Chapter 109
Wang Shuhuai's heart skipped a beat, and his mind was rumbling as if thunder rolled through it. He didn't listen to Qing Minggui's words, but leaned over and twisted Minggui's chest, and said in a deep voice, "What did you say?"
Minggui's lips were trembling, tears were streaming down his face, "Just now the sentry received a pigeon message from the Xiangshan Temple, saying that the Second Madam and Master You fell off the cliff..."
The sharp Adam's apple rolled violently, as if an arrow suddenly shot into the heart. The broken flesh and blood mixed together were nailed together by the sharp tip of the arrow, and there was no pain at all.
"impossible…"
Wang Shuhuai's face was gloomy. He didn't believe Minggui's words at all. He threw the man aside and ran towards the Meridian Gate as fast as a whirlwind. The officials and soldiers coming and going saw that his face was pale and blue, and his eyes were like dark pools. They were so scared that they all fell to their knees.
Everything in front of him became unreal, as if a huge rock was pressing on his heart, making it hard for him to breathe. He ran to the outside of the Meridian Gate, looked around, found a horse, immediately jumped on it, twisted the reins and galloped towards the East Gate.
The sound of the wind was tearing at my ears.
Horse hooves crushed the morning dew.
Wang Shuhuai's handsome face was tense to the extreme, his facial features were as sharp as silver blades, without any of his usual gentleness.
There were two female guards and two secret guards, all of them were very skilled. Unless they were the top masters in the martial arts world, no one could hurt her, and it was even more impossible for her to fall off the cliff.
He had clearly received a signal arrow from the secret guard not long ago, and she was fine, so how could something like this happen to her suddenly?
His eyes seemed to be permeated with a layer of red, slowly becoming hideous and terrifying.
Wang Shuhuai's heart leapt into his throat at the sound of sharp horse hooves. He had never been so panicked before. Faster, faster... As the city gate was in sight, he immediately raised his sleeves and made a gesture. All the city gates were guarded by his trusted aides. Seeing the gesture, they took the lead in opening the tightly closed gates. Wang Shuhuai's body was stretched like a bow, and he jumped under the city gate corridor like an arrow.
A group of guards followed him and turned south towards the canal dock.
There were corpses everywhere on the outskirts of the city, and many wounded soldiers were lying on the ground sighing. This was a battle that Gao Zhan experienced after leaving the city. The soldiers of the Southern Army had taken over here. When they saw Wang Shuhuai running over from afar, they immediately saluted.
Wang Shuhuai didn't even look at them, and rushed over like a gust of wind. When he was almost near the dock, he saw rustling figures swaying. It was a cargo ship in the city, and there was no sign of women.
The sharp-eyed soldier recognized him and immediately rode up to meet him, pointing eastward.
"Your Majesty, the young lady's boat is still at the ferry ahead."
After hearing this, Wang Shuhuai suddenly felt a glimmer of hope. What if she was still there? At that moment, the fear in his heart overwhelmed him like a tide. His usually straight spine trembled slightly. The horse's head drew an arc at the fork in the road ahead and quickly drove along the Cao River towards the back mountain of Hulu Mountain.
In the past, this area was a series of rugged hills, but now both banks have been completely leveled, with shops and stores lined up everywhere.
In just a cup of tea, he arrived at the junction of Houshan River and Caohe River.
From a distance, I saw many women gathered on the deck.
Wang Shuhuai couldn't wait to search for Xie Yunchu. In the vast sea of people, there were all kinds of faces, but not a single one looked familiar to him...
The arrow that penetrated his heart seemed to tremble, and all his breath was stuck in his throat.
Yun Chu...
He quickly locked onto the figures of Madam Ming and Qiao Zhiyun.
Madam Ming was supported by several women and fell on the maid, her face pale, while Qiao Zhiyun remained kneeling on the ground without moving, her body as stiff as plaster, until she saw Wang Shuhuai, she suddenly found support, stood up, stumbled down the deck, her slender body swaying like a kite in the morning breeze, and shouted to Wang Shuhuai,
"Shu Huai, they said... Yun Chu and Yun You fell off a cliff... fell off a cliff..."
Qiao Zhiyun's hands were shaking, tears were pouring out of her eyes, she looked at Wang Shuhuai as if he was looking at a life-saving straw, and couldn't utter a complete sentence...
Wang Shuhuai's expression was so numb that he still looked calm. He did not respond to Qiao Zhiyun's words, but immediately raised his eyes to look at the water ahead.
Shanhe River and Caohe River meet here, forming a relatively wide area of water. A steady stream of yellow muddy water flows in from the endless Shanhe River. Many guards and sailors on both sides of the river are diving into the river to look for people.
The boundless morning breeze mixed with moisture blew in his face, blowing Wang Shuhuai's heart like a leaky sieve. He ignored Qiao Zhiyun and jumped onto a speedboat with two guards, urging his inner strength to quickly sail upstream to the ferry behind the mountain.
As the water level dropped, the river became more turbulent.
The boat trip was not smooth, so Wang Shuhuai simply flew to the shore and ran towards the ferry along the wet woods. The narrow path behind the Xiangshan Temple was visible from afar. Countless figures gathered in a pavilion halfway up the mountain. After Wang Shuhuai landed, he ran towards the scene with a sullen face.
Xiao Youran, Wang Yining and others were still sitting in the pavilion, refusing to leave. It had rained in the back mountain, and the muddy mountain path was full of potholes, covering up the original traces. Wang Yining was the first to find Wang Shuhuai. She watched him walk over with a pale face, then slumped on the stone bench, covering his mouth and crying.
"Shu Huai, I didn't protect Yun Chu well, it's my fault..."
Next to Wang Yining was a frightened Chun Qi, who had just been woken up by someone in a daze. She subconsciously looked for Xie Yunchu, and when she learned that her two masters had fallen off the cliff, she burst into tears, her eyes swollen like red peaches.
Wang Shuhuai's eyes fell on her first, and he walked towards her quickly. Chunqi watched him stride in, knelt on the ground and crawled towards him, grabbing his collar and crying,
"Second Master, it was the men in black. The men in black killed the girl and the master," she pointed to the side.
Wang Shuhuai's eyes followed the direction of her finger and fell on the three corpses lying on the ground inside the stone path. He recognized them at a glance as the Eighteen Arhats, a famous assassin in the martial arts world. At that moment, all the doubts and disbelief that were hanging in his throat disappeared.
On the way to Beijing, he was repeatedly ambushed and killed by the Eighteen Arhats, but they were defeated by him. After arriving in Beijing, he ordered Qi Wei to clean up the aftermath. Qi Wei has not returned yet, so something might have happened. If he is not mistaken, it must be the remnants of the Eighteen Arhats who were waiting for an opportunity to take revenge and vent their anger towards him on Yun Chu.
The arrow that had penetrated his chest was suddenly pulled out, and it seemed as if a bloody hole was dug out in his heart. Extreme pain instantly spread along his limbs and bones, and Wang Shuhuai's tall body shook noticeably.
Chunqi explained to him what happened with tears in her eyes.
"After I followed the young lady to send the ladies aboard, I saw Master You coming ashore. The two masters heard that General Gao had come up the mountain to fight, so they were waiting here. How could they have known that four men in black suddenly appeared..."
"I wanted to rush over to buy time for the young master and the young lady, but Young Master You pulled me back. I hit the back of my head and passed out. When I woke up, I saw the fifth aunt. They told me that they heard the young lady screaming and saw someone pushing the young lady and Young Master You off the cliff..."
Wang Shuhuai listened stiffly, his tall body seemed to have just come out of an ice cellar, and he was covered in coldness. He pursed his lips and said nothing, his eyes staring gloomily in the direction of the cliff. He leaned forward without hesitation, grabbed the rope tied to the stone table, and slid down rapidly.
The rough rope left a bloody mark on the palm of Wang Shuhuai's hand, and he fell on a huge rock at the bottom of the cliff. At this time, Gao Zhan was squatting by the water, sniffing something as if he had discovered it.
In addition to him, there were several soldiers who could swim searching underwater, and there were also soldiers on the shore searching for traces everywhere.
Hearing the sound of the rope rustling, Gao Zhan turned around and saw that it was Wang Shuhuai. His eyes were filled with pain. At that moment, he felt extremely ashamed.
"Shu Huai, I am sorry for you..."
Wang Shuhuai looked around and saw the vast river flowing endlessly, the waves crashing against the shore, and a wave splashing at his feet. He lowered his eyes and saw a stone hidden in front of the boulder, with a trace of blood faintly visible. Wang Shuhuai's eyes flashed, and he immediately squatted down, dug the stone out of the mud and held it in his palm.
Gao Zhan knew his personality well and didn't like to hear nonsense, so he told him the clues he had found.
"According to Shen Yi's account, I saw someone push two people down, and heard Yun Chu's voice. From this, I guess Yun You either had an accident or fainted."
"Chunqi saw four men in black, and the bodies of three of them were found here. The remaining one must be the murderer. When Shen Yi and others followed, the man had disappeared. I ordered a search of the mountain, but no suspicious person has been found yet."
"I asked someone to check the footprints in the woods, but unfortunately there were so many people coming and going that there were footprints everywhere, so we couldn't find any clues for a while."
Wang Shuhuai didn't say anything. He immediately took off his clothes, leaving only a black tight shirt inside, and jumped into the rushing water.
The ups and downs of the water splashed on his cheeks. He held his breath and went underwater. The deep turbulence was as dense as a whirlpool. The water was cool and penetrated into the bones, making people shiver all over. It was hard to imagine what would happen to Xie Yunchu if she was pushed down. How could her slender body withstand it...
Wang Shuhuai rowed underwater for an unknown amount of time and was probably exhausted. After running thousands of miles for several days and experiencing the shocking coup last night, he was already extremely tired. Upon hearing this bad news, even a body of iron could not bear it.
Gao Zhan could see that Wang Shuhuai was at the end of his strength, and seeing the fast-flowing water, he was afraid that something might happen to him, so he jumped into the water and tried to lift him out of the water.
Wang Shuhuai refused, his bloodshot eyes staring blankly at the surging river. At that moment, his whole body was empty.
He didn't believe she was gone.
If he is alive, I want to see him in person; if he is dead, I want to see his body.
Otherwise, he would find her back no matter where he went.
The rising sun in the morning was covered by dark clouds, and the layers of clouds seemed to be about to collapse.
Gao Zhan dragged Wang Shuhuai's arm and rowed towards the shore.
At this moment, a soldier not far away poked his head out of the water and raised a wet piece of clothing in his hand.
"Found it, found it..."
Wang Shuhuai turned his head suddenly and looked closely. He vaguely saw that it was a piece of azure blue knee pad.
Chunqi's crying voice came from above, "It's Master You's clothes."
Wang Shuhuai closed his eyes, and his high spirits dissipated a little. He let Gao Zhan help him to the shore.
The wind and waves are strong and the river is fast, so if someone really falls in, it is difficult to find any trace.
Everyone went up to the pavilion one after another. Wang Shuhuai, wrapped in his official uniform, sat on a stone bench, all wet. His face became paler and paler due to being soaked in water, and his eyes were as dark as two holes, with no bottom to be seen.
Gao Zhan, who was standing beside him, persuaded Wang Yining and the others to leave first, and then told the guards,
“Carry all these bodies back to the Ministry of Justice and ask the coroner to perform an autopsy. Then transfer some powerful sailors from the capital to search along the river downstream to Caohe River and block the river section all the way to Tongzhou. We must find them as soon as possible…” He originally wanted to say “bodies”, but looked at Wang Shuhuai and stopped talking.
The guard took the order and left.
After a night of fierce fighting, Gao Zhan was also very tired. Seeing that Wang Shuhuai's lips were white and dry, he asked someone to bring him some tea and put it in front of him.
"Drink some water first."
Wang Shuhuai was frozen in place, the sun's shadow moved across the clouds, falling on his wet cheek like frost. His eyes were fixed on the bamboo pillar, vaguely seeing traces of fingernails scratching on it. His eyes flashed, his sight gradually focused, and he immediately followed the traces, lightly covering the area with his fingertips, clearly feeling a broken bamboo thread. Was it her who had picked it off?
At that moment, the taut string in my mind suddenly broke.
The blood clot that was blocking his heart finally rushed out of his throat along his neck, blood spilt everywhere. Wang Shuhuai's scarlet eyes were fixed on the mark, and the barbs in his eyes almost burst out.
If he let Gao Zhan go into the city and come to Xiangshan Temple instead, would the ending be different... Would she be standing in the pavilion at this moment, smiling and waiting for him to take her home.
It’s impossible to describe the pain and regret in my heart... Wang Shuhuai slammed his forehead heavily on the pillar.
The fiery red sunset hung in the sky, and the cool evening breeze blew Xie Yunchu's clothes.
She sat on a towering rock in the yard and looked around. She saw mountains and water everywhere, birds singing and flowers blooming, like a paradise.
If we weren't trapped here, the scenery would still be beautiful.
At this moment, a sigh came from the side. Xie Yunchu looked over and saw Xie Yunyou sitting dejectedly at her feet, rubbing his swollen eyes and shaking his head.
"Haven't found a way out yet?"
Xie Yunyou sighed in frustration, scratched the ground with a bamboo slip, and sneered, "No, there are traps everywhere. I have run all over the place, and I don't know what kind of magic that old man Cheng Xuan used. It's like those trees can move. I clearly walked out, but when I opened my eyes, I was back here."
Kong Ming's carriage drove for most of the day and landed here in the evening. Prince Xin told them that this was Mr. Cheng Xuan's old residence. Before leaving the mountain, Mr. Cheng Xuan lived here. The entire villa was designed for him, with many traps. People outside could not come in, and people inside could not go out.
In this Zhuangzi, besides Prince Xin, there is also Cheng Xuan's apprentice named Kong Wei. Kong Wei is extremely focused, with nothing else in his eyes except the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams mechanical skills. He stays in the three-story attic in the west all day long, developing a new generation of Kongming flying lanterns.
The only person left was an old woman, who used to be Mr. Cheng Xuan's maid. She had been staying here for many years, specializing in cooking and cleaning.
At this time, the old woman called Granny Shen stood under the corridor and greeted the brother and sister.
"The meal is ready, Miss Xie, Mr. Xie, come and eat quickly."
No matter how angry she was with Prince Xin, Xie Yunchu could not feel angry towards this kind mother-in-law.
Since she came to the farm, the old woman had been serving her attentively, and had even found some old coarse cloth clothes for her to change into. She was kind and attentive to her. Her only fault was that she was probably bored and kept nagging all day long, with endless things to say.
Xie Yunchu turned around and responded, then asked Xie Yunyou,
"How is Zhu Yun?"
"He's still unconscious." Xie Yunyou said unhappily, "Just think of a way to kill him."
Xie Yunchu had also had this idea. When Zhu Yun was in Kong Ming's carriage yesterday, he had fainted. She wanted to pull out her hairpin and stab Zhu Yun to death. But she was worried that once Zhu Yun died, Kong Wei would throw them out of Kong Ming's carriage, so she did not dare to act rashly.
After getting off Kong Ming's car, Kong Wei helped Zhu Yun treat his wounds, and they had no chance to see anyone.
The two of them stared at the sunset and had no appetite for dinner.
Xie Yunchu felt a pain in his heart when he thought of the two children. "I wonder how Ke'er and the others are doing?"
Xie Yunyou didn't have so many concerns. "Don't worry, even if Zhu Yun creates the illusion that something happened to us, with my brother-in-law's ability, he will be able to find out the clues quickly and will never tell the truth to the children. The children will just cry for a while and nothing will happen..."
Xie Yunchu was confused and didn't want to think about it any further. "We have to find a way out as soon as possible."
"Well, don't worry, sister. I won't let you be trapped here for too long."
Fortunately, Xie Yunyou is by my side.
The brother and sister sat there without moving.
After a while, a deep voice came from behind.
"Yunchu, Youer..."
The brother and sister both cast icy glances behind them.
Zhu Yun came to the yard in a wheelchair and smiled weakly at the two of them. "Your body is not made of iron. Let's eat first."
Xie Yunchu glanced at him, then sat back down with a cold face, ignoring him. Xie Yunyou turned around, frowned, and questioned him,
"Does this make sense to you? My sister is already married and she has two children. Do you think you can force her to be with you by doing this..."
Zhu Yun looked at Xie Yunchu's beautiful profile. This scene overlapped with the picture in his memory. When he was young, on the anniversary of his mother's death, no one in the palace remembered her, and his father almost forgot about such a person. He followed Xie Hui back to the Xie Mansion to study, and happened to see Xie Yunchu sitting in front of the stone lion door, muttering and looking in the direction of the alley entrance.
He walked over to her and asked, "Sister Yunchu, what are you looking at?"
The little girl lowered her eyes and said sadly, "I'm thinking about my mother..."
At that moment, a soft spot in his heart was hit, and he was speechless as he looked at her wet eyelashes.
I always feel that there is an invisible tacit understanding flowing between the two of them.
He then stopped and stood beside the stone lion to accompany her.
The well-behaved little girl quickly wiped away her tears and asked him crisply,
"Your Highness, what are you looking at?"
He uttered the softest words in his life, "I'm thinking about my mother, too."
At that moment, he saw tears in her eyes. He felt so distressed that he thought to himself that he must protect her for the rest of his life.
Later, he looked forward to leaving the palace every day, and when he left the palace, he would definitely come to the Xie family. After he grew up and was able to leave the palace and build his own house, he tried his best to make his father choose a house near Xie's.
Unfortunately, as he grew older, he was blinded by power and the desire to win. Seeing that his eldest brother was cowardly and his second brother was frivolous, and that they were not fit to be emperor, he wondered why he had to be inferior to others, and he became determined to seize the throne.
Perhaps because he had seen through his actions, Xie Hui became wary of him and did not allow Yun Chu and Yun You to have any contact with him.
Xie Hui's defensiveness made him more eager for power. He always thought that as long as he became the emperor, Xie Hui would not be able to do anything to him. Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. The eldest princess took a fancy to Xie Yunchu and promised her to Wang Shuhuai.
That afternoon, there was a violent storm. He went into the palace and begged his father to grant him a marriage. However, his father always agreed with his sister and rejected his request. Not only did he reject it, he even forgot that he had ever mentioned it.
Between power and beauty, he finally chose power, always telling himself that with power, everything else would be within reach.
Unfortunately, God slapped him hard in the face.
In the end, they suffered a crushing defeat and became a desperate enemy.
To this day, looking at her cold expression and comparing it with her cute and well-behaved appearance when she was young, I can't help but wonder, if I had chosen her in the beginning, would they have a lot of children by now?
Xie Yunchu and Xie Yunyou left Zhu Yun and ate alone. The closest person to Xie Yunyou in this life was his sister. As long as his sister was around, he didn't have to worry too much and ate as usual. However, Xie Yunchu couldn't swallow.
The image of a child comes to mind.
Nanny Lin will not tell the children about her death for the time being. At most, they will cry for a while because they didn't see their mother come back, but she can calm them down with a reason.
What about Nanny Lin, Chunqi and others? I'm afraid those maids will cry their hearts out. It's inevitable that they will be sad. They just hope that for the sake of the young master, they will take care of themselves.
There are also Madam Ming and Qiao Zhiyun. Madam Ming has a gentle personality and treats them sincerely. I wonder how sad she must be right now. As for Qiao Zhiyun, it must have been hard for her to watch her child fall off the cliff with her own eyes.
The person she was most worried about was her father. The old man was already in poor health, and when he heard the bad news about her and Xie Yunyou, he was sure that something had happened.
Seeing her frown, Xie Yunyou paused and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Yunchu expressed his concerns.
Xie Yunyou sighed, and smiled bitterly with mixed feelings, "Don't think too much. Father has always regarded me as a thorn in his side. Maybe he is open-minded and is happy that a troublemaker has finally been removed."
Xie Yunchu knew that Xie Yunyou was joking and glared at him.
"As for mother..." Xie Yunyou was also very worried about Madam Ming, but in order not to affect Xie Yunchu's mood, he comforted her dryly, "With Yunshuang accompanying her, she should be fine." When Xie Yunyou said this, he thought of Qiao Zhiyun, pursed his lips and did not mention her.
"By the way, you worry about this and that, why don't you think about your brother-in-law? If he heard the news of your death, he would probably go crazy now."
Xie Yunchu was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. Even if Wang Shuhuai was more sincere to her in this life than in the previous life, it wouldn't mean that he would lose her.
"He is now the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and plays an important role in the court. With the new emperor ascending the throne, there are a lot of things waiting for him to decide. He doesn't have much time to think about my affairs. Even though he felt uncomfortable at first, it gradually passed. As for the Wang family... they can't be without a clan woman."
Xie Yunchu stirred the empty rice in the bowl and sneered.
"Maybe he has already started looking for a successor."
Xie Yunyou also thought his sister was joking and said indifferently, "Yeah, if that's the case, why are you worrying here?" He picked up a handful of vegetables and put them in her bowl, and said calmly,
"Sister, you should protect yourself first at all times, especially girls. The Wang family will still function without you. You should take care of yourself, conserve your energy, and find a way to get out of here."
Xie Yunchu took a deep breath. It was useless to worry too much. His health was the most important thing. So he immediately picked up the bowl and ate a whole bowl of rice.
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