Chapter 16

Chapter 16

[Retribution] The cold moon was like frost. When Ning Jing and Su Liang hurried to their doorstep, they heard the sound of a carriage and paused to look. “Ah!” Yang Yu’s sharp scream came from their house, and Su Liang’s expression changed! Not waiting for the door to be opened, she ran, climbed, and leaped over the courtyard wall. By the time Ning Jing unlocked and entered the door, Su Liang had already entered the house. “Big brother! Big Brother, wake up!” Yang Yu looked at the tragically dead Yang Feng, unable to stop sobbing. Su Liang lit a lamp and turned to see an iron spike in Yang Feng’s neck, startling her! She disliked Yang Feng and had even discussed with Ning Jing that if they ended up in a lawsuit because of Young Master Huang or Yao Wei, they would hand Yang Feng over to the Government Office. After all, it was Yang Feng who had caused the trouble. But she never expected that he would be killed! Ning Jing appeared behind Su Liang and saw the iron spike, his eyes narrowing! “Assassin?” Su Liang whispered. Ning Jing nodded. That iron spike was the trademark weapon of a notorious assassin. “Is it for you or for him…?” Su Liang was asking Ning Jing, but she already had an answer in her heart. This was Ning Jing’s home. Yang Feng’s arrival the day before was an unexpected event, and only a few people in Su Family Village knew about it, let alone a previously hired assassin coming to commit murder. Moreover, if the Yang Family wanted to kill Yang Feng to seize the family property, they would not spare Yang Yu. Therefore, the real target of the assassin should be Ning Jing. Mistakenly killing Yang Feng might be because the assassin was only given accurate address information and asked about the people in the house. At normal times, the only young man here was Ning Jing. By coincidence, there was also a young woman in the room. And they were both lying still. At night, with only the two of them. If one didn’t know the Yang siblings were here, one would instinctively think this was Ning Jing and Su Liang. The strong smell of blood in the room made Su Liang feel suffocated, and she didn’t know how to comfort Yang Yu. At this moment, there was a knock on the door. “Young Master Ning? Mrs. Ning?” Su Liang and Ning Jing both turned and went out. The carriage they saw just now was Xiaoliu, the servant sent by Hu Er. “My master Hu Er sent me to check on you two. I’m glad you’re all right.” “Young Master Huang from the Huang family is missing, and Master Huang is accusing my master Hu Er! But the night before, my master Hu Er stayed in the county town, and only returned to town yesterday morning after buying some desserts as gifts for Mrs. Ning. Many people can testify!” “Our house was turned upside down, and nothing was found! My master was worried when he heard that the government officials came to Su Family Village today. He keeps thinking about you two!” “There’s one thing my master forgot to tell Mrs. Ning yesterday.” “The young master in blue brought two attendants with him. When he came to Mrs. Ning, there was only one attendant in black. The other one in white was arranged by the young master to deal with Young Master Huang.” “My master overheard that the young master was not getting along well with the two of you and was afraid that he might frame you.” “Young Master Huang was harmed by him. If someone sees that, it’s hard to say if it won’t implicate you.” “Be extra careful!” After listening to Xiaoliu, Su Liang felt that something was wrong. If the attendant in white was simply dealing with Young Master Huang, it wouldn’t take much effort to finish the job and then reunite with Yang Feng and Yang Yu. But two days had passed, and he still hadn’t appeared. The strangest thing was that Yang Yu didn’t even know her brother had brought someone else besides Yang Wu. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have kept silent! Even after Yang Feng woke up, he didn’t mention that person at all. Either that person was in league with Yang Wu, or there was something fishy going on. If it were the former, there would be nothing Yang Feng couldn’t tell, and he wouldn’t hide it from Yang Yu. Su Liang tended to believe it was the latter. “Thank you, Master Hu Er, for your concern and reminder. We will be careful.” Su Liang wanted to give Xiaoliu some money for alcohol, but her purse was empty. Having conveyed Hu Er’s message, Xiaoliu left. Yang Yu’s crying in the room was heart-wrenching. Su Liang couldn’t help but wonder if the wild boar that had replaced Yao Wei’s dead body on the back mountain had anything to do with Yang Feng’s other attendant? But if he was a friend rather than an enemy, why did he hide instead of revealing himself directly? As Su Liang was about to ask Ning Jing what he thought, she suddenly saw him hurriedly walking towards the backyard and disappearing in the blink of an eye. A moment later, Ning Jing reappeared in front of Su Liang, gripping the neck of a person. He wore white clothes, which were stained with mud. Su Liang had already guessed the man’s identity. “Young Master Ning, it’s a misunderstanding! I am Yang Wen, I mean no harm. I am only here to find my young master and lady!” The man in white raised both his hands. “Why are you sneaking around?” Ning Jing asked coldly. “I was not here yesterday, and I didn’t know what happened to the young master and lady. I wanted to find out the situation first.” Yang Wen sighed. “Why were you away for so long?” Su Liang asked. Yang Wen explained that he found shelter from the heavy rain after taking care of Young Master Huang. “Lying,” Ning Jing’s hand suddenly tightened. Yang Feng was not planning to stay in Su village, and Yang Wen should have gone to find him immediately, let alone hiding for two days from the rain. “Ning… I… didn’t…” Yang Wen quickly had difficulty breathing, his eyes rolling back. Just as Yang Wen was about to suffocate, Ning Jing suddenly let go of him! He fell to the ground, coughing heavily. “Yang Feng was murdered, a steel awl piercing his neck. If you can’t provide a reasonable explanation for your whereabouts during these two days, we can only assume that you are the killer of Yang Feng!” Su Liang said coldly. Yang Wen furrowed his eyebrows, looking incredulously at Su Liang, “The young master… is dead?” His expression seemed to say that he had just slipped in and was discovered by Ning Jing, completely unaware of what happened to Yang Feng. “What about the lady?” Yang Wen asked with wide eyes. “Can’t you hear her crying?” Su Liang huffed, “Last chance, tell me, why were you away for so long?” Yang Wen’s complexion was not good. After a moment of silence, he sighed, “I apologize for not being truthful. Now that things have come to this, there’s nothing that can’t be said.” “Yesterday, Young Master Feng ordered me to settle the matter with the Huang family. I didn’t come back because he asked me to do another thing.” “To go to Ning Family’s mansion in Xunyang City and find Young Master Ning Yao, and tell him the whereabouts of Ning Qi, the seventh young master.” “Since the death of our master last year, Feng took over the family business, but there were many problems, and the losses were huge. He wanted to use Ning Qi’s information as a stepping stone to show his goodwill to Ning Yao and discuss cooperation.” After hearing Yang Wen’s words, Su Liang was dumbfounded. Yang Feng’s arrogant and impolite behavior was all for this reason! He knew that Ning Jing saved Yang Yu, so he planned to sell out Ning Jing and gain personal interests! Su Liang thought Yang Feng was foolish, but he was not only foolish, but also selfish and malicious! The family head of Yang Family, one of the top four merchants in Qian Country, enjoyed a prestigious and powerful position, but that was not due to Yang Feng’s abilities. Inheriting his father’s business, he failed to even maintain the fortune, short-sighted, only pursuing profits, and morally corrupt! Let alone regarding Ning Jing as a benefactor, in Feng’s eyes, Ning Jing was not even a person at all. Yesterday, when Yang Feng didn’t even say “thank you,” and just left with Yang Yu, he probably thought, “Ning Jing will be eliminated by Ning Yao soon, what a waste of effort to say even a word to this useless person.” And that’s why even when threatened by the contract, Yang Feng still showed arrogance towards Ning Jing and Su Liang. Once sober, he signed the contract, but surely planned to leave in a few days and wait for Ning Jing and Su Liang to be killed by Ning Yao’s men. Shameless!` “The assassin tonight was likely hired by Ning Yao to kill me. I wasn’t there at that time, and they killed Yang Feng by mistake,” Ning Jing’s expression remained indifferent. With a bitter expression, Yang Wen said, “I’ve been advising Feng, but he acted willfully – could this be retribution?” “Why didn’t you go to Ning’s?” Su Liang asked. Yang Wen sighed heavily, “I cannot agree with Feng’s ungrateful behavior. Xiaojie has a kind nature, and she could never agree to it either. Nevertheless, Feng is obstinate, so I pretended to comply and planned to warn Ning Qi to be cautious of Young Master Ning Yao after they left.” “I came over secretly when both of you were not here during the day. When I came back and found Feng awake, I learned about the situation; I left again for town to hire someone to send a letter to my family to stop Yang Wu from usurping power. When I came back again… ” Clearly, Ning Yao had known where Ning Jing was all along. Yang Feng calculated everything, only to end up as Ning Jing’s scapegoat. The assassin he had been waiting for came early and luckily… It cannot be said that he was killed as a substitute. If the assassin had really encountered Ning Jing, he might have been the one to die. In short, Yang Feng wanted to help Ning Yao hurt Ning Jing, but in the end, he was killed by the people Ning Yao hired to murder Ning Jing. For this situation, there’s nothing to say but “serves you right.” “Go in and explain everything to your lady,” Su Liang said. When Yang Wen entered the room, Su Liang looked at Ning Jing, who was also looking back at him. They exchanged glances and then looked away. “Someone is trying to kill you, what do you think?” Su Liang asked. Ning Jing asked back, “If a steel awl pierced my neck, would you be able to save me?” “No,” Su Liang shook his head. “Then I’ll be careful,” Ning Jing said. “Won’t you consider moving to a different place?” Su Liang asked again. Ning Jing shook his head slightly, “You promised to hunt another wild boar for Little Tiger.” Su Liang raised an eyebrow, “Yes, I won’t leave, the assassin has principles – they should only target you, not me. If you want to leave, please, feel free.” “Nowhere to go,” Ning Jing turned and went back to his room without another word. Su Liang stayed outside for a while longer, listening to Yang Yu’s crying weaken and eventually fade into silence.