Noble Son-in-Law - Chapter 2.2

Chapter 2.2

Yesterday, Cao Xiong could only catch a glimpse of half of Shen Qingqing’s face because she was wearing a bamboo hat when she entered the temple. At that time, he was surprised to see Shen Qingqing’s appearance. However, Li Zhi would come to kill him at any time. Cao Xiong was not interested in any beauties. He only needed a hostage who could scare Li Zhi and let him go.

Actually, the youngest child, Shen Wang, was the best candidate. He was a son and was easy to pick on because he was young. Sadly, the boy went to a remote area of the mountains with his parents.

[TL: From ancient times, most Chinese families preferred sons over daughters. So Cao Xiong thought so.]

Therefore, Cao Xiong had to be content with the second-best option.

There were only Shen Qingqing and two maids in the room. Yudie was still unconscious, and Yuchan gathered the courage to stand in front of Shen Qingqing and stared at Cao Xiong as a ferocious kitten. However, Cao Xiong once commanded a group of 30,000 soldiers to rise up against the king, so how come a strong and tall hero couldn’t handle two weak women?

Shen Qingqing was caught by Cao Xiong after only being able to scream two times.

“Please release me.” The man held her waist with a strong grip; Shen Qingqing’s feet were barely touching the ground; and she held onto Cao Xiong’s hands tightly and used her feet to kick his legs forcefully.

But for Cao Xiong, these things were like scratching an itch. He hugged Shen Qingqing tightly and ran out very quickly. When he left the room, he held a small knife to Shen Qingqing’s throat and threatened. “Move aside, everyone, or I will kill her immediately.”

The pointy end of the knife went through her skin, and Shen Qingqing was in so much pain that she couldn’t move anymore. Tears were coming out of her eyes.

Yuchan and the other maids and servants in the Shen family had to back off in such a situation.

Cao Xiong walked alongside Shen Qingqing. Just as he was getting ready to leave the guest house, two men wearing raincoats unexpectedly showed up in front of him.

Cao Xiong looked at everyone’s faces, but there was no Li Zhi. He stopped for a moment and checked their expressions quickly.

“Move aside, or I will kill her.” Cao Xiong warned once more.

The two men wearing raincoats made of coir looked at each other with uncertain expressions in their eyes. That girl was Shen Ge’s granddaughter. Mr. Shen Ge’s status in the emperor’s heart was not inferior to that of the Marquis. If they really took action blindly, the Marquis would never have peace in the future.

“Qingqing!”

A very sad and painful cry came suddenly. Shen Tingwen and Mrs. Shen finally hurried back. They personally witnessed that their loving daughter had been taken captive and was in a dangerous situation. Mrs. Shen was on the verge of collapsing because she was crying so much, and Shen Tingwen and his sons looked very angry.

Shen Tingwen asked his oldest son to look after his mother. He then tried to stay calm and walked up to Cao Xiong. He held his hands together and said, “Hello, I am Shen Tingwen. We have never met before. I have confidence in both you and myself. There is no bad feeling. If you release my daughter, I will handle any problem you have, regardless of how difficult it may be.”

When Cao Xiong heard this, he kept the knife he was holding against Shen Qingqing and looked at two men in raincoats. He said, “Those men want to kill me, Master Shen; you can ask them to leave the mountain, and I will let your daughter go.”

Shen Tingwen quickly looked at the men wearing a raincoat made of coir.

The tall man first explained. “Master Shen, we are the bodyguards of the Marquis of Pingxi. We and the Marquis are ordered to capture the rebel Cao Xiong. If Cao Xiong is allowed to leave alive today, how will my Marquis return to Beijing to answer the emperor?”

‘Marquis of Pingxi, Li Zhi?’ Shen Tingwen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Currently, the emperor loves Concubine Chun the most, and Li Zhi was Concubine Chun’s brother, and he was currently 24-year-old.

The Li family was a rich family from the southern part of the Yangtze River. They had been in business for many generations. Li Zhi’s family background in business had a strong impact on him. He was kind, humble, and good at dealing with people, and he never had any conflicts with others. When the Holy Emperor became king, the vassal kings in the southwest fought against him. Li Zhi was given the job of taking care of food and grass when there was a risk or threat. By luck, he found himself in a violent fight on the battlefield. Li Zhi was born into a wealthy and prestigious family. When he was a kid, he went to many places in the country and learned martial arts from the experts. Once he stepped onto the battlefield, he felt completely comfortable and at ease. He did great things in the military, and when he came back to Beijing, he was given the name Marquis of Pingxi and honoured as the leader of the emperor’s army.

Some people thought Li Zhi was really smart and special, from a small businessman to a high-ranking military leader. But other people made fun of him, saying he only became successful because of his sister’s help. There were ministers in the court who said they disagreed with Li Zhi all the time. However, Li Zhi had a tolerant attitude and preferred to back down when provoked instead of being mean to others. Last year, Zhang Yong openly wrote a poem making fun of Li Zhi for being Yang Guozhong in this current dynasty.

[TL: Yang Guozhong, whose real name was Yang Zhao (楊釗), was a Chinese statesman who held the position of senior chancellor of the Tang dynasty from 752 to 756—later in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. During his youth, Yang was well-known for being a gambler and a wastrel. However, after his distant cousin Yang Yuhuan became Emperor Xuanzong’s favourite consort in 744, Yang quickly ascended to political dominance. ]

Have a nice day!

[TL: There is no fixed schedule for now. It will be informed later.]

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