Wang Yuzheng clung to his arm like an octopus, refusing to let go.
Li Zhi could not stand women crying and whining. He threatened, “If you keep crying, woman, I’ll throw you into the mountains to feed the jackals!”
Wang Yuzheng was not frightened by his threat. She even intentionally wiped her tears on his sleeve, her eyes rimmed with red. “My life is bitter. Ending up in a bandit’s lair today means I was not meant to survive in the first place…
“Sob… My mother-in-law bullies me, my husband beats and scolds me, and both my parents are dead with no one to back me up. Everyone takes advantage of my weakness and tries to drive me to my death…”
With that, she made a move to slam her head against the wall to end her life.
Li Zhi had never seen such a scene before and immediately yanked her back.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Wang Yuzheng burrowed into his chest, putting on a delicate, powerless, and desperate act.
Li Zhi did not have a single bone of tenderness in him. He pushed her away with a shove, causing her to fall onto the ground, where she covered her face and wept.
Afraid that she might die in his room, Li Zhi softened his tone. “Don’t go seeking life and death. If you have something to say, speak properly.”
Wang Yuzheng stole a glance at him. Seeing that he was not as fierce as before, she wiped her tears but remained silent.
That outfit of hers was truly eye-catching, setting off her snow-white skin and flower-like beauty. Li Zhi could not control his gaze from straying toward her. Impatiently, he yelled outside, “Hu Laoliu!”
“Chief…”
“You son of a bitch, what kind of clothes did you put on this woman?”
Hu Chong began explaining from outside, and Li Zhi kicked the door.
Fearing his wrath, Hu Chong and the others did not dare take the joke too far and hurriedly opened the door.
Li Zhi delivered a hard flick to Hu Chong’s forehead, cursing and swearing at the dog.
Before long, Wang Yuzheng’s clothes were brought over, and she was taken back to the cave where she had been previously detained.
That night, Li Zhi was ultimately affected. A young man in his early twenties, full of vigor and blood, how could he withstand such temptation?
Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, he instinctively rubbed his fingertips together. It felt as though the smooth, supple touch of the woman still lingered on them.
That feeling was extraordinarily subtle—soft to the touch, smooth, and perhaps even faintly fragrant?
Recalling the lady’s pitiful face, Li Zhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He simply could not ignore that slender, shapely figure.
The more he thought about it, the more an evil fire surged in his lower abdomen. Suppressing a belly full of fire with nowhere to vent, he simply went to take a cold shower.
Returning to the room, his mood had settled considerably, and he refrained from further wild thoughts.
The next day, Wang Yuzheng was brought to see Liu Ming. Li Zhi and the others were also present at the time.
Liu Ming had been locked up for over twenty days and had been beaten, making the man look thoroughly haggard.
Wang Yuzheng did not want to ransom him back at all, yet she did not dare reveal it. The moment she saw him, she squeezed out two tears and spoke with a sob in her voice, “Husband, my husband, you have suffered.”
With that, she threw herself toward him, putting on an aggrieved display of deep conjugal affection.
Liu Ming had been beaten into terror and only wanted to leave this hellish place as soon as possible. He asked anxiously, “Where is the ransom? Did you bring the ransom money?”
Wang Yuzheng feigned hesitation.
Seeing that she remained silent, Liu Ming grabbed her shoulders, his expression turning contorted and ferocious. “Where is the ransom? I asked you, where is the ransom?!”
Wang Yuzheng answered timidly, “It was, it was taken by them.”
Liu Ming immediately shifted his gaze and instantly kowtowed to Li Zhi and the others, begging for mercy, “Sirs, spare me! The ransom you asked for has already been delivered. Keeping me here serves no purpose.”
Beside him, seeing him kowtow, Wang Yuzheng joined in begging for mercy, softly pleading for the heroes to spare their ill-fated couple.
Li Zhi, who had not spoken the entire time, suddenly waved at Hu Chong. Hu Chong immediately brought over a square stool, and Li Zhi sat down with his legs spread wide, a somewhat playful look on his face.
“Lady Wang, didn’t you cry to me yesterday about how domineering your mother-in-law is, how your husband beats and scolds you, and how your husband’s family bullies your weak nature and pushes you around at every turn…”
Before he could finish his words, Liu Ming hurriedly interrupted, “No such thing, no such thing!”
Li Zhi stared at the husband and wife without speaking.
He had a rugged appearance, with prominent brow bones over his eyes, a high nose bridge, and sharp, defined facial features. His sharp eyes scrutinized Wang Yuzheng with extreme aggressiveness.
Sure enough, with just a slight test, he managed to probe out what kind of character Liu Ming possessed.
He deliberately said, “It’s fine to let you go, but as for your woman…”
Liu Ming only wanted to save his own life. He immediately pushed Wang Yuzheng away and said, “Hero, please take her and enjoy her as you wish!”
Li Zhi raised an eyebrow.
Wang Yuzheng was both shocked and terrified, tears welling in her eyes as she said, “Husband, how cruel your heart is!”
Liu Ming ignored her rebuke. Wanting only to cling to life, he said urgently, “If the hero fancies this woman, just take her! I, Liu, will have not the slightest grievance!”
Li Zhi could not press down the corners of his mouth. His gaze fell onto Wang Yuzheng, deliberately instigating the couple to tear into each other like dogs.
Who would have thought that Wang Yuzheng would not bite? She merely covered her face and wept, putting on an appearance of being weak and easily bullied.
Her aggrieved look actually made others unable to watch any longer. Someone spat and cursed, “Dog-fucking scum! Your wife didn’t hesitate to enter a bandit’s lair just to ransom you back.
“And look at you—you just hand her away so casually! How will you account for this to her family when you go back?”
Liu Ming’s face turned flush green and pale as he defended, “The Liu family never agreed to this marriage in the first place! It was Wang who shamelessly insisted on marrying into our family!”
Wang Yuzheng sobbed softly without offering any defense, wanting nothing more than for Liu Ming to die.
Unsurprisingly, although those bandits possessed no morals to speak of, they still looked down upon such a man.
One of them, who had a short temper, kicked Liu Ming directly, knocking him to the ground where he let out a series of “ouch”s.
“Son of a bitch, don’t fucking embarrass yourself here!”
“Bah! What kind of filthy garbage are you? You’re not even as loyal as a woman!”
Hu Chong, not fearing death, said, “Chief, look at how that dog managed to get a wife. Why not just take his woman and make her the chieftain’s wife?”
Li Zhi’s heart was already itching from Wang Yuzheng’s allure, but he cared greatly about his pride. He put on airs and said, “It hasn’t been easy for the couple to make this trip. How can we break up a devoted pair?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, Liu Ming waved his hand and said, “Hero, no need to be polite! If you fancy Wang, I, Liu, will write a letter of divorce right away!”
As expected, Wang Yuzheng could not stand his face any longer and said with resentment, “Husband, you go too far!”
Liu Ming pointed at her and cursed, “Wang, you are a blight! Ever since you entered the house, nothing has gone right for the Liu family! My mother has endured you for a long time!”
As if her heart had been broken, Wang Yuzheng stared with tear-filled eyes.
Hu Chong, loving nothing more than watching a scene unfold, added, “Lady Wang, look at that. Why stay with such a filthy creature?”
“Right, right, right! If you go back with him, you’ll likely be tormented to death. You’d be better off staying in our bandit lair as the chieftain’s wife, living it up and eating well.”
The bandits chimed in one after another. On the surface, Wang Yuzheng looked so ashamed and indignant she wanted to die, but in truth, she secretly stole glances at Li Zhi, wanting to use his hands to kill Liu Ming.
Yet Li Zhi stopped at the right moment and did not push further. He simply got up and walked out, leaving Hu Chong and the others cursing away.
Previously, the bandits had demanded eight hundred taels of silver from the Liu family as ransom. Wang Yuzheng had brought eighty taels of gold instead, packed inside a heavy wooden box that was taken by the bandits.
Li Zhi counted it himself. The weight was indeed sufficient, but as for whether it was genuine, it still had to be tested.
As it turned out, a problem arose during testing.
Out of the eighty taels of gold, only fifty taels tested true after melting; the rest was counterfeit.
Li Zhi laughed out of sheer anger. That couple certainly knew how to play games.
Having detected the fake ransom, Wang Yuzheng was summoned at noon to be confronted.
Li Zhi threw the melted gold at her feet. Wang Yuzheng was baffled.
“Lady Wang has quite the nerve, daring to fool even bandits. Do you not want your little life anymore?”
Hearing this, Wang Yuzheng’s expression changed slightly. “Why do you say that, hero?”
Li Zhi snorted and said fiercely, “Look for yourself! What kind of ransom did you bring? Don’t assume bandits don’t know their goods.”
Wang Yuzheng’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately picked up the ransom to inspect it. There were two lumps of melted gold—one was real, and one was fake.
As if she had not expected things to go wrong in this regard, she hurriedly fell to her knees, crying out in panic, “Hero, spare my life! Hero, spare my life!
“This ransom was prepared by my mother-in-law for me to bring! Liu is her only flesh and blood—she would never dare tamper with the ransom!”
Li Zhi did not like hearing this. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Are you suggesting that I, Li Zhi, am deliberately picking a fight?”
“No, no, no!”
Wang Yuzheng waved her hands repeatedly. “Please, hero, allow me to see the Liu family servant to ask clearly. I will surely give you a satisfactory explanation regarding the ransom!”
She looked at him pleadingly, the terror in her eyes impossible to fake—because she was genuinely terrified.
Li Zhi did not speak, seemingly weighing the truth of her words.
Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Wang Yuzheng cursed his ancestors in her heart while forcing tears out of her eyes.
“I beg the hero to show mercy! I traveled all the way from Fancheng through exhausting journeys, and I would never dare play tricks with the ransom.”
Hearing this, Li Zhi suddenly stepped forward and squatted down to look at her.
Wang Yuzheng instinctively shrank back.
The bandit sized her up with a strange gaze, then unexpectedly pinched her chin, speaking with a half-smile, “Do you truly not dare play tricks with the ransom?”
Wang Yuzheng said tearfully, “A human life is at stake. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare.”
Li Zhi grunted, applying a bit of force with the hand holding her chin, forcing her to look up.
“Yesterday, didn’t you say your mother-in-law was domineering and that Liu Ming beat and scolded you? Having encountered such a husband’s family, do you truly have no resentment in your heart?”
Wang Yuzheng’s breath hitched, not daring to answer.
Fear and delicate bashfulness alternated across her face. Hidden within her tearful eyes was a repressed resentment, yet she did not dare let it erupt.
That complex, twisting emotion was immensely captivating, making Li Zhi find it all the more amusing.
He deliberately leaned in close, bringing his lips to her ear as he speculated, “Could it be that Lady Wang resents Liu Ming and secretly tampered with the ransom to anger me, so that we bandits would kill him for you?”
The moment these words were uttered, Wang Yuzheng’s heart leaped into her throat.
She did not like the feeling of her inner darkness being exposed at all; it felt as if she were stripped bare, leaving her utterly mortified.
After secretly sending her regards to Li Zhi’s ancestors eighteen generations back, she strove to put on a delicate, frail stance. “I cannot go on living… I cannot go on living…”
With that, she broke into uncontrollable sobs, choking out, “Before I left, the Liu family detained Nanny Xu, my dowry servant, saying that if I couldn’t ransom my husband back, they would beat her to death.
“My parental family has no one left, and Nanny Xu is the only person willing to protect me. Now that something has gone wrong with the ransom, my husband will lose his life, and I won’t survive either…”
As if lamenting her ill fortune, she wept heartbrokenly.
At first, Li Zhi observed with a cold eye. Who could have guessed that Wang Yuzheng, seeing him remain heart of stone and unmoved after crying for a while, began pulling little tricks? She intentionally wiped her tears on his sleeve in a daze.
“I am useless, completely useless. If my parents knew in the netherworld, they would surely scold me for being so weak, letting everyone bully me…”
She did not dare cry out loud, suppressing a mountain of grievances, looking pathetically helpless.
At that moment, two lines of tears hung on her face. She could not cry too hideously; she had to create the delicate beauty and sorrow of a maiden to move people’s hearts.
As expected, Li Zhi grew somewhat annoyed by her crying and said gruffly, “What are you crying for?”
Wang Yuzheng did not dare cry any longer, merely looking at him with clear tears hanging from her eyes, hesitating to speak.
That piteous, tearful appearance made one unable to resist wanting to tease her.
Li Zhi’s cold, hard heart softened by a fraction after all. He said in a bad mood, “It’s not like your man is dead yet. What is there to cry about?”
Wang Yuzheng looked at him with tearful eyes. “But… I am about to die…”
Li Zhi: “…”
Wang Yuzheng recklessly grabbed his sleeve again to wipe her tears, whimpering softly once more.
Li Zhi originally wanted to coax her with a couple of words, but when the words reached his mouth, they became, “If you cry again, I’ll throw you out to feed the wolves.”
As if frightened, Wang Yuzheng dove into his embrace in panic.
The tender, soft beauty suddenly filled his arms, and the fragrant scent of cosmetics that infused the woman drifted into his nose.
Li Zhi’s spine went rigid, his mind completely blurred by the fragrance.
In that moment, a thought popped into his head for the very first time: *To hell with married women—I’ll just make her a widow!*