He Yun
Then, the door was pushed open with a soft sound.
Jie Xiangsi reacted extremely quickly, restoring the antique shelf almost instantly, and pulled Zhou Yanzhi to hide in the secret passage.
In an instant, the tinderbox in the secret passage went out, and two figures outside the door stepped across the threshold and entered. One of them said, "Sir, this is where the silver is hidden."
The other person didn't say much, only giving a faint "hmm".
Their voices weren't loud, but just enough for the two people hiding in the secret passage to hear.
Suddenly, Jie Xiangsi caught her breath.
That sound...
She couldn't help but look at the antique display shelf blocking her way, her eyes filled with a storm of emotions.
Sensing the sudden pause in breathing beside him, Zhou Yanzhi keenly noticed that Xie Xiangsi was in a bad mood. He pulled her closer and asked, "What's wrong?"
He spoke very softly, almost inaudibly, because he was avoiding people.
With a slight rustle of hair by her ear, Jie Xiangsi lowered her eyes and shook her head. Hearing footsteps approaching, she quickly gave Zhou Yanzhi a wink and silently mouthed – "Let's go."
Therefore, before the two people inside the room could open the secret passage, the two people inside had already disappeared without a trace.
They had come very slowly, but their pace quickened considerably on the way back, as Zhou Yanzhi practically carried Jie Xiangsi back, afraid that the two would discover them.
Just as they moved the bluestone brick back to its original position, several craftsmen walked in. Upon seeing the two, they exclaimed in surprise, "Who are you two...?"
Zhou Yanzhi said in a deep voice, "It's a routine inspection by the supervising official."
Upon hearing this, the group looked at Zhou Yanzhi with some suspicion, after all, they had never seen such a strange face before.
As a nobleman who had served in the court for many years, Zhou Yanzhi possessed an extraordinary temperament. When he turned cold, he looked imposing and dignified.
The men quickly lowered their heads and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."
Zhou Yanzhi asked in a flat tone, "Why weren't you here just now?"
The group exchanged glances, then bowed their heads and explained, "Our superiors just summoned us."
Zhou Yanzhi's tone remained unchanged, "Then let's get to work now, everyone disperse."
Immediately, the group dispersed completely in all directions.
...
On the way back, Zhou Yanzhi looked at the person sitting on the other side of the carriage and saw that she still looked dazed, with deep worry in her eyes.
It seems that ever since she heard that voice in the secret passage, she has been like this, staring fixedly at a small area in front of her, not saying a word, excessively silent.
He tried asking her, but no matter how he tried to persuade her, she just shook her head and wouldn't say anything.
Zhou Yanzhi had no choice but to give up.
For a moment, the carriage was unusually quiet, with only the sound of the wheels rolling over the uneven stone bricks echoing in the ears.
Suddenly, the rolling wheels seemed to run over something, and the carriage lost its balance. Before Jie Xiangsi could react, she tumbled straight forward.
Just as she was about to crash headfirst into the sharp corner, a strong arm reached out in time and pulled her back into its embrace.
"careful."
When her back bumped into the man's chest, Jie Xiangsi came to her senses, took a deep breath, and smelled the familiar pine resin in her nose. "Thank you, cousin. I'm alright now."
After saying that, she tried to get up from his arms.
But it didn't work. Looking down at the hand that was holding her waist, Jie Xiangsi turned her head and looked up at Zhou Yanzhi's eyes. "Cousin, what do you mean by this?"
After a moment of silence, Zhou Yanzhi withdrew his hand, watched as Xie Xiangsi moved to sit down to the side, and said, "You have something on your mind."
Jie Xiangsi calmed down and readily admitted, "Yes."
"Is it that person?"
He didn't say who it was, but Xie Xiangsi knew he was referring to the voice she had heard earlier in the tunnel.
Without hiding anything, she nodded slightly, "Yes."
"who is he?"
After a moment of silence, Jie Xiangsi raised her eyes and said, "An old friend."
She saved someone at the arena when she was still Xiao Yan.
One of her confidants, and also... the one who betrayed her.
Since her rebirth, besides thinking about how to overturn the case for the Xiao family and bring down the Fourth Prince, the thing she thinks about most is—who exactly was the person who betrayed her back then?
But now, after hearing that familiar voice, everything has an answer.
After all, only a handful of people knew she was leaving the city. Apart from him, the rest were people sent by her father and brother, and they couldn't possibly betray her.
She had doubts about him.
And now, she has actually encountered him in Danzhou, and... judging from the other person's attitude towards him, she is almost certain.
That's him—He Yun.
She was betrayed.
"An old friend?" Zhou Yanzhi's tone was somewhat surprised, but after glancing at the hint of disgust on Xie Xiangsi's face, he understood that this person was probably not a good one.
Jie Xiangsi nodded, seemingly unwilling to discuss the topic further. She then asked, "Since the batch of silver that Yang Hui sent is hidden in the stone chamber and not spent, cousin, what do you think is the purpose of the person behind this?"
Unexpectedly, the topic shifted so quickly. Zhou Yanzhi paused for a moment before saying, "I initially thought Yang Hui sent the silver to equip that private army, but now it seems that the person behind it might be colluding with the Northern Yi tribe. The silver in the stone chamber is their bargaining chip to win over the Northern Yi."
Upon hearing this, Jie Xiangsi frowned.
Winning over the Northern Yi tribes is a serious matter; it could be exposed if not handled carefully. If someone had to be chosen to handle the money, they would have to be a trusted confidant. So why would the person behind the scenes choose He Yun?
Although He Yun betrayed her, she didn't believe that the person behind the scenes could have set up the scheme so early.
Unless it was a setup between them that she saved He Yun ten years ago.
...
Even as she sat in front of the dressing mirror, Jie Xiangsi was still thinking about this question.
She didn't consider He Yun a confidant from the beginning.
It was during one winter, when she decided on a whim to travel to the north to visit her father and brothers, that she encountered an avalanche while traveling along a mountain path. He Yun shielded her with his body, and it was then that she began to value the person she had once saved.
It was also him who betrayed her. Now it seems he was the one who stole the 500,000 taels of silver from the Marquis's mansion.
Thinking of this, she closed her eyes and sighed silently. She believed she had treated him well, so why was this happening?
etc!
Suddenly, a sentence that Zhou Yanzhi once said came to mind: "But it is true that the Xiao family colluded with foreign tribes."
This was the story she told him that day in Yangqu, after he had drunk the bait. Under such enticement, there is no falsehood. Therefore, the Xiao family must have colluded with foreign tribes.
Suddenly, He Yun's face appeared in my mind.
When I first saw him, he was fighting in the arena in tattered clothes, but the fierceness in his eyes was terrifying.
Later, she rescued him. He cleaned himself up. Compared to the features of people from the Central Plains, his eyebrows and eyes were indeed more deep-set. However, his overall demeanor was not as unrestrained as that of the Northern Barbarians.
She thought it was just that his features were more defined, but now she wondered if he had Northern barbarian blood.
Once this idea took root in her heart, it grew inch by inch, driving her reason to the brink of collapse.
Yes, if he is a northern barbarian, then everything makes sense.
Why did Zhou Yanzhi accuse the Xiao family of colluding with foreign tribes? Why did an extra 500,000 taels of silver appear in the mansion for no apparent reason? And why did the person behind this choose to send him to Danzhou?
Everything makes sense now.
Because he was that foreigner.
Suddenly, a thunderclap exploded in Xie Xiangsi's mind. He Yun was someone she brought back, so... it was she who... let the wolf into the house and harmed the Xiao family.
"Crack—!"
A sudden sound of something falling and shattering rang out. In the darkness, the sound was extremely jarring. Zhou Yanzhi, who was resting with his eyes closed next door, suddenly opened his eyes and looked sharply toward Jie Xiangsi's room.
A few seconds later, Jie Xiangsi's door was suddenly pushed open.
Zhou Yanzhi strode into the room, walked around the screen, and his pupils instantly contracted upon seeing the scene before him. "Cousin!"
Startled awake by Zhou Yanzhi's voice, Ji Feng rushed over, hastily putting on his clothes while asking, "Sir, what's wrong... Miss Cousin?!"
All that could be seen was that Jie Xiangsi was slumped over the dressing table, one hand holding a blood-stained shard of porcelain, and the other hand dangling in a basin of water beside her, the water of which was stained crimson with blood.
From the moment they heard the commotion to their arrival, only a few breaths had passed, yet the blood flowing from her wrist wound was gushing out so quickly that Zhou Yanzhi could easily imagine what her hand looked like dangling in the basin of water.
In an instant, Zhou Yanzhi pulled her cut hand out of the basin and quickly tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve to tightly wrap the wound.
But she cut too deep, and the bleeding wouldn't stop, instantly turning the white cloth strip into a red one.
Seeing this, Ji Feng quickly turned around to find a doctor.
After a period of chaos, watching the doctor use heated silver needles to pierce the woman's bleeding wrists, and the fine thread stitching the flesh back together, Zhou Yanzhi felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly, making it hard to breathe.
He glanced at Xie Xiangsi, who was lying on the bed with a pale face, and unconsciously clenched his fist at his side.
She didn't utter a sound despite the pain; had she become so numb to it that she couldn't feel it anymore?
Thinking of Bai Rijie's words that she would never seek death again, a trace of unfathomable pain appeared in his eyes. Why did she always lie to him?
Thinking of the unusual behavior when Xie Xiangsi returned, Zhou Yanzhi walked to the side and called Ji Feng over, saying in a deep voice, "Go and find out who went to the governor's mansion today?"
"yes!"
Looking at the lonely moonlight outside the window, a fierce glint slowly rose in Zhou Yanzhi's eyes.
No one should hurt my cousin.
...
Through the thin window paper, the newborn sunlight streamed into the room.
Seemingly sensing the light on her face, the woman on the bed fluttered her long eyelashes twice, slowly opened her eyes, revealing a pair of still somewhat confused eyes.
Before she could even recover, a sharp pain shot through her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain, "Hiss—"
At the same time, the person sitting beside the bed opened his eyes, glanced at Xie Xiangsi's face, which was contorted with pain, and spoke calmly without a trace of emotion.
"woke up?"
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