Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Chapter 122 Du Niang and Du Rushuang Turn Against Each Other

Just as Du Rushuang's thoughts were drifting among the clouds, the door to the side room was kicked open forcefully. Zhou Chengquan's guards, Long Yi and Long Er, jumped in, each holding a sharp sword. Du Rushuang saw Du Shiniang, arm in arm with General Zhou Chengquan, also enter the room behind them.

"Sister, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Du Shiniang asked Du Rushuang with concern as she approached her.

"Thank you for your concern, sister! My poison has been cured. I'm much better now." Du Rushuang glanced at Du Shiniang and replied casually. Then she looked at Zhou Chengquan with a questioning gaze. She didn't know why Du Shiniang had brought Zhou Chengquan along, but she had a bad feeling.

Before Du Rushuang could speak, Zhou Chengquan sat imposingly at the table in the room, gesturing to Long Yi and Long Er with his eyes. Suddenly, Long Yi and Long Er rushed to Du Rushuang, grabbing the weakened Zhang Ruowen on either side, their movements rough as if they were dragging some important prisoner, trying to pull him off the bed. Seeing this, Du Rushuang quickly grabbed Zhang Ruowen's clothes tightly, shouting in alarm, "What are you trying to do to A-Wen? Let him go!"

Long Yi and Long Er ignored Du Rushuang's cries. Du Rushuang had just recovered from the poison, but her limbs were still weak and she couldn't use her internal energy. She shouted anxiously towards the door, "Mu Shen, Bai He, come quickly to save A Wen! Don't let Zhou Chengquan's men take him away!"

Seeing that Du Rushuang was clinging tightly to Zhang Ruowen's clothes, Du Shiniang quickly stepped forward and grabbed her hand. Du Rushuang, seeing that Du Shiniang wasn't helping her, stared at her in horror and loudly questioned her, "Sister, you knew that Ruowen was going to help me detoxify, so you deliberately gave him the acacia flower, didn't you? You planned all along to take advantage of the opportunity when he saved me to kidnap him, didn't you?"

“Shuang’er, listen to your sister. General Zhou and I have long suspected that Zhang Ruowen is a Jin spy infiltrating Zixiang Pavilion. It wasn’t until he led men to assassinate the Jin envoy at the Imperial Palace’s Cuju field that General Zhou recognized him and decided to use this opportunity to capture him.” Du Shiniang held Du Rushuang’s hand tightly and explained to her gently, “But I didn’t know that he was so devoted to you, willing to sacrifice his lifespan and power to help you detoxify.”

Du Rushuang shook her head frantically, her eyes almost crazed. She grabbed Du Shiniang's arm tightly and cursed through gritted teeth, "Sister, you captured Awen to save Lin Chong, didn't you? You weren't trying to use me or scheme against me, were you?"

Seeing Du Rushuang's agitation, Zhang Ruowen turned to look at her and said, "Shuang'er, don't be afraid! My godfather will definitely save me. Now, quickly let go of my clothes." After saying this, he glanced at Du Shiniang and said with some disdain, "I originally thought Du Shiniang was an upright person, but I didn't expect you to use my feelings for Shuang'er to scheme against me. Today, I admit defeat wholeheartedly. I only beg you not to make things difficult for Shuang'er."

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Du Shiniang's face, but she quickly said coldly to Zhang Ruowen, "Doctor Zhang is quite capable, managing to infiltrate my Zixiang Pavilion for nearly half a year without being discovered! Don't worry! Shuang'er is my sworn sister, I won't make things difficult for her."

Du Shiniang stopped talking to Zhang Ruowen and turned to persuade Du Rushuang: "Shuang'er, I'm sorry! For Lin Chong and the sisters of Zixiang Pavilion, I have to do this. You should also wake up. Forget your former identity and stand on our side to start over, wouldn't that be better? I won't expose your identity, and we will still be good sisters."

Although Zhang Ruowen concealed Du Rushuang's identity from Du Shiniang, Du Shiniang still guessed that Du Rushuang and Zhang Ruowen were probably both working for the Wolf King. Du Rushuang's timid and hesitant behavior at the palace football field that day also made Du Shiniang suspicious of Du Rushuang's identity.

“Sister, A-Wen almost lost his life trying to help me detoxify. How can his body withstand the coldness and torture of prison now? If you insist on taking him away today, don’t blame me for breaking ties with you!” Du Rushuang’s last words were cold and firm, her eyes were bloodshot, and she stared intently at Du Shiniang, as if she had made up her mind to turn against Du Shiniang for Zhang Ruowen’s sake.

"Shuang'er, don't worry! The current Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is Ning Weizhi, who is your cousin. As long as you talk to him, I believe he won't make things difficult for Zhang Ruowen." Du Shiniang frowned as she advised Du Rushuang. In fact, she didn't want to put Zhang Ruowen to death. She was just eager to rescue Lin Chong and at the same time wanted to clear the suspicions of everyone in Zixiang Pavilion.

Du Rushuang had regained her memory and remembered that Ning Weizhi was her cousin, but she had only met him a handful of times and didn't know what kind of person he was. She didn't want to compromise or put Zhang Ruowen in danger. Therefore, Du Rushuang gripped Zhang Ruowen's clothes tightly and shouted again towards the door of the room:

"Mucan, Baihe, where are you? Why aren't you coming in and taking your Lord Yelü away?"

"You don't need to call those two guards outside anymore, they've already been tied up by my personal guards. Du Rushuang, no matter what, I'm going to take Zhang Ruowen away today! Unless you want to go see the King of Hell in front of him first." Zhou Chengquan finally lost his patience, waved his hand and ordered Long Yi and Long Er to drag Zhang Ruowen away, while at the same time he drew his soft sword and held it to Du Rushuang's neck, threatening her.

With a tearing sound, Long Yi and Long Er dragged Zhang Ruowen outside. Du Rushuang gritted her teeth and glared at Zhou Chengquan, saying, "Zhou Chengquan, you've got guts today! But I won't give up. I will definitely save Awen."

"Suit yourself! This general is not afraid of you or the Wolf King." Zhou Chengquan sheathed his sword and pulled Du Shiniang to leave the room. Du Shiniang couldn't bear it and tried to grab Du Rushuang's hand, but Du Rushuang forcefully shook her hand off.

“Du Shiniang, I, Du Rushuang, am severing all ties with you today! You kindly took me in at Zixiang Pavilion, but my sworn brotherhood with you was not from my heart; I was merely following the Wolf King's orders. I have done many things for you since then, but today you have broken my heart and taken Awen away. If we ever meet again, we will be enemies.”

Du Rushuang's words were ruthless and cold, her eyes filled with resentment and hostility as she looked at Du Shiniang. Du Shiniang felt a chill inexplicably envelop her, her heart aching, but she was helpless. She and Du Rushuang were each serving their own masters. If the Wolf King was not eliminated, given his wolfish ambitions, the court would be unstable, the Jin army would invade, and the Song Dynasty would be plunged into waves of turmoil. In that case, it would be the common people who would suffer.

"Shuang'er, the Wolf King is not a good person. You finally recovered from the poison and escaped his control. I advise you not to go to him to save Zhang Ruowen." Du Shiniang wanted to persuade Du Rushuang, her tone gentle but with a hint of pleading.

"Sister, please stop talking. Shuang'er knows what she's doing!" Du Rushuang had barely finished speaking when she lifted her foot to leave, but her limbs were too weak, and she fell back onto the bed as soon as she stood up.

At that moment, a familiar figure floated in front of Du Rushuang, scooped her up in his arms, and leaped out of the room. Du Shiniang asked Zhou Chengquan in surprise, "Was that Ning Zhanyan who just took Shuang'er away? Isn't he dead?"

Zhou Chengquan glanced at the door, then at Du Shiniang, and sighed, saying, "That was indeed Ning Zhanyan just now. He must have faked his death. Yesterday, he secretly came to stop the Wolf King from interfering with Zhang Ruowen's detoxification of Du Rushuang. Shiniang, we don't know if Ning Zhanyan is friend or foe. Let's not get involved in his affairs with Du Rushuang anymore."

Du Shiniang felt that Zhou Chengquan made sense. What could she, as the sworn sister, say when her own brother came to take away her sister? The most urgent thing for her was to use Zhang Ruowen to exchange for Lin Chong. She was going to the palace with Zhou Chengquan to meet the emperor the next morning. She wanted to clear the names of the sisters of Zixiang Pavilion and to clear herself and Lin Chong of suspicion.

When Du Rushuang recognized the man who had carried her away as her brother, Ning Zhanyan, she was furious. Once in the carriage, Du Rushuang began pounding Ning Zhanyan's chest, angrily shouting, "Ning Zhanyan, weren't you dead for days? Why are you haunting your poor sister again?"

Ning Zhanyan knew that faking his death and tricking Du Rushuang into taking his body was indeed dishonorable, so he dared not utter a sound this time, gritting his teeth and enduring the pain as Du Rushuang vented her anger. Du Rushuang had just fallen out with Du Shiniang, and now she unleashed all her pent-up grievances on Ning Zhanyan. In the end, she even opened her mouth and bit Ning Zhanyan's left shoulder hard, making Ning Zhanyan hiss in pain.

"Alright! Shuang'er, you've hit me and bitten me. I know it was wrong of me to fake my death and deceive you before. You can be angry with me, but please don't hurt yourself! Otherwise, Zhang Ruowen would have wasted his efforts to save you by sacrificing half of his power, wouldn't that have been for nothing?" Ning Zhanyan grabbed Du Rushuang's wrist and patiently persuaded her.

Upon hearing Ning Zhanyan mention Zhang Ruowen, Du Rushuang immediately stopped what she was doing. She pouted and said to Ning Zhanyan, "Brother, I don't care! You lied to me like that before, making me so heartbroken! Now you have to help me get Awen out. Otherwise, I won't forgive you!"

"Don't worry! That kid Yelü Wen is my future brother-in-law, I'll definitely save him." Ning Zhanyan patted his chest and assured Du Rushuang.