"Young master, two young ladies suddenly appeared in the dark ahead and blocked our way," the driver hurriedly replied, still seemingly shaken.
"Who dares to block my carriage?" Upon hearing this, Yi Shangjun immediately lifted the carriage curtain, jumped down, and shouted at the two women blocking the carriage's path in the darkness.
By the dim light handed to them by the driver, the two women hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to Yi Shangjun, apologizing, "Young master, we are so sorry. We sisters were looking for someone in this area and didn't want to be late for our return journey. Could you please give us a ride to the market ahead?"
"You two audacious women, what are you doing sneaking around in this desolate wilderness in the dead of night? Aren't you afraid of running into bad people?" If this had happened before, Yi Shangjun would never have been so patient. He would have immediately and sternly chased them away without a second thought. However, as soon as the words were on the tip of his tongue, for some reason, the image of Yi Shangyun suddenly surfaced in his mind, so he immediately changed his tone and spoke more gently.
“Young master, you have misunderstood. My sister and I were indeed searching along the river for a friend who had fallen into the water and gone missing. We were originally with many other people, but when we split up to search, we didn’t arrive here on time, so we got separated. We are really not bad people, so please forgive us. We haven’t had a drop of water all day, and we are too exhausted to walk any further. That’s why we dared to stop your carriage. Please forgive us.”
A woman in yellow with a local accent helped another woman in blue, who was too weak to speak but still looked quite elegant, and said sincerely.
As Yi Shangjun was pondering, Yan'er, inside the carriage, heard the commotion and hurriedly lifted the curtain, peeking out to see two frail-looking women. She immediately pleaded on his behalf, saying, "Young Master, there's a Buddhist saying, 'Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda,' and another, 'Five hundred glances in a past life are needed to brush shoulders in this one.' Since we've had the chance to meet these two ladies today, how dangerous would it be to ignore them and leave them in this desolate wilderness? Giving them a ride to the market ahead is nothing more than a small favor for us. Why hesitate, Young Master? Besides, Young Master's martial arts skills are now extraordinary, and tonight is the Lantern Festival. Under such a 'perfect time and beautiful scenery,' why wouldn't Young Master be happy to 'rescue the beauties'?"
Unbeknownst to her, Yan'er had quietly gotten off the carriage and stood silently beside Yi Shangjun, her eyes fixed on the extremely complex changes in his expression, from anger to bewilderment, or perhaps a rare shyness.
Yan'er raised her eyebrows and deliberately nudged his arm with her elbow, then gave him a mischievous wink. Yi Shangjun immediately waved his hand impatiently and said, "Alright, alright, get in the car."
"Thank you, young master, thank you, young master..." Upon hearing this, the woman in yellow was overjoyed. She thanked him repeatedly while, with Yan'er's help, she helped the extremely weak woman in green into the carriage and settled her in.
Yi Shangjun and the driver sat together in front of the carriage. They continued to whip the horse and slowly disappeared into the night fog, heading towards a brightly lit area ahead.
For some reason, Yi Shangjun's heart suddenly started pounding.
Not only that, along the way, he couldn't help but turn around more than once to carefully observe the woman in yellow inside the car through the curtain.
But the woman in yellow inadvertently looked at him through the same gaze, and when she smiled at him, Yi Shangjun suddenly felt as if he was suffocating. A tingling sensation he had never felt before arose, and he quickly turned his head away.
Unexpectedly, all of this was witnessed by Yan'er, who was silently watching from the side. She immediately gave him a very strange smile.
When Yi Shangjun bumped into the funny face that Yan'er had made for him, he quickly shrank back and sat up straight, a beautiful blush of shyness rising on his face.
At this moment, Yan'er glanced at the woman in green who had fallen into a deep sleep, then smiled and asked the woman in yellow, "May I ask the names of the two young ladies..."
The woman in yellow quickly replied, "Oh, my name is Lanxiang, and I live in the market over there. This is my sworn sister, Yu Niang."
Yan'er smiled instantly and murmured, "'Lanxiang' and 'Yu Niang', what beautiful names... By the way, I just heard you say that you are also looking for someone, right?"
Upon hearing this, Lanxiang sighed, then said with a somber expression, "Alas, it's a long story. What? Judging from your tone, are you also looking for someone? Judging from your accents, you don't seem to be locals from the south of the city."
Yan'er pursed her lips, a smile playing on her lips, yet her expression seemed tinged with helplessness as she said, "To be honest, we came from the west of the city. My young master and I came here to find my young lady at Wanjiao Pavilion in the south of the city. But when we arrived, Wanjiao Pavilion was deserted, and even the doors were sealed off."
Upon hearing this, Lanxiang became very anxious and hurriedly asked with concern, "Have you found your young lady? How did she end up in such a place?"
Yan'er suddenly realized that Lanxiang must have misunderstood something, so she quickly waved her hand and explained, "It's not what you think, Miss. My young lady is a respectable daughter from a respectable family. She came here to look for someone. Although my young master and I haven't found her, we estimate that she and His Highness Prince Qin have already returned together, and we just missed each other on the way. So, we're preparing to ride as fast as we can and rush back to the west of the city tonight."
"From the west of the city? A young lady from a wealthy family? Looking for someone at Wanjiao Pavilion? His Highness Prince Qin?... Is your young lady named Yi Shangyun? Tall and elegant, with a pure white veil covering her face all day long?" Lanxiang recalled and pondered carefully, piecing together fragments of information. Then, with a hint of doubt in her heart, she asked in surprise.
Upon hearing this, Yan'er and Yi Shangjun outside the carriage turned their heads almost simultaneously and looked at Lanxiang, exclaiming in unison, "You've seen her before?"
"Have you seen my young lady before?"
Lanxiang was so startled by the hopeful gazes of the two people that she didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Seeing this, Yan'er quickly reached out and put her arm around Lanxiang's arm, smiling expectantly as she asked, "Miss, you must have seen my young lady, right? You've also seen His Highness Prince Qin, haven't you? My young lady must have already returned with His Highness Prince Qin's entourage, right?"
After a long silence, Lanxiang seemed to have finally mustered up her courage, took a deep breath and said with a serious expression, "To be honest, the person we have all been searching for day and night for several days is your young lady—Yi Shangyun."
"We've been searching for my young lady for several days now? What do you mean by that, young lady?" A very bad premonition rose in Yan'er's heart, and her voice became lower and lower.
Just then, seeing that Yan'er was stunned as if she had lost her soul, Yi Shangjun lifted the carriage curtain and continued to ask, "What exactly happened to my sister in the south of the city? Where is His Highness Prince Qin now? Please speak frankly, Miss."
So, Lanxiang sighed deeply and recounted in detail everything that had happened after Yi Shangyun arrived at Wanjiao Pavilion...
As soon as he finished speaking, Yi Shangjun's brows furrowed more and more tightly, and his fists, one on his leg and the other gripping the car window curtain, clenched tighter and tighter.
Just as he was about to lash out, Yan'er suddenly blurted out, "You're talking nonsense! My young lady won't die! She's so kind. I hate you. My young lady is so good to you, how could you curse her to die?"
Yan'er, who spoke words that seemed to convey the strongest and most unwavering conviction in the world, had already completely broken down in her defenses. She sadly bent over and buried her face in her knees, sobbing, "Waaah..."
Seeing her pained and helpless appearance, Lanxiang couldn't bear it and quickly slapped herself in the face to apologize, saying, "Pah, pah, pah, I misspoke. 'Good people are rewarded,' 'Good people are blessed,' I believe Miss Yi will definitely be able to turn bad luck into good, and she will definitely still be living well in some corner of this world."
Leaning against the carriage, gazing up at the starry night sky in silence for a long time, Yi Shangjun suppressed his grief and asked, "Your Highness, has he really returned to the palace with the princess and the crown prince?"
Lanxiang frowned, watching his retreating figure as she quietly said, "His Highness Prince Qin was seriously injured and fell into a coma while saving Yun'er. His condition is extremely critical. The princess had no choice but to leave. Before departing, she left most of her troops in the south of the city to inform and assist in searching all the branches along the Biyue Lake waterway, conducting a thorough search for Yun'er's whereabouts. Not only that, but in the past few days, Prince Qin's mansion has continuously dispatched many elite troops to the south of the city, but... so far there is still no news about Yun'er. We have truly done our best."
"No, this matter is too serious. I must return to the manor immediately and inform my father," Yi Shangjun said solemnly.
Unexpectedly, Yan'er suddenly sat up and resolutely declared, "No, Yan'er will not go back. Yan'er will stay here and search for Miss with everyone. No matter who she is, she is Yan'er's only mistress. When Miss is born, Yan'er is born. If Miss is really gone... no matter what, Yan'er will follow Miss to the death and will never let her be alone."
After a moment's thought, Yi Shangjun said, "Very well, then you can stay here and search for the eldest young lady's whereabouts with Miss Lanxiang and the others. You have served the eldest sister since you were a child, so perhaps you can be of help. I will travel back tonight to discuss it with my father. Fortunately, we have the help of His Highness Prince Qin."
"Thank you, young master!" Yan'er thanked him repeatedly, and clasped Lanxiang's hands tightly with her own.
However, in the silence, Yi Shangjun silently prayed, hoping that God would have mercy on that kind-hearted woman with such a tragic fate, and be merciful even more so...
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