Rebirth: The flatterer prince I raised couldn't be so clingy

"Don't go! Do you want to die?" the man quickly spoke out to stop him.

What kind of place is Wutong Lane? It is the most chaotic place in Kyoto with the most assassins, and Changyi Casino is the place where the assassins in Kyoto are commanded.

Is there any gambling house in Kyoto that dares to go against him?

The two young men in front of him seemed to be thin and had little killing power, but if they were assassins, and they dared to take action today, they would be the ones who would die miserably in the future.

The man pondered for a while and asked, "Are you here to collect debts as well?"

Gu Qingzhi said nothing, just looked at him quietly.

Not understanding the intentions of the two men, the man could only guess: "Well... if you want to collect the debt, you can collect it first. I have a few more on hand. Come back later."

After saying that, he called out to the people behind him, "Let's go," looked at the three people on the ground, and left the yard.

Only after they left did Gu Qingzhi breathe a sigh of relief and hurried forward to help the mother and her two children.

The woman dodged in fear for a moment, and when she saw that the fist did not fall for a long time, she was obviously stunned for a moment before she was pulled up from the ground.

"Are you okay?" Gu Qingzhi asked.

The woman shook her head silently, swallowed the blood foam in her mouth, and then spoke.

"This month... I really don't have any extra money. Can you give me a few more days? I will pay you back when my wages are paid in a few days."

Gu Qingzhi shook her head: "We are not here to collect debts. We just said that to drive those people away."

The woman was stunned for a moment, gently told her two children to go out and play, then stood up and straightened her messy hair.

"Thank you both for your help, but I don't have anything to offer you at home. If you don't mind, please stay and have a drink of water before you leave."

Gu Qingzhi and Feng Zhanye followed the woman into the house, where she seated them at the table and poured them two bowls of water.

Gu Qingzhi looked around the room which could be described as bare and empty.

The walls were tinged with an old yellow color, and the bricks and tiles at the corner of the house seemed to be damaged and leaking, causing that corner to become moldy and rotten.

The whole room was bare, with few decent furniture. The bed was made of straw and bricks, with only a thin mattress on it. The only thing that could be considered usable was the table and bench they sat on.

It seems that the woman has spent all her money to pay off Chen Qi's gambling debts.

Gu Qingzhi thought of what Wang Wu had just said, and her heart was moved. She didn't rush to ask the main question: "Can you... pay those people back on time next month?"

"I don't know. It depends on their mood. If they beat and scold me to vent their anger, they will feel better and maybe they can ask for less."

The woman's voice was very soft and she spoke very slowly. She sounded weak and sat there huddled up, as if she had become numb from the debt collection.

Seeing that the corner of her mouth, which had been cracked just now, was bleeding again because of talking, Gu Qingzhi took out a handkerchief from her bosom and handed it to her.

The woman took the handkerchief and whispered "thank you".

"Where is your husband? Why does he ask you to pay off the debt he owes?" Gu Qingzhi sat back, watched her silently wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, and tested her gently.

The woman raised her eyes and looked at her, then sighed and spoke woodenly.

"He stole the money I saved and bought a palace guard, but he disappeared inexplicably. My two children were still young, and the money was what I saved to buy clothes for them, but he used it to honor others, leaving not a cent behind."

Feng Zhanye frowned: "Why did you marry such a man in the first place?"

The woman smiled bitterly and shook her head: "He was not like this before. He was a down-to-earth man. He saved a lot of money by doing street circus and treated me very well. I thought that if I married him, my life would not be too bad."

The more the woman spoke, the redder her eyes became.

"But his partner from the same village suddenly ran away, and his juggling business failed. He was in a daze all day, and somehow got addicted to gambling. In the casino, he met a captain of the palace guards, who promised to find him a job as long as he gave him some money."

Seeing that the woman was about to cry, Gu Qingzhi couldn't bear it and gently patted her shoulder.

"He told me that it was for his future, but I didn't want to, so he took the money away secretly while we were asleep. The head of the gang used his money to gamble more and more. He also foolishly took all my monthly salary and gave it to others. Now I am left alone to be abused by these debt collectors."

The woman became more and more emotional as she spoke. She tightly grasped Gu Qingzhi's sleeve and could no longer hold back her tears: "My two children are still so young. My dear, if you hadn't helped me today, I really don't know if I could have escaped this disaster."

Gu Qingzhi hurriedly patted her back to comfort her. Feng Zhanye also sighed inaudibly, as if lamenting the woman's miserable fate.

"Then do you know whether he is dead or alive?" the boy asked tentatively.

The woman looked at Feng Zhanye in astonishment for a moment, then seemed to realize something, shook her head, and avoided his gaze.

"I don't know, I just know he's missing."

She straightened her back, dodged her hand, and seemed to have a sudden change of attitude.

Such a defensive posture made Gu Qingzhi immediately realize that her reaction was not right.

“You really don’t know?” Feng Zhanye naturally saw the clue and stared at her intently.

The woman anxiously changed the position of her hands and crossed them together. Her eyes were wandering, and her unnaturalness became more obvious.

"Who are you and why are you asking this?"

Feng Zhanye didn't intend to hide it any longer. He took off his bamboo hat and cast a sharp gaze at her: "Prince Duan Feng Zhanye, my mother, Concubine Hui, was poisoned to death by your husband."

"I don't know what you are talking about, and I don't know who Prince Duan and Concubine Hui are." She didn't dare to look at the two of them again. She stood up and hurriedly took away the water bowls in front of them.

"Thank you both for saving me. If nothing else, please go back." As she said this, she was about to turn around and hide.

Gu Qingzhi was certain that the woman must know something, and hurriedly grabbed her wrist: "Wait, this is very important to us, please be sure to tell us."

"I really don't know anything about Chen Qi, so don't ask me!"

The woman panicked and lost her grip on the two bowls of water, causing them to fall from her hands and break into pieces on the floor.

Two children playing outside the yard heard the noise and hurried in. Seeing this, they hugged Gu Qingzhi's legs and knelt down.

"Don't hurt my mother! Please let her go!"

Seeing this, the woman scolded: "What are you doing here? Get out now!"

"I know you are not here to collect debts. It was Dad who killed someone. He is already dead. Don't take my mother away!"

The eight-year-old boy cried and grabbed Gu Qingzhi's hand and told her the truth.

The woman exclaimed, "What are you talking about! Shut up!"

But it was too late. The boy had already spoken, and the three people in the room suddenly fell silent, leaving only the crying of the two children.

Gu Qingzhi couldn't bear it, so she let go. The woman fell down on the stool and closed her eyes as if she accepted her fate.

After a long silence, she slowly spoke, tears falling down her face: "I knew that one day, the truth would come out. That day, a maid suddenly came to the house and said her name was Xian Zhi. She gave him a lot of money and asked him to help with something."

"I was eavesdropping outside and heard them talking about poisoning Concubine Hui in the cold palace. After the deed is done, there will be a large reward, and maybe they can even get close to Cao Shuyi."

“So, you have seen Xian Zhi?” Feng Zhanye’s heart tightened and he asked.

The woman nodded and continued, "This is a crime that could kill people. I advised him not to do this, but Chen Qi only cared about money and would never listen to me."

"Look, he helped someone do something, but was killed. That aunt threatened me with my two children and forbade me to tell anyone about this."

The woman's face turned pale and her heart was dead. She no longer held back and told him everything.

Feng Zhanye pondered for a while, then raised his head and asked, "Are you willing to come to the palace and testify for me?"

The woman looked at him in horror and shook her head: "No, no, if they find out, my child and I will be finished."