[BL] Didn't Love You Enough

Chapter 72 - Laba

Laba*

[*T/N: Laba 腊八 - refers to the eighth day of the La Month (or Layue 臘月).]

Inside Xue Gui's house, the atmosphere was a heavy sheet of alarm and gloom. Who would have thought that a healthy and lively member of their family would leave the house in the bright morning and be found as a cold corpse come the dark of night?

Xue Gui received such a shock from the news that he collapsed upon a chair. His heartbeat hastened with the increasing instability of his emotional state.

"What exactly is going on?"

Under Xue Gui's watchful gaze, the servant that had just returned replied in a trembling voice: "Today, the young master ate dinner with the young master of the Zhang family. Afterwards, they went to the Yihong Building to drink and party with female entertainers. Then the young master and the young master of the Zhang family rushed back on horseback. Along the road, I don't know what happened but the young master was thrown off his horse. He landed on his head. This little one and the young master of the Zhang family hastened over to check and saw that the young master's neck had snapped. The young master he... he wasn't breathing."

"How could this be! How could this be! Zhi Qi's riding skills have always been very good... This shouldn't be [happening] even if he drank a little wine..." Xue Gui believed that this was someone's plot to harm his son. "Investigate... go and investigate this for me..."

When Xue Zhi Qi's mother, Zhao-shi, heard the bad news, she hurried over. She simply could not believe it. "My son, ah... my son, ah... how could you leave [this world] before your mother?"

"Wu wu... my lord, you have to avenge our Zhi Qi. Our good child was led astray by that young master of the Zhang family..." Xue Zhi Qi was her only di son, and she was starting to lose her rationality in this situation. "Wu wu... that kid from the Zhang family is fine [and alive], but my son is dead..."

[T/N: Reminder, "wu wu" is Chinese onomatopoeia for crying. "Di" son means the son of the main wife.]

"I will get to the bottom of this matter. I will definitely get justice for Zhi Qi." Xue Gui considered the possibility of Zhang Ying Xiang murdering his son, but Zhang Ying Xiang's father was his confidant and has been by his side for decades. He has always treated the other man well, so it shouldn't be the Zhang family's doing...

"Wu wu... my lord, you must investigate carefully. If that boy from the Zhang family... you must make him pay with his life, ah... pay with his life..." Zhao-shi said fiercely. Her son was gone, so other people's son shouldn't expect to be let off easy either. It would be even better if they were buried with her son!

In the Zhang family's study room, there was only the Zhang father and son pair. The atmosphere of the study was extremely solemn.

"Just what the heck is going on? Tell me everything that happened."

Zhang Ying Xiang looked absolutely terrified, "Father, I really don't know how this happened. Young Master Qi and I went to the restaurant to drink tea and dine as usual. Then we went to the Yihong Building to drink and party with female entertainers. We even got two of the popular women to accompany us. By the time we left, it was already very late, so we rushed home on our horses. But on our way back, I saw Young Master Qi fall off his horse. At that time, the horse was not startled by anything. Young Master Qi must've been muddled by too much liquor..."

"So you're saying it was caused by intoxication? How is Young Master Qi's alcohol tolerance normally?" Zhang Ji He asked his son.

Zhang Ying Xiang also found it very strange. "It stands to reason that Young Master Qi's alcohol tolerance is not that bad, but it is true that Young Master Qi fell off his horse by himself. It was late at night, and there was no one else on the road except for us..."