Chapter 75 A chilling aura

In early autumn, the water temperature is only slightly cool.

But when she was caught off guard and fell into the water, Ye Mingzhu was still startled by the cool water.

She heard Baozan and the others crying out in alarm from the shore, and she could also hear someone jumping into the water. Someone must have gone in to rescue her. She quickly calmed down.

Because of an accident when she was a child, she begged her parents to teach her to swim, and she is quite good at it.

Even if no one goes into the water to save her, she can still swim back to shore.

The only concern was the large number of people on the shore. If she went ashore soaking wet, her reputation would be ruined. Not only would the Duke of Wei's mansion become a laughing stock in Yanjing, but it would also implicate Ye Baozhu, who was still unmarried.

Once again, she felt that reputation was a chain she wished she could cut off.

As Ye Mingzhu floated in the water, she saw Ruixiang on the shore. She was anxious but calm, directing the guards to disperse and create a secluded area on the bank. Ruyi and her men used the outer garments that the guards had taken off to cordon off this section of the riverbank. Baozan was anxiously waiting for her with a cloak, ready to wrap her up as soon as she reached the shore so that no one would see her fall into the water.

Having grown up together, the master and servants didn't need to say much; they made the most appropriate choice immediately.

Ye Mingzhu felt a little more at ease and swam towards the shore.

But just as she was about to reach the shore, something suddenly wrapped around her ankle, as if a demon was hiding in the water, and violently pulled her into the cold, wet water.

With a glint of coldness in her almond-shaped eyes, Ye Mingzhu immediately shouted to Baozan and the others, "Go into the water and save me!"

She only managed to utter those four words before her body suddenly sank below the surface of the water, forcing her to hold her breath to avoid choking.

She was both a believer and a deity.

As she pulled hard on the rope binding her ankles, she looked up by the light from the shore and realized that what was taking her life in the water was not a water ghost, but a masked man dressed in night clothes!

Who wants her dead?

Was the little boy who bumped into her not an accident at all, but something that was deliberately arranged?

Was it Sheng Huai'an who discovered her plot and wanted to kill her, or was it someone else?

...Countless thoughts flashed through her mind. Ye Mingzhu calmed down, cleared her mind of distractions, and kicked the masked man hard, trying her best to break free.

However, no matter how good she was at swimming, she was no match for a man in terms of strength.

The air she had inhaled finally ran out, and she felt suffocated. She seized the opportunity to leap out of the water to gasp for air, but was quickly pulled back in. She choked on a mouthful of water, coughing up a metallic taste in her throat and feeling a burning pain in her lungs.

The masked man went even further, pressing her head down with his hand and submerging her in the dark river.

The feeling of suffocation was like a venomous snake coiling around her. Ye Mingzhu struggled desperately, but the shadow of death gradually enveloped her.

Am I going to die?

Ye Mingzhu was unwilling to give up, but her mind, which was sluggish due to lack of oxygen, was still trying to think of a way to escape.

At the critical moment, a strong force suddenly came, and a hand grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the seemingly hopeless situation.

She struggled to wipe the water off her face, opened her eyes, and was suddenly overjoyed: Sheng Yunche!

But upon closer inspection, it was not Sheng Yunche at all.

He was clearly a stranger in the Imperial Guard, wearing a cold mask and a robe with flying fish patterns.

Memory is irrational, pulling her back to the past.

She uncontrollably recalled that it was the same when she was a child. She fell into the water and was rescued by a fifteen or sixteen-year-old member of the Imperial Guard. After they got ashore, he put a cool mint candy in her mouth.

...

"Cough cough..."

Ye Mingzhu woke up coughing and found herself sleeping in her familiar bed.

The bright candlelight in the room made her squint, but it pulled her out of the dark water, giving her a sense of relief at surviving a disaster.

Her throat hurt terribly, and she felt weak all over, but she was alive.

"Miss, you're finally awake!" Baozan's voice rang out, choked with sobs. "Knowing you were injured, the Princess came to see you and stayed with you for a long time before leaving. The Duke has also returned and is in the courtyard. I'll go and invite him over right away."

"Wait a minute." Ye Mingzhu only saw her alone, and asked in a hoarse voice with concern, "Ruixiang, where are the other three?"

Baozan wiped away her tears: "They told me to stay on the shore and deal with whatever happens. They jumped into the water to save you, but they were also held underwater by the villains and suffered a lot. They are resting in the side room now."

"Did the doctor give it to them? Did they see it?"

"I saw it! Fortunately, the Imperial Guards arrived in time. All three of them are fine. They only fell asleep after drinking the calming soup."

The person who saved her was indeed a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

She wasn't mistaken.

Ye Mingzhu then asked, "Wan'er, is she alright?"

"Miss Wan'er is fine, but she is blaming herself terribly, saying that she shouldn't have taken you to the water's edge, and she cried for a long time."

"It's good that you're alright." Ye Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief before asking, "You just said, cough cough, that the Duke is back?"

"Yes." Baozan nodded. "After the Imperial Guards on patrol rescued you from the water..."

Ye Mingzhu listened quietly to her, nodding occasionally.

The imperial guard who rescued her seemed to be a minor leader.

After rescuing her from the villains, perhaps knowing her identity and fearing it would damage her reputation, they handed her over to Ruixiang while she was in the water.

Then he led his men to capture the villain who had attacked her, tied him up, and handed him over to the people of the Duke of Wei's mansion. At this time, the people from the Five Cities Garrison also arrived, so he hurriedly left with his men.

Not long after they left, Sheng Yunche arrived in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. He first found a nearby clinic and took the four of them, mistress and servants, to see a doctor, and then escorted them back to the mansion.

Now, Sheng Yunche is interrogating the two criminals he captured in the courtyard.

“Miss, shall I go and invite the Duke in?” Baozan asked again.

Ye Mingzhu shook her head and weakly got out of bed: "I'll go out and take a look."

She wanted to see who had harmed her.

Having suffered such a great loss, she was unlikely to let it go easily.

She wants the person who harmed her dead.

Or it could be worse than death!

Hearing that she wanted to go out, Baozan hesitated, a deep sense of awe in her eyes, and said in a trembling voice, "It's very, very scary outside... Miss, you..."

Ye Mingzhu ignored her attempts to stop her, put on her embroidered shoes and walked out. Baozan had no choice but to support her to prevent her from falling.

Once outside, Ye Mingzhu realized what Baozan meant by "very scary."

In the courtyard, two teams of guards stood on either side, holding torches and looking serious.

In the middle of the ground stood two tall wooden frames. A man dressed in black night clothes was tied up and hung from the wooden frames, his head hanging down to his chest, his messy hair hanging down, making it impossible to see the expression on his face.

But he was clearly in bad shape.

Not only were there bloody welts on his body from the whip, but his clothes were also torn and bleeding, with crimson blood flowing from the wounds and pooling on the ground. The tall and elegant Sheng Yunche was standing in front of him, expressionless, holding a sharp dagger, slowly and deliberately cutting the flesh off his arm, bit by bit.

Cut off a piece, pinch his cheeks to force him to open his mouth, shove it into his mouth, then pinch his throat to force him to swallow.

The perpetrator looked terrified, made a gurgling sound in his throat, choked so hard that his eyes rolled back and his body trembled like a leaf.

Sheng Yunche stood before him, his fingers stained with blood, yet his movements remained as fluid and graceful as flowing water.

Ye Mingzhu stood at the door, her hand gripping the door frame unconsciously clenching tightly. Her slender white fingers turned bluish-white at the knuckles from the excessive force.

She finally understood.

Why do outsiders say that Sheng Yunche is cold-blooded, tyrannical, cruel, and bloodthirsty?

Just as she thought of this, the man she was watching suddenly turned around, his sharp phoenix eyes, filled with murderous intent, coldly looking at her, as if the snow of a harsh winter was being swept up by a biting wind, roaring and rushing towards her.