Chapter 45: No matter what, she is still my wife
Only after Xiao Ci arranged the personnel did Shen Yunshu dare to set out to visit her injured mother at the Lu Mansion.
Her mother's injury was not as serious as she had imagined. Her stepfather invited the best bone-setter in the capital to reset the dislocated bones. After that, she would be able to recover as before after three months of bed rest.
Her mother felt sorry for her making this trip on a snowy day, and asked her how she and her third sister were doing in Pei Mansion.
She told her mother that she and her third sister were doing well. Qilang had become ambitious and was studying diligently. Her third sister's relationship with the eldest son was growing stronger, and the eldest son treated her with great tolerance and care...
The mother was relieved.
Lu Yi never showed up, but Shen Yunshu was worried. She asked her mother casually why she didn't see her brother. Her mother praised him for being filial and said that after she fell this morning, he went out to find the best bone-strengthening and pain-relieving herbs for her.
He is not in the mansion?
Shen Yunshu felt more and more that something would happen today.
She stayed at the Lu residence for about an hour before bidding farewell to her mother. As she left in her carriage, another carriage followed not far behind.
Xiao Ci and the others were in the carriage behind.
Everything was fine on the way here, and Shen Yunshu hoped that the return trip would also be safe, but at the same time, she didn't want Xiao Ci and the others' trip to be in vain.
The carriage turned into another alley, and the driver suddenly pulled the reins and stopped the carriage.
"Seventh Young Master's wife, someone seems to be injured up ahead..."
Shen Yunshu's heart tightened: Is something really going to happen?
Fortunately, Xiao Ci and the others were right behind us.
So she told the driver: "Go down and take a look, be careful..."
"yes."
The driver got off the carriage to check, and soon came running back: "Oh no, Madam Seventh Young Master, it's Qing Jian..."
Qingjian?
Why is Qing Jian here?
The sky light faded, fine snow mixed with the cold wind, and the air was filled with a fishy and sweet smell of blood.
Qing Jian lay motionless on the ground, the blood under his body seeping into the snow water, spreading across a large area in deep and shallow areas.
Looking again, I found that there were three bloody holes on his body, the blood color on his face had drained away, and blood was still flowing out of his mouth.
Qiongzhi took an umbrella from the carriage and opened it. The driver sniffed and checked his breath: "Young Madam, he's still breathing..."
Shen Yunshu knelt in the blood and called him anxiously: "Qingjian, Qingjian..."
Ke Qingjian was already unconscious. Shen Yunshu looked around and found traces of a fight, and two wheel tracks were about to be covered by the fine snow. She guessed that her third sister might have been kidnapped.
Her heart immediately panicked. She stood up and wanted to ask Xiao Ci for help, but her legs were weak and she fell to the ground after running two steps.
She got up and continued running forward. Her skirt was covered with mud and water, and her pure white crane cloak was also mostly stained.
"Master Xiao, Master Xiao..."
At this time, Xiao Ci and others also got off the carriage. He quickly stepped forward and supported the embarrassed Shen Yunshu.
"What happened?"
Shen Yunshu grabbed his sleeve and could barely stand: "My third sister might have been kidnapped."
Xiao Ci immediately took people to check it out. Judging from the marks left by the wheels and Qing Jian's injuries, the incident should have happened about two quarters of an hour ago.
He ordered two people to return to the vicinity of Lu Mansion and keep an eye on when Lu Yi would return, and then took the remaining four people to chase him in the direction of the wheel tracks.
Shen Yunshu forced herself to calm down. Qing Jian was now dying. If he was not sent to the hospital, he might not survive.
The coachman was about to help Qing Jian up from the ground when another carriage passed by and stopped beside them.
Shen Yunshu's heart skipped a beat and she looked at the carriage warily, like a frightened bird.
Fortunately, the person who got off the carriage was not a bad guy, but Liang Jia Liulang, whom he had met once before.
"Don't move him yet," Liang Xu's first words after getting off the car were to stop the driver's movements. He then squatted down to check Qing Jian's injuries. "If the bones are injured, moving him rashly may make the injury worse."
Liang Xu quickly checked and confirmed that there were no bone injuries. He first stopped the bleeding and bandaged the wound, and then he and the coachman lifted the person into the carriage.
"I'm familiar with this area. I'll take you to the clinic..."
Shen Yunshu did not get on the carriage, but asked Qiongzhi to get on: "Please, Mr. Liang, take Qingjian to the clinic. I can't leave yet."
Liang Xu knew Qing Jian was someone close to Shen Youran, and seeing him lying there covered in blood, it was very likely that Shen Youran had been in an accident. So he jumped off the carriage, asked his driver and Shen Yunshu's maid to take him to the clinic, and stayed with Shen Yunshu.
“Did something happen to Miss Shen San?”
Shen Yunshu had just heard him say that he was very familiar with this area, and suddenly remembered that the Liang family's general's mansion seemed to be here. "My third sister might have been kidnapped. Lord Xiao has already sent people to chase her. Could you please ask Master Liang to dispatch some servants from the mansion to guard the house and help find her..."
Shen Yunshu's carriage was still there, and Liang Xu immediately asked her to get in: "Come on, follow me to the mansion to call for help."
Liang Xu drove back to his mansion and asked Shen Yunshu to wait in the carriage for a while while he went into the mansion to gather people.
Liang Qingluo and her sisters were drinking tea and admiring the snow in the front yard. Seeing her sixth brother coming back with a serious expression, she called out to him, "Sixth brother."
Liang Xu had no time to pay attention to her, but suddenly remembered that she usually didn't come back at this time, and Shen Youran happened to have an accident nearby, so he pulled her aside and asked her: "Why did you come back so early today?"
"The weather was bad, so Aunt Xiao asked us to come back early."
"You came back by yourself?"
"No, it's snowing. Sister Youran didn't let me ride a horse, so she asked me to take her carriage..."
The last sentence struck Liang Xu like lightning.
"Sixth brother, Sixth brother..." Liang Qingluo saw that his face looked strange and he did not respond when he called him. He was about to ask him what was wrong, but he saw him striding away with a sullen face. He summoned most of the guards in the house and led them out of the house.
When Shen Yunshu and his men were searching, they met Xiao Ci who had returned empty-handed.
"We found a carriage with the Pei family crest. The horse had been ridden away and there was no one in the carriage. There was only this..." He raised his hand, and there were a few white down feathers in his palm, exactly the same as the feathers on Shen Yunshu's crane cloak.
The Pei family's carriage, the white crane cloak...
Today, the third sister wore the same crane cloak as her.
Shen Yunshu's body swayed, and she murmured, "The person they want to kidnap is me, it's me..."
Xiao Ci held her up and said, "I've already sent someone back to the Dali Temple to report this matter. We'll definitely be able to find the person. You have to come back with me to the Dali Temple, and we'll discuss it together to see if there are any details we've missed..."
"Yeah." Shen Yunshu had no choice but to follow Xiao Ci.
Liang Xu also offered to go with them and said something to Xiao Ci, who then agreed.
While Xiao Ci was taking them to the Dali Temple, he instructed another person to go to Pei Mansion to inform Pei Huaijin.
When they arrived at the Dali Temple, Pei Huaijin also rode over. Seeing Shen Yunshu, he was stunned: "Sister-in-law, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, big brother, it was Youran..." Shen Yunshu blamed herself, her eyes red as she said, "Youran was kidnapped."
Pei Huaijin's face tightened, and his eyes darkened immediately: "Someone sent a bloody letter to the mansion, saying that they have kidnapped you and demanded a ransom of 100,000 taels of silver from your family..."
Sure enough, the person those criminals wanted to kidnap was her.
"Did you bring the letter?" Xiao Ci asked.
Pei Huaijin handed him the letter in his arms.
Xiao Ci unfolded it and scanned it. It was indeed Shen Yunshu's name written on it. "The writing is not new. This must have been planned long ago. Let's go inside and discuss..."
Liang Xu also followed him into the Dali Temple.
After some discussion, they roughly figured out the reasons and consequences of Shen Youran's kidnapping.
Those people wanted to kidnap Shen Yunshu, so they waited in advance on the road she had to take to return to the Pei family, and learned about her carriage and clothes. However, after Shen Youran sent Liang Qingluo home, she accidentally passed by that alley and was kidnapped as Shen Yunshu.
Then the group of people sent the letter they had prepared in advance to Pei's house, holding them hostage and forcing them to raise money to ransom the people.
Apparently they didn't realize they had kidnapped the wrong person.
If this was just a simple hostage-taking operation, Shen Youran's life would be in danger regardless of whether the bandits realized they had kidnapped the wrong person or not.
At this time, Shen Yunshu even hoped that Lu Yi was involved in this matter. At least Lu Yi was not so crazy as to kill people. If he participated in it, he might be able to save his third sister's life.
But if the news of my third sister being kidnapped gets out, even if I can save my life, Qingyu is afraid that...
Thinking of this, Shen Yunshu raised her eyes to look at Pei Huaijin: "Brother, since they want to kidnap me, you should raise money to redeem me in the name of saving me. Don't let others know that the person who was kidnapped is You Ran. She is in an unknown danger now, so at least protect her reputation first..."
Pei Huaijin looked calm, but his face had already turned pale. His voice was as sharp as ice and jade: "I know your good intentions. You don't have to sacrifice your reputation. As long as she can come back, no matter what, she will still be my wife..."
"You Ran has suffered this unforeseen disaster for me. This is the only thing I can do now. I don't want her to be criticized after she returns. I beg Big Brother to help me..."
Pei Huaijin still disagreed: "Even if her reputation is ruined, I can still protect her. If your reputation is ruined, I'm afraid my seventh brother won't be able to protect you..."
"Qi Lang and I..." Shen Yunshu bit her lip and told the truth, "We signed the divorce agreement on the night of the marriage exchange. We have never been a real couple, and I don't need him to protect me in the future."
Pei Huaijin's mind was already tense as a string, but when he heard this, he still distracted himself to look at her: "You..." No wonder his seventh brother, who had been jumping up and down and saying he didn't want to get married on the night of the marriage exchange, suddenly changed his attitude and accepted the marriage exchange.
Xiao Ci and Liang Xu, who were standing by, looked at her with a hint of surprise.
However, Pei Huaijin quickly retracted his gaze. His mind was now filled with worry for Shen Youran, and he really didn't have the extra energy to consider other things. He agreed to her request: "Then it's up to you."
Since she decided not to let her family know that the person who was abducted was Shen Youran, Shen Yunshu naturally could not return to the Pei family, nor to the Lu family or the Shen family. She simply stayed in the Dali Temple's yamen. Living here, she could also know the news of her third sister at the first time.
As for the Pei family, Pei Huaijin would go back to smooth things over and raise money to rescue people.
When Pei Huaijin returned to the Pei Mansion again, the mansion was in chaos. The old lady had already known about this matter and asked him to go to Chunxuan Hall to discuss it as soon as he came back.
At Chunxuan Hall, his father and second uncle were already there, both with anxious looks on their faces. When they saw him come in, they told him another piece of news that made the situation even worse: Xiaoqi was also missing.
"People at Ciyouyuan said that Xiaoqi and the teacher finished their lessons early this afternoon and said they wanted to go to the Lu Mansion to visit their injured mother-in-law..."
The second master of the Pei family has been in the mansion today. When the letter demanding money was delivered, the doorman saw blood on the letter and did not dare to give it directly to the old lady. The eldest master had not yet left his post, so he had to send it to the second house first.
After reading the letter, the second master immediately went to Ciyouyuan to find Pei Huaian, but found out that he had taken Qingwu out half an hour ago.
Someone was sent to the Lu family to look for him, but the Lu family said that they had not seen their son-in-law today.
Up to now, two or three hours have passed since Shen Yunshu's accident, and Xiaoqi has not returned yet.
Mrs. Pei seemed to be unable to bear it at this moment. She clutched her cane and lamented repeatedly: "Your third uncle only has this one son. If something really happens to him, what will we do?"
The master of the Pei family also sighed: "Da Lang, what did the Dali Temple say?"
"I've already handed the letter to the Dali Temple. They'll send more people to investigate." The elders were already in a state of panic, and he couldn't let them get distracted. "Just now, I didn't know that my seventh brother had also been in trouble. I'll go to the Dali Temple later. Father, Second Uncle, you guys raise the money first. We need to make preparations for both scenarios..."
Since the seventh brother was also heading to the Lu family, it was possible that he encountered the abducted Shen Youran on the way and chased him all the way.
If he hasn't come back tonight, I'm afraid...
Pei Huaijin's eyes were silent, his lips tightly drawn. After discussing the fundraising with his elders, he returned to Yunzhi Courtyard before heading to the Dali Temple. He summoned Shen Youran's two personal maids and told them that Shen Youran had been staying away from home for the past few days due to some matters, but that it was inconvenient to inform her family. They told them to tell everyone that Shen Youran was anxious about her elder sister's affairs and needed to rest, and that she would not see anyone who came...
Dan Ruo and Qing He were confused, but Pei Huaijin didn't have time to explain too much to them. He told them to do as he said and Shen Youran would be back in a few days.
The two maids had no choice but to agree ignorantly.
That night, Pei Huaijin ran back and forth between the Dali Temple and the Pei Mansion, and did not sleep all night...
*
The silent forest was torn apart by the sound of approaching horse hooves. After entering the forest, the carriage could not move forward, so Shen Youran was taken out of the secret compartment of the carriage and thrown onto the horse's back.
Shen Youran leaned forward, the fallen leaves and muddy water trampled by the horse's hooves splashing onto her face. Snow grains pierced the back of her hands like countless icy needles. She endured it silently, occasionally loosening her clenched fists, and a few snow-white crane feathers drifted down from her palms, blending into the snow in the forest...
As they walked through, Shen Youran heard them speaking in an accent that was not from the capital.
She didn't hear it very clearly, she just vaguely heard something like "there is a tail behind it" and that the "tail" had to be dealt with.
She didn't dare open her eyes, fearing that they would find out that she was pretending to be unconscious. She also couldn't accept the fact that she had been kidnapped by criminals.
Why am I so unlucky?
How did she run into this kind of thing?
If it hadn't snowed today, if she hadn't taken the initiative to send Liang Qingluo home, if she hadn't taken a detour to visit the Lu Mansion where her mother lived, she wouldn't have encountered this kind of thing.
Qing Jian's martial arts skills were very high, but two fists were no match for four hands, let alone more than four hands, but more than ten vicious criminals attacking him alone. She saw with her own eyes that Qing Jian was stabbed again and again until he was unable to fight back...
She jumped off the carriage and tried to stop them, but was knocked unconscious by those people. When she woke up, she was hidden in a small secret compartment, and then thrown onto the back of a horse and entered the forest.
How is Qing Jian?
He was injured so badly?
Did any passerby notice it in time?
He was stabbed multiple times. Can he survive?
What about her? After being taken to this bandit den, could she return unharmed?
Shen Youran didn't know how long she had been jolting on the horse's back. She felt like the saddle was about to pierce her. The rider finally tightened the reins and stopped, carried her into a room, found a rope to tie her hands and feet tightly, and then left.
After confirming that there was no one else in the room, Shen Youran dared to open his eyes cautiously.
What I saw was an extremely simple earthen house with rough and mottled adobe walls. There was an old wooden table in the room and a broken wooden bed underneath. The whole room was filled with the smell of earth and old wood, with a faint smell of mildew.
The window was nailed shut with wooden boards, but snow foam kept blowing in with the cold wind, making her feel freezing. Fortunately, the criminals didn't take away her crane cloak, otherwise she would have frozen to death.
Her hands were tied behind her back and her ankles were tied with rough hemp ropes. She tried to struggle, but with her limited strength, she couldn't get free.
What would happen if I broke free?
Even if you escape from this room, you can't escape from this bandit's den.
Woohoo, the worst that can happen is death. I’ll die sooner or later anyway…
Just as she was silently lamenting her own tragic fate, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching outside.
She quickly closed her eyes, feeling sad: It’s coming, it’s coming.
The shabby wooden door was pushed open with a harsh creaking sound, and cold wind rushed in, mixed with snow foam, blowing in the face.
The footsteps slowly approached, and soon the bed sank and someone sat down.
Shen Youran tried his best to suppress the fear in his heart, but cold sweat still broke out on his back.
A hand fell on her face, and even though the movement was gentle, Shen Youran still felt extremely nauseous.
She suppressed the trembling in her body and let the man wipe her face again and again...
Suddenly, the other person paused, pinched her chin, moved her face back and forth, and then let out a very heavy breathing sound.
The next moment, the force on the chin disappeared, and the man strode away, with the door panel slamming loudly.
In a valley deep in the dense forest, there is an inconspicuous small courtyard. In the cold wind and snow, people returning from horseback riding can't wait to enter the main hall to share hot wine and warm themselves by the fire.
They were bandits who had wandered all the way north from the south. They would usually move to another place after committing a major crime. Now they had stayed in the capital for too long and had attracted the attention of the government, so they decided to leave after committing this big crime.
It was Lu Yi who suggested to them to kidnap the seventh young lady of the Pei family.
The Pei family was well-off, and the third master of the Pei family was even more wealthy, so they asked for a ransom of 100,000 taels. If this money could really be paid, they would retire in the future and live a prosperous life in hiding.
However, even if they got the ransom, they did not intend to return the person, because when planning this matter, Lu Yi made an agreement with them that he would not take a penny of the ransom of 100,000 taels, but only the person.
She's just a woman, they don't care about her. When they have money in the future, they can find any beauty they want.
We have successfully captured the person today, which means we are halfway to success. Now we just have to wait for the Pei family to pay the ransom.
In the dim light, the main hall was filled with the strong aroma of wine and meat. Some people were leisurely enjoying the prospect of no longer having to live in fear, while others were skillfully applying medicine and bandaging the second-in-command. The second-in-command cursed the servant today, saying he was a real martial artist. He fought against more than a dozen people alone and still lost two of their brothers. He himself was stabbed by a sword without paying attention...
Lu Yi came out of the small room in the east, walked into the hall with a gloomy face, and said to the man who had just bandaged his wound: "Second Master, you have kidnapped the wrong person."
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became quiet.
"How is that possible?" The second-in-command stood up and cursed, "The Pei family's carriage, the young lady in the crane cloak, I kidnapped her based on the information you gave me!"
"She's not the Seventh Young Lady of the Pei family. She's the First Young Lady of the Pei family, the Third Lady of the Shen family, and Yun Shu's younger sister..."
The man sitting at the head of the table slammed his large, coarse porcelain bowl onto the table, spilling most of the wine. A deep voice came over: "What's going on?"
That's their boss.
Lu Yi confirmed that it was indeed Shen Yunshu who went to visit the Lu Mansion this afternoon, but why Shen Youran suddenly appeared in that alley was unknown.
But at this moment, they had indeed kidnapped the wrong person.
Lu Yi originally planned to use them to plan a hostage-taking extortion. He would hide Shen Yunshu without anyone noticing, and then create the illusion that Shen Yunshu was dead, so that he could have Shen Yunshu all to himself in the future. Unexpectedly, something went wrong with the seemingly sure thing.
Despite Lu Yi's anger, the eldest boss was more concerned about the ransom: "Since she is also the eldest daughter-in-law of the Pei family, who cares if she is a sister or not? As long as the Pei family can send the ransom, it will be fine..."
Lu Yi said anxiously: "Boss, I want the seventh young master's wife of the Pei family!"
"We'll just make do. Last time, three of my brothers died helping you snatch the bride, and this time, two more. Do you really want us to do it again?" The eldest boss stared at him gloomily, with a murderous look in his eyes. "Lu Yi, if the ransom doesn't come, the debt owed to my brothers will be paid to you..."
Cooperating with this group of bandits is like trying to get the skin of a tiger. If you are not careful, you will be eaten by the tiger.
Lu Yi was intimidated by the boss's threats and realized that it was hopeless to get Shen Yunshu back. He sat there in silence.
The eldest boss glanced at him and asked him, "Do you want the young lady we kidnapped or not?"
Lu Yi shook his head helplessly: "No, once the ransom arrives, let her go."
"Put it back?" the second in command said sarcastically, "I think this young lady looks very good. Master Lu, are you sure you don't want her?"
Lu Yi had indeed considered using Shen Youran as a stand-in, but the real owner was still alive, and a stand-in was still a stand-in. Furthermore, if he returned Shen Youran, the matter could be treated as a simple case of hostage-taking and extortion. If he hid her, he would be hard-pressed to escape if the incident happened in the future...
"I don't want it, Second-in-command. I advise you not to have any illicit thoughts." He could tell Second-in-command was a lecher. Having lived in seclusion in this mountain valley for so long, it was natural for him to have dirty thoughts upon seeing a beautiful woman. "Her father is the Minister of Rites, and her husband is in charge of military affairs in the Privy Council. Just take the ransom and release her. Don't cause any trouble..."
"Look at you, what are you thinking about?" The second in command's thoughts were exposed, but he shamelessly refused to admit it. Instead, he smiled and suggested to the first in command, "Brother, our brother Lu is already seventeen years old after the New Year. Shouldn't we find him a wife? I think this young lady is quite good..."
"How can that be?" Lu Yi hurriedly stopped him, "She's the Shangshu's daughter, and she's already married..."
"What's wrong with being married? As long as she's pretty, that's all," the second-in-command said nonchalantly. "You know what, this is the first time I've seen such a beautiful young lady in all these years. Brother Lu will definitely like her."
"Second in command, you..."
Lu Yi wanted to persuade him again, but was stopped by the eldest boss: "I think Second Brother's idea is good. Besides, we never intended to release the person from the beginning. Since we kidnapped the wrong person and you don't want her, why not let her marry our boy..."
"The boss..."
"It's settled!" The big boss waved his hand to signal him not to say anything more, then looked around, "Where's Lu Ge'er? Go call Lu Ge'er over..."
Someone in the main room immediately went out to look for someone. Not long after, a young man wearing a coarse cloth short jacket, a wolfskin half back, and a mink fur forehead warmer came in.
The boy had delicate features and eyebrows. Although his skin was slightly chapped and red from the north wind, the skin on his neck that was occasionally exposed when he walked was very fair. His facial features were regular, and he looked out of place among the rough and fat men in the main hall. If it weren't for his eyes that revealed the same wildness, he really looked like a rabbit that had accidentally wandered into a pack of wolves.
There really was a gray rabbit in his arms, a plump one. Frost still hung on his forehead. He held up the rabbit and shouted excitedly: "Dad, Dad, I caught a rabbit in the mountains today. Let's roast it and eat it later..."
"Don't worry about eating for now. Come here, Daddy has something good to tell you..."
The boy stepped forward and asked, "What's the matter?"
"I've kidnapped a beautiful young lady for you. After dinner, boil some hot water and wash yourself clean. We'll have our wedding night tonight..."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room except Lu Yi burst into laughter.
The young man was slightly stunned and asked, "Big Daddy, Second Daddy, why did you suddenly think of kidnapping a wife for me?"
The second in command explained, "We originally wanted to kidnap him for your brother Lu and extort some money from him, but we accidentally got him from the wrong person and he doesn't want him anymore. So we can't let him go to waste..."
As they were talking, two more people came in from outside, clasping their fists and saying, "Boss, Second Boss, we've caught the tail that followed us all the way. We originally planned to deal with it directly, but one of them claimed to be the Seventh Young Master of the Pei Family. We didn't dare to act rashly, so we brought them back and have now locked them up in the demolition house..."
"Oh!" The Second in Command laughed, clutching his wound. "Just now I was worried we'd caught the wrong person and the Pei family wouldn't pay the ransom. Now, despite not being able to capture the Seventh Young Master's wife, this Seventh Young Master of the Pei family has come to us on his own accord..."
The eldest boss looked at Lu Yi and asked, "Mr. Lu, have you ever met the seventh son of the Pei family?"
Lu Yi nodded: "I have seen it."
The eldest boss stood up and said, "Come on, let's go and identify him..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
