Shangguan Wanning stood in the yard and could vaguely hear the noisy noises coming from the front hall of the government office, all of which were condemnations of Zheng Zhixing.
Her head was buzzing, and scenes of her growing up with Zheng Zhixing flashed through her memory, and her heart was broken.
Why, something that never happened in her previous life is now right in front of her?
"Don't think too much. Go in and rest. Mu Jingrui should be able to handle it." Sun Jinyao walked over and comforted him softly.
Shangguan Wanning looked back at Sun Jinyao and sighed deeply.
She didn't want to believe that Zheng Zhixing would be so cruel, but when she thought about how Zheng Zhixing almost strangled her to death before he left, she was still a little worried in her heart.
"I wonder where Zhixing is now?" Shangguan Wanning was sad, she lowered her eyelids, trying her best to hold back the tears.
In order to find Zheng Zhixing as soon as possible, Mu Jingrui sent a large number of troops to search inside and outside the city, but to no avail.
Shangguan Wanning was worried about Zheng Zhixing's safety, so she went to a temple outside the city to pray.
The residents at the border are influenced by the culture of other tribes, and not many of them believe in Buddhism. The whole temple looks very desolate and deserted, with only two monks living here.
After Shangguan Wanning added some incense money, she knelt before the Buddha and chanted the Heart Sutra.
"cousin……"
Shangguan Wanning was stunned. She wondered if she was hallucinating because she missed Zheng Zhixing too much.
She turned around quickly, and sure enough, Zheng Zhixing was standing in front of her.
"Zhixing?" Shangguan Wanning rushed over excitedly and held Zheng Zhixing's hand tightly. "Where have you been? Do you know that I am very worried about you?"
Only then did Shangguan Wanning realize that Zheng Zhixing's hands were cold.
In just a few days' absence, his hair had grown a lot longer, almost reaching his calves.
His hair was disheveled, his eye sockets were sunken, and his face was purple. He didn't look like a boy of fifteen or sixteen at all.
"Cousin, I..." Zheng Zhixing's bloodshot eyes were filled with tears, "I killed someone... I killed someone..."
Shangguan Wanning's heart tightened. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, held Zheng Zhixing's hand tightly, and said carefully: "Zhixing, don't be afraid. No matter what happens, I will face it with you. Tell me, what happened?"
"I..." Zheng Zhixing began to tremble all over, as if he thought of something terrible. He pulled back his hands and hugged his head.
"Cousin, I don't want to kill them, I really don't want to... but I just can't control myself. I tell myself not to kill, but I kill people crazily. I feel like... there seems to be another person in my body, I..."
Zheng Zhixing felt very scared and couldn't help but fell to the ground and started crying.
Shangguan Wanning felt heartbroken.
She squatted down and hugged Zheng Zhixing, patted his back gently, and comforted him: "Zhixing, it's okay, you are just sick, I will definitely find a way to cure you."
"Really?" Zheng Zhixing calmed down. "But now people outside are looking for me everywhere. If they find me, they will kill me. Cousin, I'm afraid..."
Shangguan Wanning knew clearly that she should give an explanation to those who died.
However, Zheng Zhixing's behavior was unusual, so there must be something else going on. She wanted to discuss it with Mu Jingrui in private before making a decision.
"Zhixing, don't be afraid. I will definitely find a way to save you." Shangguan Wanning looked around and whispered, "This temple is very deserted. There won't be many people coming here on weekdays. I'll ask the abbot. You stay here for now. I'll come pick you up soon."
"Um."
Zheng Zhixing had lost all of his former spirit and sat on the ground dejected.
After Shangguan Wanning settled Zheng Zhixing, she hurried back to the government office.
Mu Jingrui was listening to his subordinates' reports in the study. When he saw Shangguan Wanning sticking her head out and looking inside, he dismissed his subordinates and waved for her to come in.
"You're back so early?"
"Hmm..." Shangguan Wanning looked around vigilantly, wanting to say something but stopping herself.
Mu Jingrui realized that she had something to say, and smiled: "Don't worry, walls have no ears."
Shangguan Wanning finally felt relieved.
"Jingrui, I saw Zhixing..."
Mu Jingrui's expression changed and he asked, "Where is he? Why don't you bring him back?"
"If I bring him back like this, the gentry outside who denounced him will definitely not let him go. I can't let him get into trouble. Besides, I've already asked him, and he had no choice when he killed someone."
Shangguan Wanning repeated Zheng Zhixing's feelings in detail.
Mu Jingrui sighed helplessly, "Ning'er, if this is really the case, you should bring him back and explain the situation clearly in front of everyone. Do you want him to be on the run for the rest of his life with the crime of murder?"
"I never said I would protect him and make him irresponsible. I just wanted to discuss with you first what we can do to ensure his safety."
Mu Jingrui knew that the two siblings had a deep relationship. In addition, the Zheng family had a special status in the court, so he didn't want anything to happen to Zheng Zhixing.
"Ning'er, tell me where he is first. Don't worry, I will definitely protect him."
With Mu Jingrui's support, Shangguan Wanning breathed a sigh of relief and revealed Zheng Zhixing's hiding place.
"You look haggard. You haven't had a good rest these days. Go back to your room, and I'll take care of the rest." Mu Jingrui reached out and stroked Shangguan Wanning's face, saying softly.
Shangguan Wanning nodded, turned and walked out of the study.
She walked and thought, still a little worried, so she turned around to look for Mu Jingrui again. Just as she reached the corner, she saw Mu Jingrui hurried out with two of his men.
Shangguan Wanning thought that Mu Jingrui must have gone to deal with Zheng Zhixing's matter, so she went to the study to wait for him to come back.
She was bored and wanted to tidy up Mu Jingrui's desk, but unexpectedly she saw a joint official document.
The official document contained the names of officials of all ranks from several nearby prefectures. They strongly demanded that Mu Jingrui severely punish Zheng Zhixing, otherwise they would report him to the court and impeach him as well, accusing him of lax discipline and of shielding someone else.
Shangguan Wanning didn't expect the seriousness of the matter to be worse than she expected, and a strong sense of uneasiness spread in her heart.
If Zheng Zhixing fell into the hands of others at this time, he would surely die. In this case, would Mu Jingrui protect Zheng Zhixing, or...
Will he also sacrifice Zheng Zhixing to protect himself?
Mu Jingrui was ruthless and in his previous life he would do anything to achieve his goals.
So now...
Shangguan Wanning's heart ached fiercely. She had a bad premonition and ran out in a hurry.
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