"Oh no, this smoke is poisonous."
Someone said it was poisonous, and everyone panicked. Yingliu took the opportunity to slip away.
Shen Yao's vision was blinded by the yellow smoke, and by the time he realized what was happening, the person had already vanished without a trace.
As the yellow smoke dissipated, Shen Yao's confidants immediately surrounded him, "Lord Shen, what should we do next?"
Shen Yao looked around and said in a deep voice, "Have the brothers guard all the intersections, and the rest of you continue the search. We cannot let him escape today, no matter what."
"Yes..." Upon hearing the order, the Imperial Guards quickly dispersed to relay Shen Yao's command.
After everyone left, Shen Yao looked towards the shadowy spot where Su Yan was hiding, only to find that she had already disappeared.
When Yingliu used the hidden weapon, Su Yan hid in the shadows a little further away, so all the yellow smoke did not drift in front of her.
When Su Yan saw Ying Liu running towards the back mountain, she immediately followed.
The usually shrewd Su Yan knew she had no fighting skills and that she couldn't possibly catch Ying Liu, who was clearly an assassin. If she did catch up, she would only become cannon fodder.
So, while following Yingliu, Su Yan secretly sprinkled the medicine powder she carried with her along the way, hoping that the county officials would find out soon.
Shen Yao went to check where Su Yan was hiding and found that there was powdered medicine on the ground at the intersection. He squatted down, reached out and touched a little with his hand, and then smelled it lightly.
It smells like wound medicine.
If it were ordinary wound medicine, Shen Yao might not have suspected anything, but this wound medicine was prepared by the county government and had a unique taste.
Shen Yao guessed that it must have been Su Yan who scattered it, so he immediately followed the direction of the powder.
The powder ran out halfway through, so Su Yan quickly broke off a tree branch from the road and pointed it towards Ying Liu.
Soon, Shen Yao, who had caught up, also noticed the problem. The tree branches by the roadside were pointing in one direction, and judging from the marks, they had just been broken. Shen Yao quickly realized what was going on and chased after the branches.
Su Yan chased after Ying Liu to the cliff, but found that Ying Liu was no longer there. Just as she was wondering what was going on, she suddenly heard a strange noise behind her.
With her keen sixth sense, Su Yan dodged the sneak attack; Ying Liu's soft sword was just a hair's breadth away from piercing her chest.
Su Yan patted her heart, still shaken, and exclaimed, "That was close! I almost got killed."
Yingliu sneered, "Hmph... This time I won't let you dodge it, take this..."
After saying that, Yingliu raised her sword and attacked.
Knowing she couldn't defeat Ying Liu, and seeing the sword hurtling towards her, Su Yan closed her eyes and shouted, "I know Zhang Jingzhi was framed!"
After saying that, she didn't feel the stinging pain she had expected. Su Yan slowly opened her eyes and saw Ying Liu looking at her with surprise.
"You already knew?"
Su Yan nodded. "Yes, I already know your motive for killing, and I also know that you are not Xu Lanxin, not Yingliu, but Zhang Lanzhen, Zhang Jingzhi's daughter."
The courtesan's death was actually a revenge plot. Although the four Xin sisters were not the murderers of Zhang Jingzhi, they served as a catalyst, making Zhang Lanzhen's revenge understandable.
"Zhang Lanzhen, your father, Zhang Jingzhi, wasn't corrupt or bribe-taking; he was framed, wasn't he?"
As Su Yan finished speaking, Zhang Lanzhen's vision was already blurred by two streams of tears. "My father was a good man. He couldn't possibly have embezzled or hoarded government silver. It was all those four women who framed a good official with nothing but empty words. More than 120 members of the Zhang family were wiped out just like that. I killed them to rid my life of this scourge."
Seeing Zhang Lanzhen's emotional fluctuations, Su Yan tried to distract her with words to buy time until the county officials caught up.
“Zhang Lanzhen, you are wrong. The mastermind behind your father’s death was not those four women, but someone else.”
"You're talking nonsense..."
“It was them. After my father and mother entertained them that day, the government officials ransacked my house. Who else could it be but them? The meaning of my life is to take revenge and comfort the spirits of my 120 members of the Zhang family in heaven.”
"Lanzhen, you were only six years old then, right? It was the people from Dark Moon Pavilion who told you that the murderers were Xin Yunniang and the other three, right?"
Zhang Lanzhen's pupils widened slightly, her face filled with disbelief. "How do you know about Dark Moon Pavilion?"
Su Yan sneered, "Of course I know, because the lives of twenty members of my Su family were all thanks to the Dark Moon Pavilion."
"Don't try to fool me. The Dark Moon Pavilion doesn't kill people indiscriminately. They only kill bad people."
"You're pathetic! You don't really think that just because those four brothel women have made a few empty promises, you can bring ruin to your Zhang family? If it weren't for someone setting a trap, the prefect of Yangzhou wouldn't even have had a chance to defend himself before being thrown into prison, and the Zhang family would have been wiped out in just a few weeks. Do you still think that's something that four weak women could do?"
"No...no...no...you're lying, you're lying..." Zhang Lanzhen retreated like a frightened little beast, as if the world had collapsed before her eyes.
“Lanzhen, I know what it’s like to live in hatred every day, but don’t let hatred blind you. Even if it weren’t for Xin Yunniang and her three sisters, there would be Zhao Yunniang and Sun Yunniang. Someone wants your father dead. The process doesn’t matter anymore.”
Zhang Lanzhen threw down her sword, squatted down and tried to cover her ears with her hands, shouting, "Stop talking! My master wouldn't lie to me, she wouldn't lie to me!"
Being deceived by someone you trusted, and who might even be your enemy, Su Yan understood Zhang Lanzhen's feelings at that moment. She slowly approached her, trying to soothe her collapsing emotions.
"Lan Zhen, I understand how you feel. My family was also killed by the Dark Moon Pavilion. Can you tell me who runs the Dark Moon Pavilion?"
"Waaaaah... Waaaah... Master wouldn't lie to me, why... why, my parents were so good to others... why did they kill them? What did I do wrong? What did my parents do wrong... why did they treat us like this..."
Su Yan mustered her courage, stepped forward, patted Zhang Lanzhen on the shoulder, and comforted her, "This isn't your fault, this isn't your fault..."
"Waaaah... Father, Mother, why didn't you take me with you... Waaaah..."
Zhang Lanzhen's tearful account brought tears to Su Yan's eyes. For the past three years, she had wanted to catch the murderer every single moment.
Zhang Lanzhen, however, was trapped by hatred for ten years. Both were fellow sufferers in this world, and in the end, they were also pitiful. Su Yan couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Just as Su Yan was comforting Zhang Lanzhen, Shen Yao arrived at the cliff with his officials.
Like a frightened bird, Zhang Lanzhen shoved Su Yan away, picked up the sword on the ground, pointed it at her, and said angrily, "You lied to me too... I was so stupid to believe an official."
After saying this, Zhang Lanzhen walked towards the cliff and shouted, "Father! Mother! It is your daughter's fault for being unable to avenge you. I have come to apologize to you."
Now Zhang Lanzhen knew she was at her wit's end, but she didn't want to be caught by the government officials, so she resolved to die and headed towards the cliff.
Su Yan realized that Zhang Lanzhen was about to do something foolish, and chased after her without hesitation.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com