Chapter 109 Yunxi's possessions were all gone.
It was only in the last few days, while staying by Gu Nanxiao's bedside, that Prince Yong discovered this. It turned out that in his heart, the son he cared about most was still the eldest son born to his first wife.
He was relieved to see his son finally awake. He had blamed his son in his heart and was furious at his son's sentimental behavior.
But now, faced with his son's earnest plea, he couldn't utter a single word of reproach. Remembering the imperial physician's instructions, he answered without further hesitation:
"Alright, your father promises you that as long as you recover, you can marry whomever you want in the future, and I will not interfere. As for finding Yunxi, I will go to the palace to ask my elder brother for help."
The emperor was instructed to notify all prefectures and counties to post imperial edicts to find the missing person. Gu Nanxiao had expected the Prince of Yong to reprimand him, but to his surprise, the prince agreed without hesitation. This somewhat eased the estranged father-son relationship that had been strained for many years.
Seeing the adoring look on his son's face, Prince Yong was immediately overcome with paternal love and straightened his back. He decided to go to the palace right away. He instructed the princess to take good care of his son, then went back to his room to change before heading straight for the palace.
The princess originally wanted to stay and take care of her son, but Gu Nanxiao used the excuse that his mother was in poor health to send her back to Qingfeng Courtyard.
"Your Highness, as soon as the Princess Consort left, Gu Nanxiao immediately wiped away the tears on his face. He didn't care about saving face now; as long as he could find Yunxi, he would stop at nothing."
Gu Nanxiao summoned Mo Yu and, expressionless, ordered, "Go and send someone to protect Shi Qingchen. Don't let anyone harm his life."
Send someone to the Imperial Guard again to temporarily halt the Third Prince's case, seal all evidence, and do not submit it to higher authorities again.
Mo Yu couldn't understand his master's intentions. He had always done his best to avenge Miss Zhao, so why was he now turning around and protecting Shi Qingchen and the Third Prince?
Gu Nanxiao did this entirely because Yunxi's only remaining attachment in this world was revenge. Therefore, before he could bring her back, the Shi family and the Third Prince could not die.
If Yunxi knew that the Shi family had fallen, the Third Prince had been deposed, and Shi Qingchen was dead, she would probably leave without any hesitation.
The thought that Yunxi had no lingering affection for him caused Gu Nanxiao a dull ache in his heart. He lay back down on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, and muttered to himself:
"She slapped me, but it didn't hurt at all. Why did I treat her so roughly? She explained herself to me, but why didn't I believe her? I even got angry at her and said those hurtful things."
Gu Nanxiao felt like an empty shell, drained of all his strength. At this moment, he had no interest whatsoever in power, wealth, or even the future.
In the past, he and Yunxi had many things to do every day, but now, he feels that without Yunxi in his life, it is as if he has been left alone in a desert, leaving him with only endless loneliness.
Thinking of Yunxi, Gu Nanxiao decided to find some of her everyday items to remember her. He ordered his servants to find a set of clothes that Yunxi had once worn, hoping to find some trace of her presence.
But only a moment later, a servant reported: "Master, Miss Zhao's wardrobe is empty. Not a single piece of clothing that Miss Zhao has ever worn is left."
Gu Nanxiao's heart skipped a beat when he heard the report. He scrambled out of bed, fighting off the dizziness, and went to the side room, only to find an empty wardrobe.
His pupils trembled violently because he discovered that Yunxi's least favorite green dress had also been taken away.
Therefore, this also proves that Yunxi emptied the wardrobe not for daily use, but perhaps just because she didn't want to leave him with any memories.
But in his heart, he was unwilling to accept it. He couldn't believe that Yunxi would be so resolute after spending so much time together.
As if remembering something else, he immediately ran to Yunxi's dressing table and opened the jewelry compartments. All the jewelry was gone.
Just as he was rejoicing that Yunxi was willing to wear jewelry, perhaps indicating that she still had some lingering affection for him, he discovered a pile of death warrants in the topmost compartment.
Yunxi actually pawned all the jewelry she had bought for her, and in fact, it was a dead zone where it couldn't be redeemed. This clearly showed that she didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore.
Gu Nanxiao, breathing heavily, called over Mo Yu, stuffed the pawn tickets into his hand, and ordered him to send someone to redeem all the jewelry without missing a single piece.
If some jewelry has already been bought, you should find the buyer and get it all back.
Then, Gu Nanxiao went to Yunxi's small cabinet where she kept miscellaneous items. When he opened it, he found it was also empty.
This place once held countless gifts he had given her, items of all sizes, whether bought or made by hand, all of which Yunxi carefully kept here.
Moreover, he instructed the maids to clean the items every day to prevent them from getting dusty, and now, none of those items remain.
Gu Nanxiao felt a void in his heart. He hurriedly summoned the head maid who served Yunxi and pointed to the empty cabinet, asking, "Where are the things inside? Where did they all go?"
The head maid stammered, unable to answer, but when she met Gu Nanxiao's bloodshot eyes, her legs suddenly went weak, and she knelt down, hurriedly replying:
"That day I saw Miss Zhao take a charcoal brazier and it seemed like she was burning a lot of things. I wonder... I wonder if any of the items in the cabinet were among them."
Gu Nanxiao denied it incredulously: "No! Impossible! Yunxi treasures those things so much, she couldn't possibly have burned them all!"
"What charcoal brazier? Go and fetch me the charcoal brazier. If I find you lying, I will cut out your tongue!"
The head maid had never seen Gu Nanxiao so tyrannical before, and was already half-souled with fright. She stumbled out of the side room to look for the charcoal brazier.
Fortunately, the servants in the mansion had been negligent these past few days and hadn't actually emptied the charcoal brazier. The head maid brought a basin of black ash to Gu Nanxiao and then knelt tremblingly to the side.
When Gu Nanxiao saw the basin of black ash, he could tell that the charcoal basin had obviously burned a lot of things, which was why it left such a thick layer of ash.
But he was still not giving up. To prove that Yunxi hadn't burned the things he had given her, he started rummaging through the charcoal brazier.
He sifted through the layers of ash and finally found a safety amulet inside. After wiping the ash off the amulet, he could see its true color.
Overwhelmed by a sense of loss, Gu Nanxiao's legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. He remembered this safety buckle; it had a knot made by Yunxi herself, and there should have been a pair of brightly colored tassels at the bottom.
This was a gift that Yunxi was secretly making for him; he had seen a glimpse of the half-finished product before. But he figured Yunxi probably wanted to surprise him.
So he quietly put the safety amulet back, intending to wait for Yunxi to finish it and hand it to him personally. Now that Yunxi had burned it, Gu Nanxiao didn't want to think about what that meant.
After recovering from the initial shock, he reluctantly started rummaging through the charcoal brazier again, this time finding several small iron parts.
Only he and Yunxi recognized that these small parts were the mechanisms of the hidden dart. To commemorate the first weapon they had designed and made together, they kept this exquisite hidden dart.
At this moment, the wooden parts had been burned away, leaving only a few iron parts, forlornly left in the charcoal brazier.
Gu Nanxiao no longer dared to harbor any illusions; he had come to a complete understanding. It turned out that Yunxi had already decided to leave the day the two had their argument, or rather, after the little girl learned that he had agreed to marry Shen Yujiao into the Empress Dowager's household.
Gu Nanxiao sat on the ground, dejected, staring blankly at the pot of black ashes. He could completely feel that Yunxi's state of mind when she left was probably just like this pot of dead ashes.
Just then, a servant came to report: "Master, Chief Minister Qi has presented a visiting card at the gatehouse, requesting an audience with you."
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