Chapter 479: Extinction
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What kind of an uncle are you?!” The shopkeeper roared indignantly. He picked up the broom in the corner and wanted to chase Master Zhen away. “That Hong Changgui isn’t a good person at all!”
“He’s a gambler. Isn’t he just a nephew from your wife’s family?!”
“They’re not here to talk about marriage at all. They’re here to s.n.a.t.c.h our master and lady’s family business!”
The more the shopkeeper spoke, the angrier he became. His old face turned red.
Master Zhen, who had almost been hit by the broom, took two steps back in a sorry state. A vein popped out on his forehead as he said arrogantly in a matter-of-fact tone, “Who’s s.n.a.t.c.hing the family business?”
“I’m the eldest son in the family. If the old man hadn’t been biased and given the family business to Xu Xian and his youngest son… these would have been mine.”
Looking around at the gold, silver, and jewelry, a greedy light flashed in Master Zhen’s eyes.
Zhen Ruzhu frowned and took another step closer to Master Zhen. She retorted angrily, “Before Grandpa died, Uncle, you were already causing trouble, talking about splitting up the family. You took 2,000 acres of fertile land for yourself, while my father only received 2,000 taels of silver. As soon as our Grandpa was gone, you drove away my Grandma and Father, and now you want to s.n.a.t.c.h away those 2,000 taels of silver.”
“Father worked hard for half his life to save up this family business, but what about you? You were addicted to gambling and gambled all the 2,000 acres of fertile land my Grandpa left you.”
An acre of ordinary fertile land cost 10 taels of silver, and the family business worth 20,000 taels of silver had been ruined by her uncle. Now, he even wanted to covet his family’s business.
“What does a little girl like you know? Nonsense?!” Master Zhen’s face turned green and white, but he still held his head high and reprimanded, “When we split up, you weren’t even born yet!”
“Your father spoiled you since you were young, that’s why he let you have such an obedient temper. You actually dared to talk back to your elders. Now that your father is sick, as your uncle, I’ll teach you a lesson on your father’s behalf!”
Master Zhen’s expression was a little angry.
“Miss Zhen, is your father ill?” An Le frowned slightly. “I remember that your father was still in high spirits the last time I saw him.” It had only been a few days.
A hint of bitterness appeared on Zhen Ruzhu’s face, and her voice was a little hoa.r.s.e. “My father fell ill three days ago, and he can’t get out of bed now…”
It was precisely because her father was sick that she had no choice but to fight here alone.
Zhen Ruzhu had always been smart and capable, but she was only 16 years old after all. At this moment, a crack finally appeared on her strong outer sh.e.l.l, revealing dense fatigue and worry.
Gu Yanfei asked, “What symptoms does your father have?”
Zhen Ruzhu took a deep breath and tried to stabilize her emotions. She said with difficulty, “My father has a heart disease. Three days ago, he suddenly started to feel palpitations and chest pains…”
She was halfway through her sentence when Master Zhen interrupted her coldly. “Stop talking nonsense!”
With that, Master Zhen took a few steps in the direction of Gu Yanfei and An Le. He glanced at the two of them disdainfully. “This is the Zhen family’s family matter. Outsiders like you can’t interfere. The Zhen family’s silver house isn’t doing business today!”
His tone was as if he was the boss of this silver house.
“Well, I can still have a say, can’t I?” A weak and hoa.r.s.e male voice interjected, perfectly following Master Zhen’s words.
The curtain was knocked up. The shopkeeper looked in the direction of the curtain and shouted, “Boss.”
Boss Zhen, who was wearing a black cloak, slowly walked in with the help of a servant.
He looked very weak and staggered. His face was pale, and his lips were slightly purple.
“Get lost!” Boss Zhen looked deeply at Master Zhen and said weakly, with difficulty, but with determination, “If you want to leave the family, leave. I’m not serving you anymore!”
With that, he vomited a mouthful of blood.
The dark red blood left a pool of shocking red blood on the bluestone floor.
“Dad!” Zhen Ruzhu was frightened. She rushed towards Boss Zhen with a pale face and held her father’s other arm.
Boss Zhen grabbed his daughter’s hand and said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Don’t marry…” How could his daughter marry such a sc.u.mbag with ill intentions!
Boss Zhen’s body went limp, and he fainted. He vomited a few more mouthfuls of blood.
There were pools of blood on the ground, and even Zhen Ruzhu’s dress was stained with blood.
“Dad, don’t scare me? How are you?” Zhen Ruzhu’s eyes were filled with tears. She was so anxious that she was about to cry. “Hurry, hurry up and call the doctor!”
A waiter hurriedly ran out to get a doctor, while Zhen Ruzhu and the servant helped the unconscious Boss Zhen sit down on a chair.
Master Zhen stood with his hands behind his back. He shook his head and sighed. “Look, you’re the one who jinxed your father.”
“Ruzhu, be obedient. A woman has to get married and have children.”
“I won’t marry!” Zhen Ruzhu gritted her teeth. Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, but her expression was still stubborn. She picked up a pair of scissors beside her. “Today, I’ll cut off my long hair!”
With that, she was about to cut her hair. Her eyes were red, with a hint of tragedy and determination.
She would rather cut her hair and never marry in her life than let a wolf into her house and let others manipulate her fate!
“It’s not an illness.” Gu Yanfei’s clear and mellow voice sounded again, instantly attracting everyone’s attention.
She looked at the haggard and pale face of the unconscious Boss Zhen on the chair and said with certainty, “It’s poison.”
Poison?!
The room fell silent.
Everyone’s expressions changed, especially Zhen Ruzhu’s. Her slender body trembled violently, as if she had been struck by lightning.
The scissors in her hand left her hand and fell to the ground with a bang. A strand of hair that had been cut by the scissors fell gently from midair…
Zhen Ruzhu almost asked, “Are you sure?” However, she bit the tip of her tongue forcefully and quickly looked at An Le’s expression. Seeing her matter-of-fact expression, she knew that what this girl said was most likely true.
Filled with grief and indignation, she bit her lips deeply and heard Gu Yanfei say, “Miss Zhen, not only does your father have palpitations and chest pain, but he’s also dizzy and weak. He vomits and has diarrhea, right?”
Zhen Ruzhu quickly nodded. “Yes.”
Gu Yanfei said, “See if your father’s tongue is swollen?”
Zhen Ruzhu quickly pried open Boss Zhen’s mouth, took a look, and nodded again. “Yes!”
Gu Yanfei continued, “Are your father’s nails turning white and purple?”
Zhen Ruzhu looked at Boss Zhen’s nails and nodded again. “Yes!”
Zhen Ruzhu’s eyes widened. From the surprise just now to now, she was completely convinced by Gu Yanfei.
This girl is right about everything!
It turns out that Father isn’t sick, but poisoned!
The strand of hair that had been cut slowly floated to the ground and landed in a pool of blood.
Zhen Ruzhu’s face turned paler and paler. She asked in a trembling voice, “Miss, may 1 ask what poison my father is suffering from?”
She wasn’t stupid. After the extreme shock, a certain guess was about to be made in the chaotic fog in her brain: Previously, when Father was ill, 1 didn’t think too much about it. But if Father was poisoned, then the timing of his poisoning is too coincidental…
Zhen Ruzhu’s heart ached. Father is the only family member I have in this world!
If 1 hadn’t met the Eldest Princess and the others today, what would have happened to Father?
Zhen Ruzhu almost didn’t dare to think about it anymore.
“Oleander,” Gu Yanfei said slowly. “Just a little bit of this poison will give the above symptoms, but it’s not life-threatening.”
“When you’re ‘married’, your father’s ‘illness’ will naturally improve. At that time, they’ll say that the son-in-law saved your father’s life, and it’ll be equivalent to confirming your tough life.”
“The oleander juice will also paralyze the skin and even cause paralysis.”
Once Boss Zhen was paralyzed, he naturally could no longer control his family’s business. It was a life worse than death.
At such a young age, Zhen Ruzhu would only be hated by others if she took on the name of jinxing her father and mother. It was equivalent to losing her foothold from then on.
Not only would the son-in-law get a reputation for benevolence, but he would also easily control the Zhen family’s a.s.sets. What a good plan!
“You’ll be extinct,” Gu Yanfei concluded.
Zhen Ruzhu’s face turned paler and paler. She also understood the pros and cons. Hatred surged in her heart, and she looked at Master Zhen with a gaze that wished she could cut him into pieces.
Master Zhen’s expression was as ugly as Zhen Ruzhu’s. His eyes were filled with panic, shock, and uneasiness.
Gu Yanfei took out a talisman from her sleeve pocket. With a shake of her hand, a corner of the talisman ignited without fire. In the blink of an eye, it burned to ashes.
She casually shook the talisman ash into the cup of tea she had never drunk before. “Let your father drink it.”
“Thank you, Miss!” Zhen Ruzhu suppressed her emotions and thanked Gu Yanfei with a choked voice. She wanted to go forward and take the cup of talisman tea on the table, but she was rudely pulled away by Master Zhen.
“Ruzhu, this girl is a scammer. Your father is clearly sick, but she only took a look. She didn’t even take his pulse and just spouted nonsense.”
“Don’t call for desperate measures in desperation!”
Master Zhen put on the airs of an elder and reprimanded Zhen Ruzhu a few more times. Then, he pointed at Gu Yanfei’s nose and scolded, “Tell me, where did you come from? You actually want to use this talisman water poison to harm my second cousin!”
“I should arrest a liar like you and bring you to court!”
Old Master Zhen strode towards Gu Yanfei and grabbed her with his big palm…
Gu Yanfei sat leisurely on the chair without moving or dodging. Her eyes even curled up happily as she pressed one hand on the Mystic Flame Whip at her waist.
Whoosh!
A cup of hot tea was splashed at Master Zhen…