?"
The village chief was taken aback. His gaze instantly changed, roving over her body without restraint. Although she looked a bit disheveled, her clothes were luxurious and she herself was delicate and tender, like a slippery block of silken tofu he wanted to slurp right up.
The village chief swallowed and smacked his lips, starting to laugh. "You’re a lady who knows how to read a situation!"
’Read a situation?’
Liang Wan’s lips curved into a smile. She gave him a slightly shy glance, then lowered her head and said in a delicate voice, "A helpless woman like me naturally admires a powerful man like you, Village Chief. What’s so interesting about being a concubine confined to a deep courtyard, never to step outside? It’s far more fun to follow you and be the queen of this mountain."
Hearing this, the village chief roared with laughter.
"Good, good, good! Since you’ve asked, I’ll take you!"
He waved his large hand, and someone immediately came forward to untie her.
"Then... you can let us go now, right?" Mrs. Zhang yelled timidly, clutching her head.
The village chief shot her a glance and sneered. "I’ve never heard of anyone captured and brought here leaving alive!"
The hemp ropes loosened coil by coil. Liang Wan had been tied up for the better part of the day, and her arms and legs had almost gone numb.
"Village Chief!" Wang Yansheng’s voice was grim from the side. "You can’t—"
The village chief snorted and looked at him unhurriedly. "What’s the rush? This lady is eager to play with me, so I’ll play along!"
The light in his eyes was dangerous and ruthless. He was not a man blinded by lust.
Liang Wan lowered her head.