met free Chapter 466 The Liu Sisters 2
Chapter 466 The Liu Sisters 2
After the Liu sisters got married, the Feng family's business flourished.
In just three years, the Feng family soared to great heights like a roc spreading its wings, and then moved the whole family to Zhongzhou City.
As the saying goes, "Men with money go bad," and this is perfectly exemplified by the Feng brothers.
After the Feng family moved to Zhongzhou, they were targeted by the local powerful Li family.
The Li family was a large and powerful family in Zhongzhou, and they also had close ties with the government.
Moreover, the Li family had a wide range of businesses, including incense making.
The reason they valued the Feng family was because of their "sandalwood."
Because the Feng family's sandalwood is famous throughout the Central Plains and surrounding areas—its scent is richer than that of other families, and its aroma makes people feel comfortable and relaxed.
However, neither the Feng nor the Li families knew that the final ingredient in the Feng family's "sandalwood" recipe was developed by the Liu sisters on their own.
Moreover, the Liu sisters, fearing gossip, always sent the recipes through reliable servants.
Upon learning of this, the incense maker of the Feng family did not betray the Liu sisters in order to secure his position within the family.
It's important to know that in ancient times, people's love for fragrance was no less than that of perfume in later generations.
The Li family wanted to acquire the Feng family's secret formula, so they proposed a marriage alliance, but the Feng family was, after all, a small and insignificant family.
The legitimate daughter would definitely not be given away to the Li family, and coincidentally, the Li family had a pair of twin illegitimate daughters.
Because these two illegitimate daughters were born to a foot-washing maid, they had a low status and were suppressed by their legal mother.
They've passed the age for marriage proposals, so they're perfect to be given to the Feng family.
The Li family coveted the Feng family's incense-making skills and wanted to use them to gain access to Lingyun Pavilion. So they set up a dinner trap, and the Feng brothers easily fell into it.
When they returned home, each of the brothers had a beautiful woman with him.
Afterwards, in order to gain a foothold in Zhongzhou and further connect with Lingyun Pavilion through the Li family, the Feng family actually sent a letter of divorce to each of the Liu sisters.
Even the children born to the Liu sisters were not kept by the Feng family; the two sisters and their three children were expelled from the house.
On their way back to their parents' home in Mianyang Prefecture, the two sisters were chased and killed by a group of people.
Because they were all women and children, they were slow to run. What puzzled the Liu sisters even more was that the group of people were targeting the three children.
After the children were killed, the group did not take the lives of the two sisters.
They simply made a cut in each of their lower abdomens and left a message saying: "The master said that they will never be able to have children in this lifetime."
After suffering this double blow, the two sisters fainted.
When they woke up in the clinic, they learned that they had been rescued by a passing caravan and taken to the hospital for treatment.
The people at the clinic also said that the caravan helped them bury their child in the woods outside the city…
After the two sisters recovered somewhat, they bid farewell to the clinic and went to the graves of the child and the maid.
Instead of returning to Mianyang Prefecture, they decided to go to the capital to appeal to the emperor.
However, since the two sisters had no items to prove their identities, they had no choice but to wander through the desolate countryside.
After more than three months of displacement, the two sisters finally arrived in the outskirts of Beijing.
At this moment, they were extremely excited, but due to exhaustion, they fainted in a dilapidated temple, where they met "her".
After Dongfang Jin rescued the Liu sisters, he heard about their tragic experiences and immediately informed his cousin, the emperor, about it.
When her cousin's Shadow Guards returned from their investigation in Zhongzhou, they brought the sisters even more devastating news—
Since they married into the Feng family, the Liu family's business has declined rapidly and has been repeatedly suppressed by other merchants in Mianyang Prefecture.
In less than a year, the century-old family business collapsed.
During this time, the two elders of the Liu family sent members of their clan to the Feng family several times to ask for their help.
But what they received was a heartless reply from the Feng family, whose words were always, "A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup."
"The two young ladies are powerless to help," "Once the Liu family's daughter marries into the Feng family, she becomes a member of the Feng family," and so on.
Seeing that the Liu family would go bankrupt without any further support, Old Master Liu couldn't swallow his anger.
He then personally led the clan members to the Feng family to reason with them, but unexpectedly they were assassinated on the way.
When the tragic news reached the Liu family, Old Madam Liu was so distraught that she couldn't catch her breath and passed away, following her husband.
The two sisters, who were still working hard for the Feng family at the time, were completely unaware of all this.
Upon receiving this news from the Shadow Guard, the Liu sisters were struck dumb, collapsing on the spot.
What's even more chilling is that the Shadow Guard's investigation confirmed His Majesty's and Dongfang Jin's suspicions.
From the marriage alliance with the Li family to the downfall of the Liu family, every single event was a carefully orchestrated conspiracy by the Feng family and the Ma family of Zhongzhou.
Because the Ma family does the same business as the Liu family, but the Liu family also started out making their fortune in incense.
His family's incense was once coveted by people in the palace, but later, due to the struggle for the throne, many members of the Liu family died.
To avoid persecution, this branch of the family had to move to their ancestral home in Mianyang Prefecture and changed their family business.
However, the Feng and Ma families not only wanted to seize the Liu family's supply channels and nibble away at the Liu family's business, but also used the Li family's influence to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy.
He even went so far as to use a marriage alliance with a concubine's daughter from the Li family as bait and his wife's family as a sacrifice, climbing upwards on the blood of his wife and children.
The Shadow Guards, acting on the Emperor's orders, assisted the Liu sisters in settling scores with the Feng, Ma, and Li families.
After the three main perpetrators were brought to justice, the two sisters moved the remains of their three children and the two elders of the Liu family to the ancestral grave for burial.
However, when the two sisters returned to the old site of the Liu family mansion, they found that the ancestral home and the only remaining property had been seized by a branch of the Liu family.
As dusk fell, the Liu sisters gazed at their former home, their eyes reflecting the cold moonlight.
The two sisters clenched their hands tightly, their fingertips turning white from the force.
They turned and walked towards the woodshed, carrying out bundles of dry grass, and scattered kindling along the corridor and side rooms.
As the first flame rose, thick smoke carrying sparks shot up onto the blue tiles, illuminating the resolute faces of the two sisters.
The fire spread like the hatred in their hearts, burning the hypocritical clan ties, the shattered past, and the house that bore witness to blood and tears to ashes.
This fire burned away their attachment to the mortal world, but it also laid the lingering warmth beneath the ashes for a new flame of revenge to be kindled in the ruins.
……
Dongfang Jin sat in the car, looking at the person riding the bicycle. Liu Sumei was now twenty-nine years old and had a beautiful appearance.
Her face was like a silver basin, her skin was slightly honeyed as if it were covered with morning dew, and she had a healthy and plump glow.
Her eyebrows, like distant, verdant mountains in spring, naturally green without being painted, slanted and flew into her temples;
Her eyes were like autumn waters, her pupils clear as amber, curving gently into two crescent moons when she smiled, with shallow dimples appearing at the corners of her eyes, rippling with tenderness.
Her nose was delicate and straight, and her lips were naturally red, like peach petals blooming in early March. A faint smile often graced the corners of her lips.
Like a spring breeze brushing against the copper bells on the eaves, it is indescribably soothing and harmonious.
She habitually styled her black hair into a loose bun, with a bamboo hairpin plated with silver inserted diagonally between it, the tip of which was adorned with two lustrous white pearls that trembled slightly with each step.
A few wisps of hair fell naturally from her temples, making her face appear even more rounded and soft.
She wore a short blue cotton jacket with a diagonal front, the collar trimmed with a half-inch wide moon-white border, and her sleeves were rolled up to reveal a section of her lotus-root-like arm.
A small gilded coin was tied to a red string on her wrist. Although it was not an expensive ornament, it added a touch of everyday warmth.
I heard that she personally went to the temple to ask for that red string for her three-year-old son.
When she and Liu Sulan went back to look for their child, they found him on the ground.
After that, she wore that red string.
From behind, she appeared plump yet slender, with a worn indigo apron tied around her waist.
As she pedaled her tricycle, a faint scent of herbs wafted over, a result of her frequent help at the medicinal cuisine restaurant.
Having lived in Mingyue Villa for the past few years, I feel like a newly roasted tea cake in spring, possessing a warm and serene charm even without makeup.
Her eyebrows and eyes exude a gentle and refined charm, a beauty that has been mellowed by time, truly embodying the saying "a lotus emerging from clear water, naturally beautiful without artifice."
The group chatted and laughed, and time flew by. The four little girls screamed with excitement the whole way.
As soon as the tricycle carrying Dongfang Jin entered the "Five Elements Courtyard" area, several small birds of different colors appeared on both of her shoulders.