Chapter 92: Wind Passes 3 Uncle Jiang

Fang Yan looked so serious and solemn that Xun Shu was forced to agree unconsciously and follow Fang Yan out of the temple.

Outside the shrine lay a sparse forest, growing along the mountainside, its roots embedded in the rocks of varying sizes. The path was steep, and Fang Yan walked ahead, his steps light and effortless, as if treading on level ground. Xun Shu followed him into the woods, watching his step carefully, fearing a fall.

After walking a hundred steps forward, Fang Yan suddenly stopped, turned around, and her eyes passed Xun Shu and fell on A Shui behind her.

"I have something to say to Ah Shu, please wait here for a moment."

Fang Yan's face looked remarkably calm, but his eyes trembled slightly. Xun Shu had known him for years and had always trusted him deeply, but now, for some reason, he felt a surge of unease and uneasiness.

I wonder if this uneasiness is related to Fang Yan.

When she left home today, it was just an ordinary day. She hadn't checked the almanac or consulted a fortune teller for this trip to the shrine. Now she regretted it deeply. If she had had a fortune teller, she wouldn't be so lost right now.

Ah Shui didn't move when Fang Yan said that, instead looking at Xun Shu with worry. Fang Yan frowned, his face showing displeasure. "Are you someone Li Xuanhe planted next to Ah Shu? You're supposed to follow her around all the time?"

The words were somewhat pointed, tinged with a hint of anxiety, quite unlike the usual Fang Yan. Unwilling to doubt his long-time friend, Xun Shu could only grasp Ah Shui's wrist, trying to ease his panic. He said firmly, "Ah Shui is my friend, and I just enjoy being with her. Fang Yan, if you want to tell me anything, just say it here. What I know, she can know too."

The shrine was just a hundred steps behind Xun Shu, and a constant stream of people came to pay their respects. The trees couldn't hide the three of them, and some people had already noticed something strange about them and cast curious glances in their direction.

Fang Yan retracted his gaze and stopped insisting, "Then I'll be frank. Ah Shu, have you noticed recently that Li Xuanhe has been hiding something from you?"

Xun Shu looked at Fang Yan and didn't answer immediately. Ah Shui, standing beside him, frowned, his brows furrowed with a mixture of old and new grudges. He immediately said, "Master Fang, speaking ill of others behind their backs isn't right, is it?"

Fang Yan frowned and argued, "I'm not saying bad things about anyone, but I don't want Ah Shu to be deceived by the bad guys!" He turned to look at Xun Shu, his eyes full of sincerity, "Ah Shu, you are very smart, you must have noticed something -"

"He did hide something from me." Xun Shu interrupted him. "It's true that I have noticed this, but he also told me frankly. But I don't care, and I don't want to explore it. Everyone has secrets. I also have secrets that I haven't told him, and you, too, have secrets that you haven't told us, right?"

Xun Shu's tone was quite calm, neither angry nor annoyed, as if she was just talking about an insignificant matter. Her eyes were as clear as ever, like the clear water of a lake, able to see through everything in the world and expose any conspiracy.

"What if what he's hiding is related to Uncle Jiang?"

Xun Shu frowned: "What does this mean?"

Fang Yan avoided her gaze and said softly, "I don't mean to sow discord between you two, but this matter concerns Uncle Jiang's safety, and I must let you know." He paused, as if he had made up his mind, and turned his gaze back to her, "After Uncle Jiang left, you have been looking for clues about her. I know there are rumors that Uncle Jiang was taken away by people from the Hall of Eternal Life, but that is not the case. Uncle Jiang is now in the capital, being guarded by people from the Dali Temple. Are you aware of this?"

It was like a sudden thunderclap in a clear sky, striking Xun Shu right on the head. She felt dizzy, almost unable to stand, and completely lost the ability to think.

Chaozhou... Li Xuanhe... Jiang Zheng... Qin Yuan... Dali Temple...

All the events of the past came to the surface at this moment, making Xun Shu's thoughts confused.

Could it be that there really was a complex relationship between them, and was Li Xuanhe really the one who had blinded her eyes and ears and deceived her from the beginning to the end?

Xun Shu clutched Ah Shui's arm tightly, still retaining a trace of consciousness, unwilling to easily suspect Li Xuanhe. She took a deep breath, trying to maintain a superficial composure. "You said Uncle Jiang is in the capital, and is being guarded by the Dali Temple... Do you have any evidence?"

Fang Yan hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Yes, I have evidence. If you are willing to believe me, I will take you there now."

Xun Shu agreed without any hesitation.

Fang Yan wanted to take Xun Shu alone, but Xun Shu insisted on taking Ah Shui and Yu Chang with him. Fang Yan smiled bitterly and said, "I just want to take you to take a look quietly. If you bring so many people with you, what if we get discovered?"

Xun Shu had calmed down considerably by now, no longer as shocked and upset as she had just been. She trusted Fang Yan, but she trusted Li Xuanhe even more. If one of them had ulterior motives and wanted to do something bad to her, it would definitely be Fang Yan, not Li Xuanhe.

She insisted, "That's perfect. I'll confront Third Brother face to face and clarify right and wrong. If he really did it, I'll sever all ties with him and never have anything to do with him again. If he didn't do it, he can also work with me to rescue Uncle Jiang. He knows a lot of people in the capital, so he should have more ways to do it, and it would be easier for him to do it."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Fang Yan could only compromise helplessly: "Then listen to Ah Shu."

-

On the way down the mountain, Fang Yan was still walking in front. Xun Shu and A Shui followed behind him side by side. A Shui pulled Xun Shu's arm, signaling her to slow down. When they were five or six steps behind, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Miss, I don't think he's a good person."

Xun Shu paused for a moment, but still refuted her words, but his voice was not as strong as before: "I have known him for many years. He is indeed a bit old-fashioned in his work, but he is still a good person."

Ah Shui sighed, and thinking that Yu Chang would go with them soon, he stopped trying to persuade him.

After all, Yuchang is good at martial arts, and this place is in the capital, so nothing too serious should go wrong.

When the three of them reached the foot of the mountain, Yu Chang, who was waiting by the carriage, looked at them in a daze. He didn't know why there were two of them going up the mountain, but three of them going down. Xun Shu took the initiative to explain, "Brother Fang Yan is traveling with us. He wants to take me somewhere."

Yu Chang didn't ask any more questions. "Then please, Lord Fang, sit with me in the front and show me the way."

Fang Yan waved his hand and smiled shyly: "I rode a donkey here today, I can't just leave it here. I'll lead the way on the donkey, you just follow behind."

Seeing him say this, Yu Chang said no more.

Fang Yan walked to the nearby woods and a moment later brought out a donkey. He hurriedly climbed onto the donkey and glanced in the direction of the carriage. Seeing Xun Shu and the others boarded, the carriage door was already closed. He patted the donkey's butt and set off towards the city.

Inside the car, Xun Shu lowered the curtain and stared blankly at the table in front of him. Ah Shui, standing beside him, whispered, "Miss, this guy is really strange. How did he know we would be coming to the Shrine today?"

Xun Shu drooped his eyelashes, unable to utter any more words to defend himself.

This was all really strange. In the past, when she went out, she would always ride in a carriage around the city and rarely get off for too long. Only today, when she had to spend some time in the Divine Palace, she happened to run into Fang Yan.

But if everything Fang Yan said was false, why would he do this? Jiang Zheng was also very good to him. Didn't he want Jiang Zheng to be found as soon as possible? Why would he use this as a joke? Was it just to drive a wedge between her and Li Xuanhe?

In Chaozhou, they were of similar age and often argued, but they were not enemies. Why did it become like this after arriving in the capital?

If what he said was true, how did he know that she and Li Xuanhe suspected that Jiang Zheng's disappearance was related to the Hall of Eternal Life? She had never told Fang Yan about this. Even the followers of the Hall of Eternal Life probably only knew that the Hall of Eternal Life had found someone from the Sitian Pavilion, but they didn't know that this person from the Sitian Pavilion was Jiang Zheng.

Could it be that Jiang Zheng was really imprisoned in the Dali Temple, and Fang Yan really saw everything with his own eyes and even talked to Jiang Zheng?

And Zhao Jingrong.

Fang Yan didn't seem to have told the whole truth about Miss Zhao Er. She had felt something was amiss when she'd visited the inn that day, but she hadn't questioned it. Now, she couldn't help but think about it over and over again, like the tea in the teacup, and how when they'd walked into Zhao Jingrong's room, her blanket had been pushed aside, and there were traces of tea on her socks. Apparently, she'd tried to get up by holding onto the table, but had accidentally overturned it, sending the teapot crashing to the ground and spilling tea onto her socks.

Zhao Jingrong seemed to want to get up and leave, but failed.

All sorts of doubts swirled around in Xun Shu's mind, but he couldn't find a way out. The panic in his head and the uneasiness in his heart piled up on each other, like a heavy hammer hitting Xun Shu's heart, and every tremor sent a wave of anxiety through his limbs.

Before Xun Shu could wrap her head around the situation, the carriage had already stopped. She took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and without even stepping on the seat, she jumped out. Once she had regained her footing, she looked around and realized she'd been to this place before: it was the inn where Fang Yan and Zhao Jingrong were staying.

Fang Yan handed the donkey to the innkeeper and waited for Xun Shu to disembark by the carriage. Seeing Xun Shu's puzzled expression, he explained, "Uncle Jiang is being held not far away. Coincidentally, that day, I was standing in my room, looking out the window, and I happened to see people from the Dali Temple entering and leaving a courtyard. Among them was Lord Li Song, whom I met in Chaozhou. There seemed to be another person beside him, dressed as a third-rank official or above. He must be the Dali Temple Minister, Qin Yuan."

Xun Shu pinched his sleeve and said slowly, "Maybe they are investigating the case in that yard. How do you know they imprisoned Uncle Jiang in that yard?"

Fang Yan sighed, "I know you don't believe me. No matter how much I say, you'll find excuses to refute me. Seeing is believing, hearing is not. Why don't you follow me to that courtyard and find out what's going on?"

Now that they were here, Xun Shu no longer had any reason to hesitate. She raised her head slightly, as if forcing herself to make up her mind: "Lead the way."

Fang Yan glanced at Xun Shu, then looked at A Shui and Yu Chang who followed her closely. He frowned slightly, and then led everyone to a small path next to the inn as if nothing had happened.

Fang Yan seemed to be extremely familiar with the roads around here, as if he had walked them hundreds of times. He led everyone through the streets and alleys, and after about half a cup of tea, they arrived at the front door of a house.

The main door stood open, a common wooden door. The door knocker was rusted and stuck in the air, unable to fall. Two people stood inside the door, one on each side, guarding the entire house. They were extremely surprised to see Xun Shu and couldn't help but say, "Miss Xun."

Xun Shu had seen these two people before; they were from the Dali Temple. They were guarding the gate, so it was obvious that something serious had happened in the courtyard.

Xun Shu's ears buzzed, and a sweet, fishy smell filled her nose and throat. She stared at the crowded courtyard, gazing at Li Xuanhe, who was surrounded by them.

Li Xuanhe also saw her, his face showing a solemnity and panic that she had never seen before: "Ashu..."

The last time they met was two days ago, in the courtyard of the princess's mansion. At that time, she would never have thought that their next meeting would be in such a situation.

A long-abandoned yard, filled with people, blood in the room, and secrets that people want to hide.

Xun Shu shifted his gaze away from the man and turned to the room with the open door at the end.

She saw Qin Yuan, whom she hadn't seen in years, standing in the room, wearing a blood-soaked robe and holding a knife that was still dripping with blood. She saw a chair next to Qin Yuan, and sitting on it was a middle-aged man with grizzled hair. He was covered in blood, his limbs limp, his head drooping. She saw blood all over the floor and walls, even staining the threshold with a sickening red.

Even though the summer heat hadn't yet dissipated, Xun Shu felt like she'd fallen into an icy cave in the dead of winter. Her body was freezing cold, her mind a blank. Trembling, she pushed aside the two guards who were vaguely trying to stop her. Her legs felt like they were weighed down by a large, water-filled vat; every step felt as heavy as if it were taking her life.

One step, two steps, three steps.

She walked across the yard, through the crowd, and stiffly into the room, pausing in front of a chair. Trembling, she lifted the man's bowed head, only to find his face covered in dried blood, obscuring his features and making him look strangely unfamiliar.

If she couldn't see the clean, uncovered, warm face, how could she be sure that this was the person she was looking for?

Xun Shu bit her lip tightly, trying to use the pain to wake her mind. She clutched her sleeves and rubbed the man's face repeatedly, trying to wipe away the dried blood. She used a lot of force, and it must have been painful, but the man didn't react at all, like a limp clay figure.

The blood had already solidified and could not be wiped away no matter how hard he tried. Xun Shu wiped it for a long time until his arms were held down by someone. He gave in helplessly and knelt on the ground, supporting himself with his hands.

Tears fell straight from his eyes, hot and sad, hitting the ground drop by drop and blending with the remaining bloodstains on the ground.

"Uncle Jiang..."

She choked.