Chapter 49: Zhou Tiao's mother sent someone to tell him that it was carefully brewed...

His mother sent someone to tell him that she had carefully prepared chicken soup and placed it in the pavilion in the mansion, and asked him to go back as soon as possible to enjoy it after completing his official duties.

His mother was getting older. If she wanted to make soup for him, why not just send it directly to the government office? Besides, the servants in the mansion were on holiday today, so he had originally planned to stay the night at the government office.

It was not until he saw the slender figure in the pavilion that Fang Buyu understood Zhao Hui's intention.

The lanterns cast a warm golden light in the night.

The eaves and pillars of the pavilion seem like a carefully outlined picture frame. The woman in the frame sits quietly beside the stone table, one hand gently supporting her chin, her head slightly tilted back, and half of her black hair falls on her shoulders like a waterfall, shining with golden light under the moonlight.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, rustling the sycamore trees, swaying the yellow lanterns hanging from the pavilion eaves, and a few sycamore leaves scratched the mural. At this moment, the woman in the painting seemed to sense something and slowly turned to look at him.

This time, Fang Buyu was particularly clear-headed, and there was not much fluctuation in his heart, or rather, he was in a very low mood.

Because after countless disappointments, he has clearly realized that the person in front of him is Tang Suzi, not Zhou Tiao.

Seeing Fang Buyu approaching, Tang Suzi stood up, "Pavilion Master Fang, you're back..."

Fang Buyu also walked up to the pavilion.

"This is the chicken soup made by the lady. I saw her waiting here for a long time and her waist was a little uncomfortable, so I asked her to go back first." Tang Suzi turned to look at the food box, lowered his head slightly, and his eyes fell on Fang Buyu's collar again, deliberately avoiding eye contact with him.

Fang Buyu noticed her awkwardness and discomfort. He looked away, but saw a sycamore leaf on Tang Suzi's shoulder.

He subconsciously wanted to raise his hand to brush away the fallen leaves for her, but as soon as his fingers were raised, they stopped again and then slowly tucked into his sleeve.

"Thank you, Miss Tang. You... have a fallen leaf on your shoulder."

Tang Suzi patted the leaf off and said, "Oh, maybe it was just because the wind was too strong and it fell accidentally."

Fang Buyu took over her words, "It's a cold night, Miss Tang should go back and rest as soon as possible."

"Yeah," Tang Suzi finally looked up into his eyes, "Don't forget to drink the chicken soup that Madam made."

"good."

＊

Fang Buyu stood there for a long time, watching Tang Suzi's figure gradually walking away until it disappeared at the end of the path.

After an unknown amount of time, he slowly raised his head and looked towards the night sky.

The night was so quiet that it seemed like a corner forgotten by time. A deep and strong sense of nothingness, like a heavy rain and fog, drowned Fang Buyu.

Ever since Tiaotiao passed away, this feeling of emptiness has often lingered in his heart and cannot be shaken off.

Two years before Tiao Tiao passed away, he still often dreamed of her.

But later, she appeared in his dreams less and less frequently, and he could no longer see her. Even her appearance gradually became blurred.

Now, a person who looks so similar to Tiao Tiao appears in front of him. He has indulged in stubborn vanity countless times, but now he finally realizes that she is not Tiao Tiao.

When he thought that he was only in his twenties and that the rest of his life was like a long night with no end in sight, he felt a despair deep in his bones.

During those long years, when Tiao Tiao was not there, the wind did not exist, the grass and trees did not exist, the sunshine did not exist, the bright moon did not exist, and he did not exist either.

Being alive is nothing but an empty shell, a walking corpse.

“Pah.”

A few sycamore leaves fell on the corners of the pavilion tiles, and then slowly floated down.

Fang Buyu subconsciously stretched out his hand, watched the leaf fall into his palm, and then gently bounced to the ground.

He lowered his head, sighed deeply, and walked back to the table in the pavilion. Just as he was about to open the food box on the table, his eyes were fixed on something.

What's this?

He moved the food box away and saw clearly a fallen leaf on the edge of the box. To be more precise, it was a fallen leaf with hollow veins!

——

"Tiaotiao, what are you doing?"

"Ayu, you're here!"

"What's this?"

"Oh, you're talking about this. I made this when I was bored, so I slowly tore off the flesh of a fallen leaf along its veins. Look, by tearing it off bit by bit along the veins, you can clearly see the shape of the leaf. I love doing this when I'm bored. Just now, while I was waiting for you, it felt like time flew by..."

——Fang Buyu’s eyes flashed, and he almost held his breath, following his body’s instinct and picking up the fallen leaf.

There seemed to be bursts of muffled thunder rolling between heaven and earth. The howling wind blew up the lanterns, causing them to shake violently and the light to flicker.

In a trance, it seemed as if a dazzling light was approaching him, becoming brighter and brighter. The light shone on the veins of the leaves in his hand, casting a shadow on the pavilion pillar.

"Master Fang! Someone accused you of instigating witnesses to fabricate false facts and frame the prime minister of the current dynasty while investigating a case in Weizhou. Please come with us!" A loud voice came.

Fang Buyu seemed to be under a spell, his whole body was frozen and motionless. After a long while, he slowly turned his head towards the direction where the sound came from, as if waking up from a dream.

What is Jiang Han, the leader of the imperial guards, talking about?

"Pavilion Master Fang, please come with us."

Fang Buyu heard him repeat.

He looked at the dozens of guards following behind Jiang Han. They were all the emperor's personal guards. At this moment, they were holding torches. The blazing flames illuminated the surroundings like daylight, and the world in front of them was dazzlingly bright.

Fang Buyu lowered his head again, his gaze returning to the leaf vein in his hand.

It is real, the leaf veins are real, and Tiaotiao is also real!

Jiang Han repeated once more, "Pavilion Master Fang, please come with us and don't make things difficult for me."

But before he could finish his words, he saw Fang Buyu, who had been silent, suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter was hearty and open-minded. In the light of the fire, crystal tears sparkled in the corners of his eyes. The scene had a breathtaking beauty.

Fang Buyu, what happened?

After a while, Jiang Han saw him carefully place the two fallen leaves in his arms, his movements so gentle as if he was treating a unique treasure in the world.

Then he tilted his head, with a blank look on his face, and asked him, "What did you just say?"

Jiang Han was speechless for a moment. Didn’t he hear what he just said?

But the dignity of the head of Sky Eagle Pavilion could not be easily offended. Jiang Han had no choice but to repeat Chen Weiyu's accusation.

After hearing Jiang Han's words, a hint of surprise finally appeared in Fang Buyu's eyes, but this surprise quickly disappeared.

He first turned his head and looked in one direction for a long time, and then slowly turned his head back, his expression had returned to normal.

He turned around and the guards automatically made way for him.

His sleeves fluttered as he strode down the pavilion, saying, "Let's go."

＊

It was not until the next morning that Tang Suzi learned from Xiaoying that Fang Buyu had an accident last night.

What happened? When she saw him last night, nothing happened. How could he suddenly be taken away by the Imperial City Guards?

She hurried to the Tianying Pavilion branch to find Guo Yan, and happened to see Guo Yan hurriedly walking out of the door with a few guards.

Seeing her expression, he already knew the purpose of her visit.

He didn't explain much, but just said, "Miss Tang, I'm going to look for Chen Weiyu, let's go together."

*

The group soon arrived at Chen's house.

The guards responsible for protecting Chen Weiyu were still unaware of what had happened. The first guard saw Guo Yan and hurried forward, asking with a puzzled look on his face, "Master Guo, why are you here?"

Guo Yan didn't answer. He walked straight to the half-closed wooden door, pushed it open, and strode into the courtyard. The guards, confused, looked at each other, then followed him.

Chen Weiyu was sitting at the stone table, holding a small sieve in her hand, shaking the ground blue flower pollen into the rouge box.

When she heard the sound, she didn't look up, as if she had already expected someone to come looking for her.

Guo Yan had already walked up to her, his eyes sharp as a torch, "Mrs. Chen, why did you falsely accuse the Pavilion Master of threatening you?"

Chen Weiyu remained silent and looked unhurried.

But Tang Suzi noticed that the powder in the rouge box was already full, but she seemed unaware of it and just kept repeating the actions in her hands.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Guo Yan became furious and slammed his hand on the stone table. With a loud "bang", the blue pollen on the table flew up and formed a blue mist in the air.

The rouge box also fell from the table to the ground with a "clang", like a spinning top out of control, spinning and rolling, and finally stopped at Tang Suzi's feet.

"Speak! Why are you doing this!"

Chen Weiyu stared at the blue pollen scattered on the ground in silence.

Tang Suzi squatted down and picked up the rouge box, brushed off the dust on it, walked to Chen Weiyu, gently put the rouge box into her hands, and then held her hands with both hands.

"Weiyu, what's wrong with you?"

Chen Weiyu still stared at the ground with a blank gaze.

Seeing her like this, Guo Yan was furious, but he could do nothing. He could only turn to look at the four personal guards and ask them to go out and question her.

"Has Madam Chen been in contact with anyone these days?"

The head guard had just learned of such a serious incident and was so frightened that his face turned pale. He quickly replied, "No, Madam Chen has been staying at home these days. The only time she went out was to pick up clothes from the Madam's silk shop. She hasn't come into contact with anyone..."

Having said that, he seemed to have thought of something and his expression changed.

Guo Yan also noticed that something was wrong with Shouwei and immediately scolded him, "What's wrong? Tell me!"

The chief guard belatedly realized his mistake and sank to his knees. "Your Excellency, three days ago, Madam Zhao's father disappeared. We accompanied her to the market and searched for him for a long time but couldn't find him. Later, Madam Zhao said her father had gone to stay with relatives, so there was no need to look for him anymore."

Guo Yan's face changed and he asked sternly, "Who told her that her father went to a relative's house?"

"This...we don't know..."

"How could you not know? Didn't I tell you to be by her side and protect her at all times?!"

The chief guard hesitated, "At that time... at that time, Madam Zhao asked us to act separately."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was kicked to the ground by the furious Guo Yan, "You bastard! Do you know how big a mistake you've made?"

The four guards quickly kowtowed and apologized, "We are guilty, please calm down, sir."

Guo Yan tried hard to calm his anger before giving his orders to the guards again, "You four, from today on, stay here and guard this place tightly. Don't let Chen Weiyu come into contact with anyone! If you slack off again, you'll lose your head!"

He turned to the guards behind him and said, "You guys, go find Chen's father's whereabouts immediately!"

After the guards received the order and dispersed, Tang Suzi also walked out of the courtyard.

Guo Yan quickly stepped forward and asked, "What's going on? Did she speak?"

Tang Suzi shook his head.

Guo Yan's eager eyes dimmed. He glanced at Chen Weiyu, who sat motionless in the courtyard, and sighed helplessly, "Father Chen disappeared a few days ago. Madam Chen's abnormal behavior must be because someone is threatening her father's safety."

Tang Suzi's eyes widened in surprise: "How could this happen... Who did this?!"

"Who else could it be!" Guo Yangang was about to blurt out, but he still looked around cautiously. After confirming that there was no one else, he said bitterly, "The prime minister of the dynasty, Tuoba Xuan!"

He continued, "We've previously uncovered several cases involving him, but we've been lacking crucial evidence. Now he might be suspecting we have the crucial evidence, which is why he's retaliating so fiercely."

Originally, he shouldn't have told these things to other people, but in Guo Yan's heart, he already regarded Tang Suzi as Fang Buyu's closest person, so he had to seize any opportunity to save him.

"To be honest with you, Miss Tang, this key piece of evidence is most likely a letter, and it's in Lin Xiangli's hands. Only by getting this letter can we expose Tuoba Xuan and rescue Bu Yu."

Tang Suzi frowned, "A letter"

"Yes, I've visited Lin Xiangli several times before, and she said she burned the letter. I don't think it's that simple. You have a good relationship with Lin Xiangli, so could I ask you..."

Tang Suzi already understood the implication of his words and took over his unfinished words, "I'll try."

In fact, Guo Yan didn't need to ask her.

She doesn't have much time left in the world. In her last days, if this letter can save A Yu, she will try her best to get it no matter what.

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The author has something to say: Can the babies who are following me leave me a message? [burst into tears]