Chapter 1601: People of the Gu Family (1)

"Miss, I don’t understand what you mean..." The man speaking was the subordinate who had previously reported to the effeminate man at the teahouse, yet now he shook his head and outright denied everything. "I was walking peacefully along the road, and suddenly a hawk swooped down and threw me to the ground... Broad daylight like this—can’t just bully people like that, right?"

"Do you really not understand?" Yang Ruxin smiled with incredible gentleness.

The man nodded vigorously. "Yes... yes, I was just... walking..."

"Then where does this road lead to? Do you know?" Yang Ruxin gestured to the path beneath them.

"This... naturally it leads to... leads to..."

"Think carefully before answering."

The man hesitated. He wasn’t familiar with this area.

"Do you know why I didn’t act against you when you left the county?" Yang Ruxin raised a brow. "It’s because the roads over there branch off in all directions, and other travelers pass through as well. I can’t go accusing someone of tailing me without sufficient evidence... But once we left the town, passed the fork just now, and started heading down this road, the situation changes. This direction leads to four villages in total. Two of them are relatively close and right up ahead, with more residents—most of whom are interconnected through kinship. The other two villages are further away in the mountains, sparsely populated, but everyone there knows one another. So now tell me, whose relative are you? From which village?"

The man’s confidence faltered even further; all he knew was the nearby Budong Village, and nothing else.

He didn’t expect a mere village girl to be this vigilant.

"I’m not someone who enjoys forcing people into tight spots. Since you don’t want to explain, then I won’t insist. We’ll simply toss you into the mountains to feed the wolves." Yang Ruxin stared at him for a moment, then turned and headed toward the carriage.

Xiaohei shrieked and swooped over, sinking its hook-like talons into the man’s shoulder blades before shooting skyward.

"All right, I’ll talk..." The man screamed miserably.

Yang Ruxin stopped in her tracks, turned around, and gazed at the man dangling midair. "Speak. If your answer’s good, I’ll let you down. Otherwise..."

"I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!"

A quarter of an hour later, the carriage started moving again.

Yang Ruxin leaned against the cushion, squinting slightly. Chun Hua and Chunchun tiptoed around nervously—the earlier events had made them keenly aware that their mistress wasn’t some ordinary village girl. She was formidable indeed.

Yang Ruxin, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly bothered by the servants fearing her. What annoyed her was what that man had just revealed—it put her in a foul mood.

She hadn’t anticipated the man being sent by the Gu Family.

Although her instincts told her he hadn’t been completely truthful, his connection to the Gu Family was unmistakable. After all, the imperial envoy to the border before had been Gu Sheng’s protégé. Now that Gu Qingheng had returned, it was only logical for the Gu Family to stir up trouble.

They were claiming that the Gu Family learned the eldest son wasn’t dead and had even married, so they sent someone over to investigate. Because as the Gu Family’s eldest legitimate heir, his wife simply had to be a match in terms of social standing...

Yang Ruxin had sneered at that thought. Eldest legitimate heir? Social match? Was the Gu Family joking?

Still, since they had made a move, she would play along. She was curious to see what kind of schemes the Gu Family intended to pull.

Soon, the carriage arrived at her doorstep. Everyone alighted and stared at the three connected two-story houses before them, their gazes filled with envy. The homes were more grand and beautiful than those in the city.