Jiu Zhang Ji: The Daily Life of the Reborn Daughter

Chapter 17 Centipede Alley

Caiwei was already waiting at the gate.

Qiao Lili, accompanied by Caiqin, Caiwei, Caixing, Caiqi and a dozen servants and guards, left the Duke Dingguo's Mansion in a mighty procession.

The group first went to Nishang Pavilion and then to Zhenbaozhai. This was the first time Qiao Lili came to the shop after her rebirth. She looked at the account book and checked the warehouse as usual, and told the shopkeeper some important matters. She left without wasting too much time.

Then, she went to Huichuntang, which was the clinic she opened after her mother passed away. The real cause of her mother's illness had never been found out, and she was worried that she knew too few doctors, so she opened this clinic and looked for people with superb medical skills to sit in the clinic and see patients. If she came across rare medicinal materials, she would get them no matter how expensive they were.

I’m afraid that my family will end up in the same situation as my mother in the future.

Everything was normal at Huichun Hall, and the shopkeeper gave the 10,000 taels of silver note that Bai Junzhe had returned to Qiao Lili.

Qiao Lili thought about it and decided to take it. The pharmacy did not need a large amount of cash for circulation.

The three shopkeepers used to see the young master at least twice a month, and it’s only been a dozen days since the last time they saw her. Why do they feel that the young master has suddenly grown up? Is it because that annoying Bai Junzhe has made her sad?

The three of them secretly took note of Bai Junzhe in their hearts and decided to find an opportunity to teach him a lesson.

These three shops were all on the Imperial City Street. We walked past them all and finally the carriage arrived at Centipede Hutong where the Bai family's residence was located.

Qiao Lili got off the car at the entrance of Centipede Hutong and only took Caiwei and Caiqin into the alley.

On this spring afternoon when flowers were flying all over the city, the spring breeze only circled around the entrance of the alley before blowing away. As a result, the wild grass that should have grown wildly in the cracks between the stone slabs in the alley was now weak and sparse. When Qiao Lili walked into the alley, she felt a slight chill on her back.

The chill became more severe as they got closer to the gate of Bai Mansion. As Caiqin opened the door lock and pushed open the door, the chill suddenly penetrated into her bones.

Qiao Lili stood at the gate of the Bai Mansion. This was the cage that had trapped her for seven years in her previous life. In the first two years, she was deceived and fooled in this mansion. The dignity of the legitimate daughter of the Duke's Mansion was trampled underfoot by Bai Junzhe, Lou Xinyue, and the Bai mother and daughter, but she was willing to take out a lot of silver for them to use, which eventually dragged the entire Duke Dingguo Mansion into the abyss.

These days after her rebirth, she had nightmares every night. She dreamed that she was still in the dark cell where she had been trapped for five years, and that Bai Junzhe and Lou Xinyue were stabbing her with needles, whipping, branding, and cutting her flesh. She was so hungry that she wanted to eat rats alive, and finally died after her hands, feet, tongue, and eyes were gouged out.

She knew that she had to break this cage when she was awake, otherwise, she would not be able to escape the heart-wrenching and maddening torture every night.

Qiao Lili made up her mind and stepped into the gate of Bai Mansion.

She walked slowly in this huge Bai Mansion, which should have been a familiar place, but in fact it was somewhat unfamiliar. After all, she had been locked up in a dark cell for five years and had no idea about the changes in the Bai Mansion. At this moment, the Bai Mansion was still the dilapidated one before she married into the family, and everything needed repair.

There are seven or eight years between us.

In her previous life, before she married into the Bai Mansion, she gave Bai Junzhe tens of thousands of taels of silver and asked him to renovate the Bai Mansion.

So, when she married into the Bai Mansion, the entire mansion was filled with carved beams and painted buildings, pavilions and towers.

The colorful glazed tiles on the roof sparkle brightly, and the white marble auspicious beasts on the ridge are all ferocious.

There are winding corridors, small bridges and flowing water, the rockery is made of Taihu stones, the brocade scales are five-colored fish, the peonies are the Gejin Purple and Yuban White from Luoyang, and the plum trees are the golden wax and sunset red from Jinling with twenty years of old roots.

Looking at the dilapidated Bai Mansion, where even the walls of the main courtyard were mottled, Qiao Lili secretly felt sorry for her 28,000 taels of silver. She had been careless and overestimated.

She was now going to find the location of the secret prison. After she married into the Bai Mansion, she did not remember that the Bai Mansion had ever been built. The secret prison must have existed for a long time, otherwise they would not have built a secret prison and locked her up as soon as something happened in the Duke Dingguo's Mansion. With her senses, she knew that it was not newly built.

The yard farthest from the main courtyard is where she lived for two years after she got married. At present, the yard is overgrown with weeds, and the lock on the door is rusty. It seems that no one has entered it for a long time.

Since the death of Lord Bai, all the concubines in this mansion either died or were sold out by the Bai family, and many courtyards were locked up. I used to not understand why Lord Bai, who was so lustful, had no illegitimate sons or daughters after marrying countless concubines. Now I understand, with a vicious woman like the Bai family, how could she let another woman give birth to a child?

She stood in front of the courtyard and looked around for a while. The dark cell was not here. She remembered that when Nanny He was beaten to death, Bai Junzhe dragged her out of the dark cell. Nanny He was beaten to death in the courtyard where she lived. The servants who came with her as a dowry were all locked up in this courtyard. She remembered that she was carried around dizzy for a while before she came here.

According to the memory of her previous life, she walked and stopped along the way, passing several abandoned courtyards, none of which seemed to be the location of the secret prison. Then she came to a courtyard that seemed to be inhabited not long ago. This courtyard was where Bai Junzhe lived before he went to war. Because it was close to the garden, the scenery was very good, and it was not far from Bai Junzhe's study, so it was later renovated and given to Lou Xinyue to live in.

At that time, Bai Junzhe said that Lou Xinyue was his savior, so he wanted to give her a good home. This yard was renovated more exquisitely than the one she lived in, and all kinds of furniture and furnishings were extremely luxurious, all of which were bought with her money.

In her previous life, she actually believed it. Every time she saw Lou Xinyue, she was polite and grateful. She would send her a share of any good things. At that time, Lou Xinyue would laugh in her dreams when she saw how stupid she was being fooled.

In front of her, he was his savior, but he was indifferent to her. But behind her back, they were like a loving couple. He used the excuse that he was injured on the battlefield to abandon her alone in a remote yard for two years and ignored her.

Because of Bai Junzhe's words, "Lili, I'm sorry, when I get better, I will definitely give you a child." She spared no expense to search for famous doctors all over the world, and sent all the rare medicinal materials collected by Huichuntang to him like water to nourish his body.

In fact, when she was imprisoned in the dark cell, Lou Xinyue came to interrogate her, whipping her with a whip while saying, "Sister's tonics are really effective. My body is now able to have children."

Lou Xinyue was born in a brothel, and her body had long been damaged by the drugs used by the madam. She was able to restore such a broken body to the point where she could have children. She really spent a lot of money.

Looking at the yard, she suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. She turned around, bent over and retched a few times, which frightened Caiqin and Caiwei and they hurriedly massaged her back: "Miss, what's wrong with you?" Caiqin was timid, and this empty yard made her feel uneasy. "No, no, maybe you were hit by something."

After wiping the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, the two maids pulled her away from the courtyard gate without any explanation.

Next to it is Bai Junzhe’s study. Although it is called a study, it actually also has a living room where you can rest.

During the first two years after marrying into the Marquis's Mansion, he used the excuse of being ill to stay in the study every night. In fact, he went to Lou Xinyue's courtyard every night because he was close to her. The two of them lived like a married couple, with the mother and daughter of the Bai family covering for them and the servants in the mansion keeping them informed. However, they kept it a secret from his wife, who lived in the most remote courtyard.

Qiao Lili felt at the gate of the courtyard and it was not here. She calmed herself down and returned to the courtyard where Lou Xinyue had lived. If her feeling was correct, Bai Junzhe carried her out through this door that day.

Although she had been imprisoned for a short time, she had not eaten much, and was in a daze and very thin. He held her upside down, and she vaguely saw a thick tree at the door. Among all the courtyards in the Bai Mansion, only this courtyard had a Metasequoia tree that was almost a hundred years old at the door.

The walking time from here to the yard where she lives is also right.