After leaving the blacksmith's shop, Meng Zhao's aura grew ever more ethereal and illusory. With force beneath his feet, the people around him unconsciously overlooked him. Hurrying at high speed, he soon returned to the large residence where the bald Zeng Dong was currently staying.
It was a three-courtyard manor. Its previous owner had been a fur merchant in the prefectural city. His family had no background to speak of; only his son had joined a small gang and learned a few three-legged-cat tricks, utterly incapable of protecting their wealth.
Back when order was stable and the Great Yong Dynasty still retained its majesty, it had been tolerable enough—no one had dared make a move. But as circumstances changed, wealth without backing or strength naturally invited disaster.
Later, Zeng Dong led men to ruin the man's family and destroy his life. He then casually took over the house. It was not particularly luxurious, but it was still quite a decent property.
Quite a few people lived within the three courtyards. Zeng Dong had no fewer than seven women, along with trusted underlings for protection and maidservants and servants to attend to daily needs, so the residence was not especially spacious.
As Zeng Dong's nominally eighth wife, whom he had snatched back, Ji Rushuang had also been allotted a small courtyard. She lived there with Meng Zhao, with no other servants attending them. It looked rather strange, and there had been some idle gossip in the residence.
After all, Ji Rushuang was heavily pregnant, her belly already showing. For safety's sake, she ought to have careful maidservants looking after her, rather than a clumsy, rough-handed man.
Moreover, Meng Zhao's identity was Zeng Dong's cousin. Though their kinship was fairly close, living in the same small courtyard as a woman his cousin