Reunion Of Siblings
Wang Shuihua heard the sound, her whole body froze. She thought it was an illusion; it had been so long since anyone called her Shuihua.
She looked around for a while before her line of sight fell on Wang Jinbao.
The man was excessively thin, his skin dark, his cheeks deeply sunken, and his eyes bulging outwards, looking somewhat frightening.
For a moment, she didn’t dare recognize him, just stared fixedly at the person standing in front of the courtyard gate, unsure if it was an illusion or real.
Until Wang Jinbao’s choked voice sounded again, “Shuihua, don’t you recognize your brother?”
Wang Shuihua’s eyes widened instantly, staring fixedly at the other person, afraid that if she blinked, the person in front of her would disappear.
Everyone on the estate called her Concubine Wang. She didn’t want to be this damn Concubine Wang at all. If it weren’t for not wanting to see her parents and villagers all die, she wouldn’t have given herself to that old bastard Zhu Shichang.
For the past three years, she hadn’t had a single day where she didn’t want to die. If it weren’t for fear of Zhu Shichang going back on his word, she would have committed suicide long ago.
Her brother, who loved her most, went to the mine; he basically had no chance of survival.
She also couldn’t see her parents and little nephew. Only she could occasionally write some words on leaves and float them from the lotus pond in the estate to the stream in the back village.
She didn’t know if her parents had seen what she wrote.
This morning, when she heard that the estate was in chaos and the mine had collapsed, she felt both happy and worried.
Happy that the mine was gone, and the Zhu family had fallen, and that no one would ever be kidnapped again to be a concubine, a tool for pleasure, trapped in the estate for life, worse than death.
No one would be forced to go to the mountain to mine anymore, leaving their bodies behind without a trace.
Worried that she might be buried with the Zhu family. Secretly mining was a major crime, and as Zhu Shichang’s concubine, no matter what happened, whether it was a family downfall or anything else, she could only follow Zhu Shichang.
Now her brother’s life or death was unknown, her parents were old, and she didn’t know how her three-year-old little nephew would survive.
Seeing the three people in front of her now, she was still a little dazed, staring incredulously at Wang Jinbao, feeling that it was Heaven’s grace, allowing her to see her brother before she died.
Wang Jinbao looked at his sister, who looked like she could be blown down by a gust of wind, and tears welled up in his eyes instantly. He forced a smile and said, “Shuihua, brother is back.”
Wang Shuihua heard this sentence, tears instantly welled up, widening her eyes, probingly said: “Brother, you really are brother, you’re back?”
Yesterday at the foot of the mountain, she vaguely heard several rumbling explosions from the mountain. Because she had heard them before, she didn’t pay much attention, only sighing that the mine might have collapsed again, wondering how many people would die.
Unexpectedly, the people who broke into the estate brought all the miners down. She heard that they were treating everyone in the front hall, and she felt relieved.
On the one hand, she hoped her brother was still alive, on the other hand, she felt it was impossible.
After all, she knew best how dangerous the mine was. Every time she refused Zhu Shichang, he would say that a new batch of people had recently arrived at the mine, and those who went up the mountain last time all died.
If she disobeyed, he would throw her parents into the mine to be reunited with her brother.
Every time she heard this, she wanted to kill him on the spot, but the innate physical difference between men and women prevented her from doing so.
Moreover, she knew that even if she killed Zhu Shichang, it would be useless. Without Zhu Shichang, there would be Chen Shichang, Wang Shichang, many people to replace him.
She wanted all the officials who exploited the common people to die.
So she passed a message to her parents, saying some things about the mine.
She thought that sooner or later someone would discover the darkness of Pingjiang County, someone would come to save them, but later she realized she was naive.
Pingjiang County was an independent county, not belonging to any prefectural city. In addition, Zhu Shichang initially created the façade of a magistrate who loved the people, which cleverly deceived everyone, especially the officials of the Imperial Court above, giving Zhu Shichang great convenience.
If he didn’t expose himself, no one would ever have discovered the filth of Pingjiang County.
She gradually gave up and was trapped in the estate, silently waiting for death.
But now, seeing her brother, she suddenly felt fortunate to be alive, at least to see her brother one last time.
Excitedly, she rushed forward and hugged Wang Jinbao. The tears she had been holding back finally poured down, and she mumbled indistinctly, “Brother, you’re finally back. Do you know how I’ve been these past few years?”
“I was as worried about you as I hated Zhu Shichang, that bastard, he’s not a human being, he’s a beast, no, he’s not even a beast.”
Wang Jinbao cried and comforted the person in his arms, “I know, I know everything. It’s brother’s fault. I didn’t protect you, and I let you suffer so much.”
“No, it’s not brother’s fault, it’s all Zhu Shichang’s fault. He destroyed our village, destroyed so many families, all those lives should be on his head.
He deserves to die.”
After crying for a while, Wang Shuihua wiped away her tears and said worriedly, “Brother, how are father, mother, and Da Bao? Are they alright?”
Although she knew they were alive, she didn’t know how they had spent these three years.
She heard that Zhu Shichang’s men didn’t let them into the city, just leaving them in the village to fend for themselves.
After so many years, she really didn’t know how her parents were doing.
Wang Jinbao smiled and said, “Father, mother, and Da Bao are all fine, Shuihua, don’t worry. If there is a chance, I will let them come to see you.”
Wang Shuihua smiled and nodded, “Okay.”
Although she knew it was impossible, she didn’t want to spoil her brother’s mood.
When her line of sight fell on Jiang Yimian and Lin Yanan, she froze, looked at the two of them fearfully, and then respectfully said, “Thank you, Miss and Young Master, for letting my brother come to see me.”
They were criminals now. If no one had helped, her brother shouldn’t be able to see her casually.
Jiang Yimian waved her hand and didn’t mind, saying, “You two siblings chat, we’ll leave first.”
She had originally wanted to ask this concubine if she knew anything about Zhu Shichang’s family. Now it seemed that she had disturbed the reunion of the two siblings.
Wang Shuihua wiped away her tears and smiled, “It’s already a great blessing for me to see my brother. Miss, you don’t have to be like this. You must want to ask me about Zhu Shichang, right? Anything I know, I will tell you all.”
Besides Steward Chen, only she knew a lot about the Zhu family in this estate.
They were all the nonsense the bastard had spouted after he was happy; she secretly remembered them and silently pieced them together in her heart.
Jiang Yimian thought for a while before nodding, “Okay, tell me what you know.”
Although she knew that Lu Cijian must have already ordered people to investigate the Zhu family and must have asked Zhu Shichang some things, she still wanted to hear the Zhu family from another perspective.
She was really curious how Zhu Shichang, who looked like a good-for-nothing, had managed to gain such love and respect from the people of Pingjiang County.
On the way here, she heard from Lin Yanan about the poetry banquet in Pingjiang County. It was jointly held by several academies in Pingjiang County to praise Zhu Shichang.
Those scholars and literati were very proud. If they didn’t truly admire Zhu Shichang, how could they all praise him?
They must have been cursing him behind his back, but Lin Yanan said no, everyone in Pingjiang County considered Zhu Shichang to be their magistrate.
Solving unsolved cases, hearing grievances, the rumors were unbelievable, which made her think it wasn’t simple.