Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Two days later, at midnight, a masked man dressed in black suddenly appeared before Mr. Hua and Mei'er's bedside. With a swift movement, a flash of silver light appeared. Mei'er, who was asleep, suddenly felt a warm liquid poured on her face. She groggily opened her eyes and saw a man in black standing beside her bed, holding a gleaming silver dagger.

"Ah... ooh..." Mei'er reflexively tried to scream, but her cry was immediately muffled by the rag stuffed into her mouth. Just when she thought her life was in danger, she discovered that the masked man had simply torn off the curtains and then tied her tightly to the bed leg.

Then the man glanced at Mei'er, who was still struggling, turned around, left the room, and disappeared into the night.

At this moment, Mei'er had no idea that Mr. Hua, who was sleeping next to her, had a large gash on his neck, and blood was gushing out. Mr. Hua's eyes widened, and he clutched his neck, trying to call for help, but could only make a hissing sound.

Mei'er tried to break free of the ropes binding her, but the knot only tightened with each struggle. The pain of the ropes digging into her flesh made her give up the struggle.

She made "woo-woo" sounds, trying to wake Mr. Hua, who was still snoring in bed. But no matter how she called, the snoring continued unabated. After a while, the snoring finally stopped. Mei'er was overjoyed, thinking Mr. Hua had woken up. But after a long time, Mr. Hua didn't move at all, and the bed behind her became eerily quiet, deathly quiet. Mei'er, unaware that Mr. Hua was truly dead, felt extremely wronged.

It's not entirely fair to blame her for being stupid. Although Mr. Hua's blood splattered on her face, it was too dark, and before she could even see what was on her face, the man in black had already tied her to the bedpost with her back turned. At that moment, she could only see Mr. Hua's feet when she turned her head; she couldn't see anything else.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Prince Ding'an was still in Consort Lu's courtyard when he was urged to rise by his deputy general.

"Your Highness, Zhao Bei has led his army to attack us."

"What? Say it again!" The Prince of Ding'an, who was still somewhat impatient and frowning, was instantly sobered up by the news brought by his deputy.

"Your Highness, the guards at the city gate have reported that Zhao Bei of Jialing Pass has gathered 100,000 troops to besiege us." The man hurriedly repeated.

"How is this possible? Our scouts reported back the day before yesterday that everything at Jialing Pass was normal, without the slightest abnormality. How could they suddenly have 100,000 troops appear outside Dingcheng? Did you see it clearly?" Zhou Ji couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Your Highness, it is true. I have already sent people to verify it. The beacon fire on the city wall has already been lit."

"Someone, quickly go and fetch Mr. Hua." He then ordered his bodyguard.

"Go and fetch my armor! Zhao Bei dared to provoke us like this; this time, I will cut off his head and hang it on the gate of Jialing Pass for all to see." Thinking of the military pay and provisions he had gathered these past few days, Prince Ding'an, though momentarily flustered, remained confident after making thorough preparations. If he could defeat Zhao Bei's 100,000 troops here, Jialing Pass would be nothing to fear.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened!" The person who had gone outside to fetch Mr. Hua suddenly rushed in with a guard.

Upon seeing the guard's face, a bad feeling welled up in Prince Ding'an's heart.

The guard immediately knelt down with a thud as soon as he entered.

"Your Highness, Mr. Hua has been murdered."

Those few simple words struck Zhou Ji like a hammer blow to the head, leaving him momentarily unsteady. He staggered back a few steps, finally bumping into the armchair behind him before awkwardly sitting down.

Upon hearing the news of Mr. Hua's murder, the others in the room were so frightened that they dared not utter a sound. Everyone here knew how much the Prince valued Mr. Wen.

"You...you...tell me the whole story, what exactly happened!" Zhou Ji suddenly roared, his voice trembling, pointing at the guard kneeling on the ground, and knocking all the Ru kiln teacups on the coffee table to the ground, shattering them.

The guard on the ground closed his eyes, knowing that he and the other guards were doomed to die this time. He steeled himself and told them everything he had seen.

“Mr. Hua usually gets up for a walk at this time, but today his walk time has passed and he still hasn’t come out, so we felt something was amiss. So we asked the maid in the courtyard to go into the bedroom to check, but as soon as the maid entered the room, she screamed and ran out crying. We rushed into the room to check and found that Mr. Hua’s neck had been cut and he was dead on the bed.”

Zhou Ji remained motionless for a long time after hearing the guard's words. He looked up at the kneeling guard below, somewhat bewildered. He was confused and couldn't believe what the guard had said. He said that the learned and resourceful gentleman had died quietly in his bed.

After a long while, he suddenly roared, grabbed a Ding ware plum vase with dark floral patterns from the flower stand, and smashed it to the ground. The shards of porcelain grazed the guard's face, drawing blood, but he dared not move, fearing that he would be dragged away and beheaded at any moment.

At this moment, Consort Lu also received the news and rushed over. She entered the room just in time to see Zhou Ji smashing the vase. Ignoring the broken porcelain shards at her feet, she asked the guard a question.

"Where is the master's concubine? Was she also killed? And the concubine's sister knows martial arts, didn't she hear a single sound in that courtyard?"

"Your Highness, Madam Mei was tied to the bed frame. She was still tied up when we entered the room. After we untied her, she glanced back at the bed and screamed in fright before fainting."

"What about her younger sister, Jiu'er?"

When Consort Lu asked about Madam Mei's sister again, the guard tilted his head and thought for a moment before answering.

"The situation was rather chaotic at the time, but I don't think I saw Mrs. Mei's sister."

Upon hearing the guard's reply, Consort Lu instructed the pearl and jade attendants beside her.

"You two go to that courtyard and call Jiu'er over."

Knowing the seriousness of the matter, the two maids bowed and hurriedly left.

Zhou Ji finally realized what was happening and, gritting his teeth, gave orders to the general who had been involved earlier.

"Surround the inn where Madam Wang is staying. No one is allowed to enter or leave the inn until Jiu'er has investigated the matter thoroughly."

"Yes"

The general accepted the order, turned around, and strode out of the palace.

Meanwhile, Pearl and Jade, the two maids who were looking for Jiu'er, ran breathlessly to the courtyard where Mr. Hua lived. They found many servants gathered at the courtyard gate, whispering among themselves.