After speaking, he paused, then slowly took out the gleaming gold dragon-character plaque from his sleeve pocket, held it in his hand for a moment, and then said with a serious and somewhat solemn expression:
“Brother Long, Long Ye is right. Now that you've returned, this gold medal with the character 'Dragon' should rightfully be returned to its rightful owner. I'm truly sorry that I didn't manage the Xiaolong Society well while you were away. But, no matter what, you saved my life, and I will never forget that. However, I really don't want to see your illustrious reputation end in tragedy. I've said everything I could to say and advise you during my time at the Xiaolong Society. I hope you'll take care of yourself.”
As she spoke, her eyes glanced at Lanxiang, who stood beside her, dejected and looking utterly dejected. She slowly walked closer and gently reached out her hand, smoothing the stray strands of hair that were blowing in the wind from Lanxiang's temples as she explained, "There's one more thing I wanted to say before Ruoxi left. Lanxiang really isn't a spy for the King of Western Qin. She was just simply accompanying Ruoxi's maid, Yan'er, to find Ruoxi and take her home. But Yan'er was..."
As Yi Shangyun spoke, she seemed reluctant to continue, so she lowered her voice, slowly stopped what she was doing, and closed her eyes. At this moment, in front of Long En, she always preferred to refer to herself as Ruoxi rather than as the eldest daughter of the Yi family, Yi Shangyun, as everyone else called her.
After a moment of silence, Yi Shangyun composed herself, took a deep breath, turned around sharply, and walked firmly toward Long En. She reached out and grabbed one of Long En's large hands, solemnly placing the gold medal with the character "Dragon" into his hand. She then bent Long En's five fingers down and held the gold medal tightly in her palm.
Then, she took another deep look at Long En, and the two stared at each other for a moment before she hurriedly turned her head and strode back to Lan Xiang's side, anxiously untying the ropes binding her.
Long En knew perfectly well that Lan Xiang was indeed innocent. However, Xiao Long Society was all his hope and the culmination of most of his life's work. Now that such a big thing had happened, he just couldn't swallow his anger and temporarily went along with Long Ye's wishes to vent his frustration.
Upon hearing Yi Shangyun's words, he immediately raised his hand, which was tightly gripping the gold medal with the character "Dragon," to his eyes, clenching it tightly. His eyes remained fixed on his fist, seemingly unblinking...
At this moment, Long Ye had already cleaned up the rather generous gift that the birds, who were very much in tune with the season, had given him all by themselves. While still looking disgusted, he picked up the corner of his clothes and sniffed it to see if there was any pungent smell left. He was muttering something under his breath.
Suddenly, he glanced up ahead and saw that Yi Shangyun was about to untie the last few rings of binding Lanxiang's limbs. Long Ye swiftly drew his sword and rushed towards the two women, gritting his teeth and roaring, "Witches, what are you doing? I'll tear you both to pieces today..."
As he spoke, he raised the sword in his hand high and slashed it hard at Ruoxi's back.
At this moment, Xuan Yuanhan, who had been hiding in a tall tree and closely observing the actions of everyone below, was about to leap out when Long En suddenly snapped out of his daze and shouted at Long Ye's back, "Stop..."
"Brother, what's wrong with you? Didn't you see that these two bitches are trying to escape?" Upon hearing this, Long Ye froze in his tracks and turned to question Long En.
Unexpectedly, Long En seemed to completely ignore Long Ye's existence, not even glancing at him. He took two steps forward and stood in front of Long Ye, who was also stunned by his loud shout. He raised one of Long Ye's tightly clenched fists from behind his back and slowly opened his palm, revealing a sandalwood bracelet with orchid patterns.
Lanxiang quickly glanced at the familiar phoenix tail pattern entwined in the inner circle, and immediately and quietly touched all over her body, only to find that she was indeed naked.
Just as they were wondering, Long En asked them with a serious yet anxious expression, "Whose bracelet is this?"
After a moment, seeing that no one made a sound, he first looked into Yi Shangyun's eyes, because it was she who had secretly slipped the bracelet into his hand along with the gold pendant with the dragon character.
At this moment, Yi Shangyun looked at the bracelet in Long En's hand but didn't say a word. Instead, she looked down at Lanxiang's skirt, which was fluttering gently in the breeze.
Seeing this, Long En frowned and then shifted his gaze to Lan Xiang's face, who had completely broken free of the ropes. As soon as Lan Xiang met his gaze, she quickly looked away at Yi Shangyun's shoulder and did not say anything.
The two of them remained silent in the face of Long En's questioning.
Lanxiang was still wondering: she had just managed to get the bracelet back and was now keeping it with her even more care. Could it be that when she was tied up by Long Ye and struggled, it accidentally fell to the ground and was picked up by Long En?
As they were pondering, they suddenly heard Long En, suppressing his anger once more, ask in a deep, deliberate voice, "I'm asking you, whose bracelet is this?"
But no one spoke.
At this moment, Long Ye curiously stepped forward, wanting to take the bracelet into his hand to examine it more closely, but Long En quickly snatched it from his palm and hid it behind his back, leaving Long Ye looking embarrassed.
To cover his tracks, he raised the sword in his hand again, pointing the tip at the two women's noses, and questioned them one after the other: "Did you hear me? I'm asking you, whose bracelet is that? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you mute? Do I need to give you a good treatment?"
As he spoke, he used one hand to roll up the sleeve of his other arm.
Seeing the sword tip flashing in front of the two women, Long En rushed forward, grabbed Long Ye by the collar with one hand and dragged him aside, then slapped him hard across the face with the other.
Pointing her finger at his nose and glaring at him, she warned, "I said, no one is allowed to touch either of them, not even a whisper. You'd better behave yourself and not think I don't know what you've been up to while I was away! If you anger me, I'll make sure you die a horrible death!"
Upon seeing this, Long Ye immediately covered his burning face and stared in astonishment into Long En's eyes.
After solemnly reprimanding Long Ye, Long En slowly turned around, raised the bracelet high to his shoulder, and asked one last time, "I'll ask you one last time, whose bracelet is this?"
But still no one spoke.
At this moment, Long En chuckled and said, "It seems no one wants this bracelet, right? In that case, I..."
As he spoke, he quickly glanced around, and suddenly, with a "whoosh," he threw the bracelet forcefully into a muddy, stinking swamp that was faintly visible in the distance, overgrown with aquatic plants and soaked in water for a long time.
"No!" Upon seeing this, Lanxiang finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, immediately running towards him.
"Lanxiang, come back! That swamp is dangerous, don't go!" Yi Shangyun warned her retreating figure, then glared at Long En, who had already followed Lanxiang and was staring blankly in astonishment, and scolded him:
“Brother Long, Lanxiang isn’t ready to acknowledge you yet. Ever since her mother passed away when she was very young, she and her grandmother have been relying on each other. Lanxiang has already suffered enough these past years. Now, you don’t have to so cruelly destroy the only thing that keeps her alive! ... She didn’t want me to tell you this, but is this how you treat her... All my efforts to reunite you and your daughter have been in vain.”
After saying that, Yi Shangyun angrily chased after him, calling out, "Lanxiang, wait for me!"
At this moment, Long En was extremely shocked, and he kept asking himself:
"Lanlan, she's dead? Why did she die? Why didn't she wait for me? Was it because of me? Because of my betrayal? Because of my abandonment of her and her daughter? But doesn't she understand that in this world, she was the only person I ever loved? How could she die? How could she die? In the end, she still makes me owe her in this life. My daughter, Xiangxiang, Lanxiang..."
Upon realizing this, Long En immediately withdrew his gaze and came to his senses, glaring angrily at Long Ye as if a thousand cold arrows were shooting out from his eyes.
Long Ye, who had also just learned of this shocking news, was completely terrified and at a loss for words. His eyes darted around, knowing that Long En was watching him, as if wanting him to explain something, but he dared not meet his gaze, nor utter a sound, as if even breathing was a delicate matter.
In a fit of rage, Long En strode up to the terrified Long Ye, grabbed one of his arms and dragged him toward the tree where Lan Xiang had been tied up. He bent down, picked up the rope from the ground, and in just a few moves, firmly bound Long Ye to the tree trunk.
While desperately trying to break free of his bonds, Long Ye feigned surprise and asked, "Big brother, big brother, what are you doing? Why are you tied me up?"
"Now that things have come to this, don't you understand yourself?" Long En retorted.
"Brother, listen to me, things aren't what you think. Those two scoundrels are cunning and treacherous. I don't know where they got these things from, maybe they're imposters..." Even now, Long Ye still tried to use sweet words to distort the truth and defend himself.
Unexpectedly, Long En interrupted him halfway through his sentence: "You surely know more about my own affairs than I do. Alright, whatever you have to say, I'll give you time to explain yourself later. For now, you stay here and reflect on your actions. When I return, don't try to spout nonsense to me again. Otherwise, I will not let you off easily!"
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