Divorced woman with child travels through time

Speaking of fire, yesterday a fire broke out in the side courtyard of Prince De's mansion. Zhao Qi was embracing his newly purchased concubine, and was in the midst of the novelty of the experience. After playing for a while, he fell asleep in the bathtub in the study, thus narrowly escaping the fire.

In the courtyard, a large group of servants knelt in a circle, announcing to the outside world that a fire had broken out and that they were investigating the matter.

Zhao Qi looked at the man kneeling in the courtyard, who had been beaten, and said, "Confess now, who are your accomplices? Even if you don't tell me, I'll find out sooner or later..."

Li Dali's face was a mixture of honesty and rage. His hands and knees were covered in blood from being dragged there, and his tattered clothes were adorned with leaves and grass stems, making him look like a beggar. "I told you I had no accomplices, it was just me alone. When have you ever seen our young master with anyone else by his side? You heartless, filthy thing! Our young master risked his life for you, and in the end, you killed him. Bah!"

Zhao Qi rubbed his head and explained helplessly, "I told you, I didn't kill him. Considering your young master's kindness to me, I won't hold it against you for setting fire to my mansion. But if you tell me who your contact is in the mansion, I'll let you leave. How about that?"

"Pah! I told you I was the one who released him! Even if you let me go, I'll still come after you. I will definitely avenge my young lady and young master!" Li Dali glared at him angrily.

Thinking of Li Baozhu, Zhao Qi finally softened. "How could I bear to kill your daughter? She was too impulsive and headstrong, and offended the Liang family. There was nothing I could do. In the end, I failed to protect her. Let it go. You can leave now. If you do it again, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Zhao Qi then turned to face the group of servants and said, "I don't care who among you passed on the message to him or betrayed him. This matter is over. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed this time. If I find out again next time, you know what I'm capable of."

Xiao Ding, squeezed among the servants, looked completely bewildered, like a little white rabbit with no one to care for him.

Two servants dragged Li Dali outside like a dead dog and threw him under the eaves. Li Dali lay there for a while and felt that he had regained some strength. He was quite weak after being locked in the woodshed all night without a drop of water. He slowly moved out, supporting himself on the corner of the wall. After he walked out of the small path behind the Prince's Mansion, Xiao Ding pretended to go out to buy things as usual. He was small and sweet-talking, and was very popular with the maids.

Once they reached the main street, the crowd gradually increased. While keeping an eye on Li Dali out of the corner of his eye, Xiao Ding pretended to be seriously inspecting the goods, preparing to approach him.

In the blink of an eye, before Xiao Ding could even blink twice, two burly, tall men in gray clothes came rushing towards Li Dali. "Thud! Thud!" Before Li Dali could even utter a word, he collapsed to the ground.

"What?!" Li Dali touched his waist, where two bloody holes were gushing blood...

The two men acted swiftly and cleanly, leaving immediately after their attack, disappearing into the crowd in an instant without any hesitation.

Before Xiao Ding could even react, it was all over. His hands trembled as he frantically rummaged through the stall, his body unconsciously trying to get closer to Li Dali.

People around noticed Li Dali lying in the corner and gathered around to look at him. Xiao Ding also joined the crowd.

"Ouch! Murder!" A loud shout erupted from the crowd, and everyone scattered. Xiao Ding, however, stood frozen, staring intently at Li Dali. Li Dali, coughing up blood, struggled to lean against the wall, his eyes gesturing for him to leave quickly. He waved his hand weakly, "Quick...go!"

Thinking that someone might be watching him, Xiao Ding ran away in a panic with tears in his eyes. He bought the snacks the maid wanted and returned to Prince De's mansion. Dali was dead, it must have been done by the Duke of Liang's men. He couldn't die, he still had to take revenge. Xiao Ding wiped away his tears and handed the snacks to Cao Ruyu's maid with a smile.

That evening, he also received the news. Zhao Qi knew that Li Dali had been killed but said nothing. He simply had the body collected and dumped in a mass grave. Li Dali was like a drop of water falling into a river, disappearing without a ripple. Sure enough, no one cares about people like them…

Perhaps realizing that the Liang State Duke's mansion was too powerful, Zhao Qi sought out Cao Ruyu for a chat. He needed money.

"Sister-in-law, please sit down." Zhao Qi gently extended her hand in a gesture of greeting.

"What do you want with me?" Cao Ruyu thought highly of her brother-in-law, which was also due to the reason why Zhao Qi had been able to win over women over the years; he knew how to use his appearance.

"I heard that my sister-in-law has been troubled by a woman recently. Fortunately, I have recently acquired a group of skilled people who can help her solve her problems." Zhao Qi smiled warmly, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers. Zhao Qi was quite handsome, especially compared to his brother. His brother was upright, while he resembled his mother more, delicate yet pretty.

It was rare for a man to unleash his charm on her so brazenly. Cao Ruyu was momentarily stunned. She had always been polite and had only met Zhao Qi a few times, always just glancing at him briefly before leaving. Being so close made her feel a little uncomfortable, but she quickly felt a surge of pride. This man was seducing her, and she enjoyed the feeling. It was a respect that her husband had never given her. That man would only call her stupid and look down on her!

"Uncle, you're so kind. I do need some manpower!" Cao Ruyu said shyly as she came to her senses.

Zhao Qi became even more smug, laughing as if he didn't care about money, and moved even closer to her, saying, "I don't know how many people you need, sister-in-law, but I have plenty. You can just give me a little money for my trouble."

Cao Ruyu felt dizzy and disoriented from the masculine scent surrounding her.

"What do you think, sister-in-law?" Zhao Qi asked, deliberately moving closer to her.

Cao Ruyu lowered her head shyly and said, "Ten or so are fine, you can arrange them, just let me know the results later." After saying that, she could no longer bear the ambiguity and fled in panic.

Cao Ruyu's personal maid glanced at Zhao Qi shyly, bowed, and left.

Zhao Qi slowly sat down, poured a cup of wine from the teapot, and drank it all in one gulp. He didn't expect this woman to be so easy to win over. He didn't even need such good wine. Sigh, what a waste. Zhao Qi drank the wine by himself.

A moment later, the maid who had just left returned. "Second Master..." the maid said sweetly, swaying her slender waist as she came over.

"Hmm? It's done?" Zhao Qi pulled the person into his arms without any hesitation.

"This is from the eldest mistress~" The maid presented two silver notes worth five thousand taels.

"My dear Cui'er, I love you!" Zhao Qi, emboldened by the alcohol, swept her up in his arms and carried her to the side hall.

A few days later, a squad of assassins, numbering around several dozen, left Bianjing and headed for Linxia...

Chen Wenfang was completely unaware that she was receiving two distinguished guests, two rather disheveled old men...