Chapter 73 Qing Ping Yue (Part 3) Real Name.

Ye Mu admired the astonishment surging in the other person's eyes. She knew that her earth-shattering blow had hit the bullseye.

What was originally a 70% certain guess has become a 100% certainty in the face of his current reaction.

"How can you be so smart?" Zhou Chongli sighed softly. After the initial shock subsided, he couldn't help but admire her. He had finally met a worthy opponent. He spoke frankly, "I really like you more and more, Fourth Sister."

He asked, "Then tell me, how did you discover these things? I believe this plan was quite well-thought-out."

His tone carried a sincere inquiry. The ledger was lost, and the biggest bargaining chip had shifted. His frankness at this moment was more like a recap between masters.

The carriage continued its bumpy journey towards the city gate.

"Actually, Secretary Yu is the real Zhou Chongli, right?" Ye Mu said.

The man opposite her smiled and said, "Oh? Interesting. But the Ministry of Personnel records show that Zhou Chongli took office as the magistrate of Wujiang County five years ago, while Clerk Yu was only added to the county government's household registration office two years ago. The timeline doesn't seem to match up, does it, Fourth Sister?"

"That is precisely the most ingenious part of your plan."

Ye Mu said, "Allow me to follow the clues and make a bold guess."

"Five years ago, the real Zhou Chongli, that young official who had passed the imperial examination at the second-class level, went to Wujiang County to take up his post. However, the waters of officialdom in Jiangnan were far deeper than he had imagined. Perhaps not long after he left the capital, or perhaps on his way to his post, he had already sensed something was wrong and encountered a real threat to his life."

Because she saw a hideous long scar on the side of Yu Shuban's neck. The scar was in a very dangerous position; if it were just a fraction off, it would have been fatal. How could a wealthy young man who was always smiling and never fought with others have such a scar from a life-or-death struggle?

She then began to suspect that his identity was not as simple as it seemed.

Yu Shuban said he had never left Wujiang, but he occasionally spoke with a Beijing accent. Others might not have noticed, but Ye Mu had grown up in Beijing, so how could he not recognize him? Yu Shuban had been to Beijing and had stayed there for quite some time.

Ye Mu observed the man's expression and continued, "Just when he was in danger, he met you. I guess that at that time, you had returned from your post in Yunnan, and you must have been frustrated and unfulfilled. You had a lot of ambition and knowledge, but because you had no one in the court, you were put on a vacant post and your further career prospects were cut off. You were resentful."

"A magistrate who values ​​his life and a talented but frustrated official—you two hit it off immediately. Zhou Chongli appreciates your abilities, and you value his status and crave an opportunity, even if it's to take a risk in someone else's name."

Ye Mu's thoughts became clearer, and his eyes shone brightly.

"Thus, an audacious agreement was reached. You walked into the county government office openly and legitimately, carrying the official seal of Magistrate Zhou Chongli. To the clerks, gentry, and even the common people of Wujiang County, the magistrate they saw from the very beginning was you. The so-called Zhou Chongli was, from the very beginning, your face, your voice, and your style of doing things."

Even the bright spring sunshine couldn't compare to the vibrancy of the woman before me.

Zhou Chongli smiled slightly. "Basically correct, continue."

"For three years, Clerk Yu completely blended into the streets and countryside of Wujiang, until he understood the place well enough. He needed a more direct identity to enter the core of the county government and get access to the most confidential financial accounts. So, two years ago, he joined the Wujiang County Government's Household Department, becoming the most inconspicuous clerk. No one would have thought that this fat clerk, who only cared about trivial matters and eating and drinking, was the one who truly held the lifeline of this place and secretly drew up the evidence of crimes."

"How were the ledgers behind the bulletin board discovered?"

“You know, women all like flowers, right?” Ye Mu then revealed a bit of girlish innocence. “Your county government office is gloomy all day long, with gray walls and black tiles, except for those little vermilion flowers on the bulletin board, which are a bit of bright color. When I get tired of checking accounts, I often go there to stand for a while. Coincidentally, every time I go there, Clerk Yu always stops there too. At first, I thought he also appreciated these little trinkets…”

Ye Mu laughed, "Until that time when the search of the storeroom failed and there was no one in the yamen, I still went to the bulletin board and looked at it. Maybe it was God's help, because I didn't notice anything unusual that day. Until this morning, I inexplicably thought of the little red flower and the bulletin board again. Suddenly I realized that there was a worn corner, but no years of accumulated dust. Who would deliberately only wipe one edge?"

The most dangerous place is often the safest place.

Ye Mu stared intently at him. "Secretary Yu can't openly and frequently contact you, and he also has to appear in public that he's not very familiar with you, the county magistrate. But this bulletin board is a place that you two can naturally pass by every day. It stands in a conspicuous place at the second gate, with people coming and going, making it a dark spot. Isn't that the perfect place for you to pass on important messages and hide key items?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage fell silent. All the previous probing and subtle exchanges suddenly subsided as the final picture came together.

The hustle and bustle of the street outside the car gradually blurred and faded, making the silence in this small space all the more deafening.

After a long while, the man opposite him raised his hand with great solemnity and clapped, "It seems that the Crown Prince did not choose the wrong person this time."

The Crown Prince's Palace did send people to Wujiang, both openly and covertly.

But those people were either misled by the superficial appearance of their political achievements and returned empty-handed; or they quietly perished in this deep pool and never uttered a word again.

Ye Mu is the first person to see through the double disguise and unravel a five-year-long conspiracy based solely on these clues. He has both courage and determination.

"There's another thing that makes me suspicious. During my time at the Wujiang County government office, most of what I knew about you came from Clerk Yu."

Ye Mu smiled, "He always casually tells me where Magistrate Zhou went on his inspection tour that day; he's just too enthusiastic."

As a wealthy young master who was added to the ranks, Yu Shuban should have had a clean and simple background. However, such a character was far too familiar with the workings of officialdom, the intricacies of money and grain, and even the daily schedule of the county magistrate.

The wheels are rolling.

"The coachman outside has been changed, hasn't he?" Zhou Chongli asked.

He hadn't heard the old coachman clear his throat and cough for a long time.

"certainly."

In the brief moment this morning when she returned to the courtyard to lock the door under the pretext of doing so, she not only told Xie Yicheng where the real account book was hidden and asked him to take it immediately after they left, but also summoned two of the Eastern Palace Shadows who were accompanying her, one of whom assisted and protected Yicheng.

The other person, on their return journey, must replace the original driver at the appropriate time and drive the carriage, taking a different route straight to the capital.

This was a perfect counterattack, a calculated move. The driver outside the carriage had already changed, the road ahead had been altered, and inside the carriage, the balance of power had been reversed, with the initiative firmly in Ye Mu's hands.

"So even without Wang Yong's farce, you would still have escorted me to the capital?"

“That’s right,” Ye Mu said. “Besides, if it weren’t for him, I was planning to tell you that I’m a woman on my way back today. I’m really sorry that you had to go through all that trouble and lose a shop.”

Her eyes showed no sign of remorse, only the smug satisfaction of having outmaneuvered her.

"Brilliant." Zhou Chongli showed no sign of defeat or annoyance, but smiled with a hint of indulgence, admitting defeat wholeheartedly, "I am completely convinced of my defeat to Fourth Sister."

"What I can't understand is why you would be willing to take such a risk to become a stand-in magistrate?" Ye Mu pondered. "Do you think that as long as you are the one standing in front of the stage, and you are the one dealing with officials from all sides on a daily basis, you can accumulate enough political achievements and popularity, so that even if the truth comes out in the future, you can use this to get away with it, or completely switch places and make this identity your own?"

Zhou Chongli did not answer. Leaning against the carriage wall, he raised his chin slightly and asked her, "Then, Fourth Sister, you are a noble lady from a noble family, living a life of luxury. Why would you disguise yourself as a man and venture into this dangerous place to do such a perilous thing for the Crown Prince?"

Before she could answer, he chuckled softly, as if answering his own question, "Putting myself in your shoes, I can roughly guess what's going on. You're not short of money, and the prestige of a noble family might not be what you seek. Perhaps, you also harbor a bit of the scholarly spirit of helping the world? Perhaps, you want to speak out for the women trapped in the inner chambers of the world? Or perhaps, you simply can't stand rampant corruption, and deep down, you have a bit of an indomitable chivalrous heart?"

His gaze traced her features, confirming his suspicions.

Ye Mu was slightly taken aback. Although she was no longer a daughter of a marquis, the person in front of her was right about one thing: that was indeed her original intention in taking this dangerous job so that women could enter the officialdom. She wanted to prove that women were no less capable than men.

Hearing this, Ye Mu understood a little. "I understand. You're the same way. You just want to do something practical. No matter whose name you use, no matter if your identity is real or fake, you just want to do something real, to eliminate long-standing problems, to rectify officialdom, and to let the people of this area live a slightly more decent life. Even if the methods are unorthodox, the future is uncertain, even if you may end up with nothing and be disgraced, you accept it."

He looked at her quietly, his eyes sparkling.

"Then why did you allow Zhou Chongli to embezzle the river construction funds? Doesn't this contradict what you want to do?"

The man opposite him smiled and said, "This? Take a guess."

"I can't guess this time."

This was indeed something that had always puzzled Ye Mu, but now she saw that he wouldn't reveal any more core secrets about the river works funds. In any case, her primary task was to obtain the real account books, which was now accomplished. Interrogating him and clarifying the whole conspiracy was something His Highness the Crown Prince should worry about.

Having made up his mind, Ye Mu decided to stop pressing the matter.

Seeing that she didn't ask any more questions, Zhou Chongli seemed to relax. He suddenly leaned down, and before Ye Mu could react, he used his teeth to pick off the outermost petal of the red rose. In a flash, he had already sat back down.

The bright red of his lips and teeth, set against his sparse eyebrows and eyes, added a touch of cynicism.

Then, he slowly raised his hand, took the petal from his lips, held it in his palm, and looked at her with a smile, saying, "How can you be so pleasing to my eye?"

"Zhou Chongli." Ye Mu choked, leaned back, and said in a cold voice, "Since you know that Yi Cheng and I have a romantic relationship, you shouldn't have done such a disrespectful thing."

"What does it matter? We're not married yet!" he laughed.

"We will get married as soon as we return."

“It will take several days to get back,” he said casually, his hands resting on the table. “The journey will be long and arduous, and it’s hard to guarantee that nothing will go wrong.”

"What does Lord Zhou mean by this?"

"Do I need to put it more bluntly, Fourth Sister?"

Ye Mu sneered, "I heard that Yi Cheng saved you in Yunnan. Is this how you treat your savior?"

He was fortunate that Yi Cheng was the type not to meddle in other people's business, so she didn't ask his name in Yunnan, otherwise she could have solved the problem a few days earlier.

“Two things. I will repay the life-saving grace in my own way. But what my heart desires is another matter.” He said, “Also, you don’t have to call me Zhou Chongli anymore. I’ll call you Yu Shaobai.”

"Your real name?"

"Yes." He nodded with a smile. "Most of what I've told you is true. There's only one lie: I don't have a cousin who's a vice minister in the Ministry of Revenue. That's Zhou Chongli's. Everything I have today is something I've earned step by step on my own."

However, in Yunnan, he offended powerful figures due to his uprightness and was dismissed from his post. Only then did he head south to seek opportunities.

When this was mentioned, he showed neither pride nor resentment, only a calm statement.

"My background is true. My parents did die early, and I grew up eating food from many families. I also chose the name Yu Shaobai myself. At that time, I had just learned a few characters and thought these two characters were simple, had few strokes, and were easy to write and remember."

After he finished speaking, he asked her, "And you? What's your real name?"

"Ye Mu." She didn't hesitate; at this point, there was no need to hide anything. "It's not the 'Mu' of admiration, but the 'Mu' of the rain just stopping at dusk."

The evening rain has just stopped, the long river is still, and the sails of travelers have fallen into the night.

It was a sudden rain that stopped in the late afternoon. He thought of the time he went to the noodle shop, it was at a similar time, no, it was a little later, and the rain was even more lingering.

"Ye Mu, there's something I want to tell you."

Ye Mu looked up at him.

"I was very happy when you wished me a happy birthday that night."

"Then I might as well say it directly: the noodles that day were much tastier than the food at your house."

Yu Shaobai chuckled softly. "Ye Mu, there's actually something else. You guessed wrong too. I'm actually quite superficial."

-

For the next few days, the carriage sped along the official road heading north.

Having torn off their disguises, the two sides shed many unnecessary defenses and pretenses, and got along much better than they had at the Wujiang County government office.

Yu Shaobai's words and actions were actually far less frivolous and reckless than he had appeared during their confrontation in the carriage. Apart from the looting and picking of flowers in the carriage that day, he was quite polite and considerate at other times, arranging food and lodging and asking for directions, which did not require much of Ye Mu's attention.

When the carriage entered Qingyuan Town that day, it was already completely dark.

The city was dimly lit, and they found a fairly clean and spacious inn to stay in. Along the way, Yu Shaobai shared a room with the Eastern Palace Shadow for easy surveillance. In fact, the Shadow had already received instructions from Ye Mu to treat Yu Shaobai with courtesy as long as he did not make any unusual moves.

Yu Shaobai, on the other hand, seemed to have no intention of escaping at all. He spent his days resting with his eyes closed, as calm as a prisoner who was about to be escorted to the capital.

Ye Mu lives alone in a room, which is quite peaceful.

Tonight, as the two were having dinner together in the lobby downstairs at the inn, the chatter of the other diners caught Ye Mu's attention.

It turns out that a traveling doctor recently came to the city. It is said that his medical skills are quite miraculous, especially in treating difficult and complicated diseases. He has been providing free medical consultations in the east of the city for the past two days, attracting many people to seek treatment. His reputation has spread like wildfire.

Ye Mu's hand holding the chopsticks paused slightly, thinking of Cheng's family ailment deeply hidden in his bloodline...

With a sword hanging over her head, she could not let her guard down for a moment.

Regardless of whether the itinerant doctor was truly qualified, she wanted to find a glimmer of hope for Yi Cheng as long as there was even the slightest possibility. Without much hesitation, she put down her chopsticks, got up, and headed out.

Yu Shaobai, who had been eating quietly, looked up and his gaze lingered for a moment on her suddenly serious profile. "What? Do you have a hidden illness?"

"no."

"That's Xie Yicheng?" Yu Shaobai put down his chopsticks and followed her out. "He's a few years younger than me, right? Is he already past his prime at such a young age?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Ye Mu retorted firmly, "He's perfectly fine!"

"Is that so?" he said slowly. "How do you know if he's better or someone else is better if you haven't compared them?"

Ye Mu felt a rush of blood to his cheeks, and his ears burned.

She glanced at him. Of course, she had made comparisons, but how could she share such intimate insights with this scoundrel? She suppressed the urge to slap him. "Yu Shaobai, if you talk nonsense to me again, believe me, as soon as we get to the capital, I'll have Shadow kidnap you and take you to Fuyou Pavilion, so you can experience what it's like to be a courtesan."

Fuyou Pavilion, the most famous brothel in the capital, was a place Yu Shaobai had naturally heard of when he was preparing for the imperial examinations in the capital.

"I didn't expect you to have connections in this area." He wasn't annoyed.

Ye Mu walked across the street, coldly tossing out a remark, "There are many things you can't imagine."

Yu Shaobai noticed the redness around her ears, which looked incredibly charming and lovely. He smiled knowingly. In fact, if she wanted to make comparisons, he would be more than happy to oblige.

Across the street, the noise was deafening; a dense crowd of people were jostling and queuing.

When it was finally Ye Mu's turn, the moon was already high in the sky. The divine doctor yawned and was about to leave, saying, "Young lady, see you again sometime. I'm packing up now."

He was in his forties, dressed in simple clothes, with a clean and stern face. What was most striking was the string of dark Buddhist prayer beads wrapped around his wrist when he raised his hand, each bead the size of a child's fist.

It's quite different from the other Buddhist prayer beads.

Ye Mu's heart skipped a beat. In her dying moments in her past life, the last thing she saw in her blurred vision was a string of Buddhist prayer beads, slowly being turned by a hand with distinct knuckles, accompanied by a faint chanting sound...

The person before him was not the same as the monk in his memory whose features he had never clearly seen; that monk was pure and otherworldly.

Ye Mu died at the age of twenty-seven in his previous life, which is eleven years away from now.

Perhaps in a few years, due to some twist of fate, the person before me will enter the Buddhist order?

But upon seeing this string of Buddhist prayer beads, Ye Mu inexplicably developed a greater sense of trust in the itinerant doctor's medical skills.

After all, he was the one who brought her back to life.

Ye Mu pleaded with him, "This illness must not be difficult for you. I hope you can lend a helping hand."

The itinerant doctor couldn't bear to see a woman shed tears, especially such a beautiful and charming one. He waved his hand and said, "Sit down and hold out your hand."

Ye Mu shook his head, "It's not me, it's the person I love."

The itinerant doctor asked Yu Shaobai to sit down, but Ye Mu shook his head again, "He's not."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shaobai half-jokingly replied, "I am her husband, not her sweetheart."

“A husband is a husband, a sweetheart is a sweetheart, and a confidant is a confidant; there’s no contradiction.” The traveling doctor was quite open-minded. “Such a beautiful young lady must be liked by many people, right? It’s only natural to choose a few from among them.”

"Miracle doctor, don't listen to his nonsense. One is enough to keep me busy."

Ye Mu glared at Yu Shaobai, who was smirking, then turned back and said seriously, "The man I'm seeking medical help for has a family history of this condition, passed down through generations. It's not noticeable in his early years, but as he gets older, his health gradually deteriorates, leaving him emaciated and ultimately leading to his untimely death."

She then described in detail the specific symptoms, such as coughing up blood, afraid of missing even the slightest detail, lest the divine doctor make a mistake.

"It can't be cured."

Ye Mu was struck dumb, "I must have described it wrong..."

“Young lady, you’ve made yourself clear enough,” the traveling doctor interrupted her. “In the capital, at the Xie residence.”

He actually revealed the pain that the Xie family had tried so hard to cover up for generations, it seems that someone in the Xie family had already secretly searched for this itinerant doctor.

"It's not a disease, it's a poison. The sins committed by our ancestors have seeped into our blood, passed down from generation to generation, like a malignant tumor clinging to the bone. Ordinary medicines cannot cure it."

It was poison.

Ye Mu felt a chill run down his spine. No wonder all his searches for ancient books and folk remedies had been ineffective; the root of the problem lay here.

"Is there really no way at all?" Her voice trembled, and she leaned forward unconsciously. "Whatever is needed, whatever the cost, please, divine healer, show me the way!"

As she spoke, she took out all the silver notes and some loose silver coins she had on her, piled them on the table, and looked earnestly at the other person.

The itinerant doctor's gaze swept over the silver coins without any reaction, and he shook his head.

Ye Mu then tossed the purse from Yu Shaobai's waist onto the table.

"Huh?" Yu Shaobai was surprised, but seeing Ye Mu's pitiful appearance with tears welling up in her eyes, he decided to let it go.

The itinerant doctor sighed very softly, "The workings of nature are interdependent; perhaps there is a sliver of extremely slim chance."

He said, “Deep in the South China Sea, beneath the bottomless abyss, there lives a strange creature called Yuan Ting. This creature is composed of the cold, yin, and deadly poison of the deep sea. It collapses upon contact and is an incurable poison.”

Ye Mu held her breath and listened to him continue.

"However, things always turn around when they reach their extreme. If one can obtain the Abyss Stillness and grind it into an extremely fine powder, it can attack the poison accumulated in the blood. This is a method with a nine-out-of-ten chance of death, extremely dangerous, and the process is as agonizing as falling into purgatory. Moreover, the success or failure is only fifty-fifty. Not to mention, the location of the Abyss Stillness is not easily reached by human power, and obtaining it is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Ye Mu persisted, "Since the records are so detailed, someone must have successfully extracted and used them, right? Otherwise, where did these descriptions come from?"

"That's right. As far as I know, His Majesty once secretly dispatched an elite force of assassins to venture deep into the remote South China Sea in search of alchemy materials. They brought back a few, but that was ten years ago, and they're probably long gone."

Having said that, he said no more, reached out and took only the heaviest-looking purse from the table, and left while holding his prayer beads.

"Hey?" Yu Shaobai exclaimed, "That's my money, after all! Isn't this a free clinic?!"

Ye Mu seemed not to hear, absentmindedly moving out of the teahouse.

"You're not really going to the South China Sea, are you? The poisonous creatures in the sea are elusive and probably just a hoax by some charlatan."

Yu Shaobai followed, saying, "I do have a more practical method."

Ye Mu finally reacted and turned to look at him.

"You can wait until Xie Yicheng is forty and his life is over before you find a good man to remarry," Yu Shaobai said with a smile. "If I am lucky enough to escape this mess and survive, I will marry you then."

"I won't marry an old man."

Yu Shaobai laughed in exasperation, "Ye Mu, you..."

He turned around and saw her tears rolling down her cheeks without warning.

Yu Shaobai's remaining teasing stuck in his throat, and his heart felt like it had been twisted. He put away his joking expression and comforted him gently, "Alright, alright, I was just talking nonsense. Don't cry, there will always be a way..."

Each lost in their own thoughts, the two returned to the inn in silence. As soon as they stepped across the threshold, they sensed something was amiss: there was a bloody smell in the air, and the waiters were all lying prostrate on the ground.

Just then, two dark figures darted out from the side door of the main gate like ghosts. Before Ye Mu could even cry out, one of them grabbed him tightly around the waist, and they sped away, leaping across the rooftops and alleys.

Ye Mu was finally put down in front of a dilapidated mountain god temple, and then Yu Shaobai was also brought there by the shadows.

Ye Mu looked at the man in black who was holding him hostage and recognized him as Donggong Anying, also known as Youying, who had been sent to assist Xie Yicheng in escorting the account books back to the capital.

And standing protectively beside her was Zuo Ying.

"Where's Yi Cheng?" A sense of foreboding washed over Ye Mu, and she asked urgently, "Why isn't he with you? What happened?"

The Shadows are all specially trained mute individuals, unable to speak. Faced with Ye Mu's questioning, they can only gesture. The gestures are dazzling and Ye Mu cannot understand them. The more anxious Ye Mu becomes, the faster he gestures.

"What on earth are you gesturing like that?" Ye Mu was extremely anxious.

Yu Shaobai had calmed down by now. "Has the Emperor's men arrived?"

The figure on the right paused, then nodded.

Ye Mu was still confused. "What does this mean? Why are the Emperor's men here? Weren't the account books sent to the Eastern Palace?"

"Didn't you keep asking where those tens of thousands of taels of silver in the embezzlement, as well as the funds for grain transport, tea permits, and salt permits, went?"

Yu Shaobai completely dispelled her confusion, "In this whole world, who else could be someone who can make even the shrewd Crown Prince feel troubled?"

Ye Mu was shocked and understood instantly.

Who else could make the Crown Prince so hesitant to investigate a case? The only one who could make the Crown Prince so cautious and need evidence to persuade him to act is his sovereign, the true master of this land.

That deficit, which had swallowed up countless people's hard-earned money, eventually flowed into the emperor's private treasury.

"So, behind you all is actually His Majesty?" Ye Mu's voice was icy cold. "He's always known about your situation? He knows Zhou Chongli is an imposter? He's tacitly approved of it?"

Yu Shaobai nodded. “His Majesty needs money, and he also needs people to maintain the appearance of peace and political achievements. Zhou Chongli and I are just what we need.”

Ye Mu looked to the right, "Those two ledgers..."

Right Shadow reached into his robes and pulled out a booklet with specks of blood on it.

Ye Mu's throat was dry. "This blood, is it Yi Cheng's?"

Shadow nodded, his eyes dark and inscrutable. Then, he raised his finger and pointed at Yu Shaobai.

"Those who are chasing him, did they mistake Yi Cheng for Yu Shaobai?"

Shadow nodded again, then began gesturing rapidly, his movements hurried and chaotic, clearly trying to convey a more complex situation. Ye Mu couldn't understand at all and was on the verge of collapse.

So where exactly is Yi Cheng now?

She couldn't understand what he was gesturing, and trembling, she walked towards the temple gate. "Was it at the inn we just visited?"

"Ye Mu! Calm down!" Yu Shaobai reacted quickly, grabbing her arm so hard that she stumbled.

He turned to the gesturing left shadow, "You mean that shortly after you retrieved the account book from Wujiang, you were pursued and fled, learning through the right shadow's secret message that we had settled here. But as soon as you arrived at the inn and tried to reunite with us, you were again pursued. You and Young Master Xie were forced to split up to distract the pursuers, and before he left, he handed you the account book. Afterwards, you managed to shake off the pursuers and reunite with the right shadow who had been secretly protecting us, rescuing us, right?"

"You can read sign language?" Ye Mu grabbed Yu Shaobai's sleeve urgently, as if grasping at a straw. "Then quickly ask him, which direction did Yi Cheng go when they separated? How badly was he injured?"

“He’s just mute, not deaf. He understands exactly what you’re saying, and…” Yu Shaobai pointed helplessly to the side.

Concern leads to confusion, and Ye Mu only then noticed that Zuo Ying was drawing a diagram to explain You Ying's gestures.

"The injuries weren't serious, and they went south into the mountains."

Ye Mu felt a little relieved. Right now, he only had one thought: to go south to find Yi Cheng. He was about to rush out again.

"Stop!" Yu Shaobai shouted sharply, blocking her way. "If you rush to find them now, you'll be throwing your life away. The pursuers are probably still searching. You're not familiar with the terrain, and you don't know how to track or hide. How are you going to find them? And even if you do, what good will it do? Fight those elite assassins with the wounded?"

He pointed to two shadowy figures. “Let them go. They’re professionally trained, skilled at tracking, stealth, and counter-hunting. They’re much more likely to find him than you are, and much safer.”

Yu Shaobai was used to being a county magistrate and had a knack for it.

Ye Mu calmed down and realized that what he said made sense, so he had no choice but to ask them, "Please be sure to bring Yi Cheng back to me. As long as he is safe, I, Ye Mu, swear to heaven that I will repay you handsomely! Even if you want to regain your voice in the future, I will do everything in my power to find the best doctors in the world to help you."

Shadow clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then flashed out of the temple and disappeared into the deepening night.

"You really know how to make grand promises and get a mute to speak."

Ye Mu ignored his teasing and simply slumped to the ground, utterly dejected.

Yu Shaobai glanced at her, then stopped talking and silently walked to the side. He gathered some dry, withered branches and leaves from the corner, took out a tinderbox from his small bag, and skillfully lit it.

The orange-red flames lit up, barely dispelling some of the chill inside the temple.

"You're quite well-prepared for your trip." Ye Mu murmured unconsciously, gazing at the flickering flames. "Shadows aren't born mute; they're mostly chosen as children and subjected to methods that ruin their voices. If they can leave this profession in the future, take good care of themselves, and seek out renowned doctors who are experts in throat meridians, there might be a glimmer of hope to restore some of their voices."

Her voice was low, as if she were talking to herself, “There are some records in the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Classic about damage to the vocal cord meridians.”

"You've read quite a few medical books?" Yu Shaobai thought for a moment and then understood. "For Xie Yicheng?"

In the firelight, Ye Mu's pale face was bloodless, and she did not deny it. She rested her chin on her knees, curling up into a small ball.

After a moment of silence, Yu Shaobai added a piece of firewood to the fire and suddenly asked in a low voice, "What do you like about him?"

Ye Mu looked up at him and asked, "Has Lord Yu never liked anyone before?"

"Isn't it you?"

"Don't tease me like this," Ye Mu said wearily, turning his face away.

She had no mind to deal with any ambiguity or probing at the moment. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly, "I haven't really thought about what I like about him. It's just that when I see him there, not having to do anything, I feel that life is good. God has been kind to me."

She must really like him, right? That's why she showed that tenderness and wistfulness that's typical of a young girl when she talks about him.

"You're too old to understand."

She really holds a grudge. Didn't she just say that Xie Yicheng was young? It's possible that she's holding a grudge for the second half of the sentence, "not very good."

Yu Shaobai smiled.

Ye Mu rarely showed curiosity towards him, "Why haven't you married all these years, sir? With your talent and abilities, even if you were to marry someone else, wouldn't there be no shortage of people who would appreciate your talents and arrange a marriage?"

"It's kind of you to praise me like that." Yu Shaobai stirred the firewood, sparks flying. "I'm carrying such a huge secret, and my fate is uncertain. Why should I burden someone else's good daughter?"

Ye Mu remained silent; in this respect, he still had a conscience.

The emperor knew of his existence and tacitly approved of his use. But once he posed a threat, like at this moment, as the people who knew the most about him, elimination was the only outcome.

Ye Mu finally understood that the reason why there was no record of "Zhou Chongli" in his previous life was because everything had been quietly covered up by the emperor.

Yu Shaobai, it's even more likely that his name will not be recorded.

"Have you ever thought that you would eventually be killed?" Ye Mu asked softly.

"As long as His Majesty has money to spend, he won't kill me."

No wonder he tolerated Zhou Chongli's embezzlement; perhaps he couldn't have stopped him anyway.

Yu Shaobai said, "But things are different now. You took the account books, and the matter has reached the Crown Prince. I'm afraid it's time for me, this pawn, to be discarded. I probably won't be able to reach the capital."

He looked at Ye Mu, his eyes clear, "I've made up my mind. Tomorrow morning, we'll go our separate ways. You take the account books and find a way to deliver them to the Crown Prince as soon as possible. My life and death are none of your business, and you don't need to get involved any further."

Hearing this, Ye Muxi opened her lips, about to say something more, when she saw Youying return.

She hurriedly got up to greet him, "Yi Cheng?"

Ye Mu looked behind him.

Zuo Ying carried Xie Yicheng back. His blue clothes were stained with blood and could no longer be seen. His head slumped weakly on An Ying's shoulder, and his exposed profile was as pale as paper with his eyes closed.

Ye Muxin felt her heart sink, and she called out to him in a trembling voice, "Yi Cheng."

There was no response.

The shadows carefully placed him on the ground. Xie Yicheng's body slumped down, making no sound, his chest remaining still.

Ye Mu completely broke down.

She scrambled and rolled towards him, her trembling hand touching his cold cheek, feeling a chilling coolness. She shook his shoulders in disbelief, whispering, "Yi Cheng? Yi Cheng! Look at me... Xie Yi Cheng!"

There was no response.

Those eyes that always gazed at her with a smile remained closed. He should have embraced her, kissed her, and whispered "Fourth Sister" to her.

But he just lay there on the ground.

A deathly silence.

"Xie Yicheng, you're faking your death, aren't you?" Ye Mu gently stroked his face, tears streaming down her face. "At least live to be forty..."

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Author's Note: I'm not dead, don't worry! You'll be laughing in the next chapter! I promise! It's slowly wrapping up; it's a happy ending! [sunglasses]