Seeing that Zhu Jiayu had dismounted and was still going forward, Wei Qinglou pursed his lips but ultimately did not call out to her.
A guard brought him a torch, and he took the torch and went to Zhu Jiayu's side.
The bright firelight shone on the water plants, beneath which the water flowed and rippled gently. The stars twinkled in the sky, and their light was reflected in the water.
Zhu Jiayu, however, had no such romantic thoughts. She was struggling with how to find the person when suddenly a torch illuminated her vision. She happily took the torch and said to Wei Qinglou, "Thank you, Lord Wei. Go and look over there. Let's split up and search, which will save everyone time and effort."
Wei Qinglou paused for a moment, then finally said "okay".
After turning away and walking a distance, he still felt uneasy and turned back to call Zhu Jiayu back.
Zhu Jiayu turned around, holding the torch.
In the flickering firelight, her black hair, snow-white skin, bright eyes, and white teeth made her breathtakingly beautiful.
Wei Qinglou was caught off guard and froze. After a while, he said softly, "You need to be more careful."
Zhu Jiayu smiled slightly: "Alright, Lord Wei as well."
After saying that, she turned around and continued searching for Rong Heng's figure.
About 15 minutes later, the group gathered together, looking disheveled and exhausted.
Still, no one has found Rong Heng.
The soldiers' eyes betrayed their exhaustion. During the day, they had to maintain order in the city and distribute food and medicine. It was already hard enough during the scorching summer, and at night they still had to wade through the river to search for people.
Even though Zhu Jiayu was extremely eager to find Rong Heng, she could not ignore their exhaustion.
After a moment of silence, she looked at Wei Qinglou and said, "Since we can't find them, let the brothers go back first. It's too late, and even the strongest body can't withstand this."
Wei Qinglou looked at her, then at the exhausted soldiers, and slightly raised his hand, saying, "Go back. There's no need to look anymore."
Having searched for two hours without finding the person, it seems that continuing the search will be futile.
"Together?" The soldiers mounted their horses and headed into the city, but Wei Qinglou did not follow. Instead, he asked Zhu Jiayu beside him.
Zhu Jiayu forced a smile and said, "Lord Wei, please go back first. I'd like to be alone for a while."
She hadn't tasted defeat in far too long. Since her rebirth, she had revitalized the embroidery workshop, persuaded Song Jiangmei, Qiu Weiming, and Gu Heguang to break off their engagement with the Marquis's mansion, and killed Song Qingzhang. Everything she did went smoothly, to the point that she almost forgot that she was just an ordinary person, unable to do what ordinary people couldn't.
She was not facing a bookish scholar who only knew how to talk about war on paper, nor a weak person who couldn't even kill a chicken. He was a young general who was once famous in Da Ye, whose strategies and methods were superior to others, who had the most acute perception and the most outstanding talent.
After noticing that Wei Qinglou had left, she slowly squatted down, hugged her knees, and let the river water soak her clothes.
This was the closest she came to Rong Heng's death.
But at this very moment, Rong Heng disappeared without a trace. Wei Qinglou's men searched high and low, but they couldn't find him.
If you can't kill a dangerous prey with one blow, you're giving it a chance to retaliate.
She stared blankly at the swaying water plants, wondering if she and Rong Heng would ever have the chance to meet again. And if they did meet again, could she deliver the fatal blow to him when he was off guard, just like this time?
If they were to confront each other openly and fairly, what are her chances of winning?
She even began to regret that this failure was because she was too hasty. If she had been able to keep Rong Heng in check, would Wei Qinglou have been able to find someone to keep a close watch on him and not give him any chance to escape?
She squatted for a long time until the night wind grew cool and her blood seemed to cool down. She finally tried to stand up, but because she lost her balance and her legs were numb, she accidentally fell down.
As the stars shone down, Zhu Jiayu had never felt so desolate. She finally couldn't hold back and cried out softly.
"Miss Zhu's schemes drove me to Songjiang, and I even nearly lost my life here. What, you're not satisfied at all? You're actually crying here?"
There might be footsteps behind her, or there might not be; Zhu Jiayu didn't know, but Rong Heng's voice was so clear that she thought she couldn't have misheard.
Ignoring the fact that he saw her disheveled state, she stood up, turned around to look at Rong Heng, who was soaking wet, and sneered, "You actually dare to come back?"
Rong Heng looked at her with a light smile.
He was dripping water, his long, wet hair draped over his shoulders, and water was also dripping from his pale face. His brows and eyes were calm, and he stood there like an androgynous water ghost, gloomy and sinister.
Even though the third person knew what Zhu Jiayu and Wei Qinglou had talked about, he was all-knowing and knew that Wei Qinglou's later investigation into those who were following him started after his conversation with Zhu Jiayu. By going back in time, it was obvious that someone had set a trap for Wei Qinglou to investigate him.
As for who this person is, it goes without saying.
He should have left Songjiang by now, but he couldn't swallow his anger. In the end, he thought that if the person behind him was really Zhu Jiayu, she would definitely not be willing to accept that he had escaped, and might even follow Wei Qinglou to find him.
Unexpectedly, he actually got to see it.
It turns out that what happened by the pool that day wasn't a hallucination; she really wanted him dead.
"Why wouldn't I dare? Miss Zhu, I'd like to ask you, why?"
Rong Heng asked himself if he had done anything to wrong her, and no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out why Zhu Jiayu wanted to kill him.
Zhu Jiayu continued to stare at him. After a long while, she sneered, "You have ulterior motives, using innocent people in an attempt to shake the foundations of the nation. You deserve to die. And you still have the nerve to ask why?"
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