Splendid Twins

The third master of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion had a disease since his mother's womb. His legs lost their vitality when he was born. He had to stay indoors all his life and never appeared in front of the world. When others mentioned him, they only mentioned him in passing.

The old lady felt sorry for her young son, so she went against everyone's opinion and found a reliable in-law for the Third Master. The mother's family of the current Imperial Concubine Wei is a royal family with a distinguished reputation. No matter who is in charge of the Duke's Mansion in the future, they cannot easily humiliate the Third House.

The marriage agreement between Madam Wei and the Third Master was originally arranged by the Duke of Zhenguo, but in reality, it was difficult to disobey the mother's orders, and the story of the brothers being friendly and respectful to each other spread outside.

Mrs. Wei, who was hiding behind the screen and listening to the conversation, actually fell in love with the mature, steady, handsome and elegant Duke Zhenguo at first sight. However, due to various pressures and obstacles, she could only marry Mr. Zhou, who was paralyzed in bed, with tears in her eyes.

"Madam, you are here."

The couple of the third room once lived together. Madam Wei was also pregnant that year, but the imperial physician judged that the child might be born with defects due to the Third Master's disease. Madam Wei learned her lesson and drank a bowl of medicine, and died...

After that, the two of them lived separately, in two residences in the same large courtyard. On weekdays, Mrs. Wei represented the third wife to go out and about, and although Mr. Zhou San never left the house, he had heard a little about the social ways of the world.

Madam Wei said calmly:

"Is the Third Master awake?"

"I just took the medicine. Please come in."

The servant respectfully opened the door, and Madam Wei walked into the room with her skirt lifted. A strong smell of medicine hit her nose, causing her brows to frown slightly:

"Open the window to let the smell go. You think the Third Master is easy to talk to, so you dare to fool him casually?"

"We would never dare to do that. It was the Third Master who ordered it to be closed..."

From beginning to end, Mr. Zhou San leaned against the head of the bed with a book in his hand, without saying a word.

Madam Wei walked over and sat on the chair next to her. She hooked the embroidery thread on the handkerchief with her neatly trimmed nails. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly:

"Still angry?"

The only sound in the room was the flipping of books, and Mr. Zhou San seemed not to hear it.

Wasn't it just that she had recently sent a visiting card to the Imperial Concubine that he was angry at her for acting on her own? Such an indifferent attitude also made Madam Wei angry, and she said in a calm voice:

"Don't just think that you've been wronged. If it weren't for me all these years..."

"If it weren't for you, the outside world would have forgotten me long ago. Because of you, I am mentioned by others. Because of you, I am still alive! Is that right?"

Mr. Zhou San's voice was very hoarse. He threw down the book and glared at Mrs. Wei, who was shocked. This was the first time in all these years that he got angry in front of her!

Madam Wei didn't react for a long time. Her heart suddenly started beating fast. She took a deep breath and said slowly:

"I, that's not what I meant..."

"What have you been doing with eldest brother's daughter these days?"

Mr. Zhou San's attitude remained cold, and his deep eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.

"Oh, your family said so much at the beginning, but who knew that I would become a widow after marrying in? How come I can't talk to my niece now?"

Mrs. Wei showed sarcasm on her face and deliberately stabbed Mr. Zhou San in the heart. The unborn child at that time was the pain that Mr. Zhou San could not mention!

"Do you really think no one knows what happened to you back then? I kindly advise you to be careful not to play with fire and get burned."

When Mr. Zhou San said this, Mrs. Wei was so frightened that her body stiffened and she even broke out in a cold sweat on her back. The two of them looked at each other, but no one spoke.

The atmosphere suddenly became cold. There was no harmony between husband and wife at all. Instead, there was a tense atmosphere where neither of them was willing to give in.

"Madam, someone is coming from the palace."

Suddenly, a maid's announcement was heard outside the house. The couple's faces changed. Mrs. Wei glanced at Mr. Zhou San, who had a gloomy face, with a somewhat smug look, then she bowed perfunctorily and left.

Mr. Zhou San listened to the footsteps outside gradually fading away, a flash of anger flashed across his brow. Because he had not seen the sun for many years, the blue veins on his fingers were extremely obvious. He clenched his five fingers into fists and smashed them hard on the bed.

After a while, the anger in his heart subsided, and he ordered in an inaudible voice:

"Clear all the evidence the Madam has left and erase all traces of that person."

Then, a figure appeared outside the window, nodded, and left quietly.

He lowered his eyes to hide the depth in them. If he hadn't been alert, his elder brother would have noticed it long ago. Although he didn't know the details of the child swap, his wife's various signs had already revealed the secret.

He once accidentally overheard her conversation with her personal maid, in which she talked about the child being in the countryside and some jade pendant. He didn't think much about it at first, until one day when Yaoyao saluted him. He stared at the face that didn't bear any resemblance to his elder brother and sister-in-law for a moment, and suddenly had a bad guess in his mind.

It was not until Zhou Wan came to his house with the jade pendant that he realized that this matter was unusual. He secretly investigated and found that she had arranged someone to be by Zhou Wan's side!

Otherwise, how could Zhou Wan, a weak woman, dare to go to Beijing alone to look for her relatives safely and even find the Duke's Mansion accurately? All this is her revenge!

She is taking revenge on the first wife and the entire Duke's Mansion!

If any word gets out about this matter, it will definitely bring disaster to the Duke's Mansion. I'm afraid Concubine Wei might have been behind this!

The only solution now is to kill everyone to silence them, get rid of the people who were placed around Zhou Wan, and Wang Po, and let this matter end here, and no one should cause any more trouble.

At the same time, I am also glad that Yaoyao has left. She is a smart and insightful girl, who has always been dignified and sensible. However, she has one bad point. She is stubborn and does not know how to be roundabout when encountering things. If she were to confront this superficial niece, it would cause unrest in the family every few days, and then the entire Duke's Mansion would become a laughing stock among the dignitaries in the capital...

If Si Yao knew that Zhou Sanye evaluated Zhou Yao in this way, she would just laugh and think, what a bullshit! A few ambiguous words from the Duke of Zhenguo made her slit her wrists and commit suicide!

Of course, she couldn't use the advantages of a modern woman to criticize a lady from the ancient times who never left her house, saying that she could be independent and live on her own...

These words only appear in the storybook. Even if she has space in her hands, she can only choose to settle down in Sijia Village.

Humans are highly social animals who need to gain support and a sense of security through socializing and cooperation. No one can guarantee that they can survive alone, away from the rest of the world.

Si Yao numbered the five men according to their height, from one to five. Now these people can listen and see but cannot speak. The two who were good at fighting were all crippled by her.

After receiving some instructions from Si Yao, Wang Dahu dragged the five men to the old thatched hut, removed their arms, and then put them back in place. He then removed their arms again and put them back in place again. He tortured them like this for the entire night, and they were simply living a life worse than death.

They were hungry for another four days, with only one glass of water a day, which had to be shared among the five of them. After this operation, the five of them were completely subdued and had no energy to resist at all. They just wanted to eat and drink enough and have a good sleep.

However, they were finally led to the mountains by Si Yao, and it was in the deep mountains that they truly experienced what horror was!