Xiaoyue's heart skipped a beat. What was the relationship between the man who broke into her house yesterday and the man in the bushes? Could it be that the man was already dead? Why hadn't he moved at all during the night of rain?

Thinking about it, Xiaoyue quietly moved closer to that person.

The man lay motionless on the grass. Xiaoyue went over and turned him over, only to find that she recognized him. Xiaoyue was so frightened that she took a step back. Yun San was Yun Xingfei's follower.

Xiaoyue still remembered that when she was at the Bai family's estate, Yun San recognized her because he had seen him and San Niang having an affair. Yun San grabbed Xiaoyue by the neck and threatened her.

Xiaoyue said angrily, "You've finally met your match." She noticed that the man didn't move an inch.

He moved a little closer, squatted down, and checked Yun San's breathing with the back of his hand. Thankfully, Xiao Yue took a breath; she wasn't dead and still had a faint breath.

Xiaoyue took out her usual gourd, uncorked it, and tried to help Yun San up, but Yun San was too heavy. Xiaoyue found a larger piece of dry firewood nearby, put the firewood on Yun San's shoulder, supported his head with one hand, and fed him some water with the other.

Yun San drank some water and slowly opened his eyes. The moment he saw Xiao Yue, he gripped her hand tightly: "Save the young master!"

Her breath was weak, and she fainted again, leaving Xiaoyue completely bewildered.

Xiaoyue thought to herself, "She can't even save herself, let alone others." She gave Yun San some water, but seeing that he was still barely clinging to life, and remembering Liang Qi's talk about picking mushrooms, she simply picked up her basket and left.

I noticed that Liang Qi had just put down his basket to pick mushrooms.

The two of them were so engrossed in picking mushrooms that they didn't exchange a single word. They continued until both baskets were full, and then a large crate was overflowing. Xiaoyue squatted down, took two rice balls from her clothes—she had intended to give one to Liang Qi—but...

Thinking about it, it still didn't work. With something on my mind, I lost my appetite. After a moment's struggle, I said, "Before I came here, I went to my cleared land and planted ramie there. I also found someone I didn't know very well, but I did know him by the river."

He was injured just like the person in my family, though it wasn't outwardly visible. Xiaoyue slowly considered how to say it.

Liang Qi also took out two mixed flour dumplings from his pocket and handed one to Xiaoyue. Liang Qi's mixed flour dumplings were quite large, one of which was enough for one person to be full, unlike Xiaoyue's, which was not only leftover but also small.

"Should we go see him again?" Xiaoyue took the dough ball made of mixed flour and unconsciously stuffed it into her mouth, but she couldn't shake the image of him from her mind.

Liang Qi finished his meal in a few bites, gestured for Xiaoyue to finish as well, and then said, "Okay."

The two men each carried a basket on their backs, together lifting a basket of mushrooms. The basket contained all sorts of mushrooms, mostly yellow elm mushrooms with a small number of morels.

There are also matsutake mushrooms and beef tripe mushrooms.

The two carried the mushrooms back to Yun San's place. When Liang Qi saw Yun San's face, he found it to be deathly pale and barely breathing. He took Yun San's pulse, shook his head, and frowned as he said to Xiao Yue, "It's internal injury, and a very serious one at that."

Xiaoyue looked at Liang Qi, as if asking him for advice: "I saw him last night, but I didn't come over to check on him. I didn't know it was Yun San. If I had known, I couldn't have ignored him. After all, he saved my life."

"Tonight, I'll carry him to your house for you. He won't see the sun rise tomorrow if he stays here." Seeing how much Xiaoyue valued Yun San, Liang Qi paused for a moment before continuing:

"Don't worry, I have medicine at home. I'll bring it to Yun San tonight. It'll keep him from dying."

Xiaoyue quickly thanked Liang Qi, who then said, "You need to seriously learn kung fu from me. It seems like you're cursed with bad luck. I came to you when I was injured, and look, even injured people can find you."

Liang Qi smiled and teased Xiaoyue.

When the two arrived at Xiaoyue's house, Liang Qi left the large basket of mushrooms they had picked at Xiaoyue's house. Xiaoyue didn't stand on ceremony and immediately took out the curtain and took out the mushrooms one by one to dry. After they were all dried, she returned to the house.

"There's still rice in the pot, you can eat it yourself," Lu Xiaomei said to Xiaoyue while sewing clothes on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Xiaoyue served some rice and brought it to the bedroom in the shack. The man was already awake.

"May I have your name?"

"Yun Ba".

"You're the one who tied Yun Xingfei to the tree," Xiaoyue asked.

"yes."

Xiaoyue smiled and handed the food to Yunba, saying, "Get up and eat by yourself."

"How did you know I tied the young master to a tree?"

"I saved him."

"Meddlesome," Yun Ba muttered as he ate.

"I'm being nosy." Xiaoyue snatched the rice bowl away, leaned close to Yunba, and glared at him resentfully, saying, "You said I'm being nosy?"

“If you hadn’t released him, would he have run into the madam looking for his servant? If he hadn’t run into her, the madam wouldn’t have known that the young master was hiding at the Bai family’s estate, and he wouldn’t have been assassinated in the middle of the night the day before yesterday.”

"Assassination?" Xiaoyue's legs went numb, her hands went numb too. "How could that be? I heard he's the Marquis's son."

Yun Ba sneered, "What's wrong with the Marquis's son? A few days ago, a letter came from the border saying that during the battle with the Shiwei, Xiong Sili knocked the Marquis off his horse with a single spear thrust. He is now unconscious in the main tent, and his life or death is unknown."

"Then why don't you go see the Marquis? Let your young master go see the Marquis!" Xiaoyue said matter-of-factly.

“That’s how it is in normal families, but do you know? The young master’s maternal family is a merchant family. The madam was tormented to death by the old lady less than three years after she married into the family. The old lady then found a wealthy and prestigious family for the marquis.”

"General Ren's illegitimate daughter, Ren Shuhui, became his second wife. General Ren gave her more than ten guards as part of her dowry. Just think about my young master; the Bai family gave him eight guards, and six of them are still on the battlefield."

Yun Ba took a bite of rice and then said:

“And there’s something even more terrifying. This mistress gave birth to the second young master, Yun Xingluo, in her first year of marriage. He’s only four years younger than the eldest young master. If the Marquis were to die while he was away, who would inherit the title?”

Xiaoyue didn't want to hear about the gossip and disputes of the Marquis's mansion, but Yunba insisted on telling her.

“The night before last, five guards tried to kill the young master. They were all top-notch experts. Yun San and I fought desperately and killed three of them. We were both seriously injured. In the end, we decided to split up and run away, all wearing the young master’s clothes.”

"And what about your young master?" Xiaoyue asked with concern.

"Young master said to meet me in Niukou Village. After I killed that assassin, I went straight to Niukou Village. It was raining heavily outside. I just wanted you to give me some food. I never expected to fall into your trap." Yun Ba muttered as he ate.

“I ran into Yun San,” Xiaoyue said calmly. “He seemed quite badly injured. I fed him some water, and he told me to save Yun Xingfei, but I don’t know where Yun Xingfei is, how to save him, or even if he’s injured.”

Suddenly, a thought struck Xiaoyue: Could it be...?