Chapter 3: As Beautiful as Spring Flowers, as Weak as Grass

  An employee was scolded by Zhang Shisan and his face turned red like pig's blood, but he couldn't retort and had to remain silent.

  "Your Excellency, Yang Xu has extensive social connections and many friends; as a wealthy gentleman from Qingzhou, he has numerous servants and subordinates in his household. Many people in the Qi Wang Fu also know him, including the Qi Wang himself. If we were to let him impersonate Yang Wenxuan for just one appearance or a few words, it wouldn't be difficult. However, if we were to have a beggar like him replace Yang Wenxuan, a young master from a wealthy family, for an extended period of time - half a year, a year, or even longer - I fear that even the most skilled actress would not be able to convincingly portray the real thing."

  Feng Jianxiao sighed, "You don't mention it, but I wouldn't know otherwise. Is there another way for us to go besides this? We should try to cure a dead horse as if it were alive. Thirteen Lang, if we compare our relationships with the adults, I am not as close to them as you are. If they investigate further, they might show leniency towards you, but we... we all have parents, wives, and children. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we don't want to give up. We've worked together for so long, I hope Thirteen Lang will remember our brotherly bond and lend us a helping hand."

  Zhang Thirteen's face showed a hint of hesitation, and Feng Jianxiao leaned in close to his ear, whispering: "The real Yang Wenyuan is already dead. If this person can really take his place, then he will be a puppet in our hands. At that time, the Yang family's vast wealth..."

  Zhang Thirteen's heart skipped a beat, and he involuntarily nodded his head, responding in a low voice: "Thirteen has been favored by the superior, but if things fail, it will be hard to escape punishment. You and I should have shared the same boat, but Thirteen will follow the orders of the adults."

  Feng Jianxiao happily said: "That's great, Shisan Lang has always been by Yang Xu's side, and he is more familiar with his temperament, speech and behavior, hobbies and interests, and social interactions than anyone else. How can this person change into Yang Xu? Only Shisan Lang can do it."

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Feng Jianxiao glanced at the silly-looking "Buddha" and slightly furrowed his brow. If it weren't for their declining power over the past few years and severe shortage of manpower, they wouldn't have sent such a stupid person to handle such an important matter. This guy was completely useless and had become a burden. Feng Jianxiao instructed anxiously: "An Litong, this matter concerns our lives and families, if Shi San Lang needs anything, you must cooperate fully, especially keep your mouth shut tightly, don't leak a single word to anyone, got it?"

  The servant nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice: "Your humble servant understands, your humble servant understands."

  Zhang Shisan's eyes flashed and he said in a low voice: "Sir, apart from us four, there is one more person who knows the truth."

  Feng Jianxiao naturally knew who he was talking about. He remained silent for a moment before saying calmly, "Then let her go to death!"

  An Yan's face turned tense, he swallowed hard and began to wipe away sweat non-stop...

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  In a house within the hotel's courtyard, Xiang Jie sat on the kang, shrinking her body and not daring to move. Inside the kang was Yang Wenxuan's corpse, she didn't dare to shift her position. Last night that person was still a suave and gentle man, sailing on the water, playing the flute in the lotus, fishing under the willow, entwined with her in love amidst the starry sky and moonlight...

  She had just been bought back by the young master for less than half a month, thinking that she would have a lifelong dependence, but who knew...

  Ting Xiang didn't think of reporting to the authorities, she was afraid. The words Zhang Thirteen said had been firmly etched in her mind since childhood, and all she learned from a young age were ways to please men, with no knowledge of anything else. She hadn't thought of running away either; she was just a weak woman who didn't understand why she should run away or where she could go after escaping. Her life was like a fragile vine that couldn't leave the tree that was man.

  She couldn't understand why Zhang Thirteen wanted to hide the news of Master Yang's assassination and secretly bring her to this small shop outside the city. It seemed that he was familiar with the owner of the shop. She could only guess... perhaps Zhang Thirteen was worried that with Master Yang's death, his position as a companion would also be lost. The person in charge of the Yang household had always been Xiao Guan Shi, and Zhang Thirteen and Xiao Guan Shi had never gotten along. His only reliance was his sole dependence - Yang Wen Xuan.

  So... Shi San Lang hid the news, perhaps wanting to take a sum of money and run far away. The reason he left was also obvious, Xiang knew how beautiful she was and how much temptation she had for men.

  So I will be Sanlang's woman from now on?

  Thirteen Lang is naturally not as elegant and refined as Young Master Yang, nor does he have the young master's wealth and scholarly honors... However, if he were to treat me well, it seems like it could also be a decent choice... I'm just a concubine, after all. If the young master dies, even if I won't end up in prison because of this lawsuit, my only fate would be to be sold off again - who knows which family's flower will fall into whose hands?

  Just as she was indulging in wild fancies, the door creaked open and Xiang's body shook slightly, only then did she see clearly that the person who had entered was Zhang Thirteen.

  "Thirteen Lang..." Xiang hurriedly got down from the bed and called out in a timid tone, with a hint of flattery.

  "Hmm!"

  Zhang Shisan nodded, carefully sizing up the woman in front of him. Her long hair cascaded down to the ground, her wrists were slender as a lotus root, her eyebrows were shaped like distant mountains, and her eyes sparkled like dots of lacquer. The sunlight filtering through the window paper cast a warm glow on her body, accentuating her lithe figure and skin as smooth as jade. She was truly a rare beauty to behold, especially with that pitifully lovely, gentle, and obedient expression, which evoked a strong desire to protect her.

  She is at an age as delicate as a flower, but who is the one protecting her?

  Zhang thirteen smiled and said gently, "Don't worry, I've thought of a foolproof plan. Let's go to the store and have something to eat, and I'll tell you about it in detail."

  "Yes!" Xiangxiang softly responded, and with Zhang Shisan saying so, she became even more certain of her previous judgment. Her heart slightly settled, she lifted the hem of her skirt and quietly followed behind Zhang Shisan, as gentle as when she used to follow behind Young Master.

  As soon as she stepped out of the door, a gentle breeze arose and lifted her dark hair.

  Xiang suddenly realized that she was still disheveled, and this appearance was not beautiful. She slowed down her pace, gently tidying up her hair, hoping to make herself look as pretty as possible, so that the man could enjoy the sight of her.

  So soon she thought of pleasing another man, not because she was indifferent to Master Yang, but because she was very clear that she didn't deserve to talk about love, and no one would fall in love with her. Men only wanted her body, and so-called love for someone like her was just a luxury. She only had this seductive body and a beautiful face, she gave men pleasure, and gained the right to survive from them, that's all.

  Zhang Shisan felt her footsteps slow down, and she stopped to turn around, just in time to see him smile at her as he caught sight of her gesture of tucking a stray hair behind her ear. The smile was warm and gentle. Xiangxiang felt embarrassed that he had seen through her intentions, and she couldn't help but lower her head slightly, but the motion of tucking her hair away only quickened.

  Men are usually impatient, a good woman shouldn't make a man wait for her, this is what the mother in the yard has been telling her since she was a child.

  But just as she lowered her head, Zhang Thirteen's eyes suddenly changed, becoming cold-blooded and cruel like a snake's pupils.

  With her head hung low in shame, Tingxiang didn't even see it, and even if she had seen it, what could she have done? Her life had never been under her own control.

  Zhang Thirteen suddenly flashed in front of Tingxiang, and violently grasped the hair she had just tied up. Under the eaves was a large water vat, and Zhang Thirteen pressed the handful of black silk into it...

  "Ah!" was just a short cry of surprise, and Xiang's head was submerged in the water.

  "Why?"

  The fragrance filled her heart with anxiety and terror, she wanted to scream, she wanted to beg for mercy, she wanted to ask clearly, but she didn't have a chance to say a word, as soon as she opened her mouth, water would pour into her mouth.

  Zhang Thirteen's face remained expressionless, his cold and dull eyes quietly watching the life struggling under his hands. Water splashed onto his face, but he didn't flinch, his hand grasping Xiangxiang's hair tightening its grip, forcing her head underwater with increasing force.

  After a long time, Xiang's struggles finally stopped, and he lay softly on the mouth of the jar, motionless.

  Zhang Thirteen slowly released his hand, listening to the soft and slender waist that was half-folded at the mouth of the jar, with her upper body completely upside down inside the jar. Her head was buried in the water, occasionally with a few bubbles rising up, and the surface of the water was covered with her black hair, like a lush aquatic plant...

  She is as beautiful as spring flowers, but people despise her like weeds.

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  He returned to the Dragon King Temple where he was temporarily staying, hung the caught fish in a cool place, and sat down on a clump of weeds. The sunlight shone through the broken hole on the temple roof, shining on his tattered clothes. Looking around, the temple door was half-collapsed, the god statue was peeled off, cobwebs were everywhere, this was where he would be staying tonight. He let out a soft sigh and lay down with his head on his arm...

  His name is Xia Yu, and he didn't originally belong to this world. To be exact, it was a summer over 600 years later that he was still a carefree police academy student.

  That day, the police found him and hoped he could be an undercover agent for them. The police had caught a drug dealer who had just contacted a group of southerners through an intermediary to help him get some goods. Neither side had met before, they only knew each other's situation through the intermediary. So the police wanted to find someone with a similar build, appearance and age to impersonate the drug dealer in order to catch the southern gang.

  He agreed!

  The police academy doesn't guarantee job placement, but if he completes this undercover mission successfully, he will smoothly become a real policeman, which is an opportunity that one cannot ask for, especially for someone without any family background. In preparation for the operation, he studied a large amount of materials and even went to prison to learn from captured drug dealers their speech, slang, and living habits. The police also invited a hypnotist to teach him "self-hypnosis" so that he could "brainwash" himself into accepting the role of a drug dealer from the bottom of his heart. Everything was ready when the southern drug dealer arrived.

  Both sides started a long-lasting battle of wits that lasted for over half a month. Xia Yu had to think of ways to make them trust him every day, haggling and negotiating with these people, accompanying them in their revelry, and gradually gaining their trust. Unfortunately, he failed in the final test. That time, the drug dealers suddenly turned against him, threatening him with knives, saying they had discovered his true identity.

  Xia Liu's experience in handling cases was still too little, he didn't see that the other party was just deceiving him, and he couldn't help but take action to resist, resulting in his identity being exposed. After a bloody fight, he escaped onto the main street, where kind-hearted people called 120 for an ambulance, which rushed over, only to have Xia Liu knocked flying...

  Under the gaze of everyone, his body that was knocked flying disappeared into thin air. When he came to, he found himself in Xieyecun, Nanxun, Huzhou, in the 28th year of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. To this day, he still doesn't understand what happened.

  In some non-mainstream newspapers and magazines in the world where he was originally located, there is a record of him: After more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the British Norfolk First Travel disappeared mysteriously, the villagers of Anqing Village, Canada, collectively disappeared, and Mr. Kinoshita from Japan witnessed the disappearance of Toyota cars, as well as the mysterious disappearance of passengers and train crew members in Moscow Metro, another bizarre disappearance case occurred under the eyes of everyone...

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  If it weren't for the fact that Xia Xian woke up wearing clothes completely different from those of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, he would have thought that his past twenty years of life were just a ridiculous dream. The place where he appeared was Xiao Ye Village, Nanxun Town, Huzhou, which is a village of untouchables, also known as a village of lowly people. In the Ming Dynasty, households were classified into four categories: military, civilian, artisan, and servant, while the lowly people were outside these four categories, and Xia Xian had never heard of such a social class before.

  In fact, the humble people have been around since ancient times. Merchants, slaves, entertainers, servants, prostitutes, and beggars are all humble people. However, the humble people are also divided into three six nine grades. For example, merchants, slaves, and entertainers are listed as humble people, but in reality, they are not much different from ordinary civilians, and some even have higher status, wealth, and social connections than some ordinary good citizens. But the most humble among the humble people are truly struggling at the bottom of society.

  Such a humble people, most of whom were demoted to humble status due to war, the villagers where he lived were the humblest among the humble, and they were all subordinates of Zhang Shicheng, the leader of the Yuan Dynasty's righteous army. Zhang Shicheng was considered one of the best among the heroes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he was not treacherous, could tolerate others, opened up wasteland, repaired water conservancy, reduced taxes, and the common people, scholars, and even the wealthy merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang all supported him.

  Because of this, after Zhang Shicheng lost to Zhu Yuanzhang and was besieged in a solitary city, despite the fact that there was no food left in the city and even an old mouse could be sold for over 100 wen, and people were cooking and eating leather boots and saddles to fill their hunger, the common people of the city still wanted to live and die together with him. A solitary city, lasting for ten months, without internal supplies or external reinforcements, the soldiers and civilians united as one, using all their strength to defend to the death, causing great losses to Zhu Yuanzhang's army. Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang broke into the city, in anger he demoted all the soldiers and civilians within the city to the status of lowly commoners.

  The humble people are not allowed to read or write, nor are they allowed to farm or work. Naturally, they cannot hold office or become officials. What's even more frightening is that even if the dynasty changes, the status of the humble people will not change. From ancient times to the present, every emperor who has ascended to the throne has never pardoned the humble people left over from the previous dynasty, because they have already been defiled.

  Only in such a place, among the gathering of the lowest people in society, did no one ask about Xia Jiu's identity or background, and no one cared whether he had a road guide certificate. But he didn't want to live such a lowly life, the lowly people could do the most menial work, but he didn't even have an identity, so even if he did the most menial work, he would have to do it secretly. Without a road guide certificate, he couldn't go anywhere, inns wouldn't let him stay, civilians wouldn't lend him a place to live, merchants wouldn't take him as an apprentice, craftsmen wouldn't take him as a disciple... The only way out was to become a beggar or a thief.

  Is there still another way?

  It was originally non-existent.

  But Xia Yu thought of...