Chapter 135: The Moment of Upheaval
After obtaining the human skin mask, Shen Lang disguised himself. Xie Huailing also obtained the information she had obtained from Bai Choufei regarding Chai Yuguan's whereabouts, as well as more clues, from Bai Feifei.
Having told Shen Lang everything, it was time for him to say goodbye. He spoke to Zhu Qiqi, and this time she was determined not to back down. For her, being able to die alongside Shen Lang meant nothing was worth fearing. Besides, there was Xie Huailing. Even if things ended badly, the three of them would still be together. What did she have to worry about?
"You two are going to be heroes, you can't leave me behind!" Xie Huailing had already guessed that if she asked Zhu Qiqi, Zhu Qiqi would say the same thing.
This is perhaps Zhu Qiqi's greatest strength. She often feels fear, and tears are the first to fall, but she is not lacking in courage; she is not inherently afraid to face danger. As a lover, she disregards her own life and death; as a friend, she is willing to live and die together.
Their comings and goings were spectacular, but that's about it.
Unfortunately, there was no time for sentimentality. With Shen Lang's departure, Xie Huailing's plan was precisely timed, every step carefully executed. The clock in her mind was set in motion, ticking away with pinpoint accuracy. Success or failure hinged on this moment; whether she could sever two heinous heads depended entirely on what would happen in three days.
Three more cycles of the sun and moon will pass, and the traitorous minister will slowly enter the city in his carriage. Now that he's here, Xie Huailing will never let him leave.
Therefore, everything would be compressed to its limit within these three days, and her attention would be focused to the extreme. But even so, she would not let her guard down anywhere else.
For example, she was watching everything around the city gates, wondering if Situ Bian had spread the news that Wang Yunmeng was still alive; for example, she was also keeping an eye on Chai Yuguan, wondering if Shen Lang had fallen into the trap of "betrayal" as she had planned, after he deliberately left "clues"; and for example...
Bai Feifei went out for a while.
.
This is not something worth paying attention to.
Bai Feifei goes out frequently; she's not like Zhu Qiqi, who would rather spend all her time around Xie Huailing. Bai Feifei has her own connections and influence; she also has an organization under her management. She'll definitely need to give some instructions at this crucial moment. Even if this is the last day, she might still have to cram at the last minute.
But Xie Huailing's eyes still looked over, and this time, Bai Feifei didn't want to look at her as she left.
Then Xie Huailing thought of that name, and so she stood here again.
The magnificent palaces and intricate courtyards, deep and mysterious like caves through which spring has come and gone, were impenetrable at a glance, and even standing there sent chills down one's spine. She stopped in the corridor, looking up at the rooftop of the high building, and into the room with its intoxicating fragrance through the tightly closed carved wooden windows.
The maid arrived quickly, without delay, but even in her haste, she brought no news that Xie Huailing wanted to hear: "Young Madam, Madam has already taken her afternoon nap. Please come back in two hours. As you know, Madam doesn't like anyone to disturb her when she's asleep."
"Two hours?" The maid felt that Xie Huailing was unusually creepy today. Just standing in front of her made her tremble. Xie Huailing said, "Why two hours? Isn't it usually one hour?"
"Madam... Madam has to see guests after her afternoon nap." The voice grew softer and softer until the maid wished she could bury herself in the ground.
"What guest?"
"Young Madam, I don't know either."
She was practically a stutterer, and Xie Huailing knew this wasn't something she should know. She turned her head and looked one last time at the towering, icy-cold jade tower, then slowly exhaled. The sound of her breath reached the maid's ears, sending a strange chill down her spine, as if a sword were pressed against her neck. Or perhaps it was just her imagination; when she looked at Xie Huailing's face again, there was no change whatsoever.
But she dared not look, and the maid lowered her head deeply.
But Xie Huailing had one more question. She asked the maid one last time, her voice as cold as a spring, its murmur almost icy: "Has Madam gone out in the past three days?"
The maid trembled, instantly turning into a sieve. Did she not know, or was she unable to speak? She had seen Xie Huailing so many times before, but she had never been so afraid of her as she was today. Yet, if she were to speak, she would be afraid of Wang Yunmeng, afraid of this female demon who oppressed every inch of the mansion. She was about to shed tears.
"Don't make things difficult for people."
The shadow of the boy in scarlet robes fell on the vermilion pillar, shining like morning light floating on water. After walking a few steps, he stopped at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, the two hanging ribbons on his hair ornament swaying slightly, avoiding his expressionless face.
Of all the times he had met Wang Lianhua, was this the most serious or the most urgent one?
In short, he stood there like a flower suddenly standing in the cold, and said, "You go down first."
Upon hearing his words, the maid seemed to come back to life, having escaped death. She immediately bowed to Wang Lianhua and took her leave without lingering. Xie Huailing and he faced each other, dappled light and shadow coming from the trees, scattering over them and creating a distance of only two or three meters between them.
Xie Huailing said, "I don't have time to argue with you today."
She had no interest in exploring what Wang Lianhua was thinking, his innermost thoughts, or why he appeared before her in this manner. He wouldn't have anything nice to say to her anyway; their relationship had long since deteriorated to the point where even conversation felt superfluous. Could a few nights spent together really give him something to say to her?
But he just happened to have it.
Wang Lianhua said, "I'm not here to argue with you. I know you're looking for someone."
Without lingering for a moment, he turned and left, not needing to deliberately slow his pace, knowing that Xie Huailing would follow.
.
"Bai Feifei, right?"
They went to his room again, and Wang Lianhua sealed the doors and windows shut, making it completely impenetrable so that not a single word could be transmitted before speaking.
He showed no sign of a smile, and stopped joking with Xie Huailing. He simply gazed at her with a look as if the moonlight of the past few nights still lingered on his face: "I can tell you where she is. You haven't come to the wrong place. Mother does indeed have some plans for her."
"Some plans?" Xie Huailing hadn't expected that it would be Wang Lianhua who spoke to her. Upon hearing his words, the hatred she felt for Wang Yunmeng was no longer something she could suppress. "So you have some plans? But if you don't dare to make a move against me before tomorrow, you'll dare to make a move against my friend."
She had never trusted Wang Yunmeng, and was well aware of Wang Yunmeng's cold-blooded heart and cruel methods. Even Lei Sun would show some mercy in front of Wang Yunmeng. Therefore, she wanted to kill Wang Yunmeng, just as she knew that Wang Yunmeng would only have more schemes and tricks against her.
But what does that have to do with Bai Feifei?
Like a tree covered in snow, she gives the feeling of gradually growing colder in the spring.
Wang Lianhua was caught off guard by her address to Bai Feifei. He said, “I’m not entirely sure what Mother is planning, but in any case, Mother doesn’t want that Bai Feifei to live. I understand Mother’s expression; she must have offended Mother in some way. I also understand that Mother’s decision to deal with her without your knowledge means that Mother doesn’t want to break ties with you.”
“She has already torn it,” Xie Huailing said.
“Even if it wasn’t Bai Feifei today, but any one of my subordinates, she shouldn’t have bypassed me to handle this. The ‘Fairy of Yunmeng’ from back then is just ‘back then’!”
Alliances that were originally based purely on interests collapsed and crumbled rapidly once a crack appeared. The cracks were winding and twisting, like dragons and snakes, and in the blink of an eye, the alliance turned to ashes. The inevitable result after that was swords drawn and a fight to the death.
Wang Lianhua remained silent in the face of her simmering anger.
He should have defended his mother, but this time, he didn't. He was definitely acting strangely today, inexplicably telling Xie Huailing about it, inexplicably listening to her say these things, and inexplicably falling silent.
...There is another possibility: he actually had something to say, something he wanted to say to Xie Huailing, but he suddenly realized that it would be useless to say it.
"Even if you want to take her away, you might not be able to." Wang Lianhua's face remained expressionless. The phrase "beautiful as jade" used to be a verb to him, but now it was merely an indifferent adjective. "Bai Feifei, didn't I tell you anything? Didn't I tell you what she wanted to do here? What if I told you that she came voluntarily? You came here for her, are you really going to fall out with your mother again for her sake?"
Xie Huailing only said, "There are many kinds of voluntary actions. I will ask her myself what exactly happened."
Her expression was indifferent; she didn't want to add even a little emotion: "As for everything between her and me, everything about me, I don't need you to teach me. I will take what I want myself. Wang Yunmeng, you'd better always protect yourself and never regret it."
So, where is Bai Feifei?
With the situation now in such a state of collapse, her heartfelt intentions can be seen as a rainbow spanning the sky.
Wang Lianhua's eyelashes fluttered, and then she let out a short, sharp, almost panting breath.
He seemed to want to laugh again, but he couldn't. He turned his head away, and the expression that followed was inscrutable. It was as if a crack had been torn in him, yet he was also carrying a lot of unspoken emotions, a feeling of wanting to speak but holding back, of wanting to speak but having tears flowing first. When he could no longer bear it, he spoke again.
But what he said was, "I stopped her!"
The sound was a shout. Xie Huailing's eyes widened. She looked at Wang Lianhua again, and a bolt of lightning struck her.
The boy said, "I tried to stop her when she came in, but what good did it do? It was completely useless. Who knows what she was going to do! She just said that even if she died, she wouldn't affect you, and then she went her own way."
He finally laughed, a broken laugh, as if there was a hole in his body, and said, "She's in the farthest room behind the courtyard. There's less than an hour left. Go find her if you have time. If you can persuade her, go and take her away."
Xie Huailing finally understood. She could say nothing more. She understood what he hadn't said and why he had called her here.
He wanted to stop her, not just Bai Feifei, but at least to stop her. But the moment he saw her, he knew it was pointless to say anything. The person who least wanted to face this outcome, this situation, was not Xie Huailing, but Wang Lianhua.
This boy is acting very strangely.
So that at this moment, he was the one confirming all the things that were wrong with her.
And he already has the answer.
Wang Lianhua looked at her, and the hatred seemed to have intensified, become more complex, and was no longer entirely hatred, but rather something much more. He said, "Who can understand what you are all thinking... I only understand what I am thinking."
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