273 Dog Heart and Wolf Lung

Since officer Zhao didn’t react for so long, Xie Yunjin felt victorious. He spoke again, “Officer Zhao, I hope you would go home and talk to your daughter to stop getting herself involved in others’ businesses.”

Officer Zhao finally snapped back to reality. His eyes glistened like they’d just been cleaned. If his vision before could be described as dusty and gray, then today, his vision was piercingly clear.

He said to Xie Yunjin in a heavy voice, “Scholar Xie, I will go back and educate my daughter well and make sure she stops causing you trouble.”

Officer Zhao knew that his neighbor was a scholar, one who placed first on the exam. He knew that the magistrate even rewarded this scholar. On that day, officer Zhao was away on the job catching a thief and therefore didn’t get to meet this scholar personally.

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Xie Yunjin’s face lifted a little. He nodded towards officer Zhao, “Then, thank you, officer.”

Officer Zhao couldn’t help but exclaim how big the young master had grown and how handsome he was. God really does have eyes.

“It’s okay.”

Officer Zhao headed home in a great mood. Once there, however, he cooled down. Zhao Hehua wasn’t his daughter – she was the daughter of the officer who used to be his partner. While on a job, his partner was heavily wounded and sadly passed away.

His wife ended up running away, leaving behind their two-year-old daughter. Officer Zhao felt bad about the situation and adopted the girl.

Who knew that the girl’s personality was the same as her promiscuous mother? Officer Zhao’s wife set up many marriages for her but she denied all of them.

His wife no longer wanted to get involved with her. She demanded that she get married and leave her home.

Depressed, officer Zhao entered his home.

Back at the Xie family home, Feng Zhi had also fetched Lady Xu.

Lady Xu was busying herself in the kitchen all morning. It wasn’t that the Xu family couldn’t afford help, it was that her mother-in-law demanded her to be the person who cooked every day. Therefore, she had no choice but to make breakfast for the two elders every morning.

When Feng Zhi invited Lady Xu over, she was so ashamed she wanted to hide in a corner.

Honestly, if it weren’t for her son and daughter, she would’ve divorced her husband Su Dahai a long time ago.

Ten years ago, she married Su Dahai back when he was so poor he couldn’t even afford the dowry. She liked that he was hard working and was quick-witted and liked his personality. She chose to marry him despite his poor family background. Later, she even sold her silver jewelry so he could start a business.

When Su Dahai’s business finally took off, his parents, siblings, and in-laws all started to suck up to him. She was the one who ended up having to step aside. Her mother-in-law tortured her and even asked Su Dahai to take her niece as his concubine. She also asked Su Dahai to bring that woman with him wherever he went. In the end, Su Daihai and that woman grew closer and as his wife, Lady Xu felt no more connection to her husband.

All men had a dog heart and a wolf lung.

After all these years, Lady Xu became numb. She followed Feng Zhi to the Xie home.

Once she saw Lu Jiao, she started to apologize profusely.

“Lady Lu, I’m so sorry. I’m going to talk to my sister-in-law and make sure she stops causing you trouble.”

Lady Lu could tell that Lady Xu was a great person who was unfortunate enough to have to live with that family.

Lu Jiao said to Lady Xu, “Lady Xu, retreating again and again does not earn kindness from others. If you endure the wrongdoings of those who are unkind to you, you’d only appear like an easy target. I don’t believe you’re a stupid woman. Why don’t you think things through?

Lady Xu, I believe you have suffered for many years and still don’t have the life you want. If that’s the case, then why not change your ways? If you think of ways to do things differently, you’ll see a change.”

Lu Jiao thought she had said everything she could and turned to Xie Yunjin, “Let’s go back.”

Behind them, Lady Xu stared at this family blankly as Lu Jiao’s words echoed in her mind. Though her head felt like it’s been struck, her mind felt very clear at the same time.

Yes, her forbearance only enabled her man and her in-laws to think of her as weak and easy to take advantage of.

She was once the jewel that rested on her parents’ palms. When she was getting married to Su Dahai, her parents not only gave her several boxes of dowry, they even managed to get her new sets of silver jewelry and several taels of emergency silver.

Yet now, she couldn’t even find the time to visit her parents just so she could take care of her in-laws who refused to die. Did she owe the Su family anything?

Lady Xu’s eyes turned cold and she pursed her lips as she walked home.

Lu Jiao and Xie Yunjin went back to the back courtyard to have breakfast.

On the way there, Xie Yunjin thought of how exhausted Lu Jiao must be to have to wake up so early today. His heart ached and he said, “We have nothing planned for today. You should sleep more after breakfast.”

Lu Jiao shook her head, “It’s okay. I’ll take a short nap at noon.”

Her mind felt decently clear. It was her body that felt exhausted and yearned for more time lying down.

Lu Jiao realized that the fight this morning was all thanks to Xie Yunjin.

The reason why Lady Xu’s sister–in–law, Chen Zhaodi, came today was to seduce Xie Yunjin. She didn’t expect Zhao Hehua to pop in out of nowhere to take Xie Yunjin’s side.

Lu jiao subconsciously turned to look at Xie Yunjin.

Xie Yunjin noticed her staring and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Look how much trouble your face has caused me.”

His face did bring her much joy when she looked at it though. It wasn’t just Zhao Hehua from the east or Chen Zhaodi from the west, she herself would very much like to take some time to admire his face.

Xie Yunjin raised an eyebrow and said helplessly, “I didn’t start anything.”

He then lowered his brow, “Should I destroy this face then?”

He thought of the scar on Feng Zhi’s face and looked at her as if he’d been inspired.

Lu Jiao glared and scolded, “Don’t talk nonsense! With a scar on your face, you won’t be able to take the imperial examinations. You don’t want to become an official anymore?”

The Zhou Dynasty was very strict when it came to imperial examinations. Those with handicaps were not allowed to take the exams; those with visible deformation to the face were also banned.

Xie Yunjin gave up on the idea and casually commented, “Since I cannot destroy my face, I will keep my distance from all those women. I’m not going to give them the slightest opportunity.”

He peeked at Lu Jiao then and found her reacting positively to that statement. Xie Yunjin’s lips curled up a little. He’ll take it slow until the day Lu Jiao accepts him.