Chapter 53 [VIP]
Chapter Summary: Seeking Help.
"Brother Li, will we be able to reach the capital today?" Ayu asked as she walked up to Li Qin.
Li Qin weighed the things in his hands and replied, "Yes, if we can't go to the capital, we can go to the outskirts of the city."
"That's good then." Ayu breathed a sigh of relief and replied while riding her horse. Cui Hong had found her the fastest caravan to the capital, but even so, it still took almost half a month to get there. It was already May, and the weather was starting to get warm; it felt like in a few more days, it would be warm enough to wear summer clothes.
As they were nearing the capital, Ayu was very excited, having endured half a month of arduous travel and was finally almost there.
“Hey, little sister, if you can’t find us by then, you can come to Tianning Inn on Cheng’an Street. We’ll probably stay in the capital for about half a month this time, and return to Guizhou in early June. If you need to go back to Guizhou, you can come find us again, and the price will still be the same!” Li Qin said to Ayu with a smile.
Ayu was pretty, perceptive, and tactful, so the people in the caravan treated her very well.
"Alright, then thank you very much, Brother Li!" Ayu replied with a smile. But in her heart, she was still worried about how to enter the palace later.
"Look at the gloomy sky, it looks like it's going to rain," Li Qin said with some concern as he looked up at the sky.
Ayu also sensed it; the low-lying dark clouds in the distance were slowly drifting towards them. A little flustered, she said, "Let's hurry, or it will be difficult to travel if it rains later."
"Okay." Li Qin responded, then turned and shouted to the others following behind, "It looks like it's going to rain heavily soon, let's hurry!"
"Alright!" came the reply from behind. Ayu then heard the sound of horses' hooves behind her become rapid and chaotic, much like her own pounding heart.
As the dark clouds grew thicker and the air thinned, becoming so stuffy it was almost impossible to breathe, Ayu rode her horse, panting. When she finally saw the city gate in the distance, her unease lessened slightly.
Just then, the rain began to pelt down. Li Qin hurriedly urged the people behind him to hurry into the city. Those behind them, pulling goods, naturally couldn't keep up with Ayu on horseback. Ayu reined in her horse and said to Li Qin and the others, "Thank you all, brothers. Now that we've reached the city gate, I'll take my leave. If we are fortunate enough to meet again someday, I will certainly repay your kindness!"
"Alright, the rain is really heavy, Miss Ayu, please be careful."
"Well, farewell." Ayu clasped her hands in a fist salute to them, then spurred her horse toward the city gate.
At that time, the sky was terribly overcast, and with the heavy rain, even the road ahead was difficult to see. The raindrops pounded on her body, stinging her, but Ayu endured it, with only one thought in her mind: to get to the palace as soon as possible and report this matter to Qi Jin.
After passing through the city gate, Ayu felt inexplicably relieved. Because of the rain, there were few people in the market, and Ayu's horse ran as fast as it did outside the city.
"My lord, the rain is heavy now. Perhaps we should wait a while before leaving the palace," Qinghong said softly, standing beside Su Siyang and looking at the rain.
Su Siyang stood under the eaves, absentmindedly stroking the hem of his clothes.
"Wanjiang Mountain, is there nothing to send back?" he asked, looking at the rain in the distance.
"No," Qinghong replied.
He knew what Su Siyang was asking. In the past, when Sheng Hua went to Wanjiang Mountain for two months or so, she would always send a letter back. But this time, Sheng Hua had been away from the palace for over a month, and there was still no news. In the past, Su Siyang would have sent someone to follow her. Perhaps because of Xie Xuan's affair with Sheng Hua, he was somewhat resentful, so this time he didn't send anyone. For almost a month, Su Siyang still had no news of Sheng Hua.
"Let's go." Su Siyang said calmly. Qinghong was taken aback at first, then looked at the little eunuch following behind her. The little eunuch reacted even faster than Qinghong, already opening the umbrella and moving it to Su Siyang's side.
The rain was heavy. As soon as Su Siyang stepped out of the corridor, the hem of his robe was soaked through. The purple robe was already dark, and after being wet, the color became even darker.
As they walked towards the palace gate, Qinghong quietly followed behind Su Siyang. Before getting into the carriage, Su Siyang suddenly turned around and said to Qinghong, "Send someone over."
The rain was pattering, and Su Siyang's voice was soft, so Qinghong didn't hear him clearly. She leaned closer and asked louder, "Sir, what did you just say?"
"Arrange for someone to go to Wanjiang Mountain." Su Siyang's eyes were very firm when he said this, and there was even a sense of relief after making a decision.
Qinghong's eyes dimmed slightly, and he replied, "Yes."
He had never really liked Su Siyang being with Sheng Hua, but Su Siyang was his master, so what good was it if he didn't like him?
After Su Siyang boarded the carriage, he placed the umbrella on the carriage shaft. The eunuch folded the umbrella and stood respectfully to the side. Only after the carriage had driven far away did he take the umbrella, bow, and leave.
His clothes and shoes were wet and uncomfortable. Moreover, the matter of Sheng Hua had been bothering him a lot lately. Coupled with the weather, Su Siyang sighed and just wanted to get back to the mansion as soon as possible.
As Su Siyang passed by the palace gate, he suddenly heard a voice beside the carriage. The voice was muffled by the sound of rain, yet strangely familiar. But this thought only lasted for a moment; the next second, Su Siyang was startled by her words.
"The Empress Dowager may encounter misfortune while passing through Qian'an Slope in Guizhou. Please allow me to enter the palace immediately to inform His Majesty!"
Su Siyang's mind went blank. He stood there in the carriage for a long time, not realizing what he had just heard.
Ayu was soaked to the bone, her hair plastered haphazardly to her face, and she looked utterly disheveled. Desperate to get in, she kept saying, "I am Xue Yu, a servant of Cining Palace. Please let me in quickly!"
The local officials didn't recognize her, and what Ayu feared now was that even the guards at the palace gate wouldn't recognize her. Although she served in the Cining Palace, she was still only inside the palace, and it was hard to say whether the guards at the gate would even know her. The palace was always a place of fawning on the powerful and currying favor with the weak, and she had nothing to prove her identity, making her situation truly troublesome.
Before Su Siyang could call a halt, Qinghong had already stopped the carriage. Qinghong was on the other side of the carriage, which blocked her view. It was getting dark, and Ayu was so focused on talking to the guards at the palace gate that she didn't notice the carriage next to her.
Su Siyang had just told Qinghong about Shenghua, so when he vaguely heard Ayu's voice, he stopped the carriage.
Su Siyang stood up straight, ignoring the rain, walked to the front of the carriage, and looked down at Ayu standing in the rain.
"Your humble servants greet Lord Su." The guards at the palace gate bowed and paid their respects to Su Siyang as he emerged.
Ayu turned around and looked at Su Siyang. Su Siyang was tall and thin, dressed in a purple robe, and standing on the carriage shaft, looking down at her. His expression was hidden in the darkness of the night and rain, inscrutable yet extremely oppressive. But in that instant, Ayu seemed to grasp at a straw, quickly walking to Su Siyang's carriage. Before she could speak, Su Siyang frowned and asked in a deep voice.
What did you just say?
“When I accompanied the Empress Dowager to Wanjiang Mountain, I learned that my father was seriously ill when we passed through my hometown, Guizhou City. I beg the Empress Dowager to allow me to stay in Guizhou City to take care of him. When we return to the capital, I will accompany the Empress Dowager back to the capital.”
“I was counting the days, and I thought Her Majesty the Empress Dowager should have arrived in Guizhou City from Wanjiang Mountain by now, but I waited for several days and still didn’t see her. When I went to the street to inquire, I learned that a caravan had been robbed and killed by bandits on Qian’an Slope outside Guizhou City. I went to the government office and saw that the bodies there were all of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s guards.”
"Where is the Empress Dowager!" Su Siyang couldn't help but interrupt, his voice lowered as if he were suppressing some emotion.
When Yu Jing was mentioned, A Yu paused for a moment, then hesitated before saying, "I heard that a woodcutter saw a man and a woman being forced to the edge of a cliff at Qian'an Slope by bandits, and they jumped off the cliff."
Su Siyang wanted to say something, but his throat was choked up, as if something was blocking it, and he couldn't speak.
"Jumped off a cliff?" Su Siyang murmured in disbelief.
Upon hearing this, Qinghong turned her head to look at Su Siyang carefully, and said with some concern, "My lord."
Su Siyang's throat moved before he uttered two words: "Return to the palace."
"Master."
Xu Xinshu heard Qu An call him and turned his head to look.
"Lord Su is requesting an audience outside," Qu An whispered to Xu Xinshu.
"Didn't he just leave the palace? Why is he back?" Xu Xinshu frowned slightly and asked.
"There was a maidservant with her, who looked like Ayu," Qu An continued.
"Who?" Xu Xinshu's voice was louder than before, and his face turned deathly pale.
"That's right, Ayu, who serves the Empress Dowager. I wonder what happened to her?"
Xu Xinshu frowned even more deeply, pulled Qu An aside, and asked seriously, "You didn't see wrong, did you?"
"Without my master, how could I dare to lie to you about this?" Qu An said hurriedly, looking somewhat aggrieved, not at all like he was joking.
"It's over." Xu Xinshu's face turned deathly pale, and he murmured softly.
"What's wrong, Master?" Qu An had been following Xu Xinshu for quite some time, but he had never seen Xu Xinshu so flustered before, and asked somewhat nervously.
Where are they now?
"I'll wait outside," Qu An replied, glancing at the doorway.
Xu Xinshu walked to the pillar, picked up the oil-paper umbrella standing beside it, opened it, and walked straight out. Xu Xinshu's steps were still steady, but for some reason, Qu An watched him with a strange sense of dejection. He had a feeling that something big was about to happen. Something big that even Xu Xinshu couldn't handle.
Xu Xinshu went outside and immediately saw a group of people standing there. A woman, not wearing palace attire, was soaked to the bone and stood under an umbrella in a disheveled state. Su Siyang's purple robe was also mostly wet. Behind him, no one was holding an umbrella; he was holding one himself, showing his urgency.
After seeing the woman's face clearly, Xu Xinshu's expression turned even more unpleasant.
“Eunuch Xu, I have important matters to report to His Majesty. Please inform him.” Su Siyang said directly.
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